Yellow Dog Consulting

Sales & Marketing Consulting for solo-preneurs.

List Size Matters

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I was listening to Pod Save America the other day and they were discussing Joe Biden’s imminent 2020 run. Dan Pfeiffer mentioned that one concern the campaign may have is the size of Biden’s list. The BIG news out of 2020 is that when Bernie Sanders launched his campaign and Beto O’Rourke they both had HUGE first day donations. And they were a lot of small donations adding up to insane amounts of money. Biden is concerned he doesn’t have the list. He hasn’t run since 2008 and he didn’t run after 2016 so he hasn’t had to work on building his list in over 10 years. And 10 years ago fundraising was VERY different than it is today.

On top of that, one of the rules of entry into the Democratic Primary Debates is to “Meet the grassroots fundraising threshold, which requires obtaining 65,000 unique donors and a minimum of 200 donors per state in at least 20 states.”

Writing a big check from a couple of donors will no longer cut it folks. So why do I think you as a small business owner should care about this?

Your list matters

Continuing to cultivate your list matters. Biden is in a pinch because he ignored his list for 10 years. If you had something big to announce (a new program, book, service, etc,) would you have the list to get your version of 65,000 unique donors?

So what do you do?

  1. Have a Welcome Series – give people something when they join your list & welcome them to your community
  2. Talk to Them Regularly – don’t let them forget who you are (I feel like I say this every time I have a blog post about lists but it obviously needs to be repeated)
  3. Don’t Just Ask for Money – In politics this is common. The daily donation request. But in business I see this happen all the time too. Your newsletter is just a sales pitch for your latest product or service. Educate me about your awesomeness and then down the line ask me for money. Don’t start out like this.

Your list, and your communication with that list, is an important piece of your marketing tool kit. Stop ignoring it.

March Pop Culture Round Up

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March pop culture round upI hope you’ve had a great month! This month I flew up to visit my BFF for her birthday (and the release of Captain Marvel!) and enjoyed the warmer weather that is starting to peak out and tease us with hopes of sitting outside reading and throwing frisbees for Norm. It also had a few colder nights and a time to catch up on my DVR a bit. PLUS March Madness is upon us (damn you Villanova…) Here’s a few pieces of pop culture I’ve been enjoying in March.

Reading

I caught up on comic books this month – I was WAY over due (and maybe shamed when I went to the comic shop to pick up my box…)

I am on a female comic book author kick lately. West Coast Avengers from Kelly Thompson is still really fun. I like a good “wait is my parent back from the dead or were they lying to me all along?” story line. I finally finished G. Willow Wilson’s Captain Marvel run. She did an amazing job with the series – although that final issue felt like an unnecessary bow tie on the end. I really like Margaret Stohl and her run with Captain Marvel was great. I’m excited for what Kelly Thompson has in store!

Maneater from Portland author Chelsea Cain is a really fun series. Teenage girls no longer get their period, except every once in a while they do and they can turn into attack cats. It’s a clever premise (despite my poor description) and a locally written series (Cain wrote Mockinbird which you need to read ASAP if you want to get into comics but think they’re just for boys who like superheroes.) And, I still read The Walking Dead. I’m enjoying the new group’s leader and what’s in store there. I gave up on the show when Negan showed up, I read it I didn’t need to watch it too.

Listening

A couple of months ago a friend recommended an OPB story about PERS (yes, I know you’re jealous AND also wondering what these acronyms are). I discovered OPB Politics Now and it’s a great way to keep up to date on local political stories that since I don’t subscribe to a regional newspaper (just the Hillsboro Tribune) this gives me some statewide political updates.

I also really appreciated Wesley Morris on The Daily earlier this month talking about the Michael Jackson documentary. I don’t have the stomach to watch the doc but his insights as he grappled with growing up a huge fan of Jackson to processing his impact with his actions was very thoughtful.

Watching

Captain Marvel has been out three weeks and YES I’ve seen it twice. It’s that much fun. It makes me appreciate cats more (no one is more surprised than me by that statement) and Nick Fury.

I’ve also watched the new Amy Schumer special twice (again, it’s that good) and laughed SO HARD. It’s really great, even if her husband is a horrible artist.

I am finally catching up on the final season of You’re the Worst and it’s not as good as the previous seasons. I’m really bummed. I find I can only watch one or two episodes at a time, they’re just so awful now for some reason.

I’m sad that Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is almost over. And I’m excited, yet sad, about the final season of Jane the Virgin! I really enjoyed The Other Two and I’m savoring the final few episodes of Broad City, I’m not ready for it to be over yet…

I am still loving this season of Schitt’s Creek so much so that I bought tickets for their tour when they’re in town in May! I am savoring this season of Queer Eye, it’s always just so sweet and good.

March always means March Madness – my favorite sports season. So my DVR is getting a bit more backed up than usual since my weekends are spent yelling at the TV because my bracket is a mess. How’s your bracket doing so far?

5 Tasks to Add to Your Blog Post Checklist

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5 Tasks to Add to Your Blog Post ChecklistThe other day while chatting with a client she asked if I have a checklist for blogging. I sure didn’t (well, I do in pieces in my head) so I decided we should create one.

A few years ago I wrote about how 40% of my traffic comes from social media – but let’s update that for 2019…

  1. Linktree – If you’re using Instagram as part of your social media then you know that you only get ONE URL in your bio. Which is DUMB. With Linktree you create a page that has all your relevant links to your recent blog posts and any other links you reference in your Instagram. Check mine out…
  2. Buffer – you need a social media sharing tool to help keep you sane. I pay for Buffer and it’s awesome. I still mostly stick to this social media sharing schedule from this post a few years ago. Lately I have been monitoring how many tweets are scheduled/work/promo and how many are LIVE me. Evaluate your social media regularly to make sure you aren’t talking AT your audience but are talking to and with your audience.
  3. Add to your Newsletter – each month in my newsletter I feature a few of my latest blog posts. It’s a great way to get some additional exposure to folks who many not follow my blog.
  4. Reference Your Posts – a lot of my blog posts (this one included) are written so I can easily share my recommendations down the road without having to write this all out again. Make sure if you took the time to write a helpful blog post that you’re sharing it with your clients or a specific audience when the time comes. I was on a group call last week where we ended up talking about a topic I have written a few posts about so I was able to share those posts and get new eyes on my website.
  5. Add to Google My Business – Now that G+ is going away don’t forget that you can add a post to your Google My Business page! It expires in time but once you start posting you get a heads up – which might even prompt you to write another post!

What other behind the scenes tasks do you do on your blog?