How did you hear about us?

The world of philanthropy has been something that the wealthy and socially elite have practiced for many years. The layperson or those who simply were not aware of the many different social causes were not active participants. Currently fund raising is $23,000,000,000 business and some of that may be attributed to the introduction of technology and its capabilities in aiding social causes and those who head the events that promote those causes. A whole new world, or rather "virtual world" has evolved and now a greater number of individuals are able to easily be reached through various social networks and websites.

"Grass root" fund raisers to well known non-profit organizations have benefited from this technology exponentially. Social networks such as facebook and MySpace have brought awareness to individual and community events simply by spreading information through a network of friends and relatives. Larger organizations have utilized website enhancement agencies, such as "Tork", to increase their level of visiblity and have ultimately gained more contributory attention due to the ability to make a charitable contribution with just a few clicks. These new capabilities has changed the face of altruism and have made it a more widely practiced activity within our societies. How can that be a bad thing? There will always be someone in need so why not utilize the most effective and effortless techniques available to help them. So I ask again...How did you hear about us?

Guest Blog Author: Dorothy Gotte

Facebook Email Scam Beware!

A while ago we blogged about a Facebook email scam that talks about a password reset, I just want to make sure people know that it’s still out there and has changed just a little.

I just received an email with the subject line "Facebook Support. Your account is temporarily blocked. ID798" Now if this had to come to my email account that is actually linked to my Facebook account I probably wouldn’t have been suspicious. However, the email account that this email came to is NOT linked to any facebook account.

It looks like the sender was "Facebook Support [managers.nr.296@facebook.com]" and has an attached zip file called "Facebook_document_Nr9198.zip".

DO NOT OPEN THE ATTACHMENT!

Premature "Post"ulation

Yes we have all been there. We get caught up in the moment, all ramped up, and before we can even think about it we do it at the worst possible time. That's right, we post something on facebook, twitter, or our blog when our emotions are on overdrive. It's not until later that we realize the error of our ways and severely regret what we posted prematurely.

We as humans have always had the ability to fly off the handle and say things that we later regret. In the past though we only had to worry about the people in the room hearing our demented rantings. Then with the invention of email and cell phones we needed to worry about sending emails or texts to people we know with our off-the-wall antics. As technology progressed it has given us the opportunity to send these messages around the world in an instant. It's much more difficult to take back or appologize for thoughts that we put out there without thinking them through all the way. This gives all the more reason why we should wait until we cool off before posting our opinions.

That being said, we've all made the mistake of premature "post"ulation. What now? Do we delete the post knowing that half of the free world has already read it and judged us for our heat of the moment opinions? Do we post an explanation of our irrational thinking of our post? Or do you just wait until you run into people and sheepishly explain what happened?

What do you think? What approach have you taken when you've made this mistake?

HUG2010: Who's your MoFu?

No No we are not trying to be inappropriate. At HubSpot they have coined the term MoFu to represent the middle of the funnel. This session was a discussion on how to take leads and turn them into conversions. I have found this sessions to be the most entertaining session by far. The whole session related lead nurturing to the process of dating. The typical sales funnel takes:

Visitors -> Leads -> Customers

The dating funnel takes:

People you meet -> Dates -> Marriage

At HubSpot they also get very excited about data and statistics, also known as data "porn". For example of people that research products they want to buy 6 months later only 23% of them actually purchased the product. At the same time, 6 months later 67% still plan on purchasing. People that nurture their leads close 20% more of people than those that do no nurture their leads.

What is a lead? It is a person who is interested in your product. Or from a dating perspective it is a phone number given to you on a napkin. Another bit of data is that 78% of sales that started as a web inquiry went to the first responder. That means that it is very crucial to get back to people as soon as possible.

What is a qualified lead? It is a lead that fits the profile of an ideal customer. In the dating world it is a person that you've been on a date with and still like.

Through HubSpot you have the option of create what are called lead nurturing campaigns that allow you to send automated emails in timed intervals if people fill out a specific form on your website. Based on the form filled out you can decide if they should get a different set of information (and create a new lead nurturing campaign) or if they can get the same set of emails as the person who filled out a different form.

How do you send them lead nurturing emails without seeming spammy?
Make sure that your emails are not all sales material talking about you. You want to be sure to send them information that is our could be of value to them. You don't need to use HubSpots lead nurturing campaigns to do this you can do it manually or utilize other tools of your choosing.

What are some lead nurturing email ideas?

Thank you/welcome letter
Tips
FAQs
links or information about online tools
Series of archived blog posts relating to information they requested/downloaded
Product Specs or documentation.

Who should my lead nurturing emails come from?
It depends on who will respond to them or follow up with them if they have questions.

Every person may have a different approach or opinion about lead nurturing. The takeaways are that it's important to respond quickly and make sure that you tailor your lead nurturing to your sales cycle. You don't want to send out emails over a nine month period if you customers usually close within 2 months. Talk to your sales team to be sure you work together to iron out the best process to maximize lead conversion.