Telling Your Story Through Blogs, Photos, and Video
May 2012
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Telling Your Story Through Blogs, Photos, and Video
May 2012
Introductions
Andrea BerryDirector of Partnerships and Learning
Idealware
Introductions: www.idealware.org
What We’ll Cover
• What is a Story?• Blogs• Photos and Photo Sharing• Videos and Video Sharing• Distribution Methods• Finding Your Story
Telling Your Story
Your Stories are All Around You
Ask yourself, “Why do I do what I do?”List major
obstacles you have overcome
Interview the people you serve
Use photos to remind you of people, places, and events Ask those in
the field to send stories
Ask your web visitors to share their stores
List your happiest success stories
Or in the field
Within your org
Constructing a Story
Beginning Middle End
Introduce theProtagonist and Problem
IntroduceObstacles
Resolve theProblem
Helping Others Connect
STORYSTORY
Emotional
Content
Dialogue
Well-Develop
edCharact
ersand
Scenes
Blogs
Show your expertise…
Some people get a lot of their news and
info from blogs… and blogs often link
to other blogs
http://www.palegalaid.net/news/blog
Show your donors what they’re supporting…
http://clsphila.wordpress.com/
And allow volunteers, staff, or supporters to
tell their story
Show a Behind the Scenes View
http://www.easternstate.org
Show what makes your organization interesting
and unique
Join a Conversation…
Consider joining the conversation in blogs associated
with your mission focuses
Create Your Blogging Plan
• What is your topic?
• Who will write it?
• Photos or videos you can add?
• When will you publish it?
• Who will review or edit?
• How will you distribute it?
Judging Success…more than comments
It is tough to get comments, but is that a true measure of your success?
What about traffic, links, shares, etc.?
What Are They Good For?
But that’s not to say they aren’t useful in the right circumstances:
Just make sure you have the time and a purpose
From our qualitative data:
• Publicizing your expertise
• Telling stories about your day-to-day work
• Promoting online information
Minimal Quite a lot
Time
Minimal Quite a lot
Experience
Producing your own blog
What you might need
• Internet connection• Blogging tool• Perhaps some coffee
Blogs
Blogger
WordPress
TypePad
Can you do it with your current CMS? If not…
Photos
Photos to Tell Stories
A picture says a 1000 words!
Images from Lone Star Legal Aid- East Texas Wildfires 2011 Album
Charity: Water
Photo gallery combined with “stories from the field”
Photo Sharing Tools to Spread ImagesEasily share your work via photos with your community
What are Photos Good For?
• Illustrating an issue in a compelling way
• Engaging a group in collecting photos on a topic
• Participating in photo communities around particular topics
• Finding people posting pictures of you
Minimal Quite a lot
Time
Minimal Quite a lot
Experience
Producing your own photos
Make Sure to Get Permission
Get signed permission forms that explicitly state how images can be used.
Privacy will be an issue for content…how can you get around while maintaining protection?
To avoid permission issues:• Unidentifiable faces• Backs• Groups from far away
What you might need
The Basics• Camera• Photo Editing Software
Taking it further• Good lighting• Getting a staff member trained• Hiring professionals
Editing can do wonders!Cropping helps draw focus
Original More contrast Towards the yellow
Work with color to enhance the image
Photo Editing
Picnik
Paint.NET
Adobe Photoshop
What about stock photos?
iStockPhoto
Google Creative Commons
Getty Images
Video
Share What You Do
http://www.youtube.com/user/legalservicesnj?feature=results_main
Advocate for Your Cause
http://www.brennancenter.org/content/pages/fighting_foreclosure_why_legal_assistance_matters
Fighting Foreclosure: Why Legal Assistance Matters is a project of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law
Provide Legal Services
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0000FBEA1F188D05&feature=plcp
Video Sharing Tools to Collect and Organize
http://repoweramerica.org/wall/#/view/25977
“Viral” Videos
www.storyofstuff.com
“Going viral” is more of an aspiration than a strategy
Tell a terrific story via video – which you can then post
on a site like YouTube or Blip.tv
What are Videos Good For?
• Providing something intrinsically interesting
• Letting people speak in their own words
• Collecting a compellingly large set of videos
• Spreading the word
Minimal Quite a lot
Time
Minimal Quite a lot
Experience
Producing your own videos (Guerilla)
What you might need (Guerilla)
• Video camera – whatever’s easily available• Video editing software
Minimal Quite a lot
Time
Minimal Quite a lot
Experience
Producing your own videos (Prosumer Level)
More like this… ..less like this.
What you might need
• Video camera• Tripod• External microphone• Lighting equipment• More sophisticated editing software
Small Steps for Improving
Animoto
$$$ Spent
Video looks expensive
The $$$ Theorem
Video Editing
Mac: iMovie
PC: Adobe Premier Elements
How Do You Distribute Your Stories?
WebsiteA good CMS will make it much easier to update stories on your website.
Blogs
Blogs are a great place to feature photos and videos as well as text stories
http://clsphila.wordpress.com/
Photo Sharing
SmugMug
Flickr
Video Sharing
Blip.TV
YouTube
Vimeo
Social Networking Sites
Spread the word through Facebook or Twitter
Finding Your Story
Your Stories are All Around You
Ask yourself, “Why do I do what I do?”
List major obstacles you have overcome
Interview the people you serve
Use photos to remind you of people, places, and events Ask those in
the field to send stories
Ask your web visitors to share their stores
List your happiest success stories
Or in the field
Within your org
Questions?
Top Related