Sharing with your audience on multiple levels is key

Post by Teddy Hunt

Target audience:  Nonprofits, cause organizations, foundations, NGOs, social enterprises, marketers, managers, general public.

Nonprofit organizations have to reach their audiences effectively in order to find supporters and donors for the cause at hand. Social media offers nonprofits the very platform they need to get their voices heard, but going the social media route doesn’t necessarily guarantee success. In order for your nonprofit to extend their social reach, here are a few pointers that’ll help turn your nonprofit into a social media darling.

Get your story out there

As a nonprofit organization, you’re always working on telling your nonprofit’s story to your social media audience in the best way you can. You need to let your followers know what you’re trying to accomplish in a straightforward way while also giving your mission a personal touch.

There are many ways to go about telling your nonprofit’s story, but no matter how detailed you get with your mission, always remember the three w’s: who, what, and why. Who is it your nonprofit is helping, what is your nonprofit doing to accomplish its goals, and why has your nonprofit chosen its charitable field on a personal level?

Say, for instance, your nonprofit is trying to end world hunger. When campaigning on sites like Facebook and Twitter, your nonprofit should introduce itself socially by:

• Describe who it’s helping — Is your non-profit trying to end hunger in a specific region, country, or on a local level? The sooner your nonprofit describes who it’s trying to help, the faster followers will respond to your efforts.
• Explain what it’s doing — Is your nonprofit involved in local food drives or money-raising events? How will those funds reach those in need? By describing your nonprofit’s process, your organization will look more professional and responsible, which helps build trust and makes followers more likely to respond.
• Explain why your nonprofit  is doing what it’s doing — Is your organization trying to end hunger because it’s affecting a specific community, or is it trying to help the hunger cause in general? Do you have beneficiary stories you can share with your audience? Giving your nonprofit’s story a personal touch will help others relate to your cause.

Keep your followers in the loop

Whether it’s a social media follower or a longtime donor, the secret that every socially successful brand will tell you is to keep your audience in the loop. This means not only keeping followers updated on your nonprofit’s charitable efforts, it also means sharing everything from your donation goals, to volunteer opportunities, to upcoming fundraising events.

Above all else, staying social with your followers means answering any and all questions that come your way through the social pipeline. Answering your followers’ questions helps keep your audience informed, involved, and feeling like part of the cause. So, reply to all questions and all comments thoughtfully, respectfully, and in a timely manner.

Don’t be afraid to ask

Your nonprofit’s social presence is there to help you reach out to your followers and part of reaching out is asking people to donate. That’s ultimately why you use social media and your followers are well aware of it, so never be afraid to ask for donations via social media come fundraising time.

If you follow all the pointers above and make your cause as engaging as possible, your followers will be more than happy to donate to your NPO. So, the next time you’re need of online donations, call-in donations, or volunteers, ask your social media audience for help and support — you’ll be surprised with the positive response you receive.

Link to your victories

Whether your organization reached a personal goal of signing on a handful of new volunteers or it reached its quarterly fundraising goal early, it’s important to link to all your nonprofit’s victories. Linking to large and small successes could inspire others to get involved, by highlighting how no win is ever too small.

By keeping in mind some of these social media tips , an organization can help build a greater sense of community on their social channels and ultimately grow their following.

The post How nonprofits can extend their reach & build community appeared first on Socialbrite.

Guest post by Sarah Robinson
Fierce Loyalty

The strategies and approaches for community building are changing. And gaining fierce loyalty from your community is becoming increasingly difficult.

There is just so much out there competing for the attention and heart of your members that doing things the same way you’ve always done them will no longer yield the results you are after.

To help you shift your lens on creating and maintaining a nonprofit community, here are seven ways to create a fiercely loyal nonprofit community:

1Decide why you want a community. If the only reasons you can come up with are “so we can ask them for money” and “so we can ask them to volunteer”, hit the pause button. Communities that are created for the sole purpose of being a one-way communication channel don’t last long and they never become Fiercely Loyal.

2Understand the needs of your community. People who want to be part of a community usually have three primary needs: 1) Belonging, 2) Recognition and 3) Safety. Note: Not everyone who supports your organization wants to be a part of a community. Allow them to be individuals.

3Stand for something bold. Taking a bold stand 1) allows you to rise above all the noise in today’s marketplace and 2) attract a very distinct group of people who want to be associated specifically with you and your nonprofit.

