Find Your Missing Child Website

Work with Local Media

tonyloftis — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 18:25:28 +0000

To find your missing child, effective use of local media like town and neighborhood publications can create a bigger buzz that will drive bigger media to cover your story. You should focus on creating a strong relationship with local reporters because:

Coverage in a local publication shows your story is not a hoax. As you use social media to build a community of people who do not know you personally, third party validation plays a big role in gaining their trust.
Local reporters tend to be more sympathetic to your story.
They will often cover the story several times, providing links you can use across your social media platforms.
Your friends and neighbors, the people most likely to help in the search for your missing child, read the local papers.
Coverage in local papers often catches the eye of bigger publications. Sometimes the story becomes a story by itself.

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Be Interactive on Social Media

tonyloftis — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 01:07:39 +0000

Social media works best when it is an interactive conversation. To expand the network of people looking for your missing child, get your friends and family involved in the conversation from the start. Bring your offline conversations to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Help people make an emotional connection with you and your search.

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Three Simple Video Tips

tonyloftis — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 22:50:48 +0000

Finding missing children using video should be easy. You don’t need to be a Hollywood director to create compelling video to help find missing children. To engage and inspire the community of people looking for your missing child, all you need is a simple video camera or a phone that takes video and follow these simple guidelines:

Be brief, keep it under two minutes.
One message per video. Got more than one message? It’s a good thing to have lots of video.
Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. A video from the heart means more than great product skills.

Most of all, don’t be intimidated. You can do this. Think of the videos you shot of your child’s first steps or first day at school. You weren’t worried about what people thought of those videos. Don’t worry now. Be natural. It’s okay.

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Simple Videos Work

admin — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 15:44:35 +0000

Sometimes the hardest thing is taking your own advice. This video explains why we chose to use simple videos with low production costs to help families find their missing children.

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FYMC – A Video Introduction

admin — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 08:43:53 +0000

Our founder, Tony Loftis, discusses his reasons for starting FindYourMissingChild in this short video.

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Breaking Through the Silence

admin — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 08:43:38 +0000

Don’t let emotions keep you from sharing news of your missing child. This video explains the importance of making all the noise you can.

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Talking with AMECO

admin — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 08:41:14 +0000

As an international association of nonprofit organizations, AMECO nurtures credible, ethical and effective nonprofit member organizations and provides a collective voice on issues related to missing and exploited children and their families.

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Your GPS to Social Media

admin — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 19:38:37 +0000

Think about how you use a GPS when you’re new to an area. You plug in an address and cling to the machine’s every sound and visual clue. You know that if you don’t follow the directions precisely, you’re bound to have to backtrack and waste time. This probably won’t be a big deal when you’re on your way to a party or a new shop. But when you’re searching for a missing child, no parent or family member wants to feel like they’ve squandered valuable time as they familiarize themselves with new resources.

To continue with this metaphor, the Guide offers complete turn-by-turn instructions. Even complete Social Media novices will be able to setup Facebook pages, use email effectively, and get the most out of YouTube and other resources.

A more experienced user of social media won’t need these kinds of instructions. But the Guide contains a lot of detail that can help even experiences users of social media. It’s like using GPS when you’re in your home town. You don’t need to know that highways or main streets that will get you to the neighborhood, but navigating those last couple of turns correctly is what it takes to get there as quickly and efficiently as possible.

In the guide, more seasoned users will learn vital details they wouldn’t have learned from their normal use of social media. They’ll learn about the most effective types of messaging. They’ll find ways of enlisting as many people as possible in the search. They’ll discover techniques for working with law enforcement and main-stream media.

If you’re starting your search for a missing child, don’t feel the guide is too intimidating or too dumbed-down. We’ve worked very hard to make is useful for everyone.

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