WOW! 100 episodes!! I can't believe it and am so thankful for all of you that listen each week. We've had some amazing episodes over the years so I'm sharing a few that have been the most popular and stood out to me.

Want to skip ahead?  Here are some key takeaways:

[4:14] Episode 6 – Sarah Cook is a Storybrand certified writer and she shares some essentials for the copy on your homepage. She shares some amazing recommendations and this is one of the most popular episodes we've ever done!
[6:20] Episode 63 – Jumping into LinkedIn with Anthony Blatner. LinkedIn can be such a powerful tool when it comes to connection and building relationships with potential donors. They are constantly adding new features and if you haven't explored LinkedIn yet then what's holding you back!
[9:00] Episode 24 – Sales funnels with Cody Burch. Don't be scared by sales funnels. They can be a great way for you to map out your donor journey so you can reach more people and get them into your donor base and then retain them.
[9:56] Episode 58 – innovating with Tom Bedell. I loved having my dad on the podcast. With everything that has been going on in our world, innovating is a way that we'll keep moving forward and growing. I love to think outside the box and this conversation with him was a fun way that he has done the same in his businesses.
[12:51] Episode 28 – Starting a Podcast with Krystal Proffitt. Podcasting is my method of choice for content creation. Krystal gives you a Podcasting 101 rundown if you're thinking of starting your own.
[13:57] Episode 27 – Pivoting your Business with Kelsey Chapman. Kelsey went from having a hugely successful consulting business to having it all disappear because of an algorithim change, something she couldn't control. She's sharing her experience and how she learned from it and moved forward. She really turned something terrible into a positive for her and is now thriving with her new book launch.
[18:36] Episode 75 – Optimizing your Donation Page with Michelle Frechette. A well converting donation page makes it easy for people to give you their money and that's what we all want! Learn some things to think about when it comes to the forms you use, the information you collect and how to create a great customer experience.
[18:48] Episode 78 – Treating all donors like Major Donors with Gabe Cooper of Virtuous. I love automating the donor experience so they get those personal touches and feel more engaged with your organization. Gabe has so many ideas for ways you can give them that pesonal touch and maintain your staff time, whether the donor gives $5/month or $5,000/month.
[20:36] Episode 87 – Empathy with your Donors with Ali Cammelletti. How we talk to each other makes such an impact. When we remember to treat our donors as people and not as $$$ we can deepen those relationships and stand out. It's such a great reminder to use empathy, especially now, and with your staff, team, family, friends, etc.

Resources

Ep 6 | 4 Essential Homepage Copy Tips with Storybrand Certified Writer, Sarah Cook
Ep 63 | Time to Jump Into LinkedIn
EP 24 | Sales Funnels with Cody Burch
Ep 58 | My Dad and Business Part II: Innovation
Ep 28 | Start Your Podcast with Krystal Proffitt
EP 27 | How Kelsey Chapman Innovates and Pivots In Her Business
Ep 75 | Maximizing your Donation Page with GiveWP
Ep 78 | Treating All Donors Like your Major Donors
Ep 87 | Empathy and your Donors with Ali Cammelletti
Kelsey Chapman “What They Taught Me”

Full Transcript

[INTRO] Hey everybody, Sami, your host of the digital marketing therapy podcast and I'm ready to pop some champagne and party We are at 100 episodes, I can't believe it, it has been an amazing journey, recording these podcasts for you scheduling the interviews, getting everything pulled together, having so much fun with it. I just want to say thank you so much for listening and being there with me, we started this. Our first podcast was released in on April 24, 2019. And we've gone through different, you know, styles iterations, we had fast fact Friday for a while. But here we are 100 episodes. So I'm super excited and thankful and appreciate you guys going on this listening journey with me, as we switched from, you know, content that's geared towards anybody who needs to do marketing to kind of niching down into the nonprofit space. It's, it's, it's been an adventure. And I hope just kind of a reminder to you that we are all always ever evolving in our organizations and what we do, and we are always, you know, pushing and challenging ourselves to do better to serve more efficiently to serve more people to serve more humans, animals, environment, whatever it is, and that we have the right to try things, test things, make mistakes, keep going, and the sky will not fall apart. Right.

So um, today, I wanted to talk about nine episodes that I have loved and that have withstood the test of time, some of them and also some of the favorites are included in there some of the favorites that I know that you guys have really listened to a lot and enjoyed listening to. So I'm going to talk a little bit about these nine episodes. And hopefully, you'll go back and revisit them and get re inspired by some of the things that we discussed in these topics. And, and keep your digital marketing in your businesses growing and get more visibility. That's really what we're here to do with this podcast is to really help you grow to really help you make marketing easier, less nerve wracking to ditch that imposter syndrome where you feel like maybe you're not as good as some of the other people that are out there or, or whatever, all the things right. We are here to support you in that.

