April 15, 2025 • 36 mins
Are you struggling to engage visitors on your nonprofit's website? You're not alone. Many organizations find it challenging to tell their story effectively online, often missing the mark when it comes to showcasing the true impact of their work.
In this episode, I'm joined by Daniel Molina, an accomplished marketing professional and entrepreneur, to discuss strategies for creating a compelling online presence that resonates with donors, volunteers, and those seeking help.
Key Insights on Website Engagement
- The power of video in storytelling and emotional connection
- Balancing short-form and long-form content for maximum impact
- Creating a redemptive narrative that inspires action
- Transparency in fundraising and project goals
- Avoiding political pitfalls in your messaging
Crafting Your Nonprofit's Story
Daniel emphasizes the importance of a three-part storytelling approach:
- Highlight the issue with relevant statistics
- Present your organization's solution
- Showcase the fruits of your efforts
By following this structure, you can create content that not only informs but also motivates visitors to get involved.
Practical Tips for Website Optimization
- Use video to capture attention and convey emotion quickly
- Offer multiple engagement options: volunteer, donate, and seek help
- Create project-specific fundraising goals to give donors a sense of ownership
- Ensure your content remains timeless to avoid frequent updates
“Don't have this black box that no one knows what's in it. You want to make sure that you are fully transparent and people know where the money is going, who's involved.” – Daniel Molina
This episode provides actionable advice for nonprofit leaders looking to enhance their digital presence. You'll learn how to create a website that not only informs but also inspires action, ultimately helping you further your mission and make a greater impact.
Ready to transform your nonprofit's online storytelling? Listen to the full episode for more valuable insights and strategies you can implement today.
Want to skip ahead? Here are key takeaways:
03:55 Crafting Compelling Website Content for Nonprofits Create a narrative that includes the problem, solution, and impact. Use video to capture attention and convey emotion, followed by photos and text. Transparency is so important. Right now avoid political stances, and focus on the organization's core mission to connect with donors on a human level.
18:48 Effective Calls-to-Action and Conversion Strategies Conversion strategies are important. Create multiple options beyond just donating. Provide ways for visitors to volunteer, get help, or sign up for newsletters. Show project progress and costs to give donors a sense of ownership and transparency in how their money is used.
Daniel Molina
Daniel Molina is an accomplished marketing professional and entrepreneur, owning Red Palm Studios since 2002. With extensive experience and knowledge in the latest web trends, he has successfully worked with high-profile clients and small business startups, delivering maximum exposure. As a passionate entrepreneur, Daniel Molina believes in giving back to the community and making a positive impact. Through various initiatives and partnerships, he actively engages in community outreach, addressing social issues and supporting local causes. Daniel's dedication to creating a better society extends beyond business, demonstrating his commitment to improving lives and fostering a sense of unity.
Learn more at www.redpalm.us
https://danielmolina.life/
https://www.instagram.com/danielmolinalife/
https://www.instagram.com/redpalmmarketing/
Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/th
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Sami Bedell-Mulhern (00:00):
We know that messaging and storytelling
is really important, especiallyon our website. It helps people
connect to us, engage with us,understand what we do, but a lot
of times we fall short and nottelling the whole story, not
really sharing a lot about thetransformation, and expanding on
the transformation and how itimpacts the community that we
serve. And so today, I haveDaniel Molina joining me today
(00:23):
to really talk about how we canengage people on our websites,
how we can encourage them todive deeper with us, how we can
encourage them to really getexcited about the work that
we're doing and how theirsupport is going to help us take
our work to the next level.Daniel Molina is an accomplished
marketing professional andentrepreneur, owning red palm
studios since 2002 withextensive experience and
(00:45):
knowledge in the latest webtrends, he has successfully
worked with high profile clientsand small business startups,
delivering maximum exposure as apassionate entrepreneur, Daniel
Molina believes in giving backto the community and making a
positive impact through variousinitiatives and partnerships. He
actively engages in communityoutreach, addressing social
issues and supporting localcauses. Daniel's dedication to
(01:05):
creating a better societyextends beyond business,
demonstrating his commitment toimproving lives and fostering a
sense of unity. And so I lovethis conversation because it's a
personal passion of his givingback, as well as experience that
he has marketing businesses foryears and just helping you kind
of really take the best of bothworlds. What are the strategies
(01:26):
that are going to really helpyou? And then how do you take
that story to the next level?How do you connect emotionally
to the people that are engagingwith your organization? So that
is what we were talking about inthis episode. Before we get to
it. This episode is brought toyou by do good university. This
is a unique membership forNonprofit Professionals, where
you get access to on demandcourses and trainings from
(01:48):
everything from grant writing,from A to Z to event planning to
marketing, email marketing, yourwebsite, major giving campaigns,
board management, all of thethings at your fingertips
whenever you need it, and beyondthat, Patrick Kirby, who founded
do good university, and myself,go live every single week to
answer your questions, so youcan come with anything that
(02:09):
you're struggling with, or justlearn from those that are going
through the same things you are,and get inspired by the ways
that they're working through it,how they're making those asks,
how they're getting thatawareness for their
organization. It's a lot of fun.And if you go to
thefirstclick.net/dgu the letterU, you can find a link to get
(02:29):
two free weeks inside of do gooduniversity, so you can come hang
out with us, check it out, seewhat it's all about, and see if
it's the right fit for you.Again, that's
thefirstclick.net/dgu, there'salso a bonus podcast episode on
that page that I did withPatrick talking about what is so
great about DGU, why is it theplace for you, and why is coming
(02:50):
together in community with othernonprofit professionals such a
major impact on your growth andyour ability to succeed and
surpass Your Goals. Let's getinto the episode.
You're listening to the digitalmarketing therapy podcast. I'm
your host, Sami Bedell-Mulhern,each month, we dive deep into a
digital marketing or fundraisingstrategy that you can implement
(03:12):
in your organization. Each week,you'll hear from guest experts
nonprofits and myself on bestpractices, tips and resources to
help you raise more money onlineand reach your organizational
goals.
Hey, friends, please join me inwelcoming Daniel Molina to the
podcast. Daniel, thanks forbeing here.
Daniel Molina (03:31):
It's a pleasure. It's a pleasure. Thank you for
having me.
Sami Bedell-Mulhern (03:34):
Yeah, I'm so excited for this
conversation, because we lovewebsites here on this podcast,
because I do think that they arereally so important for any
organization to have. But beforewe kind of jump into some
strategies, why do you also feelthat websites are something that
we want to make sure we'retaking care of as part of our
marketing strategy?
Daniel Molina (03:56):
Yeah, so you know, websites, as always, has
been kind of like yourstorefront, right? And so even
more, in this day and age, wherethere's a lot of companies,
organizations, that they don'thave an office, you can't just
go knock on their door and thensee and experience them, right?
And so you want to have and thenreally people, when they do
their due diligence, they'relooking at your website, they're
looking at your social media.They're looking at, okay, who's
(04:17):
this company? What's your onlinepresence looks like, you know,
and usually social media wouldbe like the hook that gets them
into the website. Oh, I want toknow more about this company.
And so if you don't have awebsite that kicks butt and does
a good job of telling the storyand everything that we were
gonna probably talk about today,then you're gonna miss out on
opportunities to be able tofundraise or get people to get
(04:40):
volunteer or be involved in whatyou're doing.
Sami Bedell-Mulhern (04:44):
Yeah. So good. So, you know, I love that
you already brought upstorytelling, because we
struggle with this a lot withour clients in that the website,
the way it looks isn't asimportant as the information
that's on it. So. Maybe share alittle bit about your thoughts
on the power of storytelling andthe power of the messaging on
(05:05):
your website, and why that isthe most important thing, not
not just the colors and theimages and the graphics.
Daniel Molina (05:13):
Yeah, you know, we can obviously. I mean, I went
to college studying. I had like,one or two semesters about
graphic design, color theory andhow to position things, and all
that. And so I am very familiarwith making things look
beautiful and estheticallypleasing, but unfortunately, in
today's day and age with so manytemplates and so many easy ways
to build websites, having apretty website is not going to
(05:34):
get you people to get behindwhat you're doing. It's the
story behind it, right? I alwayssay the value proposition like,
Why should I give to yourorganization? What makes you
special everybody and thegrandma wants money from me. And
so why should I get involvedwith yours? And so when I think
about your website, a lot oftimes, when I go to websites and
assess them, especially in thenonprofit world, they ask for
(05:55):
marriage too soon. Donate,donate, donate, donate. We need
your money without telling thestory, without letting the
person going to find out moreabout your organization. Know,
hey, you know, what do you guysdo? And where does if I was
going to donate, where does thatmoney go? Is it just a bunch of
successful people on the boardthat makes money and, you know,
or is it really going to thepeople? I mean, especially in
(06:16):
this day and age, you know, somenonprofits, they have black eyes
because, not because they didanything wrong, but because
there's been some shadinesssometimes in the industry of
organizations. So how do youseparate yourself from that,
right? And I think the way youdo that is making sure that you
understand what are peoplelooking for when they go to your
website. How do theycommunicate? So, I mean, how are
(06:37):
people getting communicated? Soif you just have photos, photos,
photos, and a lot of text,they'll probably ignore your
page. Think about think aboutInstagram. When it first
started, Instagram was onlyphotos. Instagram was photos,
and it was just a square photowith limited text. But now
Instagram is almost becominganother YouTube, right? Every
other post is a video. Mostpeople don't even look at photos
(06:59):
anymore. These go video, reelafter reel after reel. And why
is that? Because humans, we wantto be entertained. We're lazy.
