Lisa Cole Miller (ACC, CPC and ELI-MP)

Nonprofit Marketing and Communications Leaders, pick a three-hour block between now and July 1. Now, picture how you'll use it: ✅ Checking off an overflowing to-do list? ✅ Managing another off-strategy idea? ✅ Writing another social post with no end game? That's how most are going to spend their three-hour block. Same old stuff. Not necessarily making big moves, but also not hurting anything. But what if those three hours could be used to align your work to business goals, hit the reset button, and unlock your team’s potential? That’s exactly how we spend the three hours of a Unlocking Potential workshop. 🎉 How it works: We start by understanding your biggest challenges – the ones that are holding you back, the ones you know you have blocked, the ones that keep you up at night. 🌒 Then we take a chunk off of that problem that we can focus on in three-hours and create a tailored workshop just for you. Through collaborative activities and deep discussion with internal teams, past Unlocking Potential workshoppers have: 📣 Gained a deeper understanding of current and potential target audiences, allowing them to craft more compelling messaging 💡 Crafted a clear and compelling organizational value proposition, setting them apart and attracting more supporters ✍️ Developed actionable change comms plans with measurable goals, ensuring their efforts are focused and effective 🚀 Energized teams with a renewed sense of purpose and direction, fostering collaboration and unity 🏁 Uncovered marketing and communications strengths and opportunities, giving teams a sense of accomplishment as well as a clear path forward Why it matters: There’s something about dedicating a morning to guided reflection that helps things… just click. 💡 Here’s what participants have said: “Thank you sooo much! We are energized in a way we haven’t been in a long time.” “Your facilitation helped us have a real breakthrough! We can’t thank you enough!” And my favorite ❤️: “Can you do this for us every week?” Because let’s face it. It's easy to get stuck in the weeds and lose sight of the big picture. But taking the time to revisit the bigger picture and explore possibilities is fulfilling, motivating, and invigorating. Three hours could change a lot. ➡️ What would you focus your three hours on? P.S. Maybe you’re wondering why by July 1? You can hold an Unlocking Potential workshop at any time, but my June/July fiscal year friends might want to book theirs before they lose their budget! 😉

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When you're struggling to write copy, here's what you do: 1/ Grab a friend. 2/ Explain what you are trying to say. 3/ Your friend will likely respond: "Why don't you just say that?" 4/ You will feel like a fool because it will seem so obvious. 😅 i.e. Write like you talk. Bonus points for personalization: 👇 You'll get better engagement when the reader feels like you are speaking directly to them. Use their name and other unique variables (like past purchases) to stand out in their crowded inbox. What's your favorite copywriting tip?

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Delivering great work at scale comes down to one thing - processes. Too many service providers get caught up in the minutiae of what they offer, because they're practitioners themselves. That's where I'm different with EditorNinja - I am not an editor! We hire great editors (15 right now, I think) and empower them to do great work for our clients, while I focus on growing and perfecting our processes so we can deliver great work at scale. This is how we grew from 120,000 to 800,000 words edited per month in about 14 months. Customer has 100 documents per month to drop in at once? Build a process to handle it. Customer needs to add multiple style guides to the system because they have multiple clients or we're editing for multiple parts of the business? We support that. Need to add multiple users onto an account so they can all add content, but no one except the account owner can change order and priority of documents? Yep, that's now a thing. If you want to truly grow, focus on the processes, not the work itself. Hire great people to focus on the work. Your job is to build the business.

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Check out these 8 free webinars for up-skiling both your business writing—and your confidence about it. Anne and I offer some perspectives and some strategies so you can write with brevity and clarity! This could make a good (and free!) #professionaldevelopment opportunity for teams as well. Watch the webinars together, then discuss and look for application areas in your work. 😄 #free #webinar #learning #learninganddevelopment #elearning #video

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Some ways to generate content ideas include: - Conducting social engine research - Gathering customer feedback - Studying customer personas and sales funnel stages Learn about the rest in our topic ideation guide 👉 https://lttr.ai/ATwzZ #contentmarketing

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Everything about your marketing is going to change. In fact, everything is changing as you're reading this — and all the time. What does that mean for you? What does Joel Klettke want you to know about messaging? How did I manage to tie that back to my personal crisis? Go read this week's newsletter to find out. Plus, 5 insightful reads from Robert Kaminski 🎯, Anna Ursin, Pierre Herubel, Mike Berger, and Andy McCotter-Bicknell.

