A journalist is taught to check his or her writing over and over again because they only have one shot to get it right. My newer philosophy is to get ‘the basics’ out where people can see it and let them help me get it right. If there’s information missing I try to find it but sometimes I’ll leave a blank so someone can be my hero and feed me the right word or person’s name. So….

Tip #4. Don’t worry so much about being perfect because in this electronic age, we get do-overs in edit mode.

And I need to take my own advice because I’ve had two-minute posts that took me over an hour to “get it right”.

Be well!
Carl

As I sit perusing what others have done with their blogs compared to my own efforts, I am appalled I didn’t think of this earlier… icons as bullets in my list of links.

Although it’s best use is below, clicking on the icon above will play Habitat for Humanity’s 60-second commercial from their website, but the link itself is a customized Local4All redirect… my pointer URL is a slim 29 keystrokes [http://] “myfavoritevideo.local4all.com” instead of about 60 characters which I can’t even find now in their video gallery.

First time seeing this video? Let me know what you think. If the link ever stops working, please tell me.

If you have a business or favorite organization to promote, do it! Good community content is hard to find, “good” meaning ALL the questions are answered – who, what, where, when, and why. If you take the time to share information with others with win-win in mind, there’s no objection from us against you promoting yourself just a little or maybe a lot.

Our #1 mandate, keep everything family-friendly and child-safe. Happy posting!

Posted by Carl Bromley, community volunteer

Did you post something on Local4All and then want to add new information or make changes?  If you were logged in, you’re in luck… you can go to the Toolbox page and click for a list of your events, etc.   From the list, you can add, edit, copy, or delete.

It’s easy!

1. Go to http://login.local4all.com and, if you want, create a bookmark to the page if you really want to make it easy for future posts.
2. Click on “Create an account” or log in, whichever applies.
3. After creating your account, log in each time you post so our system can track your work and give you easy access – from any Internet connection, anywhere.
4. Online brochures and similar content will be listed on the left side of the Toolbox page.  On the right, you can click on links to create lists of your events, classified postings, etc.
5. Happy posting!

If you don’t log in, figure we’re going to be playing phone tag because there are only a few of us that can edit other people’s content.  We will, but it’s obviously way easier to empower YOU!

Local4All forms are VERY easy to use, just follow the directions for each step and use either the preview button or SUBMIT button when you’re done. Use email to promote the unique URL of the page you created, or you can use Twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn,  ? ? ? ? ?, or all of them.

For business owners, don’t be shy. Even if what you post is for your church or community, you can take credit. Example below:

Posted by

Carl Bromley, Local4All Advertising
Local4All Forms
Search Local4All

Note: both links are clickable and will open in a new window!

I just had a chance to install FireFox for Linda of Lingrow Farm. First we had to capture some photos from a persnickety CD and copy them to her hard drive. Then it’s off to wherever we want, but we bring up her slide show whenever folks drop by.

The Beatty’s were just here and said hello – been married for 54 years and I suggested a party for all happily married folks in the area… at Lingrow Farm, of course.

Location map: m301.local4all.com
Quality: Excellent!

According to Allan Walzak’s count, nearly 40  StrongLand members and one guest attended the StrongNet meeting… interesting, some of the services being offered and products on the market.

Tony Colecchi of Minuteman Press is talking about how the business printing industry has evolved to short runs, typically less than 5000 sheets compared to 100,000 or more in years past.  The technology that makes short runs possible is a plate-maker that takes a digital file and creates a plate for the printer in fifteen minutes, mostly automated.  It’s amazing when you consider how far we’ve evolved since the Gutenberg Press was invented in 1436 (Thank you, Wikipedia).

Check out Minuteman Press in Lower Burrell.  Out of 780 sister companies in the Minuteman, only 18 awards were given in 2009 for outstanding quality… Tony’s company received one of them here in the Kiski region.

Location:  m425.local4all.com

Darla is without a doubt our most valuable player when it comes to posting events.  She volunteers for her church, the Ford City Library, and Armstrong County Memorial Hospital and most, if not all, of their events show up on the Local4All calendar.

Thank you, Darla… Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and God Bless.

Carl

Bill's Small Engine Service near Apollo, PA

I enjoy helping others.  It’s in my nature to help as much as I can without killing myself so, for you, this “posting” is my best attempt to deliver my message to as many as I can without having a one-on-one conversation.  This way you can read it when you want (3 am?) and you can put it away for later if the time isn’t right right now.

Would I welcome a conversation?  Absolutely yes but I don’t know who you are, yet.  Proposed:  I’ll let you come to me with any questions you may have and I’ll handle questions from others the same way… that way I’ll have more time to help you when you need it.

Easy URL to more info:  more4you.local4all.com

As part two of this series, I want to suggest to volunteers a couple of ways that you can help your organization grow and prosper.  Is success guaranteed?  No but it raises the chances.  Is that worth your time and effort to read?  You be the judge.

Ways you can help your organization succeed:

1. Take word of the free Local4All online  tools/solutions to your leaders.  Many volunteers would rather not stick their necks out too far so let the leaders decide.  Maybe they will give you permission to use our forms to promote their cause and maybe they will BLESS you for offering to help.  If you’re not comfortable collecting their information, typing it into a simple form, reviewing it and editing as needed, the path is clear… get help!  (i.e., someone to stick their neck out, too)    That being said… trust me, it’s pretty easy when you take it one step at a time.
2. Find a like-minded volunteer and go to the leaders together.  Anyone who handles public relations or marketing is likely to appreciate having help.  Once again, you will want to make sure they know what you’re doing and that it can be edited as needed, even if they have to call me (Carl: 724-548-7249).  Trust me, I’ve corrected information plenty of times for other people… it’s not a big deal, actually much easier than trying to type it all myself.
3. Just type! Take the main messages your organization is trying to promote and use the forms yourself.  Who was it that said begging for forgiveness is much easier than asking for permission?  It certainly is…  been there, done that!  And I’m still a willing volunteer.
4. Think about it, what is there to lose?  It’s always good to expand your options and then narrow down what you want to do.  Including this “thinking about it” option, you now know about four options that you didn’t have ten minutes ago.  If your organization has a need that is not addressed by our forms or within the scope of our nonprofit tutorial, please let me know.

Most of the online tools were created just for nonprofit organizations.  As a volunteer, I’ve used them extensively.  And sometimes donations have arrived in a nonprofit’s mailbox that they didn’t expect, due in large part to our online tools.  I love to help.

Best regards,

Carl
Local4All
724-548-7249