We don't want to read a lot ofcontent. And so we want to just
you tell me what you're aboutwith video. And what's cool
about video is you say that thesaying of a photo, what's a
(07:19):
photo is, oh my gosh, what'sthat saying?
Sami Bedell-Mulhern (07:23):
Like, a picture paints 1000 words.
Daniel Molina (07:25):
Yeah, a picture paints 1000 words. So you know,
me being a geek in the world ofvideo production is like,
there's 29 frames per second. Sothink about how many frames you
know, how many pictures withinyou know, one, one second. And
so if you have video where youhave audio, nice music, and
people talking in motion and andreally trying to share them.
(07:47):
Hey, here's who we're about, andhere's what we do that will do
way better than the photo. Ifyou know, if you could pay 1000
words, imagine what video can doright when you can actually
touch the emotion and and shareand not manipulate. But it's
just like, hey, here's who weare, here's what we believe in,
and here's what you want to getbehind. So video would be
probably your most importantinvestment. Second to your
(08:08):
website, and put that bad boy upfront and center. Let them watch
30 seconds. Ooh, I want more.Then add the photo. Then add
like, Hey, here's where yourmoney's going to video, here's
where your money's going. Here'sthe people we're helping. You
know, here's how many lives wechange, or here's how many moms
we change. Here's whatever it isyou have to share the fruit
video, what you what we what'sgoing to experience, what the
(08:30):
volunteer not? Don't just talkto the donors. You got to talk
to the volunteers and you got totalk to the donors, all in the
same time. And so I want to be apart of that. I want to be
involved in that. Or man, I wantto donate. I want to sow into
that, right? Then you have,like, here's the fruit, here's
what we've been doing. Then youcould talk about all the other
projects and stuff like that,and all the content in the
photos and the text contents,good, but you first got to wow
(08:53):
them. First get them to buy in.Yes, I want to do, I want to, I
want to be a part of that. Thenyou can have everything else,
but that's my opinion, howyou're going to convert or have
more people get involved withwhat you're doing?
Sami Bedell-Mulhern (09:06):
No, I agree with that. So many good things
that you've said, because wetend to want to, like, word
vomit, everything that we do,and that's overwhelming. And so
to your point, like, yes, withvideo, it's really impactful and
allows us to kind of connectemotionally, build that trust,
get to know an organization. Andalso, if I want to geek out and
dive deeper into some of thosethings, having that content on
(09:28):
the website that's thoughtfullyplaced where I can make sure I
get there eventually. But I justneed to kind of know who you
are, what you do first. So Ithink that was really good. I
love video, but I want to kindof ask you, you know, when it
comes to our storytelling, whenwe're creating these videos,
these scripts, when we're tryingto explain to people what we do
(09:48):
your thoughts, because I've seena shift in the kind of doom and
gloom like, you know, we alwaysbring up the ASPCA commercials
where they show this, you know,six cent puppies that are left,
um. And out in the cold, versusthem showing commercials of
those puppies in happy homeswhere they're, you know, super
(10:09):
their life has changed, yadayada yada, right? So kind of
your feelings on moreaspirational type content versus
kind of the, I don't want to saydoom and gloom, but like the
dark or the bad, the reason whyyou started doing the work that
you're doing in the first place,the problem you're solving, kind
of, how are you seeing thatlanguage shift in our
storytelling as it relates tovideo and just content on our
(10:30):
website?
Daniel Molina (10:32):
You know, that's a great question, and it's a
tough question to answer,because at the end of the day,
my wife and I talk about this,you know, she said we need a
good news channel. Just a goodnews Yeah, my in my opinion, and
what I tell you that that willmake money, it won't survive. So
what are you talking about?People want to hear about good
news all the time. I'm like,Yes, like people who are very
(10:56):
positive on that, but evenpeople like that, like, okay,
cool. Another awesome thinggreat. What unfortunately sells
is the doom and gloom. Whatunfortunately sells is the
drama, it's the gossip, it's theOh my gosh. I can't believe that
happened, right? That Sells. Andthat's why these news media
places continue to grow, becausethey cover a bunch of stuff that
(11:20):
we don't even need to know. Whydo I need to know what's
happening in the happening inNew York? Like, I live in
Hawaii, and I need local news tohelp my community here, right?
But something happened. Oh mygosh. Now, if it affects us as a
state or federal level, okay, Iwant to know about it, but
there's so much stuff out therethat I don't need to know what
happened over there, right? But,but because we want to know
(11:40):
everybody's business and like,oh, I can't believe that
happened. It sells. So as anonprofit or a organization
trying to compete, is what we'redoing. We're competing with that
entertainment. It's hard to justsay, here's all the fruit of
things happening, becauseunfortunately, people be like,
(12:01):
okay, whatever. But if you dosee that puppy who's skinny and
flies are all over it, and it'slike, Oh, what happened to that?
You know? And then, and thenthey're gonna watch it, and then
there's gonna show the program.I mean, it happens to me.
There's this guy in Asia. Idon't know it's in Chinese or
Japanese or whatever. I don'teven know what they're saying,
but it feeds me this littlepuppies on the street. He picks
(12:23):
him up, looks like they're aboutdead, and he goes, give him the
bath, feeds them. And I followthe whole story of like, you
know, 90 seconds of like, nowthat it's healthy, first
healthy, you know, the puppiesall happy, and I don't even know
what they're saying, but I likethe video. Yeah, so but, but
it's because people like aredemptive story. So don't see
(12:45):
it as a gloom and doom. See itas a redemptive story.
Nonprofits usually are trying tosolve problems and help, you
know, help people. And so theredemptive story is what's
selling, not the doom and gloom.So if you miss, if you miss,
what happened, how you gotthere, and you just only show
the end of it, that it's likehalf the story, but the climax
(13:06):
is when that guy picked up thepuppy and said, I'm gonna help
you. Like, that's the climax.And so everyone loved the climax
of the story. So I wouldn't shyaway from like, Hey, here's the
problem. People are dying drugsin this neighborhood, teenagers
without fathers. You know,whatever it is, single moms
(13:26):
can't afford to whatever showthe depravity is. Show what the
where no one's helping theclimax. But here we are, here
you are helping us, help them.And then here's the retentive
story, right? That, but that'severy movie. Think about. You
watch a movie and there's noclimax, there's no, like, man,
crappy movie, like, Where wasthe climax, right? And so, but
(13:48):
that's storytelling, right?That's good storytelling is you
have a beginning, ooh, whathappened there? Like, usually,
like, the the crime scene,someone died in the beginning.
Well, who did it? And thenthere's a climax, and then we
find out this, right? So it'skind of like that. It's like,
you know, show, like, what'sgoing on in the beginning of
like, dang, that happened, andthen the climax and the
regenerative story. So I hope Ianswered that. It's like, sure,
(14:10):
we don't want it's not thatwe're copying other people. It's
just how humans respond tostories. And we want a good
stories. We want to know what,what's the problem, what's the
solution, and then, how do yousolve that? And what's the fruit
of that? And I think that iswhat sells. That's the kind of
content you want on yourwebsite. Well.
Sami Bedell-Mulhern (14:29):
And I think you to your point, it's not an
either or situation. It's notlike I think a lot of times
people just show the beginningthe problem and just say, Okay,
help us fix the problem. Butwhat you're saying is when we
take it all the way through tothe end and show how we are
solving the problem. Now,instead of just being like, Oh,
(14:49):
you feel bad for these people soyou or this cause or this
situation, so you should giveyou're saying, hey, now that you
know this exists and that we canhelp, you can be the hero in
this story also. Like you'rekind of almost letting them feel
like they're a part of it,versus just throwing money at a
situation they are part of thesolution in a much more
meaningful way, because you'vecrafted that beautiful story.
(15:12):
Now the tricky part is, is, inthis day and age, distilling
that all down into like a 92ndvideo clip, or, you know, a
short blurb on your website. Andso I think maybe that's where
people feel stuck. And how dowe, how do we take this big,
massive thing and make it smalland or short enough that we can
(15:33):
communicate it in a short periodof time? Yeah,
Daniel Molina (15:37):
and I think there's long form content and
short form content, right? Andnow short form content is
exploding. So I think what youdo is you have both, you have
the long form content, and thenyou have to short form, right?
