My strategy right now is that workshops are like a service to the nonprofit community, but also like lead gen and referral gen. - Kristi Scott

Ditch the Cold Calls: Authentic Sales Strategies with Kristi Scott

Ever felt like you needed a shower after a sales call? You're not alone! This week, we're diving into the world of authentic sales strategies with email marketing queen Kristi Scott.

Kristi spills the tea on her journey from cold-calling tech sales to building her nonprofit consulting business. She shares how she ditched the pushy tactics and found her groove with a more genuine approach that aligns with our sector's values.

We chat about the power of niching down (spoiler alert: it's not as scary as you think), how to leverage workshops for lead generation, and why being part of a consultant community is a game-changer. Kristi even drops a truth bomb about her financial situation that'll make you rethink those picture-perfect Instagram posts.

Key Takeaways:

• Authentic beats aggressive: Learn how to sell your services without feeling like you need to take a decontamination shower afterward.

• Workshops work wonders: Discover how offering value upfront can lead to long-term client relationships.

• Clarity is king (or queen): Find out why getting crystal clear on your offerings can make sales conversations a breeze.

• Community is your secret weapon: Hear how connecting with fellow consultants can skyrocket your business growth.

• Transparency trumps perfection: Get inspired to be real about your business journey, struggles and all.

Ready to transform your sales approach and build a consulting business that feels as good as it looks on paper? Tune in and let's get to work!

Timestamp summary: 

[00:01:31] Introduction of Kristi Scott, an email fundraising consultant for nonprofits.

[00:03:19] Kristi introduces herself, her pronouns (she/her), and describes her work with small nonprofits and nonprofit consultants.

[00:04:11] Kristi explains how she quickly niched down to email marketing and fundraising.

[00:05:43] Kristi discusses the importance of nonprofits focusing on their email lists rather than getting distracted by social media.

[00:06:38] The conversation shifts to the fear of niching down and how it helped Kristi refine her messaging and attract the right clients.

[00:09:00] Kristi highlights her business development strategy, relying on her community and clear messaging.

[00:10:16] Kristi explains how Cindy's advice of "you can always change it later" freed her to focus on building her business.

[00:12:15] Kristi shares her sales experiences, describing the longer sales cycle for nonprofits and quicker decisions from nonprofit consultants.

[00:15:00] Kristi talks about the value of building trust with nonprofit clients and the loyalty that comes with it.

[00:18:00] Discussion about Kristi’s lead generation strategy and the success of her workshops for nonprofits.

[00:20:00] Kristi shares her goal of reaching 100k revenue and the importance of balancing business and personal life.

[00:21:22] Kristi talks about her past interest in HR and how it influences her understanding of team dynamics and conflict management.

[00:22:36] Jess and Kristi talk about the importance of finding hidden gems in local restaurants.

[00:23:55] Kristi reflects on the importance of community and professional development, emphasizing how joining programs like Cindy's helped her grow.

[00:25:00] Kristi explains her investment choices and why professional development and community involvement have been key to her business success.

[00:29:00] Kristi shares her confession that she reinvests all of her revenue back into her business and hasn’t paid herself yet.

[00:34:00] Kristi discusses her privilege of having financial support from her spouse, which allows her to focus on growing her business.

[00:38:00] Closing remarks from Kristi, including how to connect with her on LinkedIn and through her website.

Find Us Online:  https://www.confessionswithjessandcindy.com

Connect with Kristi:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristipscott 

Website: https://kristipscott.com/ 

Connect with Cindy:

Cindy Wagman Coaching: cindywagman.com

Fractional Fundraising Network: fractionalfundraising.co/

LinkedIn: ca.linkedin.com/in/cindywagman

Connect with Jess:

Out In the Boons: outintheboons.me

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jesscampbelloutintheboons/

Transcript:

[00:01:31] Jess: Hey, Jess. Hi. Are you ready for this? Because I feel like we're about to introduce, the hype of the hype women. And if we have, had any levels of, uncaffeinated vibes, we need to turn them on. Yeah. No, 

[00:01:49] Cindy: I just, I'm so excited because our guest today, Kristi Scott, is, she's the ultimate woman.

[00:01:57] Oh, the ultimate. if you are 

[00:02:00] Jess: speaking on a stage, you need to basically hire Kristi to be your front row person. Because she will hoop and holler. yeah. And make you feel like the Oprah or whomever that you are. 

