This is part 2 of my interview in Sydney with Peter Williams (@rexster), the CEO of Deloitte Digital.

I’ve already blogged about their policy and I had a bunch of other stuff I’d wanted to talk to him about eg Deloitte has a great relationship with the entrepreneurship program at RMIT and he’s been invited to speak at TEDxCanberra…

We’d done the interview and got talking about social media and all of a sudden Pete was describing how he’d used it to help organise the relief effort in the town of Flowerdale after the Victorian Bushfires:

“[We used] social media and web 2.0 tools, like pbworks, blogger, vimeo and youtube, flickr to communicate, raise funds and build a temporary village and more importantly to help residents vision a safer and sustainable future.”

Here he is telling the story:

Business use is great but this was the application of social media in a raw, disaster response scenario. They raised $1.5 million in donations, built a village, co-ordinated the community and liaised with government and media throughout the process.

Peter Williams in Flowerdale talking to a reporter

You can check out the Flowerdale – Survivor Spirit blog too.

Not only did it contribute hugely to the rebuilding of Flowerdale but they were the first ever campaign outside the US to win a Forrester Groundswell Award for social media use. The Australian National Library has also requested permission to keep the blog in the national archive.

Thanks again to Pete for taking the time for the interview.

I actually saw another fantastic example of social media being used for not-for-profits written up by CNN Money a few days ago: Check out Bill Gates’ favourite teacher.

I’ve also been wondering if they might be able to apply some of Pete’s thinking to the Pakistan situation at the moment… Massive challenge.

Have you seen Social Media being used well for not-for-profits?

Price: FREE                                                      Get it from iTunes

This FREE app is a must-have for any website owner, business owner or web designer looking to ensure their site is SEO friendly.

Developed by our very own SEO partners Reload Media, this handy little app will show you in a flash a number of important search engine optimisation (SEO) factors including:

• Google® PageRank
• Indexed Pages
• Backlinks
• Keyword, Title & Description Relevancy
• Robots
• Page Load Times
• H1, H2, H3 and Image alt tags
• XML Sitemaps
• Google Analytics
• Domain Age
• W3C Compatibility
• Server Location

Based on these important SEO factors, the app then calculates your site’s SEO score. What’s more, you can also check the rankings of your important keywords in Google.

Audits that are run can be saved for later, or sent to Reload Media for analysis.

Social Media is the New Rock and Roll - The Hopkinson Report
This is a fascinating and well written article comparing the rebellion of rock & roll in the 60s with social media today. It’s a very interesting concept and most of it rings true, though it might all be about to change! Because…

Older Adults Nearly Double Social Media Presence [STATS] - Mashable

My mother is on Facebook and yours probably is too. Scary? Well, this article doesn’t really say what they’re doing on social media but they’re almost certainly checking up you!

The 55+ age group is rapidly catching up with younger users. From a business’s perspective, I’m yet to see whether this is useful or if this age group is savvy enough to use social media in the ways we require for social campaigns to work (sharing videos, tagging photos, “following” brands etc.) but it can’t be a bad thing… as long as we hide those photos from the weekend!

Getting to Grips with Content - UX Booth
Content is generally the reason your website exists, so let’s give it the same attention we give design, marketing & functionality! This article explains what a Content Strategy actually entails, from branding and style guides to search engine optimisation and information architecture.

No time? Do a quick home renovation on your content: Prune it, Put it in front of users, Give it purpose. Read the article for how to get started or talk to our copywriter.

How to Respond When Social Media Attacks Your Brand - OPEN Forum
It might be your biggest PR fear: social media gets nasty. The bad news is, you might not be aware of it; the good news is, if you know about it, you can deal with it. This article looks at three case studies of how different companies responded to social media issues and what we can learn from it. Basically, the lessons are: be honest, be timely [in responses], always monitor & have a plan.

User Experience Areas Explained
Ever asked, “What on earth does a user experience designer do??? and how is that different to just designing a website?”? This might clear it up for you!

From Noise Between Stations

Two of my Aussie favourite web experts – copywriter Glenn Murray aka @DivineWrite and blogger Darren Rowse aka @ProBlogger – have joined forces to write a brilliant ebook – Copywriting Scorecard for Bloggers.

Why I like it
What I like about this ebook is that it starts off by encouraging you to know your audience, brand, objectives & keywords – BEFORE you start!  This is an absolute must but too frequently overlooked by many first time bloggers.   These ideas from the “Before you start” section of the ebook are very much aligned with what we encourage in Bluewire’s One Page Web Strategy Plan.

Copywriting Scorecard for Bloggers

The best bit  (see p44)
For me, the real value of Copywriting Scorecard for Bloggers is that it gives you a complete list of how to avoid making of all those annoying, little spelling & grammatical errors we always make!

You know the ones:

“your” vs “you’re”
“its” vs “it’s”
“there” vs “their” vs “they’re”
“effect” vs “affect”
“then” vs “than”
“lay” vs “lie”
“to” vs “too”
“XYZ is” vs “XYZ are”
“complements” vs “compliments”
“licence” vs “license”

In 2 weeks, Copywriting Scorecard for Bloggers will be selling for $29.97 USD but as a launch offer the guys are offering this ebook for $9.97 USD.

For me it is excellent value at either price point. I use it & highly recommend it!

So what would’ve earnt Copywriting Scorecard for Blogger a 5 our of 5?  Well it would be ideal if it came with web application where you could copy & paste your blog article or URL and it would produce the report card for you!

And it would’ve earned a bonus half a point if it told me the difference between “earnt” vs “earned”?

