Last month, I highlighted some benchmarks in both social media and email marketing that were released in recent reports so that you could see how your nonprofit stacked up. Today, we are going to look at online fundraising. Using the 2012 Online Marketing Nonprofit Benchmark Index Study by Convio and the 2012 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study published by M+R and NTEN, we see that online fundraising continues to grow in importance, especially to smaller nonprofits. Here are the key findings from each report: 2012 Online Marketing Nonprofit Benchmark Index Study (Convio, which includes orgs of…
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Most Topular Stories
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Online Fundraising Stats and Trends for Nonprofits
Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog16 May 2012 | 10:24 am -
How to Promote Your Fundraising Event
FundraisingIP.com: Fundraising Ideas26 Apr 2012 | 4:33 pmRegardless if you’re holding one or several fundraisers each year, properly promoting each and every event will help you get the most out of your time and money invested in them. Even just a little bit of extra effort can result in much better results. Following some tips to get started with promoting your event: 1. Before you start promoting your fundraiser As with any larger event, the better you prepare for your fundraising event, including promoting it, the smoother it will run and the higher the chances that you’ll have a positive outcome. - Identify a budget for potential… -
Campaign Volunteer Recruitment
A Small Change21 Apr 2012 | 12:21 pmIs it better to commit a campaign commmittee member to giving and a job description or engage them slowly? The simple answer is yes. If you have volunteers that you can go to and ask to get heavily involved in campaign fundraising, it is always prefered to set high expectations from the start. However, most organizations do not have a large quantity of major gifts level volunteers who are willing to invite there friends to join them in giving. And, if your organization does have these people they are likely on your board. Practically you will seed your committee with a couple of solid board… -
State’s junk food ban could take bite out of school fundraisers
Step By Step Fundraising7 May 2012 | 1:37 pmWe were a little stunned when we saw an article that was posted on the Drudge Report. The story comes from the Boston Herald and it talks about how state regulations would negatively impact school fundraising efforts .. especially cookie dough fundraisers and bake sales. The articles starts with: The Departments of Public Health and Education contend clearing tables of even whole milk and white bread is necessary to combat an obesity epidemic affecting a third of the state’s 1.5 million students. But parents argue crudites won’t cut it when the bills come due on athletic equipment and… -
GM Hands Facebook a PR Challenge
PR News16 May 2012 | 9:00 amGeneral Motors dropped Facebook from its ad budget on the eve of the social network's public stock offering....
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Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog
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Online Fundraising Stats and Trends for Nonprofits
16 May 2012 | 10:24 amLast month, I highlighted some benchmarks in both social media and email marketing that were released in recent reports so that you could see how your nonprofit stacked up. Today, we are going to look at online fundraising. Using the 2012 Online Marketing Nonprofit Benchmark Index Study by Convio and the 2012 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study published by M+R and NTEN, we see that online fundraising continues to grow in importance, especially to smaller nonprofits. Here are the key findings from each report: 2012 Online Marketing Nonprofit Benchmark Index Study (Convio, which includes orgs of… -
Building an Effective Nonprofit Mobile Strategy
14 May 2012 | 10:45 amTonia Zampieri Tonia Zampieri is back with some more advice on how to get your nonprofit’s mobile marketing strategy in place. Also, she shares how you could have the chance to win a mobile marketing strategy session with Atlantic Business Technologies. Guest Post by Tonia Zampieri of Atlantic Business Technologies. I love nonprofits, well heart them actually. I love the idea behind why they exist, the feeling I get when I witness people doing loving acts, helping others in need — the whole sha-bang. But I’m concerned. Most US nonprofits are not addressing mobile… -
Mixed Links for Nonprofit Marketers
11 May 2012 | 9:17 amAnother Friday, another round of Mixed Links… Volunteering Did you know volunteers give up to 10 times more than a non-volunteer? With new perspectives on the value of your volunteers, Convio is offering a free on-demand webinar called 5 Volunteer Trends that Can Improve Your Fundraising Bottom Line. And to help you get those volunteers, Robert J. Rosenthal guest posts on Getting Attention.org’s blog on Secrets to Great Volunteer Recruitment. Engagement Human Interest Films, a production company in Los Angeles is looking for testimonials from individuals who were influenced by the… -
How to Blog Daily
10 May 2012 | 1:30 pmI’ve been blogging Monday – Friday (or darn close) for about 18 months now. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it. Here are a few tips based on what I’ve learned along the way: Sketch out an editorial calendar. Even if you don’t follow it exactly (and I rarely do), it helps you keep on track with the kinds of things you want your blog to be known for. Get help from guest bloggers. We try to publish a guest post about once a week. It takes some of the pressure off and freshens up the voice. Come up with some regular features. We publish Mixed Links, a round-up… -
But What If . . .
9 May 2012 | 2:04 pmI just sent our weekly e-newsletter out with an article about a guy who got fired for liking his boss’s political opponent’s Facebook page, and a federal judge upheld the firing. (Here’s the newsletter if you aren’t already subscribed.) I urge you to not let these and other “but what if . . .” scenarios stop you from doing your job, and doing it well. In my book, I have a section called “Get Fear Out of the Way” in the chapter called “Find the Time: Get More Done in Fewer Hours.” Fear, I write, is the second biggest time waster in…
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FundraisingIP.com: Fundraising Ideas
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How to Promote Your Fundraising Event
26 Apr 2012 | 4:33 pmRegardless if you’re holding one or several fundraisers each year, properly promoting each and every event will help you get the most out of your time and money invested in them. Even just a little bit of extra effort can result in much better results. Following some tips to get started with promoting your event: 1. Before you start promoting your fundraiser As with any larger event, the better you prepare for your fundraising event, including promoting it, the smoother it will run and the higher the chances that you’ll have a positive outcome. - Identify a budget for potential… -
New Options for Mobile Donations
6 Mar 2012 | 1:19 pmYou can already collect mobile donations via an SMS text donation campaign through companies like mGive or MobileCause. However, these services are relatively expensive and aren’t suitable for smaller fundraising campaigns, or drives that need to be organized and executed quickly. It’s also hard to collect donor data and impossible to enable recurring gifts. If you’re interested in harnessing mobile donations for your future fundraising campaigns, without the disadvantages of text donations, keep an eye on the new mobile payment services springing up. (Maybe we will finally… -
How To Ask For Donations From A Large Company
9 Feb 2012 | 11:56 amLarge companies support charities on a large scale, providing financial support through fundraising events and donations, in addition to providing publicity of their sponsored non-profits among their employees. But even large companies may have to lower their cash donations during tough economic times and will often resort to making up at least some of the difference through in-kind donations or giving their employees paid time off to volunteer. How you ask can make the difference between getting a donation or not. Following are a few points to consider when approaching a company for… -
Food Truck Fundraiser
31 Jan 2012 | 12:12 pmMaybe you’ve already seen them in your neighborhood, or heard about them in the news: a new generation of food trucks that serves everything from tri-tip and crepes to cupcakes or any ethnic cuisine you can imagine. Unlike a traditional ice cream truck, or the hot dog and taco wagons at a downtown street corner, these new gourmet food trucks are modern kitchens on wheels. Sure, you could raise funds with the old fashioned food trucks as well, but the diverse cuisines of the new gourmet food trucks will get people curious and surely attract a large crowd. Besides, who can resist a… -
Make Money With a Valentine’s Day Fundraiser
25 Jan 2012 | 10:00 amValentine’s Day is one of the best times of year to hold a fundraiser! A Valentine’s Day fundraiser offers the advantages of • Decreased competition from other fundraisers – as opposed to the busy times of year for fundraising like Christmas and Fall, when many local and nationwide groups launch major campaigns • Demand for novelty products and candy • Opportunity for entertaining event-based fundraisers Every type of Valentine’s Day fundraiser offers a variety of ways to make money. Some, event-based fundraisers especially, can bring in profits in more ways than…
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A Small Change
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Campaign Volunteer Recruitment
21 Apr 2012 | 12:21 pmIs it better to commit a campaign commmittee member to giving and a job description or engage them slowly? The simple answer is yes. If you have volunteers that you can go to and ask to get heavily involved in campaign fundraising, it is always prefered to set high expectations from the start. However, most organizations do not have a large quantity of major gifts level volunteers who are willing to invite there friends to join them in giving. And, if your organization does have these people they are likely on your board. Practically you will seed your committee with a couple of solid board… -
An Ask is An Ask
