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New episodes coming July 11, 2024! As a small business owner, you need to be a lot of things to make your business go—but you don't have to be a marketer alone. Join host Dave Charest, Director of Small Business Success at Constant Contact, and Kelsi Carter, Brand Production Coordinator, as they explore what it really takes to market your business. Even if marketing's not your thing! You'll hear from small business leaders just like you along with industry experts as they share their stories, challenges, and best advice to get real results. This is the Be a Marketer podcast!
Today on episode 39 of the be a marketer podcast, you'll hear from a former marine on a mission to enhance the mental, emotional, and physical well-being of our nation's veterans and their families, and I'm sharing why once is never enough. This is the be a marketer podcast.
Dave:My name is Dave Charest, director of small business success at Constant Contact. And I've been helping small business owners like you make sense of online marketing for over 16 years. You can be a marketer, and I'm here to help. Well, hello, friends, and thanks for joining me for another episode of the Be A Marketer podcast. Now here's a reality that I hope I'm not surprising you with.
Dave:Unfortunately, not everyone is thinking about your business or nonprofit as much as you are. It's not that they don't care or don't have an interest in what you do. It's just that, well, people have their own things going on. And that means you can't rely on sending one email, for example, to get the job done. It's why we recommend you think in a series of messages when you're trying to spur someone to action.
Dave:An announcement, a reminder, and a last chance reminder. Now let me share an example of how this plays out. Now one of my favorite local businesses and Constant Contact customer is The Cheese Shop in Concord, Massachusetts. Now 1 year, they were hosting an apple cider event that included local vendors, a cookout, and live music. And when I received the first email, I thought, wow.
Dave:You know, this looks like it would be a good time with the family. But at the moment, I had to take my kids to school, and so I didn't get a chance to actually register for the event. Then, as you know, life does its thing and I, well, forgot all about it. A week later, I received another email reminding me about the event. But at the time, I was heading into a meeting at work, and so I still didn't get a chance to register.
Dave:Now luckily for me, the Chi shop sent a last chance reminder. And if I wanted to go to this event, which I did, this was the time to act. This email served as the kick in the pants I needed to take action because, again, I wanted to go just, well, life kept pulling me in other directions. So, yes, you should give people multiple opportunities to take up an offer because in all likelihood, even if they do want to come to the event or buy the thing, other things may be vying for their attention. So remember, letting them know about it once is never enough.
Dave:Well, friend, today's guest is Al Yek, executive director of the Veterans Healing Farm in Hendersonville, North Carolina. Al is a former United States Marine. He's been a playwright, an author, and he's had a career in higher education. But now he's living his most fulfilling role. Al leads the organization's mission to enhance the mental, emotional, and physical well-being of our nation's veterans and their families.
Dave:How does the organization do it? Through the creation of a safe, peaceful environment that fosters healing and camaraderie. Programs at the farm focus on brain health and include agratherapy such as organic farming, beekeeping, and medicinal herbs as well as a variety of other therapies and therapeutic activities, workshops, and live events. Now if it sounds like Al is keeping the Veterans Healing Pharm community busy, well, he is. He's pushing to make Veterans Healing Farm financially stable so it's not always a hustle.
Dave:Then they can focus on even more programming that's having an impact on the veteran community and their families. Now I asked Al what he loves most about his role today. Well, let's pick up the conversation there.
Al:It's helping. My background was, Marine Corps and then the the US State Department and then higher education. And, you know, this wasn't like when I was, you know, 10. Oh, what do I wanna be? You know?
Al:And and and I charted out. Some people can do accomplish that, but I was more, you know, just let it go and let the wind blow you. And Okay. And then at the same time, you gotta pay the bills. Right?
Al:You gotta pay the bills that kill. So you take those jobs that you're not thrilled with and just keep going because it's paying the bills. So this is the first time in my life that I've had something that that I truly love doing, and it's because it's a positive impact immediately. Sometimes it's immediate just in the fact that if they come to the farm, I know I've got a shot at getting them back. And oftentimes, I do.
