What Is GeekPack?

​GeekPack per the LinkedIn company page "is a business education company built for online business owners who are technically excellent—but revenue is inconsistent. We work with coaches, course creators, service providers, and agency owners who have the skills, the systems, and the clients—but not a predictable pipeline."

Founder Julia Taylor, self-professed introvert "who'd rather be behind the screen than out in front," is a "business coach for tech-savvy women" (although I've seen a few gentlemen in the group), "helping you stop hiding in the backend & build predictable revenue."

Special thanks to Julia Taylor for allowing me to interview her!

Julia began GeekPack in October 2018, but started her first business in 2016. On becoming a military spouse with multiple moves, Julia started her business to manage her own career progression with flexibility to work from anywhere. As she shared on social media about her journey—teaching herself how to code, build websites, location independence with the RV life—she began hearing "I want to be able to do what you do—can you teach me how to do it?" 

“I wanted everything I did to be based around a supportive & encouraging community" as any time she asked any tech questions, she was made fun of. “I wanted to teach people how to build websites and start a business, but I wanted to wrap it around community—supportive, encouraging, and geeky," thus GeekPack was born.

Who Is This For?
Following and participating in the GeekPack programs are useful for solopreneurs, authors (writing books is your business!), and even nonprofits. 

I have seen a number of fellow nonprofit leaders in the GeekPack program. I asked Julia how she sees the match in her programs for nonprofit founders. “There are many parallels with nonprofit leaders and business owners—selling a service or funding, storytelling, marketing, letting others know you exist, have conversations, build relationships, networking—it's all the same. The only real difference is owner vs nonprofit, but I would argue most nonprofit leaders feel like owners, because they're probably the ones who started it, so there's not a huge difference. There are a lot of similarities.”

GeekPack offers a number of programs:

• 6-week free foundation program thanks to a grant partnership with Verizon Small Business Digital designed to help you think through your brand: the Who, What, Why, Where, and How of your business plan. Entry is open to all with an application process and new cohorts regularly starting.
• Revenue OS (Operating System) is the GeekPack flagship paid program where you work closely with Julia for personalized guidance as you move forward with your business plan. The focus is on creating habits that will help you build predictable revenue. While this sounds more geared to the solopreneur, the concepts absolutely translate to nonprofits as well. 

Get to the Point
I recently completed my second iteration of the 6-week foundation program--completion certificate achieved!

I initially completed the program a year ago, year 3 of my business, where I gained insights that guided me forward, to ensure my business foundation was in place. Admittedly, I participated half-heartedly, thinking I knew more than I did and more focusing on the day-to-day of what I was doing in my business to build connections.

I gained insights but not nearly as many as I did this year with many thanks to my instructor in GeekPack, Glenna Garcia.

This time on year 4 of my business, I'm taking a step back to check my business foundation, and listening—truly participating this time each and every week—showing up live 2x/week with the cohort, watching the Verizon videos accompanying each lesson, doing the homework, and engaging with my classmates—all fellow solopreneurs.

This year was more of an intermediate program—perfect for where I am in my business and for others in my cohort.

• The next-level frame of reference was refreshing.
• I was also tapped to be an "Ambassador" during the session which totally got my attention, focus, and tapped into my existing business service of social engagement. I made a point to be present and participating! Who knows—a future business opportunity for me with GeekPack! At a minimum, deeper connections with a program I already love.

What's Next?
The timing for the most recent GeekPack/Verizon program was perfect to commit to investing in Revenue OS, which I also highly recommend. It is not necessary to take the GeekPack/Verizon program before jumping into Revenue OS, however, I found the programs a good match for me.

Revenue OS provides:

• Personalized 1:1 interviews or chats with Julia Taylor to map your business plan, mid-program status check, and solidifying your ongoing plan.
• A handy app to track daily progress with an opportunity to reflect on your week's activities—what worked, what didn't, what to consider adjusting in your strategy. (Julia is an app developer and a whiz at it—the app alone is gold!) This is where you build the daily, weekly, and monthly habits that will lead to more stable revenue.
• Inclusion in a group of like-minded business owners also going through the program. It's a fabulous resource to bounce ideas off of, share challenges and successes, and get out of your own head which is useful when you're predominantly working on your own as a solopreneur, author, or small nonprofit. (a number of folks in the GeekPack programs lead small nonprofits!)

Want More?
Head here to sign up for GeekPack/Julia Taylor's email at a minimum. This will keep you posted of upcoming opportunities to join programs or learn about new options available.

Head here to apply for the next GeekPack/Verizon program.

Head here to learn more about the Revenue OS program. 

Your Turn!
Have you found any business development programs you like and have participated in? 

Love to hear about them! We all grow by sharing resources! Let's Chat or message me on LinkedIn or Substack to share!