7 Mar 2012 | 8:52 pmYou may have heard a guideline, “ask for three times what you’d like a donor to give.” This is a mantra that’s often used as a technique to get a stretch gift. That guideline is a very poor rule of thumb. A good ask is one the donor feels they could stretch to make but does not feel like is out of their ability. The magic of asking for a specific amount is that you can encourage a donor to think about a larger gift than they would traditionally do. If a donor has said yes to you soliciting them for a gift, then they have already indicated that they are… -
It’s All Greek to Me
6 Feb 2012 | 6:12 pmI recently joined a committee that funds social services projects in the city in which I live. At one of our meetings the committee was discussing setting our funding guidelines. I’ve been a part of the grant writing process for many years and have seen the result of some of the stranger and more involved funding questions. Maybe it was just my revenge on the funders but I realised quickly that funders and nonprofits do not always speak the same language. The intention behind a funding guideline does not always translate into the intended results. Here are a couple of examples that came… -
Fundraising is Not a Narcotic
23 Jan 2012 | 9:48 pmOver the last few months I have been secretly peddling drugs. My blog was hacked and, unknown to me, written into the metadata was advertising for a narcotic. I’m very sorry that I did not catch it sooner. I deleted my site and reposted everything and have solved the problem. I was thinking about what I want my website to be about and I reflected on what fundraising is about. There is not a lot in common between fundraising and drugs. Fundraising is about capacity building for good work in our communities. It is about providing people a chance they never had before. However some people… -
Don’t Forget Your $1,000 Gifts
17 Oct 2011 | 7:00 amEvery organization understands the value of their very top 20 donors. It is easy to see the importance of a $10,000 annual donor. Many organizations have a cut-off as to when the “major gift” starts; often times this is $1,000. Don’t forget the value of those donors that are right at and right before that cut off. This group knows they are not your top donors but are giving because your organization is an area of passion for them. They want you to keep in touch but don’t expect as much attention. (This group is a really great group to talk with about planned gifts. If a donor can give…
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Step By Step Fundraising
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State’s junk food ban could take bite out of school fundraisers
7 May 2012 | 1:37 pmWe were a little stunned when we saw an article that was posted on the Drudge Report. The story comes from the Boston Herald and it talks about how state regulations would negatively impact school fundraising efforts .. especially cookie dough fundraisers and bake sales. The articles starts with: The Departments of Public Health and Education contend clearing tables of even whole milk and white bread is necessary to combat an obesity epidemic affecting a third of the state’s 1.5 million students. But parents argue crudites won’t cut it when the bills come due on athletic equipment and… -
Cookie Dough Fundraisers to Try
2 May 2012 | 1:37 pmWe’ve meant to discuss the effectiveness of cookie dough fundraisers for a long time and now that the fundraising season is ending for schools and sports organizations we felt like this was as good a time as any. Cookie Dough fundraising has been around a long time. Historically larger groups chose this option because of the minimum order requirements and difficulties handling a frozen product. But as time progressed programs were designed that allowed smaller groups to chose this option as well. Companies started lowering minimum orders and they started marketing the fundraiser to… -
Even Towns Look for Fundraising Ideas
16 Mar 2012 | 1:40 pmTimes are getting so bad that even towns are looking for fundraising ideas to raise money and other ways to reduce spending. Shawn Touhill, a Doylestown Township supervisor, got people together as part of a new town fundraising committee. They gathered Monday night to brainstorm ideas for saving and raising money. Most of the ideas came from township staff, who suggested everything from enforcing existing ordinances (to increase revenue from fines) to requiring inspections on homes before they’re sold (and charging the seller) to holding Bingo nights to hiring a grant writer. Doylestown has… -
Activity Based Fundraisers Booming
7 Mar 2012 | 6:51 amWe ran across an article the other day that was encouraging. It talked about activity based fundraisers like walks and runs and how they had set new fundraising records in 2011. For the past few years there’s been lots of talk of the decline in product fundraising. The main reason given time after time has been childhood obesity. Schools and large organizations started to move away from food products that had been a staple in the fundraising industry for them and were seeing declines in the amount of money they raised. Is it possible these smaller groups could learn from these large… -