4Create multiple connection points. And by connection points, I mean opportunities for two-way communication. Gone are the days of non-profits pumping out one-way messages. Use blogs, social media, live-stream videos and in-real-life gatherings to connect with your community members and give them the opportunity to connect with each other.

5Create a culture of “We”. I often hear nonprofits complaining about “those donors” or “those volunteers,” which tells me there is an Us/Them culture at play. What if you only used the word “we” as in “We are all supporters of this organization. Some of us just happen to work in the office.”

6Keep evolving. Many nonprofits already have a solid, predictable community, so it’s tempting to move into a holding pattern. If you want a Fiercely Loyal community, resist this temptation. Channel your energies into creating opportunities for your community to develop Pride, Trust and Passion- not just for your nonprofit, but also for the community they belong to.

7Love your community. I mean really, really love them. Not just because they can do things for you but because each member truly matters to you. Be interested in them; pay attention to them, get to know them. Treat them the same way you treat other people you value in your life.

These seven strategies are not expensive or fancy. And anyone at any point in their community building process can put them into play. Those who do will get the payoff of a rich, dynamic and fiercely loyal community.

What would you add to the list?

The post 7 ways to create a fiercely loyal nonprofit community appeared first on Socialbrite.

Or, why your organization needs a content marketing strategy

Target audience: Nonprofits, foundations, NGOs, social enterprises, cause organizations, businesses, Web publishers, educators, journalists.

You understand that there’s more to engagement than simple small talk. You also understand that when folks are truly engaged, they tell their friends about the good work you’re doing, which is much more effective than if you told their friends.

So who’s doing a good job of creating an engaged community with content? Here are three examples:

1The American Cancer Society has created an entire community around achieving victory over cancer by talking about “creating a world with more birthdays.”

2Share Our Strength hopes to end childhood hunger by 2015. This mission is immediate, heartfelt and simply stated. Their people talk about the line they’ve drawn in the sand.

3Epic Change is talking about gratitude – not about their organization – and why you should donate.

Creating a content marketing strategy

Here are a few thoughts on creating a content marketing strategy. Please (and I do mean please) add your ideas in the comments.

• Understand why they donate. The real reason. Not the one your board talks about.
• Understand why they tell their friends. Maybe donating to your cause makes them look more altruistic?
• Know what’s engaging the customers of your competition. Is there something they’re saying that’s not being heard?
• Talk to your employees. Beyond the paycheck and benefits – what’s the real reason they show up every day at 8:30 am?

• Talk face to face. Have coffee with some of your customers. Get to know their whole lives, not just the pain points you address with your product.
• Polarize. Can you sincerely talk about your beliefs to an extreme? Think Greenpeace and the GOP.
• Use your divining rod. Find bloggers who are already passionate about what you do. How are they talking about it? How engaged are their readers?
• Plan. Map out why certain conversations matter and how you’ll start talking.
• Be sincere. People can tell if you’re real. Make sincerity a key element in your strategy.

What else? Please add your thoughts below.

Related

• How to build a sustainable community (Socialbrite)

• The most powerful social media tool out there. Period! (Socialbrite)

The post Are you building an engaged community with content? appeared first on Socialbrite.

First, how do we lower the barriers to entry for NGOs looking to deploy mobile technology in their work? And second, how do we help share information about what mobile means in the developing world to the widest possible audience, i.e. one outside traditional development or technology circles?

A good example of the second theme is our recently launched Mobile Message series running on the National Geographic website. We’re also targeting non-mobile-for-development and non-ICT4D conferences and contributing chapters to books and giving interviews to magazines, which take the message to a new audience. The latest was a piece on mobile innovation for an in-flight magazine for travellers on flights to Africa.

One of our early initiatives was the creation of The Social Mobile Group way back in November 2006. It was the first Facebook group of its kind to focus on the social application of mobiles and mobile technology, and it remains the largest group dedicated to the subject on Facebook today.

In a recent blog post I covered some of the challenges of building “mobile community“, and asked Maddie Grant, a strategist at SocialFish, to help define it:

What makes a community open is when there’s “a lot more outside the login than inside,” so most of a community’s content must be at least viewable and shareable without logging in. To be active, most of a community’s content must be member (user) generated, not owner-generated, and must have some degree of conversation which includes comments, discussions and reviews

The Social Mobile Group always attempted to do this, and one of its first moves was to appoint Group Officers, handing control and ownership of the group to community members. This has worked well. All of the content and discussion comes from the community, everything is open, and thanks to the efforts of members alone it has organically grown to a membership of just under 3,000 today.

