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Affiliate Marketing Program. New Products From Network Solutions. 6 Successful Twitter Hashtag Campaigns. The Digital Marketing Series is supported by HubSpot, an inbound marketing software company based in Cambridge, MA, that makes a full platform of marketing software, including better B2B lead nurturing. Chances are if you've heard of a Twitter hashtag campaign, it's because it failed. The marketing world, in fact, is littered with the recent detritus of woebegone hashtag campaigns. Think back to McDonald's doomed #McDStories campaign or RIM's #BeBold effort, and it seems that trying to create a stir on Twitter is a fool's errand. Focusing on such misfires, however, conceals the fact that some — or even most — hashtag campaigns are actually successful.

Below are six campaigns that effectively harnessed Twitter in a way that provoked positive discussion and action. 1. Domino's Pizza U.K. offered fans a solid reason to participate in its Twitter campaign: cheaper pizza. 2. This was another U.K. 3. 4. 5. 6. What's your favorite hashtag campaign? Series supported by HubSpot. 8 Reasons People Aren't Following You Back on Twitter. Whenever you follow someone on Twitter, you hope that they’ll follow you back. It’s a strategy many of us use in the attempt to gain followers. But often, it doesn’t work out that way. Here are eight reasons why people aren’t following you back on Twitter, plus one way to increase your chances that they will. 1.

You Don't Have a Profile Photo. Nothing screams “newbie” more than not having a photo. 2. I need more than a photo or a graphic to decide whether or not I’m going to follow you back. 3. If you want to include religion, politics or controversial views in your bio, you certainly have that right. 4. Twitter allows you to “protect your tweets,” which means that your Twitter feed is only available to those whose follow requests you have accepted. 5. Potential followers often glance through your Twitter feed to see what you’re tweeting about and how often. SEE ALSO: 12 Top Community Managers Share Their Tips for Better Engagement 6. 7. 8. Make them aware of you with an @mention. Trend Watch: Kickstarter Is The New Lead Investor. We all know it. Social proof is the tool that every founder needs to unlock funding. What happens to those entrepreneurs who don’t have easy access to quality investors though?

As a first time entrepreneur it can be difficult to get access to brand name investors. It’s also just as difficult to get traction, something that’s also useful for attracting funding. Here are three startups that have successfully done this recently: earthCell earthCell is Netflix for batteries. Ninja Blocks Ninja Blocks are really cool physical blocks that connect your things to the web.

Ubooly Ubooly is a cuddly creature for kids, powered by your iPhone or iPod touch. The bottom-line is that Kickstarter is a great platformto get “traction” on before raising serious funding if you’re a first time entrepreneur or are just not well connected with Silicon Valley. Do you think it’s a good idea for startups to raise funding Kickstarter first and AngelList second? Trend Watch: Kickstarter Is The New Lead Investor.

Is Kickstarter the Future for Tech Hardware Entrepreneurs? Lance Parker is building something he says will bring a new level of convenience and security to on-the-go computing — and he's funding the project through Kickstarter. His product is called Compude, a tiny device that allows users to take a data-locked version of their personal computers' contents with them, then plug in and work on any smartphone, tablet or other computer. He says it's the smallest fingerprint authentication device in the world. (Click here for a video further explaining how Compude works.) "With tablets, desktops, laptops and smartphones, the whole idea of trying to juggle devices and have your settings and data someplace you're not is becoming more important," Parker told Mashable.

"When you look at what's out there now, there are certainly already remote-control software and things like that. "It's a really great way to get access to early adopters and have them be the first to see the next device beyond the prototype," he says. One more Kickstarter advantage? JOBS Act and CROWDFUND May Pass Today. What's Working in Digital Non-Profit Fundraising [INFOGRAPHIC] On April 5, M+R Strategic Services, a public relations and communications firm working with leading non-profits, and the Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN), a membership organization of non-profit professionals who use technology for their causes, will release their sixth annual eNonprofit Benchmarks Study of what is working today in online advocacy, fundraising and social networking.

The study is based on primary research with 44 participating non-profits, including the AARP, American Red Cross, Human Rights Watch, Planned Parenthood and the World Wildlife Fund. All of the non-profits covered fall under the categories of environmental, international, human rights, wildlife, animal welfare and other causes. The 2011 study can be downloaded here. Here's an exclusive, sneak-peek infographic from M+R and NTEN, which highlights certain findings of the 2012 study. 10 Tips for Raising Money on Kickstarter. Rusel DeMaria is the author of more than 60 books, and currently runs the High Score 3 Kickstarter project. Follow him on Twitter @DeMaria. Double Fine, the game developer, raised $3.3 million for its adventure game, Double Fine Adventures. InXile, a game development company, made $500,000 in 17 hours for its role-playing game, Wasteland 2.