Lessons from Presidential Fundraising
6 Mar 2012 | 7:36 amIf you think presidential fundraising is different than the way you raise money think again. There are lots of similarities. The one I’d like to discuss today is the need to bring star power to your fundraising event. Apparently former President Bill Clinton has agreed to make joint appearances with President Barack Obama at a series of campaign fundraisers. One would think having the current President present would be enough for any fundraiser. But the people in charge of raising money understand the need for even more star power. So the handlers have arranged for President Clinton to…
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PR News
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GM Hands Facebook a PR Challenge
16 May 2012 | 9:00 amGeneral Motors dropped Facebook from its ad budget on the eve of the social network's public stock offering.... -
Consumers: Social Dialogue Not Really Two-Way Affair
15 May 2012 | 9:00 am"Liking" a brand on Facebook should be the start of a relationship between a consumer and a brand, not the end of a courtship.... -
George Lucas a (Spiteful) Good Corporate Citizen
15 May 2012 | 9:00 amThe filmmaker's neighbors refused to let him build a new studio, so he announced plans to build low-income housing instead.... -
$2 Billion Loss? Here's Your $23 Million Pay Package, Jamie
15 May 2012 | 9:00 amJPMorgan Chase's CEO had a relatively easy time of it at the firm's shareholders meeting, while Morgan Stanley's CEO had to face two-dozen protesters at his company's annual meeting.... -
Quick Study: Consumers: Social Dialogue Not Really Two-Way Affair; Amazon, QVC and Apple Most Popular E-Commerce Sites
14 May 2012 | 9:00 am▶ Social Engagement Could be Better: A study finds that consumers expect a two-way dialogue with brands across the social Web, but rarely get it. A survey conducted by Lithium Technologies in April 2012 reveals that while 25% of respondents expect to hear back from a company when they tweet about a brand...
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Bad Pitch Blog
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Three Online Newsrooms That Don't Suck
23 Apr 2012 | 3:13 amAfter considering why newsrooms need to change to stay relevant, I have three newsrooms that are changing, and a fourth that re-sets the bar completely. All of the newsrooms represent brands with big investments in owned media and media relations.1) Starbucks: With 19,555 stores in 58 countries, Starbucks generates a ton of media interest every day. To the brand's credit, its newsroom is well-organized and uses visuals to help tell stories. It offers visitors a feature story and related content, including video and photo content -- all armed with sharing tools. -
Online Newsrooms in a Content Marketing World
19 Apr 2012 | 3:42 amAre online newsrooms still relevant?Spoiler Alert: Richard and I agree that online newsrooms are still relevant -- when they're done well. But their relevance has shifted. And there are many ways this relevance could increase. This is especially true if you consider how much has changed in the last five years across paid, owned and earned media.>screen does the blurry transition to note we're considering the changes<Publishing: Content management platforms have decentralized publishing. Every year publishing platforms become cheaper and more powerful than before. This has… -
Big Data Porn & Infographic Gruel
9 Apr 2012 | 7:56 amHave you witnessed content format drive audience assumptions about its quality? I remember when .pdf files seemed to transform PR content into intellectual capital. It was bad enough that I wanted to take Greek text (loremipsum), put it into a .pdf file, offer it to folks online and track the downloads. It seems that an audience just assumes a .pdf equates to good content.We're seeing this concept with infographics. And since PR people have more access to good graphic design capabilities, we could conduct the above experiment with infographics. Just add some percentages, pictures and voila:… -
Speculative News Releases & Bad Pitch Mad Libs
17 Mar 2012 | 3:22 pmA few bad pitches have us seeing red on St. Patrick's Day. OK, we've seen worse offenders. But it's been too long since our last post. So we're calling out assumptive news releases and even making you some "Bad Libs."The Assumptive News ReleasePromoting the fact that “it’s an honor just to be nominated” can be considered news. But speculating outcomes or promoting news before it’s a fact is presumptuous at best.Take the tech news release sent our way noting that tech brand X is “expected to redefine” tech category Y. Well, I’m expected to do things too. But sometimes I… -
Social Voting? It's Madness (All Year Round).
