Posts Tagged ‘social media’

OTA Sessions: Let’s make it a rural thing

February 4th, 2010

“Chris” received a gold star for his comment on my last post.  While referencing the social media presentation Lindsey and I gave to Miner County residents, Chris highlighted the OTA Sessions conference being held in Sioux Falls, SD on March 25th and 26th.

The conference looks so enticing that Lindsey and I rushed to sign up. It looks so valuable that I’m calling on other passionate supporters of rural communities to attend. 

What is OTA?

What “OTA” stands for is a mystery.  I think its secrecy is part of the organizer’s creative marketing strategy.

But the list of speakers leaves little doubt concerning the quality of the event.  Chris Brogan, Mitch Joel, Julien Smith, Spike Jones, Jonathan Harris, and Scott Monty may not be well-known in the stuffy board rooms of corporate America, but they are rock stars in the social media and creativity worlds.  Their participation alone is enough reason for me to highly recommend the conference.

But as the OTA Sessions website describes, a larger purpose serves as the conference’s backdrop:

 ”The OTA Sessions are a chance for all of us Midwesterners to shatter the perception that creativity and thought leadership live solely on the east and west coasts.”

In other words, conference organizers are calling on us to “deny the lie” that all the smart, creative people have left the Midwest.

Ah, yes.  Brain Drain. 

We’ve been talking a lot about that term lately.  I’ve questioned the idea of banishing the term from our vocabulary because it negatively portrays the reality of rural population movements.  We’ve also been talking about how we can transform small, rural communities so that fewer talented young people leave. (See this post titled “Can South Dakota’s small towns be cool“)

What about a rural Focus?

Although OTA is tended for all creative types in the Upper Midwest, I’d like to issue a special challenge that creative people in small, rural communities attend.  It will be a great opportunity for us to learn from some of our nation’s thought leaders, as well as a chance for us to network and learn from each other. 

As I stated earlier, Lindsey and I will be in attendance, both at the conference and at the networking event the evening before.  If you chose to attend, I hope you will drop us a line and help us connect at the event. 

This may be the most influential group to grace the stage of a conference in South Dakota.  Don’t let this opportunity pass you by.

Oh, heh.  I almost forgot.  Early registrants receive a discount AND 3 free books from the authors.

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Posted in Economic Development, Rural, Training and Events | Comments (3)

Is your community ready for social media?

February 2nd, 2010

Last night Lindsey and I engaged in a little social media training for residents in Miner County, SD.  During our session, we noted the changing landscape of advertising, and cited Pepsi’s withdrawal from its traditional advertising during the Super Bowl in favor of sponsoring a community grant program called the Pepsi Refresh Project as an example.  Marketing and advertising is definitely going “social.”

This morning, I hopped onto Facebook to find an update from Mark Rembert at Energize Clinton County who recommended people support a project in the Pepsi Refresh grant contest called Studio H. Learning of the project has inspired me to include the video explaining the project below.  

 

Combine design thinking, vocational trade training, and community citizenship in a youth engagement project — all within a high school setting.  The image of design:SD on steroids comes to mind.  If you agree, I hope you will vote for the project on the Pepsi Refresh page.

Reflecting on this project has created a couple thoughts that I’d like to share.

First, I hope rural communities are inspired by the Studio H project to develop their own youth engagement projects.  I love the idea of combining design and construction training in a community project.  But each community is different, and youth engagement projects need to meet the needs of both young people and the community.     

Second, I hope the Pepsi Refresh Project helps people see how marketing is becoming “social.”  The idea of taking money that previously directed at advertising and using it to engage your customer base is a great way to build a stronger brand.  It’s caused me to think more about how small, rural communities might use online contests as a part of their branding efforts.  (Note:  There are issues with “crowdsourced” contests of this nature, as is highlighted here.) 

And finally, I hope that the Pepsi Refresh Project helps rural residents and community development practitioners understand the importance of delivering social media training to people in rural communities.  I loved the idea advance by David Becker at the Friend of the Farmer blog to develop a social media training program for rural farmers.  (I shared my thoughts in greater detail in this post.)  The idea, along with support from local extension educator Jim Krantz, caused Lindsey and I share the presentation (which I’ve embedded below) with Miner County residents last night.      

