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Using Media Tools to Advance Your Nonprofit’s Mission

I was honored to join Montgomery Community Media CEO Jasmine Nykole White, MA, MPA, at the Inaugural Nonprofit Conference at Montgomery College. The theme was “Building Nonprofit Infrastructure to Strengthen Community Services.” Jasmine and I hosted a breakout session on “Using Media Tools to Advance Your Mission.”

Are you looking for media tools for your nonprofit? Here are ten tips to get you started.

  1. Storytelling Videos: Create compelling videos that showcase your nonprofit’s mission, impact, and success stories. Use beneficiaries, volunteers, and staff testimonials to connect with your audience emotionally.
  2. Live Streaming: Use platforms like Facebook Live, YouTube Live, or Instagram Live to broadcast events, fundraisers, and behind-the-scenes content. Engage with your audience in real time.
  3. Podcast Series: Start a podcast to share in-depth stories, interviews, and discussions related to your nonprofit’s mission or that of your grantees and partners. Podcasts are a great way to connect with your audience and provide valuable information.
  4. Training: Take advantage of training programs like Montgomery Community Media offers. We offer courses in video production, editing, social media marketing, and more tailored to the needs of nonprofits.
  5. Partner with Local Media: Collaborate with local media outlets or influencers to feature your nonprofit’s work. This partnership can help you reach a wider audience.
  6. Website and Blog: Maintain a blog to regularly update stakeholders about your activities, achievements, and upcoming events. Incorporate multimedia content like images and videos into your blog posts.
  7. Newsletter Campaigns: Send regular newsletters featuring stories, updates, and calls to action to your subscribers. Include multimedia elements to make them visually appealing.
  8. Volunteer Endorsements: Feature video testimonials from volunteers, sharing their experiences and why they chose to support your nonprofit.
  9. Optimize Operations: Use self-guided multimedia for internal purposes by creating training videos to onboard new volunteers or staff efficiently. Produce orientation videos to familiarize new members with how to do business with your organization.
  10. Virtual Meetings: Utilize video conferencing tools for team or board member meetings, reducing the need for in-person gatherings and guaranteeing participation.

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Tips To Help You Visualize The Life You Want In 2016!

2How is your vision? I’m not talking about your eyesight. I’m talking about your vision for the future. If you want to get clarity in this new year, you may want to think about creating a Vision Board. A Vision Board is a simple yet powerful visualization tool that can help you bring the things your desire into fruition. Maybe you want to increase your client base, build better relationships or create a more balanced work/home life. Whatever vision you would like to create for yourself in this coming year, a Vision Board is a great way to get started. Exactly what makes up a Vision Board? It is literally a board that will display images that represent whatever you want to be, do or have in your manifest into reality. The board is made up of a collage of images, pictures, and affirmations of your greatest dreams and desires. I like to create my Vision Board at the beginning of the year to set my intentions for the coming months.

Exactly what makes up a Vision Board? It is literally a board that will display images that represent whatever you want to be, do or have in your manifest into reality. The board is made up of a collage of images, pictures, and affirmations of your greatest dreams and desires. I like to create my Vision Board at the beginning of the year to set my intentions for the coming months.

To get started, you can go through magazines, catalogs, or print articles from websites that support your vision. Start cutting out photos, sayings, and words that support your dreams or goals. You can also write your own sayings or take your own photos to add to the board. I suggest add color, glitter, ribbons, fabric or anything that will stimulate the senses. For you techie types, you can grab digital images and pin them to a Vision Board you create in Pinterest. Get as creative as you like. But dream BIG! This is no time to play small.

Once you have a collection of the items that support your dreams, glue them to a poster board or tack them on a cork board. You can arrange the board via themes or mix it up multiple concepts for variety. Size doesn’t necessarily matter. I like to use a large board that I’ve covered with sayings and photos that support my dream. However, I also like the idea of using an 8 x 10 board that you can frame and put up on the wall. When you are done, snap a photo and make it your cell phone screen saver. That way, you are guaranteed to look at it each and every day.