What's the Difference?

This is a frequent question I receive and I'm glad for it! The differences may seem subtle on the surface but are significant when you dig in.

Short Definition

• Brand Marketing is more the backbone of your business, your strategy and consistency
• Marketing is more the nuts and bolts how of marketing, the tools and methods you use to share your opportunity

Resources
This post will pull together information from four resources: 

• Vistaprint
• Shopify
• Kantar
• Aventi Group

Comparisons
We'll review the basic differences between brand marketing and marketing, pulling thoughts together with a beautiful graphic courtesy of the Vistaprint article cited. 

Brand Marketing

• ​This is the unique identity of your company, what differentiates you from competitors
• Shares your core values
• Reflects your target audience's preferences—reflects your Ideal Client Persona (ICP).
• Establishes your brand reputation
• Remains consistent
• Creates trust, loyalty, and awareness of your business
• Pieces can include your logo and brand color scheme—your brand voice

​
Marketing

• Strategies—the how of your message—that evolve over time, may change depending on products, services, or even campaigns
• SEO tactics
• Social media content
• Email newsletters
• Sales or donor campaigns

Great Marketing Quotes Courtesy of Vistaprint

• Marketing can be a great way to get a customer’s attention, but branding is a great way to keep their attention
• Marketing drives sales, branding drives recognition and loyalty
• Branding comes first, marketing comes second - ah, the chicken or the egg question is settled!
• Marketing strategies come and go, but branding is forever

Recent Poll Results
I conducted a poll on LinkedIn recently asking what the biggest frustration is about marketing?

• Responses overwhelmingly noted it's a "time suck"—a necessary "evil" of doing business and all would far rather be doing client work.
• Less noted an admission of not really knowing how to market! It's not like it's an intuitive skill, yet somehow we all need to be an "expert" marketer in addition to a business manager. 

Get to the Point
I provide brand marketing services, which includes marketing services, but I start any conversation by identifying your brand marketing pieces to see if we need to strengthen or establish your plan. 

Your Turn!
Do you have a solid brand marketing plan in place yet or simply random thoughts as your foundation? Are you able to see the difference between brand marketing and marketing?

I'd love to hear your brand marketing and marketing journey--Let's Chat or find me on LinkedIn or Substack!

Book Review

To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth about Moving Others by Daniel Pink was published December 31, 2012. I only just read it. This has been #1 on the  New York Times Business Bestseller list, Wall Street Journal Business Bestseller, and Washington Post bestseller. 


We're All in Sales
While reportedly one in nine Americans work in sales per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics according to Daniel Pink, he makes the case that the other eight do as well. He's not wrong. When you consider "selling" is how we make our way as nonprofits, solopreneurs, and authors, it starts to make sense. We all tend to sell far more than products—we're selling ourselves, our cause, and our books.

We're "selling" our kids or each other to motivate action. You may be trying to convince your kids it's time to stop playing to begin homework. We're selling ourselves daily that it's time to stop procrastinating to get focused on work. Healthcare professionals are selling us on ways to be healthier. 
​
Sales Are Icky
Talk of sales likely brings up images of stereotypical sales guys, anything from door-to-door salesmen to an Avon lady to the car dealership sales person. It's time to defuse the knee jerk reaction to realize it's "every man" (and woman!) out there selling "something." 

New ABCs
The old philosophy of "Always Be Closing" Pink suggests needs to now be grounded in 

• Attunement: take someone else's perspective - I love this one. Talk less/listen more. Ask more questions.
• Buoyancy: staying afloat in a sea of rejection.
  • Interactive self-talk: think Bob the Builder - "Can we do it? Yes, we can!" Internally generated, responses are based on your own experience.
  • Optimistic explanatory: rejection is temporary not permanent, specific not general, external not personal.
  • Flexible optimism: optimism with clear eyes, overall consequences aren't really that bad or pervasive.
  • Enumerate and embrace: every no is on the path to a yes. 
  • Defensive negativism: what IF the worst happens - who cares! 
  • Allow SOME negativity: it's ok to be angry, then use that emotion to move forward. 
• Clarity: help others see problems and information in new ways
  • Problem finding vs problem solving
  • Curate your resources
  • Ask "Why" 5 times in response to a question for added clarity (channel your inner 2-year old)

Skills Needed

• Pitch: The purpose of your pitch isn't to get an immediate sale but to share an idea so compelling that it will begin a conversation that brings someone in as a participant to arrive to an outcome benefitting both of you. 
• Improvisation: ways to be adaptable when your pitch goes sideways, many theater ideas were discussed
• Service: make it personal and purposeful (I liked these ideas best)
  • Share your desire to improve the world with something you have to offer. 
  • Be upserving, not upselling: do more for a customer than is expected or intended. Turn a mundane interaction into a memorable experience. Elevate what you do for others. 
  • Make a point to solve problems for your customer. 
  • Proceed with humility and gratitude. 
  • Pretend every customer is your grandmother as the ultimate personalization.
  • Bear in mind—if someone agrees to buy, will their life improve?
  • When done, will the world be a better place than when you began?

