‘It’s a small world after all!’

How to use niche social networks to spread your message

Twitter: #10NTC, #nichenetworks

WHO ARE WE?

Manny Hernandez @askmanny

Peggy Duvette

@WiserEarth

Danielle Brigida

@starfocus

• Active players in the social media field

• Representing TuDiabetes, EstuDiabetes, National Wildlife Federation, WiserEarth

The importance of Niche Networks

•Connect people that don’t normally know each other

Enable new offline connectionsDevelop new online synapses

•Strengthen focused communities•Reach out to an attentive audience•Allow for meaningful conversations

How to outreach to niche communities

If you are targeting a specific passion, interest

If your audience is in a specific location

If your audience has already an established community

Location Existing Community

Passion/Specific Interest

Quality over Quantity

If you are looking for quality

Location-based network

Ncwildlife.ning.com

•547 members

•Very useful for events and groups

• Members post events, blogs and photos

Audience-based network

Kirtsy.com

•Like Digg for women

•500 + page views from a popular item

•Active community: 200,000 + registered users

Audience-based network: GovLoop

GovLoop.com

•Social network for government community

•25,000 + members

Interest-based network

Tudiabetes.org.

•14,000 + members

•Connecting people with diabetes, caregivers and others touched by diabetes

Interest-based: Wildlife Watcher

WildObs.com

Interest-based: Sustainability

WiserEarth.org

• 35,000 + members

•Bridging non- and for-profit sectors

•Focus on sustainability/ social justice

Outreach to your community means...

•Better traffic quality

•Enthusiastic participants who listen to what you are saying

•Relevance to your topic: greater impact of message

•Easier way to find leaders

Stepping stones for successful niche network

Don’t focus on the tool

Leverage other social networks

Listen and reciprocate

Engage

Go where your community is

Impermanent networks such as Twitter

Keep experimenting

Listen and learn from your community needs

Empower your top members

Can you devote enough time to engage with the community?

Hidden challenges

Interaction happens where people are

Don’t expect people on Facebook to automatically come to your site!

Niche networks are time-consuming

Is this the right fit with your organization’s strategy?

• Blogs to follow– Beth’s Blog: http://beth.typepad.com– WiserEarth Blog: http://blog.wiserearth.org/– Community Spark http://www.communityspark.com/– Ning Blog: http://blog.ning.com

• Some useful posts:– Ning for nonprofits: How to create, manage and grow

your own social network– Using Ning to Connect your Community– Ning and niche social networking

Resources you may be interested in

– Manny: @askmanny– Peggy: @wiserearth– Danielle: @starfocus

Follow us on Twitter

THANK YOU

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