Al:But it's when you've had those conversations with the veterans that the farm has really been a positive impact in their life. That's really been one, and they keep coming back. And and so to be able to work in that environment is the most wonderful thing I've ever done in my life.
Dave:Do people come is it just local or people coming from all over the country? Like and how many people you have coming through?
Al:Well, we'll, I mean, that'll change, summer to summer depending on on who's around. And so our volunteer email list right now is about a 180. And that was our, you know, our b squad and herb squad, tomato squad, and and everybody. Actively during the summer is probably 30 to 40 veterans at any given time that are coming and going from the farm with different events and different workshops and volunteer activities, you know, because it's the they're planting the crops, they're weeding the crops, they're, helping us distribute the crops. So and as far it's mostly local within, Western North Carolina, but we'll also have people in Tennessee.
Al:We'll also have people that'll, in fact, we have people that'll drive 2 hours to come see to the farm. So that's really, a humbling on knowing that they do that. I think that they feel that strongly about the farm. So we'll have we'll have people transit. You know?
Al:They're, we've got people that were needing hours for social work, and they'll come up and and it's like, yeah. I'm fine. Here are the weeds. If you'd let me know when you're done picking. Because we yeah.
Al:It's a farm. Right?
Dave:What would you say is the biggest challenge for the organization?
Al:Well, because we're a 5 0 c, 501 c three nonprofit, the challenge is always keeping that money coming and to keep the wheels on the bus. And I and I say, I don't go buy a coat machine without checking for change for the farm all the time. So that's the biggest challenge. It's just there's so many good pauses out there. And to get ours out in front of the people and keep the donations coming in, that's an operational challenge.
Al:Another challenge is just a big challenge for me is reaching the 24 to 44 year old veteran. The, Iraq, Afghanistan, veteran that the traditional organizations, they don't want to wear a hat and call somebody commander. And they don't want to, you know, of the of the ones that have been around since World War 1, those organizations. And God bless them. They're wonderful, but it's a different than what these young men and women are looking for.
Al:And it's getting them out to the farm. And it's because we're called the Veterans Healing Farm, sometimes there's that stigma. Well, there's nothing wrong with me. Mhmm. And there doesn't have to be either.
Al:We're not a clinic. We don't look for diagnosis. We don't look for that's we don't do that. We just we have a shared culture of the US military. And so we start with that.
Al:And then we put on these programs. And if you want, we'd love to have you. But if not, that's okay too. Just come on out. Let's build a bonfire.
Al:Let's hang out. So there's and again, if I can get them out, then, there's a good chance they'll keep returning and bring their families. Oftentimes, it's the reverse where I get a family member first who then goes back and, eventually, the the trailing spouse will come. But those are the 2, money and getting that age group.
Dave:Yeah. So, you know, you mentioned just operating and stuff. So is it do you have a staff And how much is, like, staff versus volunteer? Like, what does that look like?
Al:The staff I'm the only well, there's myself, but I'm year round. And then we have Megan Landreth who's our farm administrator, who's year round also, but she'll reduce her hours when we're out of peak season. So then when we start in in March, we'll start with a seasonal part time grounds manager, which does the agricultural side. Our director of plant medicine will so both of them will stop probably the beginning of November with their programs just because of the weather where, you know, nothing's growing. We don't have a a heated greenhouse.
Al:So we we'll stop, and we'll pick up in March again with planting and and getting things in the ground and the soil amendments. But so a part time grounds manager, part time director of plant medicine. We have a, flower manager, that just does 6 hours a week, but we got a couple rows of flowers that we plant because when we go to the VA when I first started and know about the flowers, I was like, flowers. Let's get somebody some zucchini. But the flowers make such an impact because so they have these beautiful things and they take them back to their office and they take them home for you.
Al:So we have somebody that works on that program for us. So those are our part time people. We have one person that does, Fridays, start started in June. And, again, she'll probably go through the end of October in our rose garden. But then the rest of it are all volunteers.
Al:And yeah. So we're we're as thin as you can get and still function.
Dave:Yeah. So what would you say are your strengths then when it comes to kind of running the organization and keeping the team going and doing all of that?