When you are done, placement is very important. Originally I placed my Vision Board in the hallway. I  passed it every day, several times a day, but soon I stopped “seeing it” and by that I mean, I stopped focusing on the meaning and intent of the board and eventually never gave it more than a glance.  Once I moved my Vision Board into my bedroom, where I could see it upon falling asleep and upon waking, things started to really change for me.  However, I’ve heard stories of people putting their Vision Board away for years, forgetting about it, only to have the things on the board materialize in their lives much later.  I do not think that is as effective as focusing on the vision of your dream each and every day. Looking at it. Giving your intention your fill attention. That said, I’d encourage anyone using a Vision Board to manifest their dreams to apply focused attention on its content every day.

PINTEREST VISION BOARD

Whether you find a Vision Board party in your area where you can share the creation of building your dream with others, or if  you create one on your own, here are some things to keep in mind:

  1. Decide the theme of your Vision Board– Are you visualizing your career life or personal life?  Each one of these aspects of your life could have a very different theme.
  2. Post images that support your dream – Cut them out, print them out or make them yourself. The most important thing is that the images sure support your dream.
  3. Place your Vision Board where you can see it – You want to commit your dream to memory and have it become a part of your subconscious. Put your board where you can access it and keep it top of mind.
  4. Look at your Vision Board daily – Focus on the theme, the pictures and maybe more importantly, the feeling the images bring to mind as you see your dreams manifest.
  5. Do dream is too BIG – Don’t limit yourself by the reality of what is. You are in dream mode. Visualize all your dreams coming true. Assume no lack and no limitations. Don’t let the rational mind take over. You are working with creative energy and anything is possible.

Eventually, you will see some of the things on your vision board start to materialize.  But this isn’t magic. It only works if you work it. Another tip, do not be afraid to make changes to the board as the year progresses.  Take away or add things as your dream for yourself becomes clearer and more focused. Also, think about getting an Accountability Partner who can help you hold your vision and keep you on track. You can also share your new vision to your social media accounts. Trust me, your followers will hold you accountable.

Here is a look at my vision board that built for 2015.

Vison Board 2015
Here is a look ay my vision board for 2016. I’m excited about the possibilities!

Vision Board 2016

 

What will you be adding to your vision? Need help getting started? I’m here to help. Just fill out the form below and let’s start writing your NEW STORY for 2016!

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Five Ways To Get Your Blog Up And Running!

blogging-tipsIf you are like me, writing may not be your first love. I am a storyteller, but I’m much more comfortable with the spoken word than the written. Like me, you may have a lot to say but organizing your thoughts and putting pen to paper, or fingers to keyboards may not come naturally. You may be worried that no one will be interested in your point of view. I’m here to tell you, nothing could be further from the truth. We all have a voice and a story to tell. It’s not always easy to make time to blog, but the effort pays by growing your online community, setting yourself up as an expert in your field and sharing your vision and brand in a way that is engaging, entertaining, and can take clients or customers from prospects to actual business revenue generators.

I blogged for twenty-one days straight as part of my 21 Day Dream Big Challenge. I started blogging on April 4 and posted every single day, without missing a beat for twenty-one days. The goal of the challenge was to encourage readers to dream BIG and to get into the habit of focusing on their greatest desires and aspirations. Scientists say it takes twenty-one days to build a habit. We were on a journey to build a habit of dreaming big and living out loud. Little did I know that not only was I building a habit of dreaming big, I was also building a habit of blogging. After blogging every day for twenty-one days, I discovered a few things.

Here are five tips that will take the fear and anxiety out of blogging to get you on your way to telling your story and sharing your point of view.

