NHPCO NewsLine October 2013 - (Page 11)

like no one wants to be the first person out on the dance floor. If your volunteers break the ice by posting interesting comments, then others are more likely to follow. If you don’t want responsibility for maintaining a blog, you can still avail yourself of the many advantages of the medium. As a first step, take an inventory of local bloggers and find out who blogs for the newspaper, the library, the community center, the hospital, the local United Way, etc. Also find out if there are blogs that specifically speak to seniors and family caregivers. Blog writers are the Op Ed journalists of the Internet, so reach out to them just as you would with any member of the press. Lastly, find out who your local influencers are (i.e., the bloggers who have a lot of followers and appear to connect with the audiences you want to reach). Start following them and begin making supportive or insightful comments to their blog posts. They will often comment back, so keep the conversation going. This can begin to build a genuine relationship so that, eventually, you can email them media releases about anything you might send to a reporter. The bloggers will pay more attention if they recognize you as a regular and constructive contributor and may well use your press release as background for their next blog post. Facebook Anything you would do with or about volunteers on a blog, you can do on Facebook. Facebook is a lot like a blog in that viewers can post comments about anything you post on your Facebook page. Other visitors can comment on the comments, and eventually you can build quite a following with very sweet insights and what often amounts to testimonials. Like a blog, Facebook posts are designed to educate or inspire. Status updates typically link the viewer to another website, or to a photo or video with a comment. The volunteer blog team can comment on your hospice’s posts to prompt more conversations Facebook posts are different from blog posts in that status updates are much shorter, averaging 250 to 300 characters. (Blogs are typically 300 words). The comments on Facebook are also notably shorter compared to those on a blog. Another difference is that only people who have a Facebook page can make comments. Think of Facebook as a giant online scrapbook. Everyone who signs up gets his or her own page on continued on next page NHPCO NewsLine 11

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NHPCO NewsLine October 2013

Creating a Professional Paradise
A Message From Don
The Wired Volunteer Coordinator
Volunteers Recognized at CTC
Social Media Campaign to Dispel Myths
FHSSA Champions Program
Simione Consulting (display ad)
Three Ways to Gain Knowledge… (display ad)
How 5 Hospices are Helping Staff Feel Better…
FHSSA: Thank You to Our Sponsors (display ad)
NHF Gala: Save the Date (display ad)
Member News and Notes
Compliance Tip
Virtual Conference: Nov 4-8 (display ad)
Videos Worth Watching
Links to Resources on the NHPCO Website
NHF News

NHPCO NewsLine October 2013