Are there local issues that are really important to you? Do you feel your elected officials are unwilling or unable to listen to you, or make the changes that are necessary.
It's time to make yourself heard! Build your own soapbox and speak out! Become a Community Activist. You'd be surprised what you can accomplish with the support of your neighbors.
Community Activists are average citizens who work at the grassroots within the system to help foster change.
Every day, in every community, they help persuade local officials to improve fire stations, secure abandoned lots, renew playgrounds, add bike paths, reduce noise pollution, and dozens of other tasks that would otherwise go undone.
The traditional way to become a Community Activist has been the shoe-leather approach. That is, walk door-to-door and introduce yourself and your cause. As you travel, collect a list of supporters and start building a network with whom you can stay in touch.
Although there's nothing better than meeting your fellow neighbors one-on-one, today's realities make door-to-door canvassing more challenging then ever.
"What about using the Internet?", you ask. Yes, the Internet can become a big part of your communication strategy -- it can host your blogs, deliver your email, support your issues-packed website.
But, like a PO Box at the Post Office, no one will know you or your issue exists until you first do a little outreach.
Lucky for you, technology has come to the rescue and made outreach faster, easier and cheaper.
Technology has made high-quality, full color imagery easier to design and affordable to print. Databases with voter addresses can be created or rented. Ink jet printers can add addresses and postal barcodes without needing labels. Technology offers you a way to reach each of your neighbors in a way that maximizes your messages, at a cost that would not be possible a few years ago.
Take for example, an item that my own business produces: a custom-printed, direct mail postcard magnet. It's a big postcard printed in full color on both sides, and includes a easy-peel, full color magnet about the size of a business card. As the postcard is being printed, the magnet is attached and the sorted addresses are added by ink jet; the finished cards are bundled and dropped at the Post Office for delivery. All the details are handled by the technology.
The Post Office delivers the postcard/magnet throughout your community, you deliver your message, and your neighbors keep the magnet on their refrigerator reminding them to attend a meeting or check your website.
You'll probably get calls from supporters, a politician or two, and perhaps a reporter. And you're well on your way to making your issue a reality.
That's how grassroots Community Activist outreach is done in 2011.
Start your campaign today, and start changing your community for the better!