Social Media 101
View more presentations from Rural Learning Center.

Our presentation is intended as an overview of social media.  Beginning February 15th and continuing each Monday through March, we will offer hands on training for specific tools like Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter.  If you are a Miner County resident and are interested in this training, I’d encourage you to contact the Miner County Extension office. 

If you are a rural community outside Miner County, I’d encourage you to answer the question:  Are people in our rural community interested in using social media?  If the answer is “yes,” I hope you find a way to bring training to your community.

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Posted in Rural, Training and Events, education | Comments (6)

Rethink your nonprofit marketing efforts

December 29th, 2009

A few weeks ago, the Sioux Falls Washington Pavilion of Arts & Science made headlines in South Dakota (look here) when it was announced that a $300,000 fundraising shortfall had placed the non-profit’s future on tenuous ground.  I read this announcement on the heels of a conversation with a friend who serves on a much smaller non-profit board (they have a part-time director).  Her organization is facing a much smaller but still daunting budget deficit, causing the organization to rethink how they raise money and do business in this down economy.   

There’s no doubt that both organizations should emerge from the crisis with refocused efforts.  But it’s caused me to question how non-profits in small, rural communities are doing?   The organizations I’m talking about (i.e. -libraries and museums) often operate on volunteer staff and probably don’t have a website, let alone a marketing plan. 

And that’s where the problem begins.  Nonprofit organizations in rural places play a critical role in the economic and social health of their communities.  But it’s been my experience that few operate with any type of plan, marketing or otherwise.  This leads to fragmented, unsustainable marketing efforts that hinder the organization’s performance.

If this description meets your non-profit’s practice, I’d encourage you to consider the following ideas for rethinking your marketing efforts. 

 

5 Ways to Jazz Up your Marketing Efforts

First, and most importantly, write down your goals and then match them to your marketing efforts. Goals will vary, but might include: fundraising, promoting organizational events, or building general awareness of your organization to name a few.  If your goals are written down you can use it to examine your marketing efforts and ask the question:  “Are the marketing strategies I’m spending time and money on helping me achieve our goals?” This is the start of a marketing plan, which doesn’t have to be complicated.  In fact, I have always advocated the simpler the better.  Just writing down your goals is a huge first step.

Second, get online with a blog… it’ll be better than a website.  Everyone knows how important it is for non-profits to build relationships.  Large non-profits often seek to hobnob with finance bankers and philanthropists, while small non-profits probably look more to the average citizen in their community; like the retired carpenter who can volunteer a little time for a construction project. 

Regardless of whom your nonprofit targets for relationship building, blogs are a great place to start because they make it so easy to share stories about your non-profit’s work. I think this is particularly important in rural areas where distance makes communications more difficult. 

But I can hear it already; “We don’t even have a website.  Don’t tell me about a blog!”  I understand.  But you need to understand that blogs are generally inexpensive and easy enough to use that most non-techies can manage them. 

Perhaps the key to nonprofit blogging is to get personal and let others know what you are passionate about.  Even if your goal is to promote your organization’s events, you can make it personal, so that readers get a feel for you as well as the organization.  And if you post regularly - that might mean once a day, once a week, or once a month - people will be more likely to come back to your site and stay connected to what you are doing. 

Third, think of Facebook as a place to create a sense of community.  Just over a year ago, I would have frowned on any recommendation for a non-profit in a small, rural community to create a Facebook Page because I didn’t see many older rural residents using Facebook.  That’s changed dramatically with Baby Boomers making up the fastest growing segment of Facebook users. 

Many non-profits have looked to Facebook as a fundraising tool, choosing to develop a strategy around a Facebook “fundraising” application. These tools make it easy for people to donate online. That’s great for some organizations that have an emotional cause that transcends geography and reaches a wide audience.  Most non-profits in our small, rural communities, however, are probably focusing fundraising on a smaller group of people who already have a connection to the community. 