But you want to tell that storyeven in 60 seconds. Ew, this is
what happened. Here's how we howyou got involved, or how we get
(15:57):
involved. And here's a redundantstory that can happen in 60
seconds. Because, you know, ifyou just draw out, you know, the
before, you know, image afterimage after, okay, I got it
right, maybe one or two image ofwhat the problem is. And then
then you have volunteers helpingwhatever it is, or, you know,
maybe a counselor, or maybehanding them money, or their
grocery shopping, or whatever itis. Then show like, you know,
(16:18):
here's how we help. And thenshow, and then, then in the
last, you know, five to 10seconds is them happy and
enjoying their family, or thepuppy healthy, or, you know, the
grandma is now has a newwheelchair, or whatever it is
that can happen in 60 seconds,right? To just capture their
Ooh, then that, oh, that's whatyou do. Someone could figure
out, okay, I know what you do.Then you can have a long form
(16:40):
content, a, 10 minute videowhere you have interviews. B,
roll shots past events, then youcan have a long form content,
three to six minutes on yourpage, where they can watch the
whole thing and say, Oh, wow.Who wants more detail? Right? To
explain more, because whathappens we try to fit in. It's
come become have this, um, thisNASCAR syndrome, where we want
(17:00):
all the different logos on theyou know, look who's all
involved in and you don't wantthat because, like, to your
point, what you said earlier, itbecomes overwhelming. It's like,
man, you want to throweverything on the website, all
this content. I have no ideawhat to look at first, right?
And so I think if you just onlyhave the doom and gloom, I don't
think that's a good story. Ithink that's a that's half the
truth of what you do. And then,to your point, you're just
(17:22):
trying to make people sad andfeel sorry for you like it's
like, no, here's the doom andgloom, here's the hero, and you
could be a part of the hero. Andthen here's the fruit, which is
the people who were affected arenow redemptive, and now they're
living a better life. Now youhelp them that, oh, that should
always be together. And if it's60 seconds, 9010, minutes an
(17:43):
hour, that always should be it,because that's just again, the
way humans love to watch a goodmovie or a good content. Does
that make sense?
Sami Bedell-Mulhern (17:53):
Yeah, absolutely. And so this is
great. I think talking aboutkind of the types of content you
want to have on your website,super important. And you've
brought up kind of like goalsand messaging a couple times. So
it's also kind of the per whatis the purpose of our website,
as far as calls to action? Sowe've got these great videos,
we've got we've got our contentcleaned up, our storytelling.
(18:13):
We're really kind of engagingwith our audience. Now they're
coming to the website, they'reinteracting. And then the
conversions are the next part,right? Like making sure that
people have an opportunity toengage with us. At the
beginning, you said one of thebiggest mistakes people make is,
you know, they want you to don'tlike the conversion, is donate,
right? And that's the thing thatthey want you to do first. And
(18:33):
not everybody's there. So whatother types of conversions can
we kind of aim for with some ofthese pieces, especially to kind
of the more top of funnel, orlike new people that are
discovering our organizationthat aren't ready to give just
yet. Yeah,
Daniel Molina (18:49):
so, so I don't mind having three buttons to
say, volunteer, donate, donate,usually two, but then volunteer,
donate and get help. Okay, whatif that person needs help? You
know, they're going to yoursite, and so I guess there's
really three audience, it's theperson that needs help, so the
person that needs help, theperson who wants to volunteer,
(19:12):
and the person wants to donate,that video has to talk to three,
oh, they can help me. That's me.Or, man, I want to help, or may
I want to give, right So, and,you know, and you got to hire
the right creatives and peopleto tell that story, right? And
so, I mean, that's part of thebattle of like, okay, who could
tell that story the best, right?For that, you're gonna have to
find your local videographerthat, you know, tell the story,
(19:33):
but those three audience, sothose, those three buttons, is
okay, get help, get volunteer,and then donate. So you could
still always have it where youcan see it. But that shouldn't
be like pointing all arrows tothis is, you know, the whole
screen, right? You know. So toanswer your question, another
thing we can do is, you know orfind out more information. They
(19:55):
click on it and just get toemail. Hey, be a part of
newsletter. Be a part of youknow what's going on. In your
community. So it's like yousaid, the lower funnels of like,
I'm not ready to reallyvolunteer, I'm not really ready
to give money, but I want moreinformation. So you have, like,
a little email, you know, afield where, you know, they can
get, you know, a newsletter. Andso that's the lower the funnel,
right? But even then, you canwalk them through a story. So
(20:19):
even on the home page, as theyscroll down, you can have the
different projects. So you couldsay what I love to tell people
is like, Okay, if this projectcosts $10,000 or 50,000 or
100,000 well then show a counterlike a ticket, hey, we got
25,000 of the 50,000 that weneed. And then this project, we
got 75,000 out of the 100,000that we need. And then it
(20:40):
allows, what I love about thatapproach is that it allows the
person who wants to helpfinancially be control of what
aspect of your organization theywant to give. Because when
usually I just kind of give tothe whole organization, they
don't know how you're going tospend your money. They don't
know if you're going to bepaying for the Secretary in the
office. Are you paying for thePresident, are you paying for
(21:01):
someone actually, you know, whoactually needs the money they
don't know? And so I think it'sbetter if you, if you actually
disclose what percentage does goto the actual people, and if
there's projects they couldactually fund, and then they
decide where they want to puttheir money. Can now they feel
more involved in in what you'redoing, you know, they feel like
(21:22):
a sense of ownership, you know,ooh, like, you know, like when I
give a money to a building fundin my old church back in the
day, you know, we gave, youknow, a lot of money. I didn't
know if I paid for the tile orthe toilet or the, you know,
like, all right, I just gave tothe building fund. What did it
go? I don't know, right? So, sowhere this is, like, people want
more ownership, and you give itto them by saying, Hey, if
(21:45):
you're a pro, you can still havethe general donate, but you can
also also have the, oh, man, allthey need is 25 more grand to
cover that. Yeah, awesome. Let'sdo it, right? And so that's how
you continue to help convertthem into, like, being a part of
what you're doing,
Sami Bedell-Mulhern (22:02):
yeah, and there's two things I want to
mention there, because I lovethat, the psychology of why
people give. And we did anepisode last year on behavioral
science and how, like languagecan shift the way that people
choose to participate. And sowe'll link that up in the show
notes. But the psychology of,you know, there's, there's those
(22:23):
people that want to be the firstto give they want to kick off
the campaign. There's the peoplethat need to see that there's
enough money that has come inalready to where they feel like
it is a viable fund that couldpotentially actually complete
its mission. And then there'sthe people that want to be the
the, you know, saving, saving itand rallying at the end. And
we're the ones that close thegap and completed the project,
(22:44):
you know. So you have thosedifferent types of people that
want to give so what I loveabout that is you can kind of
visually appeal to people attheir various time or their
various decision makingprocesses and things of that
nature. And also, I just want tomention, when you are creating
those separate funds, alwaysremember that if you have
(23:05):
personnel that are directlyresponsible for the imp of those
programs, that that should befunds that are included in that
goal. So I just want to, Ialways like to throw that out
there, because people tend tosee what you said was absolutely
spot on, but they are notoverhead if their job is to
deliver the program and service,and you can't do it without
them. They should be includedthe expense of that program or
(23:27):
service, because sometimespeople get really nervous with
designated funds, and we need tojust really think about the
holistic program, and that doesinclude staff and people. So I
just kind of like that outthere.
Daniel Molina (23:40):
Yeah, you're right. Because, like, if you say
it has to go, like, if someone,if a funder, puts it, hey, I
want this to go to this, youhave to do it. And, like you
said, Yeah, we own a nonprofitcalled inside outreach and and
the same thing is, like, whenthey donate to, like, for us, it
was the Maui fire reliefefforts. And so the dollars that
(24:01):
went to the Maui, Maui firefires relief had to go to that,
you know, yeah, you know. Butyou know, if it's a flight, if
it's a, if it's a, you know,having to get rent a car, that's
part of the relief efforts, youknow, to get over there and
help. But it's all in the wayyou say it, because if you say
no, 100% of this is going to tothem. Then, then, then you, then
(24:26):
you can't, you can't have it fora car or a flight, because
you're telling them 100% it'sgoing to the victims and the
survivors. I think it's, itcould be the terminology. But
for us, we did 100% like none ofit went to pay for our flights
and all that, because I justfunded our own flights, and then
100% literally did go. But I'mjust saying, like it's also in
(24:47):
your language, I think that youhave to be careful how you you
say, you know, going tours,versus 100% going to the victims
or the survivors or whatever.Then you're, you're kind of
stuck to. Like, dang, we said100% just saying it's going
towards helping. Does that makesense? Yeah. And I think
Sami Bedell-Mulhern (25:07):
I don't know, no, no, but I think
you're, you're right in thatit's the it's the way that we
tell the story, in the way thatwe solve the problem. And I
think going back to how you getbetter conversions from the
website is being hyper focusedon. This is how we solve the
problem. So, the video that youwatched of the, you know, the
man picking up the dog, and thenthe dog is all better. Well, you
(25:29):
know, as you watched a longerform video from that
organization, it's like, okay,well, did, are they like a spay
and neuter facility, or didthey? Was it a vet that did,
like, full health care? Or didthey? Are they just the shelter
who brought him home, and thenthey, you know, they worked with
everybody else to kind of do thework, and now they're going to
adopt him out. Like there's somany different ways to solve the
(25:49):
problems that you're working on,whether it's homelessness or
animal rescue or fire relief. SoI think, to your point, it's
this, the way we tell the storyand how we uniquely solve the
problem that's so important inthat messaging when you're kind
of affecting those variousprograms and how you talk about
the different goals that youhave for the different services
(26:10):
you're providing,
Daniel Molina (26:12):
yep, and Transparency is key, right?
