The primary purpose of a nonprofit company is to help a certain cause. These organizations' missions usually differ from those of traditional businesses. If you operate a nonprofit business, I commend you. It's great to see entrepreneurs helping other people and providing aid to charitable organizations. But just because your motive for running your business is to help a greater cause doesn't mean you shouldn't be trying to generate a profit. At the end of the day, your nonprofit organization is still a business. From a business perspective, this company needs to be run with the same principles as every other company. You need to keep up with the latest marketing trends. Research your industry, and analyze your competition. Learn about the wants and needs of both your customers and donors. I see this problem all too often when I'm advising nonprofit companies. They are still operating the same way they were 20 years ago. Sure, they might have a website now, but they aren't always using the most recent technologies. For example, check out these numbers related to nonprofit organizations and mobile devices: Times have changed. Your nonprofit needs to adapt if you want to survive and thrive. If your nonprofit company is struggling or could use some fresh ideas, you're in luck. I'll explain what you need to do to boost profits for your nonprofit. Promote customer acquisitionIf you've been operating for a while, you probably have a solid base of customers and donors. That's great news and something to be proud of. But what steps are you taking to continuously grow this number? Relying on the same customers isn't a sustainable business model. If you rely on mass direct mail or cold calling houses for donations, I'm guessing you're having trouble acquiring new customers. That's because people are not very likely to answer the phone if they don't recognize the number. Just 7% of people say they'll answer a toll-free call from an unknown number. Furthermore, research shows that the average conversion rate for cold calls is roughly 2%. With such a small percentage of people answering their phones and an even smaller percentage actually converting, those numbers aren't appealing. You need to find other ways to promote your brand so that it can be exposed to the widest possible audience:
These are the types of tactics you need to implement if you want to get more customers and donors. We'll discuss these concepts in much greater detail as we continue through this guide. Drive traffic to your websiteYour website needs to be the top priority for your nonprofit organization and your marketing efforts. We're living in a digital age, and you need to recognize that the best way to get discovered is through the Internet. But just having a website isn't enough. You need to make it as easy as possible for visitors to buy and donate through this platform. It's imperative you have a clear call-to-action on each page of the website. This will be the best way for you to generate donations and ultimately increase your profits. Here's a great example of this concept on the Habitat for Humanity homepage: As you can see, the “donate” CTA buttons are clearly displayed in several places on the site. All your marketing promotions should lead people to your website. If someone hears about you or clicks a link, they'll know exactly where to find you and what to do. They won't have to pick up the phone or mail in a check. They will simply visit your website and donate directly from there. One of the best ways to drive traffic to your website is by blogging. Blogging adds fresh content to your site on a regular basis, which helps improve your SEO ranking. This will make it easier for your nonprofit to be discovered when people search for related topics on Google. Blogging allows you to include internal links to other pages on your site. You should also add external links to websites with high authority rankings, especially if those sites support your cause. More importantly, a blog gives people a reason to keep coming back to your site. Think of it like this. How often does the same person donate or buy something from your nonprofit? I'm willing to bet the answer is “not every single day.” But if you can establish a steady audience visiting your blog on a daily or weekly basis, it will increase the chances of getting conversions simply because your site traffic is higher. Prioritize email marketingWhen someone visits your website, trying to get them to buy something or make a donation shouldn't be your only goal. You can effectively market yourself without forcing visitors to spend any money. You need to collect email addresses. This will be the best way for you to stay in contact with your customers, donors, and volunteers. Eventually, this email list will help you generate more money. Email marketing has a high return on investment compared to other marketing tactics: That's because the costs associated with these campaigns are low. You'll pay only a flat monthly or annual rate for your email software based on the number of subscribers you have. Think