Beyond the Basics

This post will share updated information from this post from a year ago based on my own experience and adding insight from a couple of resources. 

Are Newsletters Useful?
"Is it worth my time to create a newsletter?" - yes! Let's review some statistics.


​From this Stripo article, January 2026:

• Return on Investment: For every $1 spent on email marketing, $10-$36 is generated in sales and even as much as $50 for high performers.
• B2C (Business to Customer) conversion: 59% of consumers attribute purchases to email notices received. Sales due to emails account for roughly 11% of company eCommerce sales and, perhaps more importantly, engage customers after sales and increase brand loyalty. 

36Agency confirms many of these numbers and adds more:

• "Regularly connecting with customers, past customers, and leads builds loyalty and keeps your brand at the forefront of their minds. Personalized content boosts open and engagement rates by 26%,..."
• "Monthly newsletters establish a direct line of communication with your customers, keeping them up-to-date with essential information and developments. Unlike social media posts that can get lost in the noise, emails land directly in recipients’ inboxes. This directness ensures that your audience receives your updates without any extra steps, making it a reliable method of communication."
• Newsletters also enable you to gain feedback from customers through survey questions and email replies.

According to Media Beats: "Newsletters are among the few channels that you fully control. They offer data privacy, independence, and long-term customer retention. 88% of people read their emails daily, with 78% doing so before starting work. No other communication channel reaches users as reliably and consistently."

But What About AI?
Newsletters remain useful in this developing AI world—I suggest more than ever!

From The Current's February 11, 2026 post:

• Regulators in Europe and the UK are moving to curb Google's AI Overviews which are increasingly limiting traffic to websites. Proposals have included publishers being able to opt out of AI overviews to others taking legal action, filing antitrust complaints. 
• A repeated theme in sources including The Current post above and Creator's MBA encourages newsletters as one of few owned media options, enabling one to be seen in inboxes and even monetize through subscriptions or advertisement relationships. If AI summaries will reduce website traffic, email newsletters are the way to connect with customers. 

Media Beats identifies newsletters as a powerful tool to boost reach, trust, and revenue. 

Newsletter Options
There are a number of platforms to consider for your newsletter once you've determined your strategy and market. Many, including me, provide a newsletter on multiple channels, including all three listed below. Consider your audience for what your best strategy should be.

• LinkedIn: Newsletters on LinkedIn are a series of articles you identify at the beginning as a "newsletter," which becomes a series of articles going to your subscribers. It's recommended you defer creating a newsletter on this platform until you have at least 1,000 followers as the first edition goes to every connection you have so they can then subscribe to receive news. LinkedIn helpfully offers new connections to subscribe to your newsletter - an automatic feature. Portions are sent to subscriber email addresses and guided back to LinkedIn for the full post. The trick on these is you do not own nor can you see the addresses of each of your subscribers. 
• Substack: Newsletters on Substack are a series of articles initially created as a "newsletter," just like on LinkedIn. It takes longer to build a substantial subscriber list, but you can begin creating your newsletter immediately rather than hold until you reach a certain number to begin. These newsletters can be shared for free or monetized as monthly or annual subscriptions. Substack does have a fee on subscriptions you collect but not extreme. You can download and keep the email addresses of subscribers so they can become your forever property. Substack news goes to subscribers' feed and via email. 
• Direct email provider: You control, create, and select this service provider. A variety of options have been covered on this blog post from a year ago. Many provide a free version of their service to start.

Your Turn!
Do you have a newsletter? Do you offer it on one or more platforms?

I'd love to hear how it's going for you and I love to subscribe to newsletters! If you'd like to talk strategy or need a hand creating a newsletter, Let's Chat or find me on LinkedIn or Substack!

What's the Big Deal?

An author client asked for assistance to determine how to sell pdfs of stories - digital products - as frictionless as possible, preferably without the vendor asking for a customer's mailing address. 

Turns out, it's not as easy as you may think. 

There are a number of laws to consider, especially if you may have international sales, let alone considering different tax laws among 50 states of the US. (eeek!) 

Selling digital products adds yet another layer of complexity.

Keeping It Simple
This post will not go into heavy technical detail to set up your online store. I'm happy to assist you - Let's Chat! - but the intent of this post is to share a few points to ponder and a few resources available, aiming for the most simplicity to get my nonprofits, solopreneurs, and authors heading in the right direction.

Useful Terminology

• Merchant of Record (MoR): According to this Stripe article from January 2026, "refers to the entity that is legally authorized and responsible for processing customer payments—including credit and debit card transactions and digital wallet transactions—for goods or services on behalf of a business. The MoR is liable for the financial, legal, and compliance aspects of transactions, and its work includes dealing with banks, card networks, and regulatory bodies. The MoR is an important actor in ecommerce transactions and can fundamentally shape the process and experience of online payments." Using a platform that will process sales for you, especially sale of digital items, in accordance with a myriad of tax laws, nationally and internationally, is well worth the trouble—your tax accountant will thank you!
• VAT (Value-Added Tax)/GST (Goods & Services Tax): Sales tax for European (VAT) and Australian (GST) customers. Taxes are based on the location of the buyer, not seller. 
• ISO 20022: Global payment standard (initiated in 2004) effective November 2026 where a minimum of city and country will be required for online transactions. Two forms of address verification will be needed - IP (computer) address that's identified behind the scenes and billing address. 
• PDF Stamp: deters people from sharing his stories for free by putting the buyer's email on every page. Lemon Squeezy, Dodo Payments, and Payhip, when enabled, these platforms automatically "burns" or watermarks the buyer's email address (and sometimes a transaction ID) onto the corner of every single page of the PDF upon download.

