Linking to a brighter future

Do you want to change the world or just have a burning passion that you want to share with whoever will listen? E-campaigner Martyn Sibley says there are now tools at your fingertips that really could enable you to leave your mark on the world

Just look at Obama. Thirteen million supporters on his email list, three million online donors, three million Facebook friends, a peak of 8.5m monthly website hits, 800,000 blogs, 35,000 volunteer groups mobilised to run 200,000 offline events and 70,000 fundraising hubs raising $30 million. No wonder he made President!

But Obama’s strategy is transferable to any cause or campaign. For example, a recent issue for disabled people was the potential of Attendance Allowance and Disability Living Allowance to be swallowed up by the new social care reforms. An online e-petition collected 23,710 names opposing this. It provoked a Government response stating these benefits would be protected. As importantly, it put social care and disability at the forefront of any further Government policy decisions.

Doing this is simple. You have to tell your story, build your community and make your call to action.
Start with a compelling story. I wanted to talk about disability in an inspirational and progressive way. So
I started my blog martynsibley.com and began writing about my views. You can also use Facebook, tumblr or myspace as a platform to explain your views and motives. Not only do I write but I show my interesting photos on flickr and upload short video blogs from vimeo (just google these sites to find them). Then I embed them on my main site. This way my story is more interesting and unique. I also use Twitter and Facebook to update people on real time events allowing supporters to feel a part of what I am campaigning for.

But telling the story is only the beginning. For a while I was adding content but with nobody listening to me. Start by googling disability blogs and discussion forums. Listen to what others are saying and who seems to have an influence. Then start to participate and air your own views. Use Twitter to follow people with similar views and start two-way conversations. I have met three people through Twitter who I am working on projects with. In time people will engage with you as long as you inspire them in some way. You cannot do it alone and should aim to learn from others as you go.

Then comes the “call to action”. For Obama it was asking people to door knock, phone people, give money etc. For the disability e-petition it was as simple as getting people to sign their name to a purpose. The call to action can be small or big.

Just get online, inspire and change something for the better.