My Social Media New Year's Resolution 7:59 AM

What is the first thing you do after rolling out of bed in the morning?  Turn on the TV?  Check your e-mail, Facebook or Twitter?  Spouses of Florida politicos used to complain to me half jokingly that their husbands or wives would check SayfieReview.com first thing in the morning, sometimes before greeting their better halves.

Twitter @mentions are my morning drug of choice.  My day does not start until I see what other people said about me while I was sleeping.  Sound narcissistic?  It is.  It is rare that I first check my friends' Facebook statuses to see what's going on in their lives, because, if I'm honest, my primary concern is how they are responding to what I have to say.

My morning routine is only the beginning.  All day long I check to see who has retweeted my tweets or who has "liked" my Facebook status.  My hunger for social affirmation via social networking never subsides - I always want more.  More Twitter followers.  More Facebook friends.  More people reading this blog post!  I try to sugar-coat my self-promotional habits as "providing value to my followers/friends" or "building my professional brand."  And while these reasons have merit, at the heart of everything I (we) do online is a quenchless thirst for attention and affirmation.

I share this glum self-examination with you for three reasons.  First, I am a social media addict and that's what we social media addicts do - share everything that's on our mind.  Secondly,  I suspect I am not the only one guilty of ego-maniac-social-media-syndrome.  And thirdly, I share this grim prognosis with you because I know that I (we) can do better and make social media more about others than ourselves.  2009 showed us the incredible power social media holds in promoting good in the world larger than anyone's personal agenda.  If the Iranian people using Twitter to fight bravely for freedom isn't proof of that, I don't know what is.

So here is my Social Media New Year's Resolution for 2010: I want to make the internet less about me and more about you.  Sound simple?  It is.  It's a lesson that has been instilled in us since birth - a lesson of placing the concerns of others before self.  What does that look like on the internet?  Listening before broadcasting.  Engaging before promoting.  Learning before teaching.  Building relationships before building personal brands.

Now, please don't hear me wrong - social media was made for self-promotion and will always be used for such purposes (by myself included).  But as we look forward to 2010, I encourage us all to cut ourselves an honest piece of humble pie and make a commitment to focus a little less on ourselves and a little more on our 'friends'.  Once we do that, I believe we will both provide and derive more value to and from our social networks.

I hope you will join me in making a similar resolution for 2010.   If you are willing to make this pledge, I invite you to click here to tweet the following: My social media New Year's resolution is to make the internet less about me and more about you.

I hope you will join me.

"Nothing on the Internet is Private" 10:05 AM

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of sitting on a fascinating panel to discuss a wide-range of issues pertaining to social media including how the democratization of information is encouraging more candidates to enter into the political arena, growing your online footprint, and privacy. I have edited the interview down to four short clips (all under 2 minutes) for you to view, learn and share:

Joining the Team at TechRepublican.com 1:19 PM

I am very excited to join the blogging team at TechRepublican.com (founded by David All).  Please make sure to check out the site as well as my first post titled "Is your donate button lost?"  Here's an excerpt from my first post at Tech Republican:

Last week, Google unveiled the latest must-have tool for every online campaign operative - Google Browser Size.  Upon entering the URL of your choice, Browser Size pops up an interactive overlay showing you what percentage of web browsers are able to view which sections of your site.  This comes in very handy when your campaign is trying do decide where to place a donate button, an email sign-up box or a highlighted video.

To demonstrate the power of Browser Size, I analyzed ChuckDeVore.com using the Browser Size tool:

By plugging ChuckDeVore.com into Browser Size, we are able to determine that DeVore's email sign-up box fits completely in 95% of browsers without the user having to scroll. 

You can read my entire post here: http://techrepublican.com/blog/your-donate-button-lost

Using Social Media for Social Good 10:32 AM

2009 was a life-changing year for me as I married the love of my life, Kara. This has been the greatest year of my life and this Christmas I thank God for the many blessings in my life.

This year was also a banner year for me professionally. I have seen my "online footprint" grow exponentially and I am continually amazed at how social media has powerfully changed my career. It is easy for us social savvy politicos to get caught up in the narcissism of the internet - I am as guilty as anyone. Social media is a great tool to drive personal and professional ambition, but it's even more powerful when it is used to change the world.

That's why I am excited about donating to Charity Water - a charity whose goal is to provide clean, safe drinking water for everyone on the planet. A lofty, but certainly worthy goal. My friend Kevin Cate has already raised $550 through his online footprint on Facebook and Twitter. I would love to see us all pull together to raise another $500 by the end of the year.

I did the math - if every one of my Facebook friends and Twitter followers gave $5 to Charity Water, we would raise more than $26,000 providing clean water to more than 1,400 people for 20 years! And that's just my small online footprint. Imagine if we all encouraged our online footprints to do the same - give $5 to change lives around the world.

Donating is simple. Follow this link to donate today to donate or to find out more about the Charity Water project: http://mycharitywater.org/floridaproject

We have been given so much; now it's time to use our social networks to encourage others to give back. I hope you will join me.

Here is a video further explaining Charity Water:

Rove Going All In For Rubio? 1:03 PM

On October 5, a $1,000 donation that former Bush political guru Karl Rove made to Florida Senate hopeful Marco Rubio gained a lot of attention.  The donation, not accompanied by any grand public statement of endorsement, did show that Rove had "signaled his preference" in the competitive GOP primary between former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio and current Florida Governor, Charlie Crist.

Following the donation I tweeted the following:

I have a feeling @KarlRove's donation to @MarcoRubio had more to do with this than anything else: http://bit.ly/41v3AO

The link led to a story, published in the final days before Charlie Crist was elected Governor of Florida, detailing how Crist stood up then President Bush who was in Florida to campaign for Crist.  Crist's no-show was a political calculation that obviously peeved then White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove.

Rove's obvious distaste for Crist after this event led me to personally believe that Rove's donation to Rubio in October of this year was more of a swipe at Crist than it was an endorsement of Rubio.   Even as recently as three days ago, Rove mentioned the Rubio donation but steered clear of a hearty endorsement.  But as this tweet Rove sent last night shows, Rove appears to be solidly and publicly behind Rubio's candidacy:

When I asked Christian Camara (@reaganista) what sparked the Twitter reply from Rove about Rubio, Camara said, "I really don't know. I tweet pro-Marco material all the time, so who knows which one he saw that piqued his interest.  It truly was unsolicited."