[00:02:11] Cindy: Yeah, it is the best feeling in the world to just be in her presence. we're so excited to bring her onto the podcast so everyone can benefit from that.

[00:02:20] Hey, Kristi 

[00:02:23] Kristi: hello, Cindy. Oh my gosh, I'm like blushing so hardcore. Thank you. 

[00:02:28] Cindy: Oh my goodness. This is gonna be fun. Yeah, and the funny thing is, I knew you were great, but then when we met in person, like That energy that you have just goes like through the roof. It's the best. I like need you locally.

[00:02:47] Kristi: One day. One day. One 

[00:02:50] Cindy: day. I feel like one day maybe we'll move out to California, which won't happen, but. No, it won't happen. But if I moved anywhere. 

[00:02:57] Kristi: Scoop everybody, it's a scare. 

[00:03:04] Cindy: I could see, see. living in Southern California, but I Toronto is home. So not happening, but for those people who don't have the honor and privilege of knowing you, can you introduce yourself and tell us what you do for work for business?

[00:03:19] Kristi: Yeah. Hi, I'm Kristi my pronouns are she, her, I am an email fundraising consultant working with small non profits on their email campaigns and list building. I also work with other non profit consultants on their email marketing. That's almost like a side hustle to my actual business, oddly enough.

[00:03:40] And, I do workshops and speaking. As well. So yeah, that's what I do. 

[00:03:47] Jess: A fellow email girly. Nice to have you. 

[00:03:51] Jess: what I want to know from you is how did you niche down to email and so quickly? Because It took me years to actually do that. And I love that. I think of email marketing. I think of Chrissy Scott, and I'm just wondering how you arrived to that medium so quickly.

[00:04:11] Kristi: Yeah. It seemed quick. It seemed quick because I started my business about a year ago. but I knew I'm someone who's good at a lot of different things. there are very few things that I've tried that I've not been good at and very humble, especially now. There's a lot of things I am good at.

[00:04:30] And then when I was in the non profit space, I started off in programs, fell into fundraising like a lot of folks do. And I was doing everything essentially when I was doing fundraising. I was doing events. I was helping with marketing. I went back to school to get my MBA in marketing because I knew I wanted to focus more on that because every small nonprofit that I worked with in house did not understand how to communicate well with a lot of folks, especially folks who were donors or potential donors. And I had experience doing that in house, but I saw how even some of the most amazing non profits didn't know how to write their emails well.

[00:05:16] Like they were doing incredible work and I'd get their emails and I'd look at it and say, I don't understand what's going on. Like it just confused me why so many small non profits, and they were being very wordy with how they talked and so I just saw the need very quickly. And then when I decided to start my business, I was like, I need to like niche down right away.

[00:05:43] Otherwise I'm just going to end up saying yes to a bunch of things that aren't right for me. And so it was like, it was mostly to help me focus and help me be smarter about how I looked for business. And I knew it would help Make the sales process a lot smoother because like right before I started my business, I was in tech sales to nonprofits.

[00:06:08] And a lot of what I was dealing with is Oh, we can do that. We can do that. We can do that. And even as like someone who was selling, it felt okay, you don't necessarily need that. And I did some advising on that. But I knew many of my clients like needed to go back to basics. And I think for myself, I wanted to go back to basics of, okay, what do small nonprofits need and where can they get the most value from a consultant?

[00:06:38] Because sure, I can do all the marketing things, but most of them don't need all the marketing things. They need to focus in on one that is. Not only like affordable, but it has the biggest return on investment. And I saw so many of them getting distracted on Facebook. I could go on for days.

[00:06:56] We were talking more about the business side, but I will preach all day about how our nonprofit friends need to focus on their email lists more than they do their Facebook. so yes, I. That's how I knew sound was just like, I knew it was a huge need. I loved doing it. I love writing. I love talking strategy.

[00:07:19] And I just knew I needed to, otherwise I'd get distracted and not get anything. I just wouldn't have had the success I've had without niching down early, because, yeah. 

[00:07:31] Cindy: to stay with this for a little bit, because I do hear from so many consultants that they're terrified that if they niche down too quickly, or if they Put the stake out there and they will be turning away lots of work.

[00:07:47] But I also love that you said you it helped you with your messaging in terms of business development calls. I feel like people look at, they're like, Oh, I need to figure out my messaging so I can have a beautiful website. I need to figure out my messaging so I can, LinkedIn profile all the time.

