Rachel Cottam

We've seen disappointing email response rates this year...and here's why... 1. Lack of Connection With so many emails now, they have become too canned, spamy and impersonal. Use tech and better targeting to customize email outreach that converts. 2. Wrong Audience Instead of "casting a wide net", try to create targeted ideal donor personas that hyperfocus on industry, decision-maker, location, workforce size, revenue, etc so you can better tailor your value to them. 3. Too Much Sales Talk Use short content and simple, 7th grade level language to deliver a concise value proposition. Avoid your mission and fundraising jargon at all cost. 4. Ignoring Follow-Ups #Fundraisers sometimes expect an immediate response from 1, 2, or even 3 emails to a donor prospect. Turns out...it requires 8 connections before they convert into a meeting. Keep trying! 💻 Join me on 12/18 for a first-ever webinar on Mastering Corporate Donor Lead Engagement! Register for free here > https://lnkd.in/ezhKnCqk We'll dive into cold outreach - what's working/what's not, how to nurture warm leads, and ultimately how others have converted cold prospects into 6-figure partnerships!

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Today is an important milestone for Punchbowl News — We are announcing The Portal with Enbloc AI. Since we launched in 2021, we've heard consistently that our community isn't happy with their data subscriptions that they pay thousands of dollars for but aren't actually that useful. That gave us the idea to create a platform that changes the way Washington works, made with Washington in mind. At the end of last year, we bought Electo Analytics, a congressional data startup. We then redesigned the entire platform, using our deep knowledge of what Capitol Hill and K Street need every single day. This became The Portal, which includes integrated news, congressional directories, legislative text, regulations, real-time alerts and much more. The Portal members will also receive a weekly Monday newsletter and a mid-week update to keep them ahead of the game when it comes to legislative news. Come January, subscribers will start to use Enbloc AI, a Punchbowl News-designed AI platform embedded in The Portal that brings together all of the databases that you use every day in Washington, overlaid with our news and proprietary Washington data. Enbloc AI's searches will also be embedded in Punchbowl News newsletters. Enbloc AI uses natural language searches to help you do your job more quickly and efficiently. This will save you time, money and make you smarter and sharper. This has truly been a full-team effort to take this from an idea to a market-ready product. Rachel Schindler has been integral in leading this massive project. Jake Sherman, John Bresnahan, Dave Clarke and the editorial team are at the center of Enbloc AI. And our tech and product team deserve huge kudos for the late nights, problem-solving and creative thinking that have brought this to life — Mary Tyler (MT) March, Soraya Bagheri, Elizabeth Turner, Anthony Garreffa, and Brandon Chiazza. Interested in learning more? Check it out: https://lnkd.in/edxtR8nR

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Did you Hear?????? The #Olympics are coming back to Utah in 2034, and I'm beyond thrilled. As a much younger individual, I remember the Winter Olympics coming to Utah, and it was epic. I'm ready for the next go around -- put me in coach. Speaking of Olympics, are you ready for the upcoming Opening Ceremonies? Domo, as it turns out, is pretty good at #data -- actually it's kind of our thing (connecting to data, transforming data, visualizing data, automating data, taking action on data, etc). So...of course we put together a bit of an Interactive History of the Olympic games (Medals by country, athlete, and games) -- all showcasing the power of DATA. Take a look at the total number of Olympic Games, how many unique events, total athletes, and even individual athlete and country performance. The visualization of this data is actually pretty darn cool. Take a look, enjoy, and GO USA!!!!!!!! Link to the post and visualizations are in the comments. ENJOY!!!!!!! Thanks Ben Schein, Jace McLean, and everyone else who made this happen. Epic Stuff!!!!!!!

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My content team's mission is NOT to create -brand -pipeline -revenue (Those are goals) Our mission is to *Build Trust At Scale* Why? We know we need to win MIND share before we can win MARKETshare. It's much more powerful to 1. Earn attention 2. Build an audience 3. Convert trust into action That's how we think about growing brand, pipeline, revenue, etc. (I cover some of the "how" in the video below). If your content strategy is designed to build trust at scale, it's damn near impossible to lose. — Shout out to Mark Huber and UserEvidence for the convo and for building tech that helps marketing leaders do it with ease.

