Voter Demographics – Reaching the Unreachable College Voter
Filed under: Podcast, Red Alert Dossier, local politics
Today’s Red Alert podcast is an interview with Mark Hoger, a conservative 20 year old who attends Iowa State University. We spent a few moments talking about what it takes to engage the 18-25 year old crowd. I know most politicians simply write this group off as Democrats lost to the liberal education system. But tell me that even one vote doesn’t matter today and I’ll show you a candidate who lost. Take a listen as Mark and I chat about what it means to be a conservative college student and how politicians should engage the under 35 crowd.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:07 — 22.1MB)
Mixed Martial Arts as a Metaphor for Today’s Political Campaign
Back in the day, when you jumped into the political ring you needed a couple key skills (money, great image, deft speaking ability) and you could win. That’s not unlike the early era of Mixed Martial Arts where an incredibly huge guy or an adept Brazilian Jiu Jitsu artist could rack up wins because they overwhelmed the field with an area or two of expertise. Fighter’s were able to train for a fight for a couple months, have the event, and take a couple months off back then too.
Fast forward to 2010. Today’s fighter must be well rounded in all of the major disciplines or he (or she) likely won’t make it out of the minor leagues. He must also train constantly. Short breaks aside, he cannot afford to stop training for even a week lest his opponent exploit the weakness. He needs wrestling, submissions, striking, incredible cardio to go the distance and outlast his opponent..and of course an unwavering spirit that overcomes pain, injury, and adversity to conquer his opponent. He likely needs a cadre of training pros as well to help specialize and improve in various disciplines.
Likewise, today’s campaign is never ending buoyed by a relentless news cycle. It requires not a simple political consultant…but a team of professional specialists. The candidate must have a ground game, the ability to raise ever more funds, an online game that blows the technological mind, a network of grassroots activist support, a massive amount of content production, constant attention to online and offline micro-communities, and the mental game to comprehend countless issues about the economy and scenarios both local and global. Also, don’t forget one small slip and your campaign has to tap out.
Bottom line you must become a multi-disciplinary fighter to win in today’s political Octagon. You need to cohesively put all your weapons into place and get your mind in total harmony with the process. Ready to throw down and become the Ultimate Fighter? Or will you get pounded out and left in whimpering heap in round one? Let’s get it on!
Obama’s SOTU – The Kobayashi Maru
As a Star Trek nerd I’m completely aware that Kobayashi Maru is a simulation that presents the Captain of a Star Ship with a no win situation. Tonight’s State of the Union speech is Obama’s Kobayashi Maru.
Flowery loquaciousness won’t do.
Angry impatience and blaming Bush or Republicans or Global Warming won’t cut it.
Moderating his message and trying to appear more “Center-Left” than teetering on a plank off the Port side won’t fly.
Pouring on the gravy like platitudes about helping the middle class and creating commission for this or that will be chagrined.
Even taking blame and offering olive branches will appear thinly veiled back doors to getting what he wants.
So when the smoke clears and the simulation reset will POTUS survive the SOTU?
Trail Blazer Campaign Software – Interview
Filed under: Campaign Technology, Podcast, Red Alert Dossier
Today on the Operation Red State Red Alert Podcast I interview Brian Hanf, Executive Director of Trail Blazer campaign management software. Trail Blazer is one of those awesome all-in-one solutions that performs a massive amount of work for you without breaking the bank.
Some key areas that Trail Blazer covers include:
- Donations – The system offers embeddable widget so you can easily offer online fund raising on ANY campaign web site.
- Email Marketing – The system offers a full email marketing solution so you can blast out to all the names on your list or target with precision with contact management functionality.
- Walking List Generation – Want to send your ground troops on a door knocking extravaganza? Build your lists inside Trail Blazer.
Another key feature is of the software is the PRICE! Prices are based on what kind of race/population you’re working with. The software starts as low as $1200 and includes support and the works.
I tried to extract MAXIMUM value for our members…so if you are OR Become a Member of ORS to Learn How to Run A Campaign, you can get a generous 10% off your first year of service.
10% off PAYS for your first quarter of membership at least so let’s do this together. Spend 15 minutes with us and get to know Trail Blazer.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 14:09 — 19.4MB)
Des Moines Register Gets to Know Doug and Operation Red State
Filed under: Campaign Technology, Red Alert Dossier, local politics
Thanks to Renda Lutz for asking me to share what we do here at Operation Red State with the Des Moines Register’s audience. The picture shows off the home studio pretty nicely too. The green screen is to the right there but you get the idea.
Here’s a sample from the piece:
Why did you create OperationRedState.com: The digital divide between conservatives and the opposition was palpable in 2008. This gap was boldly accentuated by President Obama’s hyper-strategic use of technology to develop “micro-constituencies” online. I wanted to passionately target a niche market with our membership web site platform and it hit me, “Why not deliver the same web strategy and new media execution we deliver to businesses…to conservative political candidates?”
