How to Set Up Your Own Survey Incentives

A cost effective way to show gratitude.

Surveys attempting to generalize a population often suffer from a lack of data. With abysmal response rates for optional surveys, its hard to distinguish if participants truly represent the ideals of the larger group, or if they are just a vocal minority. Luckily, research has repeatedly shown how post-paid incentives can increase user response rates.

With a small token of gratitude, such as a $5.00 Amazon gift card, survey responsiveness can be boosted 36% as shown in a paper published in the Social Science Computer Review. Cash incentives are also effective, but the time involved with keeping a mailing list as well as organizing and sending every respondent mail can be complicated, as well as requiring significant time from your employees.

A food incentive is an easy way to motivate the hawk to travel through the maze (Joy Reo/ Wikicommons).

As much as input is appreciated and necessary, not every company or organization has the capital to spend too much rewarding their clients. In fact, two dollar incentives showed little increase in responsiveness over five dollar incentives.

However incentives should not only be cost effective, but simple. txtMovies provides an easy and affordable alternative to cash incentives. For $2.49, a Redbox movie code for a one day rental can be texted or emailed to a participant, customer, client or volunteer. txtMovies also offers a $5.00 Amazon eGift card (purchased for $5.95 each) that can be used for their Amazon Instant Video service or used as a credit on their Amazon account.

txtMovies ensures ease of access for any organization, allowing you to share your gratitude for your participants or clients in a thoughtful way. Any survey on the web can be incentivized with a custom link from txtMovies which can be put before or after your survey with a simple site redirect. txtMovies handles sending the movie rental code to your clients and gives you confirmation it was sent!

Sign up here, and make sure to check the box that you'll be using the codes for survey incentives to get started. When your account is approved after purchasing some codes, you'll receive confirmation and a survey incentive landing page link. txtMovies knows simple gratitude can go a long way!

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3 Simple Ways to Improve Volunteer Retention

This article was originally shared on Energize Inc's A-Z Volunteer Management Library of Retention Resources (under "Tips from colleagues.") 

Recruiting new volunteers is critical, but it’s vitally important to consider how to retain current volunteers. With a new year upon us, now is the time to think about how to make improvements to help your volunteer base thrive in 2016. Here are some tips to help improve your retention efforts in 2016.

Understand Goals

Do you know what your volunteers want to get out of the experience? If not, find out! From there, you can help your volunteers succeed and enjoy their experience. If they want to gain experience in marketing, find opportunities for them to engage in a marketing role. Find out if they want to be challenged in their volunteer experience, or if they are happy just performing the simplest tasks.  

TxtMovies offers a free Get to Know You Survey that you can send to volunteers and when volunteers fill out the standard questions you will be emailed their responses. Did I say it was free?

Recognize and Reward

A simple message of  “you’re doing great!” is a big morale booster. Make sure volunteers know how appreciative you are of their service through simple reminders.  Consider various ways to reward your volunteers, as well. Rewards could include: providing snacks, inviting them to a once-a-year volunteer appreciation night, or providing a small token of appreciation. Children’s Hospital of Orange County Volunteer Services and other volunteer organizations across the country reward volunteers with RedBox and Amazon movie codes via email or text message using a service called txtMovies.

Remind

There’s a reason why each individual chose to volunteer with your organization. They probably have a personal interest or connection, so remind them of how their service is helping improve the lives of others. One great way to do this is to connect the volunteers with the individuals that your organization serves. This heartfelt “thank you” from those served could be in-person, via notecard, or even a video distributed to volunteers.

Try these suggestions in 2016, you’ll be on your way to a stronger, more engaged volunteer base that will help you drive your organization forward in the new year and beyond. 

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Thanking Mentors During National Mentoring Month

“Throughout our Nation's history, Americans of every background have worked…in common purpose to serve as mentors and lift up our country's youth. During National Mentoring Month, we honor all those who continuously strive to provide young people with the resources and support they need and deserve, and we recommit to building a society in which all mentors and mentees can thrive in mutual learning relationships.” – Proclamation by the President of the United States of America, December 31, 2015.

