Tag Your It... War for Words

By Todd Baker
My little Audrey, with one arm embraced tightly around my leg, presents her latest masterpiece . . . a unique assortment of colors and shapes. As I scoop her up and pace about, my mind struggles to find some point of reference within the work-of-art. “Perhaps this purple and pink strip curve thing with what appears to be an orange Isosceles Triangle is a creature of sorts?” I think to myself. Tracing over steps, Audrey patiently awaits for my acclaim for a drawing destined to be proudly magnetized to our refrigerator door.

My first words are, “Wow honey, this is fantastic!” However, she informs me I’m holding the picture upside down. “Oh sure of course,” I say aloud but my mind screams “You idiot!” Turning over the magnificent imagery that only a parent can love doesn’t help bring clarity . . . in fact I’m convinced not even the Pythagorean Theorem can save me.

In complete surrender, I plop us down on the floor and ask, “Why don’t you tell me about your picture.” For the next several minutes Audrey shares her remarkable imagination on painted paper. “Daddy, animals are friends not food.” Amazing, I thought as she defines each of her marvelous colorful shapes, “here is a pig, a worm and a platypus and a spider.” As I voice praise for her creativity and gentle spirit I have an epiphany.

Some of the very best allies charities have online are Search Engines. However, many nonprofits are simply not defining their photos, imagery and other content on their Web sites. Therefore, let me encourage you to tag your it.  “It” being your photos and imagery and “tag” meaning a word and/or phrases to define and position what is contain in such photos, imagery and the organization itself.

For example, let’s say your organization is responding to the crisis in Darfur and you have several photos depicting your work but without “tags” how is some “Yahoo” going to know what they’re about unless you tell them? They’re not . . . it’s like me trying to interpret my daughter’s artwork without her thoughtful direction.

Don’t get me wrong, Search Engines are doing their best to make sense of your Web content but without tagging your “it” all they see are a bunch of virtual ink-blots on a screen.

Before you begin the tactical approach of tagging your Web content, you should determine those keywords and phrases that will define and position your organization. For every tagging opportunity, it is also one to strengthen your organization’s hold on those keywords by including them when appropriate. 

Nonprofits are standing in their own preverbal online shadow and wonder why it is dark.

There is a battle being waged inside charities and it will determine which nonprofits are more relevant than others.

The struggle I write about is, one of definition or another way to put it . . . a lack thereof.

Unfortunately, I’ve heard many reasons as to why nonprofit organizations do not clearly state their beliefs and/or values, such as “We might alienate people,” “Our purpose is much too broad to be defined by only a few words,” or “We do much more than just one thing.” But today I warn you, all that intellectual rationale will only lead your charity adrift on the slow and passionless sea of irrelevancy.

There is a War for Words taking place online today . . . a battle for the philanthropic-minded, who are in search of the meaning of living. Simply put into marketing terms; these people are your target audience and to the degree you have clearly defined your organization, you will attract like-minded individuals to your cause.

Positioning your charity through tactics, such as tagging content and keyword buys is only the beginning of cutting through the emaze of online clutter. If your organization can highlight what makes them truly unique, then it has a real chance of standing out in the hearts and minds of people.

You see, it isn’t hard to explain the step-by-step process on how to attract like-minded individuals to your charity; rather it is getting your organization to settle on want you stand for . . . who you are, what you uniquely do, and why you—over similar nonprofits. The answers to these questions are your charity’s guiding light.Turntoward this light and the shadows falls behind you.

My wife catches me staring at Audrey’s painting affixed to our refrigerator door mumbling to myself, “What did you say?” She asks.

“The platypus, I see it you know? It’s right next to the worm.” I reply.

“Ahuh” she responds.

“You know honey, every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up,” I proudly state.

“Okay, someone has been reading Picasso quotes online” she smiles after her reply.

Nothing gets past her . . . nothing.