17 Mar 2012 | 2:27 pmEarlier this week, an ad rep for a media brand came to us with a sponsorship package that revolves around social voting. Social Madness riffs off college basketball's bracket-style competition, its calendar-inspired moniker and it marries them with a social voting program.We've documented our issuewith social voting in the past. Even Geoff Livingston weighed in on the topic for us. The only voting competition we put up with is from SXSW. And that's because you have no choice if you want to speak at the Austin-based interactive festival.Misguided, Traffic-Driving SchemeAccording to the Social…
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Pierce Mattie Public Relations New York
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Pierce Mattie PR Aromatherapy Client Featured in Prevention Magazine
16 May 2012 | 6:14 amPierce Mattie PR wellness client 21 Drops was featured in Prevention Magazine. If you’re working on an aromatherapy story be sure to give our Pierce Mattie lifestyle PR team a call at 212-243-1431 or follow us on Twitter @PierceMattiePR and FaceBook. -
The Fragrance Foundation Announces Celebrity Guests at the 2012 FiFi Fragrance Awards
15 May 2012 | 6:50 amThe FiFi Awards are considered the "Oscars" of the fragrance industry. This prestigious, iconic New York event showcases and honors the art, passion and personalities of the fragrance world. Competing to win a "Fragrance of the Year Award" are some of the big, the bold, instantly recognizable fragrance names, celebrity creations and collaborations as well as smaller, niche innovators. There's also competition for Best Packaging of the Year, Best Media Campaign of the Year and more. Over 800 guests and 27 beautiful crystal FiFi ® awards are… -
Mommy Media: Are You Over The Mom Enough Hoopla
14 May 2012 | 4:22 pmI saw it early Friday morning come into my Facebook ticker, obviously precisely timed to debut just before Mother's Day..."Are you mom enough?" the headline asked. And judging by the cover photo that accompanied the headline meant to provoke a fight, like a bully cornering you in an alleyway, I knew it was a matter of time before all of my social media channels would be inundated with this "tabloid" type question.Being in PR, I understand what the article and images were meant to do. Controversy sells magazines. As with just about anything, you have strong opinions on… -
Pierce Mattie PR Seeking Summer Interns (blog about lifestyle media from any location)
10 May 2012 | 6:44 amHave you ever dreamed of interning in New York for a lifestyle PR firm but are not able to get off your college campus, which isn’t located in NY? Now you can! Pierce Mattie PR is seeking Summer Social Media Interns to work remotely. In years past our interns have gone on to be published authors, featured in the New York Times, received college credit and most importantly learned the ropes of beauty fashion social media from our in-house experts.All Applicants Should:Be pursuing a degree in; Journalism, English, Public Relations or MarketingAble to spend at least… -
Lifestyle Retail News: Former HSN CEO Mark Bozek Launches Interactive E-commerce Venture EVINE.com
10 May 2012 | 6:24 amFormer HSN CEO Mark Bozek and co-founder Russell Nuce announce the launch of the new e-commerce platform EVINE.com. The site will sell exclusive products available only on EVINE.EVINE aims to create a shopping platform that's all about unique, value driven merchandise in fashion, beauty, accessories, fitness, food and home for women 35+. The initial site launching today on http://evine.com/ and http://www.facebook.com/evine is a "coming attractions" platform that invites members to join for free and learn about the exciting new brands…
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PR Couture: Fashion PR, Marketing & Social Media
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Fashion PR Quotables: Gilles Mendel, CEO and Creative Director of J.Mendel
13 May 2012 | 8:53 amOriginal Source -
Fashion PR Fridays: Fashion, Marketing & Social Media Links 5.11.12