  1. Blog Post Platforms: I use WordPress as my blogging platform of choice. I think WP is easy to use and very intuitive. For many people, WP is a bit intimidating. If you’re not worried about analytics or SEO (if you have to ask what SEO is then you probably aren’t worried one bit) there are plenty of user-friendly blogging platforms from Tumblr to Blogger that are an easy 1-2 process. If you are worried about analytics and SEO, I suggest you blog from your website and push the content out from there to your other social networking sites. This will help drive traffic to your website and, in addition, your blog will help establish you as an authority in your industry. It can also help you build your network with potential clients. Plus, I think it is a good idea to curate your content in a hub that you own. I have two blogs. One blog that lives on my website that is strictly business related and one blog that caters to my geeky, techie, lifestyle connoisseur interests. I often cross promote posts across both blog platforms when appropriate.
  2. Blog Post Length: People often think they have to write the next great American novel when they are blogging. Some people may tell you this is necessary. I would beg to differ. When you are doing a blog post, you don’t have to write a long novel. You have to write an interesting post. In fact, if the information resonates with the reader, shorter is often better. Regardless of the length, I alway cross promote my blog post across my various social networking sites. I may also share a blog several times throughout the month or share an archived article when I haven’t had time to write an original post. When I do this, I change-up the title in an effort to attract new interest. Speaking of blog titles…
  3. What To Name Your Post: The catcher the blog title, the more likely someone will click on your post. But, be mindful of how that title will translate if you have your blog set up to post to across multiple platforms. “Get Your Sexy On In Five Easy Steps” may work for Facebook or Twitter. You’ve told the reader what the subject is and what they will be learning. However, that may not be what you want to post to LinkedIn or Google Plus. A title on those sites may read, “From The Office To Evening in Five Easy Steps.” Get it?
  4. Double-check Spelling: If you are like me, grammar isn’t your strongest attribute. Look, I do many things well. I cook, I teach aerobics, I cycle all over the city and I’m one heck of a producer and storyteller. But spelling and grammar? Yeah, I think I was absent the entire time they taught that in elementary school. If you can’t afford an editor (I use one for professional documents and presentations) then use a service like Grammarly to help you edit your copy. I’m using it now. That said, don’t send me your editorial notes on all the things that need correction in this blog post. Send your notes directly to Grammarly. They are the ones acting as my editor at the moment. On a serious note, remember, these sites that have been set up to help us write mistake-free will check for grammar and misspellings. They often cannot determine context.
  5. Writers Block – Write about what you love and you’ll never get stuck on what to write about. OK, that’s not entirely true. But, as a rule, if you are blogging about things that interest you, what you are writing about should come naturally.

Once the twenty-one-day challenge ended, I was both relieved and saddened. The pressure was off to not have to write every day. But, I soon missed my morning blogging ritual. Currently, I have committed myself to blogging at least once a week or twice when I have time. It’s a lot easier than it sounds.

Need help getting started with your blog? I can help you develop a strategic content management strategy that will be the most effective way to use your blog to generate leads that turn into revenue. Together we can start telling your story in a way that will elevate your brand and generate revenue. Fill out the contact form below and let’s get started.

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Five Tips To Help You Develop An Effective Content Marketing Plan

4Social media, mobile technology, and word-of-mouth marketing have been serious game changers. People are getting their news and entertainment online, watching TV on mobile devices and subscribing to newspapers and magazines on tablets.

According to Entrepreneur.com, a Hilaire survey discovered that print, TV and radio advertising is being replaced with non-traditional means of content marketing.

So just what is content marketing?

The Content Marketing Institute reports:

Content marketing is the art of communicating with your customers and prospects without selling. It is non-interruption marketing. Instead of pitching your products or services, you are delivering information that makes your buyer more intelligent. The essence of this content strategy is the belief that if we, as businesses, deliver consistent, ongoing valuable information to buyers, they ultimately reward us with their business and loyalty.