National Mentoring Month is upon us. It’s a time to reflect upon those who serve as mentors—providing encouragement and guidance to others and significantly impacting lives. “Thank Your Mentor Day” is January 21, but the whole month truly provides an opportunity to thank mentors in your life—whether you oversee mentors in your non-profit organization, or you personally have a mentor who has impacted you, or your child’s life.

Here are some ways to recognize your mentors during National Mentoring Month:

Thank You Note

Handwritten cards are a timeless and heart-felt way to show you are truly thankful for someone. In fact, here are 11 benefits of writing handwritten notes. Whether it’s on a handmade card, a store-bought card or downloaded card, writing a note to a mentor you care about is an easy and effective way to show appreciation.

Digital Shout Out

The National Mentoring Month Campaign is encouraging anyone who has had a mentor to share a story on social media using the hashtag #MentorIRL. Let your mentor know how meaningful they are to you with a video, Facebook post or Tweet!

Showing Appreciation

Think about the people in your life who are mentors and what they enjoy. If they love coffee—treat them to their drink of choice. If they like flowers, pick some up for them to brighten their day. If you’re part of an organization with many mentors, consider using txtMovies to easily send multiple movies in just a few minutes.

There’s also another important date during National Mentoring Month. January 14 is “I am a Mentor Day.” On this day, mentors are encouraged to talk about how they mentor others using #MentorIRL. On that day, we’ll be keeping an eye out for mentors and doing some rewarding of our own on Twitter! We’ll be randomly recognizing mentors with a free RedBox movie using txtMovies’ “Tweet a Movie” feature.

Remember to use the hashtag #MentorIRL!

Julie Miller, is the Director of Marketing for txtMovies, a leader in delivering Redbox movies and Amazon Instant Videos as a form of appreciation. Clients include major universities, nonprofits such as American Red Cross and Livestrong Foundation, health care organizations and professionals, religious institutions, restaurants, and market research companies.

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Repost: Thanking your Blog Audience & Social Media Fans

This article was originally posted in November 2014.  The topic and content are both still very relevant.

The holiday season is the perfect time for bloggers and marketers to reflect on their online audience engagement strategy.

It's generally accepted that thanking your blog visitors and social media fans is the key to building an active online community which can add valuable content and credibility to your marketing efforts.

In her blog post When Should You Thank Your Social Media Fans? Julie Neidlinger of Todaymade writes:

"Without letting your fans know you’re thankful for their participation and for even being an audience, it’s easy for you to be forgotten without another thought." 

Julie further points out the importance of not being a "robot".

"Telling your fans thank-you should be automatic, but it shouldn’t be automatic. That is, you should have an automatic reaction of being thankful, but not use automation to carry it out. If you’re going to thank your fans for a retweet, don’t turn into a robot. Take the time to do it personally. Make sure you come up with a way that is a personal thank-you when possible."

So while there is no argument from most bloggers and marketers that their online audience is vitally important. The challenge is how to thank blog readers and social media fans in a personal AND cost effective manner.

That's where txtMovies can be a great resource. Bloggers and marketers use txtMovies to send a personal, custom message with an Amazon or Redbox digital gift codes by text message, email or tweet.  Here are a few examples:

• You want to increase the number of comments on your posts. Offer a $5 Amazon gift card for the best comment. 
• You want to encourage email newsletter signups. Offer a free Redbox Movie to the next 50 people who sign up. 
• You want to increase comments on a Facebook timeline. Offer a $5 Amazon gift card to the person who made the comment with the most "LIKES".

By engaging visitors and fans with personal outreach and a valued gift, you stand a greater chance of creating "word of mouth" and an enduring positive association with your blog and brand.

As Julie Neidlinger points out:

"Genuine thanks directed to specific people rather than a generic audience is not the trend; it’s expected right now."

Happy Thanksgiving!  Please share with us the most creative ways you engage and thank your blog readers and social media fans. We'll send Redbox movies to each person that knocks our socks off!

