Panic in the Streets!

Headlines blare:

• Marketing Is Dead!
• Websites Are Pointless!
• Don't Bother Blogging!
• Social Media Reach Is Gone!

Step AWAY from the Doom & Gloom!
Marketing basics are truly timeless and aren't going anywhere. If you're hoping for an easy way out of doing the marketing work by betting hard on AI, I predict a long wait. Your Mama was right—there's no easy way around work. 

Oh, sure—AI has its advantages, don't get me wrong.

• Yes, it's a time saver.
• Yes, it's a brilliant extra set of brains for strategy and ideas.
• Yes, reach with websites and the traditional marketing tools is down as everyone relies on AI summaries or searches. 
• Yes, Google announced they're changing their basic "search" function to be AI driven, featuring links you can click on if interested. 

Don't Despair!
In spite of all that, the basic marketing tools remain useful.

• Where do you think AI will be getting all of its search results from? Your marketing content!
• Focused searches for particular items or concepts remain relevant.
• AI searches provide links to their reference points—that means you!

I love this article from Blue Compass that shares website traffic hasn't dropped as significantly as predicted and offers ways to thrive in this AI era!

Birth of the Internet—Take 2!
Remember when the internet and the world wide web was a new and shiny thing in about 1990? It was going to change everything! It did—but it expanded our capabilities. It didn't replace them. 

AI is heading in a similar direction. There is a lot of talent expansion happening right now, maximizing our capabilities to do more faster. There are likely bumpy days ahead, don't get me wrong. 

But there is very definitely still a place for the basics of marketing.

Classic Marketing Isn't Going Anywhere
What would I call "classic marketing":

• Websites: This is typically your core anchor point and creates validity for you when searches or clients want to confirm if you're real or AI.
• Social media: While the reach is lousy these days and you can seemingly only get noticed by paying for ads, you still need to maintain a presence for search validity and credibility. 
• Email/newsletters: Emails and connections you own for communication is key as any of the socials can be moody, blocking you for no reason at all. Some say print is a hidden opportunity for the future.
• Public relations materials: Graphic designs for all of the above noted, business cards, flyers, and more are the backbone of all your marketing.
• Conversations: While all of the prior marketing tools potentially cost money, conversations don't have to. Sure, you can purchase membership in chamber organizations or networking groups, even premium LinkedIn, but a lot of conversations happen daily for free. This is the one area AI has no business in unless you're role playing, testing conversations, or researching someone before meeting. 

Is Blogging Useful?
Blog posts give you amazing material for visibility across all of your channels! Thanks to Nonprofit Tech for Good for sharing these blog statistics. 

• AI search: Blogs provide fresh material for your website to get picked up by AI searches.
• Social media content: Blog posts can be broken into multiple pieces to be shared over the course of time and reshared as your content library grows. Something you posted weeks or months ago will be new to new viewers and likely forgotten by your core crowd to be a great refresh. 
• Email/newsletters: Blog posts can be shared in whole, part, or teased in your emails. 
• Video content: You can share or expand on your blog material in video format to share bits on socials or fully on YouTube which can then be billed as a podcast. 

Your Turn!
How do you approach your marketing? What are you using as your core source of visibility?

I'd love to hear! Let's Chat or find me on LinkedIn or Substack to message!

If you'd like to consider working together, we start by looking at where you're marketing plan is and where you'd like to be to see if we're a good fit. We focus on what is manageable for your time and energy. Click any of the links above to start!

How Should I Get My Book Published?

While my focus is on marketing and not book publishing, this is a rather common question as a starting point. I've been grateful to spend time with many authors and publishing affiliated folks to become familiar with the basics of the options available.

I am the first to admit, I am no expert on this nor profess to be, but I'm an amazing researcher and am happy to share my discoveries and resources.  

Also bear in mind, publishing options change—plan to do a bit of research on the matter when you're ready to publish for the most current info.

