There are three main ingredients in a good marketing strategy.
Innovative Tactics
If your online presence isn’t enhancing the services you provide, it’s wasting you money.
Online marketing isn’t all tweets and blog posts. How can your organization go beyond the normal channels, to delight a wider audience?












![THIS IS A BI HEALTH GAP. Anxiety and depression: These are each group's mean scores on clinical assessments for depression and generalized anxiety disorder. GAD is diagnosed at scores of 10 or higher. Scores of 10-14 on the PHQ-9 indicate moderate depression. Hetero: 6.15 anxiety, 6.99 depression. [Both scores are slightly over the median between zero and a diagnosis.] Gay/Lesbian: 7.50 anxiety, 8.83 depression. [Both are about 3/4 of the way to a diagnosable mental illness.] Bisexual: 9.92 anxiety, 10.73 depression. [both are right around the minimum score for a diagnosis.] Asexual: 9.24 anxiety, 11.80 depression. [That's a slightly better score for anxiety than the mean score for bisexuals, but a much worse score for depression.] Pansexual: 10.13 anxiety, 12.37 depression. [Both are above the diagnosis line.] Demisexual: 11.56 anxiety, 13.47 depression. [Both are well above the diagnosis line.]](http://www.danicastone.com/wp-content/uploads/elementor/thumbs/15-psgjhl9kk7vab8pfbmwian6f42ev1ypw6flpgpecjk.png)
![What does this mean? The average bisexual is depressed and anxious. There is a gap between straight and gay health. There is an even larger gap between gay and bi health. [Below this header is the same chart again. Now it has neon blue boxes drawn from the mean straight anxiety score to the mean gay one, et cetera, to visibly show the gaps. A starburst of words to one side gives the sizes of each gap. Straight-Gay Gap: Anxiety: 1.35 Depression: 1.84 Gay-Bi Gap: Anxiety: 2.42 Depression: 1.90.]](http://www.danicastone.com/wp-content/uploads/elementor/thumbs/16-psgjgod7x0m90w17nqokddhabkx0kk3adwrpo0r4lc.png)




![Bi+ The Numbers: The surprising truth: Cis bi+ outcomes are most similar to those of the trans community. ][Below this we again have four charts. This time, thy show cis straight, gay, and bi outcomes, and trans outcomes. Each one centers the cis bi+ outcome, and lists the other three alongside it. Disability rate: Cis bi, 33%. Trans, 35.5%. Gay/lesbian, 27%. Straight, 22%. (Please note, however, that these numbers are pre-pandemic.) Poverty rate: Cis bi+, 25%. Trans, 29%. Gay/lesbian, 14%. Straight, 14%. Youth Depression: Cis bi+, 66%. Trans, 53%. Gay/Lesbian: 49%. Straight: 27%. Food insecurity among college students: Cis bi+, 49%. Trans, 47%. Gay/Lesbian, 45%. Straight, 36%.](http://www.danicastone.com/wp-content/uploads/elementor/thumbs/21-psgjga9n2i2y6qloy2l5tz1desuid3jbbyzfgvc16o.png)

![TEEN PREGNANCY IS A BI HEALTH GAP. [below this is a graphic of an open notebook, which says] A 2019 study using national data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that bisexual-identified cis girls were [highlighted text] 72% more likely than their straight peers to have had a pregnancy.[end highlighted text] In researcher Heron Greenesmith's words: "It wasn't that the bi-identified girls had higher alcohol use. "They do, it's just not causative. " It wasn't that the bi-identified girls had more male partners than lesbian girls. "They do, it's just not causative. " IT'S LITERALLY JUST BEING BISEXUAL." [Below the notebook, smaller text continues, "The study points to other research showing that about half of the higher pregnancy rates among sexual minority girls is likely related to stigma and childhood victimization. It's unknown what else causes this gap. But perhaps it has to do with the elevated risk of sexual assault, which that study does not examine."]](http://www.danicastone.com/wp-content/uploads/elementor/thumbs/22-psgjgc5bg65ityiyn3eeyykalkl8shqs08aeff98u8.png)