If you’d like to join, visit the Group’s Facebook page. If you’d like to get involved – or help us spread the mobile message – invite your friends, or leave a message on our wall. Our Group Officers would love to hear from you.

The post Social mobile meets Facebook appeared first on Socialbrite.

Where are the best sites for people to stimulate debate around mobile technology?

The other week I wrote a post on the difficulties of running a “mobile for development” – or m4d – project. I tried to make it challenging, and was hoping to stir up some discussion around the merits of mobile-initiated development projects versus development-initiated mobile projects.

Unless you’re one of the bigger technology blogs – Mashable, TechCrunch, Scobleizer and so on – it’s hit-and-miss whether or not a post will get the traction you’re looking for. Apart from a couple of dozen tweets and a dozen or so comments, the post didn’t generate as much debate as I’d have liked. But it did get me thinking – if these kinds of discussion weren’t taking place here, then where were they taking place?

I’m regularly asked at conferences for hints on the best sites for people to post questions and stimulate debate around mobile technology, and I always struggle to give an answer. It seems crazy that, for a discipline that began to fully emerge probably about seven or eight years ago, there still isn’t a genuinely active, engaging, open online community for people to join and interact with each other.

In order to get a sense of which communities exist, I recently sent out a message to a number of ICT4D and mobile email lists I subscribe to, and posted the odd message on Twitter. Very few people could suggest anything. A few people mentioned email lists that dealt specifically with sectoral issues, such as health, but not specifically with mobile (although mobile was a regular thread in many discussions). Only MobileActive suggested MobileActive, which was a surprise considering its positioning as a global mobile community with over 16,000 “active” members.

What makes a community open and active?

Finding nothing was only part of it – many people clearly had different ideas of what made up community, too (I’d put this down to a challenge of definition). When I pushed out my call for sites, I specifically asked for those which were “open, active, collaborative and engaging”, things that I thought would be prerequisites for anything worth being a member of.

According to Maddie Grant, a strategist at SocialFish, a consulting firm that helps associations build community on the social web:

“What makes a community open is when there’s “a lot more outside the login than inside,” so most of a community’s content must be at least viewable and shareable without logging in. To be active, most of a community’s content must be member (user) generated, not owner-generated, and must have some degree of conversation which includes comments, discussions and reviews.”

Going by these criteria, I don’t believe we yet have a truly active, engaging, open mobile community. This seems a little strange when you consider the attention the technology has been getting over the past few years.

On the flip side, though, it might not be so strange after all. As Jonathan Donner put it to me in a recent email, “Why should m4d have its own groups and community sites? Can’t we – or should we – just mainstream ourselves into ICT4D?”.

This discussion clearly has a long way to go. I just wonder where that discussion will take place.

The post Mobile community: The holy grail of m4d? appeared first on Socialbrite.

Vittana, Citizen Effect, Spheresavers among the networks galvanizing change

Target audience: Social change organizations, nonprofits, educators, community organizers, change agents.

Guest post by Katrina Heppler
envisionGood

Social tools come in all shapes and sizes. Yesterday we looked at 6 productivity tools for social change — mostly desktop and cloud-based apps and one cool gadget for your pocket. Today here’s my list of 12 platforms and online communities that are doing an amazing job in promoting social change.

You must have your own favorites (I’ve left off a few of my own, like Change.org and Causes, for example) — please share them in the comments below!

For a different list of 12 community platforms, download our flyer: 12 social action hubs.

Vittana: Send someone to college for $25

1Vittana is an amazing online platform that connects people through lending and helps young people around the world to get access to higher education for the first time. Through Vittana, you can make a loan to a student to help him or her go to college. Vittana reports that their students have a 95% success and repayment rate on their loans. In essence, Vittana is like a “Kiva for worldwide education.” Through online loans from people like you and me, Vittana is building a world where anyone can go to college. Vittana has been recognized as a Pop!Tech Social Innovation Fellow and HuffingtonPost #1 Game Changer in Philanthropy. Follow Vittana on Twitter.

Citizen Effect: Empowering citizen philanthropy

2Citizen Effect empowers citizens to become citizen philanthropists by providing us with the tools and networks we need to work directly with communities in need around the world. Through CitizenEffect, you can create your own project, bring your friends, family and social network together, and raise funds to make a significant impact in the lives of a community in need. You can also find great projects to support that match your interests. Follow Citizen Effect on Twitter.

