Defining the Goals

Melisa Galasso came to Greenleaf Book Group with the expertise and credentials to create a valuable and insightful book for a specific group of readers. Money Matters for Nonprofits: How Board Members Can Harness the Power of Financial Statements by Understanding Basic Accounting offered essential and actionable advice for nonprofit leaders and the accounting professionals who work with nonprofits, but Melisa needed help connecting with these audiences.

After meeting with Greenleaf’s Digital Media Outreach team, Melisa and her DMO strategist developed a clear set of goals for her campaign:

1. Distill the incredible wealth of information offered in the book into clear, concise, and accessible key takeaways tailored for each subset of our outreach list.
2. Create a strategy that differentiates Melisa’s message from the competition, highlighting the unique value she and the book bring to niche audiences in both the nonprofit and accounting spaces.
3. Utilize the book as a business development tool to grow Melisa’s brand and raise awareness for her company’s new workshop offerings.
4. Leverage Melisa’s extensive professional background to establish her thought leadership and generate opportunities for coverage through interviews, features, and article contributions.

Building Melisa’s Digital Media Outreach Campaign

Melisa came to Greenleaf with a strong existing platform through her career and past speaking engagements, along with an active company website and blog. On their own, these components weren’t generating new traffic and visibility, though they would be valuable assets for her Digital Media Outreach efforts.

Melisa’s DMO strategist designed a custom campaign to maximize coverage for Money Matters for Nonprofits, showcase the book’s helpful message to the right readers, and gain exposure for Melisa to achieve her goals. The following elements were included:

Press Kit

The first step in creating a successful outreach campaign for Melisa was to create a press kit to highlight the value she brings as an interview guest, contributor, or speaker. Working with Greenleaf’s award-winning design team, her DMO lead produced a four-page document to use as a supplementary tool to share with interested journalists and podcast hosts. Melisa’s press kit communicated her expertise, the key messages of her book, notable endorsements, information on her workshops, and suggested interview questions and talking points, all in an accessible and attractive package, making it an invaluable tool for successful media outreach.

Podcast Outreach

Podcast interviews served as a great avenue to attain Melisa’s goal of gaining exposure to niche, targeted audiences within the accounting and nonprofit leadership spaces. By crafting personalized, tailored pitches for a curated list of podcasts, Melisa’s DMO strategist secured multiple interview opportunities. Each interview represented a new piece of sharable, evergreen content to promote to her social media followers, help her grow her network, and drive traffic to the websites for her book and company

Digital Features Outreach

Generating coverage online was a great way for Melisa to connect with professional organizations, further develop her thought leadership credentials, and increase discoverability for Money Matters for Nonprofits. Like the podcast interviews, each digital feature generated through her campaign provided exposure to another niche audience and a fresh opportunity to highlight the book and her ongoing promotional activity within her social and professional networks. Notable features included:

Press Release Distribution

Greenleaf’s press release services helped Melisa gain exposure to a wide range of print, online, and broadcast media outlets and journalists covering subject matter relevant to her book. Through traditional press release distribution to a curated list of recipients and a partnership with the Independent Book Publisher Association’s Media Outreach Program, Money Matters for Nonprofits generated exposure to industry influencers, media outlets, and professional reviewers.

Targeting nonprofit organizations, business leaders, associations, and financial and accounting trade outlets, Melisa’s press releases earned nearly 1,000 views. Among those who learned about Melisa and the book were media professionals from outlets including the Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, Business Insider, Inc. Magazine, and Accounting Today.

The Result: Power, Exposure, and Amplified Awareness for Melisa and Her Book

Utilizing a strategic mix of Greenleaf DMO services, Melisa successfully reached her target audience of nonprofit leaders and accounting professionals. Her press kit distilled the key values of the book into an accessible, attractive, and informative package. Her Digital Features Outreach generated exposure to notable media outlets, and her press release distribution extended that reach even further. Her Podcast and Digital Features Outreach initiatives resulted in successful interview opportunities and increased online coverage.

Melisa utilized the interviews and features as social media assets and business development tools to bring greater awareness to the book and her business. She further established herself as a thought leader in her industry and garnered increased discoverability and social proof of her expertise. Money Matters for Nonprofits attained Amazon Best Seller status in multiple categories, as well as several #1 New Release distinctions — and was named a Gold Winner in the Nonfiction Authors Association Book Awards.

"Working with Greenleaf for Digital Media Outreach was an incredibly beneficial part of our book launch. Through their outreach, I was featured on a variety of podcasts and wrote several articles, all of which gave my book great visibility. Multiple new clients have connected with me as a result of the podcast interviews Greenleaf secured. The book was published more than six months ago and new opportunities are still coming through. Working with Greenleaf’s DMO team has been a great experience!" - Melisa Galasso

Greenleaf Book Group is a publisher and distributor best known for its innovative business model, distribution power, and award-winning designs. Named one of the fastest-growing companies in the United States by Inc. Magazine, Greenleaf has represented more than 3,800 titles, including over 75 New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestsellers. You can learn more about Greenleaf at www.greenleafbookgroup.com.

To learn more about how the Greenleaf Book Group’s Digital Media Outreach services, visit our website or email marketing@greenleafbookgroup.com