About txtMovies
txtMovies is a leader in delivering Redbox and Amazon digital codes as a form of appreciation. Current clients include major universities (Ohio State, University of Michigan, University of Iowa), nonprofits (Livestrong Foundation, Code for America, Lifewater), healthcare organizations/professionals (Children's Hospital of Orange County, Kaiser Permanente, dentists, optometrists, chiropractors, family physicians), religious institutions, restaurants and market research companies.

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txtMovies is Saying 'Thank You' to Volunteers Through Twitter Campaign

txtMovies works with many organizations who rely on the support of volunteers, so we understand the power of volunteerism. This holiday season, we’re thanking those who are serving others this holiday season by rewarding them with free Redbox movies.

In the upcoming weeks, txtMovies will be scanning Twitter for opportunities to reward individuals who are sharing their volunteer experiences. To make sure we can find out about your volunteer experience, use the hashtag #givingback with a tweet about your volunteer experience.

txtMovies will randomly choose individuals to reward with a free Redbox movie code, which will be sent via twitter direct message after the user follows instructions in a tweet they receive from us.

We can’t wait to hear the amazing things volunteers are doing! We’ll see you on Twitter!

About txtMovies
txtMovies is a leader in delivering Redbox and Amazon digital codes as a form of appreciation. Current clients include major universities (Ohio State, University of Michigan, University of Iowa), nonprofits (American Red Cross, Livestrong Foundation, Code for America, Lifewater, State of North Carolina, Association of Fitness Studios), healthcare organizations/professionals (Children's Hospital of Orange County, Kaiser Permanente, dentists, optometrists, chiropractors, family physicians), religious institutions, restaurants and market research companies.

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How to Give Amazon Instant Videos as Gifts

It’s a well-known fact that Amazon is the undisputed leader in online shopping with over 1 million products available via 1 day shipping.

Less well known is that Amazon is quickly becoming the go to source for streaming of the newest movie releases and current TV shows all available on demand via its Amazon Instant Video service.

"For most movies, you'll see two prices: rent or buy (own). 

Rentals start at $2.99. If you rent, you'll have 30 days from when you rent to start watching, and once you start watching, most movies have a 24-hour window to finish watching. Once the rental is over, the movie will automatically disappear from Your Video Library.  

Buying a movie or TV show means you can watch it as many times as you want, now or later, subject to terms of use."

According to Amazon, instant streaming is available on the web, hundreds of TVs, cable set top boxes, Blu ray players, Amazon Fire TV, Fire HDX, Fire HD, iPad, PS3, Xbox, Wii, Wii U and Roku.

All of the videos whether rented or purchased are stored in your Amazon account in the Your Video Library, so you can access them anywhere you go.

With such a large library of digital content, it’s no wonder that many organizations would like to give the gift of Amazon Instant Video but according to this thread on Amazon's customer service site, there is no easy way to “gift” Amazon Instant Videos, at least until now….

Here’s how to easily give Amazon Instant Videos as a gift using txtMovies.

Step 1: Create a txtMovies account.

If you don’t already have a txtMovies account you’ll need to set one up and fund it with $5 Amazon gift cards. (If you’re already a txtMovies customer simply place a reorder for Amazon gift cards using the reorder link.)

Step 2: Find the Movie or TV show on Amazon.

Find the movie or TV show you want to send as a gift on Amazon and in the lower left beneath the image of the video click on the SHARE by Email icon. 

In the pop up window copy (highlight and CTRL~C) the movie title and link.

Step 3: Send your gift using txtMovies

Open your text movies account, select Amazon codes and enter the email or phone number of the recipient. Copy and paste the link to the movie or TV show in the Customize Your Message section with any message and click "Next" send the link and codes.

Once you've sent your gift, the recipient can redeem the Amazon gift codes in their Amazon account and rent or purchase the video(s).