The trends in content marketing tell us three things:

  • Traditional advertising, as we use to know it is dead
  • Content marketing has replaced traditional advertising
  • Having a winning content marketing strategy is the single most effective way to get leads and turn leads into business revenue

How do you use content marketing to engage prospects and customers?You do this via blog posts, social media sites, videos, and photos. Done correctly, this will generate leads, enhance your brand identity, and put your company’s expertise on display. But your blog, Facebook page, and Tweets are just a means to get your message out. The real value is in the content that you share. Where can you get started?

Here are five ways to develop a content marketing strategy:

  1. Have A Plan: No, really, have a plan. Far too often people forget that they must plan for the success they desire. Thinking they can wing it is the #1 mistake most folks make. Your plan should support your brand’s mission and goals. It will include the unique value you are looking to provide. It should also outline the obstacles and opportunities you may meet as you execute your plan. Preparation is the key.
  2. Start Writing: When readers find themselves consistently reading a brand’s content, they start to see that brand in a new light, not only in terms of credibility but also likability. You can start a blog, contribute as a co-contributor to someone else’s blog, or submit articles to your industry trade magazine. Not much of a writer? Do a video blog or an audio blog.
  3. Listen To Clients: Not sure what to write about? Start off by writing down the questions you repeatedly hear from your clients. I guarantee those questions will spur ideas for articles or blog posts that would be valuable to your audience and may even land you a few new customers.
  4. Identify Your Audience: Know the specific audiences for whom you will create content, what their needs are, and what your content engagement cycle will be. Will you post once a week across many social networking platforms or several times a week across only two social sites? Knowing your audience will decide your level of engagement.
  5. Schedule Your Posts: I don’t know about you, but I’m always busy. If you are as well, invest in a “Social Media Management Tool.” There are many to choose from, but one of the most inexpensive (there is a free version) and intuitive tools is Hootsuite. It will help you keep track and manage your many social network channels and free you up to do those other posts… which… by the way… can also be scheduled. Need help coming up with a social media plan? Read my blog on ten ways to develop a social media plan.

What content do you have to share that will help drive business to your company or advance your organization’s mission? Let me know if I can help you master just the right content marketing strategy for your business that will turn prospects and online community members into leads and clients. Fill out the contact form below so we can get started strategizing.

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Stories Making Headlines in Digital and Social Media News This week

3I pulled the social and digital media headlines from across the interwebs so you wouldn’t have to. Here’s what you need to know to get up to date this week..

Fast Company: How Periscope, Meerkat, and Snapchat Will Change How TV Covers News, Sports, and Weather – The $70-billion-a-year television business (in the U.S.) has been under attack from all sides—Amazon, Netflix, YouTube, and other services are all stealing attention (and revenue). But amid the shift to on-demand entertainment, traditional TV has doubled down on what only it can offer: live events, particularly news, sports, and weather. Easy-to-use, mobile live-streaming services could upend what has been the last sacrosanct aspect of the TV industry. This doesn’t necessarily mean doom and gloom for TV networks; in fact, it creates a universe of fascinating possibilities for them to reimagine their businesses. [ED NOTE: Just last week my media partner and I did a Periscope, Meerkat and LiveStream event for a Baltimore Reporters Roundtable. These easy to use platforms made the programming accessible and allowed my Digital Media Mavens partners and I to share our content across platforms in ways that would have been impossible just a few short months ago. You can watch an archive of the live stream here.

CopyBlogger: The Disgustingly Simple Rule for Web Writing That’s Often Hard to Swallow – Web users are mission-minded. Cramped for attention. Bent on standards. And uninterested in learning new navigation methods. What you have to remember is that people don’t go to the web to window shop. They go there to drive 60 miles per hour — and look at billboards. Thus, there’s only one good reason why you should learn how to write clear, concise and compelling copy for the web… [ED NOTE: If you need some tips who writing for your blog, you can check out my blog post, I BLOGGED FOR 21 DAYS STRAIGHT. HERE’S WHAT I LEARNED]

Mashable: Facebook Messenger now gives context about the people contacting you. – To make new connections less jarring, Facebook Messenger is introducing a new feature on Thursday that gives you bits of information about someone messaging you for the first time, whether the person is one of your Facebook friends or not. The Messenger team is rolling it out to iOS and Android users in the U.S., UK, France and India over the next few weeks. [ED NOTE: That’s not creepy. Not creepy at all. You know I’m kidding… right]

More of Facebook, because, well, it’s FACEBOOK!

