Read. Write. Engage.
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 Fourth Quarter - Who Cares?
Fourth quarter activities for any nonprofit or business tend to be the big "final push" for funding to end on a strong note. With holiday shopping and generosity, the public is generally more giving or buying. Read. Write. Engage. will share a short series focusing on the demands and strategies separately for nonprofits and solopreneurs/authors. What Are the Stats? Is it really worth all the hype to pay particular attention to fourth quarter donations? Oh, yeah.
What Are Some Strategies?
Get to the Point If you'll notice, all of these strategies are long-term and relationship driven. BOOM! It doesn't get more basic than that. There are a variety of calendars available to nonprofits focusing on social media or campaign strategies, paid and free. Charity Engine offers a fabulous general timeline ahead of Giving Tuesday, the start of the giving season. Bloomerang and Neon One have nice general references for timing activities. The articles are from 2025 but the general timing is evergreen. While these guides are based on Giving Tuesday, the same rough schedule applies to any donation campaign you may consider running, including your end-of-year giving plan. Many recommend planning your year-end giving strategy over the summer. (all is not lost if you're just considering it) Engaging Networks provides a number of suggestions for your marketing options, language ideas for your messaging, and a variety of fundraising options to consider based on what may resonate with your audience. Your Turn! Are you planning a Giving Tuesday or end-of-year fundraising campaign? Any tips or tricks you've found useful to share with others? Let's lift each other with ways to get across the finish line to help our communities in service - leave a comment, Let's Chat, or find me on LinkedIn or Substack!
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 What's the Point of Digital Scheduling Tools? As many coffee chats or connections happen online these days, an online scheduling tool becomes very useful. You can rely on others having digital scheduling tools! I've been doing this for a few months now as I'm not thrilled with my current tool's set-up—possibly "user error"—but it's not doing quite what I need it to do. This post will review options currently available, benefits, and things to consider. What Are the Benefits
What Are the Challenges?
Features to Consider The features I look for are:
What Tools Should I Consider? Based on these needs, the following options came up. There are far more available, but these seemed the most cost effective and useful for the pricing.  Get to the Point
This is a highly technical, detail oriented post. The summary is digital scheduling tools are an important aspect of any business, be it solo, nonprofit, or larger. While you can rely on others to have a good tool set-up, that's not always the case There are many benefits. There are many tools available, many for free. (my favorite four-letter word!) It does generally take a bit of tech/digital know-how to get these systems set up well for your personal needs. Your Turn! Have you found a calendar scheduling tool that you like? Easy set-up? Love to hear! If you're considering setting up some tech tools for your nonprofit or business to increase your visibility but aren't sure where to start, Let's Chat or message me on LinkedIn or Substack!  Key Networking Strategy In these post-COVID days, many of us have become adept "zoomers" to do business online. It's expanded our network potential internationally. It offers a quick way to meet others from the comfort of home—safe space—in a pretty focused (short) time typically. Is This INSTEAD of In Person Networking? Nope! "Coffee chats" can be online and in person and there are benefits to both options. How Do We Find These Opportunities? Fortunately, there are many ways to discover and create opportunities. Many networking opportunities shared in these blog posts here, here, and here can easily lead to coffee chats. To save bouncing around blog posts, here's a round-up of ideas.
How Do I Set Up A Coffee Chat? These work whether they're in person or online conversations.
What Do I Even SAY? Ah, I can hear the panic now! No need - let's walk through some strategies to keep this painless for all involved. The best approach is a planned approach.
Get to the Point
Coffee chats are simply another marketing tool available to you. One on one networking may be less stressful for introverts than facing a group. These are a way to go more deeply into meeting someone without taking a ton of time out of your day. Setting up a chat can be as easy as getting out your calendar and planning to meet at a Panera or Starbucks. You can also go a bit more high tech and set up a calendar linking app to share for meeting set-up. And sometimes, "coffee chats" are simply that—an opportunity to get to know someone better. No more—and no less. Grab your coffee or tea and settle on the couch (figuratively) to chat for a few minutes. You're at the "getting to know you" phase of a relationship—not prepping a wedding or long-term engagement! Your Turn! Do you set aside time for coffee chats? Prefer in person, online, or both? Coffee or tea for you? (tea for me, please, with honey!) If you'd like to chat, I'd be thrilled to get to know you better! Shoot me an email or fill out the online contact form or message me on LinkedIn or Substack.  What Is A Community?