For us Twitter watchers, this makes the whole story a little more interesting.  Camara had not mentioned anything about Rove, yet Rove found something that interested him and took the time to tweet the solid endorsement for Rubio.  Looks like Rove is paying more attention to Rubio than we all had previously thought.

This is the first tweet sent from Rove regarding Rubio and from what I can tell, the first true "statement" from Rove on Rubio's candidacy.  This endorsement will be an important one for conservatives in Florida and across the country as they continue to rally around Rubio's effort to defeat Crist.  At the end of the day, Rubio supporters are most concerned about one endorsement that could change everything in this race - the endorsement of Rove's former boss' brother - Jeb!

UPDATE: In response to a link Patrick Ruffini tweeted last night to this post, Karl Rove has responded to the question I posed at the beginning of this post - Is Karl Rove going all in for Rubio?  Rove's response via Twitter:

Re: Rubio—Yes: thoughtful, principled, true leader who looks 4 constructive conservative solutions that r outside the box.

5 Questions for The Buzz's Adam Smith 8:42 AM

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to turn the tables on Florida's ace political reporter, Adam Smith of the St. Petersburg Times.  Over the past year, Smith has recorded a series of "5 Questions" videos in which he asks 5 questions to elected officials and other high profile politicos.  This time, it was Smith answering the questions:

Transcript of twinterview with @DavidAll 12:00 PM

Big thanks to @DavidAll for participating in today's twinterview and discussing @CongJoeWilson's online efforts following the "You lie" moment of September 9, 2009 - an event All called in the interview the "most significant online event of 2009."

Here is a complete transcript of the twinterview:

Raynor: Thank you for joining me for today’s twinterview!

Raynor: On September 9, @CongJoeWilson earned fame by yelling “You lie” at the President (VIDEO: http://bit.ly/ukMKy)

Raynor: Was Wilson a client of the @DavidAllGroup prior to the September 9 “You lie” moment?

All: Honored to be here. @CongJoeWilson was not a client prior to Sep. 9 but I've known him/his team for yrs. back from Cap Hill

Raynor: Did Wilson seek you out, or did you reach out to his team?

All: Wilson's team of media guru @BrianFDonahue and his long-time COS made decision to respond and reached out.

Raynor: What was the first action the @DavidAllGroup took for Wilson online?

All: the first thing we did, as always, was to talk with team about end-goal then assess both the situation and available assets

Raynor: How much money did Wilson raise online between September 9 and October 9?

All: total haul was around $2.7M, $2.1M of which was online

Raynor: Where did the majority of those online donations come from? Online ads? Social networks? Videos? Search?

All: a majority of the first-time donations were via the web site which we helped folks find with search and display ads

Raynor: Much has been made about the ad you all took out on the Drudge Report. What kind of CTR did the Wilson campaign get on that ad?

All: Because we used a smart fundraising platform, Piryx.com, we were always able to ensure ROI for our client. [1]

All: Re: Drudge, it was one of best performers. Both for online support and to win back media narrative http://bit.ly/8CTWLD [2]

Raynor: @PhilVangelakos wants to know if Wilson never said a word, how much would he have raised online in the same time period?

All: I don't answer hypothetical questions.

Raynor: fair enough

Raynor: Critics will say that anyone who yells “You lie” to POTUS will raise money; but the fact is that Alan Grayson (D-FL) didn’t raise…

Raynor: …nearly as much after his similar “Die quickly” outburst. What was the difference?

All: Republicans and conservatives throughout the nation see @CongJoeWilson as a voice for them. That is why they support him.

Raynor: Rob Miller (Wilson’s D challenger) has raised ~ $950K via ActBlue. Wilson raised $2.1 million online.

Raynor: Does this event signify that even with @ActBlue, Republicans are beginning to out-raise Democrats online?

All: Rob Miller did nothing online of significance. He kept his mouth shut. @ActBlue proved once again need for infrastructure.

Raynor: LAST QUESTION - What accomplishment are you most proud of for Wilson online?

All: most proud of being on a team - @brianfdonahue @wesleydonehue + rest of Wilson team - that did most sig online event of '09

Florida Elections Commission kicks Google AdWords case to Legislature 3:16 PM

In August of this year, Florida became the center of controversy for political advertisements on Google, Facebook and other PPC models after a complaint was filed against St. Petersburg mayoral candidate, Scott Wagman. Since the Florida Elections Commission (FEC) ordered Wagman to remove his ads, candidates at the local and state level across Florida have put their online advertising on hold.

Today, the FEC issued a statement saying that "Due to various technological advances and the increased use of electronic advertising in political campaigns, it is staff's opinion that the Legislature should address this issue prior to charging a candidate with a willful violation."

As previously reported, the State Legislature is expected to take up this case during the 2010 Legislative Session set to begin in the Spring.

How to turn "You lie" into $2 million online 7:05 AM

Immediately following Congressman Joe Wilson's now famous "You lie" moment, Wilson turned to David All, President of the David All Group, to defend himself from attacks from the left online.  What transpired was a campaign which utilized YouTube video responses, Twitter and online advertising to raise more than $2 million online in less than 2 weeks.  On Tuesday, December 8 at 11:00 a.m. I will conduct a live twinterview with @DavidAll to ask just how his team pulled off this massive rapid-response campaign.  Find out what your campaign needs to implement online today to be prepared for your own 'You lie' moment.

Here's how the live twinterview will work.  Beginning at 11:00 a.m. EST, I will begin directing questions to David All via my Twitter account (@JordanRaynor).  All will then respond to these questions via his Twitter account (@DavidAll).  If you have any questions you would like me to ask David All during the twinterview, either send me a reply on Twitter or leave your question as a comment beneath this post

Here are 5 simple ways to follow the twinterview live:

1. Follow @JordanRaynor and @DavidAll on Twitter.  This will allow you to follow the twinterview in whichever Twitter client you prefer.
2. Follow this Twitter list specifically for the twinterview (no Twitter account required)
   
3. twitter.com
   
4. search.twitter.com (no Twitter account required)
5. Watch the conversation right here at JordanRaynor.com:

David All bio:

David All is the Internet. And he believes you are too.