The membership site allows us to create compelling content once and serve clients affordably throughout the nation. We actively provide web-execution services to campaigns as well.
Iowa Caucus Recap – Technology Dilemma
Filed under: Campaign Technology, Red Alert Dossier, local politics
I attended the Iowa Caucus yesterday and learned quite a bit about the process. See an off year caucus is designed to elect leadership and fill county volunteer positions on committees, to elect delegates, etc. I am now a delegate for my precinct and feel that much more connected to our great process. But here’s something I ran up against in my precinct huddle.
The group was vigorously discussing how we need to get sons and daughters engaged. We have so many voting age college students/high school seniors that are seemingly ignored by most candidates/officials. Ask Chris Hagenow how important even 80 little votes can be to winning a seat? What if those 80…or 200 or 1000 were between 18-24? There were great ideas but it wasn’t until the very end where someone mentioned “That twitter that all the young people are on”. I don’t expect Citizen USA to know demographic data on these tools…but she was headed in the right direction.
I sat back trying to assess where this group was regarding technology and I chimed in, “Does anyone here NOT have email and is anyone unwilling to provide it as a method of organization?” (silence). So we had our 100% possible compliance technology. So I raced home, built a WordPress site, set up an email list on Aweber’s email marketing platform and bought an easy to remember URL. After all that, I had a moment of reflection, dropped what I was doing…and created a Facebook Group. The thought was “Keep it simple stupid”.
I’m sure we’ll end up doing what campaigns and candidates should do..and that’s to be where people ARE and communicate in the ways THEY want. Is that more work? YES. Does it require more infrastructure? YES. But can one tie them all together to provide a “web” or network of information that “disperses to all of the content outposts” for a campaign automatically? You bet.
We’ll see how this plays out and I will report on a regular basis….but now that I’m in the trenches of my actual neighborhood, I’m going to learn a lot more about what works, what doesn’t, and what we can pass onto other precincts.
More to come.
Is SEO a Waste of Time in Running an Online Campaign?
Filed under: Red Alert Dossier, Social Media
SEO. Search Engine Optimization. What is it and why do you need it? SEO, long story short, is a method of strategically using keywords, links and more to increase the findability of your website via search engines. When I say search engines, I don’t just mean Google, Yahoo, Bing, etcetera. I mean any search function whether it’s Google alerts or even a news aggregator like Newsvine. All search functions have algorithms, some more extensive than others, that allow you to search based on keywords and other criteria.
So if the purpose of SEO is to make your site, your online brand, your online you, more findable via searches, does it really serve a purpose in politics? The reason I mention this is because how much of a politicians traffic is driven through direct referrals like a Twitter or Facebook account and how much traffic is generated organically through searches?
I’m not sure I’m able to fully answer that question. Certainly if I wanted to know who was running for City Council in West Des Moines, IA I may simply search, “City Council” & “West Des Moines, IA.” Obviously being findable is important in this case but honestly, my search query is so specific that I think I’d find them with or without them optimizing their websites with SEO. The only case it would make a difference is if you wanted your site to pop up first in the results before the competition’s sites. That said, internal SEO does help. Utilizing effective tags on your pages and posts make your site more searchable and user friendly. If I wanted to know what your stance was on a local sales tax increase I can hopefully search, ’sales tax,’ internally on your site and locate all your comments and opinions on the topic.
Without getting too far off topic I’d like to talk about what I feel is more important than SEO. Some SEO “geeks” may fault me here saying this is included in SEO but I really couldn’t care less. It’s called content management. What is content management? Well, it’s the production, optimization, distribution and promotion of content. You’ve read this here before about the insanity of brochure websites. Why? Because they don’t manage content. They don’t create and integrate multiple content distribution outlets that offer ubiquity for you and your message in the online world. What it comes down to is the fact that you must be blogging, posting images, uploading video, responding and engaging your constituency to make your eCampaign work. Not a bunch of hidden keywords (which most search engines don’t pay attention to anyways).
A business client of ours sent us a 10-point checklist of SEO tips they received that explain how one could improve their website and, of course, boost their sales. Of the 10 points I think approximately seven or eight were either the creation or distribution of content. So by merely blogging and sending it to the right content outlets for all to see you are 70% of the way there according to these tips. Quite frankly, I would consider you 99% of the way there.
Again, while many out there would find flaws in my analysis I firmly believe that your campaign should first ignore the technical side of SEO and focus more on content management. When you have accomplished this maybe you can start hiring SEO consultants but quite frankly, our clients get most of their traffic from effectively targeted followings on social networks. Not from organic searches. In all candor, this type of traffic is more effective anyways because they are more likely to be people looking for you or your message, not people that have stumbled their way on to your site while looking for something completely different. Call me a misinformed moron for saying, but it is what it is.
Matt Schultz for Secretary of State Joins Operation Red State
Filed under: News, Red Alert Dossier, local politics
Today Matt Schultz, candidate for Iowa Secretary of State, joined Operation Red State to supercharge his online campaign.