It's that simple to send Amazon Instant Video gifts by text message or email. Using txtMovies to deliver the Amazon gift codes makes it easy to purchase and deliver gifts to multiple people at the same time.

About txtMovies
txtMovies is a leader in delivering Redbox and Amazon digital codes as a form of appreciation. Current clients include major universities (Ohio State, University of Michigan, University of Iowa), nonprofits (Livestrong Foundation, Code for America, Lifewater, State of North Carolina, Association of Fitness Studios), healthcare organizations/professionals (Children's Hospital of Orange County, Kaiser Permanente, dentists, optometrists, chiropractors, family physicians), religious institutions, restaurants and market research companies.

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Redbox Price Changes

After 12 years and for the first time, Redbox has announced that it will increase the price of its Blu-ray movie rentals.

Effective December 1st, 2014 purchases of Blu-ray gift codes via txtMovies will be $2.49 per delivered gift code.

Hurry, Lock in the Old Price!

You still have time to purchase gift codes at the old price of $1.99 per delivered gift code as long as the purchase is completed via the txtMovies website by midnight November 30th.

Don't wait! Once the Redbox increase takes place the old pricing is gone...forever.

Click here to create your account.

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Thanking Your Blog Audience & Social Media Fans

The holiday season is the perfect time for bloggers and marketers to reflect on their online audience engagement strategy.

It's generally accepted that thanking your blog visitors and social media fans is the key to building an active online community which can add valuable content and credibility to your marketing efforts.

In her blog post When Should You Thank Your Social Media Fans? Julie Neidlinger of Todaymade writes:

"Without letting your fans know you’re thankful for their participation and for even being an audience, it’s easy for you to be forgotten without another thought." 

Julie further points out the importance of not being a "robot".

"Telling your fans thank-you should be automatic, but it shouldn’t be automatic. That is, you should have an automatic reaction of being thankful, but not use automation to carry it out. If you’re going to thank your fans for a retweet, don’t turn into a robot. Take the time to do it personally. Make sure you come up with a way that is a personal thank-you when possible."

So while there is no argument from most bloggers and marketers that their online audience is vitally important. The challenge is how to thank blog readers and social media fans in a personal AND cost effective manner.

That's where txtMovies can be a great resource. Bloggers and marketers use txtMovies to send a personal, custom message with an Amazon or Redbox digital gift codes by text message, email or tweet.  Here are a few examples:

• You want to increase the number of comments on your posts. Offer a $5 Amazon gift card for the best comment. 
• You want to encourage email newsletter signups. Offer a free Redbox Movie to the next 50 people who sign up. 
• You want to increase comments on a Facebook timeline. Offer a $5 Amazon gift card to the person who made the comment with the most "LIKES".

By engaging visitors and fans with personal outreach and a valued gift, you stand a greater chance of creating "word of mouth" and an enduring positive association with your blog and brand.

As Julie Neidlinger points out:

"Genuine thanks directed to specific people rather than a generic audience is not the trend; it’s expected right now."

Happy Thanksgiving!  Please share with us the most creative ways you engage and thank your blog readers and social media fans. We'll send Redbox movies to each person that knocks our socks off!

About txtMovies
txtMovies is a leader in delivering Redbox and Amazon digital codes as a form of appreciation. Current clients include major universities (Ohio State, University of Michigan, University of Iowa), nonprofits (Livestrong Foundation, Code for America, Lifewater), healthcare organizations/professionals (Children's Hospital of Orange County, Kaiser Permanente, dentists, optometrists, chiropractors, family physicians), religious institutions, restaurants and market research companies.

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Client Spotlight: City of San Antonio Animal Care Services

When the City of San Antonio Animal Care Services wanted to increase volunteer engagement, they knew they had to find a way to connect with their volunteers on a personal level.

With limited resources both financially and from a staffing perspective, they decided to use txtMovies' free Volunteer "Get To Know You" survey tool to quickly collect data from all of their volunteers. 

Here's an snippet of our conversation with Jeanne R. Saadi, Volunteer Coordinator for City of San Antonio Animal Care Services.

