Learn How To "Get Found"

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Help Great Causes Get Found With Inbound Marketing

Posted by Dharmesh Shah on Sun, Dec 27, 2009 @ 11:14 PM
  
  
  
  
Add to delicious  delicious  

Recently, I co-authored a book called "Inbound Marketing" with Brian Halligan.  It's a practical guide on how to "get found" in Google, social media and blogs.  It argues against classical "outbound" methods like direct mail, telemarketing, spam and other marketing unpleasantness (what Seth Godin calls "interruption marketing"). The book has done remarkably well and has already helped thousands of organizations. 

Though inbound marketing works wonderfully for businesses I think it can work even better for non-profit organizations.  The reason is that causes should spread much more easily.  So, I thought it might be useful to spread the idea of inbound marketing to non-profits everywhere.  

I was inspired a bit (OK, a lot) by Seth Godin.  He may not even remember doing this particular podcast for non-profits, but I've listened to the whole thing three times.   If you have anything to do with non-profits, you should listen to it.  I'm not even a philanthropist (I'm a geek entrepreneur), and I was riveted.

How You Can Help Great Causes Get Found

1.  Buy the book on Amazon.  Heck, buy 10.  100% of the profits generated from sales on this site will be donated to help great causes "get found".

2.  Tweet this.  Are you a twitter fanatic?  Then, help spread the word by tweeting something like this.  "Help great causes get found with inbound markting http://getfound.org".  I'll even make it super easy for you, just click here and we'll do most of the hard work.

3.  Blog about this effort.  Your links to this site help it rank better in Google and in turn get found by more people (this is one of the things we talk about in the book).  That'll drive more tweets, more donations and more inbound marketing goodneess.  It's a great big virtuous loop.

4.  Submit your ideas.  Tell us how you would help spread the concept of inbound marketing even further and wider.  We'll profile the best submissions on the site and maybe even engage you to help some of these worthy causes kick-start their efforts.

So, basically, we want to use inbound marketing techniques to help promote the idea of inbound marketing for non-profits and use all the profits to help non-profits with their inbound marketing efforts.  Clever, right?

Oh, and if you know of a great non-profit that you think should get a free copy of the book, just leave a comment below.  We'll pick lucky winners every day this week.


Comments

Great idea Dharmesh. I just tweeted.
Posted @ Monday, December 28, 2009 3:48 AM by David Meerman Scott
Dharmesh - thanks for this!
Posted @ Monday, December 28, 2009 7:21 AM by John Haydon
Thank you for setting up this link. Empowering non-profits to make the most of their online presence is a great endeavor.  
 
I'd like to submit a small, Cambridged-based nonprofit, Cultural Survival, to receive a copy of your book "Inbound Marketing".  
CS partners with Indigenous Peoples around the world to help them defend their lands, languages, and cultures. Their award-winning publications has brought awareness to the plight of many communities. Broadening their reach through improved internet positioning and through Social Media networks is a perfect fit for this organization.  
 
www.culturalsurvival.org 
 
Cultural Survival 
215 Prospect Street, Cambridge, MA, 02139
Posted @ Monday, December 28, 2009 11:22 AM by Kirsten
I love this book - it was the best early Christmas gift I received this year! 
I would like to nominate a great non-profit! The Banff Child Care Centre here in town has the most amazing child care workers ever. They are totally committed to the children and they faithfully follow a Success by Six protocol helping the children get a leg up on learning so they excel once they hit the school system. The program incorporates fun learning and great exposure to the outdoors here in the National Park. The Centre works hard to maintain affordable childcare fees (considering most everyone in this town works in the tourism industry which is not exactly high-paying!) and relies on a series of traditional fundraisers throughout the year to meet operational budget and to enhance the centre. The foray into on-line fundraising is going to be essential for the centre in 2010 as they have some aggressive fundraising goals.  
Thanks so much for writing this book and for helping non-profits! 
Happy Holidays!
Posted @ Monday, December 28, 2009 11:35 AM by Jane
I got halfway through the book over the holidays, and yes, the concepts should be even more effective for causes. Time to get the word out...
Posted @ Monday, December 28, 2009 2:39 PM by @benrobbins
Dharmesh:  
 
I so admire you for setting up this site and using your skills and knowledge to help non-profits get found. Non-profits get so engaged in the day-to-day, keeping up with the latest outreach methods can get overlooked. 
 
MLT Creative supports Genesis Shelter, an Atlanta shelter for homeless newborns and their families. In addition to the design and marketing support we provide, we try to keep them abreast any state-of-the-art activities that can support their fund-raising efforts. Inbound marketing is a good fit for their needs and it's an endeavor they can handle internally. I hope they win a copy of your book. 
 
Thanks for the support. 
 
Happy New Year! 
 
Martine Hunter 
Posted @ Monday, December 28, 2009 2:45 PM by Martine Hunter
Dharmesh - thank you for doing this! I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about causes, so it's great to see this resource in action.  
 
I'd like to nominate a cause that I think would do really well with a copy of the book - the Atlanta Community Food Bank. I'm on the Advisory Board and we're always looking for more ways to spread the word about the organization's mission. The ACFB has multiple programs that serve the community, including providing food and other essentials to over 750 partner agencies in the North Georgia area. I'm proud to be affiliated with this incredible organization that does so much in our community. 
 
<a>www.acfb.org  
 
Thanks again for this post!  
 
@brandon101
Posted @ Tuesday, December 29, 2009 9:05 AM by Brandon Sutton
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