The Ducks Are Hungry - How Article Marketing Works in a Crowd

Carol Palmatier works with mission-based organizations to help them utilize Web 2.0 tools to more effectively market their mission. She is the Words Girl at Graphix For Change, and owner/marketing consultant at Brandeur Marketing.

Like a flock of hungry ducks, online searchers will peck at any scrap they can find to get the right info. Throw them crackers. Write short articles about your area of expertise, and submit your articles to an article distribution service. It's how article marketing works to feed the ducks.

The ducks are hungry. And apparently they will eat anything. They've been hovering around my patio door, sounding highly annoyed that I'm not throwing bagel bits and bread crumbs their way.

They are almost frantic, swishing their bills through the damp grass, scarfing up whatever odd things they find.

I'm lucky enough to have a front row seat on Grand Traverse Bay at the moment, overlooking a sandy beach and a marsh full of waterfowl. I took a few days away to clear my head and get some writing done. And the ducks just wouldn't leave me alone.

Until...

The folks in the condo next door starting throwing crackers. Real, legitimate duck food. Now they are leaving behind the odd assortment of grass, bugs and who knows what at my door, and flocking over there for the bonanza.

The scene makes me think of online searchers, and their insatiable quest for information. You know how it happens; you enter a search term in Google or Yahoo! or one of the other search engines, and frantically peck at whatever scraps happen to come along in the search results. The problem is, some of it's edible; some of it is actually palatable; and some of it is not fit for human consumption. And when you do find a good source for reliable information, you go back again and again.

So how do you get your website or organization to be the "go to" source in your field? How do you get yourself in the first page of search results for those hungry ducks...er...potential visitors? It's as easy as throwing crackers.

Simply turn all that good info you already have (on your site, in your FAQs, in your ebooks, reports and white papers) into short (400-600 word) articles. Then distribute them, using a content or article distribution service. You simply enter the article once, and the article distribution service pushes it out to thousands of online publishers, editors, site owners and news groups. Your article gets widespread distribution, and keeps all those searching ducks well fed with palatable info.

The process is known as "article marketing", and it has an amazing lasting effect too. As you publish more and more good information, you become recognized as a leader in your industry. People will turn to you for dependable information, and not have to hunt so hard for the scraps out there.

I can see it happening already. The ducks have become bored and disappointed with my patio door, and keep returning back to the folks next door. The way returning customers, with their repeat business, will flock back to you for more good info. Doesn't that sound ducky?

Now, about those seagulls...

Marketing the Mission in a Web 2.0 World

Carol Palmatier works with mission-based organizations to help them utilize Web 2.0 tools to more effectively market their mission. She is the Words Girl at Graphix For Change, and owner/marketing consultant at Brandeur Marketing.

Understaffed. Overworked. Dedicated to the cause, yet running on empty. When you work for social justice and social change, these emotions are all too familiar.

I was privileged to be a part of the National Sexual Assault Conference last week in Washington DC. There I met some truly amazing and inspiring people who are working to change the world. Not just in words or in lofty concepts, but right down on the ground. They are working to change the world and make it better place. They do this with the advocacy and services they provide for survivors. They also change how the world will look in the future, through education, prevention and policy initiatives.

These people are truly remarkable.

And they have a problem.

Almost everyone with whom I spoke had a common issue. These organizations working for social change have huge amounts of data, research and educational material in their possession. And yet they are struggling to get that information out to the people who really need it...the survivors, the people in crisis who don't know where to turn, as well as volunteers and donors who could support their work. In an age when access to any amount of information is literally at your fingertips, why is it so hard for these organizations to connect with the people they are desperately trying to reach?

Bring on Web 2.0

The solution, as it often is, is found where the problem lives. There is TOO much information available online, and much of it is myth, misconception and just plain garbage. Many of the people I spoke to lamented the fact that a survivor of sexual assault has to wade through page after page of utter dreck to find the real gems of help, wisdom and support. The answer? These organizations MUST be present on the Web and join in the discussion where it is happening.

Having worked in non-profits for many years, I might guess at what's going on in your mind right now. "Okay, fine, now you want me to add another whole set of tasks to my understaffed, overworked team. Are you serious?"

Um...yes. You have to.

