Hopefully you now have a website up and running and have created a profile and a page on Facebook. Now, its time to grab a hold of social media and start making it work for you and your organization. But, you say, I thought I was using new media? After all, I have a blog and a Facebook page, right? You now have a way for people to find you, your website, and a way to get in touch with others, Facebook. Let’s start working on how to have new people find you!
If you aren’t familiar with YouTube, it is a video sharing and broadcasting site. Anyone can upload and share a video for free. According to recent Alexa stats, YouTube is the third most popular website on the internet and an average of 17% to 19% of internet users visit the site every day. That means that one out of five people who use the internet, on average, visit YouTube.com every day. In the U.S. an average of 24% of internet users visit YouTube.com.
First, make sure you have a Google Account. You can use your GMail login information to access YouTube. Once you log in, head over to the YouTube page for Non-Profits and register your organization. Registering as a non-profit allows you to brand your YouTube page, upload more content and add a Google Checkout button to your videos so visitors can make donations.
YouTube has some great resources for your non-profit to get started making and marketing videos. You can start with this non-profit tip sheet, available from YouTube.com. The most important advise anyone can receive here is to make sure your videos are consistent with the message you want to project about your organization. If you don’t have a particular brand or message, just make sure your video shows what you do and the people you serve.
Once you have a general idea of what’s going on, here’s a bit of information about how to actually run a video campaign. I noticed a great piece of advise here: make sure you locate YouTube members that are passionate about your cause, even before you launch your first video. As I mentioned in my Facebook posting, you will benefit from finding people with similar interests and reaching out to them. If you find active users who have similar interests, chances are they communicate and network with other YouTube users with the same interests. By reaching out to these folks, you are able to influence decision makers and thought leaders in your respective field.
YouTube wants you to be successful on their site. It’s a bit like using the TollHouse chocolate chip cookie recipe: Nestle wants you to buy their chocolate chips, so they will make sure you have a great baking experience when you use their chips. YouTube is the same way: if you use YouTube and are successful, you will bring more users to their site, thus increasing their revenue. To this end, YouTube has created a help page for non-profits on a budget. Not only do they have tips and tricks for producing a video on a budget, they even have a link to a site that provides FLIP video cameras to non-profits at a discount.
Once you have a video camera and an account, just go for it. Grab the camera and start filming. Don’t worry so much about turning out the next cinematic masterpiece, just get started. The only real caveat is to make sure to get a release from anyone who you film and is identifiable in your video. One of the easiest ways to do this is to simply film you asking them permission to use their likeness in your video. However, if you want to be professional, I recommend you draft a simple release that provides information about when and how you will use the video. This will assure your subject and provide written proof of their agreement. Most of all, have fun with the camera. You can always delete the video that you don’t like. The easiest way to get better at filming is to practice. So get out there and find some new donors and volunteers!
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Thanks Eric.