First Book - Where's A Good Start?
Excellent question! Let's start by defining the global options available with thanks to Books.by for their tutorial and an amazing comparison chart:

• Marketplaces: you publish on their store, they have the customers, you receive a percentage of the sale - they keep 30-65% of the sale (Amazon, Barnes and Noble) 
• Distributors: they make your book available to retailers who then sell your book, gets you into stores you may not otherwise have access to, multiple middlemen means lower royalties, and you still don't own the customer relationship (IngramSpark, Draft2Digital)
• Direct sales: you sell directly to readers through your own processes, you own the customer relationship, highest royalties; however, you must generate all of the traffic, PR, and granular business aspects such as shipping and taxes (Books.by, Shopify, Gumroad, Lemon Squeezy)

​Chart below is courtesy of the same Books.by 2026 self-publishing guide:

Focusing on Amazon
My dear friend Gillian Whitney, author, podcaster, book coach, and publisher (with her husband), hosted a fabulous podcast February 25, 2025 discussing ISBNs which led to a discussion about Amazon publication options. She has transcribed the podcast into an article you can find here along with the option to listen to the podcast if you prefer. Above is her LinkedIn, here is her website.

Gillian's recommendation for first-time authors: "[I]f you are a first-time author who is unsure whether publishing is going to stick, the free ISBN [with Amazon] is a perfectly reasonable starting point. There is no shame in it. You can always change your mind later — it is just more work if you do."

ISBNs (each book format's individual book number of record) are needed to publish and sell books. A different one is needed for each book format. Purchasing them individually can be expensive, but they are sold in bundles a bit more affordably if you plan to publish in multiple formats or author multiple books. Gillian has plenty of detail in her article. Let's return our focus to Amazon, probably the most frequently used by independent authors.

Amazon's Free ISBN: The Pros and the Cons
Per Gillian's article: "Amazon (through Kindle Direct Publishing) offers a free ISBN for paperback and hardback editions. For Kindle eBooks, no ISBN is required at all — Amazon simply does not ask for one. Neither do Apple Books or Barnes & Noble Press for ebooks, though aggregators like Draft2Digital and IngramSpark do require them." The pros and cons are taken directly from her article.

• The Pros of Using Amazon's Free ISBN
  • It is genuinely free — no cost for paperback or hardback editions
  • Amazon handles registration for you — no metadata entry required on your part
  • Available to authors worldwide, not just in the United States
  • The book shows as "independently published" on BookWire — not as Amazon-branded
• The Cons of Using Amazon's Free ISBN
  • You cannot take it with you — the ISBN belongs to Amazon and cannot be used on any other platform
  • Amazon is listed as your publisher, not you
  • If you later want to move to a different platform using that ISBN, you will need to unpublish, apply for your own ISBN, republish, and then ask Amazon to transfer your reviews to the new listing

Buying Author Copies on Amazon
On behalf of a client, I asked Gillian about options for authors to purchase (affordably) printed copies of their book for distribution at meetings as a beautiful "business card" or to even sell independently off Amazon. I wasn't sure if there may be regulations about potentially inflating sales numbers if the author is the one predominantly purchasing the books. 

Here's what she had to say: "When an author publishes their book on Amazon, they have the ability to order Author copies at cost. You can order as many copies as you like (up to 999 per order) and sell them independently yourself at whatever markup price you choose. Many authors sell their author copies at conferences, speaking engagements, etc."

Very good to know—thank you, Gillian!

Get to the Point
There are a number of ways to consider publishing your book! We have only scratched the surface here, but we've laid the groundwork for future posts and tackled a decent summary about Amazon to get you started.

This post focuses on Amazon as it's one of the most popular means for authors aiming to publish independently rather than through traditional publishers whose process can take months and may ultimately not be accepted in their printing calendar. 

Gillian Whitney is a fabulous resource for authors looking to get published! She has published six books now and is involved on the publishing side of things with her husband. Her weekly podcast is roughly 30 minutes, hosting many guests related to the publishing and marketing process for books. She hosts monthly events on LinkedIn with featured guests for an hour where Q&A is available. 