Don't have this black box thatno one knows what's in it.
That's when these people startto like, You got to be
transparent. You got to letpeople know, like, Hey, here's
how it's gonna get spent here.You're obligated for that
anyway, through the government,but it's just there's too many
in this kind of spiritual orpolitical climate. You want to
(26:35):
make sure that you are fullytransparent, and people know
where the money's going who'sinvolved that way? They have
confidence in supporting you,you know. And really to like,
when you're starting to give tothese organizations, you know,
these organizations, if you'rean organization that has a
strong political stance that canhurt you, right? So when you
(26:56):
talk about storytelling, like,be careful with trying to be too
strong on your political stance,whether you're on the left or
the right side of the aisle. Itdoesn't matter, like if your
goal is really to help people,and nothing that you have to do
is there to help. I mean,nothing that you have to do has
anything to do with politics orsocial issues, then get out of
that check that you know. Don'tgo on that soapbox. Don't try to
(27:18):
have messaging that to supportsome kind of issue, help the
people you're trying to help,without the political jargon,
without the political becausethat will hurt you. And we, you
know, I don't care. I'll takemoney from the left and I'll
take money from the right. Moneyis money, and it'll spend
whatever one I need to help mythe people we're helping, right?
And so for me, I have differentpolitical ideology than a lot of
(27:42):
people here in Hawaii, but I'mnot going to let that affect me.
And I'm going to, I'm going to,I'm going to bench it, and
that's not for my nonprofit,like, Hey, I'm going to help
with anybody who wants to lovepeople and help people. So that
messaging has to come through,no matter what, lack of life,
right? But then we start gettingthe storytelling of like, making
a stand and attacking a side,then you alienate yourself, or
(28:05):
you alienate people from beingable to help you. And so I would
obviously with with withpolitics or your fire, one, c3,
you're limited anyway to whatyou can say anyway, but you can
still talk about social issues.But again, if that's part of it,
if, like, they say, you have anonprofit, that it's because
this political idea is why wehave these issues, and that's
(28:27):
fine. And then, yeah, be strongin that. And you're going to
have people that's going to bestrong in that. But if it has
nothing to do with you knowthat, then, then you know, and
then stop talking, trying to tryto win on that hill. Like trying
to be a voice box for that letthe the lobbyists and all those
people be the voice. You be thevoice for the person who's
(28:48):
earning and help them.
Sami Bedell-Mulhern (28:50):
I think that's so true, and I think
especially right now. I mean,we're recording this podcast in
February. It will not go liveuntil, oh, geez, I don't know
late, and I think it'll be acouple months before this goes
live. April. No, just kidding,yeah, April, sorry, multitasking
is not my strong suit when I'mtrying to talk. But I think you
(29:14):
know, what we're seeing rightnow is rapid fire changes that
are coming and going. So like,Today is February 5, and so for
example, it was even somethingas quick as the USPS is not
going to be accepting packagesfrom China. And then, like, 12
hours later, nope, that just gotrescinded. And so I think to
(29:35):
your point, we're living in thistime of, like, up, up and down,
up and down, up and down, nomatter how you feel about what
those ups and downs are. Thingsare changing rapidly and then
going back, and then changingand going back. So I think
simplicity, what I'm hearingfrom you is simplicity in your
storytelling. Stick to thetransparency, stick to the work
(29:56):
that you are truly here to do,and the work that you know is
going to. Make an impact, andright now, more than ever, shut
out the noise and focus on thegood that you're here to do, and
that is what should be reflectedon your website, and that is
what should be the messagingyou're sharing with people, and
how you're going to cut throughthe noise and connect with your
donors, just on a human to humanlevel,
Daniel Molina (30:17):
yeah, and I love how you frame that beautifully,
and just as you're creating thecontent, don't put anything in
your video that will, that willage the content. Yeah, you have
to report it, right? And so ifyou're trying to focus on some
political issues, social issueto your point of China, right?
(30:38):
Or the new thing withdeportation, and you're helping,
you know, maybe you have anorganization helping, you know,
illegal people get health careor whatever, and then all of a
sudden you have this strongvideo on your home page that
talks about whatever. Well, thenlet's just say some law passes
next month, executive ordercomes through saying, Hey, we
changed our mind. Now yourthings dated. Well, they changed
(30:59):
it. What are you talking about,right? And so try to not have
content on there that will ageyou or put you into a season.
Unless you have a lot of moneyto spend, you know, to redo the
video staff, that's fine, but ifyou don't have a lot of money to
invest into video, make surethat video is timeless. Like
this will be a good video fortoday, and it'd be a good video
five years from now, no matterwhat's going on in our
(31:20):
political, spiritual climate,right? That's hard to do. But
then again, if you have avideographer on staff and you
know, oh no, we can pop thisout, then, yeah, you could focus
on kind of relevant. Don't betone deaf to what's happening
around us, right? And you can bemore direct. But again, know
your place, know what kind ofnonprofit you are, and if that's
(31:41):
part of the bylaws, it's part ofwhat you do, then okay, you can
be more aware of the climate andthen not be tone deaf to what
it's saying. But I think mostnonprofits, at least for me,
it's more to do with, like,trying to be tone deaf so that
we could just deal with theissue. Because if I get wrapped
up in this, it's gonna, youknow, we're just gonna create
(32:01):
wars, and it's just, it's just,it's not going to work. Yeah?
Sami Bedell-Mulhern (32:04):
Well, I think that goes back to your
short form purposes behind shortform and long form content. Keep
your long form content timeless.You can have a little bit more
leeway with your short formbecause it's not as produced.
Yeah, right. And, and so I thinkthat that's great. Okay, well,
so many good things to thinkabout. I really love that you
brought up the timeliness ofthings. I think that's really
(32:25):
important, and something weoften forget as we start to put
together our content strategies.But if you kind of had any last
words of wisdom around kind ofstorytelling, how we start to
put together, how we want toshow up in the world, what might
you want to leave listenerswith?
Daniel Molina (32:43):
I just think, you know, it's, it's just, you know,
the testimony or the story ofthe redemption, again, going
back to that, it's just tellthat story and and tell the
story truthfully, transparently,and just say, hey, here's how we
help people. It's not, it's notrocket science. It's just like,
tell a good story, and you lookat, look at other nonprofits,
(33:07):
how they're telling their story,you know, and just see how
they're doing it, and it's okayto to copy how they do it,
because they're copying it allthe way back. Goes back to
Greece, right? You know, I wentto Greece with my daughter last
year. And this is where theaterstarted, right? We went to
Philippi. I met Philippi.Amazing Delphi. We went to
(33:27):
Delphi. Where theater, I think,began. We went and saw where the
theater now they wereworshiping, you know, the Greek
gods, but whatever, that's wheretheater started. Is like the
ultimate storytelling. We wentto the the the genesis of in
Delphi and so they so we off,copied all the way back to the
Greeks. So it's okay to seesomething and be inspired by how
(33:48):
they did it, yeah, tell thestory. And so don't see if I
don't want to copy them. Well,that's a big organization, and
there's a reason why they'recontinue to be successful,
right? And so be inspired. I seeit not copying, be inspired
about other organization, youknow, from their stuff, and just
tell a great story. It's just inthe issue, you know, what's the
(34:10):
issue? Get some stats. So I tellpeople, what is the issue? What
are some stats around the issue?And then, and then, what is the
solution? And then how they canget involved in and see the
fruit of the solution. You know,that's the story. I don't care
how what, however, it is, if youfollow that, you're going to get
conversion. You can get peoplewant to be involved. You're
(34:32):
gonna, you know, I helped theorganization last year. I said,
Hey, man, your website isgarbage, and I'm just shoot. I
shoot. You know, it's garbage.No one's want to donate to you,
you know, yeah. And I said, Youneed to tell the story this way,
say what I'm telling you. Andthey did a video. They didn't
have a video of the head guy,the director, nothing like, why
(34:53):
is not the director talking topeople, you know? Why? Why
aren't you not telling peoplelike, you know, here, I'm the
director. Right? And so wechanged it the way I just said
it, and then they, they raisedway more money, right? And so,
yeah, it's just that samesimplicity. It's just, you know,
again, it's the solution. Statsaround the solution, not like my
(35:14):
opinion about it. It's like, no,your actual stats, yeah, here's
how we can help, and then here'sthe fruit of people helping.
