technology & your chapter... how to make it work for you
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Technology & Your Chapter… Make it
work for you!
Tim VroomWebmaster Ypsilanti Area Jaycees
vroom@blockstackers.com
About Me• Creator of PerlMonks.org – Community
Website for Perl Developers• Software Engineer on Slashdot.org a
Popular Tech News Website• Webmaster for Ypsilanti Area Jaycees
ABOUT THIS PRESENTATI
ON• Presentation is mostly
non-technical, focuses on ideas & strategy for information on website
• Should contain plenty of info a non-technical person could take back to their chapter
• All slides and handouts will be made available online
• My contact info:Tim Vroomvroom@blockstackers.co
m
LET’S SHARE OUR BEST PRACTICES
• Want information exchange to be 2-way
• Want dialogue to continue past today• Handout will be provided to collect
your ideas & questions – Will share answers to questions & share all
tips in response to info turned in on handouts• Responses on Jaycee message board• E-mail to those attending
INFO TO BE COVERED
• GOVERNING PRINCIPLES FOR YOUR ONLINE PRESENCE
• COMPONENTS OF A GOOD CHAPTER WEBSITE
• HOW TO RECRUIT ONLINE
• HOW TO GET FOUND ONLINE
• TECHNOLOGY AS A TOOL TO IMPROVE CHAPTER OPERATIONS
• RESOURCES & SERVICES ONLINE WORTH KNOWING ABOUT
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
• IDEAS TO HELP YOU MEET AND EXCEED YOUR MEMBERSHIP GOALS
• HOW TO MAKE POTENTIAL RECRUITS SEEK YOU OUT
• HOW TO GET MORE SLEEP & DEVELOP FEWER ULCERS AS MEMBERSHIP VPS & PRESIDENTS
• WAYS TO IMPROVE COMMUNICATION WITHIN YOUR CHAPTER
• WAYS TO INCREASE YOUR CAPABILITES ONLINE WITHOUT REQUIRING AN INCREASE IN YOUR TECHNICAL SKILLS
LET’S BEGIN!
GOVERNING PRINCIPLES FOR YOUR ONLINE
PRESENCE
FRESHNESS MATTERS
FRESHNESS AFFECTS
CHOICES
WEBSITE A
GROUP A
WEBSITE B
GROUP B
NEXT ACTIONS
WILL THEY TAKE A BITE?
MAINTENANCE MATTERS DOES THIS GROUP STILL
EXIST?
DOES THIS MAKE SOMEONE WANT TO FIND OUT MORE OR JOIN THIS GROUP?
WHAT’S THEIR FIRST IMPRESSION?
THE EASIEST RECRUITS TO MAKE ARE THE ONES
THAT CONTACT YOU
(WEB RECRUITS ALL FALL UNDER THIS CATEGORY)
EAGER RECRUITS BECOME ACTIVE MEMBERS
MAKE IT EASY
FOR EAGER
RECRUITS
TO FIND
AND CONTACT
YOU
THE QUALITY OF YOUR MESSAGE AFFECTS YOUR
RESULTS
FINDABILITY MATTERS
SUCCESS IS HARD TO ACHIEVE IF NO ONE KNOWS YOU EXIST
– OR –THEY CAN’T FIND YOU WHEN THEY’RE LOOKING
FOR YOU
COMPONENTS OF A GOOD CHAPTER
WEBSITE
• Good information and pitch for potential recruits
• Up to date list of upcoming events
• Good picture(s) on frontpage
• Photo Albums
• Easy way(s) to request more information from your chapter
• Comprehensive List of Past Projects Run
• Good Page Titles & Headers
COMPONENTS OF A GOOD CHAPTER WEBSITE
HOW TO RECRUIT ONLINE
• DEVELOP YOUR MESSAGE
• FIND PLACES TO PUT YOUR MESSAGE IN FRONT OF PEOPLE
• HELP PEOPLE FIND YOUR MESSAGE
• CLOSE THE DEAL
WRITE YOUR MESSAGE (WELL) ONCE
RECRUIT OVER AND OVER AGAIN
THIS IS THE MESSAGE YOU’RE GOING TO BE USING OVER AND
OVER AGAINLITERALLY 100’S AND 1000’s
OF TIMES
TAKE SOME TIME
TO
MAKE IT GOOD
AND
MAKE IT COUNT
DEVELOP YOUR PITCH UNTIL YOU
TRUST YOUR WEBSITE TO SELL YOUR GROUP
TO ANY POSSIBLE RECRUIT
• Good Group Picture (a variety of people having a good time)
THINK OF THE FRONT PAGE OF YOUR SITE AS A PERSONAL AD
FOR YOUR GROUP
YOU WANT TO PUT YOUR SALES PITCH IN FRONT OF AS MANY PEOPLE AS
POSSIBLE & IN FRONT OF YOUR MOST CASUAL USERS
MEMBERS CAN FOLLOW LINKS DEEPER INTO THE SITE TO GET THE INFO THEY
NEED
WHAT MAKES A
GOOD MESSAGE?