Online Sales Vendor Options

• Lemon Squeezy: A full-service MoR, they handle 100% of the taxes globally on your behalf. Apple Pay and Google Pay can be used making check-out frictionless for the buyer. Fees are 5% + $0.50 - reasonable. Has additional tools like newsletter creation options. 
• Dodo Payments: A full-service MoR, they handle 100% of the taxes globally as Lemon Squeezy does. Uses a pop-up overlay intended to make check-out as streamlined as possible. Fees are 4% + $0.40.
• Paddle: A full-service MoR, they handle 100% of the taxes globally as Lemon Squeezy and Dodo Payments. Offers a "contacts us" option if you'll be selling items under $10. Fees are 5% + $0.50.
• Gumroad: A full-service MoR, they sell digital products including memberships and courses. Create a website through their platform or connect it to your own website. Fees are rather steep - 10% + $0.50.
• Payhip: You can toggle off the billing address requirement for digital products. Does NOT handle US sales tax - not a full-service MoR. For the US, Canada, and Australia, they only calculate the tax; your client would still be responsible for registering with states and filing those taxes himself making it far more work. 5% fee and PayPal/Stripe fees apply. 
• Sellfy: Sell digital products, physical products, print on demand items, and subscriptions. Your store looks like a website, and you can connect your own domain to it. Email marketing and a few additional features are available. Fees $22/mo + PayPal or Stripe fees, whichever platform you connect. Does NOT handle US sales tax or VAT/GST - seller takes full responsibility for tax collection.

Thinking Ahead - Newsletter Building
Enable an Opt In button on your sales platform which will legally allow you to add name and email of your buyer to your email list. Just because you made a sale, does not give consent to receive ongoing communications, especially per European standards. 

Get to the Point
If you'll be doing online sales and are not a nonprofit (501c3's do not require tax collection if they have gone through the IRS approval process), you have a few things to consider.

• Who will be purchasing: customers in the US only or internationally potentially?
• What are you selling: physical products that may also require shipping or digital items? (this post focuses on digital items as a unique item) Many websites enable connecting Square, PayPal, or Stripe for payments, but you still need to consider taxes/VAT/GST and how you wish to handle that.
• Will you be handling taxes on sales or is it easier to use a platform that will handle it? Be sure to look for a system that will act as your Merchant of Record (MoR).
• Enable Apple Pay and Google Pay: This makes check-out a breeze for your buyers who use those systems.
• Be sure to add PDF Stamp language to digital items you're selling: Possible language - © 2026 [Name]. All rights reserved. No part of this publication (including text, plot, and arrangement) may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form without the prior written permission of the author.
• Add an Opt In button to all sales: This will enable you to build a newsletter distribution list from buyers who are already your fan!

Your Turn
Have you done any digital sales and worked through this process? Love to hear your experience, what platform you selected, and why - Let's Chat! Or find me on LinkedIn or Substack!

Internal AND External Fraud Risk for Nonprofits

Nonprofits face the unique threat of scams, fraud, or theft—whatever you wish to call it—from both internal and external sources. This has the potential to be even more costly than scams faced by solopreneurs and authors as discussed in the linked blog posts. 

PBMares notes a median reported loss in 2024 of $76,000-$85,000 - egad! Bear in mind, "nonprofit" covers a range of organizations from those small enough to not have any salaried staff to large hospital chains for where such large numbers may come from. 

Internal Fraud
Examples noted can occur in any size organization. The PBMares article and Church Mutual Insurance are resources for this information.

• Corruption: Outright theft. "Theft" can be anything from swiping office supplies to products that would otherwise be sold to customers for personal use or, more often, resale. It can also include pocketing cash at events from gift shop or raffle ticket sales. 
• Billing fraud: This can include billing for a more expensive item.
• Check or payment tampering: The PBMares article shares a story of someone opening a bank account with the same name of the employer at a different bank and simply diverting checks to the personal account.
• Skimming: This includes overcharging and pocketing the extra.  

Red Flags
These are things to pay attention to with staff and volunteers:

• Living beyond their means
• Financial difficulties
• Extremely close relationships with vendors
• Defensiveness
• Bullying
• Unwilling to share duties

Detection

• Whistleblowers: anonymous online forms, email, or message tip lines
• Fraud awareness training
• Regular internal audits
• Management reviews
• More than one person as a system of checks and balances

​External Fraud
In this digital era, outdated security mechanisms, AI helping scammers sound very convincing, and trusting volunteers open the door to risk for nonprofits. Lack of documented policies about fraud or theft responses and what/how to share information with external agencies increase nonprofit risk according to the same PBMares article.

