This document is a tutorial on using social networking for nonprofits and businesses, providing an overview of various social media platforms and strategies for effective communication. It emphasizes the importance of consistency in branding, efficient posting through tools like ping.fm, and the use of hashtags and tagging to enhance visibility and engagement. The tutorial also includes tips on content creation, scheduling posts, and interacting with followers to maximize outreach.

1. Social NetworkingTutorial for nonprofits and businesses

2. What to expectA brief explanation of social mediaHow to use them to YOUR benefitHow often to use themTricks to getting attentionTips on making it easy and quick

3. DictionaryNetwork: a social site that allows multiple people to register and share information with others.Posts: text that a person on a network wrote and made viewable .Status updates: The way Facebook allows you to post.Tweets: The way twitter allows you to post.Share: Is what you do on Facebook when you take something someone else posted and you post it. Facebook has a button for that under things that you can share.Browser: is what you use to view websites. i.e. Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome.Address bar: is on the top of your browser and has the address to the page you are currently looking at.URL: is the http://www.comfrom the address bar on your browser.Hyperlink: is when you take the URL and put it in text so that people can click it and go to the page you want them to go to. Hashtag: is a character (#) that twitter recognizes that allows people to group posts that all have the same letters immediately after.@ is a symbol that twitter uses before each person name to like the internet uses www. When you type www before the name of your website the internet knows where to go. When you type @ before a persons twitter name twitter knows who you are walking about. You can use this in your posts to thank someone. (@unitedwaypc thank you for retweeting our event) this shows up on your page and theirs.Tag: Attaches someone's Facebook account to a picture you upload.@ is used in facebook with a person, page or group account and will hyperlink them into the message.

4. What is social mediaSocial networking is a form of 2-way communication via sites such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn, blogs and so much more.The best way to view social networks is like a newspaper or television station.The benefit over traditional advertising is that viewers can receive, comment on and share that information INSTANTLY!

5. Why should I bother, I’m busy?Ever had someone tell you they have never heard of your nonprofit or business? How often have you heard, “I didn’t know you could/should do that?” How much do you spend on advertising?Do you know when someone sees your ad in the paper if they like it? Do you know if they are telling anyone else?THAT’S WHY

6. Tips when creating your pagesUse the same image (logo) on every site. Consistency Create a name for your site that everyone knows you by. Each site gives you the opportunity to customize your URL (web address). Try using your actual business/agency name or website address. More is BETTERYou will have an opportunity on most of the sites to enter in information about the company/agency. Take advantage of this. Don’t make people have to search for information.

7. Now what?The days of posting information on each site are OVER. No more quick blubs on TwitterNo more 1 paragraphs on FacebookNo more going back and forth to post the same thing in a different way on each site.HOW?Ping.fmPing allows you to write anything you want from your email account and it posts it for you and puts it in the format necessary to be the most effective on each site.

8. PINGSigning up for Ping is as simple as the other sites, but requires you to allow permission to those networks.Register on Ping, remembering to keep a similar username as the rest. Choosing your networks. Click to the left of each network to add it.

9. Click on “Link Ping.fm to Twitter” and that’s it.Now you do the same thing with each of the other sites. If you have created a Facebook fan page, you will go through the same scenario.Make sure all the networks you want to use are set up.

10. Adding Facebook and fan pagesIf you are logged into your Facebook page when you do this, it will automatically recognize you and you will see this page.Select your fan page account at this time if you have one.Select to update each box available.

11. Click on E-mail and SMS/Text Messaging for your personal addresses. There are numerous tips and tricks to posting almost any content to each or a select few of your sites. For this purpose we are going to stick with the tips that will allow you to post specifically to Facebook and Twitter.As you become familiar with social networks you can add as many of them as you wish.

12. Finalizing your accountsOnce you have gone through that process with each account this is what you will see.Click update settings and you are ready for the tricks 

13. Tips when posting from your email.You can post directly to a single service by prefixing your message with a service trigger. Use any of the following triggers below to specify a service. Example: To send a message to Twitter only: @tt Hey guys check it out! I'm posting to Twitter via Ping.fmPosting By E-mailWhen you created your Ping.fm account, you were assigned a special e-mail address that allows you to post from any e-mail client. Posting is easy! Simply send any message to your Ping.fm posting address and it will be posted to your social networks.You can either send your message in the subject field or the body. If you supply a message both in the subject AND body fields, the body will be used. If you have an e-mail signature on your mail client you can have it automatically stripped from your messages by putting two or more dashes ( - ) before your signature. Example: --Laurie GriffithSocialDzinelaurie@socialdzin.com

14. Preset postsUsing your outlookWrite a message to Ping (put the date/time of the intended post into the subject line for yourself. Then the text and links in the body. You can attach pictures as you would do for a normal message. In the body of the text, you want to first tell it where it’s going.@tt only twitter@fp only fan pageUse both to post on bothSet the date for the day and time you want the message to be sent to ping to post.