Al:Insanity. I mean, completely insane, and that's a job requirement. So I start there. That that you know, I don't understand what I'm doing. I always start there.
Al:Or otherwise, you know, over my careers. And what I've come to realize is, one of my main strengths is empathy. And so, in fact, when I first learned that, it was something I was like, empathy. How much the empathy? I wanna be, like, you know, John Wayne or or you know?
Al:No. Empathy is tremendous. A tremendous skill to have when you're dealing with people. So a strength of mine, and when I say this is with the utmost humility, is that the ability to interact, to listen, then also there's the leadership aspect of it. So that's those are my strengths that that I bring to the organization.
Al:And then not at that level, but I also had a good marketing background that's helping. I'm still not the, the wiz that I mean, I'd love to get somebody that is more on the social media with, although it's not called Twitter anymore. I think the x or something like that.
Dave:It's x now, I think. Yeah.
Al:And the Instagram and, and some of the others on on how to capitalize them to really understand the algorithms and and work the ads that way. But, otherwise, that I would say that's my my top spots.
Dave:So what's a typical day look like for you then?
Al:It's you know, depend upon the season, John. When we so when we're starting in the spring, it's gonna be colder out there. We're gonna be amending the soil with compost. And so a lot of the whole thing is probably 9 acres. We farm 5 of it in different areas.
Al:So getting the getting the soil ready, we started the day. And because I'm the executive director, there's a tremendous amount of admin work that goes with it. So if it wasn't for my volunteers and and Megan and and Dale, I'll have Rebecca and Sam and Dave to put in that time in the field, I wouldn't have the opportunity to do this right now because it's just just you know, we're we're kind of at the tipping point of going from one level to the next. And a lot of that has to do with, getting the word out about the farm and networking and planning events and and going out in town. And so that takes I mean, when I first started, we had that at probably 50% of my job.
Al:Right now, I'd say it's about 80% of my job. So I'm working the fields less, which I also understand I need to work the fields for me. So Mhmm. I make time to get out there. And while it's not as long as I would like, I still get my hands dirty.
Al:I'm still harvesting. I'm still, out there filling weeds. I got all of that. So as we move in, like, to this meeting right now, where all the plants are growing, it just becomes harvesting. And the harvesting side, you wouldn't believe overnight how much a squash can grow.
Al:Well, you look at it, you know, us, it's 4 inches. Well, we don't need to do that. Then we get a rain that evening. And the next day, it's 8 inches. It's grown 4 inches.
Al:It's just like, what? How is this happening? Where is this even possible? But you have to stay on it because if it gets bigger, then it can go bitter. So it's always ensuring that we're hard this time of year that, we were harvesting.
Al:We got the the irrigation system working, which we use a lot of drip tape. And then we have a cooler, so we're able to harvest, put it in the cooler, and then distribution. So it becomes a a bit of a machine would be too strong of a word, but there's a a structure to it of harvest, keep, fresh, and then get it out to the different organizations that need it.
Dave:You know, you mentioned at a point where you're kinda getting to this next level of things. And so when you think about just like goals and and things like that, like, when do you start that planning? When do you set goals? Like, how do you approach all of that for the org?
Al:Well, the organization has a, board. So the board of directors are the ones that employ me. So we have to work together on it. And I've got a wonderful board, very knowledgeable and very helpful. And so we'll be putting our next strategic plan together probably in the fall.
Al:We just got some you know, just the timing of things hopefully in the fall. And, then that'll be looking towards really what I one of my main goals is, just financial stability. That it's not always a hustle, but that you can build up enough equity and then have the interest cover operating expenses. And then then that takes that pressure off to focus more on the programming. So that's a personal goal.
Al:That's a board goal. And I know we'll get there. And I'm thinking it's gonna be within the next, I would say, within the next 2 years. I expect us to be financially solvent to that point of working from our interest.
Dave:I love that. Do you see anything specifically as a challenge to achieving that right now for yourself?
Al:It's time to some extent. Going back to, split the time on the farm and my other duties. But it's also a good time because so we're in August. We'll grow through September, maybe a little bit in October, but we'll be wrapped up. And then I'll have those months of downtime downtime from the actual soil and produce to focus completely on building the organization's sustainability.