about how much money it costs you to send direct mail letters to homes asking for donations. You'll pay just a fraction of that cost by sending emails instead. Plus, the best part about your email list is you know you're contacting people genuinely interested in your organization. That's why they signed up to receive these messages in the first place. Someone who opts in to receive your promotional content is much more likely to spend money than a person receiving a call from an unknown number. Improve your credibility and securityScammers have always tried to trick people. The modern age is no exception. It's a sad reality, and it's unfortunate it happens often. As a result, consumers protect their information. If they've never heard of your nonprofit organization, they may not feel comfortable donating to you or buying from you for the fear your organization is not legitimate. But you can do a few things to change that. Understand the top elements that add credibility to your website: For starters, you need to make it easy for people to contact you through:
All of these need to be easily accessible. Make sure you include security badges on your website as well. Proofread your site for grammar issues and typing mistakes. Such errors can make you appear unprofessional. Your checkout and donation processes need to be secure. I'll talk more about the way you accept payments shortly. Increase your social media presenceBoth your current and prospective customers are active on social media. The same holds true for your donors and volunteers. You need to be active on these platforms. If you don't have profiles created on social sites, you need to do this as soon as possible. Facebook. Twitter. Instagram. YouTube. These are the best places to start. Check out the Facebook page for Save the Children: As you can see, the organization uses this marketing channel to promote events and raise money for specific causes. Post content on your social media profiles on a daily basis. Try new strategies to increase the number of your social followers. Interact with these followers. Run promotions and giveaways to create exposure. Social media platforms are great places for you to explain your cause. Also consider using social media platforms to encourage customer referrals. Accept multiple payment optionsLet's say someone decides they want to buy something or make a donation on your website. That's great news. But they see you accept the payment only through mailed checks or over the phone. That's no good. You need to accept payments online. But take your online payment concept one step further. Accepting only Visa and Mastercard won't maximize your profits. You can't assume everyone has those cards. Even if they do, the cards may not be their preferred methods of payment. You need to accept all major credit cards and debit cards. Furthermore, you need to accept alternative payment options as well, such as PayPal, Apple Pay, and Venmo. The more options you have available, the more likely people will buy and donate. Tell your storyMaster the art of storytelling. The whole idea behind your nonprofit needs to be the driving force of your sales. Sell your story, not your product. You'd be surprised how impactful your story can be. People care about the world. Just look at these numbers based on a recent survey of Generation Z: Younger generations are especially aware of social concerns across the globe. That's why 70% of Millennials say they are willing to spend more money on brands supporting a cause. Explain why you got into business in the first place. Whom are the proceeds helping? How will donations help those in need? Elicit an emotional response from people who hear your story. The message needs to be loud and clear. This story needs to consistent on all your marketing channels. Feature it on your website, social platforms, and email newsletters. You should also give people the opportunity to share their stories. This will help create a sense of community and give people a reason to constantly visit your website. For example, let's say your nonprofit helps people who have a certain illness. Let people currently suffering from that illness share their stories. They can connect with other people in the same position. Family members and friends of those with the illness can contribute as well. By creating this community of people with unique stories, you will encourage more people to support your cause. Go mobileYour nonprofit organization needs to have a mobile website. As we saw earlier, more than half of nonprofit website traffic comes from mobile devices, and one in five nonprofit event registrations occurs on a mobile device. If your site isn't mobile-friendly, you'll have high bounce rates and won't get high conversions. But if your site loads quickly and is mobile-optimized, you'll have a better chance of making more money. Take your mobile marketing efforts one step further by creating a mobile app for your nonprofit. As you can see from the data above, consumers prefer mobile apps to mobile websites for several reasons:
These are the components you need to focus on if you want to drive sales and donations through your mobile app. Creating a mobile app also improves your legitimacy, which I discussed earlier. It will be easier for people to find you when they browse for related content in the app store. You can use your nonprofit mobile app to accept payments. People spend more money on mobile apps than they do on mobile browsers and desktop devices. This strategy will not only increase the number of donations you get but also the amount of each donation. Partner with sponsors and influencersLeverage relationships to expose your brand to a wider audience. Get a well-known brand to sponsor an event or partner with your company. Lots of businesses will be willing to do this because it shows they are charitable as well. Their customers can ultimately become donors for your nonprofit. You can accomplish this in many ways. It depends on what your sponsor is willing to offer. For example, if people make a donation through your website, they could get a discount or gift card to the sponsor's business. You should also partner with social influencers and celebrities. This is another great way to add credibility to your organization. Social media promotions from well-known personalities promoting your nonprofit will help you drive sales and donations. Try to find someone who has a direct connection to your mission and cause. These people will be much more willing to help you. ConclusionNonprofit organizations still need to make money. You can do this without straying away from your primary company's goal and mission. All this means is your cause will get even more support from your brand. Focus on new ways to acquire customers and donors. Take advantage of digital marketing tactics to do this. Drive traffic to your website, and encourage donations through that platform. This will be easy to do if you establish credibility. Build an email subscriber list. Stay active on social media. Leverage your mission statement and story to drive donations. Make sure you have a mobile website. Launch a mobile app to take donations from there as well. Accept as many payment methods as possible. Find a celebrity or social influencer willing to support your cause and promote your nonprofit. If you follow these tips, you'll see an increase in sales, donations, and volunteers for your nonprofit organization. This will ultimately boost your profits. How is your nonprofit organization using digital marketing tactics to increase profits?
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Why you should be using social media marketing https://t.co/S25Kx5QueQ by @WeAreArticulate #SMM7/17/2018
In early January 2017, I purchased the KISSmetrics website for $500,000. If you go to the site, you'll notice that it forwards here to NeilPatel.com (which I will get into later in the post). The $500,000 didn't get me the company, KISSmetrics, or any of the revenue streams. The parent company, Space Pencil, is continually improving and developing the product. And on top of that, there are restrictions. I can't just pop up a competing company or any company on the KISSmetrics site. So why did they sell me the domain? And why would I pay $500,000 for it? I can't fully answer why they sold it, but I do know a lot of their customers came from word of mouth, conferences, paid ads, and other forms of marketing that didn't include SEO or content marketing. For that reason, the domain probably wasn't as valuable to them as it was to me. And of course, who wouldn't want extra cash? I'm assuming they are very calculated because they are an analytics company, so they probably ran the numbers on how much revenue the inbound traffic was generating them and came to the conclusion that the $500,000 price tag seemed worth it. Now, before I get into why I spent $500,000 on the domain, let me first break down my thought process as I am buying out a lot of properties in the marketing space (more to be announced in the future). Why am I buying sites that aren't generating revenue?This wasn't the first or the last site that I'll buy in the space. I recently blogged about how I bought Ubersuggest. And it wasn't generating a single dollar in revenue. Well technically, there were ads on the site, but I quickly killed those off. And eventually, I ported it over to NeilPatel.com. When I am looking at sites to buy, I am only looking for 1 thing… traffic. And of course, the quality (and relevancy) of that traffic. See, I already have a revenue stream, which is my ad agency, Neil Patel Digital. So, my goal is to find as many sites that have a similar traffic profile to NeilPatel.com and leverage them to drive my agency more leads. How do you know you won't lose money?I don't! This approach doesn't guarantee I'll make more money. I look at the business as tons of tiny experiments. You don't build a huge business through one simple marketing strategy or tactic. You have to combine a lot of little things to get your desired outcome. And sometimes you'll make mistakes along the way that will cost you