Last week during the Using Free Tools to Create an Online Portfolio webinar, we talked about strategies for embedding document files into web pages and one of the options I shared was Scribd. Through its i-Paper interface, it allows you to embed a scrollable picture of your document, somewhat like what you see with a Slideshare slidecast, but it works for Word, PDF files, etc. You can see an example... Read more →
Although I don't know if stats back me up on this, personal experience tells me that one of the main reasons people are afraid to use new tools is because they don't want to look stupid in front of the world--and more specifically in front of their customers. I've been thinking a lot lately (again) about why there's still resistance to social media tools. I'm beginning to believe that some... Read more →
As always, I continue to be blown away by the generosity and kind spirit of my readers. Last week I asked for your advice for new bloggers in preparation for a conference where Christine Martell and I are presenting. Not surprisingly, I got back an amazing set of answers--in fact, so many great answers I need to divide this into a few posts! In this post I'm going to share... Read more →
This is me, liveblogging a webinar. I'm not going to name names--just wanted to share the experience as it happens. More of a meta-analysis of the webinar experience with some commentary on content thrown in. I'm doing this to identify tips for when I'm presenting my first webinar in January. My lessons learned are at the bottom. Consider this another in a long line of process posts. Before the Webinar... Read more →
For someone who is always extolling the virtues of Web 2.0 technologies, I can be surprisingly low-tech. I've made half-hearted attempts to get better at using Google calendar, but honestly, I've had a hard time weaning myself from my paper calendar and to-do lists. My work schedule is getting impossible though, as I attempt to juggle way too many disparate projects, so yesterday I decided I needed to get a... Read more →
The other day I had to meet with 20+ high school seniors, so I decided it was time to go back to one of my tried and true meeting strategies--Toys. It was so successful (as it always is), I thought I'd share the idea. Bring on the Play-Doh! About 9 years ago I was doing a retreat with 30 people. This was for a nonprofit that provided manufacturing training and... Read more →
Looking for a way to do something different with photos for your newsletter, blog or other on and off-line publications? Robin Reagler shared this cool little tool with me--the Hockneyizer. Upload a digital photo and it will create a collage for you. You can use the Polaroid version (what I have here) or one with no frames. You can also change background colors and the number of individual images you... Read more →
Last week Rosetta Thurman and I invited interested women to join us for a career retreat in the D.C. area. Since then, we've been thrilled to hear from a number of women who are excited about the idea of working together to create their career plans and move their professional development forward. Now it's time for next steps. The Beyond the Glass Ceiling Community We're starting with a new community... Read more →
A few months ago I wrote that the best blogging strategy for nonprofits may be a group blog, where a number of writers are all contributing to creating posts, rather than relying on a single writer. Now I want to share a few tools that can make a group blog--or any group writing project--even easier. Writing Posts with Google Docs Google Docs lets you create and share documents online, which... Read more →
Today is the last day in our series on how to build a nonprofit website using Wetpaint. In this screencast I give a brief overview of the administrative settings, including adding Google Analytics and setting up a domain name. As with the past screencasts, you may want to visit the version I have at Screencastomatic, where I've added notes to mark the different segments of the screencast. I hope that... Read more →