[00:08:08] But honestly, the most important way you use your messaging is in conversations you're having with other people. So I'd love to hear from you a little bit about like your business development strategy, how you leverage your niche and your messaging to actually find clients and what that journey has been like.

[00:08:32] Kristi: So I, Okay, I want to say I understand like the fear of niching and it's why I didn't start a business as early as I wish I had, because I just wanted to try everything. So I think as far as like my business development journey, I have really relied on my community a lot, but having messaging that's very clear makes even those initial like calls with folks who are interested in my services easier because I already know they know what I can offer.

[00:09:05] and so there's not a ton of explaining what I can do for them. It's I can really focus on what they're looking for and what their needs are within, this umbrella of what I do, and I think with niching down, it's it's scary, but I remember the biggest thing. Cause honestly, I don't think I was super confident in my niche until January this year. and part of that was you, Cindy, because I was big quick plug for Cindy and the impact and profit program. I joined that very early in my business, but. You always said, and you probably still say this, is you can always change it later. And I was like, oh, wow. as someone who's I get so stuck in this is how I have to do things.

[00:09:54] When you said you can change it later, I thought, oh, I'm free. I can focus in on this. I can build my business on this, and then I can change it if I want or need to. And then even then I was getting business and I continue to get referrals for business with other nonprofit consultants, which was not something I sought out at all.

[00:10:16] Like I was literally meeting with someone to get referrals for nonprofit work and they were like, can you help me with my email marketing? that's a perfect example. Like I focused in on this niche of like email fundraising, but someone came along and said, Oh, do you do this thing?

[00:10:36] That's very closely related to it. And it just naturally worked out to do projects like that. And I've done zero marketing for Those clients, but they know, like people know I do email. So I think it just naturally works out in conversation with folks. I'm like clearly very extroverted. And so it's very easy for me to have those conversations, but it also makes it easy to have boundaries around what I offer, right?

[00:11:07] Because again, sometimes. someone's Oh, what about this is this? And I'm like, that's not within the realm of what I do, but it's very rare that someone asks me to do something way outside of my niche, which is like very freeing because there's just an instant understanding of what is available.

[00:11:29] And then folks who know they don't need my help. They just don't contact me. There's no. Totally. 

[00:11:37] Jess: Yeah. No. And I think it reiterates that you're attracting the right clients and customers or potential customers are building your audience. Maybe it's going slower. Like maybe there's not like millions and millions, but you don't need millions and millions, I'm curious, what's the split in your business? what percentage of your business is email fundraising for nonprofits versus emails for nonprofit consultant. 

[00:12:02] Kristi: Yeah, so what I've noticed and I, don't know for sure what that split is, but the majority of my bigger projects have been with other consultants this year.

[00:12:15] So a lot of my nonprofit work has been a lot of workshops and speaking, and I think that's because I tend to focus on the small nonprofits. So it is a much longer sales cycle. I was just telling Cindy that I started a new project this week and then they're a large, Nonprofit like batch writing project, right?

[00:12:36] But I met that person in December. So it's been a very long, like I say, it's a sales cycle, but it's there was no cycle going on for a while. And then she was on my email list and came back around. What I've noticed is with consultants, they make decisions more quickly and they understand the value pretty much right away for email marketing needs, especially when it comes to being consistent with their emails.

[00:13:05] So selling my services to them. Has been much easier where I, to the point where I don't even have a website that targets them. It's just because I connect with those folks for referrals, it happens. And then my nonprofit folks, I serve in other ways, like with my weekly email newsletter, like with my workshops.

[00:13:26] and then ideally those folks will turn into more long term, bigger projects. The few who like are capable of doing it. I serve. Folks who tend to have 3 million or below budgets. So they just aren't always, and that might change in the future. I can always change it later. but those folks just there, you really have to warm them up, to get them to, pay for larger projects.

[00:13:52] So workshops would really affect it, those private workshops for them. 

[00:13:56] Jess: Yeah. Okay, cool. I want to come back to that because I love that as just like a lead generation strategy. And I want to talk through that because I know you do pretty consistent workshops. and I want all the details on them, but I want to just go back a little bit about this idea of less of a.

[00:14:15] sales cycle and more of a sales stop, start, stop, start. And, because especially 2024 has been super deeper, weird, extra weird. And I've heard, I was just, Voice memoing back and forth with a different, nonprofit consultant today who was saying, she got to basically the proposal part and now the client is like backtracking.

