A presentation on the tools that I've used and have made me think "thats really useful!" - all aim to save time or create great content

1. Cheat Sheet
Creating great digital content on
a budget

2. hello
• If you work with social media you’ll have a process
along the lines of
Source > Create > Plan > Publish > Promote
• This is a list of tools I’ve used that are free or cheap
and make life easier / improve the content you’re
putting out
• It’s not a definitive list – if there are platforms you
think should be on here please let me know and I’ll
add them in
• I’ll put on Slideshare and Cliff will send with the
meeting notes so you’ll have all the links etc!

3. Source
Finding content | Sourcing
Images

4. Source
finding content
• Google alerts – everyone has these I’m guessing? If not
go to https://www.google.co.uk/alerts and enter your
keywords, google will then email alert you a summary
of mentions
• BuzzSumo – find out relevant content from around the
web, see what works for competitors. Free for limited
access
• Feedly – search for content, integrate with Twitter,
Facebook, Pinterest. Free tier
• Scoop.it (7 days free trial but only $11 per year for pro)
– integrates with social media feeds
• Twitter and social media – use them as aggregators.
Look at Medium for longer form, expert articles

5. Images
getting the right image
• You can’t just grab any image from a Google images
search due to rights issues
• Some rights free images can be used for any
purpose without payment (although credit may be
required)
• There are lots of ways to find them…
• If in doubt on rights, check Creative commons or
GNU Free documentation sites
• Finding good images to use can be a pain…the
following are available for use

6. Images
avoid this…

7. Images
filter your google search

8. Better
free image libraries
startupstockphotos.com
unsplash.com
pexels.com
gratisography.com

9. Create
Quotes | GIFs | Memes
Branded content | Text
Infographics | AV Content

10. Images
creating quotes
Quotecover.com
for desktop
instaquote.com – for
instagram
wordswag – iOs and
Android
£4.99

11. Images
everyone loves a GIF
Especially when
live on BBC news


12. Images
Creating animated GIFs
• You can use GIFs from sites like Giphy.com or create
your own
• http://makeagif.com/youtube-to-gif
• https://gifs.com/
• Allow you to create your own GIFs from YouTube,
Vimeo, Instagram URLs or upload your own file –
then add text and effects over
• This means you can create a GIF from
on YouTube. That’s a great resource

13. Images
Memes
• Memes are content that
takes images and overlays
with text that, generally
changes the context of the
image to make it shareable
• You can create them for free
at
https://imgflip.com/memege
nerator

14. Images
branded content
• There are lots of free online
design tools you can use
• Canva has a not for profit
programme giving free access
to “business” level
https://about.canva.com/canv
a-for-nonprofits/
• Pixlr – I tend to use this to
resize images, free to use and
you can add logos etc easily

15. Images
infographics
• Piktochart – offer discounted
NfP rate of $39.99 for 12
months
• https://piktochart.com/pricin
g/nonprofit/
• Infogram
• Easel.ly

16. Images
infographics
• Creating infographics in template packages can be
tricky as they need to be bespoke, but there are tools
that you can use
• Piktochart – offer discounted ‘pro’ NfP rate of $39.99
for 12 months
https://piktochart.com/pricing/nonprofit/
• Infogram – has free tier, but you can apply for NfP
pricing, which gives a discount of 25%
https://infogr.am/pricing
• Easel.ly – has free tier, not NfP discount

17. Text
writers block?

18. Text
spelling
• Spell check on word is great,
but if you’re working across
Twitter, Facebook, Instagram
& email then it can be
limited
• Nothing more annoying than
a typo in great content
• Grammarly offers a free
chrome extension that is
very handy for live text
checking

19. Text
freelancers
• If you have trusted
freelancers you work with
then great, if not then you
can commission
professional content
cheaply
https://www.upwork.com/
http://www.zerys.com/
• Both offer freelance
writers for relatively low
cost

20. AV Content
Video | Podcasts

22. Filming
perfect for social
• Create films with beneficiaries, people who work for you,
vox pops etc
• Modern iphone works well as camera, add in a simple
lapel microphone for better quality sound. You can get a
lapel mike on amazon for £12
• Upload to your YouTube channel – not a video strategy
on it’s own, but YouTube is still a go to for video
• Upload to platforms – you’ll see better engagement if
you upload direct to Facebook and Twitter rather than
embed YouTube links
• Other channels such as Dailymotion and Metacafe allow
upload of content, but think about content and audience
first

24. Podcasts
hear me now
• Why podcast? One in four Americans ages 12-54
listened to a podcast last month.
• You can create your own with your subject matter
experts using
• Podbean (ios/Android) – create and host your podcasts
• Download Audacity for desktop
http://www.audacityteam.org/
• Set up a Soundcloud channel, embed into your
webpages
• Barrier to entry is much lower than filming, and if
you’re telling stories – audio only is worth considering
• Submit to iTunes and other distributors

25. Publish
Using links | Management | Telling
a story | Quizzes | Channels that
get missed
(I’ve skipped planning)

26. Publish
using links
• Bitly
• Free link shortener
• Gives analytics on
location, numbers of clicks
etc
• See any links stats – just
add + to the end of URL
• Snip.ly
• Free up to 1,000 clicks per
month
• Put your call to action on
content you link to!

27. Publish
social media management
• Hootsuite/Tweetdeck
• Well known tools with
free access levels
• Manage multiple accounts
and aggregate RTs, Likes,
Related accounts etc
• Buffer
• Schedule content across
multiple platforms
• Integrated “Pablo” image
creation tool
• Well supported with
training materials
• Suggests content that may
be relevant

28. Publish
tell a story
• Storify
• Has free tier and covers Twitter,
facebook and Instagram
• Allows you to pull together
tweets into a chronology –
showing your content, experts,
beneficiairies, media etc in one
place
• Presents a frozen moment in
time of an event which can be
hosted on website
• Has an option to inform users
whose content that you feature
increasing shareability

29. Publish
other types of content
• Prezi
• Free, create dynamic
presentations
• Has annual report
templates
• https://prezi.com/gallery/
• Slideshare
• Upload presentations
• Part of Linkedin
• Useful for sharing
documents
• Appears in google SERPs
• https://www.slideshare.ne
t/featured/category/techn
ology

30. Publish
quizzes
• If you’re a member of
Buzzfeed community
you can create quizzes
• Create Trivia,
Personality, Poll, and
Checklist quizzes
• It’s all done in BuzzFeed
http://bzfd.it/2nwJmfk
• Also check out Qzzr to
create quizzes to embed
on your site and share
on social to drive traffic

31. Publish
channels that get missed
• Reddit
• Sub Reddits (reddits on
specific topics) have
large numbers of
followers
• If you can engage in
credible way, can drive a
lot of interest
• Quora
• Strong in Google SERPs
• Answer questions for
users to get
engagement from them

32. Promote
Email | Social Media | SEO &
Analytics

33. Promote
email
• Mailchimp is free for up to
2,000 subscribers or 12,000
emails a month
• Full email creator, easy to use
• Analytics built in
• There are others, but I’ve
always gone with Mailchimp!

34. Promote
social media
• Look at the platform programmes for
non profits
• Twitter for Good
• https://about.twitter.com/company/
twitter-for-good
• FB for non profits
https://nonprofits.fb.com/
• YouTube for Non profits
https://www.youtube.com/nonprofit
s
• Google Ad Grant
https://www.google.com/nonprofits
/
• If you have even small budgets, then
ads/boosted posts for key posts on
Facebook and twitter increase reach
hugely

35. SEO & Analytics
get found
• MOZ free tools – SEOMoz offer a suite of free tools which can help
monitor how optimised your website is
https://moz.com
• Social mention – real time social media search and analysis. Hasn’t
changed for years, but still useful
http://www.socialmention.com/
• Klout – Free and connects to your twitter account and shows you the
most influential followers you have, recommends others to build
your network
https://klout.com
• Followerwonk – View authority, location of followers and see when
they’re active on the free tier
https://moz.com/followerwonk/pro
• Mention Mapp – visual representation of your twitter followers
http://www.mentionmapp.com/#

36. Other
Hosting | Support | Training

37. Hosting
free hosting!
• Amazon Web Services (AWS)
offer a free tier of hosting for 12
months to new customers
http://amzn.to/2mokpmB
• If you have a new idea that
you’d like to launch or if you
have an existing application you
want to run in the cloud, this is a
great way to get started for free.
• Some ideas include, but are not
limited to, hosting low traffic
websites or blogs, social media
applications, development and
test projects, proof of concepts,
and more.

38. Support
who’s doing what?
Media Trust: Media matching service matching industry
people to NfPs, paid physical training courses
Do it Digital: Not for profit signposting digital training
and events around the UK.
The Digital Garage: Googles effort, more general than
instructional “how to” guides.
Good things Foundation: Building digitally included
society, Learn my Way is basic “get online” content
NCVO: Offer certificate in campaigning with a day on
digital campaigning but no online training
The Technology Trust: Help for your charity to access
the donated software, email marketing and other digital
services that are right for you.

39. Support
free resources
• Look at training courses on Udemy,
Teachable, Coursera – there’s lots of
free courses
• Contact me – happy to help!
• Twitter: @peterjacobs100
• Email: peterajacobs@yahoo.com
• Send me your tips! I’d love to hear
from you on what tools you’re finding
helpful
78% of charities
are investing no
money at all in
digitally upskilling
their employees
49% of UK
Charities lack
basic digital skills
Source:
http://bit.ly/2nZIfkU

40. Thanks for listening
Any questions then give me shout
Twitter: peterjacobs100