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Buyers are trading search for social. And Peter Caputa was spot on. Check out Peter's post from this morning. Still not sure about personal brands in B2B? Peter just might convince you. So who should you follow from RevPartners? Our entire leadership team brand builds. Sick of learning from companies? Learn from the best *humans* in RevOps. ⬇️ → Brendan Tolleson → Andrew Lydon → Diana Marcela Gonzalez → Brian Kreutz (promoted today!!) → Hannah Rubin → Jessica Anderson → Kendra Ellis → David Passman → Jenn Nault (promoted today!!) At RevPartners, we invest a LOT into building the personal brands of the entire team. And it's not just our leadership team. See below for a full list of team members who are invested in sharing knowledge (and entertaining) on LinkedIn. Brand pages and websites are too easy to ignore. While they're still so important for SEO (and we have a powerhouse team led by Adam Statti making sure we win the rankings), There's an entire, ever-growing segment of buyers who would rather learn from a personal page on social. Be it your CEO, your leadership team, or another team member with a pulse (and smart ideas), folks come to LinkedIn to learn because they have business problems to solve. And it doesn't feel like there's time to read 10+ websites and suss out the competitive landscape. We just want real people to explain what's going on and cut through the noise. That's probably why Peter's post rang so true for us today. B2B personal brand building is here to stay as a content marketing strategy...who's ready to dive in next? PS... those other RPers to follow? There's so many we almost can't keep track 😅 → Rob Jones → Frank Devine → Cameron Strittmatter → Rashida Goryawala → 🤠 Shadab Khan → Lizzie Brouns → Matt Fehrmann → Vinny Kennedy → Tamara Salamonovitz → Lexi Gilbert → Lorin Skinner → Henry Wee → Tera Willingham → ++ so many others And you know what? I guarantee each RPer has taught hundreds of people on LinkedIn something new about RevOps. For many of them, think in terms of thousands. If that's not democratizing RevOps, I don't know what is! 💥 What did you think of Peter's post? Let me know in the comments, I know we'd both love to hear!

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This is about to be a post about Rice Krispies. Anything can be a story. Working in creator enablement has made me believe this more than ever. And in a technical field like #RevOps? There’s even more reason to humanize every story. The team at RevPartners has brilliant technical skills - but our partners come to us for #HubSpot help because maybe they *lack* those skills. So we’ve got to be Human-To-Human. AKA, sharing like humans and grounded in stories. Because as people, we’ve been primed to react emotionally to the stories of those we’ve met along the journey since the beginning of time. So to prove that anything can be a story, and to teach you how to create YOUR story on LinkedIn, here’s a Friday morning exercise. Taking the photo below, here are all of the different details and directions that come to mind for me to create a narrative that’s grounded in detail: - Coffee reminds me of my mom. She ran a gift shop in Kennebunkport when I was a little kid. Watching her was my first glimpse at sales and marketing (and she crushed it) - RevPartners probably didn’t overthink sending me a coffee mug as a new hire. But 2.5 years ago, my brain was telling me I could never break into tech (coming from politics). And to be back in a comms role after 2 years as a BDR? Pinch me! - Posting from my apartment in Hell’s Kitchen, which I’m convinced is the best deal in Manhattan. Here’s all of the ways I used my sales skills to land a bedroom in a 2- living room, 2- bathroom, prime location apartment for $1087 a month. - Rice Krispies remind me of a family trip we took to Arizona in 2nd grade. I ordered them with a hot chocolate every morning at the hotel. As kids we share our stories with everyone (even the other hotel guests at breakfast) …here’s why it’s powerful for SaaS leadership to have the same mindset about sharing their stories on LinkedIn I could go on and on. And maybe I’m unique - maybe this is just how my brain works. (I happen to think growing up watching Rogers & Hammerstein VHS musicals on repeat has something to do with it.) But maybe storytelling is one of the last things that can help us stand out in an AI world where every product can be replicated. At RevPartners, our strategists tell stories every day when working with partners (customers). They paint pictures of how their businesses can drive growth through cleaned up data and clear visibility into the GTM cycle. Stories build trust. They drive demand. They strengthen relationships. What mundane piece of your life could be developed into 5+ stories before you know it? I’d love to hear. 🥰 They just might be a personal/professional asset to you. You never know. 😉

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In the world of social media where things change in an instant, there is one constant: For as long as there have been social marketers, there has been a perpetual desire for more time and resources.   We take this to heart, which is why Sprout’s latest product advancements are built to help social teams work faster and smarter, including… - New integrations to expedite content creation - Updates to help brands deliver stronger customer care - AI-powered insights that shorten the timeline from analysis to action

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Great #AI insights from Das & N2 Communications’ AI team on why human creatives are essential “to turn technological capabilities into real-world value.”

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I may not be an expert, but I’ve seen social media evolve in the last 4 years. I have written content & copy and analyzed what works and what does not. Lately, my conversations with some DTC founders and marketing teams / partners was not delightful. There was a pattern where they were going wrong while building from scratch; 1. Founders ignoring their personal brand while building their startups. 2. Startups use LinkedIn company pages for building their brand. It doesn't bring many conversions. 3. Creating content on trending concepts or assumptions that only brings engagement, followers and no sales. 4. Ignoring message-based copy and chasing virality. 5. Not guiding the traffic from reels and shorts to the products. I’m a big believer in testing, but 3-6 months is the ideal time, and following the same without results will only damage the brand. Lemme know what you think? #writer #writing #freelancecopywriter #copywriting #copywriter #contentwriter

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When you get to share insights with Justin Watkins - a favorite entreprenuer and marketer in #KansasCity - it really makes Tuesday all that more enjoyable. #marketingadvice #entreprenuers

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Pro Tip: True authenticity can't be faked. It's literally impossible. Here's what works instead 👇🏽 1️⃣ Share specific customer wins (like how your startup doubled engagement by letting their customers tell the story) 2️⃣ Create genuinely helpful content (my simple rule: each post should either solve a problem, celebrate a win that inspires others, or share a learning that helps someone else grow) 3️⃣ Keep your message consistent (your audience needs reliable value) 4️⃣ Own your mistakes openly 5️⃣ Listen more than you talk 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲: Stop trying to 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 credible and focus on 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 credible. #MarketingTips #Branding #Authenticity