The good news is you probably already have about 90 percent of what you need to make it happen. The other 10 percent is part planning, and part motivation. Let's look at an example:

Think of the last report you read about statistics or trends in your city. It probably contained at least 5,000 words about the issues your community is facing, and suggesting some ways to respond. Now think of the people you would most like to know this information. Is it potential donors? Volunteers? Granting organizations? Other community leaders?

Take a minute a really get a clear picture in your head of 1) what info you want to share and 2) who you want to share it with. Now take the next 20 minutes and rework a section of that report into a 500 word piece, written in your own words. (If the report was published by your own organization, even better...you can likely use much of the content as is without rewriting, since your organization already owns the copyright). Don't agonize over the writing itself. Rather focus on what you passionately want to say.

After you've drafted it, read through it again. Tweak it, give it a careful proofread, and save it. Don't worry about winning a Pulitzer Prize. Just make sure it's clear and readable, with good spelling and grammar.

Now go to your blog and post it. If your organization doesn't have a blog, ask someone in a similar agency to let you post it as a guest author in their blog, with a link back to your website. Tweet it. Update your status on Facebook and give people a link to the post. Send a copy of it via email to your contact list. Add it as an article in your next newsletter. Email it to the editor of your local paper.

Congratulations, you've just used Web 2.0 tools to market your mission, and help get crucial information to the right people. You've joined the discussion where it is happening. You've positioned yourself as a leader in your field. Most importantly, you've changed your corner of the world.

The conversation is happening all around us. Learn how to leverage the tools available and make the Web work for you. The World 2.0 is waiting for us.

Survivors of Sexual Violence have a Huge Stake in Health Care Reform

Marianne Winters is a leader in the movement to end and address sexualized violence and is passionate about a vision of a movement that is inclusive, current, responsive and proactive. She is the Project Diva for Graphix for Change and consultant and trainer for Praxis for Change.

It's Wednesday evening, a few minutes before President Obama's big speech on health care. I'm in my hotel room at the National Sexual Assault Conference. I can see a view of the Washington monument from my room and I spent the day talking to people who work in rape crisis centers, coalitions and policy organizations on sexual violence. Can't help but connect the dots to the issues of survivors of sexual violence and the stake that we all have in the health care issue.

Research findings are telling the story loud and clear. People who live through sexual assault, children who are sexually exploited have worse overall health over their lifetimes than the general population. By worse I mean the whole package. Survivors of sexual assault have higher incidences of cancers, cardio-vascular disease, gastrointestinal disease and nervous system disorders. For every major system in the body, the experience of sexual assault seems to heighten the odds and shorten the lives of survivors. For reasons that are yet to be fully understood, survivors of rape and other forms of sexual assault have a huge stake in this issue.

Health care, and access to the benefits of decent preventative and intervention treatment are indeed an issue for policy development as it relates to sexual assault survivors. Decent health care would include training and support for medical professionals to screen for and provide supported referrals to survivors. Training for technicians, surgeons, nurses, and social workers on the normal responses that survivors have to sexual assault and how to help support them through testing, surgery, recovery, and prevention would be a part of a comprehensive health care system that works for survivors.

For advocates in the movement to address sexual violence, it would mean program development and training so that we can support survivors as they access the health care system. It would mean learning to ask questions about a survivor's health status and developing programs that provide preventative and wellness options for survivors.

The health impact of sexual violence, if taken on as an issue within rape crisis centers, would be a visible and important issue, a next step for rape crisis centers. Our vision of recovery for survivors, as well as for whole and well communities must be informed by these issues. It's the logical and right next step for our work toward health.

The buzz about prevention

Marianne Winters is a leader in the movement to end and address sexualized violence and is passionate about a vision of a movement that is inclusive, current, responsive and proactive. She is the Project Diva for Graphix for Change and consultant and trainer for Praxis for Change.

The 80's called... and while they don't want their prevention work back, they'd just like some credit for the wisdom.

Reflecting on Jane Doe Inc.'s (The Massachusetts Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence) series of capacity building gatherings on the prevention of sexual and domestic violence, I can't help but compare the conversations to those I was a part of in earlier days of the movement. Since 1984 I've been working in organizations, and now in partnership with organizations that are working toward an end to violence.