According to Nonprofits Insurance Alliance, ​"losses tied to voluntary transfer of funds are not covered under standard insurance terms." There are a number of examples shared on the post from those impacted by scammers. Information from Intermixit and Church Mutual Insurance are included in this list of scams as well. 

Types of scams

• Cyberattacks: Cautiously review who messages are actually from, not just who they say they're from (bogus email addresses or phone numbers). Opening attachments from unknown or fake sources can lead to malware incidents or ransomware that install harmful software on your system to lock it from your use with the intent of stealing information or funds, insisting you pay a ransom to regain your access. Back up your data off-site, install antivirus and software to detect threats. Staff/volunteer training are useful.
• Phishing: Emails, texts, or messages on your website's contact form "that appear to be from partners, lawyers, banks, contractors, common software vendors, or other nonprofit organizations" per Nonprofits Insurance Alliance. Another form of phishing is "from" a respected leader in the organization; Intermixit calls this Business Email Compromise. 
• Vendor fraud: Be careful of fraudulent invoices. 
• Charity fraud: Impersonating your nonprofit and soliciting donations in your name. Regularly monitor the internet for the name of your organization, make sure your donation page is secure, and ensure donors/the public know how to safely donate to you. 
• Grant scams: Verify, verify, verify. Be cautious of unsolicited grant offers, especially if they insist on payment from you up front, and research the grant source. 
• Check scams: You receive a (fake) check as a donation or grant with a refund then requested where the nonprofit loses funds by promptly trying to respond without asking enough questions. 

How to Protect Your Nonprofit
Per The National Bank of Indianapolis and Nonprofits Insurance Alliance:

• Verify donors and vendors: Contact the donor or vendor directly and do some research on websites and social media. 
• Wait for clearance: Be patient - banks take time. Don't issue a refund (or spend the funds!) until the check has cleared. If someone is demanding immediate responses, especially if money is involved, let the situation sit overnight and alert others. 
• Educate your team: Train about signs to look for, ask others for validation, and two-factor authorization of processes are useful.
• Consult with your bank: Your bank may have training and tools for your team to spot and mitigate scams.

Your Turn
This concludes our series about scams facing solopreneurs, authors, and nonprofits. Any hard lessons you've learned or heard from others? Love to hear to keep each other aware!

Let's Chat or find me on LinkedIn or Substack to continue the conversation! 

Are Scams on Authors Unique?

Yes. On research for this series, it turns out each market tends to have its own distinct brand of scam artists. There are likely some overlaps, but there are definitely unique things to be aware of.




Types of Author Scams
Combining information from this NY Times article, Authors Guild, and Scottish Book Trust:

• Fake Publishing Opportunities: Scammers send unsolicited emails claiming to have found your work on Amazon or elsewhere, offering "traditional publishing" deals that require upfront fees. Dan Barry notes in his February 2026  NY Times article "Scam artists overseas, using artificial intelligence, are impersonating publishing figures on illegitimate websites and in flattering emails, to hoodwink both fledgling and established authors into paying fees for services never to be rendered. The literary chorus sounding the alarm includes the novelists George Saunders, Rebecca Makkai and Colson Whitehead; the Authors Guild and Bomb magazine; numerous book agents and publishing houses; and, quite recently, the National Book Foundation."
• Bogus Literary Marketers: Scammers promise to raise an author's profile, generate fake positive reviews, or book them for non-existent high-profile interviews, often for a high fee. Dan Berry urges caution in falling for a "book-fair scam" sharing many promises, requiring many fees, only to have a single copy of your book in a display with dozens of others. 
• Repurposing Scams: Scammers, often operating internationally, target self-published often first-time authors, draining resources with bogus "re-licensing" fees, or fake book return insurance. 
• Impersonation: Imposters pose as known agents, publishers, or even established authors, using fake email domains or slightly misspelled, legitimate-looking ones. While an author may receive emails assuring you they're from a legitimate source, including popular authors, sending a message to the popular author often reveals you are one of many approached "by" them. Authors have also had their name outright stolen and used by others trying to sell books created by AI with titles very similar to existing work of the author--Jane Friedman is an excellent example of this.

How to Avoid Scams

• Never Pay Upfront: There will be no fees from traditional publishers and agents to review your manuscript.
• Verify Everything: Check your sources. Look for the company listed in your communication. See if that person is on LinkedIn or somewhere to confirm they're real. Stop a minute if Stephen King or Danielle Steel (as examples) is sending you a "personal" invitation.
• Check Email Addresses: Look for subtle misspellings—zeroes for o's as an example.
• Unexpected Attachments: Be very careful opening items that may contain viruses or malware to attack your files.
• Seem to Know You Very Well: Be wary of a lot of personal information about you. Scammers are making great use of AI to scrape the internet for information.
• Be Wary of Unsolicited Contact: Be suspicious of amazing opportunities coming out of the blue including "from" publishing houses, offers to be on podcasts, and even movie deals per this Author's Guild article. 
• Review Contracts Carefully: Legitimate publishers and agents offer contracts without hidden fees or immediate demands for payment. 
• Check Your Spam Filters: Update passwords periodically. Check your business website and social media security.

Resource for Authors
Keep Writer Beware of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) bookmarked for reference! The link is to the SFWA website but Writer Beware has its own mission, website, blog, and socials to keep authors and the publishing industry informed about the latest scams to help recognize and avoid them. 

Your Turn
Have you been scammed or stopped short of getting caught by one? Love to hear your tale and how you handled it so we can all learn together to keep each other safe!

​Let's Chat or find me on LinkedIn or Substack!

Are Scams Really a Thing?

The short answer is yes - big time - in most industries and it's on the rise, often thanks to the rise of AI. My findings researching scams in my three customer bases - freelancers/solopreneurs, authors, and nonprofits - resulted in so much information that is particular to each industry, we'll take time to review the issue separately for each field.

Per this May 2025 article on Netcraft, "According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), in 2023, more than $500m was lost to job-related fraud in the U.S., more than double the 2022 figure ($200m). It is anticipated that 2024 will beat that record." Follow the link embedded in the article showing the most recent data, 3rd quarter 2025. 

What Kind of Scams Are Out There?
Common scams feature fake job postings, requests for upfront fees, payment fraud, or phishing for personal data to steal identities per an AI search overview. Scammers often promise high pay for little work, rush the hiring process, and strive to communicate off-platform to avoid detection. The Netcraft article above notes "greater competition, lower wages, the cost-of-living crisis, the rise of zero-hours gig work, etc. – have created an ideal climate for criminals to exploit job seekers."

There are a few "gig" job posting sites like Upwork and Fivrr that, unfortunately, make it challenging to determine legit vs fake job postings. This July 2025 blog post from Gigradar.io devotes a lengthy post to Upwork scams. 

Image: Gigradar.io

Fortunately, there are more real jobs than scams on Upwork as of this writing - 88-94% real work vs 6-12% scam jobs. The article notes that over 12,000 scam jobs were removed from Upwork in 2024. While it's hard to imagine being so continually wary of scam tactics, the platform is trying to police the situation.

I definitely recommend looking at this post as they have some great graphics and charts to enhance the information.

Red Flags to Alert You
The following is a compilation of common scams freelancers may face. These are based on personal experience and posts on Clearvoice, Sumsub, and Moxie.

• Contact from out of the blue
• Rushed process
• Pay that's too good to be true
• No details about the company or person online
• Poorly written communication
• Job will not agree to any payment up front as a deposit or retainer
• Will not agree to a contract
• Registration fees, security deposits, or requests for personal (financial!) information from you - identity theft is real.
• Extensive "test" projects (a.k.a. "how to get work done for free")

How To Protect Yourself
First and foremost, be wary. "If it's too good to be true, it probably is" didn't become a wise saying for no reason.

• If it seems at all "off," pause - take your time to respond. Scammers are often seemingly hanging on your every word and in an immediate conversation. Time is of the essence! (supposedly)
• Scammers will sometimes provide just enough potentially legitimate information - saw your name on a club or group you currently or have belonged to - but the request is not quite right somehow. 
• A gut check is valid - listen to your gut feeling.
• Share the scenario with others for an outside perspective. It's easy for our judgement to be clouded when we're eager for work or an opportunity sounds exciting. 
• Don't by any means pay to get work or as part of the process! 
• Be extremely careful about any "test" or free work - keep it extremely limited. Doing a small sample work isn't a bad idea to ensure you're a good fit for a job, but keep it small at most. 
• Give the minimum of personal information.
  • Create an online protected system for payment, such as through Square, PayPal, or Stripe - options through your website.
  • Zelle through your bank can work if it's a one-way system - you can receive payment but it can't be withdrawn without your authorization. 
  • An employment service (Fivrr, Upwork) may have a payment platform to work through - keep the communication on platform. 
  • Never, ever give out your social security number, credit card number, or address and use great caution in sharing your phone number. 

What Prompted This Post
I received an email from someone:

• out of the blue (red flag)
• for a 35-page proofreading job (fairly small)
• deadline in 4 days (red flag but not huge - grace time built in - nice)
• payment of $2,300 (bwahahaha! No one is paying that kind of money for 35 pages of text.)
• conversation by email was immediate and a flurry like someone was messaging me, waiting for responses (red flag)
• discussion about a contract or partial, even limited, payment up front was not an option at all (red flag)
• I was unable to find the supposed company name online at all on a search, and the individual was not on LinkedIn or had a generic enough name not to be easily found. (red flag) 

A Whole Series About Scams - Really?
I was surprised to learn that there are scams very unique to each of my client types—freelancers/solopreneurs, authors, and nonprofits. This post would be long and unwieldy or try to be everything to no one to try to tackle the information in one post.

I hope you'll join me over the next couple of weeks to learn about ways to protect yourself and what to look out for!

Your Turn!
Have you been a victim of a scam artist, falling for it hook, line, and sinker? Any stories to share of falling for a scam or detecting one a mile away? Any tips and tricks you've learned to protect yourself?

Let's Chat or find me on LinkedIn and Substack to share stories so we can all grow together!

What Is Peer-to-Peer Fundraising?

Let's start with a basic frame of reference. Bloomerang, a donor management system, offers this guidance.

