If you've made the decision to be a political candidate in a local election, then you've probably asked yourself how to campaign in an effective way in spite of the fact that you've never run for office before. There really aren't any well-kept secrets when it comes to local campaign strategies, and most of it comes down to working hard and doing the best job you can on the campaign trail.

Local elections are great opportunities for new candidates to learn the ropes of how to campaign, and you should look at your race as an exciting experience, not be intimidated by it. If you've done your research and decided that your race is winnable, then campaigning like a pro is only a matter of working as hard as you can and putting your plan into motion.

In local campaigns, door-to-door efforts can be extremely effective. Although statewide and congressional campaigns take place is districts that are much too large to mount effective door-to-door efforts, a city council or school board race is entirely different. Depending upon the size of your district, it's entirely possible that you could knock on every door more than once.

Remember, knowing how to campaign is different than actually doing it. You can read as many political campaigning books as you want, but if you aren't motivated enough to actually implement the strategies you learn, then it won't do your campaign any good. The best campaign is the one that wins, and as your experience improves you'll start to get a better feel for what is working and what isn't on the campaign trail.

If you've never run for office before or helped with political campaigns, then mounting your own bid as a candidate can initially seem daunting. As with most big undertakings, though, campaigns become much less intimidating if you do adequate research and put together a comprehensive plan before kicking things off.

Good campaign plans usually start off with listbuilding of possible supporters, donors, and volunteers. If you've been involved in your community for any amount of time, there is probably a large amount of people locally who would be glad to offer their help on the campaign trail. Starting a list of the people who you think might be a good resource is the first step.

The next part of your campaign plan should be to calculate how many votes you'll need to win your chosen office. You can do this primarily by looking at election results from previous years and taking note of how many votes the winning candidates received.

After you've figured out how many votes you'll need to make your campaign successful on election night, you'll need to get a grasp on how much money it will take to get your message out to the public. Ask yourself how many mailers, yard signs and other campaign materials you will likely need to fund, and calculate as closely as you can how much it will all cost.

Once you have familiarized yourself with how many votes you need and how much money will be necessary, political campaigns become much less intimidating. A good plan that is calculated in advance of election season will help you be a more effective candidate and make your chances of winning office much more likely.