Then we had very little to go on except the burgeoning awareness within our communities. We also had lots of passion and we felt certain that if only we told enough people enough of the facts, if only survivors' stories were shared, then the awareness would motivate people to live violence-free lives and to join us in the fight. Now we have some tools, some research, and a theoretical framework that moves us beyond the awareness thing and into an actual model of prevention.

We're talking about changing individual behavior, improving relationships that support non-violence, changing laws and institutions, and changing society. Now there's language like social-ecological models, bystanders, community development. If you are working in an organization that is committed to prevention, it's definitely worth attending some of these trainings. They offer this framework and some language, and definitely some tools to use in your communities.

But, don't let yourself think that you're starting over. You see, we weren't wrong even back then. We in rape crisis centers, domestic violence programs, community based organizations and coaliitons have been workng out of this model for decades now, perhaps with different language, but we have been working on comprehensive prevention strategies for a long time. While we welcome the influx of interest, the modest increase in resources, the evaluation data that helps us know where best to put our efforts, we deserve to honor what we have been doing all along and welcome this as an opportunity to stabilize our work and generate and secure new collaborators and partners in the work. Most important, we must enjoy the process of building our vision. For by describing the world and imagining a time when no one ever becomes the victim of sexual or domestic violence, we are the bold and daring change makers that our world needs. What if we worked on prevention AS IF we really believed it could be done. This, would change everything.

Is there an Economic Stimulus that would End Poverty?

Marianne Winters is a leader in the movement to end and address sexualized violence and is passionate about a vision of a movement that is inclusive, current, responsive and proactive. She is the Project Diva for Graphix for Change and consultant and trainer for Praxis for Change.

Graphix for Change recently designed Child Poverty in Massachusetts, A tale of two states. In this compelling report, Massachusetts Citizens for Children has pioneered new conversations and commitments toward addressing poverty, including in my home town, Springfield, Mass.

Download report here.

Seemingly endless is the news reporting on the proposed economic stimulus packages. Trillions of dollars being pumped into the financial system so that banks can start lending, businesses can stop laying off and start hiring, in general, so the world can keep turning. Please know, I'm as up for economic stimulation as the next person - I just can't ignore this sinking feeling that I'm having. I'll admit it, it's grown from a sinking feeling to an outright emotion. I knew for sure when I shouted at my television this morning - What about the Poor People???!!!

From everything that I've been seeing and reading, getting the economy back on track means getting back to some type of status quo, which for many many people is not a recovery at all, just a return to when things are bad rather than worse, our communities' poor. Statistically speaking, I live in a poor community. The media household income is around $26,000, the school system that educates my neighborhood's children graduates about 54% of its first year students. Foreclosures and vacant properties are disturbingly increasing. 36% of the children who live where I live are poor.


I also love my neighborhood. Most people at least nod, if not stop and have a conversation with people on the street. The old Victorian homes are beautiful and most have been painted with many colors and are graced with beautiful carpentry and craftsmanship. Our neighbors walk over and play cards or barbecue something for dinner. I can walk to locally owned restaurants and eat food that represents cuisines form around the world. There is a real effort at community as well as delightful successes at cross-cultural communication and friendships.


So, why do I feel that we're being left behind? Perhaps it's because of the assumption inherent in the economic solutions proposed that poverty is acceptable. In fact, no one that I see with a national visibility or level of media attention is saying anything at all about the necessity or desire to eradicate poverty. An economic stimulus package that really worked toward ending poverty would have to include some real efforts at the root causes of poverty. Local communities could receive funds to build and sustain real local grass roots efforts at ending the root causes of poverty. In my neighborhood and neighborhoods like mine, a goal of 100% graduation and 100% job training or college would be set with a full range of supports to make it happen. The focus on ending poverty would no longer be the "trickle-down" notion that has been the default strategy. Instead of expecting a few to "pull themselves up by their bootstraps", we would collectively expect all to fully participate.


Now, I'm not naive to think that there wouldn't be a consequence. First, we'd have to eliminate the threat of poverty as a punishment for mistakes and stock-market fluctuations. I'm looking for the day when the day's headline is something like: All Housed with Decent and Adequate Space to Live, or Children Go to School and Graduate...