The shift of the World Wide Web to a place where real people spend a majority of their time persuaded David to start The David All Group, LLC (davidallgroup.com) in January 2007. At DAG, David works with a team to achieve measurable results through its campaign-style approach to modern grassroots communications. DAG's valued clients include blue chip companies, trade associations, non-profits and political entities.

He is the co-founder of Slatecard.com, called a "Facebook for Republican candidates" by Wired which is a utility to empower grassroots activists. In 2007, he started TechRepublican.com, a group blog focusing like a laser on the intersection of Republican politics and technology which in April 2009 was awarded the Golden Dot Award for the Best Blog in National Politics.

Prior to DAG, he served as communications director for Congressman Jack Kingston (R-GA), the vice-chairman of the House Republican Conference. There he helped position Kingston as the "king of the blogosphere" on Capitol Hill; Kingston won the 2007 Golden Dot People's Choice Award for being the 2006 Online Politician of the Year. He has also been a speechwriter for a U.S. Senator, a communications director for a Senate race, a campaign manager for a heated Congressional race, and a lifeguard.

(more here)

Florida's Bill Nelson - #2 Most Googled Senator of 2009 10:49 AM

Yesterday, Google unveiled the Top 10 Most Googled U.S. Senators of 2009.  #2 on the list read simply "nelson," causing Floridians to scratch their heads as to whether or not the referenced Nelson was Florida Senator Bill Nelson or Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson.  I, like others, assumed the latter as I could think of no reason Florida's Senior Senator would reach such google stardom.  But according to the New York Times, the "nelson" referenced by Google is indeed Florida's Nelson.  New York Times' Online Politics Editor, Kate Phillips, was nice enough to confirm my suspicions on Twitter:

@KatePhillips: @JordanRaynor #2 We asked Google if it was Ben or Bill Nelson, bec we thought so, too. We were told Bill. That's why we mentioned Ben 2.

UPDATE: Google Insights confirm that it is indeed BILL and not BEN Nelson:

So how did Senator Bill Nelson make it to the #2 spot of Most Googled Senators? The Miami Herald's Naked Politics blog asked the same question today, speculating that Nelson's Googlability could have come from "Nelson's crusade against the manufacturers of defective drywall...or his efforts to rid the Everglades of giant snakes."  My guess?  The resurfacing of this Bill Nelson video with the Senator talking about sexual intercourse on the Senate floor:

Crist/Rubio and How Direct Media is Changing Florida Campaigns 9:09 AM

Last night I joined Sheela Venero on her Blog Talk Radio program to discuss the Crist/Rubio primary and how social networking is changing the face of political campaigns across the country, and more specifically, in the Sunshine State. Full audio here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thedannysheelashow/2009/12/02/the-danny-and-sheela-show4

How "Square" is Your Candidate? 4:17 PM

Today, Twitter Co-Founder, Jack Dorsey announced his new project - Square. The project makes credit card transactions possible from virtually anywhere. Obviously, this has some big implications for political campaigns. Who will be the first candidate to accept donations via credit card on an iPhone at an event? Or sell campaign merchandise from an iPhone and text message a receipt? Pretty incredible potential. Here is a video demonstration of how this new technology works:

Transcript of Twinterview with @PatrickRuffini 12:15 PM

Thank you to @PatrickRuffini for participating in my first ever Twinterview! Stay tuned for the announcement of my next Twinterview guest!

Here is a complete transcript of the Twinterview:

@JordanRaynor: We are LIVE with @PatrickRuffini, Partner @engagedc and most recently a Senior Online Strategist for @BobMcDonnell. Thanks for joining us!

@JordanRaynor: @PatrickRuffini Thank you for sitting down with me. The @engagedc team ran an incredible online campaign for @BobMcDonnell in VA.

@PatrickRuffini: Great to be here, Jordan!

@JordanRaynor: How many new organic email sign-ups did the McDonnell campaign accumulate? Where did the majority come from? Online ads?

@PatrickRuffini: The campaign had 187,000 e-mail addresses. Search marketing & banner ads on sites like Drudge were a strong component of this

@JordanRaynor: The McDonnell campaign raised $1.25 million online. Approximately what % of that came directly from email solicitation?

@PatrickRuffini: About a third. Walk-in donations to the site were surprisingly strong, esp. after the thesis attacks. Thank you WaPo.

@JordanRaynor: Thank you indeed. What do you think is an effective non-fundraising email to direct fundraising pitch email ratio?

@PatrickRuffini: About 1 in 3 or 4, moving to 1 in 2 in the critical weeks before the election when it matters most.

@JordanRaynor: Much has been made of how the McDonnell campaign went mobile. What was the most successful aspect of your mobile strategy?

@PatrickRuffini: We experimented a lot with mobile. We were able to get very granular with it so I got updates from the Alexandria field office

@PatrickRuffini: I would say this local targeting was a highlight. We also experimented with assigning GOTV phone calls through SMS, also a win

@JordanRaynor: Interesting. I love the Redskins ticket give away you all implemented in exchange for cell #s. Was that effective?

@PatrickRuffini: Yes, it grew the list considerably. Also use at live events was key, particularly the GOP convention

@JordanRaynor: @IsCool wants to know how successful fundraising via SMS was for the campaign?

@PatrickRuffini: Candidly, that is one area that's still emerging. Mobile better for message distro and field than fundraising, at least now

@JordanRaynor: Good to know. Let's talk online advertising.

@JordanRaynor: McDonnell spent 7.5% of ad budget online. What % of a campaign’s advertising budget should be spent on online ads in 2010?

@PatrickRuffini: 7.5% is a start. Big brands moving to 10-15%. 10% of TV ads being skipped over. More than 10% of media consumption is online.

@JordanRaynor: The McDonnell campaign launched a Google advertising network "surge" in the last 12 hours of the campaign…

@JordanRaynor: …Would you recommend a “Google Surge” for candidates at the presidential, state-wide, congressional and local level?

@PatrickRuffini: Yes -- exposure it gets you for the $ is far better than TV. Blogs buzz about the full court press effect, sure sign it works.

@JordanRaynor: Was the “Deeds On the Ropes On Taxes” video (http://bit.ly/4Fsv5) the biggest moment for the McDonnell campaign online?

@PatrickRuffini: It was huge. Our grassroots' response to the WaPo thesis attacks was also huge. (cont)

@PatrickRuffini: But if you had to pinpoint a turning point where Deeds effectively disqualified himself, that was it

@JordanRaynor: Let's talk social networks. Why did the campaign decide to create a custom social network (McDonnell Action) with Ning?

@PatrickRuffini: We needed a way to connect our super-volunteers and roll them into the organization immediately (cont)

@PatrickRuffini: Before McDonnell Action, phone trees used to mobilize volunteers. After a mix of groups/events on the site & email.

@JordanRaynor: Which social network provided the greatest value to the campaign? Facebook, Twitter or your custom McDonnell Action (Ning)?

@PatrickRuffini: That's a tough one. Facebook was biggest with over 30K fans. But we could do more with McDonnell Action volunteers.

@JordanRaynor: How many Facebook statuses were “donated” to the campaign for GOTV efforts on Election Day?

@PatrickRuffini: Close to 1,000 -- which we estimate reached about 80,000 Virginia voters

@JordanRaynor: Interesting. Did the campaign have any relative success fundraising directly from Twitter and Facebook?

@PatrickRuffini: Decent success around deadlines. But main sources were 1) walk-in traffic to site, 2) email, 3) Google AdWords

@JordanRaynor: What new technology would you like to see a political campaign experiment with in the 2010 cycle?

@PatrickRuffini: 1) iPhone apps with GPS geolocation & voter ID, 2) Hyperlocal Twitter activity by field offices

@JordanRaynor: Twitter rock-star @nansen wants to know what are the top 3 online items campaigns must have/do?

@PatrickRuffini: In no particular order, 1) robust web platform that scales and captures enthusiasm, 2) video, video, video 3) email strategy

@JordanRaynor: Moving away from McDonnell for two questions...

@JordanRaynor: Thanks for reading Plouffe’s book for the rest of us. What’s the biggest online lesson you learned from the book?

@PatrickRuffini: Bottom line: Actually believe your grassroots can do it. Don't underestimate them. Make them a key part of the team.

@JordanRaynor: What’s your biggest criticism of Obama’s online campaign?

@PatrickRuffini: It was metrics-based to the point of being paint-by-numbers. They once didn't change their homepage for 3 weeks b/c it worked

@JordanRaynor: Lastly, what single accomplishment are you most proud of with McDonnell’s online campaign?

@PatrickRuffini: Lesson: No one silver bullet. Consistent execution across the board was the hallmark of Obama '08 and McDonnell '09

Live Twinterview with @PatrickRuffini 7:41 PM

Tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. EST, I will conduct my first-ever live Twinterview (Twitter interview) with Patrick Ruffini - Senior Online Strategist for Bob McDonnell's victorious campaign for Governor of Virginia.  Ruffini and his team led an incredible online effort for Bob McDonnell's gubernatorial campaign that is being looked at as a model for state-wide campaigns moving forward to 2010.  In Ruffini's first Twinterview since McDonnell's landslide victory, I will ask how exactly the McDonnell online team pulled it off and what secrets they have for online campaign teams in 2010.

Here's how it will work.  Beginning at 11:30 a.m. EST, I will begin directing questions to Ruffini via my Twitter account (@JordanRaynor).  Ruffini will then respond to these questions via his Twitter account (@PatrickRuffini).  After I have finished asking my prepared questions, Ruffini will take a few additional questions from other participants on Twitter.  If you have a question for Ruffini, please direct them to @JordanRaynor or @PatrickRuffini on Twitter.

How can you follow this live Twinterview?  Here's 5 simple ways:

1. Follow @JordanRaynor and @PatrickRuffini on Twitter.  This will allow you to follow the Twinterview in whichever Twitter client you prefer.
2. Follow this Twitter list specifically for the Twinterview
   
3. twitter.com
   
4. search.twitter.com (no Twitter account required)
5. Watch the conversation right here at JordanRaynor.com:

Patrick Ruffini bio:

Patrick Ruffini is a political strategist whose work has helped define the convergence of new media and politics for more than a decade.

Ruffini is currently a partner at Engage, a political media firm he founded in 2007. In this role, he helps political and public affairs clients navigate the seismic shifts in today’s media landscape from the top-down broadcast model to an open and participatory online ecosystem. Shortly after founding the firm, Ruffini was recognized by Campaigns and Elections’ Politics magazine as a Rising Star in American politics in 2008.

From 2005 to 2007, Ruffini served as eCampaign Director at the Republican National Committee. As part of the RNC Chairman’s leadership team, Ruffini worked to maximize adoption of new media throughout the Republican Party, producing record online fundraising, architecting best-in-class online organizing tools, and spearheading the party’s blog and social media strategy. Under Ruffini’s leadership, the RNC’s Web traffic led that of the Democratic National Committee for 11 out of 12 months in an otherwise challenging 2006 election year according to Nielsen//NetRatings.

In the 2004 election, Ruffini served as webmaster for Bush-Cheney ‘04, managing day-to-day operations on the campaign’s Web site and helping oversee development of the grassroots tools that mobilized an army of 1.4 million campaign volunteers. Having come to the campaign with experience as an early political blogger, Ruffini launched and ran the campaign’s blog — the first ever affiliated with an incumbent President — and led rapid response outreach to the then-burgeoning political blogosphere.

(more here)

Charlie Crist vs. Marco Rubio = Traditional 3M vs. New 3M 8:01 AM

A few weeks ago, a friend told me half-jokingly and half-seriously that I wrote Marco Rubio's campaign game plan on June 11, 2009 when I published a piece titled "The 3M Campaign Cycle Reversed" on SayfieReview.com. In the piece, I argued that with the right candidate and the right message, the internet could level the playing field and help reverse the conventional wisdom that you must run a "Traditional 3M" campaign to get elected to office. I argued that the Traditional 3M model was based on big money to launch a campaign, followed by momentum, with the candidate's message being a distant third priority. This model can be diagrammed like this:

MONEY → MOMENTUM → MESSAGE

Using the internet to drive message directly to voters, victory is now possible for candidates who don’t have big money to kick-start their campaigns, by following a “New 3M” model that looks like this:

MESSAGE → MOMENTUM → MONEY

When I wrote the 3M piece 5 months ago, I had the race for the Republican nomination for the open Florida U.S. Senate seat in mind. At the time, it seemed unthinkable that Marco Rubio, the insurgent candidate with no money or momentum, could beat political titan Charlie Crist. Today, it is a very real possibility. 9 months away from this critical primary that politicos inside and outside of Florida are deeming the “Battle for the GOP’s Soul”, it appears that this race has indeed become a battle between a Traditional 3M campaign and a New 3M campaign.