+txtMovies: Please tell us about San Antonio Animal Care Services.

Jeanne: Animal Care Services is the municipal animal shelter in the San Antonio, Texas.  We encourage responsible pet ownership by promoting and protecting the health, safety and welfare of the residents and animals of San Antonio through education, enforcement and community partnership.

+txtMovies: How will you use the information you collect from your volunteer surveys?

Jeanne: I sent the GTKY survey out to our active volunteers (almost 400 people) and am really enjoying getting to know a little more about them through their responses. 

I plan to use their responses to help bridge the staff-volunteer gap that often happens. I want the staff to understand better why our volunteers choose to spend their free time here and why the experience is so important to them. 

It’s also nice be able to personalize the volunteers more so, for example, if a staff member likes the same kinds of movies – they now have a reason to talk to that volunteer and get to know them better!

+txtMovies: You've set up an account on txtMovies. How does txtMovies fit into your volunteer engagement/appreciation strategy?

Jeanne: We are excited about the opportunity to use the txtMovies to reward our Volunteers of the Month and stand-out individuals with a little something extra. We have some of the most generous, dedicated volunteers and they ask for nothing in return – but they deserve so much more! 

It will be nice to surprise them with a free movie for going above and beyond our expectations – which they do every day – and this reward program definitely fits our budget!

Update from Jeanne Saadi via Linkedin:

About txtMovies

txtMovies is a leader in delivering Redbox and Amazon digital codes as a form of appreciation. Current clients include major universities (Ohio State, University of Michigan, University of Iowa), nonprofits (Livestrong Foundation, Code for America, Lifewater), healthcare organizations/professionals (Children's Hospital of Orange County, Kaiser Permanente, dentists, optometrists, chiropractors, family physicians), religious institutions, restaurants and market research companies.

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Amazon Gift Cards via txtMovies

We're excited to announce the availability of $5 Amazon Gift Card codes for txtMovies customers.

Starting today, you can instantly send the gift of Amazon.com by text message or email directly from your txtMovies account.

Your customers will love Amazon Gift Cards because they are an extremely flexible reward, giving them access to millions of items including streaming movies, fast and reliable shipping, all backed by the trust of the Amazon brand.

Each $5 Amazon Gift Card code delivered is $5.95 ($5 code plus $0.95 delivery fee).

If you are a current txtMovies user, its easy to add Amazon Gift Cards to your txtMovies account. New customers can create a txtMovies account by clicking here.

Amazon Gift Card codes can also be used as survey incentives. Just send a note to support@txtMovies.com to request a Survey Incentive Landing Page link.

Bonus Codes!
Purchase 25 - $5 Amazon Gift Codes by October 31st, 2014 and we'll add 5 Redbox movie codes to your account as a bonus!

About txtMovies

txtMovies is a leader in delivering Redbox and other digital codes as a form of customer appreciation. Current clients include major universities (Ohio State, University of Michigan, University of Iowa), nonprofits (Livestrong Foundation, Code for America, Lifewater), healthcare organizations/professionals (Children's Hospital of Orange County, Kaiser Permanente, dentists, optometrists, chiropractors, family physicians), religious institutions, restaurants and market research companies.

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VolunteerMatch & txtMovies Partner to Study Volunteer Appreciation

VolunteerMatch and txtMovies are partnering to learn more about volunteer appreciation practices, and we want your opinion!

Please help us understand how your organization shows appreciation for its volunteers by taking this very brief survey.

By sharing this information, you’ll help us provide better support and resources for nonprofits and your volunteer programs. We will definitely share the results with you when they’re ready!

Thanks a million!

About txtMovies

txtMovies is a leader in delivering Redbox and other digital codes as a form of customer appreciation. Current clients include major universities (Ohio State, University of Michigan, University of Iowa), nonprofits (Livestrong Foundation, Code for America, Lifewater), healthcare organizations/professionals (Children's Hospital of Orange County, Kaiser Permanente, dentists, optometrists, chiropractors, family physicians), religious institutions, restaurants and market research companies.

