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: