Connecting People and Non-Profits

For this blog, I am going to compare The Women’s History Museum and Educational Center to the Wyatt Earp Museum.  The Women’s History Museum and Educational Center continues to thrive, while the Wyatt Earp Museum closed their doors.  I believe if those of us who believe in a Pay it forward system connect with each other, we can help more and more museums and non-profit organizations thrive.

The Women’s History Museum and Educational Center focuses on three things: Reputable link partners, such as North County Times and Tinkem Museum of Art; keyword density, such as ‘women,’ ‘history museum,’ and ‘history reclamation project;’ and getting people involved, through community events.  Good SEO content drives traffic to their Web site, which leads people to signing up for their e-mail list, which leads to e-mails about events, which leads to more members and more donations.

When I compare the Wyatt Earp Museum to the Women’s History Museum and Educational Center, I notice well written SEO content and reputable link partnerships on the Women’s History Museum and Educational Center Web site that the Wyatt Earp Museum Web site does not focus on.  Rather than focusing on a few key words, repeated over and over again, the Wyatt Earp Museum uses various words and terms scattered through their site. 

Since the Wyatt Earp Museum Web site does not consist of many pages, it does not give Web spiders and Metacrawlers much to search.  For that reason, they would do well to do two things: add more pages with more content, so the Web spiders and Metacrawlers can search through a deeper bed of keywords; and develop better link partnerships, other than Gothere.com and Americanwest.com.

While I hope the Wyatt Earp Museum finds a new home soon, I fear they will not unless they take lessons from organizations like the Women’s History Museum and Educational Center.  I fear various non-profit organizations will lose funding, unless they focus on keyword density and developing link partnerships with reputable organizations that will drive users to their Web sites, get people involved in their organizations, and lead to more donations and more funding.

So that is where my vision for People Connect comes in.  I would like to develop a team of people, who believe in the potential of these organizations, and organizations just like them throughout the United States.  People Connect will consist of reputable professional all over the United States, and perhaps even beyond, who believe in getting things done through a pay it forward model. For those who want to help a favorite non-profit, through a more indirect pay it forward model, Tom Ash, founder of Agents Paying Forward and ACN paying Forward, offers ways for people to continue to do what they love while offering a portion of their earnings to non-profits they designate. 

If you want to get involved with People Connect, Agents Paying Forward, and/or ACN Paying Forward, or If you are a museum or other non-profit organization, I encourage you to contact me or Tom Ash.  Many of these organizations cannot pay that much money; though, I believe if we develop a pay it forward model, and connect people to people, we will reap the rewards.

Until next week keep connecting,

Erick Pettersen

 

An Introduction to People Connect

When I launched my site, I posted it on a few networking forums, and asked for feedback with the intent that it would reflect my goals and the needs of the people.

Among the many visitors, two of them commented specifically on my People Connect page, which I first called “Currency Exchange.”  The first person saidhe wished more people offered non-monetary services.  The second person said it seemed like begging for people to hire me.  Not at all.  However, I took her words to heart and redesigned my concept in such a way that it reflected my passion.

So, I changed the link title from “Currency Exchange” to “People Connect.”  When I think of the word currency, I think of interpersonal or social exchanges that lead to goals.  If a store owner wants to sell something, he/she may tell loyal customers they are selling an item.  If they do not buy that item, they might recommend it to someone they know.  In that example, relationships are just as important, if not more important, than the currency of money. 

Since most people think of the almighty dollar when they think of currency, I re-titled it to reflect my goals.  After I thought about the goal for my site—to connect people and ideas through SEO content—the answer became clear—People Connect. 

In the first version of People Connect, I offered to exchange my services for non-monetary services.  I reasoned that because of the economy, fear might keep people from hiring someone to write SEO content for them.  So, I offered my services without the worry of money.

In the second version—the current version—of People Connect, I offer to work with people through a non-monetary exchange; though, rather than offering to write SEO content for someone in exchange for them mowing my lawn (I jest), I offer to engage in a non-monetary exchange with those who would like to work with me in forming a database of trustworthy professionals.  The major difference between the two versions is that in the first I offer to work with people who are willing to exchange non-monetary services, whereas in the second I offer to work with people in that capacity or to simply review a professional’s web site.

For those who would like to connect with me via People Connect, but do not need my SEO content services, I will review their website.  If I feel their services, their mission statement, and their goals reflect the kind of person I would want to work with, and would recommend others to, I will add them to People Connect.  For those who do not need SEO services, I require a website to review; however, I know not everyone has the time or money to maintain a website.  For those who would like to work with me, via a non-monetary exchange, I list some ideas on my website; however, I am always open to new ideas.

For those interest in my idea for people connect, I would recommend that you visit my People Connect FAQ page or in the People Connect tab on www.erickpettersen.com.  Among some of the most recent people I connect with, Tom Ash launched a couple of websites that Pay it Forward (www.agentspayingforward.com and www.acnpayngforward.com).  When you hire me through either of those sites, a percentage of the proceeds go to benefit those charities I sponsor.  For more on Tom ashes sites, via this blog, please stay tuned.  Tom and I are collaborating on how we cay pay it forward for each other.  Look for more information on his vision via this site; but until then, please feel free to visit his About Page.

In my next blog, I will talk more about my vision to work with non-profits, so please come back for more on me and People Connect.  I look forward to working with some of the most innovative, progressive people out there, and I look forward to a better tomorrow.  Also, I want to know how you feel about this.  Yes, the database is a personal reference system of professionals who believe in achieving goals through collaborative efforts; though, I want to make it collaborative.  For that reason, I would like to know any of your thoughts about this.  Of course, if you are an entrepreneur or know one, who would like me to list them on People Connect, let me know.

 

Until next time, stay connected.

 

Erick