Clever Girls Blog

Project Runway Week 4 Twitter Party Sponsored by Bioéthique Organic Cosmetics!

Dear Clever Friends,

Please join the Clever Girls Collective  for our weekly Project Runway Twitter party, 60 minutes of Project Runway talk, prizes, and fun!

When: Thursday, Feb 4, at 10PM EST *AND* PST (2 parties, two chances to win!)

Where: Twitter follow the #cgc (Clever Girls Collective) hashtag

Tonight's sponsor is Bioéthique Organic Cosmetics! More about them from their site:

Bioéthique has created one of the world's first and only lines of Third Party Certified Organic skin and body care products. From the rich soil that supports our plants to the equipment used to manufacture our products, Bioéthique's entire process is meticulously monitored and regularly inspected to ensure it meets the highest organic and quality standards in the world. Our skin and body care is carefully crafted in small batches in the heart of Provence, France where we marry the region's rich traditions with modern-day science.

At Bioéthique, we are passionate about creating a superior product without compromise, free from synthetic ingredients of any kind, and which respects and encourages the healthy balance of the planet we live on. Bioéthique prides itself on using only those ingredients locally sourced from the finest certified organic and wild harvested botanicals available. As we respect the value of all living creatures, no animal testing or animal ingredients are ever used to make our products.

Completely pure and 100% natural. Reward yourself with the purest, safest and finest quality products available.

Live ethically. Be beautiful.

Be sure to check out Bioéthique Organic Cosmetics' blog to learn more about living a beautiful, ethical life!

Party participants get 25% off their orders using code BIO1122 (no spaces)

Clever Girls Collective are proud supporters and evangelists of mom-owned businesses and for our Twitter parties we are delighted to partner with the mompreneurs of Mom Made That!

We hope to tweet you there! Please RSVP today.

Sincerely,

Sheila, Cat, and Stefania

How to Participate:

1. Leave your Twitter handle here.
   
2. Follow @CleverGirlsColl
3. Show some sponsor love: Follow: @bioethique @momspark
4. Hang out on Twitter during the party, answering questions and sharing your best Project Runway snark commentary!
5. Tweet your answer to the @CleverGirlsColl questions
6. Make sure to include the #cgc tag!
7. Clever Girls Collective picks a winner at random from the tagged answers and the RSVPs.  An excellent time is had by all!

PRIZES!

Clever Girls Collective will be giving away the party from attendees who respond to questions, are following @clevergirlscoll, and who are using the #cgc hashtag in their responses!

Tonight we are giving away 4 Bioéthique Organic gift baskets, two for day, two for night. Each basket is valued at $180! (4 total, 2 at each party!)

Entire Bioéthique product line shown here.

• The day combo baskets (2) include: Antioxidant Serum, Day Cream, and Cleansing Milk—each basket is a $180 value
• The night combo baskets (2) include: Eye Cream, Night Cream, and Cleansing Milk—each basket is a $180 value
  

All Bioéthique Certified Organics products are Third Party Certified Organic by Europe's strictest organic certification agency Nature et Progrès.

Every botanical ingredient used in Bioéthique's products is derived from 100% certified organic plants, selected and cultivated far from any sources of pollution and harvested at the moment of optimal plant potency.

Each one of our botanical extracts is derived through a specialized bio-extraction method, resulting in the highest amount of potent antioxidants possible. This technology allows us to employ much higher concentrations of each selected botanical ingredient, thereby resulting in a product that is highly effective in visibly repairing damage to skin, reducing the appearance of wrinkles and visibly firming and toning the skin.

Party participants get 25% off their orders using code BIO1122 (no spaces)

   
And our Mom Spark community prizes are:

 

Smoke - Mirrors Collection - Pure, Natural Mineral Makeup (East and West Coast Party)

Smoke and mirrors may refer to the the illusions that magicians use to fool the audience into thinking that what they see is really happening, but in this case it's all about color. These stunning shades are both mysterious and charming ---in magical sort-of-way.

Orglamix

$12.00

SHOW OUR SPONSORS SOME TWITTER LOVE!

@bioethique

@momspark

@hautebeauty

******

Don't forget to join the Clever 1000, our initiative to gather together 1000 of the most powerful social media mavens and natural-born influencers in the social media-sphere. Do you love to blog, Facebook, Twitter, Whirrl or Flickr? Are you the mayor of your local coffeeshop or a closet Samantha Ronson on blip.fm?  Then we want to hear from you. If you thrive on collaborating with other like minded-women (and a few men!), join us today

ABOUT CLEVER GIRLS COLLECTIVE

Clever Girls Collective believes that the right guide makes social media for business as simple as having a conversation. It works like this:

• Someone finds a great product, website or social cause
• She tells all of her friends about it
• They try it, love it and tell all their friends
• Who all go try it, too

Finding the right people to start that chain reaction — that’s our specialty. We know how to find the influencers who:

• Like to try new things
• Have loads of friends
• Are social media power users
• Excel at communicating in person and online

Through them we help you reach a staggering number of customers, in a way that continues to expand over time, with solutions that are targeted, customizable and measurable.

