Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.

– John Dewey

School Days

I was always a very academic kid growing up. Once I got to high school, that drive turned up to eleven. I was a combination of Rory Gilmore and Paris Geller.

I guess you could say I was tightly wound.

Luckily, I relaxed significantly once I graduated from high school, and even more so once I graduated from college. At the time, I knew my formal education was ending. I also knew that I would never stop learning. But I did think that learning would take place in a more formal setting.  However, that was not the case.

While I do like learning in a classroom setting, a lot of the learning I’ve done in service of my career, has been done quite informally. Yes, I have attended many conferences and workshops. I have also Googled, YouTubed, and DIY’d my way through a good chunk of my professional development.  Learning by doing has been the best way for me to develop my skills.

This DIY, hands-on approach is also a reflection of where education is trending as a whole.  A few of our rockin’ clients reflect these trends.

Learning By Doing

Faith Family Academy emphasizes a MASTER program – Math, Art, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Research. They understand that there are different approaches to learning and that no one subject has cornered the market on how to solve problems  This holistic approach is needed if today’s students are to be tomorrow’s leaders and workers.

Another client of ours, Girl Scouts of Texas Oklahoma Plains, also emphasizes learning by doing. They understand that the best way to learn leadership skills is through hands-on trial and error. Girls are expected to work their way through real-life problems that you can’t study your way out of.

What do you do when the volunteers you scheduled to help with a service project don’t show up? What if you disagree with your troop on how to spend troop Cookie funds? And speaking of Cookies, how do you keep your eyes on the prize when you are selling at a Cookie booth and its 20 degrees outside?

I recently attended a workshop hosted by another rockin’ client, Sandler Training of Fort Worth. The facilitator guided us through different scenarios in an interactive, small group setting. Attendees came away with real actionable next-steps they can take to land a new client.

We live in interesting times. Most information is at your fingertips. Which essentially means, information is cheap. What you do with it, that’s the key.

Oh how the holiday retail landscape has changed over the past decade. It used to be that folks would leisurely enjoy their Thanksgiving feast, sleep off said feast, then line up on “Black Friday” at the crack of dawn to get in on the big deals they were after. While the Friday after Thanksgiving is still the official start of the holiday shopping season, things have certainly changed. Thanksgiving is no longer off limits – many retailers are open. In fact, consumers can shop at stores or online before the Thanksgiving meal has been cleared from the table.

While Black Friday still holds its own as the most significant shopping holiday on the calendar, there are now a multitude of shopping holidays competing for attention. Between Black Friday, Small Business Saturday (we on the Porch always encourage shopping small and shopping local), Cyber Monday, Free Shipping Day and Super Saturday (the last Saturday before Christmas), it’s hard to know when the best time to do your holiday shopping is. These “holidays” were created to boost holiday sales and lure us in with the promise to save big on every item on our lists.

Here are some numbers to put things into perspective:

• The National Retail Federation expects holiday retail sales in November and December — excluding automobiles, gasoline and restaurants — to increase between 4.3 and 4.8 percent over 2017. Total spending is expected to range from $717.45 billion to $720.89 billion.
• According to NRF, for some retailers, the holiday season can represent as much as 30 percent of annual sales with hobby, toy and game stores reporting the highest percentage, accounting for approximately 30.1 percent of their sales during the 2017 holiday season. Overall, last year holiday sales represented nearly 20 percent of total retail industry sales.

Do you jump right in after Thanksgiving and knock out everything on your list? Or are you one of the 40% that begins holiday shopping before Halloween? Do you hold out for possibly better deals with the chance of not getting what you want? Or do you usually procrastinate and hope for the best? It takes all kinds!

The good news this year is that the gap between Thanksgiving and Christmas is long – 32 days whereas next year will only be 26 (although Hanukkah is early this year). That means retailers have more time to lure us in and those who usually wait to shop, well, you have more time to wait.

The forecast for holiday sales is good this year, but we’ll have to wait a few more weeks to see how the shopping season plays out. In the meantime, I’ve got some shopping to do!

Here on the Porch we love rocking social media on behalf of our clients. Each platform has a slightly different tone, tenor and audience – and we enjoy the nuances of each and every one. Instagram is a light, happy platform that can tolerate a touch of irreverence, and truth be told, it’s my favorite.