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Creating Added Value in Your Practice

Darden Restaurants' Olive Garden chain is running a unique promotion where they're giving away a Redbox movie with a "to go" entree.

Olive Garden's marketing experts will probably tell you that few people will specifically go into an Olive Garden just for the movie.

However they will also probably tell you that they expect customers to perceive they are getting more value for their hard earned dollar and that this added value makes it easier to justify eating out.

It's clear the goal of the promotion is to differentiate their restaurants and create added value.

What does this have to do with your practice? 

Ask yourself, 'How does my practice create added value'?

Some products naturally go together. Dinner and a movie is a combination that satisfies both hunger and entertainment.

When a patient walks out of your practice how do they feel?

You've probably satisfied their need to see correctly. That's valuable. What else do you do for them that satisfies their needs?

To create added value, let's ask that question a different way.  What can you give patients that will add value to seeing better, but not cost a lot of money?

Treating patients to a movie enables them to enjoy their new contacts and glasses. That's creating added value. You've now helped patients see better and highlighted the value of your services via entertainment.

For only $1.99 per movie, txtMovies will deliver to your patients a Redbox Movie Rental code via text message, email or tweet. It's a simple and affordable way to create added value.

Practices can get set up with a txtMovies account and immediately begin sending movies in as little as 3 minutes by simply creating an account on the txtMovies website. Free demonstration available on website.

txtMovies is a leader in delivering Redbox and other digital codes. Current clients include major universities (Ohio State, University of Michigan, University of Iowa), nonprofits (Livestrong Foundation, Code for America, Lifewater), healthcare organizations/professionals (Kaiser Permanente, dentists, optometrists, chiropractors, family physicians) and market research companies.

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Restaurant Promotion: Dinner and a Movie (Redbox DVD Rental)

Darden Restaurant's Olive Garden unit is running a limited time only promotion where you "Buy One, Take One" entree To Go.

What's unique is Olive Garden is also giving away a Redbox Movie Rental promo code good for a one day rental with each To Go entree.

Restaurants that want to replicate this "dinner and a movie" strategy can utilize txtMovies to deliver Redbox Movie Rental codes.

For only $1.99 per movie, txtMovies will deliver to your customers a Redbox Movie Rental code via text message, email or tweet.

txtMovies is a leader in delivering Redbox codes. Current clients include major universities (Ohio State, University of Michigan, University of Iowa), nonprofits (Livestrong Foundation, Code for America, Lifewater), healthcare organizations/professionals (Kaiser Permanente, dentists, optometrists, chiropractors, family physicians) and market research companies.

Restaurants can get set up with a txtMovies account and immediately begin sending movies in as little as three (3) minutes by simply registering on the txtMovies website.

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Volunteer Engagement: Fun Game to Break the Ice

Motivating a group of volunteers can be a daunting task especially if all the volunteers don't know each other.

Many Volunteer Coordinators use games or icebreakers to engage groups of volunteers. Ideally the icebreakers are simple where everyone can participate and have fun.

One simple but fun icebreaker everyone can play is called 'MovieStar'.  

To play MovieStar, volunteers are asked to re-create a famous quote from a movie. Everyone else needs to guess the name of the character and name of the movie.

For example, "You can't handle the truth!"

Answer would be: Col. Jessup in A Few Good Men. 

Bonus points for naming the actor/actress that played the part. In this case Jack Nicholson.

Almost everyone has or knows a famous line ("I'll be back", "We're not in Kansas any more") but just in case they can be provided with a list of American Film Institute's Top Movie Quotes of All Time and perform one of those quotes.

Those that perform the quote receives a prize. We recommend a Redbox Movie Rental Code from txtMovies (only $1.99 each) as prizes because they're affordable and most volunteers love watching movies. (Yes, we're very very biased!)

If you need content for your social media accounts, try recording video of your volunteers performing the quote and post it facebook and twitter giving your followers something to talk about. But of course ask for permission first!