We are Clever Girls Collective, a social media agency founded by three women who decided to use their deep marketing experience, and broad social network relationships, for good.

We understand product launches, viral campaigns, promotional giveaways and how to build a following, all on tight deadlines and shoestring — or huge — budgets.

As new media consultants and professional bloggers, we three co-founders —Stefania Pomponi Butler, Sheila Bernus Dowd and Cat Lincoln — all know first hand what makes someone want to write a review post, R/T your coupon code, and become your Facebook Fan.

...don't forget to RSVP!

Giveaway: Share the Valentine's Day love with See's Candy!

The Clever Girls are delighted to work with See's Candy on an exciting Valentine's Day contest designed to get everyone's favorite candies into your hands in time for Valentine's Day!  Many of your favorite bloggers are in on the fun which means that you have lots of chances to win a very sweet prize: two pounds of assorted chocolates in the See's Candy Red Signature Box to keep or to share. You decide!

The contest begins today, Monday, February 1, and ends Friday, February 5.

To kick off the contest,we've asked some of our favorite bloggers to share their Sweetest Love Stories. Get ready to say "Awwwwwwwww" as you read posts from:

Sarah of Sarah and the Goon Squad

Liz from This Full House

Casey from Moosh in Indy

Leticia from Tech Savvy Mama

Elita from Blacktating

"Bossy" from I am Bossy

Lindsay from Suburban Turmoil

Whit from Honea Express

Kelly from Mocha Momma

As you can see from their blogs, you have several ways win your own special prize. Pick one of them and enter to win!

But, wait! There's more!

In addition to leaving comments on any (or all!) of the blog posts above with your own Sweetest Love Story, we're giving you the same chances to win right here on the Clever Girls blog!

Leave a comment with your Sweetest Love Story below and get extra chances to win by:

• Visiting the See's homepage (link: http://www.sees.com/) and sign up for the newsletter
• Tweeting about this contest using the #seescandy tag (you can Tweet daily and post the link in the comments below!)
• Blogging about why you want to win the Share Your Sweetest Love Story with links back to your favorite blog post OR this post, as well as to the See's homepage (link: http://www.sees.com/) and post the link it in the comments below.

Enter Now!
Deadline for entries is midnight, PST, Friday, February 5, 2010, and we will notify you by email.

We look forward to reading all of your Sweetest Love Stories whether here or on our participating bloggers' sites.

Happy Valentine's Day!

-Sheila, Cat, and Stefania

Clever Girls Collective for See's Candies!

Note: Clever Girls Collective supports current FTC blogging guidelines, the blogwithintegrity.com initiative, and the WOMMA code of ethics. We ask all bloggers with whom we work to fully disclose the details of our relationship in any posts they write about the brands we represent. We value professionalism and integrity, theirs, yours, and ours.

The Heart Truth® and National Wear Red Day Twitter Party! Join us on 2/5/10!

We are honored and excited to be part of an initiative promoting The Heart Truth® and National Wear Red Day, Friday, February 5. The Heart Truth is a national awareness campaign designed to warn women of their #1 health threat, heart disease. The Heart Truth created and introduced the Red Dress as the national symbol for women and heart disease awareness in 2002 to deliver an urgent wake-up call to American women.

The Red Dress® reminds women of the need to protect their heart health, and inspires them to take action. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute  continues to lead  the nation in a landmark heart health awareness movement that is being embraced by millions who share the common goal of greater awareness and better heart health for all women.

Clever Girls Collective will be holding a Twitter party on National Wear Red Day, February 5th, from 12pm-1pm PST/3pm-4pm EST. We hope that you will not only join us for a fun and informative event, but that you will also be wearing red on that day to help raise awareness that heart disease is the #1 killer of women. To put it in perspective, one in four women dies of heart disease, while one in 30 dies of breast cancer. It also affects a disproportionate number of women of color, particularly African-American and Hispanic women.

TWIBBON CAMPAIGN

To generate awareness and excitement leading up to the Twitter party for this important cause, we're kicking off our Red Dress Twibbon campaign today! Wear a red dress--on your avatar!--and help promote awareness about this deadly disease. Grab your Twibbon here and wear it with pride for the month of February.

SHOW OUR PARTNER SOME TWITTER LOVE!

Be sure to follow @thehearttruth to keep informed about the latest heart disease news and to get tips on prevention and how to keep "heart healthy!"

THE DETAILS

Who: You (and your friends, family and colleagues)!

What: National Wear Red Day Twitter party and Twibbon (Red Dress on Your Twitter avatar) campaign

When:      Twibbon: the month of February

                Twitter party: Friday, February 5, 12pm-1pm PST/3pm-4pm

Where: On Twitter! RSVP here.

Why: To raise awareness that heart disease is the #1 killer of women. We'd love it if you could help us spread the word about this very worthy cause to your social media networks!