Excellent question as there are a variety of communities, in person and online. We're going to touch on both here. A "community" is basically a group or "tribe" of people with similar interests. This can refer to both your potential clients and your colleagues. This week, we'll focus on colleague communities. There may be potential clients in these communities! But they're less obviously your client market and typically not your purpose for joining. Why Consider Communities Many in my audience work solo or with the assistance of very few.
Connect, Collaborate, and Serve Per this blog post, this philosophy is perfectly suited to community membership.
What Communities Are We Talking About? We'll share ideas related to each of my client types here. Nonprofits
There are a number of fabulous communities that may not neatly fit into my client profile niche but may be very useful depending on your business challenges.
Get to the Point I'm in a variety of communities for a myriad of reasons, each serving as resources for me to Connect, Collaborate, and Serve. I enjoy a mix of in person and online networking communities. Many of these communities live on apps such as Circle, Mighty, Skool, or Slack which you have access to once registering or signing up in some way. Some communities are free, others paid, and still others offer a mix of free and paid versions. You definitely get what you pay for, meaning if you're paying to be a member of a community, you're likely going to receive high value from the resources and the conversations inside. However, many offer a lot of connections and resources for free. I have a paid membership with a couple of communities for resources beyond their free level, but my focus tends to be free options. I find them extremely useful, for my business and frankly my well being. Being part of a community brings me great joy.
Your Turn! Are you in communities within your niche? Any recommendations or suggestions of communities you adore? Love to hear them - Let's Chat, leave a comment, or message me on LinkedIn or Substack!  Organic Growth I've had the amazing fortune to meet a couple of fabulous coaches who share my business philosophy and have helped me clarify words for it. Many thanks to Renee Hribar and Tracy Beavers for their inspiration! Never One for Hustle Culture I enjoy conversations - a lot - all day, every day. These conversations help me get to know people, their needs, their motivation, and how we may be able to assist each other. I'm not here to simply earn a buck. I'm here for the conversations, relationships, and to help you shine. Image: Lezlee Alexander with members of the City of Glendale Chamber of Commerce: Allison Diaz, Bud Zomok, and Elizabeth Hunt. Connect
"I am a Connector!" to quote a rally cry from my friend Renee! Apparently I'm not the only one as she's begun including brief introductions to fellow solopreneurs in her podcasts who all proclaim they are connectors before sharing their offer. I love being surrounded by Connectors! I've often noted if I could get paid to simply connect people, I'd be a happy gal! Someone recently suggested, "You'd be in Human Resources!" No, that's not it. But I do love to meet people to hear what they do and offer, suggest others who may support or collaborate with them, see how we may help each other, and share content that may be mutually useful. Any time I can connect someone with anyone else who may be helpful on their journey, it's a very happy day! Collaborate Beyond simply connecting with others is finding ways to collaborate and lift each other. "A rising tide lifts all boats," as it were. Collaboration can take many forms:
Collaborations begin with conversations. Serve I have always been in service professions and volunteer regularly in addition to paid work. My passion is finding ways to share the opportunity others bring to the world. "Serve" is a multi-faceted word with some misconceptions around it. Merriam-Webster offers a number of definitions for "serve" based on a variety of contexts for its use. For our discussion, I'm going with "to be of use." Serving has different connotations among my nonprofit, solopreneur, and author clients.
But I'm An Introvert! Not to worry—Connect, Collaborate, and Serve can absolutely still work for you. You simply may need to take a more measured approach to it. I'm a born introvert who learned to be extroverted, but it remains necessary to step back and recharge sometimes.
Get to the Point Connect, Collaborate, and Serve are the cornerstones of organic marketing growth and simply working with people! They each revolve around conversations, which is really the heart of the matter. Your Turn! What opportunities are you looking for to Connect, Collaborate, or Serve? Let's share ideas and resources to support each other! If you could use a thought partner or a strategy session, Let's Chat or message me on LinkedIn or Substack!  What Is An Email Service Provider? Let's make sure we start on the same page. If you're going to send emails to a "large" group of people, it's far easier to use an email service provider than simply sending by cc or bcc from your personal email. I had heard a few years ago that Google/Gmail limits the number of names you can have on a "to" line. On a search, apparently that's not accurate - they list no hard number limit. I've known many who seem to have issues with emails bouncing or never being delivered with a group of more than 50 which is surprisingly easy to hit for even small groups, and this has been the case for a number of years. It becomes more an issue of how the email providers communicate with each other, each having their own spam flags. Unfortunately, even using a paid email service provider is no guarantee you won't end up in someone's spam folder to never be seen. What Are the Benefits of Using An Email Service Provider?
