255. The No-Nonsense Marketing Plan That Builds Financial Stability - Lindsay LaShell

Lindsay LaShell, Open Lines, Nonprofit Marketing, We Are For Good Podcast

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Overview

Meet Lindsay. She's on a mission to help mission-driven orgs achieve financial sustainability and growth through marketing AND she's teaching how to do it with empathy and efficiency. We're unpacking a mini masterclass walking through the essentials needed for your marketing plan, and where to start today.

💡Learn:

  • Building a marketing plan that's smart, strategic & sustainable

  • Breakdown of essential marketing assets all orgs need

  • How to measure and evaluate your marketing

  • Creating actionable brand pillars

Today’s Guest

Lindsay LaShell, Marketing Activist and Creator of Open Lines

If you invest in marketing, and you’re smart about it, you absolutely can have results.
— Lindsay LaShell, Marketing Activist and Creator of Open Lines

Episode Transcript

Download Full Episode Transcript Here

Episode highlights

  • Lindsay’s story and journey to where she is today (2:00)

  • Achieving financial sustainability and growth through marketing (6:00)

  • What Lindsay has learned from this framework and what has been surprising for clients (12:00)

  • Where you can start today (17:00)

  • What Lindsay has learned and how she has re-framed her mindset around marketing (20:00)

  • Essential marketing assets organizations need and how we use them and use them well (23:00)

  • Measuring and evaluating your marketing (29:00)

  • A powerful moment of philanthropy in Lindsay’s life (34:00)

  • Lindsay’s One Good Thing: Think about what you can give and not what you need. (35:00)

powerful quotes

“I have a tool and it works for everybody.” -Lindsay

“The first column is your audience journey. What do they care about? What questions are they asking? And then how did they learn about you? And what questions are they asking now?” -Lindsay

“I developed a workshop that was specifically for small and new nonprofits to do it in one day, right? We sit down, we dig in, it's a really intense eight hour workshop. And we go through all of the stages, and you have a fully fledged ready to execute marketing plan, including editorial calendar, ready to go at the end of the day.” -Lindsay

“We can substitute empathy, and we can substitute thoughtfulness and we can substitute planning. And if we do those things, instead of tradition, advertising dollars, whatever, we really can see the same and much better results.” -Lindsay

“I love telling clients what they don’t have to do.” -Lindsay

“Just like all entrepreneurs, you don’t know what you don’t know.” -Lindsay

“Only bad marketing is overhead.” - Lindsay

“If you invest in marketing, and you're smart about it, you absolutely can have results.” -Lindsay

“The only thing you need to know for sure are, who are your people? And where are they hanging out? And what do they care about? That's all.” -Lindsay

“It’s not just your people, it’s understanding their journey.” -Lindsay

“I’m a huge believer in brand pillars. My version is 3 or 4 messaging themes that we can use over and over and over again to communicate subconsciously to our audience who we are.” -Lindsay

“Your brand pillar becomes the water your audience swims in.” -Lindsay

“You don’t need to have good marketing, you need to have consistent marketing.” -Lindsay

“With the tools that the framework provides, then we can empower the employee and help them understand the messages that need to come through.” -Lindsay

“Let’s build what is right for your people.” -Jon

“Because of this framework we know what success looks like.” -Lindsay

“If you’re having problems getting a marketing budget, start to socialize what your data is telling you. That will drive why you need to make an investment there.” -Becky

Where you can start today 👇

  1. Touchpoint audit - line up everything you do and inventory them

  2. What role does each one of these things play in our audience journey? Name. The. Action.

  3. Cut out everything that doesn’t have a clear role in the journey

  4. Make your profile photo big, branded, and beautiful and share that you don’t hang out on that site

connect with Lindsay and open lines

Website / LinkedIn

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Episode Sponsored by

Studio Selfie

Julie Confer, Becky Endicott, Jonathan McCoy & Lindsay LaShell.

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Lindsay LaShell, Open Lines, Marketing for Nonprofits, We Are For Good Podcast
Lindsay LaShell, Open Lines, Marketing for Nonprofits, We Are For Good Podcast
Lindsay LaShell, Open Lines, Marketing for Nonprofits, We Are For Good Podcast
Lindsay LaShell, Open Lines, Marketing for Nonprofits, We Are For Good Podcast