[00:14:36] And so it's it's exhausting. But so I'm wondering how you keep, yourself centerfold for these prospects? Is it, the amount of Posts you're doing on LinkedIn. I know you're really active on that platform. Is it a circle back type of strategy? You're doing one to one. Is it putting your offers out there or letting people know how many spots you have?

[00:15:04] what does that look like? actually because I think people get really discouraged when people bow out or You know go silent and then they just do nothing and I think that's I don't think that I know that's the wrong approach. 

[00:15:20] Kristi: Okay. So I have a, an almost an unfair advantage in this because I did tech sales for about two years, right before I started my own business.

[00:15:32] we don't have time to get into that experience. And it was a mostly positive one, but I was used to like, there was so much like volume to. Being a salesperson that I was like talking to folks like constantly and constantly managing those relationships and reaching out to the folks that I didn't hear from and, figuring things out and, pushing for different deals.

[00:15:57] So I very much worked that muscle, before I got to selling my own services and was used to that, especially with small nonprofit clients, because those were the folks I was selling to also. So because of that advantage, I'm used to that. What I love now about being a nonprofit consultant and owning my own business is that I don't have to do it the way I was doing it before.

[00:16:29] And my big thing is, if they're not responsive after I've put together a proposal for them, I'll reach out maybe like once. Like I'm not, whereas like when I was in tech sales, it was like, I was like almost harassing people until they like said, leave me alone. So I could tell my boss, look, I bugged them.

[00:16:54] It's not me. It's them. but that's, that's the beauty of working by myself is I'm my boss and so I don't have to like my standards can be a little different. And I think naturally with, nonprofits, they're just going to move slower. But once you have them, they're much more loyal than a lot of customers.

[00:17:18] And that's what I love. Because once you build trust with them, they will come back for more business or at least give you referrals. So again, I'm early in my business. I'm still going through this, but because of my sales background, that client that came back around was not shocking. I keep folks engaged, of course, through, LinkedIn.

[00:17:40] I'm always, asking folks to follow me. My email list is key, though, and, of course, Jess, you preach the, gospel of email list building as well, but my email list, which I didn't have, I didn't really start it until February. and a part of that was just like, I wasn't super clear on like my messaging.

[00:18:03] And then once I got clear on my messaging through Cindy's program, that's when I was like, okay, let me go all in on my email list. And, practice what I preach was what I think that was even like the subject line of my first email was like, practice what I, what you preach. because I was telling people, be consistent with your email.

[00:18:20] And I'm like, I need to be consistent with my email list too. And I'm so grateful I did because even this client that I got was, they were on my email list. So I had connected with them, but they were on my email list. So they were being engaged in a way where I didn't have to do a ton of extra effort.

[00:18:36] Cause I was just going to write my email. Anyway, like that's for everyone free of charge. I do offers via email. So like I did, like a pre book offer in the spring on my email list and I do like sales emails. So this is separate from like my weekly email that I send. what I do because I'm big on like consent based email marketing, as I always.

[00:19:03] let folks know they can opt out of an offer that I'm sending out. so I make that very like crystal clear up front and then offer that to them. And, what I found too that's interesting is the folks who opt out of sales offers usually have the highest open rate in my regular weekly email. So that, I just thought that was like an interesting like data point I noticed recently.

[00:19:27] And so I do that. I do promotion within my weekly emails. But again, if it's like an offer, I'm really pushing and someone opts out of it, then I just segment my list so that, those folks are left out. All there's to say, I make it very clear what I offer. And I have a welcome sequence for anyone who joins my email list that lists my services in one of the emails.

[00:19:51] I think it's like the third one or something. And I'm always like, here's a link to my services if you're interested in working with me. 

[00:20:03] Jess: Hey, Kristi, we're back for another round of rapid fire questions. You ready to play? Yes. All right. As a nonprofit consultant who has a rocket ship moving forward business, where do you aim to be in the next 12 months? 

[00:20:21] Kristi: Okay, I'm, still thinking about this currently, but my number one goal is to hit 100k revenue.

[00:20:28] I wanted that this first year, but I had a lot of personal stuff happen that derailed the time I could spend on my business. And I. As a type A person, I'm working on not putting too much pressure on myself. 

[00:20:45] Jess: Yeah, for sure. Okay, cool. we'll be cheering you on. if you weren't doing email marketing for nonprofits and email fundraising for nonprofits, what would you be doing?