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One of my favorite elements of marketing is the feedback loop. You can keep throwing stuff out into the world and manifesting greatness, but without actually checking in with the intended audience or buyer, you're playing a lottery. Surveys serve the same purpose. So, my friends at Berkeley Lab need your help with their Smart Building Survey. ❓ Do you manage a portfolio of buildings that contain smart technologies? ➡ This survey targets privately owned smart buildings throughout the United States, including commercial buildings, laboratory facilities, hospitals, multifamily residential buildings, and buildings owned by nonprofit organizations and institutions of higher education. ➡ The purpose of the survey is to assess which advanced building technologies and systems (i.e., smart technologies) found in buildings are most cost-effective and show the most promise for increasing building energy savings, increasing service performance to building occupants, reducing environmental impacts, and establishing cybersecurity. Your feedback is crucial and shouldn't take more than 20 minutes. Survey here: https://lnkd.in/e_fbEzJm Picture of a curious pigeon, thanks Unsplash.

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I attended a great panel this morning at Denver Startup Week called "How Hiring Fractional Talent Can Drive Quick Wins for Small and Medium Size Businesses." I'm about to hit my one year anniversary of becoming a fractional SEO Director, and a lot of what the panel discussed really resonated with what I see as the value I bring to my clients every day. Some of the key advantages of working with fractional talent include: - You are able to hire higher caliber talent than you may be able to afford if you were to hire a full-time employee. - You get a brutally honest voice in the room. We aren't politicking or angling for a promotion. Your success is our success too. - You get quicker execution from fractional talent. Onboarding is shorter, meetings are fewer, and there is more intentionality around our goals and work because our time is more limited. - Your organization benefits from us working with other clients. We will get you out of the "we've always done it this way" mindset and provider fresh perspectives on how others have approached your challenges. If you're looking for fractional SEO or content strategy help, or you are interested in getting into the fractional world, my DMs are open! #denverstartupweek #fractionalleader #fractionalhiring #fractionaladvantage

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Any Competitive Intel practitioners wanna make $20 in 10 mins? Trying to find some participants for a survey. It should take 10 - 15 minutes to complete. When you're done, you'll be sent a $20 gift card. The output of this survey will go toward building a resource for... 1. Existing CI practitioners: I want them to have a gut check on what others are doing and how they're feeling about it. 2. Aspiring practitioners: I want these folks to have an honest look at what existing CI practitioners are thinking about / doing. So if you're a CI practitioner (full time or hybrid) and wanna participate, just comment below or send me a DM! :-) Or, if you just wanna be nice, you could just like this post so it gets in front of more people :-) :-) TY!

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So many content creators and marketers forget the human element of marketing that is crucial to success! Culture, family, community, and legacy are what stand out, and it's vital that brands and their content creators recognize this and hone their content marketing strategies to reflect that! At the end of the day, content should be about people first and, while that may seem counterintuitive at first when trying to increase profits, focusing on people first WILL boost profits naturally! #contentmarketing #putpeoplefirst #culture #humantouch

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Sometimes screaming into a pillow is the answer 😱 AND Sometimes hiring a fractional product marketer is ALSO the answer 💪 So, why not have the option for both? 🤝 I don’t have the referral and partnerships engine built out just yet, BUT I do have a couple more cross-stitch pillows that I think are incredible…..and would look good in any GTM team member’s office. If you know an organization that might be a good fit for Virdical now or in the future, I’d love an intro. When the intro convo takes place, I will send you a beautiful (!!!) custom pillow with your marketing hot take of choice. #productmarketing #B2Bmarketing

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Back to one of my favorite strands to write about: Adding more value to your B2B SaaS content (and making it different from the rest). A typical SaaS blog post contains: Typical headings, a mix of long and short paragraphs, some advice, some idealism, and a lot of similarity to what you'll find when you hit back and click link number 2. What about a strategy where we go for a really helpful book-style content approach? Create articles so rich and varied around something really complicated, say, setting up a content marketing for scratch for a new website. Order that content in a series like a YouTube playlist. Ask the gentle reader to read it in a sequential way. Number them. Have quizzes and follow-ups to assure your readers are actually finding value in what they're reading. Collect feedback. Reach out, perhaps in person, and ask if they found what they read helpful. Help as much for free. Trust and revenue will come in automatically. But remember, super-helpful, super-rich content has to play a fundamental role here. And such content needs budget, resources, and time.

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In case you didn't see my post last night, Maggie Butler is hiring a Customer Reference Manager for HubSpot. She's looking for a real go-getter, ready to put their stamp on a high impact program, driving innovation both with using an AI driven platform and by you refining the program. Mid-level candidate, looking to work with someone who will help get you to the next level!! Maggie Butler is incredible. Link to JD in comments, and happy to answer any questions! #SaaS Champion #CustomerMarketing #References

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