There is a growing number of brand doing social impact work in alignment with their core values in the hope of earning goodwill, loyalty and profits for their company. The Mutual takes that one step further but allowing brands to reward customers for doing good to support the environment. Here’s how it works. The Mutual , a new, Brooklyn-based social enterprise rewards individuals for donating to environmental charities by giving them unlimited access to Perks from businesses. With The Mutual, we make doing good easy and advantageous for individuals and businesses. Oceana – Water. MORE >>

We’re trying something new with the Spin Sucks Pro webinars. We’re recording ahead of time so, while you’re watching the video, the expert is available to answer questions, via chat, during the full hour. We think this will drive more engagement and learning because, as an attendee, you’ll be fully focused as your questions are answered immediately. Because of this new practice, I get to see the videos ahead of time (there are some advantages to founding a company) and I watched tomorrow’s webinar last night. But it doesn’t stop there. PR Policymaker. MORE >>

If you read this blog with any regularity, you know that I am a big proponent of measuring social media. I’m bullish on measuring social media because I believe there are so many incredible ways to measure social media success that  the larger challenge is narrowing down your goals.While I have a methodology that I use, there are literally thousands of tools to help you measure social media. But it struck me. Perhaps we are asking the wrong question. ” or “Is it worth measuring?” ” So let me ask you. What is the ROI of silence? Of ignoring conversations? MORE >>

Today’s guest post is written by Erik Hare. The black and white TV images flickered inside the homes of viewers. woman in a long dress and heels sashayed to the rhythm of the announcer proclaiming how easy the Robo-matic washer is to use ahead of the punchline – “Goodbye, Blue Monday!”. The baseball player could not slam the ball through the plastic that acted just like Guardal – “Protects your teeth!”. Thirty second morality plays flashed a quick and simple kind of storytelling bent to sell products.  The morals were clear: Modern products created a more elegant, clean, and easy life. MORE >>

There have been numerous models proposed for social media and content marketing (including the Four C’s of Social Media Marketing model previously published here), but when all of the complexity is stripped away, social media marketing success comes down to two core elements: content and amplification. Content is like singing a song. Amplification (done well) is like singing that song into a microphone. On American Idol. Late in the season. Content can be produced in a wide variety of formats: • White papers. Case studies. Video. Podcasts. Presentations. Product data sheets / brochures. MORE >>