[00:20:55] Kristi: Probably like HR stuff. I know it's like pretty different, but I had an interest in HR. I actually have a certification in HR I got like years ago. And because of some very negative experiences I had in the nonprofit in house, like working in house. I'd probably be an HR consultant to talk about like how to treat your team better and how to communicate and handle conflict.

[00:21:22] Totally. 

[00:21:23] Jess: And then my last question is as a SoCal girly, what is an under knowing, a local's best thing to do? 

[00:21:36] Kristi: Ooh. Oh my gosh, I'm such a homebody, Jess. I'm like so lame. one of my favorite restaurants that I always recommend, it's a Mexican restaurant in Pasadena called Urbano. Me and my husband, when we lived out there, used to go Almost weekly.

[00:21:55] So I highly recommend Urbano Mexican Kitchen. It's like literally in a shopping center next to Vons, but it's so delicious. The 

[00:22:02] Jess: best kind. My favorite Mexican food place here, it makes my husband laugh because it's like behind a shopping center. It's not even in a shopping center next to a liquor store.

[00:22:14] And I just randomly pulled in there one day running errands when I was starving and it was like the best food I've ever eaten. And it's. So random, which is usually the best kind. okay. You heard it first here for Bono in. There you go. All right. Thanks for playing.

[00:22:32] 

[00:22:36] Cindy: It's so interesting. I just added that to the bottom of my email marketing emails that go out, here are the different ways to work with me. And I'm getting discovery calls booked, at a rate that I've never seen in my business before.

[00:22:56] it's, I didn't expect it to have such a high, like high lift. which is so fascinating. So there you go. It can be like a PS or like a, not even like below the PS, the sort of like footer of your email and just consistently having it there in front of people. I'm pretty sure I get one or two calls every time I send an email out, which is wild.

[00:23:18] Kristi: And I saw that on your email. And I thought Oh, why don't I have this? Cause I will mention it in my emails, but it's I specifically plan it like to tie into something I write about. Yeah. 

[00:23:33] Jess: Cindy's next email, you're going to have to write about this. I'm always like minding stories for Cindy. I'm like, and you need to write about that, and you need to write about that.

[00:23:43] I 

[00:23:43] Cindy: feel like I'm getting better. I have a whole batch of ones. We could talk about email. let's talk about email. I wanted to talk about sales because also Kristi and I were just emailing about sales and the like, That sort of way that you're trained traditionally in tech sales versus like how you implement sales in your business, which I think is also an important conversation.

[00:24:07] So can we talk about that first? And if we have time, we'll talk about emails. Otherwise we'll have a whole other conversation. We've talked about emails so many times over. Kristi, what are some things that you were taught about sales that you think are like quintessential salesy that you want to bust a myth that you don't need to do those things?

[00:24:29] Because I think that is a huge barrier for people in consulting. 

[00:24:33] Kristi: Yeah, the number one thing that my very first tech sales job was making cold calls. I, 

[00:24:45] Cindy: I know. 

[00:24:46] cringe, literal cringe. 

[00:24:50] Kristi: it's funny. It's rough, 

[00:24:51] Cindy: that's 

[00:24:52] Kristi: rough. It's not something I do anymore, right? I don't do that in my own business.

[00:24:56] No, thank you. But I'm really grateful I did it because I can talk to anyone about anything and I am so chill about talking money with like potential clients because I used to try to sell over the phone to like literal strangers so it's like I like it seriously was like almost they say, I worked for Salesforce for a time and they joke that like when you do sales for Salesforce, it's like you get your MBA in sales or something.

[00:25:27] And that's true in a lot of ways because we were expected to make those calls constantly and really follow up, send that follow up email right after you call them. That kind of thing. Like very pushy . And I'm great.People who were like, no, thank you. I moved on. we weren't telemarketers, but it was like teetering on that. Being a telemarketer. And and I still got sales through that. So that's part of it was like, it's still worked. but that I don't do at all. I think. Because especially when I worked in corporate, but I worked for a startup and a small business as well.

[00:26:10] But what they all had in common with selling to nonprofits was like this expectation of sales cycle length that was completely unrealistic. I don't, not to put everyone's business out there, but one startup I worked for, literally thought that they could take the sales cycle of a real estate agent and apply that to nonprofits.

[00:26:35] And there's a reason I wasn't there that long, but,they thought they could just apply that cycle to, and whenever we weren't making sales in that time, they were like, what's going on? And I'm like, What's going on is we're selling to different types of customers and there's the approval process for projects is so different for vendors for projects.

