frank barry

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With Facebook's continuous growth (Facebook stats) and popularity (Complete.com stats) it's hard to dismiss the fact that your nonprofit organization needs to figure out how to successfully utilize the tool. I’d love to hear what you’ve done both successfully and unsuccessfully with your Facebook fan page. Let me know in the comments and please take a minute to look through the slides above. You’ll find some great tips from organizations like the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LIVESTRONG).

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Do any of these words describe your year? How will 2010 be different?

http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2009/12/the_year_2009_in_one_word_cour.html

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

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It's 2010. Most people are thinking about how 2009 went and how they want 2010 to play out.

For better or worse, I've never been the type to write down my goals at the beginning of each new year. I'm not sure why, but this practice hasn't stuck for me. I've always got things I want to do and things I want to accomplish, but they never make their way to a formal list that I review and check off at the end of each year. Call me crazy.

This year might be different for me.

I like how Chris Brogan has 3 Words for 2010. Why? In the words of Mr. Brogan "these words are like a lighthouse that helps a ship in a storm." This method forces you to think on a higher (or maybe different) level. The words are meant to guide everything you do. This isn't to say that alternative method is inferior. What matters is finding a system or method that works for you. This one seems to be sinking in for me.

Getting Started

@jnswanson has some great questions to consider while thinking about your 2010 plans. These questions helped me formalize my three words.

1. What do I want to finish?
2. What do I want to change?
3. What do I want to maintain? (Sometimes you are actually doing fine about some things).
4. What do I want to refine?
5. What do I want to stop doing?
6. What do I need to do, though wanting has nothing to do with it?
7. What can I finally throw away?
8. What do I want to go back to?

Going Deeper

I recently watched The Bucket List with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. It reminded me to think about goals that have meaning and purpose beyond my professional ambitions. Goals that extend into my personal life.

Food for Thought

While you're thinking about where you're headed in 2010 take some time to check out these posts from a few friends of mine. They might inspire you or help you pinpoint something you've been thinking about for a while now.

Professional Goals for a Social Media Strategist by Debra Askanase
My 2010 Goals for Selfishgiving.com by Joe Waters
My 3 Words for 2010 by Chris Garrett
3 Words for 2010 by Chris Brogan

My three words

1. Concerts - Think about what it takes to build the Boston Symphony Orchestra or what it took for the Dolphins to win the Superbowl and go undefeated in 1979 (that's a concert of sorts, right?).
2. Offenses - Think about the Championship Bulls from Michael Jordan's day or maybe think about Google or Mac.
3. Monks - Think about their commitment to something greater, their humility and their purity.

I'll have more on these soon. In the mean time, what are your 2010 plans? Please do share.

Photo by john curley

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Facebooks 2009 trends data is interesting. That's for sure. But I wonder if it matters much?

• Will this data make you start a facebook page?
• Will this data help you engage with your audience in new ways?
• Will this data change anything you're currently doing?

I'm interested in your thoughts/opinions.

I don't mean this as a bash on Facebook by any means (the data matters for numerous reasons), but I do wonder how most people interpret and what might be done with it. Thoughts?

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Any runners out there?

There are a lot of reasons to run and where I live (San Diego, CA) there are a lot of people who do (especially by the beach).

I started running about six months ago. Not because I enjoy it (I don't, at all), but because some friends of mine asked me to do a Triathlon with them. If you're not familiar with what a Triathlon is let me give you a very quick definition. They are sporting events where you swim, bike and run - in that order.

I'm not a runner. Never planned on being one. Never had any desire to be one. But doing a Triathlon intrigued me so I had to start running.

What's running have to do with social media, blogging and nonprofits?

1. Goals
   My goal was to complete my first triathlon (I wasn't trying to break any records, heh!). If I didn't have that in the front of my mind I wouldn't have been running. When it comes to blogging and social media you've got to have goals. Without them you'll loose sight of where you're headed and what you're trying to accomplish. With 2010 upon us what are you focusing on?
2. People
   It's likely I wouldn't have even thought about doing a triathlon without my two friends encouraging me to do so. Having them around to encourage me, spur me on, challenge me and go through it with me was exactly what I needed to reach my goal. Going it alone isn't the way to be successful in most cases. You need good people around you to help you get to where you want to be - it's no different when it comes to being successful with your social media use. Who do you have challenging you to get better? Pushing you to complete your goal? Supporting you when you are discouraged or slacking off?
3. Perseverance
   Like I said, I hate running. Seriously. It's not something I'd ever do for fun. Hopefully you enjoy your work and using social media (A blog, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc) to help you achieve your goals. You're much more likely to be successful when you enjoy what you're doing, but it's inevitable that you'll get tired or burnt out at some point. That's when perseverance needs to kick in. Your goals and the people around you should help you through these times. Mine did.

I've now complete two triathlons. Victory.

On another note - I'm starting my personal blog here at http://franswaa.com - I'm still working on my goals for this thing. I'm also working on getting the right people around me to keep me going. I've got to follow my own advice right?

I'm interested in what motivates you, what keeps you going and how have people helped you along the way?

Photo Credit esbjorn2

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