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:

What's My Online Footprint? 7:03 AM

Today I am thrilled to announce the launch of a new project - WhatsMyOnlineFootprint.com.

 

The new site comes in response to the overwhelming feedback I have received following a column I published on SayfieReview.com titled "Sizing Up Your Online Footprint: Why an extensive online presence is critical to political survival".
 

WhatsMyOnlineFootprint.com allows you to "size up" your online footprint shoe size based on a formula I believe to be a good indicator of how large your footprint is online.
 

With the launch of the site, I have also produced a short web video analyzing the online footprints of a rock star (John Mayer), a politician (Sarah Palin), and a mother (Nansen Malin):

I hope you enjoy the new site.  As always, I welcome and encourage feedback from my own online footprint, so fire away.  Click here to size up your online footprint shoe size now!

My 5 favorite Twitter tools 1:46 PM

People ask me all the time what my favorite Twitter tools are.  So, I thought it would be fun to pull out my 5 favorite Twitter tools from my ever-growing Twitter tool box.  And while it was difficult to choose only 5, these I could not tweet without:

• Twitter Analyzer - The best free analytics tool out there for Twitter users.  If you have ever asked yourself any of the following questions, this is the tool for you: What percentage of your tweets have been retweeted?  How many of your followers are on Twitter right now?  Who retweets your content the most?  How many Twitter users have been exposed to your tweets?  This is one of the most powerful tools out there and it's completely free!  Go ahead and try it out by playing with the analytics from my account here.
• Twuffer - I am a big believer in "tweet management".  Nothing gets you unfollowed more than when your 20 tweets from the past hour clutter up someone's feed.  Twuffer is the answer, allowing you to schedule your tweets to post whenever you wish.  This allows you to spread your tweets out over an extended period of time.
• Twitseeker - If I've said it once, I've said it 1,000 times - the power of Twitter is in it's real-time searchability.  Twitseeker allows you to scan the Twitterverse for Twitter users who are tweeting about a particular topic of interest and allows you to mass follow those users in one click.  This is a great way to find people tweeting about the same things you are and grow your following.
• TweetDeck - Definitely the most mainstream tool on this list, but I can't go without mentioning it because I can't tweet as effectively as I want to without TweetDeck.  TweetDeck allows you to separate the people you are following on Twitter into different groups, monitor specific search terms and even monitor your Facebook friends and update your Facebook status.  It's no wonder why this has become one of the most popular Twitter tools.
• UberTwitter - This application makes me love my Blackberry.  More powerful than the web Twitter interface, it is no wonder that this application so quickly surpassed TwitterBerry as the #1 Twitter app for Blackberry users.

There you have it!  My 5 favorite Twitter tools (of the literally thousands).  I would love to know your favorite Twitter tools as well!  Please leave your favorites as a comment beneath this post.

TweetTownHall 8:18 AM

In Florida, technology has played a starring role in both Republican and Democrat attempts at organizing around the debate on health care. From the viral videos that came out of a Tampa town hall event to change a nationwide debate, to the extensive use of email organizing from groups like MoveOn.org and the Florida Democratic Party, technology has played a major role in organizing supporters and opponents of the President's health care plan.

Tomorrow, Florida State Representative Matt Hudson takes it to the next level with what he is calling a TweetTownHall. The concept behind the TweetTownHall is an interesting one - while offline town halls are being hosted by Representative Hudson in his district, the panelists will be taking questions via the @TweetTownHall Twitter account. More details on the event can be found at TweetTownHall.com.

Perhaps what is most interesting about this town hall is the fact that a State Legislator is using Twitter to bring a national debate down to the local level, while still allowing for input across the globe via Twitter. Undoubtedly, there is a push among young up-and-coming Legislators in Florida (and I would guess in other states as well) to quickly build a brand as the elected officials who "get" technology and the internet. Kudos to those doing it right.

Sizing Up Your Online Footprint 7:16 AM

This morning I have published my latest Sayfie Review column titled "Sizing Up Your Online Footprint: Why an extensive online presence is critical to political survival". You can read the full column here. Here's an excerpt from the piece:

A few weeks ago a group of elected officials asked me the following question: What do we do when we are attacked online? My answer to them: Have the largest online footprint possible.

What do I mean by an "online footprint"? In a broad sense, an online footprint is the extent to which you are connected with your supporters in the online space. Sayfie Review founder Justin Sayfie defined the term more specifically in a recent speech to the Tallahassee Tiger Bay Club when he said, "Develop a massive email distribution list, a massive number of Facebook friends, and a massive following on Twitter."

However your campaign decides to define it, having the largest online footprint possible is no longer an option for candidates - it is absolutely critical to political survival.

Continue reading this column by clicking here.