Unleashing
Your Super
Power to
Network
Online and
Offline
By: Jody Weyers
About Me
Been with the American Red Cross for 17 years
Graduate of UW-Green Bay – Communications
Enjoys being social (on and offline)
Known for my laugh (MY SUPER POWER)
Loves:
Travel
Seeing live music
Family/Friends
Biking
Volunteer
Wine, cheese and beer
Being involved in my community!
What do you hope to learn
today?
Why do we Network???
Build your brand/mission
Connect to new customers – build your business
Engage current customers
Build an everyday relationship with stakeholders.
Learn from others
To be social
How to Begin – take stock!
What is your Social Engagement Philosophy?
Personal
Business
What are the tools you need to be successful?
What is your plan?
How are you going to implement that plan?
Have measurable goals!
Power Tips
Social Engagement
Philosophy: Personal
My Personal Philosophy:
Be transparent
Be real
Have fun
Engage in two sided conversations
Connect online and offline
Engage people with opportunities to get involved with
their community.
Social Engagement
Philosophy: Business
Red Cross Business Philosophy:
Meet, serve, & steward your community
Increase relevance in your community
Increase value to local stakeholders
Build fabric of support in your community
Help the Red Cross keep the human in humanitarian
Increase revenue, course takers and community participation.
Online Tools
Snapchat
Blogs
You Tube
Flickr
*** You don’t have to be on them all. Use what works for you!
Social Networks: Device Usage
Sharing is Caring: Social Media Marketing Tips for
Beginnershttps://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sharing-caring-social-media-marketing-tips-
beginners-kyla-kent/
Offline Tools
Picking up the phone
Writing hand written notes
Meeting people for coffee/drink
Going to networking events
Volunteering in your community
Reading – trade publications, local magazines, newspapers.
The Power of a Handwritten Note
https://www.hallmarkbusinessconnections.com/the-power-of-a-handwritten-note/
How to Connect the Two
Key is Finding Balance!
Two profiles (personal & professional).
“friend” - volunteers, donors, media, people I connect
with in the community.
Focus on my passion – volunteer engagement & giving
back to my community
I want to be known as a subject matter expert in the
field of volunteer management.
Mix of fun and informational.
My Profile
Engagement - Facebook
Post a Happy Birthday Message to your “friends”
Take it off-line: Send them a card in the mail
You see one of your “friends” won an award or
recognized in the community.
Take it off-line: Send them a card to congratulate them –
cut out the article in the paper and send to them.
Engagement - Facebook
I always have my camera/phone ready!
Post pictures of volunteers in action
Post pictures from events
Post funny photos to engage your audience
Show impact
Promote events
Facebook LIVE option great for events
Engagement – Twitter
You don’t have to follow everyone
Have a clear description of “who you are”
Set up Lists (media, local tweeters, Red Cross chapter,
Red Cross tweeters, celebrities)
Mix of engagement – RT, quote & own content
Professional Headshot
Professional cover photo
My Twitter
https://twitter.com/jweyers2
17 yr Red Crosser. DWOS14 & DWOS18 All-Star dancer. Known
for laugh. Blood Donor. Love biking, wine, travel, social
media, volunteering. Opinions are mine
Cover photo guidelines: https://blog.snappa.com/twitter-header-size/
Twitter Engagement
- Business recognition
- Highlighting stories
- fun
Connecting on & offline -
Show twitter love online, but now also take off line.
ex. Didion hosts blood drives so post drive, I picked a
thank you card that was inspiration to send them based
on their “like” and comment of my tweet.
- Shows you are “listening”
- All about the details
Twitter Engagement – For Fun
Changes in Media
Gone are the days of Press Releases (my opinion)
Media uses social media platforms to generate story ideas.
More than 96 percent of journalists engage on social media every day according to a study!
Agency can use to pitch stories.
Comment on what is relevant to your agency.
If I see a story about an over night fire, I will find out is/did Red Cross respond and then comment or tweet that we are assisting.
Local reporter add tag line “Red Cross is assisting” to story in next segment
Say Thank you for sharing or for a report doing a feature story about you or your organization.
How to use various social media platforms to successfully pitch your story to journalists.
https://www.business.com/articles/how-to-pitch-a-journalist-right-through-smart-use-of-social-media/
For me, this is a growing platform I am utilizing (especially
connecting to people in a new city).
Found it is great way to connect with other professions in my
field.
You don’t have to connect with everyone that wants to
connect to you (a lot of “spam” out there).
If you are job searching, this is a great resource tool.
Make sure your profile is up to date.
Showcase yourself:
Link to articles you wrote, awards you won, recognition received.
Videos
I scroll through to see what other business professions are
interested in.
Connecting On-line & Off – Story
Non-Profit Draft Day Event –
https://www.nonprofitdraftday.org/free-agents/
Blogs – Business/Event/Personal
WordPress
Inexpensive - $60 a year for custom url, no adds &
domain name.
Place to share stories about your programs, donors,
volunteers, events.
Use FB, twitter, newsletter to link back to your blog.
Reporting function built into program to measure visits
& views.
Many different templates and simple to use (no HTML
formatting knowledge required).
Red Cross Blog
Share Stories!
https://redcrosswisnews.org/
Event Blog
Dancing With Our Stars for the American Red Cross
https://redcrossdwosblog.org/
Personal Blog
Time Guider - https://timeguider.org/
Instagram is a social networking app made for sharing photos and videos from a smartphone.
“New” hot platform
Insta stories – visible only for 24 hrs.
Photo editing, adding links, connecting to users
I.e.. Festival Foods great example of utilizing Instagram to connect with customers and promote business.
Hashtags
#ThrowbackThursday
Can be connected with FB or Twitter.
Contests
6 Ways You Can Use Instagram to Further Your Mission
http://www.firespring.org/education/articles/nonprofit-social-media-6-ways-you-can-use-instagram-to-further-your-mission.html
Take-away Message
Guidelines for Navigating social media
Post with Purpose
Don’t post when you are feeling emotional; step back & think about it first. What is your objective of the post?
Combine Elements to create rich public portrait of yourself –authentic self!
Remember it is not just about work – have FUN!
Sometimes less is more
Difficult conversations take off line. Never online --- not a place to air dirty laundry
It is ok to disconnect (and a must sometimes)
You don’t have to use every tool, but use what works for you.
5 Tips for Professionals Navigating Social Media
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/tania-yuki/5-tips-for-professionals-navigating-social-media_b_5780414.html
Clear the Clutter
5 Ways to Spring Clean Your Social Media Clutter
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/lifetime-connections/201702/5-ways-
spring-clean-your-social-media-clutter
How to find me:
Facebook (search for)
Jody Weyers
Twitter: @jweyers2
E-mail:
Cell: 920-619-8387
QUESTIONS