11 May 2012 | 10:43 amTake a cue from these brands who have done the most with their social media to take advantage of Mother’s Day. (via The High Low) Betsey Johnson filed for bankruptcy and sadly, now the liquidation of assets is not far in the brand’s future. (via Styleite) Building a social media dashboard can be essential in dealing with huge influxes of information and guiding the use of that information in a positive and productive direction. (via 123 Social Media) Iconic accessories brand Christian Louboutin has announced that they will now venture into the world of beauty and cosmetics. (via… -
Ready to Launch Book Signing Soirée Tonight
10 May 2012 | 9:24 amWhen I woke up this morning I had a tickle of excitement, not unlike the feeling you get when it’s your birthday and there are a million things to get done but you don’t mind because it’s a day for celebration! I also had a dream that my book was twice as big and full of misspellings, but what’s a party without some subconscious weirding. The lovely ladies over at Elle Communications have set up a lovely spot at the Hard Rock San Diego’s rooftop bar, Float, and it promises to be a magical evening. If you are in San Diego or near, or have friends who do, …
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PR News
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GM Hands Facebook a PR Challenge
16 May 2012 | 9:00 amGeneral Motors dropped Facebook from its ad budget on the eve of the social network's public stock offering.... -
Consumers: Social Dialogue Not Really Two-Way Affair
15 May 2012 | 9:00 am"Liking" a brand on Facebook should be the start of a relationship between a consumer and a brand, not the end of a courtship.... -
George Lucas a (Spiteful) Good Corporate Citizen
15 May 2012 | 9:00 amThe filmmaker's neighbors refused to let him build a new studio, so he announced plans to build low-income housing instead.... -
$2 Billion Loss? Here's Your $23 Million Pay Package, Jamie
15 May 2012 | 9:00 amJPMorgan Chase's CEO had a relatively easy time of it at the firm's shareholders meeting, while Morgan Stanley's CEO had to face two-dozen protesters at his company's annual meeting.... -
Quick Study: Consumers: Social Dialogue Not Really Two-Way Affair; Amazon, QVC and Apple Most Popular E-Commerce Sites
14 May 2012 | 9:00 am▶ Social Engagement Could be Better: A study finds that consumers expect a two-way dialogue with brands across the social Web, but rarely get it. A survey conducted by Lithium Technologies in April 2012 reveals that while 25% of respondents expect to hear back from a company when they tweet about a brand...
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ProHipHop
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Curren$y’s New Album “The Stoned Immaculate” To Be Released on June 5th
16 May 2012 | 8:30 amCurren$y has announced the release date for his upcoming album The Stoned Immaculate. He broke down his album writing process which, go figure, isn’t any different from his mix-tape writing process. The meat of the conversation revealed some of Immaculate’s... -
Chino XL New Coming Album “RICANstruction: The Black Rosary”
16 May 2012 | 7:55 amDerek Keith Barbosa, better known by his stage name Chino XL, is an American hip hop lyricist, battle rapper, and actor of Puerto Rican and African American descent will gearing to drop the album soon and fans eagerly won’t have to wait long anymore. [Read our other... -
J. Cole reveals collaborative mixtape with Kendrick Lamar
15 May 2012 | 7:08 amJ. Cole and Kendrick Lamar are well-known rappers in the music industry. The 27-year-old performer, J. Cole, who has described himself as the “First German rapper” signed to Roc Nation, has received a nomination for Best New Artist at the 54th Grammy Awards. In... -
Bigg Jus Newest Album to be Release on June 5th Entitled “Machines That Make Civilizations Fun”
14 May 2012 | 7:00 amFounding Company Flow emcee Bigg Jus has announced his fourth solo album. One June 5, Mush Records will release “Machines That Make Civilizations Fun”. The New York City native and former Sub Verse Music founder’s latest work follows the 2005 release,... -
K.R.I.T Releases Album Entitled “Live from the Underground” On June 5th
14 May 2012 | 5:16 amBig K.R.I.T. is preparing to release his debut album, Live From The Underground, on June 5. While fans have the video for “I Got This” to hold them over, they can get excited for one more major announcement. One month after K.R.I.T. releases the album, he plans on going on...