PRIZES!

Six Prize packages will be given away during the hour-long Twitter party. Each prize pack will include:

•   2-Red Dress Pins, one to keep one to share
•   1-Keep the Beat Cookbook
•   1-Healthy Heart Handbook for Women

We can't wait to see you in your Red Dress (on Twitter)! Have fun planning your red outfits for National Wear Red Day next Friday! Don't forget to RSVP!

  Cleverly yours,
  Sheila, Cat, and Stefania

Project Runway Week 3 Twitter Party for 1/28/10

Dear Clever Friends,

Please join the Clever Girls Collective  for our weekly Project Runway Twitter party, 60 minutes of Project Runway talk, prizes, and fun!

When: Thursday, Jan 28, at 10PM EST *AND* PST (2 parties, two chances to win!)

Where: Twitter follow the #cgc (Clever Girls Collective) hashtag

Tonight's sponsor is Yummie Tummie! Introducing the new Spring 2010 collection from Yummie Tummie, the beloved shapewear line that gives you support and style.  This season designer Heather Thompson has added several ready-to-wear looks that with smooth and slim you--and are meant to be seen!

Clever Girls Collective are proud supporters and evangelists of mom-owned businesses and for our Twitter parties we are delighted to partner with the mompreneurs of Mom Made That!

We hope to tweet you there! Please RSVP today.

Sincerely,

Sheila, Cat, and Stefania

How to Participate:

1. Leave your Twitter handle here.
   
2. Follow @CleverGirlsColl
3. Show some sponsor love: Follow @yummietummie @momspark @oilgirl2 @ccjewelryshop
4. Hang out on Twitter during the party, answering questions and sharing your best Project Runway snark commentary!
5. Tweet your answer to the @CleverGirlsColl questions
6. Make sure to include the #cgc tag!
7. Clever Girls Collective picks a winner at random from the tagged answers and the RSVPs.  An excellent time is had by all!

PRIZES!

Clever Girls Collective will be giving away the party from attendees who respond to questions, are following @clevergirlscoll, and who are using the #cgc hashtag in their responses!

Tonight we are giving away your choice of items from the new Yummie Tummie spring line! (4 total, 2 at each party!)

 


Check out the new Spring 2010 collection from Yummie Tummie, the beloved shapewear line that gives you support and style. 

This season celebrity stylist Heather Thompson added several ready to wear looks, including:

• Ruffle Top -- a fun and flirty way to dress up jeans
• Turquoise Cowlneck Tank, with a sophisticated turquoise stone embellishment on the back
• Skinny Tank in the season's hottest color, teal, and a racy Python print
• Undercover Tank, which has cotton fabric covering the shaping panel and now comes in teal as well as Beyonce's favorite pattern, the Lady Leopard

Heather also added a new everyday basic to the line. The v-neck Natalie Tank gives you additional coverage with 3” straps and a higher back

And the newest addition to the Yummie bottoms collection is the sexy, lacy Camie Panties with moderate control for the middle

And our community prizes are:

Hand Stamped X's and O's Disc Earrings (east coast party)

Hand Stamped Earrings, one with the letter X and the other with an O to signify hugs and kisses. Each disc measures 3/8" and is individually hand stamped. The hugs and kisses charms dangle from hand made sterling silver ear wires. Disc are made with thick .925 sterling silver and dangle about 1/2" from ears. Value: $15.00

More info:Charitable Creations Jewelry

Follow on Twitter:@ccjewelryshop

Aromatherapy Roll On: Stress Away (west coast party)

The new Stress Away™ Roll-On is the first product to feature the relaxing combination of Young Living Therapeutic Grade™ (YLTG) lime essential oil and vanilla absolute! With an invigorating scent, Stress Away’s unique aroma includes lavender and copaiba essential oils to reduce mental rigidity and restore equilibrium, while key naturally-occurring constituents cedrol and eugenol reduce nervous tension*. A splash of Ocotea essential oil—Young Living’s newest oil from Ecuador—adds an exotic touch. Value: $30.00

More info: Young Living Essential Oils

Follow on Twitter:@OilGirl2

SHOW OUR SPONSORS SOME TWITTER LOVE!

@yummietummie

@momspark

@ccjewelryshop

@OilGirl2

******

Don't forget to join the Clever 1000, our initiative to gather together 1000 of the most powerful social media mavens and natural-born influencers in the social media-sphere. Do you love to blog, Facebook, Twitter, Whirrl or Flickr? Are you the mayor of your local coffeeshop or a closet Samantha Ronson on blip.fm?  Then we want to hear from you. If you thrive on collaborating with other like minded-women (and a few men!), join us today

ABOUT CLEVER GIRLS COLLECTIVE

Clever Girls Collective believes that the right guide makes social media for business as simple as having a conversation. It works like this:

• Someone finds a great product, website or social cause
• She tells all of her friends about it
• They try it, love it and tell all their friends
• Who all go try it, too

Finding the right people to start that chain reaction — that’s our specialty. We know how to find the influencers who:

• Like to try new things
• Have loads of friends
• Are social media power users
• Excel at communicating in person and online

Through them we help you reach a staggering number of customers, in a way that continues to expand over time, with solutions that are targeted, customizable and measurable.

