Thanks for asking such a great question. Hmm…my vision is to be the Tom Peters of the nonprofit world; a provocative change catalyst for the way nonprofit leaders and organizations think about themselves and the way they impact the world. Consulting, coaching, information products, my membership website and workshops (especially virtual workshops) are some of the ways I see that happening.
So, my newly minted business faces the biggest challenge in just tapping into the world of nonprofits and their leaders ONLINE. They generally hang out with others from their special interest niche (like children’s charities, domestic violence, environmental orgs, etc) and they don’t really identify themselves as “executive directors” or “leaders” of nonprofits in a more general sense. (That’s one of the their problems, but it makes it really difficult for me to reach them and help them with it. Can we say Catch 22?)
My whole business model is about using the benefits of the online world to deliver services and build community for them as my clients. And in turn modeling that as a way for them to explore interacting with each other in alliances (something they don’t yet do much) and as a possible way of serving their constituents.
This is bleeding edge stuff for my target market and finding folks who are ready for it is proving more difficult than I thought. That’s my biggest challenge!
D. Kay Malone, JD
REvolutionaryEdge.com
Hi Kay,
Wow! Love your email, talk about focus and vision… 🙂
And truly, so many coaches struggle with who they want to work with or why. So kudos to you for being there.
Where do non profit leaders “group together”? There must be some organizations, events, newsletters, etc out there… or maybe even just lists with the names of non-profit leaders.
In which case the key would be tapping into “where they hang out” and inviting them to your website… where you get them to give you their email address and you start providing value, building relationships, etc.
It may not be so much about “finding them online”… as they may or may not be searching for information online already. Some markets simply do not go online to search for what we want to offer them.
Instead it would be about driving them to your website through other means (networking, speaking engagements, direct mail to a list of non-profits, etc) and having them join your ezine so you can start “building a relationship online”
Does this make sense? I’m just making it up as I go, LOL
Tina