Around here my colleagues playfully call me “Queen of Words,” and so it should come of no surprise to anyone that my personal feed is filled with wordy quotes. Inspirational quotes such as, “Surround yourself with people that force you to level up.” Quotes that speak to me, like “Be a good person but never waste your time proving it.” And funny, just-my-personality quotes like, “Sometimes things are just best said with an eye roll.”

I. Love. Quotes. So in the spirit of Thanksgiving and gratitude, I share with you my 10 favorite Instagram quotes about gratitude:

1. “Joy is the simplest form of gratitude.” Karl Barth

2. “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” William Arthur Ward

3. “We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.” Thornton Wilder

4. “They do not love, that do not show their love.” William Shakespeare

5. “Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” Marcel Proust

6. “Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” Oprah Winfrey

7. “The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; but the thankful heart will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings.” Henry Ward Beecher

8. “Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” Melody Beattie

9. “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” John F. Kennedy

10. “Thanksgiving is a time of togetherness and gratitude.” Nigel Hamilton

Beautiful and inspirational, right? May you all have a wonderful holiday, surrounded by everyone that you are grateful for! Happy Thanksgiving, from our Porch to yours.

This time of year, the stakes are high in the charitable giving arena, making nonprofit marketing more important than ever. Roughly 30% of all nonprofit giving happens during the last month of the year, from #GivingTuesday (the Tuesday after Thanksgiving) through December 31.

Donors are feeling generous, so the time is now to launch a compelling marketing campaign to support your annual appeal. The competition for donation dollars is real, so keep these things top of mind to ensure you don’t get lost in the noise:

Keep Your Messaging on Point

Messaging should be compelling and concise. What will inspire donors to give to your nonprofit over another? Your messaging should be clear and speak to your audience in a resonant, emotional way in a voice that supports your mission and is undeniably yours.

Make Sure Your Website is Ready for Prime Time

This is likely your biggest campaign of the year – your website should be ready to receive visitors. Make sure your website is compelling, current and eye-catching, and that your campaign is highlighted on your homepage with a clear call to action. Your donation page should be front and center – make it easy for people to give!

The Time is Now for Email Marketing

An optimized website only works if you’re driving traffic to it, so create some well written emails that will resonate with donors and drive people to your site. Consider using storytelling in your campaign – it’s a powerful way to arouse emotion and inspire action. A good narrative brings people together, evokes emotion, and creates empathy. Fundraising is a very human-centered enterprise, and when our emotions are tapped, we are much more likely to act.

Support Your Campaign with Social Media

Nonprofits are all competing for dollars, and social media will be abuzz. You can’t afford not to be telling your story there. Every platform has a different voice and demographic, so tailor your messaging to each channel. Establish a monthly social media calendar to ensure all your touchpoints are covered, and encourage sharing by your stakeholders and friends.

Don’t Forget to Say Thank You

Recognize your donors and their gifts quickly. Leave them with something that makes them feel undeniably good about supporting your organization.

It’s go time for Nonprofit Marketing! Are you ready to rumble? If not, come see us!

Truth be told, I have not historically been the epitome of the happy, organized, relaxed holiday doyenne. Instead, I have been the poster child for procrastination (“I know those limited edition sneakers are hard to come by … but I’ll find them tomorrow”), delusion (“I am in great shape – plenty of time left”), and last minute panic (“It’s Thanksgiving morning … where am I going to find a pie dish?”). Every year I find myself with the very best of intentions, but decidedly too much to do and not nearly enough time to do it.

So I am turning over a new leaf. I want to actually ENJOY the holidays this year. Care to join me in that? Let’s do it.

First, Let’s Think About Things

Spend some quiet time thinking about what you have loved about the holidays in years past. Who do you want to spend time with? Where? What is important to you? What is important to your family? Ask them … you might be surprised by what they love and what you only think they love. Let the rest fall away.

Fall in Love With the List

The key to managing the holidays is planning and organization, and the key to planning and organization is … the list. Actually, let’s pluralize that … LISTS. Gifts to buy lists, gifts you’ve bought lists, lists of activities, lists of recipes, lists of groceries for the recipes … you get the idea. Make your lists and scratch things off as you go along – it’s uber gratifying. If you want to knock yourself out, invest in a holiday planner. A friend of mine just bought this one and it looks awesome!

