harnessing the power of community

The impending opening of Vermont Chef of the Year Tom Bivin’s Crop Bistro & Brewery in Stowe has foodies all over Vermont salivating – those of us here at Above the Fold included. We’ve had the good fortune to have a sneak peek at the process: we’ve helped build their web site and will be assisting them in their social media endeavors. (And maybe sampling the food….from time to time.)

As always, this was a group effort: Alex Smith and Courtney Miller were instrumental in the technical and design aspects of the site, while Barbara Dozetos managed the overall project and Heather Michon assisted with content.

We hope you’ll check out the Crop site, and follow them on Twitter and Facebook. More importantly, we hope you’ll make the trip up to Stowe and sample what promises to be a premier dining experience.

You can share things you find around the Web with your Facebook friends, but you can also share things you find within Facebook.

Most Facebook posts have a line at the bottom, printed in blue, giving you the option to Like or Share the item.

When you click the “Like” button, it’s like giving it a thumb’s-up. The original poster and that person’s friends can see that you liked it, but that’s about it.

The “Share” button is much more powerful. It re-posts the message to your Wall, where all your Facebook friends can see it. It gives you the chance to say something about what you’re sharing. It’s a great opportunity to spread the word about important issues.

So, if you want to alert the maximum number of people, use the Share button!

Facebook is a powerful tool for spreading information about worthwhile causes and groups.

With the single click of a button, you can get the word out to all your Facebook fans and friends…and they, in turn, can pass on the information to all their fans and friends.

So, how do you start this chain reaction? Read more

Above the Fold owner Barbara Dozetos lead a presentation called “Social Media Makeover: One Size Does Not Fit All” at the Women Business Owners Network (WBON) Annual Fall Conference

“The WBON organizers had heard from their membership that they wanted a useful social media presentation. They didn’t want to do another 101,” says Dozetos. “So I built my presentation with an eye toward showing the attendees that the concepts behind a good social media presence are not rocket science.”

“I wanted them to see that they could take a step back and figure out what’s right and what wrong. I also wanted them to take away a sense of the real power in good social media marketing so they’d be inclined to take it seriously for their businesses.” Read more

The Gay and Lesbian Fund of Vermont was designed to showcase the contributions LGBTQA donors make to the broader community. Since its founding in 2005, the Fund has contributed to the arts; hospitals, clinics, and health initiatives; literacy and other educational programs and institutions; efforts to improve our environment; humane societies; youth services; services for the homeless and the aged; and other social services and programs.

Says Barbara Dozetos, owner of Above the Fold and a founding board member of the Gay & Lesbian Fund: “The Fund wanted to optimize their Web presence in preparation for a social media push going into the holiday giving season.” Read more

We’ve all heard the horror stories: the employee fired over a Facebook post or an email forwarded to the wrong person (or to the entire company). This past year has seen two politicians resign from Congress over inappropriate photos sent out over Twitter. It can make the brave new world of social media seem more like a minefield.

But there is a simple way to avoid social media gaffes, Jeff Stibel argues in a recent issue of Harvard Business Review: be authentic. Read more

Barbara Dozetos, owner and principle of Above the Fold, will be participating in a panel discussion on “How to Use Twitter for Fundraising, Public Relations and Branding” at this week’s 2011 Boston Social Media Summit, hosted by the Center For Nonprofit Success.

With over 200 million registered users, Twitter can seem like a cross between the world’s noisiest dinner party and the world’s biggest pillow fight.

Reading through your tweet stream, you’ll find followers sharing really interesting ideas and links all jumbled up with those posting baby pictures and their lunch plans.

When crafting your social media strategy, it’s tempting to just to jump and join the fray.

Resist that temptation. Yes, it’s easy. But it’s the Twitter equivalent of shouting into an empty room, and it’s unlikely to be effective.

Instead, treat your followers just like you would the people you meet at the Starbucks or party or after a meeting.

Take an interest in their lives. Read what they have to say and try to figure out who they are. Engage them in conversation. You’ll be surprised how much you can learn in just 140 characters.

The more time you spend listening to your audience, the better you’ll be able to build a message that they can’t help but hear above the chatter.

You’ve got a personal Facebook page and hundreds of ‘friends’, so launching a business page will be a piece of cake, right? Think again.

The first thing you need to do is prepare to take this as seriously as any marketing effort your company makes. Just because people play games there, doesn’t mean Facebook isn’t serious business. This is not a set-it-and-forget-it proposition. If your page isn’t kept fresh and interesting and conversational, it will reflect badly on your business.

So, before you press that ‘publish’ button, know the answers to these questions:

Read more