TIPS AND TRICKS: Find your strength, and go with it!

Everyone has their own set of strengths. The things that our friends are always saying "Wow, can you please show me how to do that?" or even, "Can you do this for me? You are so much better at it than I am." The things that we have going for us, the advantages that we were given in life, the skills that we have worked really hard to hone into expertise, the knowledge we have built up over time.

In crossposting, you can be incredibly helpful by identifying your strengths, and figuring out how to focus on those. By utilizing your strengths, and aligning with others that have different strengths, you can help save many more lives. For example:

* Do you have a way with words? Consider writing creative bios for animals that can be posted with their photos. A lot of ACs and rescues don't have the time to write up a really compelling story for each dog or cat.

* Are you good behind the lens? Consider going to your local AC or rescue and donating some of your time to take attractive pictures of the dogs they have available (a good picture can make a HUGE difference in how much attention is paid to a dog or cat online). Most ACs or rescues don't have access to the kind of skills and equipment a photographer possesses.

* Are you artistic? I have seen a few people add borders with information and adorable speech bubbles to pictures in an attempt to draw in the viewer, and it seems to really help!

* Do you have some money each month that you can set aside to help with emergency rescue efforts? Often when an emergency comes up (a senior dog, a sick cat), the rescues that would love to help don't have the money readily available to pay for transportation or surgery. People who help with the financial aspect of rescue are vital - remember that rescues are not businesses that make profit! Often, they are people with big hearts that are running on donations and credit card balances. Your $25 here or there can make a big difference.

**NOTE: Make sure before you donate that your money is going to a trusted individual or rescue. Unfortunately, there have been people out there that have used animal rescue as a front for deceit. PLEASE check out any person asking for donations BEFORE you give, so that you know that your money is going to the right place (helping animals)!**

* Are you good with organization and using Facebook? Offer to post animals at an AC or rescue in an album on FB and help keep track of their status. A lot of times, organizations don't have the time and resources to keep everyone directly informed of what is going on with the animals. A good photo album setup is a great start, so that crossposters can easily see the animal's information, location, and status. I will do a post about this subject later.

These are just a small number of examples of strengths that one can leverage in the pursuit of helping to save animals. What are your strengths? In what ways are you using your gifts to help save the lives of animals?