The internet is an emotional place these days. But here’s the thing: you can choose happy or heartless, pretty much across the board.
Aside from hitting the Like or Love buttons on social media, there are countless ways to leverage uplifting news and positive online content for the benefit of your business, community, and yourself. The fact is, good news works, and Chris Mahlmann, founder of GreatNews.Life, will share exactly how at a January gathering of the American Marketing Association (AMA) of Michiana.
Both members and non-members are welcome to attend the luncheon from 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time), Jan. 21, at the Gillespie Conference Center, 53993 Indiana S.R. 933, South Bend. Registration is required by Jan. 17 and details can be found here.
Mahlmann founded GreatNews.Life more than 10 years ago on the premise that local communities were hungry, possibly even starving, for opportunities to read, watch, share, and celebrate the positive news in their communities.
He was right.
“Often, what is right in our backyard and what truly matters is what we ignore the most. GreatNews.Life explores the people in our communities who are in the trenches making positive change, and the events and initiatives that bring out the best of our communities’ personalities, cultures, and people,” Mahlmann said.
He knew it would take an unconventional approach.
“I wanted to form positive, online communities and take a new, positive approach to online publishing,” he said. “We don’t create websites. We create online communities large enough to support major advertising, but small enough to remain hyper-local.”
Just as businesses are making conscious decisions to be associated with causes for the greater good (think Subaru Share the Love, or how Dawn dish soap cleans baby animals affected by oil spills), they can make deliberate decisions to be part of the solution in creating waves of positivity in their communities.
GreatNews.Life tells the stories that most media don’t spend much time on, with words, images, and video, evoking positive emotion, pride, and a sense of community connectedness that can’t be found elsewhere.
“Essentially, we hold up the mirror to reflect everything positive, hopeful, informational, and good about a community and the people in it,” Mahlmann said.
In his Good News Works presentation on Jan. 21, Mahlmann will take attendees on a journey of positive growth in business and community through anecdotal and informational exploration of Valpo.Life, Portage.Life, NWI.Life, and LaPorteCounty.Life.
He’ll talk about why good news works for both business and community, how it works, and how CEOs, marketers, and business development professionals can implement it in their own places of employment. It’s all based on the outlook that despite the rage on social media or attention-grabbing headlines that spark it, most people also want to know, celebrate, and relish the good that happens all around them, every day.
“This is about telling the stories that nobody else will tell, for whatever reason, and then watching these stories blow up in the community with massive appreciation from readers and followers. We see it every day, we know it works, and we can help,” Mahlmann said.
The AMA is the essential community for marketers and entrepreneurs, offering differentiated content that focuses on the tension between Best Versus Next Practices ™ and how you can benefit. Michiana is home to some of the most creative and innovative marketing professionals in the nations, with businesses that include technology and manufacturing startups, globally recognized brands and organizations, and everything in between. AMA Michiana brings together these professionals from across North Central Indiana, including South Bend, Mishawaka, Elkhart, Goshen, Warsaw and their surrounding communities. To register for the Good News Works luncheon or other AMA of Michiana professional development events, or to become a member, visit https://amamichiana.com/index.php.