Sami Bedell-Mulhern (35:21):
Yep, that's so good. Well, Daniel, I really,
really appreciate you takingtime to share your insights with
our listeners today, if peoplewant to connect with you more
and learn more about the workthat you do, how can they do
that? Yeah,
Daniel Molina (35:34):
you can go to DanielMolina.life and and I'm
going to make sure that is myURL, because I have there. It is
not life, and it has everythingabout me, who I am and what I
(35:54):
do, I
Sami Bedell-Mulhern (35:56):
love it. And we will link everything up
in the show notes atthefirstclick.net/297, so you
can grab everything there, butDaniel, thank you so much for
your time today. I reallyappreciate it My pleasure. So
big. Thank you again to Danielfor joining me in this episode
again. You can find additionalresources, links and information
in the show notes atthefirstclick.net/297 we are
(36:18):
getting closer to that crazyepisode, 300 so excited, but
thank you so much for listening.Hit that subscribe button so you
don't miss our episodes. Theycome out weekly, and you never
know when a bonus episode isgonna pop in there. And I would
love it if you would leave acomment if you're watching this
on YouTube, under thedescription to let me know what
was your favorite takeaway, whatdid you really learn from this,
(36:40):
and what are you excited tostart to start to implement in
your business for now? Thank youso much for listening and
spending a little bit of timewith me each week. I will see
you in the next one you.
We know that messaging and storytelling
is really important, especiallyon our website. It helps people
connect to us, engage with us,understand what we do, but a lot
of times we fall short and nottelling the whole story, not
really sharing a lot about thetransformation, and expanding on
the transformation and how itimpacts the community that we
serve. And so today, I haveDaniel Molina joining me today
(00:23):
to really talk about how we canengage people on our websites,
how we can encourage them todive deeper with us, how we can
encourage them to really getexcited about the work that
we're doing and how theirsupport is going to help us take
our work to the next level.Daniel Molina is an accomplished
marketing professional andentrepreneur, owning red palm
studios since 2002 withextensive experience and
(00:45):
knowledge in the latest webtrends, he has successfully
worked with high profile clientsand small business startups,
delivering maximum exposure as apassionate entrepreneur, Daniel
Molina believes in giving backto the community and making a
positive impact through variousinitiatives and partnerships. He
actively engages in communityoutreach, addressing social
issues and supporting localcauses. Daniel's dedication to
(01:05):
creating a better societyextends beyond business,
demonstrating his commitment toimproving lives and fostering a
sense of unity. And so I lovethis conversation because it's a
personal passion of his givingback, as well as experience that
he has marketing businesses foryears and just helping you kind
of really take the best of bothworlds. What are the strategies
(01:26):
that are going to really helpyou? And then how do you take
that story to the next level?How do you connect emotionally
to the people that are engagingwith your organization? So that
is what we were talking about inthis episode. Before we get to
it. This episode is brought toyou by do good university. This
is a unique membership forNonprofit Professionals, where
you get access to on demandcourses and trainings from
(01:48):
everything from grant writing,from A to Z to event planning to
marketing, email marketing, yourwebsite, major giving campaigns,
board management, all of thethings at your fingertips
whenever you need it, and beyondthat, Patrick Kirby, who founded
do good university, and myself,go live every single week to
answer your questions, so youcan come with anything that
(02:09):
you're struggling with, or justlearn from those that are going
through the same things you are,and get inspired by the ways
that they're working through it,how they're making those asks,
how they're getting thatawareness for their
organization. It's a lot of fun.And if you go to
thefirstclick.net/dgu the letterU, you can find a link to get
(02:29):
two free weeks inside of do gooduniversity, so you can come hang
out with us, check it out, seewhat it's all about, and see if
it's the right fit for you.Again, that's
thefirstclick.net/dgu, there'salso a bonus podcast episode on
that page that I did withPatrick talking about what is so
great about DGU, why is it theplace for you, and why is coming
(02:50):
together in community with othernonprofit professionals such a
major impact on your growth andyour ability to succeed and
surpass Your Goals. Let's getinto the episode.
You're listening to the digitalmarketing therapy podcast. I'm
your host, Sami Bedell-Mulhern,each month, we dive deep into a
digital marketing or fundraisingstrategy that you can implement
(03:12):
in your organization. Each week,you'll hear from guest experts
nonprofits and myself on bestpractices, tips and resources to
help you raise more money onlineand reach your organizational
goals.
Hey, friends, please join me inwelcoming Daniel Molina to the
podcast. Daniel, thanks forbeing here.
Daniel Molina (03:31):
It's a pleasure. It's a pleasure. Thank you for
having me.
Sami Bedell-Mulhern (03:34):
Yeah, I'm so excited for this
conversation, because we lovewebsites here on this podcast,
because I do think that they arereally so important for any
organization to have. But beforewe kind of jump into some
strategies, why do you also feelthat websites are something that
we want to make sure we'retaking care of as part of our
marketing strategy?
Daniel Molina (03:56):
Yeah, so you know, websites, as always, has
been kind of like yourstorefront, right? And so even
more, in this day and age, wherethere's a lot of companies,
organizations, that they don'thave an office, you can't just
go knock on their door and thensee and experience them, right?
And so you want to have and thenreally people, when they do
their due diligence, they'relooking at your website, they're
looking at your social media.They're looking at, okay, who's
(04:17):
this company? What's your onlinepresence looks like, you know,
and usually social media wouldbe like the hook that gets them
into the website. Oh, I want toknow more about this company.
And so if you don't have awebsite that kicks butt and does
a good job of telling the storyand everything that we were
gonna probably talk about today,then you're gonna miss out on
opportunities to be able tofundraise or get people to get
(04:40):
volunteer or be involved in whatyou're doing.
Sami Bedell-Mulhern (04:44):
Yeah. So good. So, you know, I love that
you already brought upstorytelling, because we
struggle with this a lot withour clients in that the website,
the way it looks isn't asimportant as the information
that's on it. So. Maybe share alittle bit about your thoughts
on the power of storytelling andthe power of the messaging on
(05:05):
your website, and why that isthe most important thing, not
not just the colors and theimages and the graphics.
Daniel Molina (05:13):
Yeah, you know, we can obviously. I mean, I went
to college studying. I had like,one or two semesters about
graphic design, color theory andhow to position things, and all
that. And so I am very familiarwith making things look
beautiful and estheticallypleasing, but unfortunately, in
today's day and age with so manytemplates and so many easy ways
to build websites, having apretty website is not going to
(05:34):
get you people to get behindwhat you're doing. It's the
story behind it, right? I alwayssay the value proposition like,
Why should I give to yourorganization? What makes you
special everybody and thegrandma wants money from me. And
so why should I get involvedwith yours? And so when I think
about your website, a lot oftimes, when I go to websites and
assess them, especially in thenonprofit world, they ask for
(05:55):
marriage too soon. Donate,donate, donate, donate. We need
your money without telling thestory, without letting the
person going to find out moreabout your organization. Know,
hey, you know, what do you guysdo? And where does if I was
going to donate, where does thatmoney go? Is it just a bunch of
successful people on the boardthat makes money and, you know,
or is it really going to thepeople? I mean, especially in
(06:16):
this day and age, you know, somenonprofits, they have black eyes
because, not because they didanything wrong, but because
there's been some shadinesssometimes in the industry of
organizations. So how do youseparate yourself from that,
right? And I think the way youdo that is making sure that you
understand what are peoplelooking for when they go to your
website. How do theycommunicate? So, I mean, how are
(06:37):
people getting communicated? Soif you just have photos, photos,
photos, and a lot of text,they'll probably ignore your
page. Think about think aboutInstagram. When it first
started, Instagram was onlyphotos. Instagram was photos,
and it was just a square photowith limited text. But now
Instagram is almost becominganother YouTube, right? Every
other post is a video. Mostpeople don't even look at photos
(06:59):
anymore. These go video, reelafter reel after reel. And why
is that? Because humans, we wantto be entertained. We're lazy.
We don't want to read a lot ofcontent. And so we want to just
you tell me what you're aboutwith video. And what's cool
about video is you say that thesaying of a photo, what's a
(07:19):
photo is, oh my gosh, what'sthat saying?
Sami Bedell-Mulhern (07:23):
Like, a picture paints 1000 words.
Daniel Molina (07:25):
Yeah, a picture paints 1000 words. So you know,
me being a geek in the world ofvideo production is like,
there's 29 frames per second. Sothink about how many frames you
know, how many pictures withinyou know, one, one second. And
so if you have video where youhave audio, nice music, and
people talking in motion and andreally trying to share them.
