National fibromyalgia and chronic pain organizations, as well as local support groups around the country, host events in or around May 12 to create awareness and generate media interest in their cause.

1. Navigating Patient Advocacy Through Public Relations & Social Media Navigating your company’s strategic entrance into the social media marketing realm

2. SOCIAL MEDIA – Facebook 600+ million active users 50% of active users log on to Facebook in any given day Average user has 130 friends Over 700 billion minutes spent/user/month on Facebook Average user is connected to 80 community pages, groups and events Average user creates 90 pieces of content each month

3. SOCIAL MEDIA – Blogs More than 133,000,000 blogs have been indexed by Technorati (blog search engine) since 2002 77% of Internet users read blogs One in four bloggers has an annual household income of $100K The most common rate of updating a blog is 2-3 times per week 56% say that their blog has helped their company establish a position as a thought leader within the industry. 58% say that they are better-known in their industry because of their blog

4. SOCIAL MEDIA - YouTube Largest world-wide video sharing community 2 billion videos viewed/day 24 hours of video uploaded per minute Age range of viewers is 18-55, evenly divided between males and females 51% of users go to YouTube weekly or more often

5. SOCIAL MEDIA - Twitter Twitter is a “real time news & information network” Limited to 140 characters Link sharing No sales pitch 190 million visitors/month 65 million tweets a day

6. SOCIAL MEDIA – E-Newsletters Email newsletters helps you keep contacts Informed and up-to-date on your organization’s events, news, etc. Attractive, professional-looking email communications lets you stay In regular touch with them and build strong relationships. It's better and more effective than regular email.

7. For patients: WHY? Listen. Learn. Share. Audiences are choosing their own “subscriptions” Instant Communication Listening to what people are saying about us Comaradery – “I’m not alone!”

8. For your organization: WHY? Listen. Learn. Share. Hearing people’s needs & responding Ease of Updating news and information Tweets, Posts, etc. vs. full webpage creation Audience Familiar Interface – getting to know us

10. Illustrate your expertise, not your catalog

11. Overshare that of others

12. Offer to inform or help “if they’re interested”

13. Be confident you offer value

15. Case Study: National Fibromyalgia Association “10,000 for 10 million” Challenge: Website not updated regularly; no interactivity with visitors Limited staff and resources to support social media Members still don’t understand what it is the NFA does exactly Negative misinformation about NFA being posted online Goals: Increase number of fans/members Build positive image of NFA; respond to negative misinformation Share NFA news in real time Convert fans into advocates; Increase subscribers to its online and print publications Use as fundraising tool

16. Case Study: National Fibromyalgia Association “10,000 for 10 million” Solutions: Create and implement strategy that will: Develop timeline of content for key updates and posts Cross-promote Fans page (website, e-newsletter, email signatures) Continually monitor and engage audiences Results: Fans increased from 2,000 to 10,000 fans in 3 weeks Surpassed competition (average fan base = 3,000) Daily average post views of NFA page = 230,000 Media coverage of campaign (OC Register0 Negative misinformation about NFA nearly non-existent Increased awareness of programs and services Increased number of subscribers to online and print publications Increased number of donors to fundraising campaigns Increased visitors to website, blog and Twitter followers (new) Created positive good will and image of NFA among base

17. Awareness Day Events that (usually) get publicity Host a free lecture and invite a member of the medical community who treats fibromyalgia patients as your guest speaker; Organize a community walk around your neighborhood or mall; Petition your local government officials to proclaim May 12, 2010 as “National Fibromyalgia Awareness Day” in your city;

18. Awareness Day Events that (usually) get publicity Spread the viral word by joining a Cause or Fans page on Facebook and promoting Awareness Day to your own social networks; If you’re a medical professional, host an Open House in your office for your patients and community; Host a screening of your favorite health related documentaries.

19. MEDIA CASE STUDY: NFA Awareness Day 2010

20. MEDIA CASE STUDY: NFA Awareness Day 2010

21. Walson CommunicationsCorin Ramos, APR corin@walsonpr.com www.walsonpr.com TEL: 714-970-2268FAX: 714-495-4078Cell: 714-865-4147 Navigating your company’s strategic entrance into the social media marketing realm