Stay tuned for more Volunteer Enagement ideas in upcoming blog posts.

About txtMovies
txtMovies enables organizations to deliver patient appreciation via cost effective, easy to use tools. Our customers come from a variety of industries including healthcare, automobile, financial services, retail, associations and not for profit including the University of Michigan, University of Iowa and the Livestrong Foundation. For more information please visit www.txtMovies.com.

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Patient Appreciation Events: MovieStar

When you're holding Patient Appreciation Day/Week/Month events, the goal your office should shoot for is fun.

Fun typically starts by engaging patients in a way where everyone can participate.  

Here's an simple but fun game everyone can play.  We call it 'MovieStar'.  

To play MovieStar, individual participants are asked to re-create a famous quote from a movie. Everyone else needs to guess the name of the character and name of the movie.

For example, "You can't handle the truth!"

Answer would be: Col. Jessup in A Few Good Men. 

Bonus points for naming the actor/actress that played the part. In this case Jack Nicholson.

Almost everyone has or knows a famous line ("I'll be back", "We're not in Kansas any more") but just in case they can be provided with a list of American Film Institute's Top Movie Quotes of All Time and perform one of those quotes.

Those that perform the quote receives a prize. We recommend a Redbox Movie Rental Code from txtMovies (only $1.99 each) as prizes because they're affordable and patients love watching movies. (Yes, we're very very biased!)

We've even had some offices play MovieStar during normal office visits as a way to spice up routine annual exams.  

If you need content for your social media accounts, try recording video of the patient performing the quote and post it facebook and twitter giving your followers something to talk about. But of course ask for permission first!

Stay tuned for more Patient Appreciation Event ideas in upcoming blog posts.

About txtMovies
txtMovies enables organizations to deliver patient appreciation via cost effective, easy to use tools. Our customers come from a variety of industries including healthcare, automobile, financial services, retail, associations and not for profit including the University of Michigan, University of Iowa and the Livestrong Foundation. For more information please visit www.txtMovies.com.

  

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txtMovies featured on LaunchingNext

This week txtMovies was featured on LaunchingNext. Check out their website for more cool new start up companies.

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The Genius of Muttbombing & Other Guerrilla Marketing Tactics

Please check out our first Linkedin post discussing the benefits of using creative guerrilla marketing tactics to drive growth in your business. #muttbombing #guerrillamarketing

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Volunteer Engagement: "Behavior That Gets Rewarded, Gets Repeated"

As volunteer managers responsible for recruiting, training and motivating non-paid staff, it can be helpful to think like a marketing professional.

Marketers have long known that by altering the shopping environment with background music they can influence purchase decisions.  For example, author Gus Lubin highlights 8 Amazing Effects That Background Music Has On Sales including:

• Classical music at a restaurant makes people buy more than does pop music or no music

• However, classical music makes people think of a store as expensive, and this isn't right in all contexts

• People perceive a shorter wait time when they hear music that they like

Similarly, Dr. Robert Cialdini, Regents' Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Marketing at Arizona State University researched and documented 6 psychology based principles that marketers could ethically use to increase sales in his seminal text Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.

What do these "marketing" techniques have to do with engaging volunteers?

Simply put, engaging volunteers can be thought of as a marketing task. The bottom line is you want volunteers to do something for your organization. Whether that "something" is plant trees, mentor children, visit the elderly or spread awareness, you want and need them to carry out your mission.

What are some practical applications and benefits of using these types of marketing techniques?

The reality is not all of the tasks are easy or pleasant. For example picking up trash on the local beach. What if you could make the time seem to go by faster by playing music that your volunteers like to hear? Would this improve the volunteer experience?

Dr. Cialdini talks extensively about social proof, the ability to reinforce a decision by involving others. If you're not doing it already, what if you utilized your organizations twitter and Facebook accounts to leverage your recruitment and to acknowledge service publicly?

One of the simplest marketing tips for volunteer engagement to remember comes from noted marketing expert Bob Burg. Mr. Burg tells his audiences that "Behavior that gets rewarded, gets repeated".