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Create Digital Music
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Skrillex, as Reviewed By Very Young Children
15 May 2012 | 10:20 amThis may already be the image you have in your mind of Skrillex’s fan base, but let’s get real: these are actual kids, and they really are getting introduced to electronic dance music through Skrillex for the first time. “What is dubstep?” Darned if I know any more, kid. What have we learned? 1. All kids sound cooler when they have English accents. (It’s unreal. They can be throwing a temper tantrum and still sound oddly sophisticated, or at least charmingly in-character. CDM’s sizable readership of English people may wonder what the heck I’m talking… -
I Dream of Wires Documentary: Carl Craig, Canada, and Modular’s Beauty and Agony [Video]
15 May 2012 | 8:21 amLike the modulars themselves, an upcoming documentary on these analog synth beasts has been lurking behind closed doors. But that won’t be the case for long. “I Dream of Wires,” the crowd-funded documentary that probes artists’ fascination with making music by connecting patch cords, will see a public showcase at Montreal’s MUTEK Festival. This and an upcoming film release, atop a big get-together in New York, could make this a proper summer of modular. In anticipation of their showcase, MUTEK has released two significant excerpts from the film. One talks to Carl… -
Music for Plants, Music by Plants, in Two Eco-Themed Album Releases [Listen, Galleries]
14 May 2012 | 11:27 amThese green things, for once, are the stars, in Data Garden Quartet. From the installation version in Philadelphia. All Data Garden photos courtesy the artists. “On lead synthesizer, a philodendron …” (And the crowd goes wild…) Vegetation may not be the first association you have when thinking of electronic music. But two new albums, each released via Bandcamp, celebrate biological life of the green, leafy variety. One is a benefit compilation, with proceeds going to help trees and music inspired by that green goodness. The other uses plants as… -
Modular Lovers to Gather in NYC, Celebrate Legacy of Buchla, CV
14 May 2012 | 7:53 amA look at a Buchla, up close, from Messe in March. Some of the most innovative modules – and certainly some of the strangest parameter and module labels – have come from this designer. And for lovers of all things Control Voltage, a coming event in New York seems a don’t-miss. You could almost call it Buchlafest. Led by Manhattan electronic music hub Harvestworks, fans of modular synthesis, composition and performance with patch cords, and Don Buchla’s modular synths are set to gather in New York this summer. In the video below, they introduce not only their event… -
Remembering Adam Yauch, and the Videos You Probably Haven’t Seen That Should Make You Smile
11 May 2012 | 5:54 amBy popular reader demand, CDM remembers Adam Yauch this week, teaming up with our friends at Network Awesome, who dig deep into the archives for some video gems. Peace, Adam, indeed. Try http://networkawesome.com/2012-5-11 if the video above isn’t loading for you. It’s not hard to understand the impact of the loss of Adam Yauch, aka MCA, founding Beastie Boy. With the passing of music idols comes a sense of the passage of time, all the more so when they’re barely into middle age. But MCA, to a swath of music fans, is more than a distant idol. He, and the band he helped…
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Bob Baker's Indie Music Promotion Blog
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New Productivity Tool - Your Got-Done List!
16 May 2012 | 10:05 amYou make them. I make them. Just about everybody uses or has used a To-Do List to get things done. Of course. How else would we know what to focus our energy and attention on every day? No doubt, To-Do Lists serve an important purpose. But if you're anything like me, seeing all the things on your list that don't get done can be frustrating. Create a Facebook event page for the next show ... Finish editing the new video ... Sign up and start a profile on the hot new Social Buzz site ... Post a link to the new blog post on Twitter ... Take the car in for a state inspection ... Make time to… -
Meet Me in Santa Monica This Sunday, April 29, 5 to 7 PM
23 Apr 2012 | 4:09 pmI'll be in Los Angeles this week. While I'm there I will hold a casual "meetup" in Santa Monica, and YOU are invited. Here are the details, if you're in the LA area: Sunday, April 29 5:00 to 7:00 PM Makai Lounge 101 Broadway Santa Monica, CA 90401 (310) 434-1511 www.makailounge.com Please RSVP on this Facebook event page. Makai is at the corner of Ocean and Broadway -- just one block from the Santa Monica Pier. You'll find no-cost three-hour parking at the Promenade garage off of Broadway and 2nd St. No workshop, no teaching. Just a casual get-together with cool, creative friends in the area. -
Dick Clark: Tribute to an Icon & Legend