money, which is fine. You have to keep one thing in mind… without testing, you won't be big. With my ad agency, we tend to mainly have U.S. clients. Yes, we serve other regions as well… for example, we have an ad agency in Brazil. But I myself mainly focus on driving traffic to the U.S. ad agency, and the other teams just replicate as I don't speak Portuguese, German, or any of the required languages for the other regions we are in. So, when I buy companies, I look for traffic that is ideally in the U.S. Sure, the ad agency can work with companies in Australia, Canada, and even the United Kingdom, but it's tough. There's a huge difference in currency between Australia and the U.S. and the same goes for Canada. And with the U.K. there is a 5 to 8-hour time zone difference, which makes it a bit more difficult to communicate with clients. That's why when I buy a site, I'm ideally looking for U.S. traffic. When I bought Ubersuggest it had very little U.S. traffic. Indonesia and India were the two most popular regions. But I bought it because I knew I could build a much better tool and over time grow the U.S. traffic by doing a few email blasts, getting on Product Hunt, and by creating some press. And I have… As you can see from the screenshot above, U.S. is the most popular region followed by India and Brazil. Over time it shouldn't be too difficult to 3 or even 4x that number as long as I release more features. Now, my costs on Ubersuggest have gotten into the 6 figures per month, and I am not generating any income from it. There is no guarantee that it will generate any revenue, but I have a pretty effective sales funnel, which I will share later in the post. Because of that sales funnel my risk with Ubersuggest is pretty low. As long as I can grow the traffic enough, I should be able to monetize. What about KISSmetrics?As for KISSmetrics, I mainly bought the domain for the blog traffic. During its peak it was generating 1,260,681 unique visitors per month: By the time I bought the blog, traffic had dropped to 805,042 unique visitors per month: That's a 36% drop in traffic. Ouch! And then to make matters worse, I decided that I wanted to cut the traffic even more. There were so many articles on KISSmetrics that were outdated and irrelevant, so I had no choice but to cut them. For example, there were articles about Vine (which Twitter purchased and killed), Google Website Optimizer (no longer exists), Mob Wars (a Facebook game that no longer exists)… and the list goes on and on. In addition to that, I knew that I could never monetize irrelevant traffic. Yes, more traffic is good, but only as long as it is relevant. I instantly cut the KISSmetrics blog in half by “deleting” over 1,024 blog posts. Now, I didn't just delete them, I made sure I added 301 redirects to the most relevant pages here on NeilPatel.com. Once I did that, my traffic dropped again. I was now sitting at 585,783 unique visitors a month. It sucks, but it had to be done. The last thing I wanted to do was spend time and money maintaining old blog posts that would never drive a dollar in revenue. I knew that if someone was going to come to my blog to research Vine, there was little to no chance that the person would convert into a 6-figure consulting contract. After I pruned and cropped the KISSmetrics blog, I naturally followed the same path of Ubersuggest and merged it in to NeilPatel.com. The mergeThe KISSmetrics merge was a bit more complicated than Ubersuggest. With Ubersuggest, I didn't have a keyword research tool on NeilPatel.com, so all I had to do was slap on a new design, add a feature or two, and port it over. With KISSmetrics, a lot of the content was similar to NeilPatel.com. For the ones that were similar, I kept the NeilPatel.com version considering this blog generates more traffic than the KISSmetrics one. As for all of the content that was unique and different, I ended up moving it over and applying 301 redirects. If I decided to skip the pruning and cropping stage that I described above, the KISSmetrics blog would have had more traffic. And when I merged it in with NeilPatel.com I would have done even better. But in marketing you can can't focus on vanity metrics like how many more unique visitors you are getting per month. You need to keep your eye on the prize. And for me, that's leads. The more leads I generate for my ad agency, the more likely I'll increase my revenue. Here's my lead count for the weeks prior to the KISSmetrics merge: When looking at the table above, keep in mind it shows leads from the U.S. only. The KISSmetrics blog was merged on the 25th. When you add up all of the numbers from the previous week, there were 469 leads in total, of which 61 were marketing qualified leads. That means there were 61 leads that the sales reps were able to contact as the vast majority of leads are companies that are too small for us to service. When you look at the week of the 25th, there were a total of 621 leads. 92 where marketing qualified leads. Just from that one acquisition, I was able to grow my marketing qualified leads by 50.8%.