And if you ever have topics that you would love for us to talk about, please hit us up. There's a form at the bottom of thefirstclick.net website, where you can put that information in there on the podcast. And, you know, just just let us know how we can support you because we are here for you. So with that, let's just hop right into the episode and get things going.

[CANNED INTRODUCTION] You're listening to the Digital Marketing Therapy Podcast. I'm your host, Sami Bedell-Mulhern. And each week, I bring you tips from myself and other experts, as well as hot seats with small business owners and entrepreneurs to demystify digital marketing and get you on your way to generating more leads and growing your business.You're listening to the digital marketing therapy podcast. I'm your host, Sammy Bedell-Mulhern. And each week, I bring you tips from myself and other experts, as well as hot seats with small business owners and entrepreneurs to demystify digital marketing, and get you on your way to generating more leads and growing your business.

[BODY] Okay, so I want to start off by just saying I mentioned earlier about the evolution and how we grow, change and evolve and expand and learn. You're gonna see that also because our show notes have evolved and changed and as we've gone, and we haven't yet had a chance to go back and clean them all up. So just another example of being real and raw. And you know, still appreciating where you've come from old blog posts, old whatever, old emails, old annual reports that you look at that maybe you're like, Oh my gosh, you know, we've come so far and celebrate that instead of cringe. So I'm just going to throw that out there because I'm learning and having this lesson play out for me as I record this episode as well, but, but I will also be linking up all of these episodes in the show notes. So please make sure you head on over to https://www.thefirstclick.net/podcast. Check out the show notes so that you can listen to all of these amazing episodes.

Episode 1
So the first one I want to mention is oh, like one of our originals. So it's episode six. This is with Sarah cook. From wellness writers pro she was web. I'm sorry, she was NDPen. Now she's wellness website Pro, but she's a storybrand certified writer and she just had such great information on how to really make your homepage on your website, packet pump punch when it comes to copy. So what are some things you should think about? What are the most important things to have on your website? homepage? And how can all of this help lead people to diving deeper potentially making donations or what have you So she shares a lot of really awesome information. And this has been one of our most popular podcast episodes. Now granted, it's been around the longest. But it is amazing. So Episode Six, for central homepage, copy tips with story brand certified writer, Sarah cook, she is incredible.

And what you're going to hear to throughout some of these episodes is us talking, you know, more specifically to nonprofit organizations sometimes and not in others. But I really want to challenge you in that the concepts are still the same. So what works in the nonprofit space, or what works in the for profit space, excuse me, will work really well in the nonprofit space, you might have to make a little tweaks here and there, but don't feel like these need to be completely separate styles of marketing, because that's just not the case, our audiences are showing up in the same places. And so let's take some of these actions.

So the copy in the way that she talks about it, I think you'll really find find impactful, and I know that I love to re listen to this episode whenever I can, because I always remind myself of something new every time.

Episode 2
Okay, so the second one is Episode 63. Time to jump into LinkedIn. And we chatted with Anthony Blatner, from modern media all about LinkedIn. LinkedIn is one of those platforms that I feel like people don't find enough value in and when done the right way, it's a great place to find your donors, it's a great place to find people that care about your cause. It's a great place to find employees like it can be a really impactful platform for nonprofit organizations for all organizations. And they keep adding new features to it all the time. So I'm sure that there's new features that have come out since we recorded this episode, because it was recorded quite a while ago. But you know, there's events, there's video, there's all sorts of things, putting up articles, there's so many ways that you can utilize LinkedIn and not have to create specifically for the platform, but just to share what you already have going on on that platform as well. Again, this was another popular episode that we did almost a year ago. But definitely check it out. And let me know if you're on LinkedIn, if that's something that you're are on let's connect let's let's check. Okay, so we're getting through these already.

Episode 3
Episode 24, sales funnels with Cody Burch. Cody Burch is the founder of red anchor marketing. And, um, you know, sales funnel is one of those things that I feel like it's one of those words that people get stressed out about, like, how do I create a sales funnel? Oh, my gosh, then I have to have all these moving pieces, I have to have all of these. Email automations. And I have to have all these marketing triggers. And it can be overwhelming. It doesn't have to be overwhelming. And you might be thinking, Well, why would I want to talk about sales funnels? Like I'm fundraising. So think about this episode in the from the standpoint of donor, like, how do I get somebody from being interested in my organization, at the top of funnel to really just at the end of the day choosing to give their hard earned money to me? And that's really all the sales funnel? Is? Is your donor journey, right? What's your donor journey look like. And if you haven't mapped it out, it might be something good to do, again, doesn't have to be super fancy, it can be on a regular piece of paper, and you just write down like, these are the things that we're doing to get people to know that know about us, maybe you're running Facebook ads, maybe you're asking your volunteers to reach out to people they know, you're asking your donors to introduce you to people, you know, like there could be different activities at every different stage.