Its worth repeating: "Behavior that gets rewarded, gets repeated."  

How true is this statement?  Think about your childhood.  As a child you were conditioned to "be good" and there will be some type of reward. Perhaps you do this with your children today, "be a good boy/girl and you can have ice cream or go to the park or watch tv."  You can tap into this latent conditioning by rewarding your volunteers early and often and you will likely see the number and quality of your volunteers increase.

Examples of Affordable Rewards for Volunteers

Not every nonprofit can shower their volunteers with rewards. The good news is not every reward will break the bank.

• Sports Event Tickets - Every stadium is not filled to capacity for each game.  Contact local sports teams to see if they have any unused tickets they would like to donate or sell to you on a heavily discounted basis. Don't forget to contact college teams as well as they definitely don't always sell out their seats.
• Museums, Aquariums & Zoos etc. - Contact your colleagues at other non profits and see if you can score passes for their slow days. Consider trading passes if you work for this type of an organization.
• Public "Thank You" on Social Media - Post a sincere message of thanks from one or more of the people your volunteer helped. Simple and free.
• "Movie of their Choice" - Treat your volunteers to a movie of their choice using txtMovies for only $1.99. You can deliver the movie by text message or tweet with a custom "Thank You". Tweeting a movie has the added benefit of being a public "thank you".  Try txtMovies for free.

Behavior that gets rewarded, gets repeated

No matter what reward you give to your volunteers, make sure its given early and often.  Once they know how much you appreciate their service and how important it is to the mission, they'll be more likely to remain enthusiastic about your cause. Good luck!

About txtMovies
txtMovies enables organizations to deliver volunteer appreciation via cost effective, easy to use tools. Our customers come from a variety of industries including healthcare, automobile, financial services, retail, associations and not for profit including the University of Michigan, University of Iowa and the Livestrong Foundation. For more information please visit www.txtMovies.com.

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Teacher & Staff Appreciation Week May 5-9, 2014

It's Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week 2014!  Celebrate by treating teachers and staff to a Movie of their Choice.

For only $1.99 you can send a Redbox Movie and custom message to hundreds of teachers in less than 3 minutes.  Try a free demo or create your account today.

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Patient Referrals: It's All About the "THANK YOU".

The goal of any growing practice is new patients.  It's commonly accepted that the least expensive way to acquire those new patients is through word of mouth referrals from existing patients.

Generating more patient referrals doesn't have to be difficult. For starters, let's review what not to do.   

Noted marketing expert Bob Burg, makes a great argument for why a practice should never offer a "bribe" for referrals.  The word "bribe" has a very negative connotation, and it applies to any incentive offered in advance in exchange for a referral. Mr. Burg cites two issues with these type of incentives.

1. If the referrals are not based on loyalty and “know, like and trust” but rather on reward alone, it tends not to be sustainable.

2. (Most importantly) Those to whom you are referred will most likely feel resentful upon discovering they were referred because you bought and paid for the referral. How will they find out? When you tell them that they will receive an incentive for referring you to others.

Instead of offering an upfront incentive, Mr. Burg advocates a simple strategy. Ask for referrals and make sure you say "Thank You" to the referring person after the fact.  Why is this so effective? According to Mr. Burg:

Remember: “Behavior that gets rewarded…gets repeated.”

Key: They don’t feel “bought” but they do feel appreciated.

Of course there are many ways you can say "Thank You".  Handwritten notes are free. Gift cards can be valuable but expensive over time.  A custom thank you message and movie of their choice delivered by txtMovies for only $1.99, well that fits almost everyone's budget. Try txtMovies for free.

About txtMovies
txtMovies enables businesses to deliver customer appreciation via cost effective, easy to use tools. In addition to texting Redbox Movie Rental Codes, we offer custom texting solutions. Our customers come from a variety of industries including healthcare, automobile, financial services, retail, associations and not for profit. For more information please visit www.txtMovies.com.

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