We all make mistakes. Sometimes these errors are minor, but other times they are grave. You need to learn how to avoid these mistakes. Launching your own business is no easy task. As someone who has helped multiple startups to get off the ground, I know this process firsthand. Things don't always go as planned. Research shows that 90% of startup companies fail. Sure, everything looked good on paper. You found the perfect name for your startup, but you hit some speed bumps along the way that you may not have been prepared for. If your most recent business venture didn't work out, it's nothing to be ashamed of. I get it. You poured your heart and soul into this project. The failure seems tough to overcome, especially if it cost you some money. But your story doesn't need to end here. You want to be an entrepreneur. That's why you attempted to launch a business in the first place. Don't just accept defeat and try to get a standard nine-to-five job like everyone else out there. I know plenty of people who couldn't get their startup off the ground. You have two paths from here. You can either quit or move forward. Don't fall into the group of entrepreneurs who quit. I'll show you how you can take that failed launch and turn it into an advantage that will move you forward. Here's what you need to do. Take a breakLaunching a startup doesn't happen in a week. It starts with careful planning and research and then implementation of your ideas. You went through all the legal requirements of incorporating your business. You spent time and money to develop products or software. Maybe you even built a mobile app. Being an entrepreneur isn't for everyone. That's why they make up the smallest population of the workforce across the globe. Everyone's situation is different. Your startup could have failed after a couple of months or even a couple of years. But regardless of when you failed, I'm sure you put in tons of hard work. You had some long hours and sleepless nights. Working this hard over an extended period of time can burn you out. It's possible the effect of this failed launch even impacted your personal life. You don't want to let this event negatively affect the relationships with your family and friends. These relationships are much more important than your business. Use this time as an opportunity to correct any wrongdoings that may have occurred while you were working on the startup. Step away and just relax. I realize this can be tough, especially if you don't have a steady source of income at this moment. But you need to find a way to recharge your batteries. As crazy as it sounds, taking a vacation might be just what you need. Put your startup out of your mind. Focus on your physical and mental health before you do anything else. Once you have a chance to clear your mind, it will be much easier for you to jump back on the horse for a fresh start. Figure out what went wrongNow that you've had a chance to take your mind off things for awhile, it will be easier for you to assess the situation-you'll have a more objective perspective. You need to be able to look at yourself honestly in the mirror. It's time to determine why your startup failed. While it may be easy or convenient to blame someone else, you need to take responsibility for your actions. Here are the top reasons why startups fail: If you look through this list, you'll see many of these scenarios could have been avoided. As the founder of your startup, you are responsible for making sure everything goes according to plan. Let's review the top three reasons for startup failure. 1. No market needThe number one reason why startups fail is because there wasn't a market need. This should have been discovered during the early stages of the business. It's your responsibility to conduct the proper market research. One of the first steps of launching a new business is to identify the target market of your startup. If you skipped this step or took some shortcuts through the process, it could be the reason why you failed. Learning there was no market need for your startup could have saved you a ton of time, money, and effort if you figured this out in the early weeks or months. 2. Running out of cashRunning out of money could happen for a few reasons. Perhaps you either didn't raise enough money or didn't budget accordingly. Again, both of those scenarios would fall on your shoulders. Don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying this so you can beat yourself up about it. I just want you to figure out exactly what the problem was. Being in denial won't help you move forward and turn your failure into a success story. 3. Not the right teamSurround yourself with people who can help you succeed. As you can see from the graph above, 23% of startups failed because the team wasn't right. Rather than blaming your team members for the demise of the company, make sure you find the proper people moving forward. After all, who hired those team members? Don't bring someone on board if they don't bring anything to the table. Research shows that founders with larger teams are able to pay themselves higher salaries. But doesn't mean you should be hiring a ton of people right away. Make sure you work with people who are compatible with your management style, hard working, and skilled in areas where you are weak. For example, let's say you are an excellent marketer. Working with a partner who is also a great marketer may not be what you need if neither of you knows how to develop