Non-Profit Generating Revenue Through Facebook & Twitter

The non-profit teaching certification program I work for ran a small promotion on Facebook and Twitter last week and we saw some nice results, bringing in over $12,000 in revenue in one day. The promotion also helped us gain new followers, particularly on Facebook, where we’ve gained about 100 new fans since we first announced the promotion about two weeks ago.

Here’s what we did…it’s rather simple and hardly groundbreaking but it worked for us and it could work for others: we gave people something they’d already shown us they wanted and we directed them to our social media channels to get it.

Some specifics
Our program normally costs $975 and whenever we run a promotion giving a discount (i.e. $150 off during January) we see a big response, sometimes with a few hundred people taking advantage of the offer over the course of a month. Normally these promotions are planned out well in advance and have promotional materials, emails and web graphics to go along with them.

For our Facebook/Twitter promotion, we took this successful concept and altered it slightly, giving people one day to save $150 on our program. We called it the One-Day Sale and put a blurb in two of our monthly newsletters, letting people know they could save $150 on our program but the only way to find out when was through Facebook and Twitter. We saw an immediate spike in followers and reactions from people on our Facebook wall. A few days later, we let people know the first One-Day Sale was coming soon, giving them a big hint the day before saying in our status updates “…IT’S TOMORROW…”

Results
We ended up with 15 enrollments (over $12,000 in revenue) through that first One-Day Sale, which is pretty good when you consider that our product is not going to be an impulse buy for people. It costs almost $1,000 to enroll and people will then spend, on average, eight to ten months completing the program. So, we’re never going to see the same results as when someone gives away something like coffee or ice cream on Facebook or offers a discount on a product that is much less expensive than ours and appeals to a wider audience. Our program is also only accepted for public schools in nine states to date, so our market is still rather small compared to an organization that sells a product that could be used in all 50 states or the rest of the world.

Apart from the financial results, there’s also the increase in followers, which means we have more people to get any of our messages out to, not just the One-Day Sale announcements. And, because they know we’ll hold these spontaneous One-Day Sales, some people are more likely to keep an eye on our Facebook page or our Twitter account, during which time they might come across one of our videos, decide to make a donation or read an interesting story about us and share it with others.

A few other upsides to the promo…
The cost for us to hold a One-Day Sale through our social media channels is basically nothing—it’s really just about the time. We also don’t need to plan these out in advance because nothing needs to be printed, no emails need to be scheduled and nothing needs to be done to our website. We can turn around and hold one of these on very short notice. Another nice thing, we already have people wondering when the next one will be. Just yesterday, someone posted to our Facebook wall asking if we’re planning another one soon.

Trying Out GetSocial

I’m trying out GetSocial on my posts now. Icons will appear across the bottom of new posts going forward — you can click on those to share the post across various social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Nats Writer Mark Zuckerman & Questions on New Journalism Models

If you missed the story a few week’s back, this is just cool. Mark Zuckerman, former Nats/MLB beat writer for The Washington Times, started a blog and then a campaign to raise funds to travel to and report on Nats spring training. He set a goal of $5,000 on February 8 and surpassed that in just over a day. As of this posting, he’s raised over $10,000.

At a time when paywalls and the future of journalism are hot topics, fundraising successes like Zuckerman’s bring up some questions:

Are people more likely to support a freelance reporter with funding than pay a news organization for online content?

Is a donate-only-if-you-want model something that could work for a traditional media outlet and not just a single writer?

Are there some local journalists (in DC or elsewhere) with a big enough following that they could consistently make more money through a self-employed Zuckerman-type model than they can working for their current employer?

Please share your thoughts in the comments.

Poll: Nielsen rating for Pittsburgh vs. Washington NHL on NBC game

What will the Nielsen rating be for today’s NHL on NBC game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals? Take the poll

For a look at ratings for other recent NHL on NBC games, check out this post on Sports Media Watch.

UPDATE: The ratings are in:

http://sportsmediawatch.blogspot.com/2010/02/another-decent-overnight-for-nhl-on-nbc.html

http://puckthemedia.wordpress.com/2010/02/08/breaking-nbcs-penscaps-ratings-tie-season-high/

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2010/02/caps-pens_draws_playoff-type_r.html

Verizon FiOS Adding CSN+ By Tomorrow; Friday Caps & Wizards Broadcasts Moved

Two quick pieces of news…

From Tim Fitzpatrick with Comcast SportsNet comes news that Verizon is “launching CSN+ on FiOS in the Mid-Atlantic area in time for tomorrow’s Wizards game.” See this previous blog post for why this is good news for some FiOS customers.