Peer-to-peer fundraising is when volunteers/supporters take an active role to encourage friends and family to also support a favorite organization. Organizations recruit supporters to widen the reach by encouraging their network to participate in a fundraising activity or event. 

Crowdfunding campaigns are similar but different.

• Crowdfunding asks supporters to share the same brand campaign created by the nonprofit with their personal network.
• Peer-to-peer fundraising enables supporters to create their own personalized page for fundraising. These pages may be based in a template format but have aspects ready to add personal stories and content.

Types of Peer-to-Peer Campaigns
Per the same Bloomerang article:

• Rolling: no time limit and no set deadline
• Time-based: can last several days or weeks, often tied to an event
• Giving Days: 24-hour duration, associated with specific giving occasions (e.g Giving Tuesday, World Hunger Day)

Starting Your Peer-to-Peer Campaign

• Determine your goals
  • Types of goals: possibly raise funds, increase brand awareness, increase social media following
  • Break down the finances: If you're aiming for $20,000 for your project, how many volunteers will you need to realistically consider achieving a portion of that goal? (if you aim for at least $400 per person, you're going to need to enlist the assistance of 50 supporters to contact their network)
• Choose a fundraising platform: There are many out there.
  • Large full-management platforms: Bloomerang, Neon One, OneCause
  • Donation landing pages: GoFundMe, GiveButter, NEDDIE, and Chuffed as examples
  • Variety of fundraising platforms available and features to look for per Bloomerang and Kindful
• Recruit your volunteers and supporters: 
  • Be realistic: Each individual can generally only raise so many funds from friends and family. Set achievable goals for your nonprofit and your team of volunteers. Give everyone a chance to succeed on your behalf!
  • Individual contact: Personalize your request. It makes a difference in volunteer assistance.
• Support your team: Provide the tools to succeed. You'll want a selection of images for your team to personalize their message—maybe share a link to a Canva design they can personalize. Host a training session to answer questions, provide answers to questions their network may have, provide key words/phrases and an initial set of stories volunteers can draw from to inspire their personal stories. 
• Celebrate your achievements: Shout-out everyone you can for whatever reason you can come up with! Keep the enthusiasm high and encouraging. 
• Thank your team of supporters: Thanks are always appreciated, especially during and immediately after your event, but even long after your event. Share how their efforts continue to make a difference and your gratitude. Thank your team leaders and new donors.
• Track campaign data: Follow the numbers - keep an eye on what worked, what didn't, and ways to approach this project next time.

Campaign Styles
Peer-to-peer campaigns can take a variety of forms.

• Online: Heavily based on social media channels, virtual-a-thons
• A-thon style: Read-a-thon, Cook-a-thon, Walk-a-thon, and more
• Matching gift drive
• Wedding or birthday drives: Facebook has a great platform for this from a list of approved nonprofits. It's not hard to get your nonprofit added to the list. 
• Golf tournaments
• Variety of ideas from Bloomerang

Is It Worth It?
Many say yes. People give to people - friends support friends. There's an element of peer pressure to peer-to-peer campaigns that does fuel donations. According to Kindsight, this style of fundraising has continued to grow since 2023. 

This type of fundraising is currently appealing to the Millenials and Gen Z crowd which value flexibility and the ability to align with their identity and values. Mobile-first platforms, speedy downloads and website access, clear donation button options, and easy payment methods are key to success according to GoFundMe. 

GoFundMe tempers the excitement with news that dollar amounts are declining on Facebook and, while a-thons may draw a crowd, the amount raised is declining. GoFundMe also indicates peer-to-peer campaigns are evolving into more community fundraising where volunteers/donors take on campaign activities more actively. ·      

​Supporters want to help you reach your fundraising goals, but they’re not always sure what to do next, when to share, or how to succeed. Providing coaching and ongoing support is one of the most critical elements of a successful community fundraising strategy.

Get to the Point
Peer-to-peer and crowdfunding fundraising options are great tools for any nonprofit organization. However, they take time to plan and prepare for. 

• Decide on your goals.
• Decide the type of campaign or fundraiser you will create.
• Decide on your timing - when to start and how long to last.
• If your goal is a dollar amount, how many volunteers/sponsors/team captains will you need to raise how much in what time to achieve your goal? Depending on your faithful group, $500 may realistically be the most to hope any team attempts to raise as friends will likely give small amounts that build. 
• Decide on a donation platform and build it with your template or initial landing page. Make sure your platform offers the option for others to create their own donation page to personalize. 
• Create a training plan and materials your team can use in the campaign on your behalf.
• Find folks willing to support your campaign plan by sharing the news with their network. If you have a really big goal, you're going to need a lot of people to share the news. 
• Be prepared to be active and involved with your team throughout the campaign to inspire, thank, and cheer for each other. This is time consuming!
• Be ready with your end-of-campaign thank you's for your team and donors, welcoming newly discovered supporters to your organization.
• Make time and ensure you have a plan to review the data after the campaign to learn what went well and ways to improve next time.

Have You Tried Peer-to-Peer or Crowdfunding Campaigns?
How have they gone? Love to hear your successes and challenges so we can learn and grow together! Let's Chat or find me on LinkedIn!

