Remember when conference calls were a big deal? Multiple lines and access codes, oh my! And then web conferencing joined the ranks. Individuals and companies alike began to incorporate a new piece of technology into their meetings. Desktop and application sharing became the norm. A tool that allowed remote participation. A new form of training, demos, and collaboration that was cost effective and efficient.

Then we were introduced to…POLLING! And the webinar world rejoiced.  And this is just one of many in a feature set that we think has demonstrated the continual evolution of conferencing. But, even now you do business differently than you did just a few years ago. Has your conferencing software kept up the pace? Here’s how we’re contributing:

• All-in-One platform: A product that fits every meeting scenario, regardless of size or need. Internal training tool? Check. Large scale, fully supported web event? Check. Sales team demos, marketing webinars, remote office collaboration? Yes. One tool, one provider, endless uses.
• Social Media Integration: Now you’re able to seamlessly share your registration links and recorded content with your social networks like Twitter & Facebook right from your conference center interface. No separate logins required. A one stop shop to create, edit, and disseminate your content in a timely matter.
• Abundant Feature Set: From a Flash based platform, to a one-of-a-kind embeddable media player and unique campaign URL creation for trackable ROI on each event, the available feature list makes for an unmatched experience for both you and your meeting participants.

Later this month we’ll be covering this conferencing timeline and discussing it’s continual enhancements. Be sure to register for the webinar to learn about the new trends in the industry and ask yourself if your tool is keeping up with your business.

Have you been attending our Nonprofit Series? The final event is coming up this Tuesday, June 29th @ 2:00ET, and we’ve gathered some excellent feedback to address. Here is a list of questions our audiences have asked over the course of the series: SEO, WordPress, Google Grants, Facebook that our experts will be covering. Don’t miss out!

• How can you make WordPress work with e-commerce – special event ticket sales, merchandise sales, auctions, donations, etc.?
• How do you set up an organization page on Facebook, as opposed to your personal page? And then how do you link that page to and from your organization’s website?
• What is the difference between wordpress.com and wordpress.org? Which of the two should nonprofits use?
• Is there a way to customize WP to make downloading documents easier and more efficient?
• Is there an easy way to create a mobile version of your WordPress site?
• Can WordPress integrate with your membership database so you can give access to members only?
• And how do we get a free WordPress site for our nonpofit?

Have other burning questions you’d like to ask our panel? Check out the recordings above then leave a comment on this post and we’ll add your questions to the presentation.

Don’t forget to register today for A Manager’s Checklist for Online Success!

Facebook’s Jon Fougner and BlitzLocal demonstrated how Facebook Pages and Ads can powerfully  connect nonprofits with their supporters in the  ReadyTalk Webinar Series on April 28.

Fougner said Facebook is better than other online sites at generating interest because it incorporates  social context. A person is more likely to click that they “Like” a cause or support it financially if they  see that their friends already have done so.

Dennis Yu, CEO of local Internet marketing firm BlitzLocal, demonstrated one social media engagement strategy for Facebook. His firm designed a Facebook Page tab that allows those who “Like” Friends of Trees, a Portland area nonprofit, to earn a badge for their support.

Webinar attendees learned that 70 percent of non-profits already have Facebook Pages, but that only 30 percent are running Facebook ads to them.  Thus, most non-profits are missing out on a massive source of highly engaging traffic. Facebook also offered a free $50 advertising credit for the first 1,000 non-profits that sign up.

This was scheduled to be the final session of “Online Marketing for Nonprofits,” a four-part webinar series hosted by ReadyTalk. Now, due to overwhelming response, a bonus webinar appears to be in the works, according to ReadyTalk’s series manager (more later).

Fougner, Facebook’s associate for ads product marketing, said he was delighted to address the group. “Part of the reason it’s so exciting to speak to nonprofits is that the nonprofit community has been among the leaders in social marketing,” Fougner he said. “Even before Facebook existed, nonprofits have leveraged friends and loved ones to communicate a message and to build support. There’s nothing we love more at Facebook than to see our product used to effect change in the world.”

If you missed it, you can view the webinar recording  here. If you don’t have time to watch, here are some notes inspired by the event on the 7 Deadly Sins for Non-Profits on Facebook:

1. Not allowing fans to post on their page: The default wall settings show only posts by the administrator, effectively shutting out what your fans have to say.  The effect of this is to kill your viral traffic, because who wants to post on a page where comments don’t show up?

2. Not creating a custom tab: Yes, you can have a tab on your page that has video, Twitter, a donation form — many things. You can brand tabs with your logo, colors and more. Sadly, few non-profits are aware of this option, which is via the Static FMBL application.

3. Not connecting their Facebook Page with their website: Social media sites don’t live alone they need to be tied to your website.  Facebook has released Facebook Connect to allow you to do just that, so that what happens on your website can show up on your Facebook page — and vice-versa.  Best of all, it takes only minutes to implement.

4. Not taking advantage of the free $50 from Facebook: You’ll have to download the code from the presentation to be able to see it.  As a special bonus to just attendees, the first 1,000 folks to use it will get it, so don’t delay.

5. Not reserving your vanity url: Better get your name on Facebook before someone else grabs it!  Go to facebook.com/username.  Your shorter url will be easier to remember and is just nicer to have.  BlitzLocal’s is at facebook.com/blitzlocal.

6. Treating social ads like search ads: Are you guilty of copying your Google ads to Facebook and expecting it to work in the same way?  Facebook is about friends who are connecting with each other, not people who are entering in a keyword at the moment they’re interested in buying something.  Thus, on Facebook, you are generating awareness, as opposed to driving conversion at that moment.

7. Not tracking conversions: Number 6 notwithstanding, Facebook ads still drive great conversions.  Because you’re targeting the people as opposed to keywords, the window from the click to the eventual conversion can be months, instead of minutes.  Measure your conversions properly via Facebook’s new conversion tracking tool so you can determine ROI on your ads.

Simone Verhulst, who manages the monthly Webinar Series at ReadyTalk, said the response was strong. “We have had amazing feedback on the entire series, and a huge response to the Facebook presentation. The audience was highly engaged and we had a great Q&A session at the end which gave attendees some bonus material to take away,” she said. “We’ve currently got something extra in the works due to the vast response from our non-profit followers – keep an eye out for June!”

Series co-sponsor BlitzLocal wishes to thank all of its guests in the series, including Jon Fougner, Kristie Mun (Google Grants), Don Campbell (Expand2Web), Brett Meyer (NTEN) and Gillian Muessig (SEOMoz).

Should you have any questions, feel free to reach local Internet marketing firm BlitzLocal at nonprofits@blitzlocal.com.

If you missed this ReadyTalk webinar the other day, you can catch a recorded version here.   We had special guest Don Campbell, one of the world’s pre-eminent experts on the WordPress platform and President of Expand2Web. In short, if you have no money, no resources, and no technical skills– no problem! You can get an easy to use site for free– just pay a few bucks a month to have it hosted somewhere. Let’s go over some of the key takeaways from the webinar, plus answer a few common questions we received:

• Isn’t WordPress just blogging software? While that’s what it’s most commonly used for, WordPress can be your non-profit community, a video gallery, a shopping cart, a news publication, or anything in-between. There are modules called plug-ins that you can add to your site to perform nearly any function you can think of.  With a community of tens of thousands of developers and millions of sites on WordPress, it’s likely you’ll find what you need.  There are also thousands of free themes, which are pre-made templates– some you can pay for, too.
• How is this free? The open source software movement is about software that is designed by a community versus a corporation. This volunteer effort has built Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP, and most of the technology that powers the Internet and the largest sites on the Internet.  While you don’t have a support contact, you can ask questions in the forums and get help from thousands of others.  Odds are that you’ll not need to do this, since you’ll probably be able to get what you want without needing a programmer.
• Is it safe? Like any software, there are always security concerns.  Our advice is to keep your version up-to-date, so that you have the latest security patches.  Do this and you’re unlikely to have any issues.  Your bigger concern will likely be spammers who will leave fake comments on your site– a nuisance, but one you can filter out, just like via your spam guard in your email.
• But I’m not technical. No worries– if you can use a web-based email tool, you can update your website without a hassle. This software is designed for ordinary people to use.  But if you are a programmer or know one, there certainly are things that you can tweak.
• What’s the catch of free WordPress versus a site that would cost me $100k? That site which costs you $100k probably has time built in for design labor, project management, custom engineering to integrate different databases, and so forth.  Thus, if you don’t have a lot of money, hunt for one of thousands of free themes, so that you can either get by with no labor cost or can hire someone for $100 to customize something you already like that is close. A proprietary expensive platform is not “better” or safer– what you’re paying for is labor.
• What’s the offer of the free theme I’ve heard about? BlitzLocal is offering a free WordPress theme designed specifically for non-profits, as a courtesy to attendees of the ReadyTalk Non-Profit Webinar series.  There is no catch.  The theme is free– but you will need to find a hosting company for between $5 and $20 a month.  And if you want customization, you will have to pay someone to do it, whether BlitzLocal, a friend, or a freelancer on a job board.

Stay tuned for the next two webinars in the Non-Profit Series on Google Grants (featuring representatives from Google and NTEN) and then on Facebook (with special guest Jon Fougner of Facebook).

For more information on WordPress for your non-profit, please visit wordpress.org or expand2web.com.  If you have questions, feel free to reach out to don@expand2web.com or dennis@blitzlocal.com

About the author: Dennis Yu is CEO of BlitzLocal, an ad agency specializing in local online marketing and Google Grants management.

This fall has been an exciting time at ReadyTalk!

We’re enjoying a lot of positive feedback from the launch of Conference Center 4 and the ReadyTalk Media Player.

In fact, at this year’s DEMOgala, the Media Player received the People’s Choice award. DEMOgala is a technology conference and exhibition hosted by CSIA, Colorado’s technology association. This year’s event featured more than 50 speakers on 22 different panels discussing the newest trends in technology. ReadyTalk was one of 20 companies selected out of 130 applicants as a Showcase Company to exhibit innovations at DEMOgala. From the Showcase Companies, ReadyTalk was selected as the winner of the People’s Choice award for our innovative media player.

The recognition continued last week when ReadyTalk was named to Deloitte’s 2009 “Technology Fast 500,” which ranks the fastest-growing tech firms. The list includes businesses in such fields as media, telecommunications, life sciences and clean technology. ReadyTalk joined 10 other Colorado companies on the list.

With new products and lots of growth, ReadyTalk is hiring talented people to help us keep up the momentum. We are looking for individuals who mirror our company philosophy and values. If you are interested in pursuing a career opportunity with ReadyTalk, check out our current open positions.

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