When running a campaign online there are strategies and tools that go unused by most candidates for public office. The ORS membership site gives a candidate and the campaign team “full access” to a suite of multimedia courses to hyper -accelerate campaign execution.
“When you make a run for office your thoughts should immediately turn to web marketing. I know that’s counter-intuitive for most. But Matt is in the demographic that is typically much more comfortable ‘out of the digital gate’. He immediately brought some video and a WordPress site to the table. He’s also engaging and active on Twitter. The ORS subscription will round out his online strategy and give him affordable guidance that will take his online campaign to the next level.” – Doug Mitchell, Founder ORS
We welcome Matt and can’t wait to see him redefine how to run for public office.
Networkless Conan – Will He Go Web Only? and Why This Matters to Your Candidacy
Filed under: Campaign Technology, Red Alert Dossier
There’s a great January 18th post on the NY Times blog called, “What if Conan Said, “Bye, NBC. Hello Internet’?. I pose the same question to those running a campaign now or deciding how to run a campaign. When will a candidate shun mainstream media and go “web only”? Here’s the amazingly relevant quote if you’re in politics and care about the majority voting block over the next 10 years.
But with the 18- to 34-year-old crowd, who have shown undaunted support for Mr. O’Brien, a time slot is as relevant as which brand of frying pan your favorite restaurants use to cook your meal — maybe it makes a difference in the kitchen, but 99 percent of the patrons just want good food.
Booyah! The time slot is irrelevant. The 18-34 is ready for your engagement but ask and most will say they’re ignored.
Who will declare themselves the Internet candidate and truly capture the attention of the nation by producing a pure web candidacy? We’re still looking for him or her. Please call…we’re ready.
How To Run A Campaign In 2010 and Beyond
Filed under: Campaign Technology, Red Alert Dossier
Since much of the day here at ORS is spent immersed in technology and not policy I want to share what we see on the horizon in upcoming elections.
By and large, when candidates decide to run for office, they launch their campaigns as they’ve always been launched. Find someone to make a brochure website online, refine your issues statements, print up some “palm cards”, coalesce your support, and start raising money. This plan used to work and takes the candidate down a predictable path. But here are some technological tools and game changers that you the candidate and your team should pay attention to…so you don’t get smoked in the coming years.
- Skype on TV – To my digerati readers skype coming to TV may be a ho hum. But frankly I haven’t seen many candidates using skype in its traditional PC to PC video conferencing mode to save time and money. With the great recording tools out there (call recorder by ecamm and vodburner) a campaign team can already conference remotely and record the event and save it for later consumption/review. Skype has partnered with LG and Panasonic to put the software into the now Internet Connected TV. All you need is a “TV-ready webcam” and a good broadband connection and you’ll have a rich video call experience on your 42inch LCD. Now a $500 LCD in a few strategic locations and teams can have a very robust experience and save the travel costs. (5 person team, 18 mile commute each x 5 people at $.55 mile Federal rate is about $50 per meeting. Besides, you’ll be the green candidate. Think of all the carbon offsets you won’t have to buy. (Insert sarcasm emoticon here)
- Roku and related Digital Video Players – I keep asking people of all ages, “Have you heard of Roku?” and the “yesses” are on the rise. Roku is essentially a conduit to having many channels of content available on your TV…delivered via the web. You can call this video on demand but it’s SO much more. Roku and others have developed a “channel store” where you can get Netflix movies, Amazon HD video content, Pandora Internet Radio…and even Major League Baseball games (via MLB.com) delivered to your TV anytime you want them. Here comes the punchline. Roku has launched an SDK (software development kit) and opened up their system so YOU can develop your own channel. Sure it’s not NBC but ask Conan O’Brian what that coverage is worth. Which candidate will be the first to develop a Roku Channel and deliver their campaign message in this medium? If I were running it would be me. Do you know that every single XBOX 360 and Play Station 3 and soon every Wii have the ability to stream Netflix content? How long do you think it will be before content providers partner up and get more “channels” of original content into those devices? The point is that the shape of content delivery, media, and the asynchronous way in which they’re delivered is changing whether you’re paying attention or not. Within 5 years either the TV or a Roku style box will deliver whatever we want when we want and old school campaign media thinking will be dead.
Now, apply ice to that pulsing vein in your temple and have a cheese wedge…but ignore these tools at your own peril. These new media modes are called “Content Outposts” in our world. The campaign doesn’t have to create unique content for it’s Roku Channel but it would be great to feed certain video and audio content generated elsewhere into the channel. That’s leverage. That’s reaching audiences and voting demographics that you may be subconsciously ignoring. (Yes…the under 30 crowd is still mostly shunned by candidates even if you think you’re reaching them on “The Facebook and The Tweeter”.) So let’s wake up and smell the burning electronics together eh! Step inside ORS and let’s get our electrons on!
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