Kevin Lee Search Engine Marketing Expert – Thought Leader Video Intereviews

Supporting a Cause for We-Care.com’s $100K #MillionDimes event.

If you are a celebrity, (big or small) or even just a power Tweeter, selecting a cause to support with a Tweet (or more) in the We-Care.com #Million Dimes $100,000 Charity Challenge can be a perplexing task.

Here are some guidelines that might help you:

1)      Do you believe in the cause and its mission?  That may seem obvious, but its sometimes overlooked.

2)      Is the cause fairly efficient with its funds?  Fundraising and general efficiency is important, but it isn’t the only barometer of a good cause because some causes need to market themselves heavily to reach sufficient size to attack the problem they propose to address.  Places like CharityNavigator and Guidestar can be helpful.

3)      Is the cause good at Social Media?  Hey, after all this is a Twitter promotion, so since the cause you support is likely to get a lot more followers as a result of your support, will they know what to do with those followers?

4)      Does the cause play nice with others who have a similar mission?  There’s a pay-it-forward element of the #MillionDimes promotion.  Is this cause culturally disposed to cooperation?

5)      Will the cause resonate with your followers?  You may love a niche cause, but if your followers are unlikely to agree that the cause is worthy the retweet rate will be low and the cause won’t get as many of the Million Dimes at a dime per valid tweet.

Hey hope that helps.

The We-Care.com $100K #MillionDimes promotion isn’t just about getting Twitter votes (at a dime a piece) to get you the largest possible donation from We-Care.com (which is $1000 per US-based nonprofit).  It’s also about using the excitement about a dime a tweet to activate your current twitter followers, gain more followers, and get the word out about your cause.

You only have 140 characters and your supporters (or you if you are tweeting to get a retweet) have to include your handle (which is automatically added in a retweet), the #MillionDimes hashtag and the @WeCare handle and a link to the rules.  The tweeters must also be following @WeCare for the vote to count, so it’s good to note that.  A link to the We-Care.com/MillionDimes site is also good because the user can see the results and rules there.  With your leftover characters you may be able to reinforce your cause message or include a link to your own blog where you talk about the #MillionDimes and your cause.

Example Tweet: Plz RT Support @Causename. Tweets & Retweets = $.10 from @WeCare #MillionDimes $100K Challenge. http://www.we-care.com/MillionDimes 4 details.

There”s room in the above tweet for another tidbit or a link (automatically shortened URL) to your site. Of course as long as your tweet includes your handle, the @WeCare handle and the #MillionDimes hashtag then your readers can easily retweet and earn votes.

Here are ten ways to maximize the value for your cause:

1)      Find your most influential or largest followers and @Mention them in a tweet or consider DMing them asking for a ReTweet (in case they missed the @Mention if you tweeted at them)

2)      Celebrities: Find Real Celebrities who tweet and try to get their attention with a @Mention or if you are lucky enough to have them following you, then consider using a DM (Direct Message)

For example: @ladygaga Plz RT Support @BTWFoundation. Tweets & Retweets = $.10 from @WeCare #MillionDimes $100K Challenge. http://www.we-care.com/MillionDimes 4 details

3)      Power-Tweeters: Reach out to Celebrities and Power-Tweeters by finding someone who they might have a close relationship with and appeal to that third person influencer.

4)      Help Other Causes too: Use the pay-it-forward feature of the promotion.  If you tweet at another nonprofit cause and they retweet that vote counts for both and of course their followers are likely to continue retweeting both of your handles.  Isn’t that cool?  Those retweets with two causes in them count double, so you end up leveraging the supporters of other causes.  Even though your tweet/vote only counts five times per day, you can activate other nonprofit causes and their supporters by @mentioning with a valid #MillionDimes tweet to get their attention.

5)      Call in a favor from a corporate sponsor with a good Twitter following. As long as it fits with the corporation’s culture they mighte be open to tweeting on your behalf or re-tweeting.

6)      Use your email list:  The #MillionDimes promotion is a good excuse to send out an email but don’t exclusively focus on the promo, also include other marketing messages and perhaps a donation or volunteerism call to action.

7)      Create an “event” on Facebook and promote it so your FB users who also tweet can activate easily.

8)      Use Google+ (Google Plus) page to promote the event.  Obviously if you haven’t built up a Google Plus following then that might not help.

9)      Use the phone:  WHAT?

1. Yep, that’s right.  A phone call is often a more successful way to reach one of the influential Celebrity or Power-Tweeters.
2. Use the phone (part 2): Send a text message to a VIP if you have an existing relationship.

10)   Reach out to bloggers and press.

Best of luck maxing out both your We-Care.com donation but also the added visibility that a fun promotion like #MillionDimes can have.

This week, Didit acquired Inceptor, a top search marketing firm from SuperMedia.  Both the Didit and Inceptor teams look forward to working together.  While the combined agencies can offer a much more in-depth search engine marketing, display and social media together Inceptor will remain an independent brand located in the Boston area.

As most of you are, I’m subscribed to Groupon, LivingSocial and a few other flash sales or daily deal sites. One recent offer from Groupon got me thinking.

Many states have laws for professions that don’t allow any third parties to be involved in transactions with customers, clients or patients.  Depending on the state, the law may cover doctors, dentists, lawyers, real estate agents, or other professionals.

That means no kickbacks, or fee sharing.

Hey, I am no lawyer and of course can’t provide a legal opinion, but my layperson’s opinion is that Groupon may be in violation of
New York Public Health – § 4501 – Medical Referral Service Businesses Prohibited

as is any medical practitioner advertising on Groupon since Groupon takes the money from the customer and keeps some of it.
http://law.onecle.com/new-york/public-health/PBH02811_2811.html

http://www.articlesbase.com/criminal-articles/how-illegal-fee-splitting-may-cost-you-your-new-york-medical-license-771901.html

Spot checks of Groupon, LivingSocial and some other group buying sites seems to indicate that this practice is prevalent with dentists, chiropractors and dermatologists in particular.

Wonder if I’m completely off-base here or if indeed there is a problem that’s slipped under the radar.

Originally, I became aware of the laws because my wife is a psychologist, and I was wondering if she could offer a Groupon-type deal.  Plus, I’m an investor in DiscountCoupons.com and had an interest in this type of arrangement from the offer-network as well.