More Important than the List is the Timeline

Some things can’t be planned for but setting a timeline and keeping on schedule is essential. It will minimize the need to shop for and hand-deliver gifts to all your kids’ teachers on the last day of school before the break. Sigh. I might have done that a time or ten. New leaf, new leaf, new leaf. Plan ahead, people. Time moves at warp speed in the months of November and December.

Don’t Forget to Take Care of Yourself

Don’t stop doing what makes you feel good, even though you’re busy. Sleep, exercise, meditate, get outside, laugh, breathe. Put “me time” on your list. It keeps you from losing your mind. Your body (and your family) will thank you.

Stress Happens so Have a Ripcord Nearby

Despite all our thinking and list-making and scheduling, there will be times when we feel overwhelmed and stressed out. Find a way to decompress and re-center, whatever that is for you. For me, it’s tennis and a bubble bath. For you, it could be karaoke and tequila. Do it. I don’t judge.

And lastly, ENJOY THE HOLIDAYS. Be present. Be joyful. Make some memories.

You are a small business owner or a business leader who knows their business inside and out – no one will know your business like you do. And in terms of marketing to your ideal customer, that is the problem.

When you are trying to sell to your target customer, it’s tempting to imagine their wants and needs. But, there are limits to what you can imagine your customer wants, and what their lived experience is. Remember: you are not your customer.

Unless you are …

A middle-aged dad with two volleyball playing daughters and a penchant for craft beer … you are not Greg.

An entrepreneur with a Division 6A football playing son and a daughter who is ready to take over the world at the age of five … you are not me.

A thirty-something woman with a deep and unabiding love for bulldogs who has never lived in one place for more than four years … you are not Maria.

What does any of this have to do with marketing to your target customer? I have no idea, but unless you take a hard look at customer research and insights, you might miss something important that has a bearing on whether your customer chooses you over a competitor.

Marketing is not one size fits all

Each customer is unique and has different needs.

Does your customer value convenience over cost or vice versa? Do they care about how their product is made and its impact on local communities? Are they early adopters of new technology? Do they want a Swiss Army knife or one product that does a few things well? Do they like to try new things spontaneously or are their purchasing decisions based on thorough research? How do they find out about new products and services – social media, word-of-mouth, content creators and influencers? All these factors affect how you market to your customer.

Let’s look at a product that many of us on the Porch are about to take on soon – college. It’s easy to think that with this digital generation, all that matters are engaging with them on an online, social media level. But you would be wrong. Students have a ton of options – what makes one school stand out over another? If you look at the experience of our summer interns, their answers might surprise you. Go here and here to find out.

Reaching different customer audiences can seem overwhelming. The solution? Your friends from the Porch. We love a good marketing challenge and we want to help businesses reach their customers through the channels that make sense for that target market.

We are a company comprised of people with very different skillsets, backgrounds and experiences. We are moms, dads, fur parents, former corporate folks, nonprofit fans, football lovers and football nubes, big thinkers and specialized experts.

We are different. Just like your customer.

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Inktober is a month-long art challenge mean to kick start participants’ creativity and improve their drawing skills. Participants draw one ink drawing a day for an entire month. Every day has a different prompt to inspire participants. Participants are encouraged to share their drawings online via social media with the hashtag #Inktober. Inktober is the brainchild of illustrator and comic book writer Jake Parker. He started the art challenge as a way to get better at drawing. Nearly ten years later, thousands of artists (and amateur doodlers like myself) have taken part in the month-long challenge.

Creativity Everyday

I decided to participate in Inktober for a few reasons:

1. Small Steps Everyday: There is something to be said for putting forth a small effort everyday rather than a herculean effort every once in a while. I tend toward the latter, I wanted to do more of the former.
2. The Wonder Years: I was such a creative kid – I used to spend afternoons drawing, writing for fun, painting, coloring, gluing bits and bobs to things and calling it “art.” And then I grew up. Sometimes adulting gets in the way. Inktober was a way for me to start making stuff again. Which leads to reason #3.
3. Mind Space: I think that everyone needs a hobby, especially if they work in an industry that demands creative solutions and novel thinking. The mind needs space to work on problems in the background. Constantly chipping away at problem or project doesn’t necessarily make for a better solution. Give the mind a break, jumpstart a creative solution.