Blissmo: Making sustainability easier

3Blissmo (formerly Spheresavers) is a new platform that aims to make sustainable consumption mainstream by making it cheaper and easier for consumers to buy sustainable. Check out Blissmo (our writeup is here) for deals on products and services from sustainable businesses striving to balance people, planet and profit.

OpenIDEO: Design together for social good

4OpenIDEO is a place where people design together for social good. It’s an online platform for creative thinkers: the veteran designer, the critic, the MBA, the active participant and the creative enthusiast with an idea to share. IDEO, a well-known design firm, developed OpenIDEO as a way to include a broader range of people in the design process to tackle social issues. Follow OpenIDEO on Twitter.

FrontlineSMS: Text groups of people anywhere

5FrontlineSMS is an award-winning, free, open-source platform that turns a laptop or desktop computer and a mobile phone or modem into a two-way group messaging hub. Since it works anywhere there’s a mobile signal, it doesn’t need the Internet – a major advantage for many grassroots NGOs, especially in the developing world. Once you have the software running on your computer, you can send messages to wide groups of people and collect responses to any questions or surveys you might want to run, all via text message. Follow FrontlineSMS on Twitter.

Global Giving: Support community-based projects

6Global Giving is an online marketplace that helps nonprofits raise money for grassroots projects and connects individuals and companies to grassroots economic development projects around causes and countries they care about. Through Global Giving, supporters can make direct donations to projects; no social activity or event organization is required to support a cause. Follow Global Giving on Twitter.

SeeClickFix: Get a local problem fixed

7SeeClickFix is a platform that allows citizens to report non-emergency issues and receive neighborhood alerts, providing a great way to get a local problem fixed. If you have an iPhone, Android or Blackberry mobile phone, you can download SeeClickFix’s free mobile app to report issues taking place in your neighborhood when you are on the go, anytime, anyplace. Follow SeeClickFix on Twitter.

Idealist: Turn intentions into action

8Idealist — a project of Action Without Borders, a nonprofit with offices in the United States and Argentina — is an interactive site where people and organizations can exchange resources and ideas, locate opportunities and supporters, and take steps toward building a better world. Idealist is a great starting point online when you’re looking for opportunities and organizations that match your interests. Follow Idealist on Twitter.

IndieGoGo: A collaborative way to fund ideas

9IndieGoGo is a collaborative way to fund ideas. Launched in 2008, IndieGoGo is now in more than 130 countries with over 5,000 projects. If you’re looking to raise money for your project and convert fans into funders, be sure to check out IndieGoGo. Follow IndieGoGo on Twitter.

NeighborGoods: Trade stuff with your neighbors

10When it comes to sustainability, the best choice we can make is to find ways to use what we already have. But sometimes we need to buy things – even if we only buy those things once in awhile. What would happen, though, if people came together to share things instead of buying them? Say hello to NeighborGoods, a platform that provides a safe community where you can save money and resources by sharing stuff with your friends. Already members are sharing over $2 million worth of stuff from camping equipment to lawnmowers to vacuum cleaners and more. Follow NeighborGoods on Twitter.

InVentureFund: Invest in good

11Founded in 2009 with the belief that more could be done to lift communities out of poverty beyond traditional microfinance models, InVenture has created a market for “micro venture capital.” Through InVenture’s online platform, everyday investors can provide expansion capital to developing businesses. Free from debt and high interest payments, the business can operate independently and with an eye toward long-term growth. As soon as the business begins turning a profit, a portion of that profit is reinvested in the community, improving the livelihood of the community as a whole. Follow InVentureFund on Twitter.

Eventbrite For Causes: Events made easy

12 If you organize fundraising events for your nonprofit, Eventbrite For Causes is a great program to check out. Recently launched by Eventbrite, an online ticketing platform, Eventbrite For Causes provides nonprofits with discounted transaction fees and newsletters full of resources, tips and best practices related to the unique challenges and opportunities of hosting nonprofit events. Thanks to built-in sharing features within the Eventbrite platform, your supporters can also share your nonprofit event with their social networks when they register – a great way to help spread the word about your event. Follow Eventbrite on Twitter.

Related

• 6 productivity tools for social change (Socialbrite)

• Directory of cause organizations (Socialbrite)

• An educator’s 5 top tools for social change (Socialbrite)

• A change agent’s top 5 tools for social change (Socialbrite)

• 12 open source tools you should be using (Socialbrite)

• A developer’s 5 favorite social tools (Socialbrite)

The post 12 awesome platforms for social good appeared first on Socialbrite.

