TV and Film Reviewers can be notorious, and their words spark lots of reaction. I hope that my venturing into Webinar reviewing is going to be helpful and have none of the hostility that does happen elsewhere – and that others will join in.

 

If you are a 'P2P Pro' (which I am not), then your thoughts on last week's Peer-2-Peer World Online Conference would be really really good to have. I did watch four of the five sessions as they happened (missed the last one for an hour of flicking between First Dates Hotel – fun – and China – A New World Order – horrifying to be frank) but with many webinars, their timings are based around best matching with potential US viewers so a 4-5pm start isn't uncommon and peak time is 7pm, which is when we really should be putting our feet up.

 

I've 'lived' being involved with many sometimes major events, but not yet a P2P one, so from the perspective of listening to obviously very well qualified people (event managers who have raised millions), that background plus plenty of examples and some carefully selected data (which showed the good and when problems started to happen); it all added up to advice I thought would be very useful for those starting out or looking to develop what they have in place.

 

Topics covered included what makes an event successful, driving donor acquisition, inspiring volunteers, actually finding fundraisers – and the one I will catch up on, finding a corporate donor (and getting a quick 'yes'!).

 

Its all going to be available on-demand, for ever (the first three years are already there in the site's library).

*****

This webinar – Getting inside the mind of your customers using Marketing Psychology to make Connections and Increase Engagement – is an hour of inspiration and some key learning tips.

 

If you cross out 'Customers' and put in 'Clients/Supporters/Volunteers' then you'll get plenty from this.

 

Its more technical than a 'how to' but this is done through giving examples that you, as a viewer, can take part in. Its not '10 steps' so watch it to take away ideas you can develop – they won't be fully formed just by watching these experts.

***** (but only available until 12th October!)

 

Next week its the Charity Connect Q&A about Preparing for 2020 – its Challenges

Making your web site perform to its best, and across as many avenues as possible, is so important. The key – is Landing Pages.

 

They are they to create an action – for our Sector that includes someone contacting us for help, to start or develop an interest in Volunteering – and the same (so importantly) for finding donors and supporters.

 

In some ways they are an art form, and you need to test to find out what works best, but this guide to 'Everything you need to know about Landing Pages', is exactly that, and you can take this further.

 

This blog post is titled 'How To Weave Buyer Personas Into Your Landing Pages'. That's its commercial sector title but swap 'Buyer' for Client/Volunteer/Supporter and the advice given is just as valid for us. If you want a challenge (for 2020), then do put Landing Pages high on any list you make.

 

Another 'hot topic' for next year will be Chatbots. The are now everywhere and 'the thing' to have. If you want a very good idea of what goes beyond the hype, then this analysis is well worth reading.

 

The mention of the acronym AI is everywhere. This podcast (with detailed transcript) looks at AI and in particular for Marketing. It includes a look at Chatbots.

 

The advice does include

But just a couple of paragraphs before the expert says this

 

As problems go AI is not going to be easy to be involved in, that is without the potential of losing lots of money and potentially the people you really want to engage with. There is a LOT of hype.

 

One final bit of help – Social Media is not getting any easier and again, it has the potential to be a time and funds drainer,just as much as it can be really useful. If you want to have (at the least) a reasonable idea of how each channel's algorithm works, then this post will be very helpful.

 

A couple of 'bonuses' -

 

If End-of-Year Fundraising is on your agenda, then this page is full of some easy to use resources you'll find useful (I hope!)

And one more webinar - which isn't specific to our sector but I really do recommend you watch

 

Its from Scott Stratten, and is titled as being for the Higher Education Sector. It does though include some key lessons - and this is just some of of what you can learn about

 

7 (*) Stars - a great use of 45 minutes of your time!

 

Hope this is all of some use and if you can add anything to my thoughts on the two webinars I recommended, please do – and do add your own recommendations!