Al:So time is always one of the big ones. And then, also, you know, the economy is not the best today. So you have people with, less client financial resources. So so some may be given less than they than they they're still given what they can, but it's just less. And we're very appreciative of all of it, but that would be time is the the main one.
Al:I mean, time beyond money because even if you have money and you don't have time, you'd still gonna fall in pieces.
Dave:Yeah. So when you think about that then, you know, one, I was excited to hear about you mentioning, like, kind of the marketing background because I was as you're saying the names of these events and these things, I'm like, these are all great catchy, like, like, names and things like that. So it's like, alright. Somebody knows what they're talking about over there. But so to that point with time, like, how do you find the time with all of these other hats that you have to wear, of course, and these things that you have to do?
Dave:How do you find the time for marketing?
Al:In a small organization that we are, in a small nonprofit, I would say maybe I'm at 50 hours a week, 6 days a week, sometimes 60. And I've been working intentionally on trying not to work when I get home. But the bottom line is you've gotta market. You've gotta get it out. And so it just has to happen.
Al:So it's not that I'm finding time within a a 32 hour or 40 hour a week to do it. It's that I'm finding time wherever I can to do it. Sometimes that's I can do it in the daytime. Other times, it's weekends, evenings. But the marketing slash communications side is so important to get our message out.
Al:And it's not just a one time, hey. Here we are. It's always constant. You've always gotta be in front of people and letting them know what you're doing. So it's marketing is a, is a top point working force.
Dave:So what have you found to be most effective when it comes to marketing in your particular situation?
Al:Well, with us, we've got a couple different ways that that we go. 1 is the our newsletter. And our newsletter will will send it out monthly and that goes out to, oh, I think 5,000 people right now. And our newsletter will contain all of our upcoming workshops, events. Sometimes we'll have operational news.
Al:Sometimes we'll cover things that we've already that we did in the past, you know, just some pics of the like, our mushroom class we ran and everyone holding their bags of mushroom spawn. That was the word spawn.
Dave:There we go. I was like, that's better than stuff.
Al:Yeah. Or mushroom spawn waiting to take it home. And I it's been a rare time, but, you know, it's one of those lists that you don't people are gracious enough to accept you into their inbox once a month. But you don't wanna push it and start hitting them all the time because you you're just losing. So when I do the so the one in August covered all of August and all of September for upcoming workshops.
Al:So then the next one I do will be beginning of September and it then so I'll drop all of August off and it covers September October workshops and then continue where I try to go out always 2 months, but I repeat. And the big one on that is Constant Contact. Constant Contact is is a app that I was, introduced to when I was in higher education. And, at that time, it was with, the continuing ed side. So we were doing workshops and how to get the message out there.
Al:And that's the first time I came across Constant Contact. And I haven't found anything better that is also, you know, user friendly on the inbox side, whether it's not getting pushed to spam folders. And, the ease of it too is I mean, if I can do it in fact, I should be a poster boy. If Al can do it, anybody can do it. Put your kids on it.
Dave:We'll see if we can do something with that. Yeah. That's right.
Al:So there's the newsletter side. And then we got on our on our LinkedIn, there's about 9,000. On our Facebook, there's 8,000. And then that's just on our page, but then I'll I'm a part of another dozen groups. And so that becomes posting individually into each of those groups.
Al:And, you know, once you get the message, it becomes a copy paste, but, nonetheless, it's a copy paste, attach the picture. Copy paste, attach the picture, and then keep that going. We also use the infamous TikTok. I'll put things out on TikTok. And Nextdoor, I've been using with our neighborhood.
Al:And Nextdoor is one of those things that because the way I use it is just to put this is what the farm's doing. This is what the farms did. And some beautiful pictures of upcoming or what we've done that, it works. But, otherwise, if anybody wants to use Nextdoor, just remember someone's gonna call you a moron because you parked your car in the wrong spot. A lot of people have too much time on their hands.