We are Clever Girls Collective, a social media agency founded by three women who decided to use their deep marketing experience, and broad social network relationships, for good.

We understand product launches, viral campaigns, promotional giveaways and how to build a following, all on tight deadlines and shoestring — or huge — budgets.

As new media consultants and professional bloggers, we three co-founders —Stefania Pomponi Butler, Sheila Bernus Dowd and Cat Lincoln — all know first hand what makes someone want to write a review post, R/T your coupon code, and become your Facebook Fan.

RSVP here.

Lookout Nashville! The Clever Girls are throwin' a party at Blissdom 2010!

Keep the First Night Bliss Going ‘Til Late!
 
Clever Girls Collective presents Blissful Bubbles + Bites
When:  Thursday, February 4, 2010, 10:30 pm to 12:00 am
Where: Old Hickory Steakhouse at Gaylord Opryland Hotel
Who: YOU!

Toast the start of Blissdom 2010 with the Clever Girls, feather boas and sparkly lip gloss!
 
Revel in the electric energy of the first night, and stay up late dancing at the Clever Girls Collective Blissful Bubbles + Bites party! Indulge in a little late night chocolate fondue and a glass or two of champagne.

And enter to win fun raffle prizes from blogger-loving Clever List sponsors including:
 

• Yummie Tummie $100 Gift Certificate! (link: http://yummietummie.com/)
• Blogalicious 2010 Beach Tote with everything you need for a fun day at the beach, including a Full Conference registration to Blogalicious 2010 – $265 value!
• T-Fal Actifry cooking appliance -- $300 value!
• Ageloc (NuSkin) spa weekend -- $350 value
• e.l.f. cosmetic sets  -- $50 value
• Room 704 to Your Door package -- A sassy gift bag with a "party" inside -- $50 value including
• • The Mominatrix's Guide to Sex: A No-Surrender Advice Book for Naughty Moms by Kristen Chase
  • Poken Tigress
  • Vibrator Lipstick
• Mom Made That -- Two gifts bags filled with beauty and family products created by mompreneurs! -- $500 value

           Mom Made That Gift Bag #1

• Hand Stamped X's and O's Disc Earrings and Sterling Silver Necklace - Charitable Creations
• "Good Food, Good Friends, Good Times" Wall Stencil - The Simple Stencil
• $50 Travel Certificate - Moms on Vacation Travel Club 
• 3 Humorous Workout Towels - Words to Sweat ByTM
• 2 Ladies Pigtail Pals Tees - Pigtail Pals
• Mother Fluffer Hair Care Set - Danu
• "Follow your bliss!" Wall Graphic - Old Barn Rescue -
• 2 Lasso Necklaces - Designs by Denise
• Casserole Dish & Reusable Shopping Bag - Cook Time with Remmi

            Mom Made That Gift Bag #2

• Easy Lunchbox Container Set and Insulated Cooler - Easy Lunchboxes
• Baby Dipper Feeding Set - Baby Dipper
• It's A Keepsake Baby Book & Baby Time Capsule and Pregnancy Journal Suite - Digi Time Capsule
• Children's Waffled Thermal T - Petit Couture
• 2 $50 Gift Certificates - Amiastri
• 4 Pack Organic Washcloths - Luvs Jurn3
• 3 Pack of Dapper Snappers - Dapper Snappers

Hope to see you there! Remember to bring plenty of business cards to enter all of the fabulous raffles!

RSVP HERE!

Special Thanks to Our Sponsors:

  

         


  

Project Runway Twitter Party Week 2–Sponsored by the Clever 1000!

Dear Friends,

First off, we wantto thank you for helping to raise over $1400 (calculated with matching) for Haiti relief.  Our contributions will be matched by the Silicon Valley Community Fund and will be donated directly to the Red Cross. You are the best community evAR, so thank you again.

Please join the Clever Girls Collective  for our weekly Project Runway Twitter party, 60 minutes of Project Runway talk, prizes, and fun!

When: Thursday, Jan 21, at 10PM EST *AND* PST (2 parties, two chances to win!)

Where: Twitter follow the #cgc (Clever Girls Collective) hashtag

Tonight's sponsor is The Clever 1000, our initiative to gather together 1000 of the most powerful social media mavens and natural-born influencers in the social media-sphere. Do you love to blog, Facebook, Twitter, Whirrl or Flickr? Are you the mayor of your local coffeeshop or a closet Samantha Ronson on blip.fm?  Then we want to hear from you. If you thrive on collaborating with other like minded-women (and a few men!), join us today!

Clever Girls Collective are proud supporters and evangelists of mom-owned businesses and for our Twitter parties we are delighted to partner with the mompreneurs of Mom Made That!