Case Study: Putting Service Before Social Media
COSA, a nonprofit for people affected by compulsive sexual behavior, was struggling on an annual budget of roughly $45,000. Roughly half came from their annual convention, and another quarter each from donations and literature/CD sales. An expensive convention year could (and sometimes did) destroy the budget for two years.
My proposals included researching and implementing remote convention attendance, recurring online donations, and mp3 downloads. We worked to make as much of COSA available instantly, from home, as possible.
This had a significant impact not only on membership growth, but most importantly, on short- and long-term member engagement. Members with small children, financial struggles, or in remote locations, were suddenly able to participate as fully as those with fewer challenges. Members who would have had to scale back, or stop participating, due to life events, were now able to remain an active part of their community.
COSA’s unique website visitors increased by 50% within the first year. Event attendance, previously static, began to increase annually. Four years later, they’ve discontinued CD sales entirely, in favor of mp3s.
And total donations rapidly tripled, with recurring donations making up more than half of that; total sales nearly doubled. Their total annual budget rapidly increased by 60%, and continues to grow. All without spending a penny on advertising.


Engaging Content
Musica Pacifica, a top-tier baroque ensemble, had a hard time tooting their own horn. Talking about themselves seemed like boasting, and their largely older fan base wasn’t engaging with them much online.
Crafting intriguing, well-researched content that resonated with their demographic resulted in an average open rate of 44%, in an industry with a 19% average.
Tailoring different content on other platforms, which skewed younger, broadened their fan base. Restructuring and redesigning their website to better showcase their music resulted in a 7x increase in sales year-over-year.
In-Depth Research
The NUMMI Re-Employment Center (NRC) was created in 2009, to help lifelong auto workers change careers after mass layoffs. The NRC positioned itself as the premier career center in California, by supporting the whole range of needs a worker and their family might face.
In order to achieve this, I researched and created powerful publications for both the case managers and their clients.
These included a comprehensive guide on where to get free meals and groceries locally; one on accessing free and low-income health care for your family and their pets; a brochure on successfully networking at career fairs; and an infographic on tailoring and elevating your client’s resume.

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The better you understand your audience, the more you help them.
The more you help them, the more you both thrive.
My Philosophy
The best way to turn a good product or service into a great one is to elevate your content.
To share not only what you do, but how and why you do it. To share insider knowledge about your industry, or what fascinates you about your own business. To give customers the tools they need to go even farther with what you do.
In any industry, the organizations who appear to magically attract lifetime customers, and stellar word-of-mouth, are the ones who overpromise and overdeliver.
The way to do that is to (briefly!) take your eye off of profits, and focus everything on your audience’s perspective, challenges, and goals.
They have the potential to be as giddy and passionate as you are about what you do. What can you tell them, and do for them, to help them see how great it is?
When you have that answer, you go back to the question of profits by continually testing and measuring your results.
The result: an effective, audience-centered, data-driven content strategy.
Or, to put it in more human terms: an ongoing heart-to-heart with your ideal customers.
Copywriting and Design HIGHLIGHTS
About Dani Aidan Stone
Ever since I taught myself to read at the age of 2, words have been the air I breathe. Ever since my dad got me my first email account, through his work, in 1990, the internet has been my home.
As a teenager, I worked as a community manager for AOL. After college, I worked in UX testing and digital branding for Ask.com.
Because I essentially grew up online, I have experience with every aspect of online spaces, from obscure niche message boards to Facebook ad optimization.
I’ve spent the past 15 years using these passions to help all of you share yours with more people.
I specialize in nonprofits and small businesses. That means my clients need to squeeze the most out of each penny. So my focus is on innovative practices, highly tailored to each brand.
What challenges is your business facing? Where do you want to grow? Drop me a line for a free consultation over email.