So this was a great episode again, some one that a lot of you guys have said it has been helpful for you. And I highly recommend checking that out if that's something you guys are in the mood to work on in your organization. And I want to pause there and say, just because I'm telling you to listen to these nine episodes doesn't mean you need to listen to all nine episodes, right? So let's make sure that you're focusing on the ones that are going to make the biggest impact for you right now. Like what are the things that you can take action on right now. The rest of it might not be ready for you, you might not need it. Don't worry about it. Make sure you're just focusing on the things that are going to help you take action.

Episode 4
Okay. The next one is personally a super fun one and why I included it all this list, Episode 58, I did Episode 57 and 58 with my dad, Tom Bedell. And, um, you know, it was recorded in a time when COVID was really ramping up. We didn't know, you know what things were going to turn into how things were going to evolve. But we knew that COVID was going to change the way that we do business. We knew that it was going to force more people to get online, we knew it was going to force more people to change the way that they engage with their customers and donors, the way that they provide products and services to their customers and donors. And so Episode 58 is part two, where we all talk about innovation. And it was just so fun.

How can we innovate inside of our businesses to do things differently? Think outside the box and see better results? How can we trust and try new things and see what happens because I think 2020 forced a lot of organizations to do that to just see what happens and some did it better than others. And so I just, this is one of my favorite episodes. And I am so thankful to have my dad as one of my business mentors and role models and just to have him as, as my dad. So this is one that I will say I think maybe you should just listen to just because it might inspire you to think a little bit differently and how you do things. So that's Episode 58. My dad in business, part two innovation. If you want to listen to part one, you can do that as well, where we just talk about entrepreneurship, which is also a fun topic.

Episode 5
Now you guys know that podcasting is my content creation of choice. So what would it be if I didn't have on my list, a podcast about podcasting. Um, so if any of you are thinking about or interested in starting your own podcast, absolutely hit me up, I always love to geek out and talk about podcasting, and formatting and how we do everything. There's so many ways to do it. But I also had Krystall Proffitt, join me on episode 28, to talk about starting your own podcast, and she goes through so many things with regards to the tech that you need, or don't need, how to format it, all of the things that's a really great podcasting one on one episode. So if that's something you've been thinking about, I highly recommend checking out Episode 28. Remember that podcasting can be as, you know, easy or as complicated, just like anything as you want it to be. So you can easily create small episodes that require little editing, pop them up. You don't have to do a show notes page, you can do a show notes page. Like all the things you can do it in the way that best fits the personality of you and your organization. Right? Do you interview people? Do you do solo episodes? Like, do you,  you know, some people push episodes out three times a week, which I find to be crazy overwhelming. We did two a week for a while. And that was crazy overwhelming. So we're down to one a week. And it's been great. We have a combination of solo episodes and interview episodes. And you know, so you can really just make it what you want. So, Episode 28 podcasting. I really like it because for me to sit here and talk to you guys is much easier than it takes less time than it does for me to sit down and write a long form blog post even though it's the exact same information. So people might be the same with being on camera and video. So it's really all about picking and choosing the content that feels good for you and your organization. I love podcasting. So if you do too, then definitely check out Episode 28.

Episode 6
Okay, so then now to go to kind of a mindset shift. So like we talked about earlier, COVID definitely made us all flip and figure out how to do things a little bit differently. But it's not just COVID that can make our plans change in our businesses. And one of my good business friend colleagues, Kelsey Chapman had a bunch of clients that she was working with on Instagram. When the Instagram algorithm changed, they changed some of their policies her entire business went from, you know, great to nothing like literally nothing overnight. So Episode 27 she comes to talk about how she pivoted how she took that, you know, what could have been just the end of her entire business how she flipped that and move forward and continue to grow and change. So that's Episode 27. And it's just really inspiring and I think a good room minder and a good? a good reminder for us to have these contingency plans in place.

So if something happens, how do you how do you go into crisis management to just, you know, communicate with your donors or to communicate with your team or to get something out to the press, like having all of these things in place, will help you not stress when when something happens, something will happen at some point in your organization's lifespan, right? Whether it's a board member, and there's legal action being taken against against them, and you have to deal with that now, as far as how people are going to perceive your organization. And maybe it is a project that you're working on falls through. And so then you need to be able to, you know, go back to the donors that supported that project. And, you know, say, Okay, well, now here's how we're going to pivot the funds so that, you know, you don't have to give the money back, you know, yeah, the idea that we could go on and on. So this is a great episode, just to live in these things that you cannot control, how a plan to figure out how to move forward, and then move forward. I think it's a great lesson for all of us to hear, because these things happen. And we tend to feel frustrated, I mean, like how many times it's something as little as like, I sent out an email with the title. And then somebody writes in and says, hey, there's a typo, you know, you get in your own head about it. And in end of the day, that's not really going to make or break, how you're successful in your organization.