YOU TELL ME…Maybe thinking about some other places you try
to promote yourself will help
RESUME
PERSONAL AD
WHAT SORTS OF THINGS MIGHT YOU INCLUDE TO EFFECTIVELY SELL YOUR
GROUP?
Key Components of the Message
• Good Group Picture– Variety of people, having fun
• Good list of membership benefits• Links in text pointing to additional in-depth
info• Call to action at end of page
– Membership VP e-mail address and/or Request More Info link
• Good formatting – Include whitespace / blank lines / bulleted lists / bolded text & headings– Make the text easy to scan & recognize the main
points
Tips for describing Membership Benefits
• List main benefits (volunteer, social, networking, personal development)
• List example projects
• List benefits in personal terms
• Showcase the variety & number of projects as well as number of members
EXAMPLES OF MAKING
BENEFITS PERSONAL– “We help people looking to help the community find volunteer
opportunities, and provide members opportunities to put together projects helping causes they care about.”
– “Many members develop life-long friendships with other members”
– “For many the advertising and networking opportunities alone are worth the cost of their dues.”
HELP THEM IMAGINE HOW JOINING THE GROUP WILL
IMPACT THEIR LIFE
Supporting Content
• Project Photo Albums• List of Past Projects• Upcoming Events List• Member Testimonials• Organized Navigation
– Group member links– Group recruiting links
HOW TO GET FOUND ONLINE
HOW TO GET FOUND ONLINE
ADVERTISE IN APPROPRIATE PLACES
GET LINKS POINTING TOWARDS YOUR SITE
THINK ABOUT HOW PEOPLE SEARCH FOR YOUR SITE
CHOOSE TITLES AND HEADINGS WISELY
WRITE GOOD, INFORMATIVE TEXT
ADVERTISE IN APPROPRIATE PLACES
• Craigslist for Your City or Area (Group / Volunteer sections) – As time passes your ad descends out of view.
Update ad every 10-14 days to bring it to the top. (Automate reminders if necessary)
• VolunteerMatch• MySpace / Facebook• Others ?
FEATURED ADVERTISING EXAMPLE
craigslist.org• Craigslist is an online classifieds site with sub-sites for
given geographic areas• Craigslist is in the top 50 most-trafficked sites on the
internet• People on craigslist are actively looking for something• 2 categories are particularly well-suited for advertising
the Jaycees– Groups– Volunteers
• Our chapter recruited ~8 people from craigslist last year
• Your results may vary depending on the size of the area you’re in
SAMPLE CRAIGSLIST AD
CURRENT CRAIGSLIST GEOGRAPHIC AREAS FOR
MICHIGAN• ann arbor• central michigan• detroit metro• flint• grand rapids• jackson• kalamazoo• lansing• muskegon• northern michigan• port huron• saginaw-midland-baycity• south bend / michiana• upper peninsula
(pick the one most appropriate for your group)
CRAIGSLIST POSTING TIPS
• Include pictures to set you apart from other ads
• Include a good headline that lists as many of the benefits that may draw site visitors to click through to your ad
• Include your chapter’s name in the location field when posting ie. (Ypsilanti Area Jaycees) this will help differentiate groups posting in the same metro area
• Use a well-tuned message like we discussed earlier to sell your group. Including a call to action at the end
CRAIGLIST AD POSTING AND OPTIMIZATION PROCESS
As time passes your ad moves down and further out of view. You’ll be more successful if you repost often.
More tips on that to come…
Posting Process Tips
1. Create an account to use for posting your ads
2. Post your ads as designed in both the groups and volunteers section of your metro area. Your text will have to vary somewhat to avoid their duplicate ad detection
3. Set up a reminder to update the ads every 10-14 days. Most calendars can send periodic e-mail alerts. The service I use is hassleme.co.uk.
4. When you receive your reminder to update the ads….
continued…
Posting Process Tips
1. Login to your account
2. View your account page
3. Delete your active ads
4. View your ads, and use the repost option – to repost. This will bring the ad to the top of the page again. You can also make any edits for GMM time, or whatever else you’d like to change
5. Wait for web-based recruits and repeat
GET LINKS POINTING TOWARDS YOUR SITE
• Submit your site to search engines & appropriate online directories
• Get government & other organizations you work with to link to your site
THINK ABOUT HOW PEOPLE
SEARCH FOR YOUR SITE• What words or
phrases might people use to look for a group like yours ?
– Make sure you use these words in the text, headings and titles of your pages
Think about how people search for content today.
Particularly something like “volunteer opportunities in <city>”
POSITION YOURSELF AT THE END OF THAT SEARCH
?? => !!
SOME SAMPLE SEARCH PHRASES
• <cityname> volunteering• <cityname> community service• <cityname> networking• <cityname> meet people• <cityname> socials• <cityname> <project/cause name>
Try to include things like this in your headings, page titles, and text. Think about different ways of searching for things
WRITE GOOD INFORMATIVE TEXT
• The more aspects of the Jaycees you describe the more likely someone will find you when they submit a search for something we do
• List as many past projects as possible on a page on your site. – Someone looking to get involved in a particular
activity or help a particular cause or charity might find your group through a search for that.
