As a global leader, you want to serve, and in doing so touch lives globally. You have a dream that’s been nagging and keeping much rest from you; it is the feeling that gets you up at night, you clearly see how you can impact society with your dream.
It is okay to dream. It is great to be restless. It is okay to want to give more and volunteer. The world is a global village. Your idea, vision or dream can scale across continents to effect changes in the lives of ordinary citizens in faraway lands.
I believe every dream or opportunity should be measured against the following criteria:
- Scope/Reach. How many lives can you affect with it? Is your dream simply to help life within your neighborhood out of crippling poverty, or can you do it for other communities a thousand mile apart? Is your mission scalable? Can you reach others in faraway lands and deliver the same social solutions?
- Message. How effective/fluid is it for others to connect with your message? Little tweaks to your visuals and images, sounds and videos could make a major impact in enhancing connection. It is of a bigger concern, where your website is unrelatable. And,
- Accessible. How easy is it for others to join your band, to cheer you on or contribute to your cause? There has to be a simple way to encourage others to contribute to your cause or join your network in effecting changes in the world. Remember we are in a global town now.
Today, simple free resources make our works a lot easier, with increased reach, scale-ability and impact. So, weather your dream is to help Africans reach the global markets with their unique local products, contribute to climate change discourses or ensure starving kids go to bed full, there are some basic tools you should (if not already) use in enhancing your reach and entrenching your dream. Best part is they are mostly free and easy to master.
Regardless of what your vision or goal is, these tools will come handy. This is not an exhaustive list, but I see them as the fundamentals in taking your dream global. Also, depending on what you truly seek, all or some will come really handy.
A website as a Doorway
A website is an absolute must in our current world. No need to reinvent the wheels. No need to pay a developer either! With simple free tools such as WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, you could have a website within minutes. And if you are new to web dev, hop on YouTube to learn how to get a domain name and hosting for your non-profit, and then design a WordPress website from scratch.
Templates, themes and plugins: For free premium resources in website on WordPress, try WPlocker. You simply download and use. (Be mindful of your use of this site as it is not entirely safe. Ensure you have a good antivirus before visiting, unless you don’t mind having some tracking codes on your devices).
Images to tell your story:
Images is an essential tool in telling your story, whether they are original or stock images. To get royalty free stock images, pixabay, pexels. Freepic will come handy
Sometimes, you want an image without a background. Try remove to make your image backgroundless.
At other times, you want to edit/redesign an image. Canva is a smooth design tool with little of no learning curve.
Sounds: For sounds, I generally turn to Free Stock Music
Video Designs: To create standard and stunning videos, I turn to Lumen5, and use Screencast-omatic to edit or trim.
Live Broadcast: For podcast or live broadcast, you can rely on OBS Studio. OBS Studio. This is a free, opensource tool. This works also if you want to host alive (video/audio) session on social platforms like Facebook.
Payments and Funds: Every now and then, you may call for donations and support. In Nigeria Paystack (Nigeria), and Stripe (most countries).
Taking your vision global does not have to be expensive or put away. With these simple and mostly free tools, you are well ahead of many other leaders. With these tools, you can touch the world right from your home.
So take advantage of them, be heard and touch the world starting now!