Al:So
Dave:This is true. This is true. So, you know, you mentioned a little earlier just, you know, trying to find somebody that maybe helps with the social stuff. Like, I guess, what's your take on the social stuff? Because to your point, right, you're doing a lot of copying and pasting in in multiple places.
Dave:Like, tell me a little bit about your just relationship with social, what you're finding there, and maybe even between social and what you're doing from an email perspective and kind of owning those contacts. Right? Like, what do you find the differences are?
Al:Well, you know, if I do an email, I know who it's going to. And I know they've signed up, and I know they wanna, to a point. Again, you you can burn bridges if you're sending too many things, and you can burn bridges if you're always asking versus a, you know, we'll have, some fundraisers during the year. In fact, we have a a stand up comedy fundraiser coming up in October, but I'll include that in our newsletter. So those are for the most part, it's an audience that wants to know what we're doing and welcomes us.
Al:The downside is, you know, of those, 5,000 that we mailed to, it's not clear on their location. So they could be you know, I could have people in Alaska you know, have subscribed to it. And and that's fine because, you know, again, getting the word out about us. So the social media and when I go on to the groups, I'm picking groups that are specific to Hendersonville, to Brevard, to Asheville, to, so I know they're in the area. And then when I when I'm hitting all of those, I know the, and the comments coming back are, you know, some people would love to see a comment.
Al:Wow. You guys are great. I love seeing comments. I never heard of you. Where are you guys?
Al:What are you doing? That's who I want that hasn't heard of us. So on the social media side, that's one of those that the, why it's so important not just to post on our Facebook site, but to join those other groups that are out there. Some of our veterans groups, veterans in North Carolina, some are specific to branches, and then you just, have should have guardian clubs. You could have because within all of those organizations, veterans are gonna be there or family members or caregivers.
Al:But there's more than likely gonna be somebody that is associated with a veteran in those groups. So that's LinkedIn is another one that it's like that can be everywhere as far as who's seen it. But then again, I I know when the local people are commenting, I know they're local. But to get it out, this is a Veterans Healing Fund. This is our mission.
Al:We're about helping veterans and their families, and and this is how we do it. So I can never say that enough times across multiple platforms.
Dave:How important is community in helping you get the word out?
Al:It's huge. Community plays 2 big roles in the Veterans Healing Farm. 1 is self isolation. The traditional Vietnam veteran, I say traditional, that that's where, at least within the the past generation since Vietnam, we know so many of them have self isolated that they'll go to work and you'll see them at the grocery store, but they self isolate. They're not part of anything.
Al:They don't wanna be part of anything. They don't wanna talk about it because of their experiences when they returned, and, it was so bitter and so lasting. And then at the same time, when they returned, the VA health care system then is not the one today. And so it was a very different experience for them. And when you self isolate, you're cutting yourself off from the community, and it prevents healing when that takes place.
Al:Now that doesn't mean you're just out at everything that is going on, you're there. But in the case of the Veterans Healing Farm, where we have that shared culture, but we also have community members that are all there. And so because of if it was just veterans, this just becomes a different type of self isolation. We're just, well, okay. Well, let's isolate together and keep the community out.
Al:So community in that sense is huge for healing across the board, and I would say that's the same even for non veterans. Because if you're just at home all the time, there's probably gonna be a certain level of of, misery that may be a bit strong, but it's within that realm and certainly depression too. So that community is just it's interwoven with us. So to get the word out is that same community, and then it becomes, we'll often have, and I love this too, people visiting from out of town and volunteers will bring them to the farm. And then I get to take them around, and then they go back and they tell my friends, and then they're following us on Facebook, and it's building that way.
Dave:Got it. Got it. So curious. Did you bring Constant Contact to the organization?
Al:Yes. Yes.
Dave:You did. Okay. So were you doing anything before? Like, were they using any tools before?
Al:They were using Facebook.
Dave:Okay. So just Facebook. Okay. Excellent. Well, I'm glad you brought Constant Contact in to do a little bit more there.
Dave:So I guess, you know, maybe if I could ask, if you had to narrow it down, you know, what was the number one reason that you decided to use Constant Contact?
