Will Luck Sara Thamir Hazha Abdullah Alana Henderson Ammar Sabri Asmro

 Have the above predetermined logo as the profile picture. The colors may change, but the logo itself must be the same (SHOULD BE
CONSISTENT WITH LOGO ON ALL
PLATFORMS)
 Establish a consistent voice. For Facebook: have a friendly, encouraging, personal tone as you will be interacting (or attempting to interact) constantly with followers.
 Post content that is related to VACLAA and its goals.
 Have a mission statement and about us page consistent with every VACLAA platform and with VACLAA's goals.
 Include LIVE LINKS (clickable hot links) to all other social media platforms, in appropriate individual posts and under "about" section
 Consistency is crucial. Have all platforms uniform on branding: personality, graphics, content, etc.
General
 ALWAYS encourage conversation and feedback when posting content.
 Create engaging posts with the purpose of creating a conversation.
 Talk to, not at. Allow for a conversation to happen.
Crowdsourcing Content and Ideas
 If you need an idea for an event, a program, an exhibit, etc. try asking your followers.
 Create an encouraging environment by reposting follower's content that they share with you to other platforms. Spread the word and show appreciation for their input.
 Encourage followers to share photos, stories, poetry, anything that they have made that highlights Latin America and its art, culture, and spirit

 Complaints/critiques raised by followers need to initially be addressed on Facebook, but should be moved to a private space. Do not delete the comment containing the complaint.
Instead, politely address the complaint directly and transparently, acknowledge it in public and reach out to contact the user to personally discuss the complaint either through email or over the phone. Example of a response: o Thank you for your feedback, I am really interested in (insert complaint) and your opinions on the matter. I will send you my contact information so we may discuss this issue, and find a solution together.
 Cheese-ballery aside: be genuine, transparent, and non-confrontational. Avoid using a boilerplate sounding response, make it personalized to the complaint.
 When measuring set a S.M.A.R.T. goal first and then measure it.
 Start small, and embrace any failures as a learning experience. o For example, on Facebook, I noticed
(using Facebook Insights) that a big part of the followership on Facebook was middle aged women, assuming that some
SMART GOALS:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Timely of them are mothers, I shared the link below to a collection of photos inspired by Crayola Crayons and related it back to how many of our children get an artistic start by using crayons to make pictures.
 The SMART goal was to receive and respond to at least one comment on the post. It's a very small goal, but as you set more of these small SMART goals and you use measurement to gauge their success, you should notice a snowball effect of change and be able to set progressively larger goals.

 This is just one example of how you can use measurement to try and engage your audience.
The post did not garner any responses, and from that I can deduce a number of things: o I may not have posted when there was optimal traffic on the page o This may not be engaging content o I may need to try wording the status differently
 After gaining these insights, I can continue to tinker with posts until I nail the most engaging voice and type of posts.
 The overall goal is to have meaningful conversations with your followers to help further the mission of VACLAA, try not to set a goal like "more likes." Constantly ask how your SMART goal will help you achieve your overall goal and mission.

 Creating Events o Include specific time and location. o Include a picture/multiple pictures. o Include specifics about special guests, what will be offered, refreshments, costs, and parking. o Link to an artist’s page if they are presenting via VACLAA. o Link to other organizations who will be attending. o Link contact info for VACLAA for questions about registering as an artist, volunteering, etc.
 Posting about events o Post about upcoming events more than once, remind your followers that an event is approaching (ex. 23 posts in the weeks leading up to event, one post a day about event the week of). o Include a link to the event page so followers can RSVP. o Include a short summary of the event (12 sentences) to generate interest. o Post pictures from past times VACLAA has attended the event to boost interest in upcoming event.
 Content sources from VACLAA platforms (Tumblr, Instagram, Linkedin) o Always cross link to the platform. o Include an interesting, gripping summary for the content. o Don’t spoil the content in the post. Generate interest so traffic naturally flows to the linked site.
 Content from sources outside of VACLAA o Credit the source in the post, if appropriate, tag them. o Have an opinion or some insight about the content. o Encourage discussion around the content. Ask for opinions, stories, etc. from followers. o POST CONTENT RELATED TO VACLAA MISSION IN THE AREA. Ex) Upcoming community arts events, Latin American events, new stories, other organizations, opinion pieces, the list is only limited by what can be related to VACLAA and its goals.

o Experiment with new content, sometimes increasing followers can mean posting content that isn’t specifically about VACLAA, but is related to its mission. That content can be from anywhere, but it must be interesting, engaging, and related to the mission of VACLAA. This can be new art posted on an artist’s blog, a collection of photos from a community event related to the arts, etc. Eventually, followers will begin to visit your page because it gives information about VACLAA and is an outlet for interesting content.
 Into Albums o Name the album accordingly. o Do not dump all photos into an album, select the best 20-30. Otherwise it gets to be overwhelming. o Do not post duplicates or similar photos into the same album.
 On the newsfeed o If it is not VACLAA’s, credit whoever took it and/or sent it. o Create watermarks and add them to any picture to retain ownership if it is shared. o Include a caption that adds to the photo in some way. Don’t tell us what’s shown, share something special about it or something that adds meaning to the photo.
 Posting o Post a screenshot of the video, or a related photo to a grab attention. o Link to VACLAA YouTube Channel. o Include a quote from the video. o Include a short, interesting summary/insight about the video. o Include the title of the video.

