http://www.collaborativejourneys.com "Grow Your Community Mediation Brand through fresh, relevant online content" Webinar delivered by Ben Ziegler for the National Association for Community Mediation, in January 2013.

1. Grow your community mediation brand
through fresh, relevant online content
National Association for Community Mediation
January, 2013
Ben Ziegler
zieglerconsulting@shaw.ca
www.collaborativejourneys.com

2. Quick Poll
What is the primary reason you are attending this
webinar?
(please select one)
• I want online content ideas that I can apply in my
organization
• I want to learn more about using online content as a
business strategy
• I want some tips and techniques for managing content
• All of the above

3. Agenda
1. Challenges and Opportunities
2. Good content, “so that”…
3. 3 Keys to good content
4. How-to’s

4. Challenges and Opportunities

5. State of Community Mediation
2/3 < $250k
budget
2-4 FTE on
average
Reliance on
volunteers
Where’s the opportunity here, and how can good content
enable that opportunity?

6. How can online content help:
• Sustain existing revenue sources?
• Attract new and/or diverse revenue sources?
• Support creation of alternative organization structures , and
revenue models?

7. Broadcast  Conversation
• Loss of control or opportunity to connect?
• A new opportunity to foster community?
• An opportunity to 1. Listen, 2. Engage, 3. Publish ?

8. Photo : Showbizsuperstar on Flickr
Consumer  Prosumer
• What opportunity does a proliferation of content producers offer?
• How does content overload impact your approach to content
creation?

9. Power Law (aka Long Tail)Benefit
People
Long Tail
Head
• Law of Accelerating Returns; tech change is exponential
• What opportunities could increased reliance on online
content provide?

10. Good content… “so that”…
For example: Our goal is that kids feel safe in school and thrive in our
community.
1. “Our organization shares compelling content on social media
channels that resonates with our audience of legislators so that
we get more attention from policymakers”
2. “We want to get more attention from policymakers so that more
kid-safe policies will be adopted in our schools”
3. “We want more kid-safe policies adopted in our schools so that
kids can focus on learning”
4. “We wand kids to focus on learning so that they can reach their
potential and contribute as citizens”
Content Socially meaningful outcomes

11. Quick Poll:
What’s the hardest thing for you to do when it
comes to online content?
(please select one)
• get personal, in public
• generate valued content
• deal with the technology
• all of the above

12. 1. Grow your brand… “so that”3 Keys to good content
1. Keep it fresh
2. Make it relevant
3. Put it online
“Brand” Definition: “The set of expectations, memories,
stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a
consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over
another.” (Seth Godin)

13. 1. Make it relevant.
Showcase others (appreciation may be our greatest psychological
need)
• Volunteers
• Clients
• Staff
• Partners
• Funders
• etc.
In general, people go online to either:
• Get a problem solved, or
• Be entertained

14. Get social
• Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn…
• moderate discussions; summarize
and share the results with others
• provide polls, quizzes, surveys…
• collaborate on service delivery;
e.g., webinars
• Integrate with offline; events,
print media…
• Blog, forums…
• etc.
Authenticity
• Staff/Board pictures and profiles
• be “human” in your
communications; stories,
humour…
• Corporate transparency (critical in
tough financial times)
• etc.
Inform and educate
• News
• FAQs; for public, volunteers,
mediators, partners, funders…
• information products; reports, white
papers, books…
• links to other great resources; e.g.,
NAFCM…
• links to volunteer opportunities (via
social media)
• tools; e.g., self-assessments, how-
to’s…
• etc.
Showcase and share your work
• Case studies
• promotional videos
• Services and products
• etc.

18. Lead a community cause

20. “Traditional” Media

21. 2. Keep it fresh.
• Attract attention
• Build trust
• Sustain relationships

22. Trust and Relationships

23. Current issues
Engage
audience
Sustain their
interest
Screenshot from: NYC Planned Parenthood initiative

24. 3. Put it online.
Visibility = opportunity

25. Going to the
people
Photo : andrewcparnell on Flickr

26. Facebook: “the mall” – 1 billion users (600
million mobile users)
Twitter: “the street” – 500 million (200
million active users)
LinkedIn: site for professionals – 175
million users
YouTube: 800 million users (4 billion views
per day)
New Town Squares

27. Quick Poll
What is your main client group’s preferred mode of
digital communication?
(please select one)
• by email
• by text message
• by telephone
• by social network (eg., Facebook, Twitter)
• none of the above, in-person only

28. How-To’s
• Ladder of engagement
• Content management
• Core tools
• Rules of thumb
• Reality check
• Resource links

29. Ladder of engagement
Higher levels of engagement
• Request for membership
• Volunteering
• Donations
• Creating content of their own
• Etc.
Lower levels of engagement
• Facebook likes, Twitter follows…
• People who spend < 30 seconds on your
webpage
• Etc.

30. “Business benefits are created
through three elements: targeted
connections + meaningful
content + authentic helpfulness”
(Mark Shaefer, The Tao of Twitter)

32. Content Management Approach
Etc…
Outposts
Hub
(Website/
Blog)
Where is your
audience(s)?
Focus on those
outposts.

33. Core Tools
• Website
• Content management system;
e.g. Wordpress
• Social media accounts
• Photo capture device
• Video capture device
• Productivity tools; e.g., editing,
collaboration, communications

34. Social Media - Rules of Thumb
Pay it forward (Golden Rule)
Add value (fresh, relevant…)
Participate in conversations
Grow community
Be yourself

35. Reality Check on Content
Budget ()
• Become someone’s homework
• The Analysis Exchange (free analytics advice)
• Collaborate with others on content creation
• Use other’s content, with permission
• Enable content contributors, with tools and/or
support
• Google/Search for content
• Etc.

36. A few resources that will help you
engage content…
Books
• Measuring the Networked Nonprofit: Using Data to Change the World (Beth Kanter &
Kaitie Paine)
• Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and
others) that Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business (Ann Hadley & CC Chapman)
• Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World (Michael Hyatt)
• The Tao of Twitter: Changing Your Life and Business 140 Characters at a Time (Mark
Schaefer)
• Buzzing Communities: Proven Science for Community Managers (Richard Millington)
Mediation Communities (in addition to NAFCM, of course!)
• ADRHub.com… www.adrhub.com
• Mediate.com… www.Mediate.com
Nonprofit Technology Network … www.nten.org

37. Type them into the question box and I
will answer as many as possible
Questions?

38. To Contact Ben:
zieglerconsulting@shaw.ca
http://www.collaborativejourneys.com (blog)
@benziegler (Twitter)
1.250.516.3936 (m)