Both did it on Kickstarter, the world's largest funding platform for creative projects. Naturally, it would be easy to think of Kickstarter as a virtual Gold Rush. That would be a mistake. SEE ALSO: How to Crowdfund Your Next Big Idea Kickstarter has its challenges. 1. Not every project will work on Kickstarter, and even fewer will create a feeding frenzy. 2. Decide exactly what you want to accomplish and how much money you need to do that. Also, think about how long your project should run. 3. You’ll quickly learn that people want something in exchange for their pledges. Another critical factor to consider when creating rewards are related costs. 4. Crowdfunding Revolution: Prepare to Launch, Pt 1 - Build Your Structure.

Posted by Don Lehman | 16 Mar 2012 | Comments (1) Scaffolding: Construction work at the Lehrter Hauptbahnhof, Berlin. By Tup Wanders, via Wikimedia So. You have an idea. There are two sides of launching: Structural work (the boring stuff) and Storytelling work (the exciting stuff). Structural work refers to the way you set up your project to operate.

Storytelling work is how you will describe your project to the world. There is a lot of ground to cover for both of these aspects, so we're going to split them into two parts. Note: From here on out, this series will focus mainly on running Kickstarter projects. But before you start... Every product design Project Creator should first decide what phase they will launch their project from. Click for larger image. I launched my own project somewhere between the Proof of Concept and Refinement phases. A proof of concept is a prototype that mostly looks and works like the final product will. So what phase should you launch from? Kickstarter says: How Microlending Works" If you ever come across a trove of battered old hardcover novels published in the United States in the 19th century, take a minute to thumb through them.

Chances are high that the beginning and end of each book will yield a common theme. The novel's story will probably begin in squalid living conditions -- a tenement in Brooklyn, perhaps. However, the book will usually end in an entirely different setting. By the novel's conclusion, the cluttered and menacing mental and physical environment of the slum will have been replaced with marbled floors, domestic servants, cigars and brandy. Within the yellowed pages of these books, you'll find an invariable narrative: The protagonist rose from squalor to wealth through hard work and determination.

At the core of capitalism is the so-called entrepreneurial spirit: Anyone who's willing and able to cultivate an idea into a business has a chance to succeed. Another type of lending has emerged to combat this vicious cycle, known as microlending. Josh Clark: Stuff You Should Know -- About Making an Impact with Microlending. My Stuff You Should Know podcast co-host Chuck Bryant, our producer Jeri Rowland and I aren't completely unaware of ourselves. As such, we do feel a bit uneasy toasting an effort that ultimately has to do with buying an ox to help plow a small, cold field or a motorbike to drive as a taxi 100 hours a week.

But then there's the million dollars. A million dollars most decidedly does have a natural bent toward toasting with champagne. And so the three of us will drink it. We're celebrating because on March 22, the team our podcast started on Kiva.org passed the $1 million mark in amount loaned, placing us behind just ten or so teams -- monstrously large-sounding, amorphous teams like The Kiva Christians, GLBT Kivans & Friends, and Team Europe. In 2009, Chuck, Jeri and I recorded an episode of our podcast on microlending, which is this brilliant idea from a Bangladeshi economist named Muhammad Yunus who, appropriately, won the Nobel Peace Prize for it in 2006. 9 Hot Social Networks to Watch Mashable 9 Hot Social Networks to Watch | The top source for social and digital news. Few social services have enjoyed as much success as sites like Foursquare and Pinterest. However, companies are achieving recognition by applying similar social principles to their own niche networks.

We've gathered a list of nine social services to keep an eye on. Like Foursquare, many incorporate location-based functionality, with the goal to connect people beyond the digital space — in real life. Other sites remind us of Pinterest, bringing users together around taste graphs and like-minded consumer habits. Whatever your preference, take a look at these nine buzzworthy social platforms. This May we'll be exploring the future of social and digital at our signature conference, Mashable Connect. Event Information Our annual destination conference, Mashable Connect, brings our community together for three days to connect offline in an intimate setting at the Contemporary Resort at Walt Disney World®. A Look Back at Last Year’s Mashable Connect Supporting Sponsor Sponsorship Opportunities. 10 Top Execs Share Their Social Media Secrets. When you're occupying the C-suite, you may not have time to think about tweets, Facebook posts, Foursquare checkins and Pinterest boards.

