Projects and Research and Work

I recently completed an exhaustive but very interesting research and evaluation of a project that involved pitching a proposal to another company on the topic of social media market expansion. At the end of this post, I would like to present a short copy of the basic research proposal I wrote for XYZ, Inc. and I would appreciate any comment or suggestions on how to improve it.

But first, let's talk a little about the development process of a project. I have always loved research and I have to admit, it is my favorite part of any project . And, I thought I knew a fair amount about social medial applications and website trafficking, but allow me to just share with you a little of what I learned during the last few weeks.

I learned that there are so many social media tools, applications and sites that it is virtually impossible to keep track of all of them. Do you doubt me? Take a look at some screen shots from a really interesting site called Web 2.0 Tools and Applications, found at Go2Web20.net

Pretty cool, huh? I spent way too much time on just this one site playing a game with myself, by trying to see how many sites or icons I recognized, and if I didn't recognize them, whether or not I could guess what they were Well, man, I was twelve pages deep into this game before I realized that there were another 54 pages to go!



I think that just that one site really brought home to me how vast and how fast social media outlets are developing and changing.

Another interesting thing that was fully confirmed for me during my research was the realization that each of these technologies have a personality, a style all of their own, and in my proposal development, I started to think about how to fit the right tool to the right person or company in order to promote the type of image that is desired. I think I might take up that challenge in a later post and try to define as many of the social media tools that I can in terms of image and really, in terms of their own branding strategies.

Other interesting facts that I discovered during my during my proposal development process were some great examples of the power of social media technologies to influence marketing and brand appeal.

Of course, I thought I knew that the right comination of tools would bring traffic and exposure to a site but take a look at the following video, see what you think of it, and then I will share something with you that I found amazing:

After viewing a youtube of Will it Blend with an iphone as target of the blender, social media news aggregators and sharing networks have had over 100,000,000 hits on that video - That's right, one hundred million. It became so popular that iPhone even now has an app for Will It Blend?

According to a interview on the subject with Ben Wills, social media networking alone drove the website traffic to Will it Blend up 650% as a result of the traffic generated by the hits to the video.

Watch the Cool Interview about the impact of social media...

Now, let us shift back to the topic of constructing effective proposals. What I found confusing about the proposal writing process was all of the advice I found that warned against being too specific in social media proposals. The reasoning behind it seems to be that prospective clients are not necessarily interested in hiring social media consultants and instead seem to be more focused on having the consultant give them free strategies that they then make their own.

So, I tried to do maintain a general tone in my proposal but found myself conflicted, as it felt as though I was keeping the outline too general; so I am concerned that a prospective client would not have a clear enough picture of the strategy I was proposing. Please take a look at an abbreviated version of my proposal design and see which position you would take -

XYZ Proposal

Presented by
Phoebe Del Boccio
New Visions Partnerships


BACKGROUND

Social media technologies began to emerge in the late 1990’s through the use of community building sites, as simple web places where users could meet and talk about issues of interest to them. As technology became faster and more affordable, new tools began to emerge that allowed larger and more diverse groups to begin to form their own communities, and the world began to see a shift away from the more traditional view of the large conglomerate’s dissemination of message delivery to the public and back into an even larger dissemination of the message from the public to the large conglomerates. This 180 degree reversal of the traditional way of doing business, as the power of the corporate message was now being formulated by the public consumer, has created powerful new methods of information delivery that can reach millions of people within minutes, and is capable of multiplying exponentially with each passing minute.

OBJECTIVES

My goal is to help XYZ, Inc. reformulate their image from that of an established media presence into a fresh new image, as a producer of new media approaches for companies seeking to take advantage of the Web 2.0 social media strategies, as these strategies have rapidly become an integral part of the way in which business is conducted today. To this aim, I seek funding for the development of a customized business strategy that will allow defero to achieve its objectives of generating new business and establishing the company as a leader in this field.

PLAN

My plan will be distributed through the use of podcasting technologies embedded within a website to allow for a visual and auditory connection with the ideas being presented. Please continue to http://www.xyzxyz.com/ to view and experience the presentation for this proposal.

HARDWARE/SOFTWARE

I plan to use a laptop computer to record the podcast, and podcasting software that allows for voice quality editing, background noise reduction and compatible formatting for wide distribution of the delivered media. Podcasting technology will allow for greater portability and distribution of the message, as it eliminates the need for cumbersome and expensive video presentations or personal appearances, allowing me to reach and accommodate customers without inconvenience to them.

ASSESSMENT
The primary measurement of the success of my proposal will be evidenced by the successful reformulation of defero as a leader in new B2B AND B2C social media design technologies, which can be easily measured by the number of new customers XYZ, Inc., acquires through this reformulation.

PERSONNEL

I will record the implementation program and conduct interviews with the officers and with the technical and support staff of defero in order to select which specific tools will best serve XYZ, Inc., in the successful realization of the new strategies presented in this proposal. I will continue to develop training and strategy reinforcement podcasts as needed throughout the development and implementation of the performance strategy to ensure compliance with, and understanding of, the goals that defero intends to achieve.

BUDGET

The funding I seek will be used to purchase computer equipment, recording and editing software, and Web site space and the bandwidth necessary to record and disseminate the podcasts that I produce. As each podcast will be developed to address a specific audience and to deliver a specific message, my hourly and project rates will be included in our final negotiated contract.
.
Item
Explanation
Cost
One laptop PC (Sony Vaio)
16.4 inch, 2.53 GH Intel Core Duo, 4GB RAM, 320 GB hard drive, ATI graphics,
$1,200*

Audio & Video Software


Adobe Flash Media Interactive Server 3.5 upgrade

$400.00
External microphones (2)
Sennheiser MKH 416 P 48 U 3 – microphone with built-in filters and cable
$1,199*
Office expenses
Paper delivery of proposals, adaptations, tracking expenses.
$200
Traveling expenses
Fuel and mileage for travel within the greater New York-New Jersey for implementation of services
$500
Additional podcasts and deliverables
Any podcasts and/or other deliverables that are not included in the original proposal will be negotiated at contract rates
*
Total expenses
$3,100*

TIMELINE

After our contract for services is completed, I can start the initial interview and analysis stage of my proposal immediately. This process is expected to take two weeks to one month for completion, and is dependent upon the availability and schedules of your SME’s in management, technical and support staffing.
After phase one is completed, the assessment of needs report and the development of the podcasting strategies (and any additional agreed upon work) is expected to take two – three weeks. Training and support provided to XYZ, Inc., by New Visions Partnerships during the strategy implementation phase will take two weeks per 50 employees.

CONCLUSION

I am confident that your vision and my expertise can bring XYZ, Inc. into the forefront of technology strategy leaders in the Web 2.0 business world. I look forward to working with you in this venture and helping you to realize your goals. If you have need of any information not contained in this proposal or if you have questions that pertain to this proposal, please feel free to contact me via the telephone numbers of email addresses that are provided in my curriculum vitae.

REFERENCES

Available upon request (issues of confidentiality for this blog post)