CHOOSE GOOD HEADINGS / TITLES
• In HTML – Title text & heading text are especially important for finding your site through search engines
• Include your city name in the titles of pages. – You likely aren’t going to have the
number one poker site on the internet but if you’re the number one result for your city that’s what counts
TITLE & HEADING EXAMPLES
• Examples: • <title>Ypsilanti Volunteer & Community
Service Opportunities</title>
• <title>Ypsilanti Texas Hold’Em Poker Tournaments</title>
• <h2>Social Opportunities</h2>
TECHNOLOGY AS A TOOL TO IMPROVE
CHAPTER OPERATIONS
MAKE COMMUNICATION SYSTEMATIC
MAKE ONLINE INFO TRUSTWORTHY & DEPENDABLE
MAKE YOUR WEBSITE A ONE-STOP SOURCE OF INFORMATIOIN
MAKE COMMUNICATION SYSTEMATIC
• People are more likely to participate when they know what’s going on
• Make communication with members automatic
• Difficulties – Sending and composing a weekly email takes time, and often a lot of busy-work finding & formatting the info. Additionally someone needs to remember to send it consistently.
SOME IDEAS TO ACHIEVE SYSTEMATIC
COMMUNINCATION(good) Automate reminders for someone to compose
weekly event e-mail to membership(better) Automate generation of e-mail content from
events in online calendar in addition to reminder
(best) Send automatically generated event e-mail
weekly to President for tweaking and additions and have them resend it to membership
MAKE ONLINE INFO TRUSTWORTHY
& DEPENDABLE• KEEP EVENT LISTINGS ONLINE UP TO DATE & CORRECT
• EASY WAY FOR MEMBERS TO CHECK WHAT’S GOING ON OR WHEN AND WHERE A PARTICULAR PROJECT IS RUNNING
• NOTE – A USER WILL ONLY CONTINUE TO USE THE SITE AS A SOURCE OF INFORMATION IF THE AREN’T DISAPPOINTED BY LACK OF INFORMATION OR INACCURACIES
BUILD YOUR SITE INTO A RESOURCE USERS TRUST AND
DEPEND ON• THIS TAKES SIGNIFICANT
WORK & MAINTENANCE
• THE WORK IS WORTH IT– A trusted resource for
your members is worth infinitely more than a half-maintained site none of them visit or trust
GROW YOUR SITE INTO A ONE-STOP SOURCE FOR INFO AND DOCUMENTS WITHIN YOUR CHAPTER
DEVELOP YOUR SITE INTO THE NO-BRAINER ANSWER TO
“WHERE DO I FIND <RANDOM DOCUMENT> OR <RANDOM PIECE OF INFORMATION>”
WHAT MIGHT BE ON YOUR SITE?
• Newsletters• Roster• CPG Archive• Chapter Plans &
Documents in Progress
• Document Templates
IMAGINE A WORLD WHERE YOU NO LONGER NEED TO TRACK DOWN THE RIGHT PERSON WHO HAPPENS TO HAVE THE DOCUMENT YOU’RE LOOKING FOR.
INSTEAD YOU KNOW WHERE IT IS AND GETTING IT REQUIRES A MINUTE OR LESS OF YOUR TIME
THAT’S THE GOAL – MOST OF US HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO, BUT LET’S DARE TO DREAM.
RESOURCES & SERVICES ONLINE
WORTH KNOWING ABOUT
FORMS
Example Uses: - Request More Info
Form - Community or
Member Survey - Poker Mailing List
Signup - Online Parade
Registration
Services: http://jotform.com
SURVEYS
Example Uses Member Survey Community Survey Collect & Aggregate
Responses to Survey
Services:
http://surveymonkey.com
http://zoomerang.com
SHARED DOCUMENTS
Example Uses:Coordinate or share notes /
lists / documents with other people working on an event or committee
Services Google Docs –
docs.google.com
Writeboard – writeboard.com
CALENDARING
Example Uses:Example Uses:
Administer calendar of events
Embed Calendar on your website
Set alerts / reminders for repeated tasks
Services
Google Calendar – calendar.google.com
Yahoo Calendar – calendar.yahoo.com
30boxes – 30boxes.com
REMINDERS
Example Uses:Example Uses:
Reminder to update Craigslist Ad approximately every 14 days
Services:
HassleMe: http://hassleme.co.uk
Other calendaring services
Event Registration
Example Usage:Allow tickets to be
sold online for your event
ServicesEventBrite
(Make sure to check what their cut of the ticket price is)
EVENT INVITES
• Example Uses: Send invites to
members Track planned
attendees Services: http://evite.com
WEBSITE STATS
Features: Figure out how many
people are coming to your site
Figure out how people find your site & what pages they visit
Resources:
Google Analytics http://www.google.com/analytics/
Contact Info:
Tim Vroom
vroom@blockstackers.com
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