Some authors prefer the broad distribution and authority of working with traditional publishers. Others prefer the speed and independence of independent publishing options.

As an independent author, you do have some input in the price that will be charged depending on whether you're aiming for a profit or prefer to "freely" share your information. Amazon has a rock-bottom price point of slightly above the cost to print a book or $0.99 minimum for Kindle books.

Your Turn!
Have you published a book yet or thinking about it? Any stumbling blocks along the way?

A book is an amazing asset to have for your business to demonstrate your thought leadership and expertise! It's a fabulous calling card for authors, solopreneurs, and even nonprofits interested in broadening their reach.

I'd love to hear your experiences! I'd also be very happy to help you put the finishing touches on your nonfiction book with proofreading/editing skills. My favorite part of publishing is the marketing before and after your book is published--Let's Chat! You can also find me on LinkedIn and Substack! 

Visibility, Conversations, Opportunities, Clients

I've had the pleasure of "meeting" Tracy Beavers through her website, newsletter, a webinar she offered, podcast, and Facebook group. I absolutely adore her approach to gaining clients that I'll call "relationship marketing" which is my preferred style. 

Tracy works with her clients on the nuts and bolts of marketing techniques - the value of websites, an email list to get into inboxes, and even Facebook groups for real-time conversations. 

But what I really love about Tracy's methods is her focus on conversations. 

Tracy's style aims "to turn everyday interactions into genuine relationships, meaningful opportunities, and ultimately, paying clients.

 ✔ Visibility creates conversations.

 ✔ Conversations create opportunities.

 ✔ Opportunities create clients."

Her focus is in building real relationships. 

​I adore that. 

Is Relationship Marketing Really a Thing?
Turns out the answer is yes! (I thought I was just making up the term!)

According to Wikipedia:
"Relationship marketing is a form of marketing developed from direct response marketing campaigns that emphasizes customer retention and satisfaction rather than sales transactions.[1][2] It differentiates from other forms of marketing in that it recognises the long-term value of customer relationships and extends communication beyond intrusive advertising and sales promotional messages.[3]"

Continuing from Wikipedia: "The technique was first proposed by American marketing scholars Berry (1983) and Jackson (1985). Berry (1983) argued in a conference about the field of service marketing that relationship marketing is a marketing activity for enterprises to obtain, maintain and promote effective relationships with customers. . .Jackson (1985) further modified the concept in the aspect of industry marketing. He argued that the essence of relationship marketing is to attract, establish and maintain a close relationship with enterprise customers."

While I appreciate these early efforts to define Relationship Marketing, my take after many years of working with nonprofits, many more years in hospitals as a physical therapist, and more recently as a business owner focusing on marketing, my approach focuses on customer satisfaction, retention, and simply revolves around conversations. 

Let's review Tracy's approach one step at a time.

Visibility Creates Conversations
Visibility is created in a variety of ways which can naturally lead to conversations.

• Your website - you share your message here and often have a Contact form
• Your email newsletter or simply email communication
• Your social media or messaging through those services
• In-person and online networking opportunities and follow-up conversations
• Maybe you've written a book - that will definitely create conversations!
• Online discussion boards, forums, and groups - interact and share your knowledge
• Maybe you host a podcast! Lots of conversations with guests, their audience, your audience, and promotion before and after the latest episode. 

Conversations Create Opportunities
Conversations and Opportunities can happen in many ways. 

• You may get invited to be a guest on a podcast or webinar
• Collaborate, partner, or trade podcast guest options
• Collaborate or contribute to articles with someone else
• Tag those you know or would like to know to interact with your posts
• Get featured in a magazine
• Be featured on a panel discussion or speak at an event
• Conversations will keep you top-of-mind for others to recommend and connect you
• Being "out there," noticed, and having conversations will lead to any number of opportunities!