We hope to tweet you there! Please RSVP today.

Sincerely,

Sheila, Cat, and Stefania

How to Participate:

1. Leave your Twitter handle here
   
2. Follow @CleverGirlsColl
3. Show some sponsor love: Follow @clever1000 and @hautebeauty on Twitter!
4. Hang out on Twitter during the party, answering questions and sharing your best Project Runway snark commentary!
5. Tweet your answer to the @CleverGirlsColl questions
6. Make sure to include the #cgc tag!
7. Clever Girls Collective picks a winner at random from the tagged answers and the RSVPs.  An excellent time is had by all!

PRIZES!

Clever Girls Collective will be giving away the party from attendees who respond to questions, are following @clevergirlscoll, and who are using the #cgc hashtag in their responses!

Tonight we are giving away:

$50 iTunes gift cards, four of 'em! (2 given away at each party)

And our community prizes are:

Love You More - Simple Sterling Silver Heart Stud Earrings (East Coast Party)

These cute earrings have been shaped to look like cute little hearts! They will sit in your ear beautifully and will be a great everyday earring.

Sleepy Moon Design

$18.00

 

Smoke - Mirrors Collection - Pure, Natural Mineral Makeup (West Coast Party)

Smoke and mirrors may refer to the the illusions that magicians use to fool the audience into thinking that what they see is really happening, but in this case it's all about color. These stunning shades are both mysterious and charming ---in magical sort-of-way.

Orglamix

$12.00

SHOW OUR SPONSORS SOME TWITTER LOVE!

@clever1000

@hautebeauty

ABOUT OUR SPONSOR

The influencer is YOU!

Check out more about the Clever 1000 here.

Not: We are currently gathering together our 1000 influencers (almost there!) then everyone will hear from us soon.  This isn't an application. Just sign up and let us know how you want to work with us!

ABOUT CLEVER GIRLS COLLECTIVE

Clever Girls Collective believes that the right guide makes social media for business as simple as having a conversation. It works like this:

• Someone finds a great product, website or social cause
• She tells all of her friends about it
• They try it, love it and tell all their friends
• Who all go try it, too

Finding the right people to start that chain reaction — that’s our specialty. We know how to find the influencers who:

• Like to try new things
• Have loads of friends
• Are social media power users
• Excel at communicating in person and online

Through them we help you reach a staggering number of customers, in a way that continues to expand over time, with solutions that are targeted, customizable and measurable.

We are Clever Girls Collective, a social media agency founded by three women who decided to use their deep marketing experience, and broad social network relationships, for good.

We understand product launches, viral campaigns, promotional giveaways and how to build a following, all on tight deadlines and shoestring — or huge — budgets.

As new media consultants and professional bloggers, we three co-founders —Stefania Pomponi Butler, Sheila Bernus Dowd and Cat Lincoln — all know first hand what makes someone want to write a review post, R/T your coupon code, and become your Facebook Fan.

RSVP here.

Start - and Finish! - with a Goal

This week Clay McDaniel posted "5 Tips for Creating a Successful Social Media Contest" on Mashable. It's a brilliantly simple summary of the best way to manage any kind of social media program -- not just contests!

Here are his tips:

1. Define Your Marketing Goal
2. Get Creative
3. Leverage Social Channels
4. Finish the Contest
5. Measure the Contest

In the very first step, #1 Define Your Marketing Goal, McDaniel gets to the heart of what's missing from too many social media activities: a specific, trackable, measurable goal.

Sorry, “Doing” Social Media is Not a Marketing Goal

Social media activities are fun -- chatting with passionate people about interesting events, entering contests (prizes!) and all those entertaining personal anecdotes. 

Having fun is a plenty good reason for you or me to spend three hours tweeting about American Idol. But businesses don’t do things because they’re fun. And they certainly don’t pay marketing agencies to have a good time on their behalf!

When you manage a social media program for a business, every activity must have a function that supports business objectives. Otherwise it’s a (fun) potential waste of time and money.

In a business context, social media activities are (cool, new, often effective) tactics that help you achieve the goal, not the goal itself.

Goal = Job

People tend to struggle with setting goals, but it’s actually pretty simple if you just ask: “What is the job of this program?”

Your answer is the job description of the program, and should include this information:

• Required: What you want the program to do, e.g. raise awareness, drive traffic to a site, convert followers to sales
• Recommended: Who you want it to do it to, i.e. your target audience
• Helpful: When you want the job completed, or at least target milestone dates
• Bonus points: a measurable number, e.g. 4,000 followers, 750 downloads, $25k in sales

The more specific your goal, the more tailored you can make the program, and the better your metrics will be. Oh yeah, and you'll maximize your chances for success!

Pick A Tactic, But Not Just Any Tactic

There are a gabrillion social media channels out there, with a new one launching every day. The hard part is narrowing down all of your choices.

Here's the first place your goal comes in handy: knowing what you’re trying to do helps you decide how (Step #2) and where (Step #3) to do it.

Example Goal A: Reinforce the loyalty of a small, passionate and growing audience for a struggling TV show during the three month long season

Tactics to achieve this goal could include:

• building a destination that facilitates repeat visits, like a Facebook fan page or blog
• creating exclusive content for that location that encourages comments and interaction, like Q&A chats with the cast, or polls for your favorite character with relevant prizes
• updating often, so there's something new every time visitors return

This matches your goal because it creates an environment for loyalty and steady (and hopefully big!) growth, gives fans opportunities to give their input, and it takes advantage of the length of the program timeframe to build relationships.

Example Goal B: Get new customers to make a purchase during a one day sale

To generate quick awareness and concentrated sales activity about a new product, your tactics could include:

• tweeting a promo code and link to the ecommerce site
• outreach to get power influencers to retweet

This matches your goal because it's short, sweet and specific. It leverages Twitter's low entry barrier to quickly get your information in front of new people, and has an immediate call to action that drives to the one-time transaction. The ephemeral nature of Twitter is perfectly acceptable because the goal is to make a sale, not to build a relationship.

(Note: I'm not saying B is the smartest goal or best use of social media -- in the long run relationship building is probably more profitable than 1x quickie sales -- but it certainly is a common request!)

Time’s Up!

Step 4 is “Finish the contest” and for our purposes, that means you should drive to a deadline, like quarter end sales targets, or pick a relevant check-in date to do review and measurement. 

Learn to Love the (Other) Metric System

That brings us to Step #5, Measure, the one that everyone resists. 

People shy away from metrics partly because they’re afraid it will be hard work, and partly out of fear that the numbers will show everyone that a program didn’t work. 

That’s the wrong attitude for professional marketers, because measurement is one of the most valuable tools for any marketing program – social media, advertising, direct mail, billboards, sponsorship, you name it.

Great marketers should love the measurement stage, because it's when you get the prize: did you succeed or not? Even more importantly, did you do what your client paid you to do?

As the well-know adage goes "You get what you measure" -- accountability is a potent incentive! Plus, measuring tells you what's working, and where you need to adjust. No one gets all the answers right the first time. If you're tracking your efforts and success, it's easy to make fixes because you know exactly what and where to change. 

For personal satisfaction and professional accountability, you've got to get good at this step.

The “Math is Hard” Excuse

Let’s address the “hard” issue once and for all. If you define a clear goal up front, basic measurement is idiot-proof simple, requiring little more than 4th grade addition and subtraction skills!

Yes or no, did you get the 4,000 followers, 750 downloads, or $25k in sales?

• If the answer is yes, you have a clear mandate to continue, repeat and increase the activity
• If the answer is no, you have something equally useful, the knowledge that you need to change what you’re doing, and data about what not to do again

There’s no value judgment, just the truth. It worked, or it didn’t.

Next Stop: ROI

Goals and basic measures of success are the minimum that a professional marketer should be able to provide to clients. The real action is measuring return on investment. It's the number one request we get from Clever Girls Collective clients, and the subject of approximately 61% of all online marketing articles at any given moment in time.

It's a rich topic.

But before you can analyze magnitude, parse sub-segment sentiment, tweak the offer and get into all kinds of fun marketing wonk debates about the details, you have to know whether or not you achieved your goal.

Make it your mission to set a goal. It's the end that starts everything else!

posted by Cat Lincoln

Project Runway Season 7 Premiere Twitter Party for Haiti Relief

For this week's Project Runway Twitter Party we're doing things a little differently. This week, we're thinking of Haiti. We've scrapped the sponsors and are straight-up going to raise money--with your help--and donate it to Haiti relief. If we can raise $250 we'll match your donation with our own $250. The Irene S. Scully Fund of SCVF will match donations up to $50,000. That's $1000 from all of us to provide whatever help we can. We'll send half to the Red Cross and half to Wyclef Jean's Yéle Haiti. And if we raise more than $500 that would be incredible!

More details will be announced during the Twitter party so be sure to join us!

Will we still have fun watching our favorite show? Hell, yes! It's Tim and Heidi and Nina and Michael, after all. Plus, it's back in New York where it should be. While we won't be having our normal variety of prizes (we'll save those for next week) we do have two very special prizes from our beloved community partner, Mom Made That!

FAINT OF HEART PENDANT NECKLACE

This heart is made of borosilicate (pyrex) glass in our home studio. This one was made with a summery red that has soft hints of yellow and orange and a speckling of slightly lavender spots.

It is paired with a necklace made with 3 strands of waxed cotton cord and a black ribbon. Closes with a silver tone clamp and lobster clasp. Measures 18 inches.

Serendipity by Erin

$25.00 value
 

COLLECTION OF ORGLAMIX EYE SHADOWS

A four-piece eye defining and lining collection takes the guesswork out of getting started with pure mineral eye colors so you can achieve effortless eye looks in seconds.