Defining Entrepreneurship

Let's begin on the same page with the basics. Per the Center for American Entrepreneurship:
"Entrepreneurship is the process by which individuals or groups pursue a commercial opportunity by bringing something new—or meaningfully improved—to market, most often through forming a start-up company designed to grow. It is a dynamic process that operates under uncertainty and risk and plays a central role in innovation, economic growth, and long-term productivity."

Characteristics of Entrepreneurs
This list combines insights from American Intercontinental University and Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center.

• Passion
• Business savvy
• Leadership skills
• Planning and adaptability
• Networking skills
• Money management skills
• Persistence or resilience
• Risk taker

Benefits of Being an Entrepreneur
triOS College shares this list:

• Freedom and flexibility
• Personal growth and learning
• Creative control
• Make an impact

Myers-Briggs and Entrepreneurs
This story in Inc. shares a study indicating there is an entrepreneurial personality type. The study cited indicates “The entrepreneurs in the group showed a significantly higher orientation for creativity, risk-taking, impulsivity, and especially autonomy than did non-entrepreneurs. Competitive ambition did not distinguish between those who were or were not entrepreneurs, but did relate to those who saw themselves as more entrepreneurial. People with a preference for extraversion, intuition, thinking, and perceiving tended to show greater levels of entrepreneurial orientation.”

Which personalities you may ask? N and P - Intuition and Perceiving. This article by Thryv goes in depth into multiple personalities and their nuances. 

The Value of Entrepreneurship
Economic Impact Catalyst notes "Entrepreneurship creates new businesses, which in turn create jobs, generate income, increase productivity, and contribute to economic growth. Entrepreneurship also drives innovation, which leads to the development of new products and services that can improve the quality of life for consumers." 

This article in USA Facts shares information about small businesses, generally considered that step above entrepreneurs or solopreneurs. A small business is defined as one with less than 500 employees. As of the article in December 2025, "Small businesses are 99.9% of all businesses nationwide. According to an SBA report from June 2025, the US had 36.2 million small businesses. These small firms employed 62.3 million people, or 45.9% of all private-sector employees. They were responsible for 88.9% of overall job growth from 2023 to 2024."

What About Nonprofits?
Nonprofits definitely have a large impact on the economy, directly and indirectly. This Philanthropy Roundtable post from September 2024 proclaims, "The nonprofit sector is a cornerstone of American society,..." The post further shares: "Since 2000, the number of nonprofit organizations in the U.S. has grown by 36 percent. Nearly 60 percent of the growth in 501(c)(3) organizations from 2002 to 2022 is due to an increase in human services and public and social benefit organizations." 

The American Society for Public Administration notes in October 2025: "Beyond direct employment, nonprofits foster opportunities for millions of others indirectly. For instance, child and elder care services provided by nonprofits enable family members to enter the workforce who would otherwise remain at home. Workforce training and job placement programs also help underemployed or unemployed individuals secure sustainable employment. This ripple effect illustrates how nonprofits strengthen the labor market well beyond their immediate staff."

Educating for Entrepreneurship
Geoff Woods, author of The AI-Driven Leader, notes our current education system continues to be based on the system initiated by John D. Rockefeller in 1902. Geoff notes in the transition from agriculture to Industrial Revolution, factories needed disciplined workers who followed orders. The goal of his General Education board was to produce "reliable workers rather than independent thinkers." As we enter the era of AI, a focus will need to be on "strategic thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration."

Multiple episodes of The Artificial Intelligence Show echo this sentiment, suggesting a return to humanities studies, entrepreneur classes when available, and training in AI use in episode 171. 

​Get to the Point
I have to agree with Paul Roetzer on multiple episodes of The Artificial Intelligence Show that the way forward in this AI world is through entrepreneurship. 

• Noted in episode 185, it will be up to entrepreneurs to create jobs and work needed in small focal points to weather the transition of large businesses shedding employees. 
• Noted in episode 165 alluding to AI replacing young workers: "I would love to see growth and innovation and entrepreneurship as...the future engine of economies." 
• Who are entrepreneurs? You are if you're reading this! 
  • Solopreneurs and freelancers
  • Nonprofits, especially the small to mid-sized ones who are in the social services realm
  • Authors - entrepreneurs themselves and idea generators

Here's to the Entrepreneurs!
What made you decide to take a chance and start a business or nonprofit? It's hard work, but what do you like most about it?

Let's Chat! or find me on LinkedIn or Substack to share your thoughts! 

Viral Dueling Posts About AI

AI founder of OthersideAI Matt Shumer posted a long article on X/Twitter that has many buzzing. You should be able to view the original post on X/Twitter without an account there. The link embedded on his name is his LinkedIn profile where he also shared the article. 

I first saw the post as shared in a LinkedIn group. I learned more on episode 197 of The Artificial Intelligence Show. This link takes you to the show notes which also tend to be on most podcast players. Head to roughly the 8 minute mark for this particular story. 

Shumer's article on X/Twitter has over 83 million views and growing. I learned on The Artificial Intelligence Show that this post is one of the early articles X/Twitter is now encouraging, a style of writing new for the platform, that may also be behind it's "viral" status as X/Twitter is encouraging others to write long form content now. It's also rather an alarmist style post—always good for generating clicks. 