Instead of asking for donations online, think about how you can use Facebook as a place where people can chat about how your organization is making a difference.  “Make meaning before money” is a common phrase used to describe online marketing efforts today, and it definitely applies to small non-profits using Facebook. 

When thinking about Facebook, you should also consider the following two recommendations.  First, chose either a Facebook page or a blog.  I say that only because most small non-profits don’t have time for both.  (But if you do chose Facebook, make sure you have a link to your Facebook page on your website.)  Second, think of your goals before deciding if and how you are going to use Facebook.  Although I suspect you can find a way to use Facebook effectively to meet most any goal, only you can decide that.

Fourth, use YouTube to showcase projects you are working on.  Just the other day, I learned of how the Anaheim Ballet has been using videos to showcase their students practice and performances.  What a great way for interested parties to see what their work is about.  There’s nothing fancy about their efforts, and they are definitely not trying to create a viral video, which can be daunting. It reminded me of the efforts of Café au Play, a nonprofit seeking to create a third place coffee house with a place for children.  (I wrote about them about a year ago, and embedded their video below.)

 

 

My guess is that most small non-profit can rustle up a volunteer who enjoys doing a little video production. 

Fifth, get online and learn what others are doing and what the experts recommend.  What I’ve identified above is just a starting list.  I tried to keep it short because I understand what it’s like to serve on small town non-profit boards, and I know you don’t have the resources to do everything. 

Although I understand life in small rural communities better than most, there are people out there who focus solely on non-profit marketing, and they share some of their knowledge for free.  You need to turn to these experts for inspiration. Often what they talk about applies more to large non-profits for whom they hope to consult.  But I think innovative small town residents should filter through what they say to find new ideas that can be done by their non-profit.

Some of these experts include: 

There’s no doubt that the economy will create challenges for non-profit organizations, regardless of size.  But I hope that the non-profits in our small rural communities will do a better job of creating marketing plans and begin to embrace social media.  There’s something in it for everyone.

Photo Credit:  Annie Mole - Flickr  

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Economic Development - It happens in Rural Communities too!

November 11th, 2009

Prairie Business Magazine just released a story touting recent job creation activities in small, rural communities of the Upper Midwest.  The article’s message: small, rural communities can enjoy job growth if they are focused and work at it. 

There’s a lot of good advice for communities in the article.  What caught my attention, however, was how Marshall, MN is using the web and social media as a part of their economic development plan.  Mark Hanson, economic development director with the City of Marshall, MN is quoted in the article saying:

“Cities like Marshall don’t have a lot of money to spend on marketing and advertising.  We have to find the best ways to spend what we have. We have decided to stop printing brochures. The website is less expensive and we can continuously update it.”

Brochures, no! Website, yes…and Facebook and Twitter too!

When I took a quick a quick peek at Marshall’s Facebook  and Twitter accounts, I was impressed: mostly updates on events and news articles, with a few video’s added for extra flavor.  Through it we get a more authentic look at Marshall than if we were looking at a flashy brochure.  

We’ve previously listed other communities that have created Facebook Pages (Energize Clinton County (OH), Webster, SD and Miller, SD) as a part of their economic development strategies.  We definitely think it’s a move in the right direction.

As more and more communities embrace this strategy, however, we need to start asking:  How has creating a Facebook page made an impact on your community?  What is the measurable impact?  Any new businesses come to town?  Do you see community problems getting solved on-line?  What’s actually happening?  If you have some answers, we hope you will share. 

Note:  Congratulations to the South Dakota communities of Milbank, Watertown, Arlington, Eureka, Britton, and Roslyn on the recent opening of Link It Software offices.

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Posted in Economic Development, In the News, Rural | Comments (0)

4 Ways I “listen” for Hollowing out the Middle

October 26th, 2009

Today, I stumbled on a Facebook page for Hollowing out the Middle.  It appears to have been created by the book’s publishers, who intend to use it as a means of advertising the book. 