[00:26:56] It's so different. And I, was like going crazy trying to explain that to people. And what I'm really grateful for is that I already understand that. And it helps me to stay motivated, knowing that these folks are slower. And There's nothing wrong with that. It's just different and I need to accept it.

[00:27:19] And I need to build my business space around that. So even taking on those email marketing clients or consultants, that's helped keep me going because I'm like, Oh, that's something that sales cycle is much faster. And then I can keep working on those nonprofit slower clients and get them in when they're ready.

[00:27:38] Jess: That's so wise. That is so, wise. I hope everyone was really listening to that. okay. So I want to talk about what is working for you as far as lead gen and the sales cycle. And you mentioned these workshops, which I noticed that you do. Frequently. I don't know if they're once a month and like in a good way.

[00:27:57] I feel like there's just always, you're, you always have something to offer people. and I love that because to Cindy's point earlier, it allows you to catch people at various points when they're ready for the thing that you're offering. So how did you come up with that idea? What are these workshops?

[00:28:15] How do you decide on the topic? Do you charge for them? give us the scoop and if you have any early results. 

[00:28:22] Kristi: Yeah, so workshops just happened. It's strange. I didn't have them in mind starting out. I just thought, oh, I'll just do client work where I like help with emails.

[00:28:34] And then I noticed that some folks I talked to, just didn't know anything about email. Marketing like they didn't know anything. and I knew okay, I, even if I got them to get a batch writing project or something like a bigger project support from me, they wouldn't even know what to do with it because they don't know the basics.

[00:28:59] So I just had it as like an offering that I could. Give to folks who weren't ready for my services. I've done a lot of training when I was in house at various non profits. actually considered becoming a teacher at one point. And yeah, I know, right? Love teachers.

[00:29:17] Y'all are amazing. Not for me. but I loved it. I like, I loved thinking about being a teacher and I love y'all. but I. Like just training and breaking things down is really fun for me. And y'all mentioned I'm a hype woman, right? And that's like part of it, like teaching folks, I get to hype them up.

[00:29:37] yeah, you can do it. Like you can do this and make this change and you can get more donations with your email list. Like it doesn't have to be complicated. And I think especially in the non profit space,we get so overwhelmed with everything going on and we make everything so complicated.

[00:29:59] And so I thought the workshops would be a great way to just break it down for folks and help them a little bit with their overwhelm by just teaching them very specific things. So I did a workshop on, first I started doing private workshops. For I did one for another nonprofit consultant for their clients.

[00:30:19] And then I did one for, Like a kind of similar, they were a nonprofit, but they have a network of nonprofits that's one of their member programs. And so I did a workshop for them. And then I did. For like lead generation, I did a free workshop. and that was like the first workshop I ever did on my own in the spring.

[00:30:42] And it was a new donor welcome sequence. I had a ton of, I had 40 folks sign up for that. And, I still have the majority of them are still on my email list. So that's been really effective for that. And then. doing the private one that makes, then I get some profit from it.

[00:31:06] And then I also use it as lead generation. So I experimented in August with doing a paid workshop. and I didn't have the sign up that I would have liked, but my sales email Was like totally stunted because I had some personal stuff going on in July. And so my childcare was like crazy. and so because.

[00:31:33] of those issues. I didn't sell as hard as I would have liked. Like I had the email set up but like I didn't have it fully fleshed out and I was like oh yeah beginning of July I'll have so much time to do this and then personal stuff happened that totally messed it up and so I just did the best I could with what I had.

[00:31:52] but it still was like a really fun workshop to do even with a small turnout and one of the folks who came, who was very into it. saw me at a workshop I did in Madison, Wisconsin, back in June. So it was just like a cool, full circle of Oh, look, I connected with this person. So I'll say I will prefer doing private workshops because they're more lucrative immediately.

[00:32:21] And basically, my strategy right now is that workshops are like, a service to the nonprofit community, but also like lead Jen and referral Jen, that's like how I view it, where the folks are in my workshops, if they need more support, then they'll come and work with me later. And if not, they'll at least ideally.

[00:32:43] Tell their friends and they also provide like good marketing materials and testimonials and experience right because I know email really well but it's like I have to stay in tune with what folks need and so doing workshops really helps me like be better at my private client work too and it helps me have material for my email list.