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It is 2024 and the channels and methods marketers need to leverage to obtain top visibility with their consumers has drastically changed. Now is the time to start implementing change and SOCi can help! #Innovation #LocalizedMarketing

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SEO 🔗 often seems like an afterthought for nonprofits, if thought of at all. Which hurts my brain 🧠 and digital strategy soul Regardless of what your organization does or serves, you should have an actual SEO strategy and use it to meet your audiences where they are --- Literally searching for someone or something like you. Like literally they are looking for what you do. You just need to put effort into letting them know you're there. Really excited to finally be launching Unlock the Power of Technical SEO for Your Nonprofit as a self-paced course with Katherine Watier Ong She's bringing over 30 years of experience in communications strategy and online delivery of communications messages, including over 20 years of SEO, social media, SEM, and web analytics management. Honestly, I learned something from all of her trainings and webinars, which I have the privilege to join. We are doing a launch discount through August 1st - you can use: seolaunch20 A few more details: ▶ 16 Lesson Self-Paced Course ▶ Applicable strategy to use today for your organization ▶ 2024 updated strategy ▶ Resources and visuals ▶ Completion Certificate for professional development 🔗 Link in comments 🔗

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A redemptive framework for Direct-Response: For those of you in marketing, I'm sure you're familiar with the term "direct response". It's a type of marketing designed to elicit immediate action like a purchase, sign-up, etc. Although great in theory (who doesn't want to put a piece of marketing collateral in front of someone and they convert immediately?) - it many times lends itself to be utilized as weapon rather than a tool. Ok, tell me something...Have you ever come across an ad or an offer and experienced this? - False Scarcity - Hidden Costs - Forced Continuity - Exaggerated Claims - Preselected Options - Etc. Yea - these suck. And sadly, they are all too common. So how do we think about Direct Response through a redemptive framework? How do we get people to take action without exploiting them? 1. Whole Truths are Whole Truths Reject the temptation to exaggerate. Half truths told as whole truths are white lies. And white lies are, well...lies. 2. "Urgency" should over index on service (Give > Take) Utilizing urgency should be an approach where it truly seeks to serve the client. i.e. Countdown timers that restart after a page refresh - no. Sign up due dates because your program starts on a certain date - yes. 3. Direct Response is Brand Building You are building a reputation. How people "feel" when they interact with your marketing and the entire buying process should invoke in them a sense of empowerment. When customers question if they are being taken advantaged of, you've already lost. --- Some of my favorite resources in this vein of thinking are: - This is Marketing by Seth Godin - Trust Me, I'm Lying by Ryan Holiday - The Redemptive Business by Praxis

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I'm a big fan of productized services for agencies. If you think you can't...it's probably because you haven't niched. (refer to my post on niching...long story short: it's not about picking an industry) Productizing your services is focused on highly profitable and repeatable services, scaling, efficient sales, and most importantly, shoppability for your prospective clients. I think a helpful way to think about layering offers as an agency is: * DIY (for the do it yourself / self-starter); This is about building a relationship with ideal clients that are at an earlier stage * DWY (done with you, I want a little support but want to lead myself); This is about showing them the value you can add within their budget and means. * DFY (we'll do it for you / outsourced); This is where you shine. And you can have 3 tiers of this core service. It's not a framework that is one size fits all. Some of my agency clients don't have a DIY offer at all. But a DIY offer could be a course...it could be mentorship...it could be advisory. And it likely is stuff you're doing for free today that you could monetize. A DWY offer could be a sprint, workshop, consulting, intensives A DFY offer could be a subscription, project-based or retainers There are so many ways you can productize and if this is not something you're exploring for your agency, you're missing out. Custom proposals and scoping is not the standard...and should be the exception for highly complex projects. If you want to chat about how you could make this transition for your agency, DM me Office Hrs and I'll share my private link to set up a 20 min. chat with me. 👩‍💻 #agencylife #agencyowner #agencygrowth