This isn’t the publishing company’s first foray into using social media as a means of marketing the book.  In fact, I first became aware of the book because of a YouTube video they produced months in advance of the book’s release — leading me to publish this post.

I’ve decided to become a fan of the Hollowing out the Middle Facebook page because I hope it will lead me to additional resources on the book’s focus - which is how rural communities can stem youth outmigration.  

Online listening is a skill that all rural leaders need to improve.  (FYI - we all need to improve our face-to-face listening skills as well.)  With that in mind, I thought I’d share a few ways that I listen for “Hollowing out the Middle.” 

4 Ways I listen for “Hollowing out the Middle”

Some may think this may be listening overkill.  But I know the list is not all inclusive.  What it does, however, is makes sure that I am able to participate in any conversation occurring online on the subject.  If you know of other ways that I should be listening, I hope you will share. 

 

Note:  Other posts about Hollowing out the Middle on ReImainge Rural can be found here. 

Photo Credit:  wonderferret -  Flickr

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Posted in Community Development, In the News, Rural | Comments (2)

Can Facebook be used for serious conversation?

October 21st, 2009

Lately, I’ve held up the Miller, SD Facebook Fan Page as a good example of how rural communities can use Facebook.  Because of the spiffy photos, engaging questions, and interesting responses that have been posted on the page, I feel like I’ve gotten to know Miller a lot better.  And you know what?  I like it!    I think it is safe to say, the community of Miller should be proud of how community leaders are using Facebook. 

But a recent article in the Everyday Democracy newsletter has caused me to wonder if Facebook (and other social media tools) could also be used to develop deeper conversations around the more complex, challenging issues. You know, the type of questions that make the mayor’s job tough.     

That’s what residents of York, Maine (pop. 12,854) are attempting to do on a Facebook Fan Page titled “York Community Dialogue.” 


York Community Dialogue - What’s important to you?

“Have you ever wondered,” the group asks on their page, “what sort of conversations communities might have if public meeting agendas were set by citizens rather than by governments?”

With that in mind, one of the first questions they asked was “What about York matters to you?”

That question, in and of itself, is a deeper question than anything I’ve seen on the Miller page.  And it points to the desire of some community members to dig in and shape the future of the community. 

Interestingly, residents in Howard, SD sought the same outcome back in 1997 when they developed a community dialogue process they termed “Community Vision Meetings.”  As Lindsey explained last week to the folks in Pepin, WI, this process revolved around high school students leading small group discussions, which took place in individuals’ homes. 

While I feel the York model is commendable, I haven’t made up my mind whether or not I think Facebook is a good place for the type of conversation the group seeks.   I suspect two shortcomings.   First, the way Facebook is structured makes it difficult for complex thoughts to be expressed.  Experience suggests to me that a blog is a better medium. (Perhaps this is why leaders intend to create “study circles” in the future.)

 Second, the biggest challenge in holding this type of conversation on-line is that it often degenerates into baseless name calling.  (One advantage of Facebook is that residents have to own up their comments with their name, unlike many blogs and newspaper forums.)

Those questions aside, however, I applaud community leaders for taking on this challenge.  Rural communities need dialogue of this nature, and I look forward to watching the York model in action. 

(And if you are aware of other communities holding conversations like this on-line, I hope you will share.)


Photo credit - Bucklava - Flickr (the Nubble Light House is just up the Maine coast at York Beach)

 

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Posted in Community Engagement, In the News, Rural | Comments (0)

Facebook: Friend and Fan policies

October 16th, 2009

On Wednesday, Lindsey and I talked to SDSU Extension Educators about the use of social media in their work.  There were a lot of good questions about Facebook, most of which revolved around “managing the process” of its use.   Questions like:

Invariably my responses connected to the idea that individuals should develop a “friend policy” that connects to their purpose for being on Facebook — and that it’s ok not to “friend” everyone.  (I explained that I had created my Facebook page to connect with family, personal friends, and lost friends (i.e. - high school classmates), and that I wasn’t really interested in having other’s be a part of my friend group.)