Facilitate, share — and enlist your members for help

This is a guest post I wrote for the Online Community Report.

Ilove my community. Whether I’m talking about my role at NetSquared, my blog, or my network of friends, I am inspired every day and find value in, and rewards for, my participation. Regardless of whether I feel like, or am trying to be, a community builder, the community always provides opportunities for others to join me. These spaces are built on distributed power and that makes the community a moving, growing, living thing that I am a part of, rather than a weight, trouble, or burden that I’m responsible for.

But, it ain’t easy. Being a Community Builder (I refuse, on principle, to use the word Manager) is a lot of work. So, how do you do it without losing sleep or sanity?

Here’s my 3×3 to Sustainable Community Building.

1. There are no shortcuts

Lead by example
Interact, use tools, and create and share content the way you want your community members to do so. Seeing you leave a comment, or share a resource, will model the desired behavior so others can see what to do (especially if they are new to social media or new to your community) and how to do it (especially if they are new to your tool or platform).

Operate in public
When it comes to “administrator” or “moderator” activity, always conduct it in public unless it requires or involves personal information. Don’t send a private welcome message – do it in public so others can benefit (they too can see, join in, and find someone new)! Don’t remove or edit contributions, but leave a comment to suggest how they can be improved. If there’s offensive or inappropriate behavior, note it in public so others can learn what’s OK and what isn’t, and feel empowered to help moderate as a community.

Ask for feedback and help
Asking for help or ideas means that 1.) you trust the community, 2.) you know that your community is valuable and smart, and 3.) you are interested in collaborating (not dictating). Don’t be shy about it – post blog entries or conversation starters, share your own feedback (operate in public), and provide places for the community to share ideas or feedback at any time (not just on specific ideas or proposals).

2. Know your community

Let the community know itself
Working in networks means that the “center” (that’s you) is no better than any of the other parts. You don’t have all the answers, all the information, all the best jokes. So, help your community know its self. Messages shouldn’t just be about you, stories shouldn’t just be about you. Find content and value from the community that you can help put the spotlight on; find stories and change-makers from the community that you can support. Make connections and introductions.

Know your role
Knowing your community means figuring out what they need from you, how they need your help, how they need you to help them to succeed. Some communities may need a “manager” to help keep everything moving along, and others may need an “operator” to make connections and recommendations. Some communities need a “friend” to share ideas and honest feedback, others may need a “champion” that can help push ideas and opportunities forward. Find your role (by asking for feedback and help!) and take pride in operating the way your community needs.

Help it grow
Part of knowing your community means recognizing when it needs new blood, a fresh wind, or a change of pace. That doesn’t always mean just one or the other. New blood = new members. If this is the case then help the community to promote itself and attract others interested in participating. Fresh wind = new topics or ideas. Sometimes, conversation can grow stagnant and ideas can fail to materialize into projects. It is your role to help find new inspiration. Change of pace = new way of operating. This may mean that the community has outgrown its facebook group and needs someone (you) to help move it onto the next platform/space where it can do more. You may need to be the one willing to say what everyone’s thinking and take on the task of making change.

3. Strive to be replaced

Encourage interaction without you
The goal of operating in public and leading by example is to enable the community to know how to operate without you. There can be interaction and exchange without your permission. There can be conversation without your moderation. Encourage the community to take control by giving them the responsibility and opportunity to do so.

Reward and spotlight leaders
Your goal should be to be replaced by other community members, as this means that you’ve created something so valuable, with members so dedicated to it, that they are willing to steer the ship and man the sails themselves. To begin nurturing those who may become the captains, start highlighting members who are contributing value. Shine the spotlight on those taking on extra responsibility. Operate in public by thanking them for their work in a way that’s visible to the whole community.

Share your toolbox
There’s no way that the community can take responsibility and contribute equally with you if you hold the key to a hidden set of tools. Open up all functionality to anyone who has proven their elevated role in the group. Share resources like strategies, best practices, and examples with the community so everyone can learn and contribute at the level you do. By sharing resources, you’ll probably find that the community has some to share back that will make your work even better, too!

But remember: all communities are unique, just like the members who comprise them. You can’t expect every group to operate the same way as others, or for one successful example to hold true in another setting. Communities are made up of people and the best approach you can have is to remain human. Organizations are buildings: they aren’t any fun, they aren’t very conversational, and they’re often made of neutral colors. You’re a human: you’re passionate, you’re interesting, and you have something to say. So even if you have different tools, different ideas, and different goals from one community to the next throughout your work, remember to stay human.