Opportunities Create Clients
Thanks to your visibility creating a myriad of opportunities, you're bound to be hired for your services! While obtaining clients is likely ultimately the goal, it doesn't need to be pushy. It's more a matter of being in the right place at the right time when someone identifies a need you could be the perfect person to fill.

• ​Take conversations deeper with online or in-person "coffee chats" to get to know each other better.
• Listen more than talk - how can you serve someone, what are their pain points?
• Have ways others can easily share what you do should they find someone who may be a good fit - have a flyer or email language ready for someone to share.
• Have your business card (hard copy or digital option) ready for in-person networking events (Blinq has a free digital version of a business card).
• Be ready to share the easiest way someone can see what services you offer - maybe a QR code linking to a flyer or your website.
• Have a plan ready to quickly vet potential clients to ensure it's a good fit. Starting with a lousy client relationship or someone you don't get along with is not a fun way to do business. 
• Be ready to talk project pricing, whether you have a firm price structure or personalize the service with the price. 

Your Turn!
Where is your biggest challenge - Visibility? Conversations? Converting conversations into opportunities and clients? 

Love to hear if you're a Relationship Marketer as well and where you're focusing your efforts - Let's Chat or find me on LinkedIn or Substack!

What Is It?

Per Givelink's LinkedIn About section: "We're a transparent giving platform where donors pick real items needed by real people, give online, and see photo proof of their help reaching someone's life. Every donation is visible. Every item is tracked. Every life reached is real."

Per Panos Kokmotos, one of three co-founders of Givelink, he describes Givelink as "helping nonprofits get the exact goods they need, and helping donors see where their money goes."

What Do They REALLY Do?
Givelink serves nonprofits coming and going.

• ​If you're a nonprofit seeking in-kind donations, Givelink has the perfect system to streamline order deliveries, confirm deliveries (hello, Amazon photo proof!), and most importantly help you thank your donors to build ongoing relationships!
• It's also a fabulous database of vetted nonprofits for those seeking their next good cause to support. 

Graphics that describe Givelink's advantages best as adapted from their website:

How Much Does It Cost?
As if this little gem could get any better, the generous folks of Givelink manage it! Use of this amazing service is free to nonprofits! Just be ready to provide your EIN for them to confirm your nonprofit status. 

Get to the Point
As you can tell, I'm a bit over-the-moon excited for my recent discovery of Givelink! I've enjoyed chatting with Panos by zoom to get to know each other and email for continued discussions. 

This service meets a huge need in the nonprofit realm.

• I've been on the receiving or purchasing end of donation lists, trying to manage items from Amazon Wish Lists where it's not always easy to confirm the address is built in if you're purchasing to have items mailed to the list creator.
• If you built the Amazon Wish List, you have items arriving at all sorts of days and times and can never be sure deliveries will be safe if there are "porch pirates" in your neighborhood. Heaven help you if you'll be traveling and packages keep arriving!
• It's not always easy to determine who purchased the item to donate to even consider thanking them or confirming the donation arrived.
• Donors automatically receive a tax-deductible receipt once a delivery photo is uploaded!
• If you're lucky, you know the donor to be able to send a personal thank you for their generosity. Otherwise, it's impossible to follow-up or send ongoing information about your cause. 
• No contracts, no minimums, no commitments—just sign up in the platform.
• Givelink assists you with adding a "Give In-Kind" button to embed on your website, emails, and social media to drive donations.
• In-kind donors retain 60% more than any other monetary platform currently on Givelink.

​
How Do I Sign Up?
You can email Panos directly or head to Givelink's For Nonprofits page for details and ways to get started. 
​
Your Turn!
Solopreneurs and authors—you likely work with nonprofits who may benefit from this service. Please share with them!

Nonprofits—I hope you give Givelink a try! What are you currently using if you have in-kind donations needed? 

I'd love to hear if there are alternative options out there - Let's Chat (shoot me an email) or message me on LinkedIn or Substack!