Throughout the morning we also talked about using Facebook Fan Pages, which were developed for businesses and organizations.  But after reading this blog post, however, I realized that I was not making a distinction between a “personal friend policy” and a “professional friend policy.” 

Here’s a short overview of how this expert manages his friend policy.  (Keep in mind he uses his Facebook “Profile” for personal use and a Facebook “Fan Page” for professional use.)

  1. First, he created a Facebook Profile for personal use, and a Fan Page for professional contacts.
  2. When he receives a friend request (on his personal account), he determines which group they fit into.
  3. If the person meets his “friend definition,” he friends them.
  4. If not, he sends a message, recommending that they become a fan of his Facebook Page. (This means he no longer clicks the “ignore” button for those friend requests he doesn’t want.)

I love it, and would highly encourage anyone wanting to use Facebook for professional purposes to follow this practice. But there is one down-side:  it does require that you be willing to create another presence (i.e. - a Fan page) on Facebook and manage it.  And that leads to another issue:  How do people manage their time effectively?

Other resources

 

Photo Credit:  HikingArtist.com - Flickr

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Miller, SD has got Facebook figured out

October 13th, 2009

I’m always on the lookout for rural communities that are using social media to build conversations.  Recently, I found a great example with Miller, SD. 

Joe Fiala and Amy Howard of On Hand Development Corp. launched the Miller, SD Facebook page on Sept. 24, 2009.  Within weeks they built over 500 fans, which is very impressive in a community with a population of approximately 1530 people. 

Amy Howard and Joe Fiala, On Hand Dev. Corp.

What has impressed me more than the number of fans is how people are interacting on the page.  Lots of people start Facebook pages, but not many do a good job of generating conversations with their fan base. 

Joe and Amy do.  They even have people who have moved away from the community saying how much they miss the community.  Impressive.

With that in mind, I contacted Joe to find out what’s the secret sauce in his recipe.  The following interview  with Joe is the result. 

 

Why did you create a Facebook page for the community of Miller?  Does it connect to your organization’s goals? 

We were looking for ways to engage our community utilizing the internet beyond our “regular” website. Facebook is a way to easily interact with people living in Miller, people that used to live in here, and people that had visited our town.

Using Facebook helps us reach our goals as a business development organization because we can showcase our community and lifestyle. It allows us to communicate more effectively with the young adults that will be the next generation of business owners in town.

 

One of the things that impresses me about your page is number of people commenting.  What have you done to try to create “conversations” on your Facebook page?

We have made a conscious effort to create posts that garner comments from the fans. We’ve tried to post items that people will find interesting, but we also ask questions within the post.

Our partnership with our local newspaper, the Miller Press, has been effective too. They have a “Talk on Main Street” question each week in the paper. We asked if we could address that same question on the Facebook page and they agreed.

 

Any future plans for your page? 

As we have events in Miller like the opening weekend of pheasant season, the Christmas on the Prairie celebration, and the 4th of July festivities, we will post pictures of the events.

We will also listen to our fans to see what items they would like us to post.  Our page is set up so that fans can post items and we are hoping that they will take advantage of this and add to our content.

 

We constantly hear how social media tools are sucking up work time and decreasing productivity.  How much time do you spend each week using Facebook? 

Our goal is to post an item on every work day, whether it is an announcement, a picture, or a question. So far, we probably average about 10 minutes per day.

This is not much time and we are reaching an audience of over 500 people that have already shown interest in being involved in our conversation. For a small town, that is an amazing amount of publicity for so little time involved.

 

Why did you choose Facebook as a social networking tool over others tools like blogging, Twitter, MySpace, etc…?

Facebook lends itself very well to holding a community conversation. It allows short posts, pictures, and comments. All of these actions are very easy to do.

However, the deciding factor was that a large majority of young adults and high school students use Facebook.

We are planning to incorporate a blog as part of our website communication tools. This will allow us to post articles that are too long for Facebook to handle efficiently.