Re/code: Microsoft, Facebook, Google And The Future Of Voice Communications – All of a sudden, it seems like Facebook, Google and Apple are climbing all over each other to own the voice interaction, and specifically, the phone conversation. They’re in a race to compete in the most valuable part of “social” — as if they’ve forgotten, until now, just how much humans ultimately value one-on-one conversation.

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Strategies for Your Business from What’s Next DC

You know how you go to a conference, rush from panel to panel, wish you could talk to the presenter one-on-one, and then have wave at someone across the room you really want to talk to but can’t approach because the room is too crowded?  Well, What’s Next DC is not one of those conferences.

What’s Next DC, a one-day marketing and communications conference that focusses on the latest and greatest innovations and trends we should focus our efforts on, is more about networking and strategizing than stale lectures.  We were treated to a series of presentations, small group breakout sessions, niche talks and one-on-one time with the presenters.  

I got a chance to chat with four What’s Next presenters who shared advice on what companies would keep in mind when thinking about “social”.

  • B. Bonin Bough, Senior Global Director of Digital and Social Media, Pepsico
  • Tim Mahlman, Chief Revenue Officer, Klout
  • Katharine Zaleski, Executive Producer and Head of Digital News Products, Washington Post
  • Sabrina Caluori, Vice President of Social Media and Performance Marketing, HBO

 

Special thanks to Vanessa French, President, Pivot Point Communications, for inviting me to cover the conference.  Also, thanks to What’s Next DC host, Tod Plotkin, who spoke to me about his impression of this year’s What’s Next DC.

 

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A Conversation with Tyrese and His Mission to Save Our Youth

Intervieing_tyson

Just before Tyrese Darnell Gibson, also known simply as Tyrese, hit the red carpet for the Kennedy Center Honors, I caught up with him at a Georgetown Hoyas game to discuss a venture near and dear to his heart, “Community in Schools.”   

Photoopwithtyson

Tyrese, an R&B singer, songwriter, rapper, actor, model and former MTV VJ first came to my attention when he did his very first TV interview on BET’s Video Soul.  I was a young Senior Producer and he was a model looking to crossover into the music business.  Fast forward several years and we found ourselves in a sky box at the Verizon Center in Washington, DC reminiscing about old times and talking about the dire state our youth find themselves in. 

While the official announcement won’t be made until next month, Tyrese spoke to a few select DC bloggers and I about his upcoming appointment as the spokesperson for “Community In Schools” and his role as the voice of the youth and the mission of the program.

You may think of him as only a pretty face and a talent singer/actor, but to his friends and the children he represents, Tyrese is a beacon of hope.


At a time when dropout rates are an issue in all communities, The Alliance for Excellent Education, an advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., estimates that dropouts each year cost the nation more than $300 billion in lost income.  Community In Schools is making it their mission to beat those odds.  Tameka Green, CEO of Community In Schools in the Nation’s Capitol shared with me the program’s mission to combate the dropout rates in Washington, DC.

Championing the connection of needed community resources with schools to help young people learn, Community In Schools goal is to help students stay in school, and prepare for life.

 

 

Congratulations and many thanks to Tyrese and Community In Schools for taking on the challenge of decreasing school dropout rates and for their continued dedication to our youth.  To learn more about Community In Schools go to their website at http://www.communitiesinschools.org/ and look for the announcement of Tyrese as their new spokesperson coming in February.