It was clear from the beginning that Charlie Crist would run a Traditional 3M style campaign as he had done so many times in the past. So far, nothing has changed. Crist has spent nearly all of his campaign time bundling big money at traditional big-ticket fundraisers. The expectations for how much Crist would raise were set incredibly high, and Charlie Crist crushed them to the tune of more than $6.4 million dollars raised with $6.2 million cash-on-hand as of October 8, 2009. Crist has trounced not only Marco Rubio in raising big money; he has become the leading Republican Senatorial fundraiser in the entire country for the 2010 cycle. Though Rubio showed glimmers of hope at the end of the last fundraising report in early October raising $1 million, he has fallen far short of Crist’s ability to bundle big money. However, Rubio has successfully raised money from smaller donors (more than 11,000 of them) most of whom he can raise money from again. By comparison, more than 850 Crist donors have already maxed out, meaning they can not give to Crist again until the General Election.

Even with all of his big money, Crist has fallen far short of reaching the “Second M” of the Traditional 3M campaign cycle - momentum. If anything, momentum has shifted against Crist and turned in favor of his opponent on the short end of a 5-to-1 financial disadvantage - Marco Rubio.

Marco Rubio’s momentum is undeniable. It is difficult to read the Florida papers without reading of Rubio gaining in the polls, another lopsided straw poll victory or a story about how national conservatives are rallying to Rubio’s side attempting to put a giant bull’s eye on Charlie Crist. Rubio is being hailed inside and outside Florida as the poster boy (literally) of the conservative movement. So what’s driving all of this momentum? According to the models I have outlined above, either big money or message.

So far, Rubio’s momentum has certainly not been driven by big money which drives a Traditional 3M campaign, leaving us with message. So far, Rubio’s message has been largely nationalized - more about the future of a more conservative Republican Party than about the issues specific to the Florida Senate race. This has forced me, as well as others, to ask what exactly is Marco Rubio’s message? This very question was posed to Rubio in an October interview on FOX Business:

Rubio’s answer: “What we’re campaigning on is that America is an exceptional society. There’s never been a freer, more prosperous people.”

If Marco Rubio doesn’t think there is a Crist ad out there ready to attack Rubio’s message as being nothing more than piggy-backing the Greatest Generation, he has another thing coming. But even though Rubio has kept his campaign message broad and nationalized, there is something about his message that is clearly resonating with voters.

Just before the November 3 election in New York’s 23rd congressional district, I tweeted the following:

 Harnessing voter anger may actually qualify as a platform this cycle.

This is what I believe we are seeing with Rubio’s campaign in Florida, which has indeed been modeled as a New 3M style campaign. Though his message has been broad, he has been successful in harnessing grassroots anger and discontent with the political establishment (namely Charlie Crist) giving his campaign remarkable momentum that shows no signs of stopping.

As Crist ramps up his campaign and rhetoric, the true test of Rubio’s implementation of a New 3M campaign model will be whether or not that message is strong enough to continue to drive momentum and eventually lead to the big money he will need to defeat Charlie Crist.

The Case for 1 Twitter Account 10:14 PM

Since publishing The 7 Deadly Sins of Tweeting Politicians (which has now been shared with tens of thousands of individuals), I have received numerous questions about how best to avoid Sin #6: Lying (or hiding) who is actually tweeting for you.  Here's how I describe this sin in the earlier blog post:

In an ideal scenario (mostly for the potentially disastrous entertainment value) all politicians would personally tweet, but it is widely understood that the majority do not.  A bigger mistake than not personally tweeting though is lying about it.  If your staff tweets for you, make that clear.  You don't want to be giving an interview on CNN and have a staff member send out a tweet, supposedly from you, at the very same moment.  It is not difficult to know who is genuine and who is not on Twitter and other social platforms.

Many have assumed wrongly that I would recommend political campaigns set up two separate Twitter accounts in order to keep tweets from the candidate and tweets from staff or press separate.  Political consultant @aprylmarie pointed out this evening:

In addition to Florida Republican gubernatorial hopeful @BillMcCollum whose campaign launched a separate Twitter channel for staff tweets this week (@Team_McCollum), U.S. Senate GOP hopeful @MarcoRubio also launched a separate Twitter account for his press shop - @RubioPress.

Personally, I am not a fan of the multiple Twitter channel model of separating staff tweets from candidate or elected official tweets.  The simpler you make things on the internet, the more success you have.  Having multiple Twitter accounts that people have to follow will become a nuisance to your Twitter followers and ultimately, I believe, your campaign will not be as effective.

Virginia's Governor-elect, @BobMcDonnell offers a better model.  For tweets supposedly from Bob McDonnell himself, the tweet reads as if Bob himself was typing the message:

Tweets from staff were very clearly indicated as such within the tweet:

This appeared to be a very effective model for the McDonnell campaign.  With one single Twitter account posting updates from the candidate, staff and press team, the McDonnell campaign made it easy for supporters to follow every aspect of the campaign in one Twitter channel which amassed 7,152 followers before Election Day.

10 Famous Hugs in American Politics 3:12 PM

The front page of Monday's New York Times led off a story with the following sentence: "In retrospect, even Charlie Crist admits that “the optics” of The Hug are not great."

Florida Governor Charlie Crist's embrace of President Obama at a Ft. Myers rally in February of this year has officially been dubbed "The Hug." Crist's primary opponent for the GOP nomination for Florida's open U.S. Senate Seat, Marco Rubio, has used The Hug to fuel grassroots discontent with Crist and his "embrace" of President Obama and his stimulus plan.

"The Hug" isn't the first of its kind though.  Here are just 10 Famous Hugs in American Politics:

83% of Twitter Users Registered to Vote? 1:52 PM

Here's a great example of the power of Twitter.  Last week, I tweeted the following:

I would love to see a study from @pew_internet showing what percentage of Twitter/Facebook users are registered to vote.