 

Note:  Wow!  Working with the local newspaper is a great idea.  And if you go to their page you will see that they do a nice job of asking questions that engage their fans.  (You don’t have to join Facebook to view the Miller, SD Facebook Page.  Check it out by clicking here. )

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Social Media: Are you still a doubter

October 1st, 2009

Michael Gass makes a bold statement in a post for Social Media Today.  In an article titled “IBM Study: The end of advertising as we know it”, he writes:

“The next 5 years will hold more change for the advertising industry than the previous 50 did.”

Well, maybe that’s not such a bold statement to anyone who has been paying attention.  At the Rural Learning Center, we caught onto this idea about a year ago - and we are far from early adaptors on the subject.

Still I run into rural community leaders all the time who think investing time and effort into figuring out a social media strategy is a waste of time.  Or maybe I should say, they think it’s something that will go away — sort of like they hoped e-mail would about ten years ago. 

In case you are one of those who is not convinced about the importance of a social media strategy, I’d recommend you watch above following video.  And when you watch it, keep in mind that social media is not just about advertising and marketing.  It’s really about:

building conversations,
that in turn lead to relationships,
and eventually help build trust. 

And that is something every community can benefit from. 
 

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Posted in Community Development, Community Engagement, Economic Development, Rural | Comments (0)

5 Things I learned at the Midwest Rural Assembly

August 17th, 2009

Attending a conference such as the Midwest Rural Assembly is always a great experience.  You get to meet new people, learn what other organizations are doing, and become inspired.  And then one returns to the daily grind of work, where the learning and inspiration are often placed on the backburner.

In an attempt to not lose that inspiration and learning, I’ve written down five things I learned at the assembly. 

First, I was reminded of how important it is to welcome and invite people - especially young people — into a community.  Even though it shouldn’t have been funny, I broke out laughing when Neil Linscheid of Marshall, MN described how he responds to “the stare” that follows visitors whenever they enter small town cafes.   We know that in most situations “the stare” is not meant to be rude, but rural residents need to remember that the stare makes visitors and new residents feel out-of-place and unwelcomed.  (I wrote more about that issue here.  And as for Neil’s response; he stares right back — see the above picture. )

Second, social media can be an important marketing strategy for rural communities. I have to come clean in admitting that I entered the conference with strong convictions on the subject.  But it was refreshing to hear from Kelly Fuller of Plains Justice who told a story of how she chose Vermillion, SD as the home for her non-profit work in part because she connected with people of similar interests and values in Vermillion who she found through a blog.  Through these connections, she and other staff members felt they had received a more authentic view of the community than if they had relied solely on community-based websites for their decision making.

Third, there are a lot of organizations doing great work for Rural America.  Approximately 170 individuals attended the conference representing thirteen states and one Canadian province.  The list of everyone doing great work is too long to name everyone, but I’d invite readers to check out a few of the following notable non-South Dakota organizations doing good work:  Renewing the Countryside, the Heartland Center, and Northern Great Plains, Inc.

Forth, Twitter should be incorporated into more conference activities.  I was very impressed when Marcie McLaughlin of Rural Policy Research Institute requested that that the audience use Twitter to ask questions of the “The Future of Rural America:  Next Generation” panelists.  I’m sure it felt like a barrier to conference stalwarts who feel more comfortable standing up and asking questions.  But I think it opened up a new audience for question asking.  Let’s face it, some people will never feel comfortable standing up in front of a crowd, and tools like Twitter can help these people be a part of the process. 

Fifth, I was impressed to see people willing to take the work of the assembly home with them.  During the waning moments of the assembly, attendees broke into the five areas of emphasis identified by the National Rural Assembly.  I joined the Investing in our Communities group, and watched the group share their thoughts about issues that need further attention.  We probably needed a little more time to fully explore the topics, but we left with areas of emphasis, issues, and an action plan identified.  Even more impressive is that the group has already produced draft minutes (thanks Kirsten Gorham and Yolanda Cotteral), and is looking to continue the dialog.

That presents us with a challenge.  How does the dialogue continue?  How do we engage others who could not attend? 

If you have thoughts on this subject I would encourage you to post them here.

           

Photo Credits: All photos by Shawn Poynter of the Center for Rural Strategies.

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