Al:Number one reason? It's hard to give one reason, but so let's say,
Dave:I'll take them all if you
Al:get more. Alright. I'm gonna give more and more. So I love Constant Contact because it's the ease of use is number 1. You don't have to be you don't have to know code.
Al:You don't have to be a web developer, web designer. The way that it's it's laid out drag and drop, it's very instinctive. That's one reason. The customer support has always been great. If I have questions, there's groups out there that we're constant contact that are happy to help too.
Al:So there's the ease of use. It's professional. It's clean. It's clean. You're not the templates they have, the color combinations they have, all of that.
Al:So if if really, if you're new to to email marketing, Constant Contact is, there's not another one I would recommend for all of those reasons because you'll be able to put out a professional, piece and without, being a a web design person or a coder. And so that's on the, you know, the were made the newsletter side. But they also there's a variety of, different templates, whether it's invitation specific to some of the other ones that that I normally don't use, but they're there if they came up. Last year, I I have done the invitations before. I do like the, within the cost of contact because, we have registration links that we have to put in.
Al:So in the buttons, it's easy to load those up, and there they go. I can do short polls that are right there. I can do RSVPs that are easy, that are right there. And so that's, Constant Contact gets through those firewalls because they make sure that the people using them aren't spamming.
Dave:What would be the tip that you would provide to another nonprofit marketer?
Al:For using constant contact is, be fearless. Just jump in there and do it. And Constant Contact, also one of the, features is you can send yourself the drafts. You can see what it looks like before you publish both on the phone and on the laptop screen. You can send it to friends or colleagues to or employees to proofread before you send it out and really get a look at it like that.
Al:So that's why I say, just get out there and as long as you are you know, make the content tight and strong and let Constant Contact do the hard work of getting it out in inboxes.
Dave:Al, anything else you'd like to add before we wrap up here today?
Al:If anyone is hurting mentally, physically, or mentally, emotionally, don't let the thought of that there's a stigma to that is a lie. I mean, there may be people out there, but who cares about them? And I just urge you if you're hurting mentally and emotionally, just seek help. And, again, there's no stigma. There should be no stigma attached to it.
Al:If you're hurting mentally or emotionally, join the club. You know, we're all broken, and we're all trying to just get through this life together. And so we let's help each other and do it together, and that's the best way to go. But if you're in in real danger, call 911. If you're thinking of suicide, you 811.
Al:And if you're a veteran, press 1 for the veterans line. But I guess that's how I'd like to end it is don't give up, keep the hope, and there's a lot of people out there that care for you.
Dave:Well, friend, let's recap some items from that discussion. Number 1, practice empathy. Al mentioned his main strength is empathy when it comes to running the organization. Well, this is also a great strength when it comes to marketing. When you can show that you understand the people that you're trying to reach and you're aware of what they're dealing with in relation to your product, service, or cause, you stand a much better chance of getting their attention with your efforts.
Dave:So put the people you're trying to reach first in all that you do. Number 2, participate in online groups. Online groups and forums are something that you don't always hear a lot about, but they can be a powerful part of your online marketing strategy. As long as you are an active participant, you can reach a targeted group with similar interests and challenges. Now as Al mentioned, he's connected to a dozen groups that allow him to get the word out about the events at the farm.
Dave:And number 3, say it again. Now one thing that Al said that really stuck with me when it came to getting the word out was that he could never really say it enough times across multiple platforms. Now the reality is people aren't thinking about your business or organization as much as you are. So if you even if you're feeling like you're being repetitive, well, it's likely you still haven't reached everyone. So go ahead.
Dave:Say it again. Here's your action item for today. If you're interested in donating to the mission to enhance the mental, emotional, and physical well-being of our nation's veterans and their families, check out veterans healing farm dot org to learn more. There are links in the show notes. I hope you've enjoyed this episode of the Marketer podcast.
Dave:If you have questions or feedback, I'd love to hear from you. You can email me directly at dave.charest@constantcontact.com. If you did enjoy today's episode, please take a moment to leave us a review. Your honest feedback will help other small business marketers like yourself find the show. Well, friend, I hope you enjoy the rest of your day and continued success to you and your business.