This morning, I received a response via email from Pew Internet Research Specialist, Aaron Smith, answering my question in detail:

In our post-election survey conducted in November 2008, 85% of Americans claimed to be registered to vote. For internet users as a whole the figure is 88%; for users of social networking sites the figure is 86%; and for those who use Twitter or other status update services, the figure is 83%. Ultimately, all of these are within the margin of error—we found no statistically significant differences on this question based on social media use.

There are a few caveats to this. For one thing, telephone surveys tend to overstate voter registration and turnout somewhat (since people don’t want to admit that they aren’t registered, or did not vote in an election). Second, the Twitter and social networking universe in November 2008 was quite a bit smaller than it is now. However, while the magnitude of the numbers above might be overstated I don’t have any reason to believe that the differences between groups are any more or less pronounced than we found in 2008. If anything I’d guess that users of social media applications have gotten more like the overall population in their voting behavior as increasing numbers of middle-aged people adopt these services (since older adults are generally more likely to be registered voters than the young people who were early adopters of Twitter and social networking sites).

4 Ways to Track #NY23, #VAGOV and #NJGOV on Twitter 2:00 PM

Want to track the latest breaking news coming out of Virginia, New Jersey and New York's 23rd congressional district on Tuesday's big election?  Twitter is the place to do it.  Here are 4 ways (for Twitter users and non-Twitter users) to track these three crucial races on Twitter:

Twitter.com - Track the races in real-time from within Twitter.com in your browser:

• NY-23 
• VA GOV 
• NJ GOV

External Twitter clients - Want to track the races on TweetDeck, Seesmic, Tweetie or another Twitter client of choice?  No problem.  Here are some good search parameters for you to copy and paste into your favorite Twitter client:

• NY-23:  NY23 OR NY-23 OR Scozzafava OR dougforcongress
• VA GOV: vagov OR vuv OR bobmcdonnell OR creighdeeds
• NJ GOV:  christiefornj OR joncorzine OR ChrisDaggett OR takebacknj OR njgov OR savejersey OR corzine OR christie OR daggett
  

search.twitter.com - Real-time stream of tweets based on targeted search parameters in your browser.  You do not need to be a Twitter account holder to view these searches: 

• NY-23 
• VA GOV 
• NJ GOV

RSS - Subscribe to RSS feeds of the Twitter conversation surrounding these races in your favorite RSS reader:

• NY-23  
• VA GOV  
• NJ GOV
  

The 7 Deadly Sins of Tweeting Politicians 7:50 AM

I have gone on a politician purge, unfollowing the vast majority of elected officials and candidates that I previously followed on Twitter.  Why?  No single group of people is more boring on Twitter.  Don't take my word for it, a recent study by the University of Maryland agrees.

So to keep your elected official or candidate from making the same mistakes their tweeting predecessors have made, I have compiled a list of The 7 Deadly Sins of Tweeting Politicians:

1. Only using Twitter for "the ask."   I get it - at the end of the day social media means nothing to your candidate unless it raises them more money.  And while I sharply disagree with that philosophy, I understand that's the conversation going on in most campaigns.  But just as in offline fundraising, to raise the most money online a relationship must first be built.  Obama New Media Director Joe Rospars has said, if you have 10 emails, it is the 8 emails that don't ask for money that lay the groundwork for the two that are.  The same rule should be applied to Twitter.
   
2. Using Twitter as another press release distribution service.  First off, the press release is dead for political campaigns.  Instead of using press release corporate speak, listen to the way people communicate on Twitter and adapt the way you communicate your message directly to your supporters.
3. Not listening.  Most politicians see Twitter as a one-way channel to push content out to.  The good tweeting politicians see Twitter as a chance to gain valuable feedback from voters.  Politicians who are not listening to what the Twitterverse is saying about issues important to them are missing out on a huge opportunity.  Twitter can and should be used to test and tweak your campaign's message.  Listen and consider engaging with an @reply to a voter once in a while.
   
4. Forgetting that you are human.   The point of social media is that it is, well, social.  Learn how to take off your online tie and show that you are a human being.  Yes, this means sometimes tweeting about your personal life!  Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill said it best when she said, "It's important for my constituents to know that I do my own laundry."
   
5. Sending your followers on a treasure hunt.  Twitter is a great way to drive traffic to stories, videos, donation pages, etc... but make sure you are linking directly to the content you want your followers to see.  If the content you want your followers to see is not on your homepage, don't tweet a link to your homepage and force your followers to dig through your site to find what you want them to find.  The key to success on the web is eliminating friction and that's an important value to remember when linking to content via Twitter.
6. Lying (or hiding) who is actually tweeting for you.  In an ideal scenario (mostly for the potentially disastrous entertainment value) all politicians would personally tweet, but it is widely understood that the majority do not.  A bigger mistake than not personally tweeting though is lying about it.  If your staff tweets for you, make that clear.  You don't want to be giving an interview on CNN and have a staff member send out a tweet, supposedly from you, at the very same moment.  It is not difficult to know who is genuine and who is not on Twitter and other social platforms.
   
7. Tweeting your favorite quotes from historical figures just because you have nothing to say.  If you don't have anything valuable to say, say nothing at all.  An occasional quote from George Washington is inspiring, but your followers would much rather hear something you may think is mundane (such as the fact that you are walking your dog) than you proving that you are an inspirational-quote-buff.

Click here to download this post as a PDF

My last day at Sayfie Media 6:56 AM

Tomorrow will be my last day serving as the Executive Editor of Sayfie Media and an Associate of NetPower Strategy.  I have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity of serving in these two organizations with the talented teams that make up both, making my decision to move on all that more difficult.

I am very proud of the work that has been accomplished at Sayfie Media and NetPower Strategy over the past year-and-a-half.  During my time as the first Executive Editor of Sayfie Media, traffic to SayfieReview.com has increased more than 25% and advertising revenue is at an all-time high.  Earlier this year, SayfieReview.com was named one of the Best Florida Political Blogs by the Washington Post.  In 2008, the Sayfie Review was awarded ITFlorida’s first-ever Excellence in Web 2.0 award for our cutting-edge integration of social media. Our presence on Facebook and Twitter as well as our Sayfie Review TwitterRoom continue to serve as standard-bearers for online news organizations in Florida.  On Election Day 2008, we pulled off a first in Florida history by broadcasting live streaming reports from voting precincts across Florida via cell phone video cameras.  In the past year-and-a-half, Sayfie Media has launched 3 new sites (SayfieBusiness.com, SayfieReview.tv and SayfieBusiness.tv) and undergone massive re-designs of SayfieNews.com and SayfieReview.com.

