If you've created a community on BigMarker, chances are, you're pretty passionate about what you're doing. So how do you share that passion with others? View the recording for this presentation here: https://www.bigmarker.com/BMCommunity/room52 This presentation, titled "5 Ways to Promote Your BigMarker Community," outlines some of the simplest yet most effective ways you can be letting others know about what you're doing. Whether you want to gain a larger following to your community, or drive more people to your future webinars, here are some tried and true methods for doing just that.

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

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

3. THE PRE-STEP:
!
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.
!
Notify email contacts and invite to join.
!
Result = word of mouth and community growth/webinar response.
!
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.
!
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:
!
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.
!
Having their support may result in more traffic being generated for your
community.
!
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.
!
Take on board topic suggestions for webinars.
!
Addressing topics of interest will encourage continued support from your
members and a good attendance.
!
Ask members to share details of your community on their personal social
media profiles.
!
Use the community bulletin to engage with your members and stay
connected through threaded chat.

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

14. Hosting A test webinar: pros and cons:
!
When you have generated some interest in your community, you may
wish to host a test webinar.
!
BigMarker has certain browser and system requirements so this will allow
you to ensure participating members are set for an official event.
!
A test will help you and your members feel comfortable with our
technology.
!
Your members may be deterred if they experience any difficulties in a test.
!
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:
!
We will have a blog published at http://bigmarkerblog.bigmarker.com/ .
Check it out for a hard copy of what we have discussed today.
!
We are always on hand to help with community and webinar promotion
so feel free to contact us for further promotional assistance.