Orglamix Pacific Paradise collection of eye colors contain rich colors in silky, truffle-like textures. The sheer, translucent, 100% pure minerals glide on softly and give your lids a luminous glow. Smoldering in their sleek pots, these pigment-rich shades are so stunning you almost feel bad swiping them with a brush.

Orglamix

$45.00 value

Here's how you can play and win!: 

• RSVP HERE (not in the comments)
• Follow @CleverGirlsColl
• Hang out on Twitter while watching the real time episode of Project Runway
• Tweet your answer to the @CleverGirlsColl Project Runway questions
• Make sure to include #projectrunway and #cgc tags!
• Clever Girls Collective picks a winner at random from the tagged answers and the RSVPs.
• An excellent time is had by all!

When the magic happens:

Two parties, every Thursday night during the Project Runway Season:

• East Coast Party, 10 pm ET
• West Coast Party, 10 pm PT

This week you have three chances to win at each party, plus once here when you RSVP. The value of each prize is listed with each prize description. And we'll have a great time raising money for a very worthy cause.

Join the Clever 1000!

Happy New Year everyone!

Believe it or not, we launched Clever Girls Collective just seven short months ago. We hit the ground running, working with incredible clients like Yummie Tummie, Timex, Dell, Swash (Tide), Suave, and Revlon. We saw many of you at BlogHer, Blogalicious and, of course, participating in our Twitter parties.  The holidays were the first time we stopped to catch our breath! (Whew!)

Now that all the presents have been opened and the chocolates eaten (except for the yucky fruit-filled ones), we're ready to get back to it, and we're excited to share a BIG plan we've been working on.

The Influencer is YOU
As you know - because you are one of them - women who engage in social media activities are some of the most authentic, connected, trusted, and vocal influencers not only online, but "in real life."

Whether you're blogging, tweeting, Facebooking, or just chatting up your friends over coffee, we recognize the power of your personal connections.

· Do you love to share information, opinions, thoughts, and feelings across a broad range of social media tools?
· Do you Tweet, Whirrl, Tumbl, Flickr, or Blip because it's fun to connect and share with others?
· Do you make time for family, friends, to nurture your soul, and/or to pursue social justice issues because it's a priority in your life?
· Do you value diversity, individual style, self-expression, and doing your personal best, more than following trends?
· Are you an enthusiastic advocate for the products and brands you believe in?
· Are you a go-to person for friends asking for advice on products to try or what to buy?
· Do you have a million and one ideas on how to make your social media and blogging experience better, more rewarding, more helpful to others?

We Want YOU with US!
If you answered yes to some-or all-of these questions, then we think you're pretty Clever, and we want your help building a network of key influencers. And since Clever friends stick together, in return we will support your goals-whether it's building an audience, growing your professional network, making more money from your writing, or pursuing a kind of reward (monetary or otherwise) that is unique to you.

Introducing The Clever 1000
Clever Girls Collective is creating a network of social media-connected, natural networkers and influencers who want to have a voice in engaging with and enhancing your favorite brands-and be compensated for it.

We're looking for 1000 Clever friends who:

· are passionate about their social media tool of choice-from FourSquare to Wordpress and everything in between
· love trying out the latest products and services and sharing their experiences
· thrive on connecting with brands at "in real life" events like parties or conferences
· are interested in interacting with brands directly by placing ads-that don't compete with existing ad networks-on their blogs
· just want to write. Or take photos. Or vlog. Or podcast. And get paid for it.

Join Us!
We are creating a group of beautifully diverse and savvy women like you. Women who are powerful networkers, who radiate influence, who share information because it's "what you do," and who thrive on collaborating with other like-minded women. And, hey! We'd love to hear from Clever Guys, if you know any who'd be interested in working with us. Please feel free to forward this blog post to all of your Clever friends.

Want to know more? Please fill out this questionnaire and you'll hear from us shortly. Thanks for reading, and may 2010 bring you an abundance of peace, joy, happiness, warm tea, chocolate chip cookies, and sparkly lip gloss.

Sincerely,
Cat, Sheila, and Stefania
Founders and Principals
Clever Girls Collective, LLC

10 Things I'd Like To See Less Of On Twitter In 2010

I love Twitter, and despite lots of experts weighing in on Twitter rules of engagement, I don't think there is necessarily a "right" or "wrong" way to use it. Nevertheless, because I'm never shy about sharing my opinions, I have some suggestions on how to make Twitter a better experience for Tweeters and followers in 2010. If I could control Twitter, here are 10 things I'd like to see less of in 2010:

1. Enough with the affirmations and inspirational tips, Donnie Wahlberg. You are one of my favorite actors, but you are one of the worst "Affirmation Offenders." Sending out 140 character bursts of positivity is a popular way to use Twitter with celebrities who all seem to attend the same Hollywood School of Motivational Thinking. I gather that actors and singers need to repeat mantras of "You're the best! No one can touch you! Critics are haters!" just to get out of bed in the morning, but keep it to yourself. Even Ashton and Demi starting using Twitter by sharing their Kabbalah-isms until they finally just started tweeting their real thoughts and opinions about stuff. And when, they did, didn't we all feel like we could relate to them (whether we "like" them or not) just a little more? (Honorable mention: "Quote of the Day"--or worse: "Business Quotes of the Day"--tweeters. Enough already!)
2. Stop the serial re-tweeting. If your twitter stream is more than 75%--no, 50%--retweets of other people's links or articles, you aren't letting your followers in on who the person behind the retweets is. If you are trying to build credibility in your particular area of expertise, don't forget to let us know who YOU are.What do you have to say about stuff? If all you are doing in retweeting, you aren't an expert, you are a link-sharer Want to be taken seriously as a thought leader? Start sharing what YOU think, not just what others think. Link to your own posts and let those spread where they may. I wonder what Twitter would be like if not another link to Mashable or TechCrunch was tweeted. Would it crash less?
3. Linking or mentions without any explanation. Related to #2, please let us know why you are linking to an article or why your "Follow Friday" or "Women to Follow" peeps are so special. Especially with #FF, instead of a list of 6 or 8 tweeps, throw us a bone and let us know why these people add value to your Twitter experience. We want to know. Really, we do!
4. Curb the late night Blip'ing. It's almost as predictible as death and taxes. You know it's going to happen. Sometime around 11PM, Twitter is taken over by legions of amatuer DJs sharing their music. Twitter becomes a flowing stream of Bon Jovi-Susan Boyle mashups, 80's hairband tunes, and emo, emo and more emo. Every once in awhile I will Blip along with Twitter (usually when @reneejross is DJing), but it's not so much fun when everyone is doing it.
5. Death to automated direct messages! "Hi there! Thanks for following me! I hope you like my tweets! Check out my blog at..." Auto-DMs are pointless, add zero value to fledgling Twitter relationships, and, since first impressions matter, might be seen as a huge turn off. Some people will even unfollow you immediately for sending them as they seem smarmy. I won't, but I admit it does make my pause and wonder why you couldn't be bothered to send me a personal note, maybe not right away, but down the line.
6. Less fear. How many people did you follow because your found their tweets interesting, but then you never hear from them again? I hear all the time from people who love to "read" Twitter, but are too afraid of "doing it wrong" to just jump in and participate. My advice: Just do it. Just start Tweeting. Sooner or later you'll make connections that are fun/valuable/entertaining/informative and you'll begin to see the power in the medium. You aren't boring. You add value. We want to hear from you!
7. No more "selfishness." That's a harsh word, but that's what it feels like when you "@" someone repeatedly to try and join in on the conversations they start, and they never "@" you back. I can understand if it's a popular someone with tens or hundreds of thousands of followers, but if you know the person is an active Twitter user who likes to ask questions or spark conversations, and you've made several attempts to strike up a conversation, she or he should try to respond. Not everyone can be on top of their "@'s", but Twitter tools nowadays make it very easy to see who has been responding to you. Be generous and "@" back.
8. "Opaque" tweets. If you are tweeting about that face cream you love, the vacation you're on, or the holiday cards you just received and you got it all for free, let us know, please. I'd like to see less opaqueness and more transparency in 2010, especially since marketers (yes, like Clever Girls Collective) are increasingly using Twitter to connect with customers and brand advocates. We absolutely require transparency from everyone we work with. Save some room in your tweet to add a #freebie or a #client or a #sp (for sponsored) at the end of it. It's not that I don't want to hear about what you love--I do--but part of my trusting your opinion is knowing if you bought the item or service or if it was given to you for free.
9. Companies on Twitter who only use it to post coupon codes, sales, or links to new products. Companies, I can go to your website for that. If you are a brand on Twitter, I want to know why you value me as a (potential) customer. If there is a theme to this list (and to how I use Twitter), it's that I want to know who you are, whether you are a company or an individual. Think of the companies you interact with on Twitter who get it right, who make you feel appreciated, who have turned you into loyal customers. I immediately can think of 5 or 6 where I have had very positive interactions on Twitter with their representatives, and, as a result, will be a customer for life. What makes the experience so much more meaningful is feeling like you are connecting with a real, live person (even if it's a team of people), and not with The Marketing Department or an animated sales circular. My advice to you if you are a company on Twitter: don't be afraid to let your freak flag fly! Your potential customers are freaks (and I mean that in the best way possible), too!
10. Less assholery, more community. Suffice it to say, I love to see Twitter used for good, whether it's to shine a spotlight on a government uprising that isn't getting mainstream media coverage or to rally support for a member of the Twitter community. Heck, even if it's to share what you are making for dinner or a beautiful photo of your front yard covered in snow, (at the risk of sounding like one of those affirmation tweeters) I'd like to see more goodness and less jerkiness in the community in 2010. I promise to do my part.

Now it's your turn. What would you like to see less of on Twitter in 2010? And if you say Twitter parties, we promise our feelings won't be hurt! —Stefania Pomponi Butler