My Inktober framework deviated in a couple of ways from the standard Inktober challenge. One, I followed the prompt list from Australian illustrator Sha’an d’Anthes. I found her list to be more inspiring and fun. Two, I have never used ink before and while I wanted to explore my creativity, I didn’t want to explore a totally different medium than the watercolors and acrylics I was used to. So, I chose to focus on using gouache instead. Pronounced gwah-sh, it is a happy medium between watercolors and acrylic paints.

Half-way through Inktober, I have learned a few things…

I really like gouache. However, I am terrible at blending colors. Just terrible.

It is hard to make habit. That’s essentially what you are trying to do when you are trying to make a small effort every day. You must consciously carve out time in your day for your new effort and you have to make sure you have the supplies, workspace and “headspace” to do it. Did I always do this? Not even close.

I love variety.  But not all the time. Part of Inktober’s appeal was that it would challenge me to draw something different every day. You know what I learned? I don’t like to draw a wide variety of things.

While it was fun to try something new, the experience also reiterated to me what I do enjoy drawing. Which is a pretty narrow list – I like to draw fruits, vegetables, and flowers. And that is it. I think it’s okay to step out of your comfort zone to try new things, even if the experience reinforces what you knew all along. At least you know you’re on the right track and that you’re not missing out on anything.

The Takeaway

Will I continue with Inktober? Probably not. I don’t like taking what I consider to be a fun hobby and making it another to-do on my list. I don’t like the prompt list framework, I like to do my own thing. So, were the past fifteen days a total loss? No! Inktober gave me a chance to jumpstart my creativity and give my brain a break. That was all I really wanted, a way to improve my life without doing something radical or expensive. And I think that sounds like the best outcome I could hope for.

The power of social media platforms has skyrocketed.  Social media is now an essential part of building a professional career, a way to stay on top of the latest trends, and connect with companies.

Here are three popular social media platforms that can build your career.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is considered to be the top online source for accessing job recruiters and managing a professional social media reputation. Most professionals use the network to keep in touch with their current network.

But, you can also use LinkedIn to connect with who you want to know. Look up what LinkedIn groups they are part of and request to join those groups. Raise your visibility by contributing to group discussions.

Twitter

Twitter is the online capital of instant and direct communication. It’s a great platform to promote your professional brand expertise.

Follow industry influencers on Twitter.  Observe the topics and trends they are talking about. This can serve as a jumping off point for online and, potentially, in-person connection.

Instagram

Instagram is one of the best platforms to show off your digital savvy. With visually pleasing content, you can display who you are personally and professionally.

Spend time looking through a company’s Instagram account. Note how they are engaging with audiences on the platform. This can create unique ideas for how you can find opportunities and openings.

Keep in mind that building your career through social media is an art, not a science. Pick and choose platforms that your audience connects with best.

How brand ambassadors are re-defining influencer marketing.

In today’s market, college students hold a considerable (and growing) amount of purchasing power. How does a brand target these highly-coveted consumers? Create brand ambassadors.

What is a Brand Ambassador?

Brand ambassadors are a component of influencer marketing.  Typically, they are employed to promote a company’s products and brand personality in their communities. Whether this is in-person or through social media, these ambassadors are generating valuable word-of-mouth impressions. Per research published on Invesp, word-of-mouth impressions create 500 percent more sales than paid media impressions. Nearly 90 percent of consumers report that they are more likely to give their hard-earned cash to a brand recommended by a friend.

Ambassadors are becoming increasingly prevalent, especially on social media platforms, such as Instagram.  Typically, an ambassador will post a photo featuring a product sent to them by a company. Ambassadors often explain the product and brand in the photo’s caption. They also include a special discount code for their followers to apply to online purchases.

Photo by Jens Johnsson on Unsplash

Brands on Campus: Why They Work

Influencer marketing is also common on college campuses.  I have seen ambassadors for companies such as Red Bull, Kind Bar and Bumble at UT Austin. They understand the immense purchasing power of students, especially due to mobile purchasing, and want to reach them in as many ways as possible. Brand reps often give away swag, free products, and sponsor campus events.

Millennials are interested in building their online presence through social media.  They are willing to feature exciting products for companies with little in return. Though ambassadors are not paid, there are many perks to their ‘job’. These include free products, access to brand-sponsored events and networking opportunities throughout the industry.

The True Value of Ambassadors

Brand ambassadors have proven valuable to the companies they represent as well. They increase a company’s social presence by constant content generation. They also provide consumer feedback, personally and from their peers. Companies value this insight from their most-coveted target market.