​Your Turn!
Do you see yourself as selling things or even yourself? Do you embrace it or is it a struggle? Have any great sales tips to share with the rest of us?

Love to hear them - Let's Chat or find me on LinkedIn or Substack!

What is "Networking"?

Let's make sure we start on the same page. According to Merriam-Webster, networking is "the exchange of information or services among individuals, groups, or institutions, specifically: the cultivation of productive relationships for employment or business."

That's a bit more broad than I had in mind, but that's fine. 


Forms of Networking
Networking is simply any interaction with other humans. Pulling a few sources together from an online search, a rather varied list develops:

• Operational Networking: Build relationships within your current organization.
• Personal Networking: Engage with people outside your company for personal professional development, referrals, and long-term career opportunities.
• Strategic Networking: Connect with people who can help you achieve business goals.
• Informal Networking: Casual interactions, such as chatting while getting coffee, attending hobby-related events, or connecting via social media, which can lead to professional opportunities.
• Virtual Networking: Engage in online platforms (LinkedIn, virtual meetups, webinars) to connect with people online.
• Event-Based Networking: Attend organized gatherings such as seminars, conferences, career fairs, or happy hours to meet professionals. 

To me, it all comes down to two types:

• In person
• Virtual/online

Which is Better - In Person or Online?
It depends.

If you can manage opportunities to meet in person, all the better. However, online offers opportunities unimaginable until recently to connect with people from around the world!

Event-Based Networking Opportunities
These are available in person or online. The more in person opportunities you can create for yourself, the more satisfying it tends to be for folks. 

• Seminars: Most education opportunities include networking time in their agenda—the best of both worlds! These can be free or low cost to definitely needing thoughtful budgeting for the expense. 
• Conferences: These tend to be more expensive, often a price break for those who purchase annual membership, and tend to last longer, on the order of days. 
• Career fairs: These are designed for purposeful networking. If you're actively in the job market, this is a great way to meet hiring representatives in person to cut through online job application systems and connect names with faces. This enables your personality to shine!
• "Happy hours": This is the most casual of organized networking. These can be after work or coffee/tea meet-ups. They can also be in person or online!

But I'm an Introvert!
Start small. One event at a time. Start with smaller events and work up to larger events. Many larger events, especially online, host networking "rooms" for a small group atmosphere.

Some event hosts provide discussion topics to start conversations. Consider jotting your own conversation starters if you feel like you freeze when it's time to talk; these will help you feel more prepared. 

I've met a few self-professed introverted trainers on LinkedIn that you may wish to connect with as resources.​Greg Roche, The Introverted Networker, is a great resource sharing on socials, a newsletter, and a podcast. (LinkedIn is hyperlinked; Substack newsletter is here)

Human Connection - the AI Differentiator
Networking and human connection will be what ultimately sets us apart from AI providers. AI can and will be able to do many of the tasks and services each of us provide. Some of our potential clients will be just fine or even prefer the output or convenience of AI providing services.

Those are not the clients we're looking for.

Networking is already a key deciding factor for employers when hiring staff. It's the primary way many in the job market are getting job opportunities currently. This article from OpenArc from October 2025 has a number of fascinating statistics. 

• "85% of available positions are never publicly advertised on job boards or company websites."
• "Online job applications have an average success rate of approximately 2%, compared to significantly higher rates through networking."
• "...referred candidates are hired at a 30% rate, while all other application methods combined yield only a 7% success rate—that’s a 4.3× advantage."
• "According to LinkedIn and HubSpot studies, an incredible 85% of all jobs are filled via networking."
• "Referred candidates move through the hiring process 11% faster than those from other sources. Additionally, referred employees tend to stay with companies 70% longer than those hired through other channels."

What's the difference between you and AI? Human connection. Personality. Interaction. A sense of humor. The unique experiences that you bring to the discussion.

Where Do I Start?
You may consider an AI chat to help you focus your energy on where your ideal client may be. You'll likely want to consider in person and online opportunities depending on your business, time, and energy!

