1. 5 ways to promote your
community.
WITH REBECCA AND ANDREW.

2. Who are we and what do we do?
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We are community managers.
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Contact info: rebecca.mccarthy@bigmarker.com
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andrew.bungert@bigmarker.com
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Telephone: 312-869-9870

3. THE PRE-STEP:
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Ensure you have your community’s ‘overview’ and ‘about’ completed.

4. The Fabulous 5 promotional tactics:
1.
Use existing networks.
2.
Avail of social media outlets.
3.
Encourage member activity.
4.
Reach out to likeminded people.
5.
Take advantage of blogging.

5. STEP ONE: Use Your Existing Network.
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Notify email contacts and invite to join.
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Result = word of mouth and community growth/webinar response.
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Plug your community with your existing social media outlets, e.g. Twitter,
Facebook.

6. STEP TWO: Avail Of All Social Media Outlets:

7. !
Statuses and tweets about your community’s events will help to:
1.
Keep your friends and followers informed of upcoming events.
2.
Circulate your community’s name amongst people’s newsfeed that you
are not connected to.
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Retweets, likes and sharing will all help broaden the scope of your reach.

8. Other Social Media Outlets:

9. Handy Cheats:

10. STEP THREE:
Find like minded people:
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If your community is about bird watching, reach out to fellow bird
watchers that have a strong online presence. E.g. bloggers, people with
multiple followers or likes etc.
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Having their support may result in more traffic being generated for your
community.
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Reaching out to strangers may not always result in an acknowledgement,
but all it takes is one person.

11. STEP FOUR: Encourage Member
Activity:
“A community is like a ship, everyone ought to be prepared to take the
helm.”
-Henrik Ibsen

12. !
Without your members continued support, your community can become
stagnant.
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Take on board topic suggestions for webinars.
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Addressing topics of interest will encourage continued support from your
members and a good attendance.
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Ask members to share details of your community on their personal social
media profiles.
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Use the community bulletin to engage with your members and stay
connected through threaded chat.

13. STEP FIVE:
Blogging:
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Having an active blog that is reflective of your community and up to date
with news of your community is a valuable promotional tool.
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Refer to conference recordings to ensure that the information you use for
your blog is correct.
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Discuss the topics you have used in webinars.
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Remember: a blog doesn’t have to be a literary work of art.

14. Hosting A test webinar: pros and cons:
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When you have generated some interest in your community, you may
wish to host a test webinar.
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BigMarker has certain browser and system requirements so this will allow
you to ensure participating members are set for an official event.
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A test will help you and your members feel comfortable with our
technology.
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Your members may be deterred if they experience any difficulties in a test.
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Your members may feel the community is too time consuming if you are
trying to run a test before you have established a loyal following.

15. Recap:
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We will have a blog published at http://bigmarkerblog.bigmarker.com/ .
Check it out for a hard copy of what we have discussed today.
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We are always on hand to help with community and webinar promotion
so feel free to contact us for further promotional assistance.