When I return to school in the fall, I expect to see many brand ambassadors on campus. Some of my favorite past examples include when Kind Bar gave students free breakfast bars during finals week. Express ambassadors, or students part of ‘Express U’, set up tables on campus to showcase the clothing company’s newest products.

I can’t wait to see how brands show up on campus this school year!

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about business leadership.  What makes a good leader today?

As luck would have it, I recently watched The Founder, starring the underrated actor Michael Keaton as Ray Kroc, the “founder” of McDonalds.  Turns out, stealing the McDonalds brothers’ intellectual property and last name aside, Ray Kroc had some pretty good ideas about leadership that ultimately led to the success of the company and can still be applied today.

Side note: yes, I know McDonalds is not doing great right now and other restaurant chains are, ahem, eating their lunch. But, at the time, Ray Kroch was able to capitalize on a few key ideas to great success.

How are you going to steer this ship?

A Good Leader Takes a Step Back

The McDonald brothers, the original founders of McDonald’s, spent years perfecting their “Speedee Service System,” the assembly-line style fast food kitchen we all know today. They cut down on costs by eliminating wait staff and paired down their menu to the top-selling items – burgers, sodas, shakes, and fries.

Their first foray into franchising was a disaster. It was difficult for the brothers to control quality standards because 1) they were in California and franchisees were far away in a different city or state and 2) they hardly ever ventured outside of their original location.

So, you can imagine their consternation when Ray Kroc, who they trusted to create and supervise their second attempt at franchising, started suggesting new menu items, sponsorship opportunities, and that the brothers should expand the franchise even more. Who was this yahoo to tell them how to tinker with their creation?

It is a difficult thing to go from working in your business to working on your business, to giving up some control and letting others take on the day-to-day details and hands-on work. It’s a risk – what if a staff person comes back with less-than-stellar work? You have spent all this time growing your business and now you’re just supposed to what, give up the reins?

In a word, yes. In three more words, a little bit. What the movie makes painfully clear is that the McDonalds brothers were never going to grow their business to the fast food behemoth it is today by themselves. They needed right leadership, and the right people, to grow and they needed to let those people take the lead.

Finding the Right People Is Worth It

Initially, Ray sold McDonald’s franchises to a few friends from his country club. This was not a great success. They changed menu items without consulting him first. Burgers were overcooked. Locations were messy. And what was worse, they did not care. Their livelihood did not depend on these restaurants and so they let standards slide.

Ray then decides to fish for the right franchisees in different waters. He found them in VFW halls, American Legions, Shriners Clubs, churches, and synagogues. He sold franchises to regular, working-class people who were willing to work hard and had some skin in the game.

The lesson in all of this: finding the right people is tough. But, hiring the wrong people can be a costly mistake. Is it time to expand your talent search?

Leaders Work on Growing Their People

Let’s be clear: Ray Kroc was not a nice guy. But, he knew good talent and ideas when he saw them.

Ray didn’t immediately squash new ideas from his staff, he tested them out first. He took chances on people who might otherwise be overlooked, because he liked their work ethic. His original Director of Operations, Fred Turner, started out on the line of one his restaurants. Ray initially took interest in him because he literally liked the way Fred flipped burgers.

Ultimately, good leaders grow people. And by growing their people, they grow their business.

A Strong Brand is Worth a Lot ($2.7 million in fact)

Ray Kroc understood the value of a strong brand. He knew that even more than burgers and fries, McDonalds was selling the chance to spend time with your family, a sense of community, a slice of Americana. He also knew he could copy the Speedee Service System all the wanted, but no one was going to go to a restaurant named after him. Kroc’s doesn’t quite have the same ring as McDonald’s.

This is the point in the movie where things take a dramatic turn and we see Ray basically bullying the McDonald brothers into selling their very name to Ray for $2.7 million.

While I don’t advocate bullying, I do suggest looking at your brand and identifying what makes you stand out from the pack. In a world of increasingly commodified goods and services, what is special about your company?

Its an old saying, but its true: what got you here won’t get you there. The things that make a business owner successful at first –a great product or service, hard work, attention-to-detail – are not enough by themselves to take a business to the next level.

To level up, business leaders must step back from the day-to-day, find and grow the right people, and cultivate their brand.  What steps are you taking to get to the next level of your business?