So I love having a plan. I love thinking about what you know, what our communication looks like, and how we handle things, worst case scenario, so that you don't have to worry so much about it, when it when it happens, you're ready to go. Okay, and she's just Kelsey is just an amazing human. And she's so inspiring. And I think you'll just love hearing her take and how this, you know, affected her shutting down our business and how she was able to move on. And she's doing spoiler alert. She's doing great, by the way, just launched her book about mentorship. So I'll make sure to link up her book in the show notes, because she does reference it in the episode and it is great. It's incredible. All right. Now, for the next episode, I think we're on what 1234567 we're on episode seven of the nine that we're highlighting.

Episode 7
So you know that I'm all about websites. I'm all about conversions on your website so that you can wake up in the morning and see new donations coming through. Because that just gives us all happy answers. Right? So Episode 75 is with Michelle Frechette of give WP and she is here talking about ways to make your donation page stand out, and how to really get it to where people are engaging with it, giving you money, some things to think about when it comes to your donation page. We love it. It's great. We love give two beefy shout out we are we our affiliates have given up but we love it. Um, there's lots of different platforms that you can use. So it doesn't have to be give WP but the way that she's talking about how to utilize your donation page, and how to tell a story and how to, you know, use forms to track content and or contacts. It doesn't matter what platform you use, all of these strategies and tools that she's talking about are beneficial to everybody. So I do think just like I said, a couple of these are most listens. I would say this is the most listened to.

I mean, maybe I should have just said go ahead and listen to all nine because they're all pretty good. So sorry about that backtracking a little bit, right. So give them up Episode 75 maximizing your donation page.

Episode 8
And then shortly after that we recorded Episode 78 with Gabe Cooper of virtuous He's the founder and CEO of virtuous and virtuous is a responsive CRM and marketing platform. And what he talked about was how to treat all donors like major donors, and especially thinking about your monthly giving campaigns and your monthly giving context. So how can you retain those donors and turn people into monthly donors and keep people coming back for more regardless of whether they give $5 a month or $500 a month because we know you know you have that opportunity then to walk them up the ladder and get them to give more long term. So he's got great ideas simple automations ways to make it personal and how to make it more about yourself. And less about you. Another really impactful Episode Episode, a virtuous is doing some incredible things within the CRM, marketing space, and has lots of great opportunities there. And so they've seen a lot of data, they've seen a lot of things work, and just a wealth of knowledge. So I really appreciated that conversation with Gabe, at virtuous. So Episode 78, treating all donors like major donors, something we all strive to do, but probably don't do as well as maybe we should. So it's a good reminder and some good action steps that you guys can take to get back on.

Episode 9
Okay, so the last one that I want to talk about with you guys, and now let you get to listening is Episode 87. So this is a more recent one. But I wanted to end with this one, because there's so much hustle and bustle that's going on. There's so much stress. There's, you know, we all are living in our own little bubble of of things that we have to get done every day. And remembering just to pick up the phone, call a donor and just ask how they're doing might not be at the top of your list. treating your donors with empathy is something though that I think, makes a huge impact and sets you apart from all the other organizations. And Ali Cammelletti, joins me on episode 87, to really talk about how to use empathy with your donors. And it's just a great reminder, because it's also like how can we use empathy with each other? How can we use empathy with our co workers, with our families, with our friends with our colleagues? How can we show up in a way that provides a safe space for people to feel the feels, and for us to feel the feels so it is a more recent one, but I just think it's such a good one. We had such a great conversation. And I really appreciate the examples that Allie shares in this episode of ways that you can speak to your donors on the phone, how you can use it in your annual appeals or your letters, how you can use it in your emails, your social media posts. So just a great one, to end with, to remember to be kind to each other and have empathy and talk to each other and not have judgment in comparison.

[CLOSING] So those are the nine episodes that I wanted to make sure we talked about on this episode on this 100 episode celebration. So I hope you're popping champagne with me. And I'm not really popping champagne, because I'm recording this at nine in the morning. But celebrate with me and I would love to hear what some of your favorite episodes have been. And again, what types of content you would love to hear more about what would be impactful for your organization, because you know, we're planning on being around for 100 more.

So you can leave those at https://www.thefirstclick.net you can leave them in a review on Apple podcasts, you can leave them in our Facebook group, which is https://facebook.com/groups/thefirstclick, whatever it is, let me know which of these nine was your favorite. And if there's one that we should have put on the list that we didn't, but I so appreciate you guys, thank you so much for listening and I just hope you have a great day and I'll see you in the next one.