And Friday’s Caps game against Atlanta has been moved to CSN, while the Wizards game vs. Orlando will now air on CSN+.

MORNING UPDATE (2/3/10): Heather Wilner with Verizon emailed me this morning with a link to this post from a Verizon representative, which says that “Starting today, FiOS TV customers in Maryland and Virginia will have Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic Plus (CSN+), the CSN Mid-Atlantic overflow channel that gets you your Caps and Wizards games.” Verizon will “continue to offer the CSN+ content on FiOS1 in the D.C. metro area, and on channel 334 in the rest of the region.”

A Quick January Update

It’s been a busy month, with my family welcoming a new baby into the world and then at work we’ve been running a big January promo. So the only content I’ve posted here on the blog recently has been in the comments section of my other posts, mostly to keep people updated on the FiOS/CSN+ issue.

I’ll get back to posting some new blog entries soon. But quickly, here are a couple things that might be of interest to those readers who have been coming here to read about FiOS/CSN+:

Dan Steinberg recently wrote on the Washington Post’s D.C. Sports Bog about CSN, MASN and HD.

And Luke Broadwater with the Howard County Times wrote an article on how the FiOS/CSN+ issue is affecting Caps fans.

Enjoy! And check back soon for more content. Thanks for reading.

On the Web, Athletes are Leaving Money on the Table

More athletes need web pages. This doesn’t sound like something that should have to be said in 2009, but Google your favorite athlete and see what comes up. Chances are the first few results are for stats/bio pages on the big sports sites—like ESPN.com or Yahoo! Sports—or for Wikipedia pages. Sometimes the top results are recent headlines about the athlete.

But what you don’t see enough of in the top results are official websites for these athletes—in other words, their own web page through which they can grab web traffic and where they get to control the content. Some sports figures have them, but not enough do.

It may seem that, unless the athlete is someone who loves the spotlight, they don’t need a website. Or that because many of them are financially set, they don’t need their own online outlet to promote themselves further. I don’t see it that way.

In my opinion, every athlete, especially the ones on the fringe, should have their own space on the web—someplace they can show their worth, pitch their products, generate support for their charities or mobilize their fans in any way they’d like.

Next time an athlete is in a popularity contest to make the last spot on the all-star team, a player with a high-traffic website, a mailing list and a strong Twitter following could have the edge.

A website could be one way for a current athlete to set themselves up to transition into a career in the broadcast booth, by getting started now with video postings and podcasts.

Or if a coach or player decides to write a book, it has better chances of hitting the best seller list quicker if that new author has a website with regular visitors.

And for retired athletes who may have played their sport before contracts got to be as lucrative as they are today, a website could be a key revenue-generator for selling autographed memorabilia, booking speaking engagements or showing they have a following that makes them worthy of endorsement deals.

Even the last player to make a pro roster has people searching for them in Google. But if any athlete, well-known or obscure, doesn’t have a site waiting to be found on Google, etc., then all the web hits go to the ESPNs and Yahoo Sports of the world.

A simple website and a little Search Engine Optimization (SEO) should get the official site of most athletes placing on the first page of the Google results, probably in the top 3 to 5 slots depending on what else they’re up against and the effectiveness of their SEO efforts. For those who don’t want the distraction or who don’t have the time to produce content for their site, there are people who can help.

But when an athlete doesn’t have a website up and running, so they can grab some of the search traffic their name generates, it’s like leaving money on the table.

Caps & Wizards fans, Verizon FiOS has “solution for the ‘over flow’ games”

Here’s some promising news on the Verizon FiOS/CSN+ situation…

I’ve been exchanging messages with Verizon Director of Product Management Joseph Ambeault on Twitter over the past week and on Friday afternoon he said: “Caps & Wizards fans – you have been heard & we have a solution for the ‘over flow’ games – hustling implementation plan.”

Those are the only details I have from them at this time, but I will post any updates I get.

According to the schedules on each team’s website, the next game that is set to air on CSN+ is Saturday, December 12 for the Caps, when they play at Toronto, and Friday, December 18 for the Wizards, when they play at Golden State.

12/11/09 Update — as I’ve noted in the comments below, a Verizon official has said that the affected FiOS customers will not have CSN+ in time for this Saturday (12/12/09) night’s Caps game in Toronto.