(07:47):
Hey, here's who we're about, andhere's what we do that will do
way better than the photo. Ifyou know, if you could pay 1000
words, imagine what video can doright when you can actually
touch the emotion and and shareand not manipulate. But it's
just like, hey, here's who weare, here's what we believe in,
and here's what you want to getbehind. So video would be
probably your most importantinvestment. Second to your
(08:08):
website, and put that bad boy upfront and center. Let them watch
30 seconds. Ooh, I want more.Then add the photo. Then add
like, Hey, here's where yourmoney's going to video, here's
where your money's going. Here'sthe people we're helping. You
know, here's how many lives wechange, or here's how many moms
we change. Here's whatever it isyou have to share the fruit
video, what you what we what'sgoing to experience, what the
(08:30):
volunteer not? Don't just talkto the donors. You got to talk
to the volunteers and you got totalk to the donors, all in the
same time. And so I want to be apart of that. I want to be
involved in that. Or man, I wantto donate. I want to sow into
that, right? Then you have,like, here's the fruit, here's
what we've been doing. Then youcould talk about all the other
projects and stuff like that,and all the content in the
photos and the text contents,good, but you first got to wow
(08:53):
them. First get them to buy in.Yes, I want to do, I want to, I
want to be a part of that. Thenyou can have everything else,
but that's my opinion, howyou're going to convert or have
more people get involved withwhat you're doing?
Sami Bedell-Mulhern (09:06):
No, I agree with that. So many good things
that you've said, because wetend to want to, like, word
vomit, everything that we do,and that's overwhelming. And so
to your point, like, yes, withvideo, it's really impactful and
allows us to kind of connectemotionally, build that trust,
get to know an organization. Andalso, if I want to geek out and
dive deeper into some of thosethings, having that content on
(09:28):
the website that's thoughtfullyplaced where I can make sure I
get there eventually. But I justneed to kind of know who you
are, what you do first. So Ithink that was really good. I
love video, but I want to kindof ask you, you know, when it
comes to our storytelling, whenwe're creating these videos,
these scripts, when we're tryingto explain to people what we do
(09:48):
your thoughts, because I've seena shift in the kind of doom and
gloom like, you know, we alwaysbring up the ASPCA commercials
where they show this, you know,six cent puppies that are left,
um. And out in the cold, versusthem showing commercials of
those puppies in happy homeswhere they're, you know, super
(10:09):
their life has changed, yadayada yada, right? So kind of
your feelings on moreaspirational type content versus
kind of the, I don't want to saydoom and gloom, but like the
dark or the bad, the reason whyyou started doing the work that
you're doing in the first place,the problem you're solving, kind
of, how are you seeing thatlanguage shift in our
storytelling as it relates tovideo and just content on our
(10:30):
website?
Daniel Molina (10:32):
You know, that's a great question, and it's a
tough question to answer,because at the end of the day,
my wife and I talk about this,you know, she said we need a
good news channel. Just a goodnews Yeah, my in my opinion, and
what I tell you that that willmake money, it won't survive. So
what are you talking about?People want to hear about good
news all the time. I'm like,Yes, like people who are very
(10:56):
positive on that, but evenpeople like that, like, okay,
cool. Another awesome thinggreat. What unfortunately sells
is the doom and gloom. Whatunfortunately sells is the
drama, it's the gossip, it's theOh my gosh. I can't believe that
happened, right? That Sells. Andthat's why these news media
places continue to grow, becausethey cover a bunch of stuff that
(11:20):
we don't even need to know. Whydo I need to know what's
happening in the happening inNew York? Like, I live in
Hawaii, and I need local news tohelp my community here, right?
But something happened. Oh mygosh. Now, if it affects us as a
state or federal level, okay, Iwant to know about it, but
there's so much stuff out therethat I don't need to know what
happened over there, right? But,but because we want to know
(11:40):
everybody's business and like,oh, I can't believe that
happened. It sells. So as anonprofit or a organization
trying to compete, is what we'redoing. We're competing with that
entertainment. It's hard to justsay, here's all the fruit of
things happening, becauseunfortunately, people be like,
(12:01):
okay, whatever. But if you dosee that puppy who's skinny and
flies are all over it, and it'slike, Oh, what happened to that?
You know? And then, and thenthey're gonna watch it, and then
there's gonna show the program.I mean, it happens to me.
There's this guy in Asia. Idon't know it's in Chinese or
Japanese or whatever. I don'teven know what they're saying,
but it feeds me this littlepuppies on the street. He picks
(12:23):
him up, looks like they're aboutdead, and he goes, give him the
bath, feeds them. And I followthe whole story of like, you
know, 90 seconds of like, nowthat it's healthy, first
healthy, you know, the puppiesall happy, and I don't even know
what they're saying, but I likethe video. Yeah, so but, but
it's because people like aredemptive story. So don't see
(12:45):
it as a gloom and doom. See itas a redemptive story.
Nonprofits usually are trying tosolve problems and help, you
know, help people. And so theredemptive story is what's
selling, not the doom and gloom.So if you miss, if you miss,
what happened, how you gotthere, and you just only show
the end of it, that it's likehalf the story, but the climax
(13:06):
is when that guy picked up thepuppy and said, I'm gonna help
you. Like, that's the climax.And so everyone loved the climax
of the story. So I wouldn't shyaway from like, Hey, here's the
problem. People are dying drugsin this neighborhood, teenagers
without fathers. You know,whatever it is, single moms
(13:26):
can't afford to whatever showthe depravity is. Show what the
where no one's helping theclimax. But here we are, here
you are helping us, help them.And then here's the retentive
story, right? That, but that'severy movie. Think about. You
watch a movie and there's noclimax, there's no, like, man,
crappy movie, like, Where wasthe climax, right? And so, but
(13:48):
that's storytelling, right?That's good storytelling is you
have a beginning, ooh, whathappened there? Like, usually,
like, the the crime scene,someone died in the beginning.
Well, who did it? And thenthere's a climax, and then we
find out this, right? So it'skind of like that. It's like,
you know, show, like, what'sgoing on in the beginning of
like, dang, that happened, andthen the climax and the
regenerative story. So I hope Ianswered that. It's like, sure,
(14:10):
we don't want it's not thatwe're copying other people. It's
just how humans respond tostories. And we want a good
stories. We want to know what,what's the problem, what's the
solution, and then, how do yousolve that? And what's the fruit
of that? And I think that iswhat sells. That's the kind of
content you want on yourwebsite. Well.
Sami Bedell-Mulhern (14:29):
And I think you to your point, it's not an
either or situation. It's notlike I think a lot of times
people just show the beginningthe problem and just say, Okay,
help us fix the problem. Butwhat you're saying is when we
take it all the way through tothe end and show how we are
solving the problem. Now,instead of just being like, Oh,
(14:49):
you feel bad for these people soyou or this cause or this
situation, so you should giveyou're saying, hey, now that you
know this exists and that we canhelp, you can be the hero in
this story also. Like you'rekind of almost letting them feel
like they're a part of it,versus just throwing money at a
situation they are part of thesolution in a much more
meaningful way, because you'vecrafted that beautiful story.
(15:12):
Now the tricky part is, is, inthis day and age, distilling
that all down into like a 92ndvideo clip, or, you know, a
short blurb on your website. Andso I think maybe that's where
people feel stuck. And how dowe, how do we take this big,
massive thing and make it smalland or short enough that we can
(15:33):
communicate it in a short periodof time? Yeah,
Daniel Molina (15:37):
and I think there's long form content and
short form content, right? Andnow short form content is
exploding. So I think what youdo is you have both, you have
the long form content, and thenyou have to short form, right?
But you want to tell that storyeven in 60 seconds. Ew, this is
what happened. Here's how we howyou got involved, or how we get
(15:57):
involved. And here's a redundantstory that can happen in 60
seconds. Because, you know, ifyou just draw out, you know, the
before, you know, image afterimage after, okay, I got it
right, maybe one or two image ofwhat the problem is. And then
then you have volunteers helpingwhatever it is, or, you know,
maybe a counselor, or maybehanding them money, or their
grocery shopping, or whatever itis. Then show like, you know,
(16:18):
here's how we help. And thenshow, and then, then in the
last, you know, five to 10seconds is them happy and
enjoying their family, or thepuppy healthy, or, you know, the
grandma is now has a newwheelchair, or whatever it is
that can happen in 60 seconds,right? To just capture their
Ooh, then that, oh, that's whatyou do. Someone could figure
out, okay, I know what you do.Then you can have a long form
(16:40):
content, a, 10 minute videowhere you have interviews. B,
roll shots past events, then youcan have a long form content,
three to six minutes on yourpage, where they can watch the
whole thing and say, Oh, wow.Who wants more detail? Right? To
explain more, because whathappens we try to fit in. It's
come become have this, um, thisNASCAR syndrome, where we want
(17:00):
all the different logos on theyou know, look who's all
involved in and you don't wantthat because, like, to your
point, what you said earlier, itbecomes overwhelming. It's like,
man, you want to throweverything on the website, all
this content. I have no ideawhat to look at first, right?
