Ben Johnson provides an overview of the digital tools and strategies he uses to run multiple websites and marketing campaigns without a physical office or employees. He discusses project management tools like Trello, task management with Teux Deux, file sharing with Dropbox, analytics with Google Analytics, A/B testing with Visual Website Optimizer, email marketing with MailChimp, forms with Formstack, and payments with PayPal and Stripe. The summary emphasizes how these tools allow him to scale his digital operations and work productively across time zones with a virtual team.

1. I AM DIGITAL
AND SO CAN YOU
A LOOK INSIDE MY TOOL KIT
(AND BRAIN)

2. THIS PRESENTATION:
How do you launch half a dozen websites, send dozens of
eblasts, direct mailings and newsletters to raise millions
without an office* (or employees).
Ben Johnson goes through his favourite tools for project
management, testing, databases, email service providers
to show how you can scale your work to be a digital-first
organization.
*office rented as of October 2012.

3. FIRST THINGS FIRST
When the Web first became available to users, it was primarily about
retrieving information. as it evolved in the 2000s, it became known as web
2.0 - a platform associated not only with consumption of information, but
also with collaboration and participation. hubspot.com
Your organization:
was probably born before the internet took off
likely developed working habits in isolation of the internet
probably isn’t making the most of the internet
probably isn’t nearly as productive as it could be
How much does your org depend on the internet?

4. A BIT ABOUT BEN
Mediocre writer
Colour blind
Can’t draw
No musical taste
Not a people person
But I LOVE marketing.

5. LAST MONTH:
1 website re-coded from Drupal to WordPress
2 websites moved from crappy free WordPress site to awesome custom WordPress site
3 e-commerce donation systems built for three different clients
2 NPO’s entire donation history reviewed and visualized with KPIs
Several press mentions for clients from Fort St John to Victoria
4 eblasts to tens of thousands of emails
1 flyer to be sent to 95,000 households
1 newsletter to 13,000 people
1 Christmas card for 5,500 people
1 heartfelt video sent to donors via eblast
Enumerate photos for web, print, etc.
Multiple brochures, one sheets, business cards, transit ads, etc.
Ongoing management of a half dozen websites
More data crunching, communications work, and just plain advising
655 hours

6. It’s not where are we,
it’s when are we.
Our entire team is working in “real-time” for two to three hours in a day.
We’re in three (sometimes four) different time zones.
Combined we’re working up to 18 hours of the day.
I love:
The internet didn’t just make it possible to work anywhere.
It made it possible to work with anyone.

7. What tools are there to help
with productivity?

8. Dropbox Trello Tuex Deux
+

9. Dropbox
It is surprisingly social. It’s an excellent way to segregate information.
Sharable links making moving data super easy.
Version tracking!
Mobile amazing!!!
Sometimes a browser free experience is a good thing.
FREE, unless you love data [photos] (mobile app too!)
Dropbox has more than 50 million users.
People save one billion files to Dropbox every 48 hours.
Dropbox is installed on 250 million different devices.
Dropbox has paying customers in 175 countries.
More than half of Dropbox users are from outside the U.S.
People in over two million businesses are using Dropbox.

10. Trello
Very free-form (pro and con)
Mobile app
They are developing faster than I can imagine!
Great for showing the team, the whole project etc..
Not necessarily great for individual productivity
FREE (mobile app is too!)

11. Teux Deux
Very, very simple
Mobile app
Allows for “five minute” tasks
that I don’t need to do today
but I should do on “this day”
or “someday”.
FREE (iphone app is 2.99)
Learn more:teuxdeux.com/faq

12. Balsamiq
Very amateur friendly.
Web or desktop.
Balsamiq’s two points on their
website say it all.
Remember, focus on
collaboration = web.
Don’t get in the way of the
designer…

14. What are your favourite
web applications?

15. Google Analytics
Visual Website Optimizer
MailChimp
Formstack
PayPal & Stripe
+WordPress

16. Google Analytics
Is amazing.
e-commerce & goal conversions ($$$)
mobile % (technology in general really)
events (how many downloads of x)
referral traffic (where are they coming from?)
advanced segments (slice and dice)
visitor flow (where do they go?)
reports (like a boss)

17. http://www.frontierishere.ca/?utm_source=emailfooter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=testing
URL BUILDER - http://bit.ly/TBNgwO

19. Visual Website Optimizer
Is amazing. Wysiwyg!
A/B Testing. Heatmaps. Inuitive reporting.
Test like the best of us without $25/mo
Use WordPress or Drupal plugin and it’s a snap.
50% off for charities!
Optimizely.com for data without the heatmap

20. +122%
improvement

21. MailChimp
Is amazing. Very amateur friendly but as robust as any email marketing system.
They’re productivity is also astounding (constant tweaks and improvements).
Example being recent drag and drop editor.
Great process:
• Someone writes it
• Another designs it
• A third codes it
• A fourth sends it
MailChimp also has tinyletter for simple needs and Mandrill for transactional
email.
15% off for non-profits!
Integrates with everything that integrates.

22. Vertical Response MailChimp
Re: The Patriot Act
According to the Treasury Board of Canada, the chances that information would
be accessed under the Patriot Act are remote. In fact, in the decade that the Patriot
Act has been in effect, the federal government is not aware of any case where
personal information about a Canadian was accessed under the act.

23. Formstack
Is amazing, but not perfect. It gets you to the precipice of
greatness.
Almost anything is a form (donation checkout, survey, contact,
application…)
Form analytics show you who views the form vs. who
completes it (and where they drop off!)
Their integration hub is truly amazing, and it didn’t exist two
months ago.

25. PayPal & Stripe
Is amazing. Many people have learned to hate PayPal because of
their idiotic behaviour 5-8 years ago, but Websites Payments Pro is
amazing.
$35/mo + fees.
Easily take monthly gifts. Modify, cancel, suspend. Great for
developers, good for gift processors. Use Formstack for key donation
details.
*key challenge will be reconciling monthly donations (expected
versus actual)
STRIPE: It’s early days but it is incredible at taking one-time gifts and
pre-set monthly amounts.
Both connect with Formstack very, very easily.

26. Database + web
A good database is one that has a clean user
interface for processing, allows you to export
everything, and allows for integration.
Salesforce highcharts.com
The best analysis of data is not done in a
desktop application. It’s done on the web!

27. Make the internet your first
employee.

28. Don’t use services that don’t
work well with others.

29. Use multiple mediums.

30. Smaller teams are quicker.
People consistently underestimate the additional time needed by larger
teams, with the forecasting errors growing larger as teams get bigger.
Increasing a team's size can hamper coordination, diminish members'
motivation, and increase conflict, the researchers say. (HBR, Oct 30, 2012)

31. Paper discriminates.

32. Curiosity kills cats, not people.

33. Articulate what you can’t control,
and let it go.

34. Embrace an abundance mentality.
Covey coined the idea of abundance mentality or abundance
mindset, a concept in which a person believes there are enough
resources and success to share with others.

35. Kaizen.
AKA flywheel effect.

36. You can accomplish anything in
life provided you don’t mind who
takes credit for it.
Harry S. Truman
Level 5 Leadership: Leaders who are humble, but
driven to do what's best for the company.

37. The End.