Always More Than One Side
As should be expected, a response questioning the intent and the content behind Shumer's post came the next day from an editor on Fortune, Jeremy Kahn, who himself is an author about AI - Mastering AI: A Survival Guide to Our Superpowered Future. 

The hosts of The Artificial Intelligence Show podcast know Shumer. They often raise similar alarms and concerns on their podcast about where AI is taking us and the divide in society between those actively using AI and those completely unaware or dabbling at most. 

I also caught this article from Robert Rose on LinkedIn with yet a different take on the points Matt Shumer raised. A more in depth version of Robert's thoughts are on his Substack post. 

The Truth is Generally in the Middle
Reviewing both Shumer and Kahn's pieces, I posit while there is certainly concern to be raised about AI—concerns on a variety of fronts—the alarmist nature and counter are both a bit over the top for me. 

• We are operating in a few bubbles of perspective.
  • The heavy users of AI racing to figure it all out seeing the huge potential for general job loss in the near future. 
  • A still large majority who don't or barely use AI tools with little interest to dig into its complexities. 
  • A rather First World perspective of access to this tech with the leaders of AI companies based in the US.
  • The rest of the world with controlled availability and use of AI (UK and Australia are early to build rules about AI), let alone Third World countries who are doing their best to survive.
• Will it help or harm?
  • AI will bring innovation and expand medicine, science, and more faster than only human brain power, hopefully bringing cures and advances for all.
  • Just as there is good, there is evil. AI has just as much capability to be used for nefarious reasons at local and international levels. 
  • AI is a tool trained to be helpful and come up with a response—any response. Many call potentially false responses "hallucinations."

Get to the Point
How do these posts and concerns raised about AI impact us in the nonprofit, solopreneur, and author spaces?

• I've noted AI use often on prior blog posts for benefit to our market--here, here, and here. 
• My clients have understandable concern about AI in many cases between data and privacy concerns or simply not interested in dealing with the new tech. 
• Any time someone is "screaming" panic in the streets about anything, it's time to step back and ask questions.
• The Future Impact of AI (according to Lezlee based on significant research and education):
  • I doubt it's going away any time soon. It is helpful to many who use it. These folks will not sit by for the technology to be taken away.
  • We are making advancements in science, medicine, and technology faster due to the assistance of AI. It has its benefits. 
  • Many have no use or interest in AI at the moment and it's not all "older" folks resisting. My Gen Z daughters want nothing to do with it which is rather common for that generation. They've been scared by teachers of being accused of plagiarism and the hallucination that does exist. 
  • Job losses are happening attributed to the rise in AI capability and use, either with layoffs or lack of hiring. I anticipate a time soon where the job losses or lack will become felt enough that the public will push back on its use.
  • The rise of AI is often likened to the Industrial Revolution two centuries ago. We have no concept what that actually felt like. New and different jobs were created as many were displaced, but there was a definite "messy middle."
  • We are in no way sufficiently ready with the infrastructure needed to support AI to the level we're told "it's coming." Solutions are needed for water, electricity, and space to build data centers to meet the supposed demand. I anticipate social push back on this as well. 
  • Government involvement or regulation is likely. AI development is currently reliant on approximately six corporate founders in the US, impacting national and international markets. At some point, I suspect "for the good of humanity," use and development will become centralized. At the moment, it's the "wild west" of development and innovation in the US while other countries are beginning efforts to regulate use.

What Do You Think?
What do you see as the future impact of AI? Are you increasingly concerned about your friends and family not "getting it" about the impact AI is already having? Do you think Matt Shumer's post may have been more dramatic than needed?

Let's Chat Let's Chat! or find me on LinkedIn or Substack!

The Times, They Are A'Changing

As tech advances, marketing shifts are needed. Email remains one of the strongest ways to connect with your audience, but recent advances in AI and email servers are challenging how to get noticed. 

MailChimp reports according to a study on its behalf: 

• 95% of marketers agree email marketing has excellent ROI (return on investment)
• 4 in 5 customers prefer email over other forms of communication

Forbes shared December 31, 2025 that "email dominates as the most effective channel (72% of brands)".

What's Changed?
AI is increasingly impacting our inboxes. Pretty much all email servers have some sort of spam filter to "helpfully" set aside items you may consider junk or ads not worthy of your time. When those spam filters work, they're extremely useful and I'm glad not to see those messages. However, we've all had plenty of instances of "losing" emails our server identifies as spam that we actually want to see. It feels like it's more work clearing through multiple folders email is sifted into to either truly delete, actually read, or try to train the AI system what we want in our inbox - repeatedly - as identifying what we want to see never seems to stick.

Google shared in this January 8, 2026 blog post the impact their AI, Gemini, will have in inboxes.  The post reviews a variety of features—some may thrill you, others not so much. The generative AI options of helping you compose and edit may help some folks; summaries and search functions may be useful. As a marketer and the point of this article, there are concerns about Gmail "helpfully" re-ordering our inboxes to prioritize what it thinks has deadlines and dates (not always accurate) as well as prioritizing email from those it sees you interacting with more often. Interaction with emails is being picked up as someone you trust and relate to, someone you want to hear from. This reordering also messes with date/time order of messages you see. This omeda article from January 12, 2026 indicates Apple is going to the same email format beginning Fall 2026. 