It is humbling to see how far Sayfie Media has come since Justin Sayfie launched SayfieReview.com in 2002.  The success of what some have called the "Sayfie Media empire" is a testament to Justin Sayfie's vision, brilliance and dedication as well as the incredible team of Editors that I have had the privilege of working with.  I have been honored to spend the last year-and-a-half learning from one of the internet's leading thinkers and entrepreneurs and will be forever grateful for the opportunities Justin has opened up to me.

As many of you know, this past July marked a significant change in my life as I entered into marriage.  In an effort to spend more time with my wife, I have decided that now is the time for a change of pace, leading me to accept a position with a family business in Tampa where I will begin work immediately.

Many of you have already asked me whether or not I will continue to be a voice for promoting online engagement in the Republican Party through Twitter (@JordanRaynor) and this blog.  My answer is an emphatic yes!  Over the past few months, I have received numerous invitations to speak on the internet's role in politics and journalism today.  I have even been encouraged by close friends to consider developing my recent piece on "online footprints" into a book.  In the coming weeks, I will be evaluating these options and informing you on the progress of them on Twitter and this blog.  For the very latest from my blog, be sure to subscribe either by RSS or email.

The past year-and-a-half has been an amazing period of my career.  Thank you to all of you who have helped make it an experience I will never forget.

How Google's Social Search Will Work (and change everything) 3:48 PM

Last week, Twitter announced deals with search giants Google and Bing that will integrate relevant tweets from users' social networks into search results pages on the two search engines.  Bing released their version of this new Twitter integration last week with searchable tweets on a separate bing.com/twitter page. Just moments ago, Google unveiled their own version of "social search" along with this short video outlining how the new search results will function:

The Aesthetic of Jobs 8:42 AM

The 2009 Gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey are being called a "snapshot of U.S. attitudes", an "indicator for 2010" and a "referendum on President Obama."  Polls consistently show that Republican nominees Bob McDonnell (Virginia) and Chris Christie (New Jersey) stand poised to take back one, if not both Governor mansions next month.

I have long said that online video will continue to play a larger role in campaigns across the country, and these two races are proving me right.  Both Republican candidates have invested heavily in online video and have used it very effectively.  But as I have watched this race unfold, particularly on YouTube, one theme has emerged that from my perspective, has truly captured the voice of Americans at this snapshot in history - Bob McDonnell's theme of being a "Jobs Governor."

I once heard a member of Barack Obama's video team from the campaign talk about how the campaign used online video to create the "aesthetic of hope."  I would argue that Bob McDonnell's online video team has successfully created the "aesthetic of jobs."  At a time when Virginia's unemployment rate is at 6.8% (more than 2% higher than it was a year ago), McDonnell has captured the voice of hurting Virginians in his use of web video.

My fascination with this message of jobs began when I saw this ad touting McDonnell's plans for "new energy" and "new jobs" in Virginia.  Unlike the "Drill baby, drill" message of 2008 which focused more broadly on energy independence, McDonnell's pitch for new energy centered around the specific theme of his campaign - JOBS!  In fact, in this one 30 second spot the word "job" or "jobs" was spoken/written out 10 times.

As I dug deeper into McDonnell's online video content, I discovered that McDonnell's 25 TV and web-ads posted to his YouTube channel referenced the word "job" or "jobs" an average of 3.6 times per ad.  Here are the 25 videos I have defined as TV or web-ads:

The aesthetic of jobs permeates throughout McDonnell's online video content.  As the nation looks to Virginia as an indicator of things to come in 2010, it will be fascinating to see how that message resonates with Virginia voters.

Internet advertising through the eyes of John Mayer 3:42 PM

Last night, Recording/Sandwich Artist (his words not mine) John Mayer attempted to describe internet advertising in 5 tweets.  And although humorous, he didn't do that bad:

Quick dissertation on the anatomy of "hate" in our decade: web sites get paid by advertisers based on how many site visits they get...

...how do you get as many clicks as possible? Shock them into clicking. Caps, exclamation points, anything hyper-sensitive.

then, keep them coming back by way of letting them comment. Someone who posts will check the site for replies: more clicks, more money.

Also, ask them their opinion and let them "vote." That always works. Why? Click on a poll, get transported to another page. Another click!

Hopefully, you're fighting, clicking, refreshing, gasping, clicking, hating, fighting, clicking... and they're taking home the ad money.   

Truly, What Florida's Most Influential People Read Daily 5:15 PM

Over the past seven years, SayfieReview.com has evolved into a sort of cult-phenomenon in Florida politics, widely recognized as the go-to website for Florida political news.  While traffic to the Review continues to grow, one of the most difficult tasks remains conveying just how influential the Sayfie Review audience is.  In the Sayfie Review logo, the claim stands strong - What Florida's Most Influential People Read Daily - and while politicos across the state understand just how influential the site's audience is, sometimes it's difficult to put into words exactly who "Florida's Most Influential People" are.  That's why Justin Sayfie tasked me with putting together a campaign to showcase the influential Floridians who are reading the Sayfie Review.  The result?  This incredible list of more than 750 of Florida's Most Influential People including:

Governor Charlie Crist

Former Governor Jeb Bush

Former Governor and U.S. Senator Bob Graham

Former Governor Wayne Mixson

Former Governor Claude Kirk

U.S. Senator George LeMieux

Lieutenant Governor Jeff Kottkamp

Attorney General Bill McCollum

CFO Alex Sink

Commissioner of Agriculture Charles Bronson

Speaker of the Florida House Larry Cretul

President of the Florida Senate Jeff Atwater

9 Members of the Florida Congressional Delegation

58 State Legislators

6 Mayors
Secretary of the Republican National Committee, Sharon Day
Chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, Jim Greer

Chair of the Florida Democratic Party, Karen Thurman

See the entire list here

Follow My Government Launched 8:38 AM

The response to the mass follow lists of members of Congress and Governors I released last week has truly been overwhelming.  Emails and Twitter replies came pouring in from people who loved the ability to mass follow their elected officials on Twitter.  A rumor even made it's way to me that the House GOP circulated the list around to all Republican members of Congress.