And so I think if you just onlyhave the doom and gloom, I don't
think that's a good story. Ithink that's a that's half the
truth of what you do. And then,to your point, you're just
(17:22):
trying to make people sad andfeel sorry for you like it's
like, no, here's the doom andgloom, here's the hero, and you
could be a part of the hero. Andthen here's the fruit, which is
the people who were affected arenow redemptive, and now they're
living a better life. Now youhelp them that, oh, that should
always be together. And if it's60 seconds, 9010, minutes an
(17:43):
hour, that always should be it,because that's just again, the
way humans love to watch a goodmovie or a good content. Does
that make sense?
Sami Bedell-Mulhern (17:53):
Yeah, absolutely. And so this is
great. I think talking aboutkind of the types of content you
want to have on your website,super important. And you've
brought up kind of like goalsand messaging a couple times. So
it's also kind of the per whatis the purpose of our website,
as far as calls to action? Sowe've got these great videos,
we've got we've got our contentcleaned up, our storytelling.
(18:13):
We're really kind of engagingwith our audience. Now they're
coming to the website, they'reinteracting. And then the
conversions are the next part,right? Like making sure that
people have an opportunity toengage with us. At the
beginning, you said one of thebiggest mistakes people make is,
you know, they want you to don'tlike the conversion, is donate,
right? And that's the thing thatthey want you to do first. And
(18:33):
not everybody's there. So whatother types of conversions can
we kind of aim for with some ofthese pieces, especially to kind
of the more top of funnel, orlike new people that are
discovering our organizationthat aren't ready to give just
yet. Yeah,
Daniel Molina (18:49):
so, so I don't mind having three buttons to
say, volunteer, donate, donate,usually two, but then volunteer,
donate and get help. Okay, whatif that person needs help? You
know, they're going to yoursite, and so I guess there's
really three audience, it's theperson that needs help, so the
person that needs help, theperson who wants to volunteer,
(19:12):
and the person wants to donate,that video has to talk to three,
oh, they can help me. That's me.Or, man, I want to help, or may
I want to give, right So, and,you know, and you got to hire
the right creatives and peopleto tell that story, right? And
so, I mean, that's part of thebattle of like, okay, who could
tell that story the best, right?For that, you're gonna have to
find your local videographerthat, you know, tell the story,
(19:33):
but those three audience, sothose, those three buttons, is
okay, get help, get volunteer,and then donate. So you could
still always have it where youcan see it. But that shouldn't
be like pointing all arrows tothis is, you know, the whole
screen, right? You know. So toanswer your question, another
thing we can do is, you know orfind out more information. They
(19:55):
click on it and just get toemail. Hey, be a part of
newsletter. Be a part of youknow what's going on. In your
community. So it's like yousaid, the lower funnels of like,
I'm not ready to reallyvolunteer, I'm not really ready
to give money, but I want moreinformation. So you have, like,
a little email, you know, afield where, you know, they can
get, you know, a newsletter. Andso that's the lower the funnel,
right? But even then, you canwalk them through a story. So
(20:19):
even on the home page, as theyscroll down, you can have the
different projects. So you couldsay what I love to tell people
is like, Okay, if this projectcosts $10,000 or 50,000 or
100,000 well then show a counterlike a ticket, hey, we got
25,000 of the 50,000 that weneed. And then this project, we
got 75,000 out of the 100,000that we need. And then it
(20:40):
allows, what I love about thatapproach is that it allows the
person who wants to helpfinancially be control of what
aspect of your organization theywant to give. Because when
usually I just kind of give tothe whole organization, they
don't know how you're going tospend your money. They don't
know if you're going to bepaying for the Secretary in the
office. Are you paying for thePresident, are you paying for
(21:01):
someone actually, you know, whoactually needs the money they
don't know? And so I think it'sbetter if you, if you actually
disclose what percentage does goto the actual people, and if
there's projects they couldactually fund, and then they
decide where they want to puttheir money. Can now they feel
more involved in in what you'redoing, you know, they feel like
(21:22):
a sense of ownership, you know,ooh, like, you know, like when I
give a money to a building fundin my old church back in the
day, you know, we gave, youknow, a lot of money. I didn't
know if I paid for the tile orthe toilet or the, you know,
like, all right, I just gave tothe building fund. What did it
go? I don't know, right? So, sowhere this is, like, people want
more ownership, and you give itto them by saying, Hey, if
(21:45):
you're a pro, you can still havethe general donate, but you can
also also have the, oh, man, allthey need is 25 more grand to
cover that. Yeah, awesome. Let'sdo it, right? And so that's how
you continue to help convertthem into, like, being a part of
what you're doing,
Sami Bedell-Mulhern (22:02):
yeah, and there's two things I want to
mention there, because I lovethat, the psychology of why
people give. And we did anepisode last year on behavioral
science and how, like languagecan shift the way that people
choose to participate. And sowe'll link that up in the show
notes. But the psychology of,you know, there's, there's those
(22:23):
people that want to be the firstto give they want to kick off
the campaign. There's the peoplethat need to see that there's
enough money that has come inalready to where they feel like
it is a viable fund that couldpotentially actually complete
its mission. And then there'sthe people that want to be the
the, you know, saving, saving itand rallying at the end. And
we're the ones that close thegap and completed the project,
(22:44):
you know. So you have thosedifferent types of people that
want to give so what I loveabout that is you can kind of
visually appeal to people attheir various time or their
various decision makingprocesses and things of that
nature. And also, I just want tomention, when you are creating
those separate funds, alwaysremember that if you have
(23:05):
personnel that are directlyresponsible for the imp of those
programs, that that should befunds that are included in that
goal. So I just want to, Ialways like to throw that out
there, because people tend tosee what you said was absolutely
spot on, but they are notoverhead if their job is to
deliver the program and service,and you can't do it without
them. They should be includedthe expense of that program or
(23:27):
service, because sometimespeople get really nervous with
designated funds, and we need tojust really think about the
holistic program, and that doesinclude staff and people. So I
just kind of like that outthere.
Daniel Molina (23:40):
Yeah, you're right. Because, like, if you say
it has to go, like, if someone,if a funder, puts it, hey, I
want this to go to this, youhave to do it. And, like you
said, Yeah, we own a nonprofitcalled inside outreach and and
the same thing is, like, whenthey donate to, like, for us, it
was the Maui fire reliefefforts. And so the dollars that
(24:01):
went to the Maui, Maui firefires relief had to go to that,
you know, yeah, you know. Butyou know, if it's a flight, if
it's a, if it's a, you know,having to get rent a car, that's
part of the relief efforts, youknow, to get over there and
help. But it's all in the wayyou say it, because if you say
no, 100% of this is going to tothem. Then, then, then you, then
(24:26):
you can't, you can't have it fora car or a flight, because
you're telling them 100% it'sgoing to the victims and the
survivors. I think it's, itcould be the terminology. But
for us, we did 100% like none ofit went to pay for our flights
and all that, because I justfunded our own flights, and then
100% literally did go. But I'mjust saying, like it's also in
(24:47):
your language, I think that youhave to be careful how you you
say, you know, going tours,versus 100% going to the victims
or the survivors or whatever.Then you're, you're kind of
stuck to. Like, dang, we said100% just saying it's going
towards helping. Does that makesense? Yeah. And I think
Sami Bedell-Mulhern (25:07):
I don't know, no, no, but I think
you're, you're right in thatit's the it's the way that we
tell the story, in the way thatwe solve the problem. And I
think going back to how you getbetter conversions from the
website is being hyper focusedon. This is how we solve the
problem. So, the video that youwatched of the, you know, the
man picking up the dog, and thenthe dog is all better. Well, you
(25:29):
know, as you watched a longerform video from that
organization, it's like, okay,well, did, are they like a spay
and neuter facility, or didthey? Was it a vet that did,
like, full health care? Or didthey? Are they just the shelter
who brought him home, and thenthey, you know, they worked with
everybody else to kind of do thework, and now they're going to
adopt him out. Like there's somany different ways to solve the
(25:49):
problems that you're working on,whether it's homelessness or
animal rescue or fire relief. SoI think, to your point, it's
this, the way we tell the storyand how we uniquely solve the
problem that's so important inthat messaging when you're kind
of affecting those variousprograms and how you talk about
the different goals that youhave for the different services
(26:10):
you're providing,
Daniel Molina (26:12):
yep, and Transparency is key, right?
Don't have this black box thatno one knows what's in it.
That's when these people startto like, You got to be
transparent. You got to letpeople know, like, Hey, here's
how it's gonna get spent here.You're obligated for that
anyway, through the government,but it's just there's too many
in this kind of spiritual orpolitical climate. You want to
(26:35):
make sure that you are fullytransparent, and people know
where the money's going who'sinvolved that way? They have
confidence in supporting you,you know. And really to like,
when you're starting to give tothese organizations, you know,
these organizations, if you'rean organization that has a
strong political stance that canhurt you, right? So when you
(26:56):
talk about storytelling, like,be careful with trying to be too
strong on your political stance,whether you're on the left or
the right side of the aisle. Itdoesn't matter, like if your
goal is really to help people,and nothing that you have to do
is there to help. I mean,nothing that you have to do has
anything to do with politics orsocial issues, then get out of
that check that you know. Don'tgo on that soapbox. Don't try to
(27:18):
have messaging that to supportsome kind of issue, help the
people you're trying to help,without the political jargon,
without the political becausethat will hurt you. And we, you
know, I don't care. I'll takemoney from the left and I'll
take money from the right. Moneyis money, and it'll spend
whatever one I need to help mythe people we're helping, right?
