Getting the most out of Wanderlust Festivals

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Getting the most out of Wanderlust Festivals

I recently attended two Wanderlust Festivals – in Aspen-Snowmass, Colorado and Squaw Valley (Lake Tahoe), California. They were wonderful experiences, full of yoga, music, food, fun, and new friends.

After my first Wanderlust in Aspen-Snowmass, though, I didn’t feel like I’d taken advantage of the whole experience so I changed my strategy a little bit at Lake Tahoe. If you only have the time or money to attend one Wanderlust, I offer these tips to help you get the most out of the experience.

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Finding a Coffee Oasis off the Loneliest Road in America

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Finding a Coffee Oasis off the Loneliest Road in America

Five long miles off The Loneliest Road in America, US Route 50, in Baker, Nevada, population 68, stands a tiny little coffee cart open six days a week from 6:00 am to 3:00 pm. As I sit down to talk with the owner, Rachel Gale, she waves to every local car that drives by and greets her customers by name. It’s clear that The Magic Bean Coffee Cart is filling more than one need in this small community.

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How to Build an E-News Editorial Calendar

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How to Build an E-News Editorial Calendar

Most non-profits and small businesses know they need to send out regular e-newsletters, but for many it can be a daunting and overwhelming task. If you’re not running an e-news program already, it might seem like a huge new responsibility. If you already have an e-newsletter, it might seem like a drag on your week or month.

I understand the limitations non-profits and small businesses have, like finite staff and resources, but e-newsletters are the #1 way to reach out to your fans, even above social media. To clarify: storefronts and websites are the #1 and #2 ways to be found, but e-newsletters are the #1 way to reach out to your core audience, and social media is the #2 way to reach out to your core audience, given that social messages can easily be buried in the News Feed of time. If someone gives you their e-mail address, they’re inviting a conversation and indicating some level of commitment to your cause.

So how do you reach out to these folks without diverting too much time from your other work? And how do you prevent it from becoming a drudge?

The answer is: utilize an editorial calendar.

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Case Study: A Website Redesign for the IMPACT Conference

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Case Study: A Website Redesign for the IMPACT Conference

I’ve been told I could/should be a professional organizer. So when the Board Chair for the IMPACT Conference came to me wanting a website redesign, for a website with nearly 100 pages, it became a fun marriage between my organizing and WordPress skills. By the end of the process, we went live with 20 pages and a look that better expressed the youthful activism of the national conference.

Here are the details of how that happened.

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Cherry Pie in Capitol Reef National Park

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Cherry Pie in Capitol Reef National Park

The most memorable part of Capitol Reef National Park was the pies. Yes, baked pies: apple, strawberry-rhubarb, cherry, peach, and mixed berry pies. All fresh, all warm if you get there early enough, and the perfect (luxurious) serving size for two.

The pies were for sale at the Gifford Homestead, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s a small farmhouse and cultural demonstration site, situated amongst the 200 acre Fruita Rural Historical District and just a short walk from the Fruita Campground where we stayed for several nights in June.

We made it a daily ritual to go for a sunrise hike and, upon returning, grab a cup of coffee and pie from the Gifford Homestead. If I had to imagine heaven, the Fruita District of Capitol Reef might be in my top three scenarios. Still, there was much more to the national park…

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Determining the purpose of your non-profit e-newsletter

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Determining the purpose of your non-profit e-newsletter

Many non-profits have e-newsletters, but they’re often thought of as something that just “must” be done. Maybe you inherited the e-newsletter from a predecessor or your marketing team has decided to “keep in touch” with donors and supporters. But there are many purposes a non-profit e-newsletter can have and it’s important to identify the primary and secondary purposes so you can evaluate the success of your e-newsletter program.

So let’s take a look at three possible purposes for an e-newsletter and ways to improve given those purposes.

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Tutorial: Creating Google AdWords Image Ads for Free

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Tutorial: Creating Google AdWords Image Ads for Free

Google AdWords provides a great tool which helps create image ads for free. They’re not the most creative ads, but they will certainly do the trick if you 1) want to run a quick test to see if Google AdWords serves your organization or 2) you don’t have the budget to hire a graphic designer.

Here’s a quick tutorial on creating free Google Image ads:

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