For more on my experience with community building, read Online Community Building: Gardening vs Landscaping.  To get the original post on the Online Community Report, click here.

Flickr image by grantlairdjr

The post How to build a sustainable community appeared first on Socialbrite.

This is part of the series 31 Day Challenge To Optimize Your Blog With Social Media.

In the above 2-minute video, I talk about why guest blogging could be a critical addition to your blog.

One benefit of guest posts is to further a relationship. You both build a relationship with other bloggers and expose your blog to a completely new audience — a great way to attract new readers and get new RSS subscribers.

Here are some guest post strategies I’ve used:

1. Read the blog of the person who you want partner with. Get to know his or her readers and content.
2. Be sincere and genuine with your interest. A long-term partnership will not blossom if you lead with a hidden, personal agenda.
3. Add valuable comments to their blog – and not “Great post, here’s a cool link.”
4. After a couple of months, a relationship will develop. Email the blogger directly. Let her know how valuable her blog has been to you and ask if she’d like to do a guest post on your blog. If it makes sense to write a post for her blog, provide links to a few example posts.
5. Have a guest post topic in mind when you make the pitch. Each time I’ve contacted Darren Rowse about writing a post on Twitip, I’ve had a clear topic in mind and have stated why this topic might be valuable to his readers. This has made it easy for him to say, “Cool. Yes.”
6. Give the other party your best content. A kick ass post is the only way to go – for both parties. See Rebecca’s post for an example of kick ass.
7. Focus on a long-term relationship. Keep the personal interests of the guest blogger foremost in mind.
8. If you’re an orange, partner with an apple. You want to partner with bloggers that can add value for your readers – but from a different angle. This will enable both bloggers to be exposed to a fresh audience. This was the case with TheDailyBlonde.
9. Have fun! It’s only a blog. When Grant Griffiths asked me to write for his blog, he had no idea that I would introduce the guest post with “Grant Griffiths Shoots Dorothy, Sells Toto On Ebay.“ We both had a laugh and now have a couple of projects brewing.

Homework: Spend 2 minutes and $7 on Chris Garrett’s book about using guest posting to get more subscribers (no affiliate link here!) and start thinking about your guest posting strategy.

If you don’t want to miss out on the 31 Day Challenge To Optimize Your Blog With Social Media, please sign up.

The post How to grow your blog with guest posts appeared first on Socialbrite.

At Community Organizer 2.0, Debra Askanase just wrote a piece called Front and Backyard Conversations. In it, she talks about social media as a public platform –- a front porch, but also a private platform where “conversations continue, out of the public eye.”

Front yard conversations are replies on Twitter, videos posted to YouTube, photos posted to Flickr, and blog posts and comments. The backyard conversations are personal emails, chats on the phone and ideas shared over pizza.

To go from the front yard to the backyard with your customer, you need develop increasing levels of trust, as in Debra’s diagram:

Questions I’d be asking

• At what point does your organization call a donor on the phone, or have coffee with them?
• What criteria, beyond donation amount, would you use to open up backyard communication?
• And once you have lunch with them, what changes in your relationship on Twitter?
• How often does your heart decide who to create deeper connections with?

Cross-posted at Johnhaydon.com.

The post The most powerful social media tool out there. Period! appeared first on Socialbrite.

On Tuesday I’ll be leading an online session for Philanthopy.com about building communities on Twitter (follow @Philanthropy for details).

Communities do not just happen. And they certainly don’t happen overnight. You have to have something important to talk about. And you have to be prepared to consistently connect people together over a period of months.

But Twitter seems like a big mess, doesn’t it? With thousands of tweets going off every hour, about hundreds of different topics, how do you build a cohesive group of fans?

The answer is hashtags.

Hashtags are a way to funnel specific discussions about a topic into a coherent thread, sort of like using Twitter to tune into specific radio frequencies. But not everyone knows how to create successful chat sessions.

In the screencast at top, I outline the basics of managing a hashtag chat on Twitter:

• How to use TweetGrid (one tool among many valuable tools)
• How to create a hashtag
• How to avoid missing replies to you within a chat
• How to find and invite others to your chat
• The importance of a landing page for your chat

Kudos to @ShareStrength for their excellent example!

How have you used hashtags successfully?

Photo by kbaird on Flickr.

Reposted from JohnHaydon.com.

The post Using hashtags to enhance community appeared first on Socialbrite.