But you should. Social media is an increasingly important tool for building brands, connecting with customers and boosting customer loyalty and engagement. All of these factors can work together to increase awareness of your brand and drive new business. Mashable asked C-suite execs from companies like Virgin, Ford and IBM for their best social media advice, which is listed below, straight from their mouths.

Which tip is your favorite? Think About Community "Encourage a social culture: Culture and change management is the foundation of true social business transformation. . — Sandy Carter, vice president, social business evangelism and sales at IBM "The thing that I try to stay focused on is what is it that’s resonating with the community. . — Drew Patterson, CEO at Jetsetter — Richard Anson, Founder and CEO at Reevoo — Phil Libin, CEO at Evernote — Mr.

Top Social Media Investor on What’s Next. The Leaders in Digital Series is supported by Samsung. Follow Samsung USA on Google+ and Twitter, and like them on Facebook. After spending 26 years at Electronic Arts, Bing Gordon moved over to Kleiner Perkins, where in 2008, he led the venture capital firm’s investment in the antithesis of EA: Zynga.

That investment has netted a nearly 20x return for the firm, and Gordon has since helped steer Kleiner Perkins deeply into the social web, with investments in Spotify, Path, Klout and many others. Gordon also leads the sFund, a $250 million venture between Kleiner Perkins, Facebook, Zynga, Amazon, Comcast, Liberty Media and Allen & Company that launched in 2010. We had a chance to catch up with Gordon at SXSW, which he described as the place "where the entrepreneurs we work with make a stand.” Gordon shared his thoughts on what areas of social he’s most excited about right now, what makes social games so compelling and whether we’re in an investment bubble. Series supported by Samsung.

How Facebook Sponsored Stories Can Boost Engagement. Matt Lawson is the vice president of marketing at Marin Software, the largest paid search management provider. In the wake of its $100 billion IPO filing, Facebook is busy bolstering its advertising options. For one, Facebook is hanging its future hopes on "sponsored stories. " Sponsored stories depart from the typical Facebook ad unit. By incorporating social endorsement prominently into ads, Facebook sponsored stories are more relevant to the average user, and more likely to be clicked on than traditional Facebook ads. When done right, sponsored stories provide a significant boost to click-through and conversion rates, in part because these ad placements appear not only on the sidebar, but also within users’ News Feeds.

However, advertisers shouldn't consider sponsored stories a one-size-fits-all solution. 1. If your goal is to drive traffic from Facebook to your site, "domain sponsored stories" are the right place to start. 2. 7 Ways To Hack Your Promotions Into Facebook Timeline. You won’t really be able to use a default landing page to promote your brand when timeline goes live on pages. Instead, you can make use of other aspects of the layout to work your promotion. Here are seven tricks to that end. The name you choose for an app shows up under its thumbnail image in timeline, so come up with a title that’s specific and eye catching. Examples of clever names for apps — that show up under the thumbnail images — are: Win PrizeEarn RewardsHalf Off You can customize all the images appearing in the thumbnails section, except for photos, which remain in the first spot.

The area below the cover image includes four thumbnails. The first thumbnail is always the photos so you can only rearrange the others. Be aware that if you upload an image to your timeline, it will be seen as a view on the photos tab. The tab name and tab image should complement each other. If you want to be Facebook friendly, you shouldn’t explicitly advertise your promotion on the cover image. Writing Powerful Descriptions. Writing is an account of how people think. As a medium it's intrinsically empathic; it communicates patently human sensibilities. In order for a story to work, it needs to feel like real life, even when it’s actually something quite different. The more detailed and rich your descriptions, the better your writing will approximate the human experience, thereby establishing a connection with fellow minds.

The best descriptions are the ones that are completely original, easily understood and often reminisced. They're digestible yet impressionable, they say something profound but they’re palatable enough to be comprehended by anyone. It’s a difficult technique to master, an art form in itself, really. Consider this a primer for writing good descriptions (here’s your first lesson: “good” isn’t a suitable or sufficient way to describe anything).

Appeal to the senses Words with strong sensory associations always increase your chances of yielding an empathic response. Be specific Limit modifiers. Will This Platform Change Startup Funding Forever? How To Get Media Coverage For Your Startup: A Complete Guide.