products or handle finances. Don't lose confidenceFailure can be an extremely humbling experience. But you need to be able to find the balance between being humble and remaining confident. Entrepreneurs typically have that “eye of the tiger” character trait that gives them an edge in life. Don't lose that feeling and mentality just because of a mishap. Sure, you may not approach your next venture with that feeling of invincibility you had when you started your last one, but you should always remain confident in yourself. Your failed startup is just one minor event on the long timeline of your life. Don't let it define you. Instead, use it as motivation to bounce back and be better than ever. Trust me, you weren't the first person, and you certainly won't be the last, who failed at something. People have been in situations far worse than yours. Look at the positives in your life. You've got family, friends, and your health. Be thankful for what you have. I have some encouraging news. The next time you launch a startup, you'll have a greater chance of succeeding: This makes sense. That's because you've been through this process before. It won't be as overwhelming the next time because you'll know what to expect. Learn from your mistakesNow that you've taken the time to recognize what went wrong, learn from those mistakes. During what stage did your startup fail? Was it before or after the launch? Did you have problems with production? Was there an issue with your product? The key is to make sure you don't make the same mistakes twice. You can't just blindly approach your next startup without keeping your previous mistakes in the back of your mind. Don't take any shortcuts. Make sure there is a market for your brand. Secure the proper funding to reduce the chances of running out of money. Bring in a partner or two if you need help. But it's important to make sure everyone involved has a clearly defined role. Here's a look at the typical organizational structure of a business: Obviously, these titles will vary based on your type of business. But you can still use this as a reference so everyone clearly understands the management hierarchy. Don't be so hesitant to raise money from outside investors. You'll have less equity in the company, but you won't be crippled financially if things end up going wrong again. Plus, the fact that others will have a stake in the business will make them care more too. They will also put in the effort to make sure the company is successful because they have money on the line as well. Focus on your conceptTake the time to put some effort into your concept whether it's:
I'm assuming your idea falls into one of these three categories or potentially a combination of them. Ask yourself these questions: Do I need to start from scratch? Or can I make a variation of my failed attempt? Sometimes, you may not need a completely new idea for a business. On the other hand, it may be in your best interest to start over with a new concept. Everyone's situation is unique. It's possible your product or concept wasn't the issue that led to the failed launch. There may have been problems with budgeting, marketing, or some other factor that hindered your success. If that's the case, you could just launch another startup with the same concept under a different name. Develop a detailed business planAfter you've taken the time to analyze your failure, it's time to get back on the horse. Whether you're going to launch with the same concept or a new one, you have to start with a business plan. Learn how to write a business plan for your startup. Business plans will keep you accountable for your actions. If you put something on paper, you'll make the effort to follow through with it. Plus, writing a business plan increases your chances of securing funds and growing your business. As a result, your chances of success will be much higher. The first step of writing a business plan is clearly defining your target market. This will tell you exactly whom your brand is for. Research your competitors. Is your product already available on the market? With whom are you competing? This will help you come up with a strategy separating you from the crowd. Set a realistic budget. Recall our discussion about investors. Make sure you raise enough money so that you don't have to worry about running out of cash. Include a financial section of your business plan. When will you break even? Display your cash flow projections and expenses. Account for everything to make sure you can survive until you have a steady income. Your business plan should include a plan to market your startup company. ConclusionIf your new idea for your business feels like it has legs, go for it. Be confident in yourself and this new idea. Go through the steps carefully without taking any shortcuts. Just don't rush into things. It's important for you to take a break in between these launch attempts. Take the time to analyze what went wrong so you can learn from your mistakes and avoid repeating them. Entrepreneurship isn't for everyone. Don't feel obligated to start a new business right away if you're not ready. You may decide to try something else in the meantime. But as we discussed earlier, you'll have a greater chance of succeeding the next time around, so don't be discouraged by what happened in the past. Turn your idea into a reality. How were you able to identify what went wrong with your first startup launch?
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