Further updates have been posted in the comments below.

Previous posts on the FiOS/CSN+ issue:
11/18/09 – Verizon Fios Frustrating Some Caps Fans in D.C. Area
11/19/09 – An update on the Verizon FiOS & CSN+ situation
11/24/09 – FiOS Update…Why Some Get Two MASNs But Not Two CSNs

Gearing up for Cyber Monday

I’m really looking forward to getting into the office tomorrow. It’s Cyber Monday and though ABCTE is not a typical online retailer, we do offer a big Cyber Monday discount. Anyone who enrolls by midnight on Monday using the special discount code (it’s posted on the front page of abcte.org) receives $150 off ABCTE’s teaching certification program, which normally costs $975.

We started the promotion last year, coming up with the idea very last minute, and we saw some nice Cyber Monday results. I’m hopeful we’ll beat those results this year, as we got the word out earlier, hit our mailing list once already with the news, issued a press release and have been using Facebook and Twitter to get the word out as well. The promotion also kicked off on Black Friday this year, giving people four days to take advantage of it.

FiOS Update: Including Why Some Get Two MASNs But Not Two CSNs

I exchanged some more emails with a member of Verizon’s PR staff, as I continue to try to get a better understanding of the issues previously mentioned here, with FiOS customers in some parts of the D.C. area unable to get Comcast SportsNet Plus (CSN+).

What I learned in that email exchange might be helpful to some of you who are trying to understand why you can’t get Caps and Wizards games on CSN+ via FiOS in your area, when a FiOS customer in a neighboring county can. Or why you could get MASN2 on your FiOS channel 1 during baseball season, but can’t get CSN+ now.

If you are a FiOS customer in a part of the D.C. area that gets CSN+, it is shown on your channel 1. For you, that channel is called Fios1. This distinction between Fios1 and channel 1 is key to understanding this whole situation.

For the DC market, FiOS1 is available—according to the CSN Plus Listings on CSNWashington.com—in the following areas: Montgomery County and Prince George’s Counties in Maryland and then Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Loudoun County, Prince William, Spotsylvania County and Stafford County in Virginia.

Now for FiOS customers in someplace like Howard County, you have a channel 1. That channel was carrying MASN2 this summer. But, that channel is now blank for you, most or all of the time, according to one FiOS customer who lives there. Channel 1 for all of these particular FiOS customers is not FiOS1; it is just channel 1 and it does not carry CSN+.

The reason channel 1 carried MASN2 for these FioS customers this summer is, according to Verizon’s PR staff, because “MASN makes MASN2 available as a full-time feed. Comcast does not make CSN+ available as a full-time feed. At this time, [Verizon is] not able to handle a part-time feed like that, so outside of where [Verizon has] FiOS1, [they] cannot offer a part-time channel like CSN+.”

So, the only way FiOS customers in these areas could get CSN+ on FiOS channel 1 would be if either:

1.) Verizon turns Channel 1 into FiOS1 in these locations, like it is in all the locations listed above or 2.) Comcast SportsNet decides at some point to turn CSN+ into a full-time feed like MASN does with MASN2.

As for point number 1, Verizon says that FiOS1 is “a local channel that [Verizon] offers right now in three areas: DC metro, Long Island (New York), and Northern New Jersey. As [FiOS] moves forward, [they'll] announce any plans to expand the channel.”

People can debate where the DC metro area begins and ends, but for right now, according to the way FiOS defines it with FiOS1, it does not include some areas that are as close as about 20 miles to where the Caps and Wizards play their home games.

If I could get Verizon to answer one question, it would be: What specifically is preventing them from putting FiOS1 on channel 1 right now in these other DC area locations where there is demand for the CSN+ games? That’s the one thing I still have not gotten a clear answer on.

As for option number 2, this would require CSN+ to fill the time outside of games with some type of content. MASN2 did this by airing ESPN News. I have not heard whether or not this is something CSN would consider or even has the capacity to do. I only know that they want to help Verizon find a solution to this problem.

Despite the uncertainties, one things is pretty clear—a lot of people are losing in the current set-up. Caps and Wizards fans are not able to watch approximately a dozen of each team’s games, FiOS risks losing some of these fans to competing cable TV companies, CSN is not having some of their content seen by people who want that content and, finally, the teams whose games aren’t being seen are missing out on some opportunities to reach current and potential fans.

We need a beer summit.