18 Apr 2012 | 8:47 pmI'm old enough to remember Dick Clark's American Bandstand. Sure, it was safe and squeaky clean. But there's no denying that Dick Clark and his iconic TV show were trailblazers. He introduced an entire generation of music fans to pop stars of the day. He was a prolific host, performer, and entrepreneur. My biggest Dick Clark memory, though, was a double album called 20 Years of Rock N' Roll. My mom owned it and, along with her many Elvis records, this album was part of my early introduction to pop music of the '50s and '60s. I salute Dick Clark for his immense contribution to American music… -
Use This iPad App to Create Original Graphics
16 Apr 2012 | 8:25 amI'm really enjoying the new Paper app on the iPad. It's free to get the ink pen tool, and $7.99 for the full kit. I sprang for the full version. Here's a quick doodle I made last night using it: I plan to create my own graphics and use them in upcoming photos and videos, etc. Here are links to learn more about it itunes.apple.com/us/app/paper-by-fiftythree/id506003812 www.fiftythree.com What about you? How could you use Paper (or any other image creation app or software) to create original graphics to go with your original music? -Bob -
Don't Make THIS Mistake with Your CD Artwork
29 Mar 2012 | 9:08 amA friend of mine, who happens to be a great singer and songwriter, recently released his first EP. He was very excited about getting this debut recording out to the public. He was doing all the right things: Getting digital distribution through CD Baby, setting up a Facebook fan page and a YouTube channel, hiring a graphic designer, and even manufacturing a short run of physical CDs. I was so happy for him and eagerly bought a copy of the EP when it was available. The packaging looked great ... but I quickly noticed that an important detail was missing. I examined the album artwork two or…
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Social Business Advisor: Social CRM and Enterprise 2.0
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Free Webinar: Common Collaboration Problems with the CIO of Pabst Brewing Company
15 May 2012 | 12:28 amThis Wednesday the 16th at 10am PST Ben Haines, the CIO of Pabst Brewing Company will be joining me on a webinar to discuss some of the common collaboration problems that organizations face today. We’re going to try to have a casual discussion around what obstacles organizations are running up against and how they are overcoming these obstacles. The event is being powered by Cisco which is allowing us to host the event on their platform. Here are the details taken from the event site: Collaboration is not new. In fact, we have collaborated for thousands of years. However,… -
What Would Happen if Your Organization Didn’t Invest in Collaboration?
10 May 2012 | 11:40 amI (and many others) have spent a great deal of time talking about why organizations should invest their resources in collaboration tools and strategies. But let’s assume for a moment that you didn’t. How long do you realistically see your organization going on without making this investment; 1 year, 2 years, 3 years? Do you really see your organization waiting this long? At this point I have probably worked with, spoken with, and researched hundreds of companies and it’s rare to come across an organization that nothing in place when it comes to collaboration. At the… -
Implementing Enterprise 2.0 at IBM
8 May 2012 | 1:06 amI had the opportunity to have several in-depth conversations with John Rooney (CIO of Technical Strategy) and Ethan McCarty (Senior Manager, Digital and Social Strategy) of IBM. The conversations resulted in our recently released case study on Implementing Enterprise 2.0 at IBM. Here is an overview of that case study. With over 420,000 employees in over 70 countries, IBM is one of the largest and most recognized companies in the world today. A company of this size needs to be able to coordinate and collaborate, share business processes, and respond to market demands. In order to make… -
The Twelve Principles of Collaboration
3 May 2012 | 10:41 am1. Individual benefit is just as important as the overall corporate benefit (if not more important) Don’t focus on the overall corporate value and benefit when communicating collaboration to employees. Employees care about how this will impact them on an individual basis. How will this make their jobs and lives easier? 2. Strategy before technology Before rushing to pick that shiny new collaboration platform focus on developing a strategy which will help you understand the “why” before the “how.” This is crucial for the success of any… -
New Study: Only 10 Percent of Employees are Engaged
1 May 2012 | 11:52 amI don’t like reading things like this, I really don’t. But today I came across a report released by Modern Survey which found that we have a lot of work to do around engaging our employees. Modern Survey isn’t the first firm to report low engagement numbers, Gallup and Blessing White (along with others) have all found low engagement rates within our organizations. The questions, approaches, methodology, and data that all of these firms get is different but the trend and overall findings remains the same. I don’t think we realize how crucial employee engagement…
