Building brand YOU!

The idea of having a personal brand is relatively new, but it’s an important thing to develop today, especially when it comes to promoting Rotary. Even more so if you are a community leader like a district governor, because building a personal brand becomes just as important to build trust and credibility with your own audience.

Now, while the good old club brochures or Rotary business cards given out at the sausage sizzles are still used as good promotional tools, people who are looking to join or be affiliated with you or your club find out a lot more just by googling you.

This means the internet is now all about YOU! In the past few years, the importance of personal branding has grown dramatically as social media sites have enabled anyone to easily express themselves online, so it’s important to project a positive image.

Your individual personal brand is created by the personal values you believe in and how you build upon Rotary’s professional reputation by your contributions to your communities, both online and offline. For me personally it was the creation of the “Rotary Hero" branding, this tied into my passion for comic books and superheroes and a love for Superman. I used the well known concept of superheroes doing good in the world to make the connection between Rotarians who also do good and branding Rotarians the modern day superheroes. For me now, it has made me recognizable across the Rotary world as a Rotary Hero and bring positive vibes and energy because of it.

Once you’ve identified your own passion, style and message, you’re ready to start developing a meaningful conversation.

When defining your own personal Rotary public image online, consider these elements:

• Your image should be in line with Rotary’s culture of tolerance, respectability and peace; your personal brand image must suit the audience you are serving.

• Your smile, gestures, tone of voice and writing style need to be authentic to who you are and support your need to make your audience comfortable in relating to you.

• A positive image and appearance is crucial to acceptance by potential members and the community at large.

Having a personal brand is about differentiating yourself by expressing your own unique view, creativity, opinion and personal style. We all have natural talents and gifts, so let us use them to tell the Rotary story.

Article by Evan Burrell

What is your image of Rotary?

If you are a member of Rotary like me, you probably already know that it’s one of the largest and oldest service organisations, that we try to attract good people and equip them to be even better, and that we are all about doing good works in our local communities. But what does the general public think about Rotary?

Surveys suggest that a majority of non-members see the organisation as mostly old, mostly male, and mostly white. Now, I know I have been to the “Rotary Club of Jurassic Park” once or twice before, but I also know we are so much more than that.!

So how do we best counter this common perception of our great organisation?

The importance of a good photo

Simple. We absolutely have to be out in the community showing the public the many different diverse faces of Rotary.

Smart public relations is integral to sharing the story of Rotary. When we do any publicity for our club – press releases to media, social media posts, stories on our club website – we have to make sure the photos we select show off our diversity. We need to look for images of people of different ages, of different gender, of a mixture of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. It is up to us to accurately reflect the diversity in our clubs.

But even more importantly, it is up to us to make sure our membership does indeed reflect that diversity. (If you do not know if your club reflects the diversity of your community, the Club Assessment Tool is an excellent place to start)

Recognizing women in Rotary

Here in Australia, there is an unofficial movement called “Women in Rotary” spearheaded by Rotary member Kerry Kornhauser to recognize those women who are achieving more and more within Rotary.

Their website puts it this way:

“Women in Rotary was created by The Rotary Club of Albert Park in order to initiate and support a dynamic Rotary culture where men and women work together to expand and build on existing strengths with the benefits of diversity to improve the lives of individuals and communities in a way consistent with the RI Strategic Plan”

Clubs also need to get more involved with our youth programs — Rotaract, RYLA, Interact, and Youth Exchange – and be seen by the community interacting with these future leaders. When people see Rotary members and Interactors involved together in a service project or when they see experienced club members mentoring beginning professionals, this will go a long way in changing the way the public views us.

And if that doesn’t break a few stereotypes, I don’t know what will! What is your image of Rotary?

Article by Evan Burrell

The benefits of Rotary: friends wherever you go

It’s nice to have connections in a foreign country. That’s what makes Rotary International so, um, international! Whether you’re travelling for work, or for leisure, you can visit a Rotary club almost anywhere you go. And one of the benefits of being a Rotary member is that you are certain to make new friends, and find valuable local information to enhance your stay, while you are at it.

Need to know the best things to see during your stay? Where to eat? You might even find someone who has a room to rent for cheap.

It’s also great to see how different clubs conduct their meetings. You can discover new ideas for your own club.

Before I joined Rotary, I spent twelve years in Rotaract, Rotary’s program for young adults. I remember back in 2008 when I was on an group study exchange to New Jersey, and I visited plenty of clubs as part of the experience. But one club struck a chord with me — the Rotary Club of Red Bank. A few members of the club made sure we were taken care of. One member in particular, Steven Sanfilippo, took me to the local attraction “Jay & Silent Bob’s Secret Stash” a comic book store owned by director Kevin Smith. He knew I was such a big fan of Superman and pop culture. It’s these little things that make Rotary what it is, a place for friendship.

But you don’t have to go far to experience this benefit of being a member. Visiting other clubs in your own region can build strong connections and develop relationships that make it easier to do joint projects.

With Rotary the journey never ends. Rotary gives you opportunity to travel, meet people from all different backgrounds, and see the world in a whole different way.

Article by Evan Burrell

A Social Resolution

Well, here we are again, folks – Christmas time and the beginning of a new year. It’s the time when we’re usually bursting with so much motivation, energy and maybe just a little too much Christmas cheer.

But, the start of a new year is also a fantastic time for reflection and to set some goals. So, if you have been banging away on social media over the past 12 months, but feel like you are getting nowhere fast, then why not take this time to take a step back and give yourself and your club an honest assessment of how well you’ve been doing and what areas you could improve on.

Here are the six social media resolutions I think you should make this year to better improve your Rotary club’s social media exposure.

1. Be consistent – post regularly and often. You won’t build a solid social media presence by posting every once and a while.

2. Develop a social media schedule – manage your time by planning your club social media activity in advance. You will quickly find managing your club Facebook page will become a lot easier and feel a lot less ad hoc.

3. Mix it up – look at how you can use new and different social media platforms or different types of content to engage your audience and promote the good things your club does in the community. Maybe film an enticing video for membership recruitment?

4. Develop a strategy – if your club is still using social media without a strategy, then stop! Your social media strategy will give your club’s social media exposure some purpose and identify what benefits it can add to your club.

5. Develop guidelines – dealing with the social media do’s and don’ts can be a minefield for most people. A simple way of managing this is to develop some guidelines that help your club members understand the boundaries.

6. Have FUN – this is the most important resolution and one you should try to stick to. Use your social media platforms to let a little bit of personality shine through and share with your audience a mix of interesting, entertaining, humorous or helpful content relevant to your club and community.

Social media is the best Rotary promotional tool for building strong relationships and engaging with your community, however, it can be overwhelming. But if you set yourself some achievable goals this year, you and the club will reap the rewards.

Article by Evan Burrell

Content, content, content

I ran a very successful social media workshop recentley for some self-proclaimed social media novices. Some of the topics covered were “How to set up a Rotary club Facebook page” and “Branding yourself and the club on Facebook”.

But the biggest question asked of me on the day, and certainly asked of me most often, is what sort of social media content do I post? And how do we make it go viral! This is a very important question in today’s social media world where content, as Bill Gates put it back in 1996, is KING!

So, to help you out and make sure you never run out of ideas, here are some suggestions for content you can post on your Facebook page.

1. Showcase members: Highlight your club members on your page with a “Member of the month” initiative. It gives your members a chance at 15 minutes of fame by featuring the fantastic work they do for your club. You could also wish your club members a happy birthday or acknowledge another significant event. This type of post will personalise your presence on social media.

2. Club photos: Take photos of your happy club members engaged in a service project or enjoying an interesting guest speaker at the meeting.

3. Questions: Pose simple questions that your fans can answer quickly. Something like, “Why are you a Rotarian?” 

4. A day in the life post: Give a recap of a typical day in the life of one of your members at their place of work, or living the high life of retirement.

5. Share the news: Link to a popular news story about Rotary. The Rotary International website and Facebook page have a lot of current and interesting stories about the various activities Rotary clubs and Rotarians are doing.

6. Take a trip down memory lane: A new social media tradition is to share something from the past on a Thursday or a Friday, titled appropriately enough as #ThrowbackThursday and #FlashbackFriday, so share photos of your club history or your very first service project.

7. Updates: Tell your Facebook fans about upcoming guest speakers, exciting club projects or other events that have been planned, or even update them on a successful event that’s just happened.

To receive the maximum amount of engagement from your audience by delivering the right content will see your club lead the way in the Rotary social media revolution!

Article by Evan Burrell

How to handle a social media crisis

There seems to be a social media crisis or PR nightmare almost every other week nowadays, and even your Rotary club isn’t immune to a potential crisis that can blow out of all proportion.

Crisis planning is essential and an effective crisis plan is based first and foremost on truth, transparency, and sincerity. Every Rotary club should have a strategy for how it will deal with a public relations disaster, either online or offline. If your club does not have a plan in place, I recommend your club devise one as a matter of urgency.

As part of your crisis plan, make sure you or the club leadership can confidently answer these following questions:

• Who will handle your social media accounts in case of a crisis?

• What will that person be authorized to write on social media about the crises?

• Will they need approval for every post?

• What will the messaging be across all the different platforms i.e. social media, traditional media, other Rotary clubs etc.?

• Will you have more than one person responding to online posts or offline discussion?

• What social media posts will you proactively put out there to manage it?

Managing the Crisis
There is no one answer to managing a crisis, you need to do what is best for you and your club. Here are some ideas for successfully managing a social media crisis.

1: Identify & Communicate

If a crisis is identified, urgently inform the club leadership, tell them what’s wrong and give them as much information as you are able to. They may need to seek legal advice or act on the information you give.

2. Acknowledge

Some companies first response is “yes, we realize something has happened” etc. If you don’t have all answers though, then it is a good idea to seek direction on a proper acknowledgment of the crisis. A proper well-informed response may stop nonfactual gossip, messages, or comments.

3. Respond quickly

Once you have some relevant information and received some direction, you should respond to the crisis ASAP. A timely response is essential in limiting the reach and potential damage. Be prepared to acknowledge the crisis within a few hours or at least a day. Two weeks after the crisis has started is way too late!

4. Manage the situation

If you have posted a response to the crisis on your club Facebook page, be cautious about removing comments made by members of the public (unless they are offensive comments, or could be libelous, etc.) To be seen to manipulate the responses to the crisis by selective deleting can itself result in a backlash.

You never know where or when a crisis will break. However, if you manage it properly, the fallout can be minimized.

Article by Evan Burrell

3 tips for using social media to create a buzz

I’m sure your club puts a lot of effort into planning events like fundraising dinners, charity golf days, car shows, and changeovers ceremonies. You probably focus right down to the smallest detail. So why not put that much effort into promoting your event on social media?

Social media is a powerful tool for gaining exposure. But just like all the other necessary arrangements, getting good results takes a bit of preparation. Here are three tips for developing a social media strategy for your next event.

1. Create one unified hashtag for use across all social channels

By using an event-specific hashtag, you’ll make it easy for people to find not only what you’re sharing, but what other people are saying, too!

Recently, at the 2019 Rotary International Convention in Hamburg, Germany, the hashtag #Rotary19 allowed attendees to participate in an engaging conversation with fellow attendees and to see what everyone else was up to just by clicking the hashtag.

1. Share visual content

A lot of work goes into pulling off a fantastic event. Capture that effort with photos and share it, so people can see how you’re pulling everything together. Posting photos and videos is a great way to generate some buzz and boost engagement.

1. Get everyone involved with it

Think about all the people who will be there as part of the event and pull them into the conversation. For example, if you’re running a food and wine festival, include the stallholders and vendors in your posts and get them to post. If it’s a district conference, engage the speakers and sponsors, and even event staff.

Tell attendees to tweet and post about the event using your event-specific hashtag. Every little bit helps when it comes to getting the exposure your event deserves.

The beauty of social media is that it is a conversation, so let’s keep talking about Rotary!

Article by Evan Burrell