15. What do I post?Post links to opportunitiesVolunteer opportunitiesAdd a little kick to the message “Are you smarter than a 5th grader? Prove it! http://volunteer.united-e-way.org/uwpc/org/opp/10329799008.html?return_url=%252fuwpc%252forg%252fopp%252fdir-A-1.html(PING will automatically shorten this link for you before posting)Board positions“Board members are our silent hero’s. Porter County Cancer Society is now taking applications.” (Enter a link to your volunteer opportunity on volunteer solutions)Product Connections“Don’t throw away your printers just yet, donate them to the VNA (Enter a link to your volunteer opportunity on volunteer solutions)

16. Set up delivery in advanceChoose “Do not deliver before” and set the date and time that you put in the message header. This message will be posted 1 minute after the time you set for the email.You can do one week, one month, etc.. In advance

17. When would it be good to update from your phone?Each account you set up has a phone number and/or email address attached to it. These can be used to update your accounts from your cell phones. Facebook will accept pictures. Take pictures at Chamber eventsWork sites (with permission)While visiting partnering businessesCompany picnicsCompany volunteering eventsBusiness expo’sCollege fairsNew employeesAward ceremoniesThese pictures can also be attached into your emails to PING.FM and that will send them to twitter as well.

18. Tricks of the TwadeRETWEET Retweet things that your followers will be interested in or that highlight your interests such as local charities you’re involved with, facts, upcoming networking events.This shows your interest in not just promoting yourself but promoting your community.Trick: create a list of twitter accounts that you want to Retweet and open that list once in a while and Retweet stuff from it.SHARERepost things other agencies post.Share your agencies information from your personal Facebook account.Retweeting can be done by putting your mouse to the left of someone else's comment, when a message appears that says “Retweet” click it

19. What is # and @?A Hastag (#) is a character that Twitter recognizes and uses to categorize your tweet. If you search #nwindiana on twitter it will take you to a twitter page with comments from everyone else that used that same hashtag.Use this when posting only to twitter, it confuses Facebook people that don’t understand what it is.A @ when used in a Facebook update only will automatically create a drop down menu that allows you to highlight another user or fan page.You must be on Facebook for this to work or using a “share” the button from Volunteer Solutions.This post will show up on your page and the page of the person you highlighted. MORE EXPOSURE! A great way to thank someone for volunteering, donating or advocating your agency

20. Draw them in…Just telling someone you went to an event is fine, posting a picture of the event in progress is AWESOME… now link that picture.Give them somewhere to go. Don’t just tell them you have volunteer opportunities, tell them where. Lead them to volunteer solutions or show them before and after pictures in your photo album or on the website.You can always ask questions to provoke interaction.Suggest your fan page to your friends and get them to suggest.Take pictures of employees with friends and family and tag everyone.

21. TAG your IT!What is tagging and what does it do?Now that you have pictures, who’s in them?Tagging allows you to connect a Facebook profile to your picture. Tag everyone in the photo and those related to the picture, i.e. employeesOnce posted a notification will go on each persons page that was tagged. Stats:Tag 5 employees/volunteers that have 200 friends, 1000 people including all the Facebook fans just saw the picture and any text you included as the caption.

22. How to TAGClick on “Tag this photo” (under picture on the right)Then you click on any name that shows up in the list. Names of your friends will show up here. For the business page, you want to add everyone you know and anyone that asks. Once you’ve tagged everyone you want, just click “Done tagging” on the top right of the pic.

23. Take a picture of employees or friends interacting at a networking event. The next time you log into Facebook, go to your photos and tag all the employees. Take advantage of the caption to talk about who they are, thank all involved and tag everyone with a Facebook account.

24. This doesn’t guarantee over-night success. What this does guarantee is that people that didn’t even know you existed WILL. You will expose your business to people that may otherwise never hear about you, don’t realize what you have to offer or never knew the benefits to them. This could generate new customers, encourage new volunteering and you may even find a couple new donors. Enjoy and feel free to call if you have questions