Given the overwhelming response, I decided to take some time this weekend to separate the lists out onto a subdomain of this blog.  After adding some new lists and breaking down each congressional delegation into one-click follow lists by state, I have launched followmygovernment.jordanraynor.com.  Since launching the micro-site less than 24 hours ago, the site has been viewed by 850+ unique visitors and the lists have generated 12,500+ follows.

Please take a moment to check out this new tool and share it with your own Twitter followers!

Online Fundraising Lessons from Q2 7:45 AM

As the second quarter of fundraising came to a close, I posed the following question to Republican online fundraising gurus Patrick Ruffini, Mindy Finn, David All and Justine Lam:

Their answers:

Click here to retweet Patrick Ruffini's advice

Click here to retweet Mindy Finn's advice

Click here to retweet David All's advice

 

Click here to retweet Justine Lam's advice

Like it or not, Alan Grayson is the King of YouTube 10:01 AM

Florida Congressman Alan Grayson is at it again - stirring controversy and spreading it virally through his powerful dominion - YouTube.  Monday evening, Grayson gave the following speech on the House floor saying that the Republican health care plan is to let Americans "die quickly":

The speech set off a firestorm of controversy as the video was quickly circulated via YouTube and other media outlets. The video obviously brought a lot of national attention to Grayson, helping him raise more than $90,000 on the eve of the close of the fundraising quarter.

Grayson's massive presence on YouTube is nothing new.  A YouTube member since the day he took office, Grayson now boasts 2,276 YouTube suscribers.  The Congressman has posted 52 videos to YouTube, 19 of which have been viewed more than 10,000 times each including this video which has been viewed 1,865,973 times:

Grayson's success on YouTube is as unique as his persona as an elected official.  Grayson is highly controversial and nothing drives YouTube video views higher than controversy (just ask Kanye West).  Love him or hate him, no member of Congress is doing what Congressman Grayson is doing on YouTube.  Only time will tell if his virally spread controversy helps or hurts his chances with voters.

5 Lessons from Obama's New Media Director 6:12 AM

Obama New Media Director and Blue State Digital Founding Partner, Joe Rospars, sat down in a recent interview to unveil some nuggets of truth from the Obama campaign's online game plan in 2008.  Most of these truths have been stated by myself and others many times over, but they certainly deserve repeating:

1. Take ordinary people seriously
2. Give your supporters the tools to turn online action into offline action
3. Invest in talented online savvy staff
4. To raise the most money via email, a candidate must not use every email interaction as a solicitation
5. Campaigns must believe in the role of the internet from the top down - from the candidate to the campaign volunteer

Here's the full interview:

MASS follow your elected officials on Twitter 7:15 AM

UPDATE: I have launched followmygovernment.jordanraynor.com with even more lists of elected officials to follow.

MASS follow any of these groups of elected officials on Twitter with one click:

United States Senators

Senate Republicans

Senate Democrats 

Republican Members of Congress

Democratic Members of Congress

Governors

As more politicians join the Twitterverse, it has become increasingly difficult to find and follow elected officials on Twitter.  Government Twitter directories have popped up such as TweetCongress and GovTwit but no one has come up with a way to mass follow these groups of elected officials in one click - until now.  Whether you are interested in listening to the entire conversation going on in Congress or you are simply interested in gaining more Twitter followers (mass following groups of Twitter users is one of the best way to gain more followers) go ahead and give it a shot by clicking one of the group links above.

Web Will Account for 15% of Total Ad Spend in 2010 6:47 AM

Political candidates often ask what percentage of their advertising budget should be allocated to the internet.  I have always been a believer in (generally) following the lead of consumer targeted advertising, but unfortunately political campaigns seem to always be a few years behind the curve.  Well, here's your warning for 2010:

From ClickZ

Web Will Account for 15 Percent of Total Ad Spend in 2010

Despite continued sluggishness in the display ad market, Internet advertising will increase its share of overall ad spending to 15 percent next year, for a total of almost $65 billion globally, according to a new forecast from GroupM.

Unlike earlier this decade, when spending on display ads drove much of the growth in the digital market, increases today are being driven by investments in search and mobile advertising, according to the forecast, which was released Monday.

Spending on search will rise by 12 percent globally in 2010 for a total of $25 billion, the report said, while global display ad spending will increase just 5 percent. In the U.S., display ad spending will decrease slightly, from 35 percent of the total to 34 percent. Display ads accounted for 39 percent of total US ad spending in 2006.

Click here for the entire story

Justin Sayfie Named One of the Top 10 Most Influential Republicans in Florida 4:40 PM

This month's issue of Politics Magazine features the Top 50 Republicans and Democrats in Florida politics.  I am very proud to say that my boss, Justin Sayfie, was included in the list and even highlighted as one of the Top 10 most influential Republicans in Florida out of the group of 50 chosen.  Here is a link to the full list of Republicans and Democrats.  These names join Justin Sayfie in the Top 10:

Brian Ballard: Former chief of staff of Gov. Bob Martinez, lobbyist with big stable of clients and furndraisers with close ties to Gov. Charlie Crist and Attorney General Bill McCollum.

Sally Bradshaw: Former campaign manager and chief of staff for Gov. Jeb Bush, remains active in GOP.

Jeb Bush: Former governor, brother and son of former presidents remains active on education issues.

Marion Hammer: Veteran NRA lobbyist with renown ability to muster grassroots support or opposition.

Ann Herberger: Major GOP fundraiser, particularly for candidates named Bush.

George LeMieux: Former chief of staff and campaign manager for Charlie Crist. 

Connie Mack: Former U.S. senator and mentor to Charlie Crist.

Roberto Martinez: Former U.S. Attorney and adviser to several governors, chairman of federal judical nominating commission which selects nominees for judges and U.S. attorneys.

Justin Sayfie: Former Jeb Bush staffer, lobbyist and owner of Sayfiereview.com, an influential web site that collects statewide daily news.

John Thrasher: Former House speaker and lobbyist with Southern Strategy Group, now a candidate for state Senate.

Endorsement done right 4:03 PM

Let's face it, political endorsements are about the lamest thing in the world.  So how can you get your endorsement some legitimate attention?  Like this: