Home Pastors Articles for Pastors Making Your Social Network Work for You

Making Your Social Network Work for You

You have stepped into the online world, alongside many ministry and small business leaders, and embraced social networking sites like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. I hate to tell you that you’ve only just begun. Simply becoming a member of an online community does nothing to further your cause if you don’t engage and interact with that community in a meaningful way. If you do choose, however, to dedicate a portion of your time and attention to simple interaction and quality input, your social network can be invaluable. Whether you are building a community, raising awareness to a cause, or generating financial support, your social network can become an important extension of your vision.

In order to see your ministry or business grow through your involvement in social media, a portion of your time and attention must be committed to the online community. This may seem strange, but it is vital for you to click around and get to know the people who are following you, becoming your friend, and watching you online. In order to have significant dialogue with your network, you need to precisely identify who makes up the community so you know how best to connect. The only way to do this is by what many people would consider a waste of time: reading blogs, following links, watching videos, and joining conversations, as trivial as they may seem. You will earn people’s trust and attention when you take the time to become a part of their community. Only then will you see people respond to your cause or listen to your message. In the grand scheme of things, fostering your online presence can be just as beneficial to your goals as face-to-face encounters with those around you. Both types of relationships require the same amount of time and energy.

You wouldn’t run into someone at a coffee shop, share in a short conversation, and then expect to have earned their interest down the road. The same is true in online situations; you can’t jump in and out of networks and be taken seriously. Relationships are built in a context, and you must be willing to immerse yourself in the network to which you belong in order to become part of the framework. A community is a living, growing collective that can only exist within a context created by multiple contributing members. To be a viable component of a network, you must continually engage with the other members in conversation and creation.

Another key step is being willing to engage your online community outside of your normal leadership role. If you are a pastor, don’t approach the community as a spiritual leader, but simply as a member. If you are the leader of a nonprofit or small business, don’t approach the community as a CEO. People may naturally seek you out for guidance or words of wisdom, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but try to break away from that mindset and just be a part. Resist the pressure to always take the lead, because leading too much, too fast in an online setting will repel any genuine community formation and collaboration. Essential to the entire concept of online community is a sense of guarded authenticity. People can show a side of themselves that you may not have access to in the workplace or in everyday interaction, but when threatened, a keystroke is all that is required to end the conversation and relationship.

Lack of leadership may seem like a strange concept, because many traditional leadership techniques are founded in Scripture; without vision, the people perish. Vision is necessary for online communities to benefit the administrator, but heavy-handed management will quickly kill the community no matter how great the vision. Online, everyone can create, administrate, comment, and criticize, and to a degree, this must be allowed. Open dialogue is what drives most forms of online community. Don’t attempt to control the conversations, but gently and genuinely direct them. For leaders, people will look to you for resources, but your community will better serve you if you consume as much as you produce.

Spend time asking questions and soliciting ideas. People will be eager to join in, especially when a known leader is asking for their help. One of the greatest gifts you can give someone as a leader is the opportunity for them to be a part of the solution. This has the potential to generate a great amount of buzz and buy-in and can activate people who would otherwise wait for you to reach a decision personally or among your staff.

The creation of online communities has also provided leaders with the ability to extend their local vision to those outside their immediate reach. One enormous benefit of this is seen in fundraising. Many people are very wary of how leaders steward their money, but there are certain projects that grab people’s attention and elicit a response. Don’t be afraid to make “the ask” once you have earned the respect and trust of your community. As people begin to know and understand you, your vision and goals are worth sharing. If people can’t donate physical service, create a way for them to promote your vision or cause by using their network. By simply using a social media fundraising site such as ChipIn or SmartyPig, you can allow someone to post a widget on their social networking site for their community to check out, linking to your fundraising goal. This works especially well for a community that fully embraces your cause, but can’t give large amounts due to financial limitations. Rather than asking people for continual financial sacrifice, provide them the opportunity to extend the invitation to their online community. If they are passionate about the cause, their like-minded friends may opt to share in their support of your vision.

You may have only dipped your toe in the deep waters of social networking and online communities. You may have already dived in head-first and find yourself struggling to keep your head above water. Whatever the case may be, your time and attention can provide the traction you need to put your social network to work for you. If you need to, schedule time in your day that is dedicated to engaging your social network. After time, relationships will be built, and your vision will have been cast to a wider audience than you could have anticipated. Just maybe, your social media networks will join in your cause and rally behind your vision. That seems like successful stewardship of time to me.