And so for me, I have differentpolitical ideology than a lot of
(27:42):
people here in Hawaii, but I'mnot going to let that affect me.
And I'm going to, I'm going to,I'm going to bench it, and
that's not for my nonprofit,like, Hey, I'm going to help
with anybody who wants to lovepeople and help people. So that
messaging has to come through,no matter what, lack of life,
right? But then we start gettingthe storytelling of like, making
a stand and attacking a side,then you alienate yourself, or
(28:05):
you alienate people from beingable to help you. And so I would
obviously with with withpolitics or your fire, one, c3,
you're limited anyway to whatyou can say anyway, but you can
still talk about social issues.But again, if that's part of it,
if, like, they say, you have anonprofit, that it's because
this political idea is why wehave these issues, and that's
(28:27):
fine. And then, yeah, be strongin that. And you're going to
have people that's going to bestrong in that. But if it has
nothing to do with you knowthat, then, then you know, and
then stop talking, trying to tryto win on that hill. Like trying
to be a voice box for that letthe the lobbyists and all those
people be the voice. You be thevoice for the person who's
(28:48):
earning and help them.
Sami Bedell-Mulhern (28:50):
I think that's so true, and I think
especially right now. I mean,we're recording this podcast in
February. It will not go liveuntil, oh, geez, I don't know
late, and I think it'll be acouple months before this goes
live. April. No, just kidding,yeah, April, sorry, multitasking
is not my strong suit when I'mtrying to talk. But I think you
(29:14):
know, what we're seeing rightnow is rapid fire changes that
are coming and going. So like,Today is February 5, and so for
example, it was even somethingas quick as the USPS is not
going to be accepting packagesfrom China. And then, like, 12
hours later, nope, that just gotrescinded. And so I think to
(29:35):
your point, we're living in thistime of, like, up, up and down,
up and down, up and down, nomatter how you feel about what
those ups and downs are. Thingsare changing rapidly and then
going back, and then changingand going back. So I think
simplicity, what I'm hearingfrom you is simplicity in your
storytelling. Stick to thetransparency, stick to the work
(29:56):
that you are truly here to do,and the work that you know is
going to. Make an impact, andright now, more than ever, shut
out the noise and focus on thegood that you're here to do, and
that is what should be reflectedon your website, and that is
what should be the messagingyou're sharing with people, and
how you're going to cut throughthe noise and connect with your
donors, just on a human to humanlevel,
Daniel Molina (30:17):
yeah, and I love how you frame that beautifully,
and just as you're creating thecontent, don't put anything in
your video that will, that willage the content. Yeah, you have
to report it, right? And so ifyou're trying to focus on some
political issues, social issueto your point of China, right?
(30:38):
Or the new thing withdeportation, and you're helping,
you know, maybe you have anorganization helping, you know,
illegal people get health careor whatever, and then all of a
sudden you have this strongvideo on your home page that
talks about whatever. Well, thenlet's just say some law passes
next month, executive ordercomes through saying, Hey, we
changed our mind. Now yourthings dated. Well, they changed
(30:59):
it. What are you talking about,right? And so try to not have
content on there that will ageyou or put you into a season.
Unless you have a lot of moneyto spend, you know, to redo the
video staff, that's fine, but ifyou don't have a lot of money to
invest into video, make surethat video is timeless. Like
this will be a good video fortoday, and it'd be a good video
five years from now, no matterwhat's going on in our
(31:20):
political, spiritual climate,right? That's hard to do. But
then again, if you have avideographer on staff and you
know, oh no, we can pop thisout, then, yeah, you could focus
on kind of relevant. Don't betone deaf to what's happening
around us, right? And you can bemore direct. But again, know
your place, know what kind ofnonprofit you are, and if that's
(31:41):
part of the bylaws, it's part ofwhat you do, then okay, you can
be more aware of the climate andthen not be tone deaf to what
it's saying. But I think mostnonprofits, at least for me,
it's more to do with, like,trying to be tone deaf so that
we could just deal with theissue. Because if I get wrapped
up in this, it's gonna, youknow, we're just gonna create
(32:01):
wars, and it's just, it's just,it's not going to work. Yeah?
Sami Bedell-Mulhern (32:04):
Well, I think that goes back to your
short form purposes behind shortform and long form content. Keep
your long form content timeless.You can have a little bit more
leeway with your short formbecause it's not as produced.
Yeah, right. And, and so I thinkthat that's great. Okay, well,
so many good things to thinkabout. I really love that you
brought up the timeliness ofthings. I think that's really
(32:25):
important, and something weoften forget as we start to put
together our content strategies.But if you kind of had any last
words of wisdom around kind ofstorytelling, how we start to
put together, how we want toshow up in the world, what might
you want to leave listenerswith?
Daniel Molina (32:43):
I just think, you know, it's, it's just, you know,
the testimony or the story ofthe redemption, again, going
back to that, it's just tellthat story and and tell the
story truthfully, transparently,and just say, hey, here's how we
help people. It's not, it's notrocket science. It's just like,
tell a good story, and you lookat, look at other nonprofits,
(33:07):
how they're telling their story,you know, and just see how
they're doing it, and it's okayto to copy how they do it,
because they're copying it allthe way back. Goes back to
Greece, right? You know, I wentto Greece with my daughter last
year. And this is where theaterstarted, right? We went to
Philippi. I met Philippi.Amazing Delphi. We went to
(33:27):
Delphi. Where theater, I think,began. We went and saw where the
theater now they wereworshiping, you know, the Greek
gods, but whatever, that's wheretheater started. Is like the
ultimate storytelling. We wentto the the the genesis of in
Delphi and so they so we off,copied all the way back to the
Greeks. So it's okay to seesomething and be inspired by how
(33:48):
they did it, yeah, tell thestory. And so don't see if I
don't want to copy them. Well,that's a big organization, and
there's a reason why they'recontinue to be successful,
right? And so be inspired. I seeit not copying, be inspired
about other organization, youknow, from their stuff, and just
tell a great story. It's just inthe issue, you know, what's the
(34:10):
issue? Get some stats. So I tellpeople, what is the issue? What
are some stats around the issue?And then, and then, what is the
solution? And then how they canget involved in and see the
fruit of the solution. You know,that's the story. I don't care
how what, however, it is, if youfollow that, you're going to get
conversion. You can get peoplewant to be involved. You're
(34:32):
gonna, you know, I helped theorganization last year. I said,
Hey, man, your website isgarbage, and I'm just shoot. I
shoot. You know, it's garbage.No one's want to donate to you,
you know, yeah. And I said, Youneed to tell the story this way,
say what I'm telling you. Andthey did a video. They didn't
have a video of the head guy,the director, nothing like, why
(34:53):
is not the director talking topeople, you know? Why? Why
aren't you not telling peoplelike, you know, here, I'm the
director. Right? And so wechanged it the way I just said
it, and then they, they raisedway more money, right? And so,
yeah, it's just that samesimplicity. It's just, you know,
again, it's the solution. Statsaround the solution, not like my
(35:14):
opinion about it. It's like, no,your actual stats, yeah, here's
how we can help, and then here'sthe fruit of people helping.
Sami Bedell-Mulhern (35:21):
Yep, that's so good. Well, Daniel, I really,
really appreciate you takingtime to share your insights with
our listeners today, if peoplewant to connect with you more
and learn more about the workthat you do, how can they do
that? Yeah,
Daniel Molina (35:34):
you can go to DanielMolina.life and and I'm
going to make sure that is myURL, because I have there. It is
not life, and it has everythingabout me, who I am and what I
(35:54):
do, I
Sami Bedell-Mulhern (35:56):
love it. And we will link everything up
in the show notes atthefirstclick.net/297, so you
can grab everything there, butDaniel, thank you so much for
your time today. I reallyappreciate it My pleasure. So
big. Thank you again to Danielfor joining me in this episode
again. You can find additionalresources, links and information
in the show notes atthefirstclick.net/297 we are
(36:18):
getting closer to that crazyepisode, 300 so excited, but
thank you so much for listening.Hit that subscribe button so you
don't miss our episodes. Theycome out weekly, and you never
know when a bonus episode isgonna pop in there. And I would
love it if you would leave acomment if you're watching this
on YouTube, under thedescription to let me know what
was your favorite takeaway, whatdid you really learn from this,
(36:40):
and what are you excited tostart to start to implement in
your business for now? Thank youso much for listening and
spending a little bit of timewith me each week. I will see
you in the next one you.
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.