 Tweeting daily o It is important to tweet about 2-3 times a day. o The most popular times on twitter in the professional world are in the morning before everyone gets settled into work, during the average lunch hour, and also around dinner time when everyone is just getting home from work. o Tweeting also lets your presence be known, it’s better to tweet too much than to not tweet at all.
 Character limits o Tweets can only be 140 characters so they need to be short, simple, but get the job done, especially if you’re putting information out about an event. o If you need to exceed this amount because there is so much information, there is a setting you can use that just puts a link in your tweet that lets you read the rest of the tweet, but only use this if it is absolutely mandatory.
 The importance of Hashtags o You want to use hash tags so people can search it and find your information or simply click on a hashtag which brings them to a feed of everyone who has used that hashtag. o You want to make sure you have a certain hashtag that you always use such as
Hashtag Suggestions
#FridaKahlo
#VACLAA
#RVAart
#GaleriaVACLAA
#vaclaa, but also you could use other ones that pertain to whatever you’re tweeting about. o For example if you tweet a picture of a
#ArtOnTheMove random mural in Richmond, you might want to hashtag #RVA #richmond #RVAart, things like that, or even a broader hashtag such as #art or #painting. o You never can tweet TOO much but you can definitely use too many hashtags. #You
#dont #want #a #sentence #that #looks #like #this, #yikes! Also remember to not hash tag common words like the ones in the previous sentence, they are too broad.

 Crosslinking o A lot of people crosslink their pictures onto their
Twitter by using Instagram or some other platform which is great because by doing that you’re hitting two different types of audiences. o Also when using those platforms, it helps you tweet without actually having to log into twitter, hits two birds with one stone. o Remember with crosslinking to check what it says before just clicking ok or next because you might get a tweet that looks like the one shown to the right; repeated text and it is cut off.
 Adding Pictures o You don’t have to necessarily have another type of platform to add pictures on twitter, you can easily just attach a photo or video, but don’t forget to add a hashtag or two! o Most people use the common twitter application or use it on the web, or even both of these. When you go to someone’s page, it shows a small little stream of pictures that you have added on your timeline so make sure it is always up to date!
 Don’t have time to tweet? o Hootsuite is a tool/app that kind of is a manager for your twitter which is very helpful for people who want to be active on this platform but simply don’t have the time. o A great thing about this is, you can schedule certain tweets. So if you’re in bed one night all you have to do is get on your phone, iPad, or laptop and simply preschedule your tweets for the following day or even couple of days.
 Organizing your newsfeed o Also instead of having just one newsfeed, you can have multiple and organize them into different themes. Like one timeline section could simply be just all artists that you follow, or one could be all news related websites. o Another cool tool is, you can write a tweet out completely in English and then translate it to a different language! This would be great for VACLAA and will expand your audience.

o You don’t want all of your tweets in Spanish for instance but maybe a caption of one of your pictures can be or something just so the audience knows VACLAA is bilingual. o When adding a link on twitter, usually they are super long and confusing, but
Hootsuite has an option to help you shrink it down so you have more room to write since you can only use 140 characters.
 Connecting o Make sure to tag someone if you are using their name and they have a twitter handle. For example if you are talking about “visiting with VCU students and Vivian
Messner was very helpful”, you want to tag her in it. o Also tagging helps because if you upload a picture or just tweet about an artist being at one of your events, the artist might then retweet your tweet, and then your tweet is exposed to a whole new audience which could help gain followers.

 Primary use o Use primarily as a tool for sharing event information, but most importantly use as a conversation starter and for live event posting.
 Always post photos of events while they are happening, with appropriate hashtags (see
Twitter).
 When possible, tag people in the photo.
 When not at an event, post information about an upcoming event periodically in the form of a photo (an event photo from the last similar event, an icon that represents the event, etc.)
 MOST IMPORTANTLY: POST MORE ARTWORK! If allowed to, post photos of the work that the artist presents at VACLAA events. Share photos of popular Latin art with a fun fact about them. Anything to show that VACLAA is an outlet and purveyor for art and artists alike.
 Ensure that you only follow people who you truly believe will contribute to VACLAA's mission and the online conversation.
 If someone consistently engages with VACLAA on the platform, follow them.