• Local events: Chamber of Commerce, business associations, conventions, community groups (where you live, social media groups, HOA groups), NextDoor, Eventbrite, or MeetUp options in your target audience. Book fairs are great options for authors, and local nonprofit events are perfect for those in the nonprofit realm.
• Library events: Your local library and community centers likely offer low to no cost meet ups or groups that align with your client market. If you don't find a group that interests you, consider working with the facility leaders and offer your services as an instructor to create an event! 
• Online networking: Some social media platforms create events for the purpose of networking. My friend on LinkedIn, Sigrid de Kaste, offers an online networking opportunity every two weeks with a free trial option before membership. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Substack event and group options abound, as varied as your interests. The Nonprofit Hive courtesy of Tasha Van Vlack is a fabulous opportunity I recently discovered. Ilise Benun, Lynnaire Johnston, John Espirian, Felipe Cofiño, Roy Kowarski, and Joe Rando of LifeStarr offer networking communities as do many others on LInkedIn. 

I've Networked - Now What?
Build those new-found friendships and relationships! Keep in touch personally and in group activities. Consistent, regular participation builds your networking muscles and helps you be seen as a trusted resource. 

You won't typically find your new best friend in networking events, but you'll generally develop at least a passing awareness of others (if not deeper) to be able to chit-chat on occasion, refer client leads and opportunities, and support each other on the socials with comments and post engagement. You'll learn along the way, as many networking events are bundled with education opportunities—the best of both worlds in my book. 

Your Turn!
Do you prefer in person or online networking events? Do you have a favorite resource or group to suggest to others?

Love to hear about your networking journey! Let's Chat or find me on LinkedIn or Substack!

What is Community?

This is pertinent to nonprofits, solopreneurs, and authors: define your "community" and build it. This is marketing at its finest! 

Merriam-Webster defines community as: 

• a unified body of individuals (common interests, characteristics, or history)
• "a state or feeling of caring about and wanting to interact with others in a group"
• society at large

Stanford Social Innovation Review puts it succinctly: "It's about people."

Why Community Matters
A Gemini AI overview compiles these factors, admittedly not seen in any one source, but they seem globally valid.

• Support and Security: members assist each other, especially when it would be difficult to tackle something individually
• Identity and Belonging: members are connected by a broader commonality
• Shared Purpose: members fulfill common needs such as safety, shared values, or mutual goals

Inspiration to Discuss Community
This article created by Tasha Van Vlack of The Nonprofit Hive and posted on Nonprofit Tech for Good grabbed my attention. The focus is on nonprofits, but the sentiments and suggestions are pertinent to all of my clients including solopreneurs and authors. The sentiment is really at the crux of what marketing should be. The entire article is fabulous but I'll highlight key aspects that pertain to my clients to consider.

Community is Far More than Clicks
We have become so focused on clicks, open rates, lists, and membership numbers, that we've lost the point of it all - relationships. People. Truly listening and hearing each other. 

Tasha makes a great distinction: "An audience consumes. A community interacts. An audience receives updates. A community creates momentum. An audience may appreciate your content. A community helps carry your mission further because people feel connected not only to the organization, but to one another." She proposes we find ways to "move from passive presence to real participation." I couldn't agree more.

It is far too easy to become a one-way push of information. Members watch and don't interact or communicate. You'll get an occasional reaction or "like." But your audience doesn't really feel belonging or invested. 

Questions to Consider
I'll share some of Tasha's questions geared to nonprofits to include what's pertinent to small business owners and authors as well. 

• Are people mostly consuming or are they connecting?
• Are we designing for peer exchange or only top-down communication?
• Do people know why they belong here?
• Are we measuring only content performance?
• If our community manager or marketer stepped away for a month, would my audience still connect with one another?
• Are we building something shareable because it is meaningful or just trying to market harder?

That's Nice - But HOW?
Consider how you build relationships. You'll see many overlaps as a business or nonprofit. The key is connecting.

• Networking
  • In person: If you're a nonprofit, do you host events or other opportunities to see community supporters and donors to be able to meaningfully share information and relate? As a solopreneur and author, are you physically meeting with clients or potential clients? There's really no better way to get to know someone.
  • Online: Next best is online networking through messaging platforms, post comments, zoom "chats," and available live events. It makes such a difference when you can take comments and messaging to some online visible meeting to get a better sense of someone!
• Communication: ​Are there ways your donors, supporters, or potential clients can actually chat with you? Consider an Ask the President/Author/Owner opportunity. Online live events that enable two-way conversation are useful. Consider a social media "group" rather than a "page" where all included are able to ask questions and interact, not just the admin sharing curated news.
• What unites you: Beyond simply donating to support a cause or purchasing services, what is your common bond or story? Preserving history - feeding the community - sharing stories of an era - what can you all meaningfully relate to?
• Stories matter: No matter the metrics on posts or emails, are you having meaningful communication with those you hear from? Connecting with a few more deeply is worth far more than vanity metrics. 
• Do you have passionate cheerleaders: Have you shared enough stories that supporters can share them with others to bring more into the tribe? It makes you or your organization more meaningful and takes far less work "marketing." 

Your Turn!
What is "community" to you and how are you building it? I'd love to hear!

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

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 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!

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!