*****
If you’re keen to see follow genuinely great bloggers, read Glenn Murray’s copywriting blog – DivineWrite and Darren Rowse’s blogging blog ProBlogger.  Great work Glenn & Darren!

Copywriting Brisbane: And if you’d prefer an additional helping hand with your blogging, give Bluewire Media a call on 1300 258 394 & we’ll apply the scorecard for you.

If you’re keen to keep an eye on what other people are saying about you online, then take 1:06 minutes to watch this interview with John Fison – chairman of online reputation management firm Netbox Blue.

Learn what simple steps you can take to protect yourself and your organisation and avoid the social media traps!

Thank you… And you can follow @JohnFison on Twitter or call Netbox Blue on 1300 737 060.

Social Media Brisbane: If you missed our recent social media event, follow @Bluewire_Media on twitter so you get an invite to our next event!

How do you measure an ROI on Social Media???

It’s not always easy to measure an ROI on Social Media, but, as a part of my interview with him in Sydney, Deloitte Digital CEO Peter Williams (@rexster), says:

“Generally being a firm of accountants we measure it based on how many dollars we get back and the answer is: a sh!tload.”

Hope you enjoy the interview! (There’s a text summary below it…)

In the interview I asked Pete 4 questions:

1. How and why does Deloitte use Social Media?
2. How do you measure its success?
3. What is your Social Media policy and why did you formulate one?
4. I loved your philosophy that “The price of entry is relevance.” – could you please explain this a bit further?

Without wanting to give away too much here are a couple of highlights:

3 measurables they’ve tracked:

1. Deloitte have dropped their recruitment agent fees to nearly zero using a Facebook app called “Join me at Deloitte” they developed for their employees.
2. Innovation program generates 400% return on investment per annum for technologies they’ve developed in-house
3. They have virtually 0% staff turnover of those that are frequent users of the Deloitte internal social media tool, Yammer.

They’ve also boiled down their policy (pdf) into a single sentence: “What would your mum say?”

How do you measure ROI for your social media?

No more vacation: How technology is stealing our lives – Salon.com
I don’t feel like Rebecca Traister feels but I know I’m in the minority. When I’m gone for the weekend, I’m often actually uncontactable as I roam through mobile-coverage-free countryside. But for many people, the constant contact their laptops and smartphones provide means they’re also constantly working, constantly available. This isn’t the first time you’ve heard this, I know, but this is a very well-written and hard-hitting article. Rebecca uses phrases like “eat our lives” to describe what these technologies are doing to us.
Do you feel like a victim of this “monster” or do you think you’ve hit a balance?

The 7 Secrets of Social Media Conversion – Unbounce
Somebody visits your website via your Facebook page… so what? Here’s how to get them converting: Special landing pages [1] with the right message [2], backed by proof [3] and easy to share [4], with a really simple lead generation form [5] and a back-up call to action [6], all followed up effectively [7]. Phew! If you like these tips and share them on Twitter, don’t forget the #shhhh hashtag.
What’s your biggest question about converting with social media?

7 Services to Find and Reserve Your Name Across the Web - Mashable
If you think you’ll want to get into social media at some point (perhaps after reading the article above!) but don’t want to start right now, you might consider signing up for the various accounts you’ll need before somebody takes your name. You can create social media accounts long before you start using them, with no problems. In fact, these seven services can make that happen…

The circle of tech life: How computer symbols are born & technologies die a thousand deaths

The Secret Histories of Those @#$%ing Computer Symbols - Wired Gadget Lab
Ever wonder why the Bluetooth logo looks like some ancient rune? Because it is. Discover the history of all your favourite techy symbols in this interesting article.

The Tragic Death of Practically Everything - Technologizer
Bloggers have a habit of hailing the end times of any technology ever slightly superceded by another. This article brings a few together to highlight how the internet must be an “unrelenting bloodbath” with all these deaths! Enjoy, because the platform you read it on is surely on its last legs.

The question on everybody’s lips is… “can I get fired for using social media?”

Luckily Brisbane Corporate & IT lawyer, Malcolm Burrows was on hand to answer this one for us.

In this 1:42 minute interview, you’ll learn how you should conduct yourself on social networks and what is and isn’t acceptable!

Thanks Malcolm!

Social Media Lawyer: If you’re interested in developing a social media policy or getting legal advice, give Malcolm Burrows a call at Rostron Carlyle Solictors (07) 3009 8438 or follow @ITCorporateLaw

Living inside our secluded little web world, it is easy to forget that not everyone is sold on social media. 

I for one underestimated what normal people thought about social media. 

However it became resoundingly apparent at Bluewire’s recent “Social Media for Business” event where the sentiment from pretty much the entire audience was that they “feared people saying negative things” about their organisation.

Ironically, this is exactly the reason to get on board with social media — to actually listen to what is being said about your company!

Despite people’s apprehension, I still discussed the fact that social media can actually be your friend.

In this short interview, I explain how social media actually makes your life easier by virtue of the fact that other people help share your message & take some of the hard work away from you.  Plus I share my #1 social media tip!

Social Media Speaker: If you’d like to understand social media, please call Bluewire Media on 1300 258 394.

Here’s a funny and refreshingly honest appraisal of the future of advertising agencies (by an ad agency, thankfully!)

This video takes you on a hypothetical tour through the last advertising agency on earth – complete with artifacts of what the agency execs were doing at the moment of extinction!

Being part of Bluewire, I am biased as to the importance of the web, but what do you think… Will advertising agencies become extinct?  Or will they thrive?

Thanks Brett Wiskar at Speedwell for showing me this!

Web Strategy Brisbane: If you’d like to get with the times & get your web strategy cranking, give Bluewire Media a call on 1300 258 394.