 Tumblr is a micro-blogging platform through which you share all your stories.
 It is also a platform where you can scroll through all of the content easily so it needs to be kept interesting enough for the readers to come back.
 The blog needs to stay updated, so post at least twice a week.
 Before and after any event you attend or have, you need to post about it. Whether it is just the experience you had or your favorite part, just something so people know what you’re up to with your organization.
 Go to the main page where it says “Text”.
Click on it and write your story there.
 Same goes for adding photos, video, media, or just even a link.
 Posts need to be written in a more subjective tone.
 Give a catchy title that tells what the whole post is about and also add subtitles.
 If it happens that your post is too long, try to write them in small paragraphs so that readers can easily read the format.
 Try and stay away from super long posts unless it is an interview or something of that nature.
 For interviews and conversations, use the bold face to highlight the people in the conversation.
 Remember that you are telling stories and people can always relate to stores.
 How to add a new page: o 1) Open the customize menu on your blog and scroll down to where it says “ Pages” below that it says “+Add page” Click on Add page. o 2) When the page opens up choose Standard layout in the drop down menu. o 3) Choose the URL you want your page to be on (ex: NewPage). o 4) Then paste the html of the New Page where it says “Custom HTML" o Lastly click on the green button on the left of the dialogue box and wait until it is saved.

 Tumblr Photos are extremely important to grab the reader’s attention, make them pop in the post, and most importantly make sure you’re adding pictures to each post.
 Always add captions to the photos.
 Post photos that contain art work and that pertains to the article so people have an idea of what the post is about.
 When posting a video, try to focus on what is happening. In other words, everything in the video needs to be relevant to the event.
 When someone talks in front of the camera, have their name and job posted in the video.
 Try to capture art, art, art.
 Let the videos not exceed 3 minutes; otherwise no one will want to watch it.
 Also if readers don’t feel like reading your posts, they are more than likely to click on a video and watch that instead.

 Primary use o Use primarily as a tool for connecting with other non-profit organizations on a more professional level. o To connect to sponsor organizations.
 Updating your linked in status is a great way to communicate to your network on a frequent and ongoing basis.
 Building connections is very important and LinkedIn can help you do this.
 LinkedIn also won’t let you connect with just anyone. It wants to make sure you know the person some way or another, whether you worked with that person, went to school with that person, or simply just know their email address.
 Most people seem to use LinkedIn in the afternoon but with a network like this, it doesn’t really matter what time of day you are connecting with people as long as you are doing it.
 Make sure to keep this updated, not as regularly as twitter and Facebook but maybe check it once a week and update once every couple of weeks if needed.

 WordPress is an open source free blogging tool that is used by website owners who are mostly people who need an easy to use platform that doesn’t require a programming background.
 Editing the website is a piece of cake; it has a variety of options to select from such as choosing a theme. It only takes seconds especially with the live preview button that lets you preview how your website would look with that specific theme.
 WordPress has a wide range of plugins that are already programmed to do a certain job in the website.
 VACLAA is a two man team, so the simpler the platform the better.
 WordPress is perfect for VACLAA because it’s easy to use and by following the guidelines in this booklet is more than enough for them to make posts and edit the website according to their needs.
 We mostly focused on the appearance of the website to make it more viewer friendly and want to be intrigued by the content instead of just navigating away.
 We also added plugins to do different tasks such as the volunteer registration plugin and the donation button which makes it easier for sponsors to donate without having to contact the actual non-profit group.
 Make sure the calendar is always up to date with events.
 Keep the website updated at all times.
 Make sure you have a streaming feed from a platform such as Facebook or Instagram to make sure the website stays alive
 Update the slideshow with new pictures regularly.
 Crosslink the website to all platforms possible to gain more traffic through it.

 To edit the website you first have to go to the dashboard by going to www.vaclaa.org/wpadmin/ , enter your login information and start editing.
 In order to make a post all you need to do is to log into the dashboard, then in the Quick Press section just add a title and write the blog and publish it, simple as that.
 To add media, in the QuickPress section, under the title there are two buttons which you can use to add media (pictures from your computer or from a link) or you can add a whole slideshow.
 Edit: to edit posts, on the left side of the dashboard click on posts and go to All
Posts and you’ll see all the posts on the website and you can edit and update any of them.

 To manage themes, from the dashboard, go to appearance  then themes and then select the theme you want and start customizing it. You can even see a live preview of the theme after you install it.
 To Add/Edit slideshows you have to first click on “Slideshows” on the left panel of the dashboard then choose the slide show that you want to edit. On the right side of the screen you will see the slides sorted vertically, you can add, delete or change any picture you want.