Welcome to the FanTrust guide to digital success – Setting Your Digital Resolutions for 2009. December is traditionally a time for reflection and goal-setting, both personal and professional. Though you know what it takes to reach your goals for, say, losing weight (less eggnog, more yoga) or having fun (more eggnog, less yoga) –what if you’re venturing into uncharted business terrain? Every Thursday and Monday for the next two weeks,  we’ll walk you through short, simple exercises – complete with case studies and success stories – intended to spark transformation in your company or division with overall corporate and business goals; ...

Today, the term “social media” is used interchangeably with “Web 2.0” to describe digital tools and online destinations where individuals can share and connect with others – from social networks like Facebook, social bookmarking tools like Delicious, photo sharing sites like Flickr, and online video sites like YouTube. Not too many years ago, the term was used to describe campaigns aimed at positive personal or social change and was also called “socially conscious media”. One excellent example is the Global Media Aids Initiative. No ...

Innovative video shorts go online to tap a new community of donors VANCOUVER, November 4, 2008 – For the first time, a number of United Ways across Canada have combined forces to produce a new video campaign and to tap new digital audiences. United Ways in Vancouver, Calgary, Halifax and Toronto, along with support from Winnipeg and United Way Canada collaborated on the mission and the results are two compelling video shorts intended to open the eyes of more Canadians and support fundraising efforts. “The Web is changing the worlds of both fundraising and community involvement,” said Catherine Warren, president of FanTrust ...

On July 3, 2008, Google AdSense made the following announcement on its official blog: Earning revenue from YouTube videos just got easier We'd like to let you know about two recent improvements to video units that make them more easy and appealing to place on your sites. First, we've partnered with some new content providers that we'd like to highlight. These partners have signed on to let AdSense publishers embed their videos and share in the ad revenue. Broadbandtv: "Broadbandtv is partnering with YouTube to bring the very best video program lineup to a growing and engaged online audience. Broadbandtv ...

YouTube. Google. Facebook. All of these channels are seriously underexploited by many entertainment companies, given that there are a number of simple things that content creators can do right now to capitalize on each. With YouTube it is important that producers don’t just upload content and wait for hits. YouTube provides a number of strategies and tactics to drive traffic to your content; it is baffling that most producers don’t follow these guidelines. Google ads generate real dollars with targeted advertising; it is amazing how many high traffic sites don’t host Google ads and leave these dollars on the table. In fact, ...