I was recently a speaker  @ the Huntington Bank’s “Seeds of Growth” symposium here in Columbus, Ohio.  Our panel (”Marketing in the 21st Century”) discussed ways non-profit organizations can better market themselves using traditional (print/billboard) and new media techniques.  While I was confident going into the conference that social media was a strong option, I’m more confident than ever that it is, hands-down, the best way for non-profits to maximize their limited time and resources.

Here are five ways to start using Social Media while you drink your coffee each day.  But first, put yourself into the mindset that people are having online conversations. They’re not just querying search engines anymore; they’re talking to each other.  It may seem overwhelming to imagine millions of people talking to each other, but that’s exactly what’s happening.  And like your mother-in-law, they’re also showing off photos and videos, too.  It’s time for you to have a voice.

• Monitoring
• Commenting
• Twitter
• Flickr
• LinkedIn
• What does it cost?

Monitoring
If you do nothing else online, you have to keep your ear to ground to hear what people are saying about your organization.  There’s no excuse for being blissfully unaware in 2008.  If you’re too busy to Google key words, you can set up Google Alerts to automatically email you any time your keywords are used online. You wouldn’t jump into a room of people and start blabbering about irrelevant topic (assuming you want to make friends!), so don’t do it online.  Do your homework first.

Here are a few more tools to stay on top of…

• Blogs – Technorati.com & Google Blog Search
• Social Bookmarks – Del.icio.us
• Video – YouTube

Commenting
After you’ve identified some places where people are discussing issues relevant to your organization, you should start to engage by commenting on posts.  Don’t worry about sounding stupid or out-of-touch.  You have to start somewhere.  Maybe introduce yourself by admitting that you’re new to the site and thankful for the opportunity to connect with other like-minded people.  Ingratiate yourself by being humble and authentic.  Don’t use a fake identity.  You will be outed.

Twitter (www.Twitter.com)
Now that you have a mental map of places relevant to your organization and you’ve begun some modest commenting on various news/blogs postings, you might be ready to “micro-blog” about your organization.  Twitter is a website where users (after setting up an account) type short, 140-character updates.  Each update (called a “tweet”) is posted onto your own Twitter page.  You can then find other people using Twitter and follow them; following means their posts are displayed on your page.  Why do this?  I have 3 reasons:

1. Immediacy of Information: Twitter allows you to publish an update in a matter of seconds.  You don’t have to wait until the quarterly newsletter to craft a formal update on a heartwarming story or how many meals you’ve served at your homeless shelter.  You don’t have to wait until the next board meeting to announce new hires.  You don’t have to dream about a possible television interview to tell people your food pantry is nearing dangerously low levels or that you have a rare painting on display for a limited time.  You can post these snippets online for others to read and pass along on your behalf.  The traditional communication methods are great, but wouldn’t it be nice NOT to rely on them?
2. Give people a real-time, “inside scoop” into your organization. You’re not working at a non-profit for the BIG BUCKS, right?  There’s something else that motivates you like the people, the progress or the mission.  Any time you can get others to “connect” to this mojo is a priceless opportunity.  The informality and frequency of Twitter updates helps give donors, volunteers and the media an authentic “fly-on-the-wall” perspective into what you’re doing.  It allows people to connect to your work in a very real and meaningful sense.  And isn’t that half-the battle to getting “champions” of your organization?
3. Evolving Intelligence. The people you follow on Twitter can be a treasure trove of insights and information (not to mention humor and sarcasm), that you can use to make your organization smarter and more current.  Imagine YOU’RE the fly on the wall listening to the conversations of the top 20, 50 or 100 people working in a related field.   Yes, a majority of the things you read will be off-topic comments.  But then a golden nugget will appear that makes all the difference.

Flickr (www.Flickr.com)
As the old saying goes, pictures are worth 1000 words.  Pictures convey emotions and a human element that is hard to capture worth words alone.  Donors and volunteers somehow identify with your organization and are motivated to give their money or time to be a part of it.  Photos help bring your mission to life; they’re proof that you’re doing what you claim to do!  Flickr is an online photo site where users upload and share their pictures. Say you have an event with 100 volunteers on a Saturday.  Have someone snap photos that day and tell everyone they’ll be posted on Flickr the next day.  A surprisingly large number of your volunteers will visit the site to view photos and email them to their friends/family, effectively spreading the word about you and your event.  So not only did your get their physical assistance on Saturday, but also their free word-of-promotion the remainder of the week.  Reward your champions with tools they can use to have fun and spread the word on your behalf.

LinkedIn (www.LinkedIn.com)
Finally, LinkedIn is a website that is basically your electronic rolodex of contacts.  Once you set up your profile (who you are, your work history, education, etc.) you search for (and link to) friends and associates.  It’s a great way to find old friends or co-workers not to mention people you met today at an educational seminar.  Bottom line?  It’s a living network of contacts you can reach out to for whatever reason you want.  Need to ask a question to everyone in your network?  Go ahead!  Need to find a contact at a certain government or private organization?  See if a friend knows anyone there and ask for an introduction.  Friend of friends are very powerful contacts.  You know the saying, “If you’re a friend of Mary (or whomever), then you’re a friend of mine..”  People are very willing to help when you have someone in common.  But you’ll never know if you don’t register and get started.

What about the COST?
Everything I’ve talked about here is FREE.  Amazing, isn’t it?  The the only price is your time and willingness to connect and share with other people.  The more you invest, the more you’ll receive.  And remember, this is an on-going conversation that will evolve.  I’m 100% sure that in one year’s time, new systems will develop that allow people of similar interest to connect in easier and more meaningful ways.

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