How Do We Address These Changes?
This post was inspired by listening to a series of podcasts from Yale Keon—episodes 146, 147, and 148—which can be found here. Episode 148 is especially enlightening as she addresses email filtering and opening with the impact of AI. I definitely recommend a listen—15 minutes well spent. 

I've rounded up a number of articles with helpful suggestions as we consider getting eyes and opens on our emails. These are great if you have time for a longer read.

• cmercury offers a number of actionable bullets in their post.
• Forbes offers a number of suggestions.
• knak has an extensive review of the matter. 

Get to the Point
Let's get to some actionable highlights of ways to maximize your email reach as it will remain the best way to connect with your customers. 

• Engagement is key: Elicit open, click, and reply. Consider buttons for easy reply to your email, polls—some reason to interact with a response to indicate you want these emails. 
• Focus on priority over creativity: Create a clear call to action, deadline date reference, and no vague language. These will trigger the AI layer to alert to your important message.
• More text/less images: Rethink placing your logo at the top—try to look more like a personal friend than a brand. While gifs are fun, adding a bunch starts looking a bit spammy with less real content. 
• Personalize your domain: Invest in a service to send as [email protected]. (rough example) Google Workspace offers a reasonable monthly payment service and adds features to your gmail experience. There are other vendors who provide a domain name service you can connect to your website and email tool. It took me years to bite the bullet on this expense but now find it well worth the (currently) $8/month investment that also enables a Gemini Pro tier, more Google Drive storage, and much more. 
• Clean your email list regularly of those not engaging in 90-180 days: The more emails unopened or without engagement, the more email servers will begin to treat you like spam. I personally differ on this one. While it may help your numbers and potential (potential!) delivery rate, there's also something to be said for showing up in someone's inbox to be there when the time is right to connect further. 

How Has Your Email Engagement Been?
Are you monitoring your "open" and "click" rates from your email distribution? These aren't gospel but they do offer a bit of insight into engagement with your messages.

Any tips or tricks to share that you've used that resonate with your email list? Love to hear what's working to share with others! Let's Chat or find me on LinkedIn or Substack!

AI Slop

There is a growing backlash against so much content or even full works being created by AI and shared. Some isn't hard to spot - pretty average sounding words, little emotion.

Others are harder, from just being hard to distinguish as Human vs AI to even stealing author's names and publishing books for sale! This is being seen in just about any profession, but we'll focus on authors today. 

Labels
Some are leaning into labeling themselves to note "Guaranteed Human" or some percentage of what is human vs AI work. Others are date and time stamping posts on socials to confirm humanity, in case material may get swiped by AI or people. You may also be in a rapidly evolving field where your date/time reference helps put perspective on the post you made. 

​Stolen Property
Some authors are going through the time and expense of trademarking their name. This is a fascinating story with step-by-step cues on the process. 

Dave Malone shares an article on Jane Friedman's blog suggesting categories of AI usage to post - AI Assisted vs AI Generated. Many use AI these days - most have no problem accepting that. The thing that's useful to know is how much is AI vs Human.

Jane Friedman shared her fight in August 2023 against books posted on Goodreads and Amazon with her name as the author that she never wrote, stealing her name and reputation. She regularly updates the post as this evolves.

Amazon has developed Content Guidelines in an attempt to curb the flow of AI content. Amazon announced in September 2023 a new limit of 3 per day self-published books by the same author in an attempt to control a flood of AI content. That does not appear to have been updated or changed. 

Lean into Human Value
You are uniquely you in all your amazingness, flaws, quirks, life experiences, stories, and lousy first drafts. Your human factor is what sells. Be Human in as many ways as you can.

• Events: Show up. Network. Be a speaker and authority. You are fully human here.
• Share the process: In newsletters and on social media, share behind the scenes tales of your process which will help bring your book to life with your audience and develop your following. 
• Website and email: These are your owned property. Develop a regular, consider weekly, habit of blogging. This will give you material to populate your email news to those who subscribe or follow you or have requested your information. 
• Social media: Each platform has a different approach and vibe. Focus your energy on 2-3 at most as your go-to social spot. This is a great way to share more frequent insights or communication with followers, daily to 3x/week. These posts can be pure text, text + image (photo), or short video. It would not surprise me if we begin seeing tags at the end of posts noting "100% Human Created Content" or something similar. 

Human Branding Sells
Use AI. It's a useful tool. But be aware of how much of your work is you vs the tool. At the end of the day, it makes a difference the level of Human in your work. If you have a pro AI account, you are able to toggle an option not to make your chat public which may be extremely useful to protect your content.

This isn't intended to be an all or nothing perspective. The best option is often a blend of human and AI. It's a tool we can use to improve our words and how we share experiences. This May 2025 article encourages a blend. Even Google suggests a blend of AI and human content is successful. The article also suggests human content outperforms AI by 47%. I definitely appreciate that.

Human Branding
How much are you creating as human generated content? Are you feeling a need to label it as such?

Love to hear your thoughts - Let's Chat or find me on LinkedIn!