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After working with dozens of agency owners and helping them scale, I've noticed something interesting. When most marketing agencies step away from organic leads and try to close colder traffic, their close rates plummet like a rock tossed into the Grand Canyon. It's like their entire sales process gets hit by a wrecking ball, crumbling to pieces. And the typical reaction? "These leads just don't trust us enough to buy. We need to build more trust before the call!" But here's the truth… 99% of the time, a lack of trust has NOTHING to do with it. Sure, you might need to work a bit harder to connect with a prospect who doesn't know you yet. But trust issues aren't the real reason they're not buying at the end of the call. (I know, shocking!) In fact, I've rarely seen agencies overcome this problem by giving prospects more content to consume before the call (which most don't engage with anyway). Because the REAL issue is much deeper than that. The root of the problem is that their sales process and call structure are fundamentally flawed. For example, we recently worked with an agency that was struggling to convert cold leads. Their close rates were hovering around 8%, despite having a proven track record. We took over their lead gen funnel and helped them: ⇒ Build a much stronger offer ⇒ Fix the targeting and creatives ⇒ Restructure their call flow, asking better questions and presenting their offer in a more compelling way. Within just a few short weeks, their close rates skyrocketed to 35%. Those "trust issues" are merely a symptom flaring up at the end of the call, a byproduct of a broken sales approach from start to finish. I can't tell you how many times we've dug into an agency's sales calls, analyzing what they say, how they say it, and when they actually pitch... And suddenly, those "I need more case studies" or "I'm not sure if you're legit" objections vanish. (And this is without changing anything about their pre-call marketing.) Why? Because now they're running a proper sales call from beginning to end—regardless of the lead source. I can't stress this enough. Too many agencies get complacent with "organic" leads and THINK they're conducting real sales calls. But in reality, they wouldn't stand a chance when the prospect has no idea who they are before the call. The ONLY way to scale your agency is to nail your sales process from A to Z. Period. It can solve most (if not all) of your revenue problems right now. And here's the good news... When it comes to sales process overhauls, call flow optimizations, and non-pushy closing techniques... We've already done this for over dozens of agencies. And most of the time, we can pinpoint critical sales issues with just ONE review of your process. So if you want help fine-tuning your sales flow so you can scale your agency on cold traffic... Then click here now, watch a few of our case studies and book a call with me >>> https://lnkd.in/gd3StpVG

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The best email newsletters are like holy grails for content marketers. When you send content straight to your reader’s inbox, you bypass Google’s search algorithm and the changing whims of social media platforms. It’s the most direct connection you can have with your audience, short of showing up at work and slapping a PDF onto their sad desk lunch. Building an engaged email audience takes a great deal of time, and you have to make sure what’s in the newsletter is worth it for a reader to hand over an email address. If the content is good enough over time, people will come back for more.   We surveyed the best email newsletters covering financial topics, drawing inspiration from many of them. Below are the insights we were able to glean from finance content’s top contenders: https://lnkd.in/gC4GT6kW newslettermarketing #audienceengagement #contentcreation

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Came across this post and it’s so true! Many times I find people, individuals and even myself to hyper focus on improving one thing. But after a while there’s dimishing returns. ( also depends on the person’s context & goal ) How I view talent stacking or some call it skill stacking , is asking ourselves what potential combinations of skills could we add to our inventory to make our unique combination of skills even more “ valuable “. And then work towards learning the skill and putting it together haha Let me give you an example : If you’re a financial advisor you’re bombarded with many tasks. You have to : -learn how to sell -prospect -pitch & present your products / services -learn about the product you’re offering -put yourself out there ( branding & marketing ) -do client servicing And many more.. I always hear them giving comments like “ I have no leads “ My question to them is always : “ what are you doing differently or learning that would help add to your unique set of skills , which THEN WOULD RESULT IN MORE UNIQUE VALUE PROPOSITION? “ Because answering this would make you set apart and be different. Instead of being just the typical sales man, to keep pushing a product. So in summary, do you know what are your strengths, skills, unique combination of skills you currently have or seek out to learn? I created a unique framework for myself to help identify opportunities for myself. If you would like help for someone to do that for you, feel free to DM me! I don’t bite 😆

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A year after we saw marketing budget cuts, we've seen clients now having to increase their budgets, eliminating any short-term savings from a year ago. Cutting has long term risks. Why and what are they? When you cut budgets for myopic (short-term) gains, you lose market share, value and customer value. This means, and studies have shown this, you'll need to increase your marketing budget for 2-3 years after drastic cuts. Pure automation isn't the answer and adding to a MarTech or SalesTech stack can lead to increased complexity and the need to add humans to manage it, negating the intended savings. What to do? Be selective on budget cuts, look first to improve workflows, adjust ad spends, double down on defending market share and improve customer value. Marketing is strategic, sales is tactical. Marketing ROI is a longer-term play. Steady commitment leads to steady gains over time, improved customer value perception and more efficiency within the marketing team. #marketing #finance

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Are you getting Social Media Examiner's weekly emails? Every week, there is at least one incredibly useful insight that I save in Evernote or share in one of my groups. #socialmedia #socialmediamarketing

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Tip of the Day: "Create captivating headlines! 80% of people will read your headline, but only 20% will read the rest. Grab attention with compelling headlines that convey the value of your non-profit's work. #Headlines #NonprofitMarketing"

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Day 24 of Direct Mail: Swapping direct mail audiences with similar brands Ever wished you could partner with another brand with the same target audience to prospect each other's customers? Now you can. We call it DropSwaps. You’re friendly with other brands in your category. You’re both looking for new customers. Often the same customer is likely to buy from both of you. Think baby clothing and baby food. Same target customer, but not directly competitive. Now you can target their customers with a direct mail offer, and vice versa. We facilitate the whole thing, so no customer data is ever exchanged. Track conversions in your real-time PostPilot dashboard, just like any other campaign. Just swap, and drop.

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