Is It Necessary to Use An Email Service Provider? Nope! I'm beginning to see a trend of folks that I know have large email lists sending basic ol' text emails to thousands and tens of thousands of folks. No added graphics—just a chatty bit of news you'd send a friend.
Are Newsletters ONLY By Email? Nope! I touched on a couple of other ways to share a "newsletter" with others on this blog post, which includes LinkedIn and Substack. However—and this is a big however!—"rented land" is definitely a concern for how you communicate with your audience should the social platform go away or shut you down for whatever reason, whether legitimate or not. Unfortunately, there are far too many stories of creators being blocked from access to their account and stuck in limbo for some first-line AI agent before you get to a person for some resolution, if you get any response at all. YOU are given permission to use someone's personal email address to send them news. That does not rely on the whims of social media platforms and gives you a means of continued communication. So Which Email Service Provider Should I Use? This is a loaded question with a number of factors for you to consider:
Options Available This was a challenging topic to tackle as email service providers seem to change pricing regularly and new servers develop along the way. You're welcome to start with this list, but I suggest you do some additional searching including finding groups that may have useful input for you. I reviewed nine different platforms for this post. I'll link each to their pricing page and share my favorites of those listed. I'm going to focus on those with pricing for 500 or less contacts, much larger lists, and one very small option. The name of each service is hyperlinked to their pricing page.
 Get to the Point
I highly recommend investing in an email service provider for your nonprofit or business group emails or newsletters.
Your Turn! If you send email news to your customers or members, do you have a favorite email service provider? If so, who and what made you select that one? Here's to a community that lifts each other! Let's Chat or message me on LinkedIn or Substack!  What IS a Podcast?
Let's start with the basics and not make assumptions "everyone" knows what a podcast is. Per a basic Gemini search: "A podcast is a digital audio or video program made for on-demand listening, like a personal radio show you can play anytime. It comes from the words 'iPod' and 'broadcast'." (note: the word origin is news to me!) Podcast Lingo
How Popular Are Podcasts? Let's look at some statistics straight from Podcast Statistics for 2026:
How Hard Is It? Let's look at this from both sides of the matter. What Does It Take to Host a Podcast? Surprisingly little in its most basic form, however, this is a very basic list. To do this well in the competitive market, I suggest referring to this Buzzsprout post for a more complete yet focused reference to get started. It also offers some great gut checks to determine if you're really ready for the commitment.
What Does It Take to Be a Guest on a Podcast? If committing to a regular schedule as a host or the decision of solo vs guest format is too much, there's a lot to be gained from being a guest on podcasts! Is Being a Guest Worth the Effort for My Business? Statistics on Omniscent confirm that's a resounding yes! A couple of stand-out stats:
You will get much further with "warm" pitches when possible. Connect with a podcaster for a program you regularly listen to that's related to your client market. You'll be better able to highlight the benefit you have to offer the host and audience. Per Podchasher related to 2026:
Also from Podchaser:
Where Do I Find Podcasts? If you haven't discovered podcasts, there are free and monthly fee services that curate shows featuring a variety of topics.
Get to the Point Podcasts are an amazing tool in your marketing tool kit! You'll get noticed as a host and as a guest. I will note if you decide to host a podcast, it takes a commitment to your audience and yourself to maintain a schedule. It may also come with a financial cost for equipment, streaming services, and editing or recording tools to really sound good. Hosting should not be taken lightly! Some podcasters connect with a service such as Buy Me A Coffee or Patreon to offset production expenses, especially if they have monthly subscription fees for recording and editing tools. I heartily recommend jumping at any opportunity to, at a minimum, be engaged on LinkedIn and Substack in podcast or live audiences to be seen with active interest. There is often an opportunity to demonstrate your expertise with helpful comments. You can become a "regular" with some shows and develop friendships, strengthen bonds with connections, and continue to make new connections. Once you get some comfort at that level, consider reaching out to hosts of your favorite podcasts that would also appeal to your potential clients. Your Turn! Have you hosted a podcast or LinkedIn/Substack events? Are you still doing it? Love to hear your suggestions to get started or why you may have stopped! Have you been a guest on podcasts or LinkedIn/Substack events? Are you looking for those opportunities? Let's help each other get connected, as hosts or guests! Let's Chat or find me on LinkedIn or Substack!  Panic in the Streets! Headlines blare:
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.
Don't Despair! In spite of all that, the basic marketing tools remain useful.
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":
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.
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:
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.
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.
Conversations Create Opportunities Conversations and Opportunities can happen in many ways.
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.
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! |
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