[00:33:08] Cindy: Yeah, I actually love doing live webinars, even like sales webinars, because I do feel like you get a sense of what people are struggling with and what their challenges are, what their hopes and dreams are, all those things help our businesses, like getting Client feedback or feedback from your ideal clients in that way, I think it is so powerful just to help us know we're on the right track.

[00:33:34] okay. I want to, we have so much to cover, but we also really have to get wrapping up, which means it's time for a confession, Kristi, tell us your business confession. 

[00:33:50] Kristi: my confession is that my, I don't pay myself yet. and I am a highly privileged person who has a spouse who is the primary income.

[00:34:09] And so I thought that would be an important confession because I feel like folks see people like me, like I'm on LinkedIn, I'm doing my thing and they see my email list and they might feel like, oh wow, that's, she's doing so great. And it's not that I'm not doing well, it's just I have a huge cushion to play around.

[00:34:31] and I had a lot of savings from like my tech sales job as well. So just a reminder to folks out there who don't have a lot of savings or don't have a lot of income, like you don't have to go full force right away. in fact, you probably shouldn't, but I'm someone who was in the position to do that. 

[00:34:52] Cindy: thank you for sharing that. Cause I think you're right. It is important to talk about these things and can you talk a little bit about just before we wrap up the investments that you've been making? obviously you have revenue coming in. So it's not that you're not making money, but you're choosing not to pay yourself and to invest in 

[00:35:12] Kristi: anything.

[00:35:12] I have revenue, but I reinvest it. 

[00:35:15] Cindy: Yeah. So in what, do you, what are the top. Investments that you think are like really that you would recommend others 

[00:35:25] Kristi: you, Cindy, go work with Cindy. so I very early on joined impact and profit like super early on. I literally had no money. I used it.

[00:35:38] That was from my savings. And, I had the privilege of doing that, but as soon as you can do anything like professional development related, do it. Because what I learned right away was like, Oh, I'm not actually doing this alone. I'm doing this in community and being a part of impact and profit made a huge impact.

[00:35:57] And then I also went to your conference, Jess, make it happen. And that was like another big, investment. And that was, I don't know if I should say it on the pod, but I joke that like Cindy, if she started a call, I would join the call. So Cindy told me about the make it happen conference for nonprofit consultants in February.

[00:36:20] I was like, let's do it. The little bit of money I did have and it continues. To be like a return. Like I, I'm literally going to be the MC for an event. We're doing the ethical nonprofit summit with, Diana Farias Heinrich. We're doing that next week. And I met Diana at the conference. And so it's it's continued to be a return on investment, getting connected.

[00:36:47] I'm very connected in the community centric fundraising movement as well. And so like those connections with other consultants who are CCF focus, like So just connecting with other folks like that's been the biggest investment. So I'm in your group, of course, the build better together. Yeah, it's that's what it's called I am like BBT.

[00:37:13] I'm in my group and then I'm also in Camilla Martin's. Catalyst consultant community. And so those two communities continue. I get to, I get referrals I've gotten, clients through that. It's just being connected to folks and then making your messaging clear enough where it's easy for them to refer like that, like it ties into My messaging is clear. So it's easy for folks to refer me and it's easier for my clients to make decisions because they know where my expertise is like right away. 

[00:37:50] Cindy: Thank you for sharing that. I just think it's so helpful to understand where people are choosing to invest for their own growth and community.

[00:38:00] you mentioned a number of things about being in community, obviously build better together. and Camila's Catalyst, Catalyst program, or community, and I, having just come off of a conference where, honestly, I think the best part about going to in person conferences is connecting with other consultants, I just think it's such an important point to, to reinforce.

[00:38:27] if you don't have a community, go find one. yeah. Join Jess's community, obviously. it is where all my favorite nonprofit consultants hang out. okay. Kristi, where can our listeners, connect with you on the interwebs? 

[00:38:47] Kristi: Yeah, my website is a great spot to go if you're interested in working with me.

[00:38:52] that's Christie P Scott. com K R I S T I. And LinkedIn, I'm always active on LinkedIn commenting, sharing information about email. Everything focuses on non profits, but, like I said, I also help other consultants. So if anyone's interested in that or has a referral for a non profit client, please get in touch.

[00:39:16] Please follow me on LinkedIn and join my newsletter if you want to. 

[00:39:21] Cindy: You send good emails. Thanks for joining us. Thanks, Kristi 

[00:39:26] Kristi: thanks so much. Appreciate y'all.