EPIC NINE MARKETING OUTFITTERSCONFLUENCE
A PATH TO THE TOP
Treatment for the Addiction to the Status Quo
THE LINE THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING
Thank you for choosing Epic Nine to help you conquer your marketing mountains. Below is a summary of our findings and strategic recommendations for Confluence.
"I am the treatment for the addiction to the status quo."
— From the Base Camp conversation
That sentence is the beating heart of everything in this document. It is plain-language, emotionally charged, and perfectly positioned for the moment your clients are living in. From here on out, everything built for Confluence should flow through that lens.
WHERE CONFLUENCE IS HEADED
Double annual revenue from $30,000 to $60,000
Establish a reliable, repeatable path that turns speaking engagements into paying clients
Successfully launch Building Collaborative Coalitions with strong enrollment
Build the New Leaders Network to 30–35 active paying members
Productize and promote Wisdom Partnership for consistent one-on-one clients
Land at least two Strategic Planning engagements in the $5,000–$10,000 range
WHERE CONFLUENCE STANDS TODAY
A SWOT analysis helps identify where Confluence stands today and what levers are available to move the needle toward your goals. These insights informed every recommendation in this plan.
STRENGTHS
- ▸A genuinely original voice and a framework no one else is using
- ▸The recovery model metaphor is accessible, credible, and emotionally resonant
- ▸Strong personal brand and a loyal, growing warm network
- ▸Regular paid speaking engagements through TAADAS providing consistent visibility
- ▸315+ email subscribers who have already self-selected into your world
- ▸Sliding scale pricing creates goodwill and removes a common barrier to entry
- ▸Deep credibility inside the Tennessee nonprofit ecosystem
WEAKNESSES
- ▸Jargon-heavy messaging limits reach beyond the inner circle
- ▸No structured conversion path from speaking engagements to paying clients
- ▸No Facebook Business Page; LinkedIn underutilized for proactive outreach
- ▸Revenue is entirely relationship-driven with no passive or automated funnel
- ▸No email automation to nurture leads between touchpoints
- ▸Wisdom Partnership is not yet productized or visible enough to sell itself
- ▸Website member signup flow sends prospects to a login page rather than a welcome
OPPORTUNITIES
- ▸Enormous appetite for change in the nonprofit sector right now
- ▸Federal funding disruption is forcing organizations to rethink everything
- ▸United Ways, Nonprofit Resource Centers, and state health departments as speaking pipelines
- ▸Tennessee nonprofit database enables direct outreach to executive directors
- ▸Q2 is budget and strategic planning season for most nonprofits
- ▸New Leaders Network free trial can turn every presentation into recurring revenue
- ▸Short-form video can explain what no webpage can and travel at no cost
THREATS
- ▸Status quo bias is the single most powerful force working against you
- ▸Nonprofit budget cycles and grant dependency create long decision timelines
- ▸Lower-level staff who resonate most with your work often cannot approve spending
- ▸The burnout conversation is crowded and hard to stand out in
- ▸Solo operator bandwidth limits growth without systems and automation in place
THE TRUTH THAT UNLOCKS EVERYTHING
The work is already working. You are in the room. You are on stages and in meeting halls every single month, standing in front of the exact people who need you most. The problem is not awareness. The problem is conversion.
There is a door being held open but no visible handle on the other side. The strategy outlined in this plan is built around one core objective: turning every moment of exposure into a door that prospects can actually walk through.
Kahneman and Tversky taught us that people are not rational actors. They are loss-avoiders, comfort-seekers, and default-keepers. The marketing strategy has to work with human psychology, not against it.
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL PLAYBOOK
FOUNDATION
Fix the systems, collect testimonials, record the Wisdom Partnership video, launch the NLN trial offer at every event.
FUNNEL ACTIVATION
Conversion engine is running. First Wisdom Partnership client. First strategic planning engagement. BCC cohort launching.
FULL STRIDE
Recurring revenue is stable. Speaking pipeline is full. Second strategic planning engagement. Second BCC cohort.
THE REVENUE ROADMAP
Doubling revenue in 12 months is ambitious but achievable with the right product mix and a clear ramp. None of these targets require anything that is not already inside your portfolio.
| Revenue Source | Price Point | Volume Target | Annual Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retainer / Project Management | $300/mo avg | 3 clients maintained year-round | $10,800 |
| Speaking and Workshops | $600/event avg | 15 events (mix of paid and stipended) | $9,000 |
| New Leaders Network | $25/mo per member | Avg 20 paying members across the year | $6,000 |
| Building Collaborative Coalitions | $350/person avg | 2 cohorts, 10 enrollees each | $7,000 |
| Wisdom Partnership | $1,500 per engagement | 6 engagements (starting in Q2) | $9,000 |
| Strategic Planning | $7,500 avg | 2 engagements (Q2 and Q3) | $15,000 |
| Other / Miscellaneous | — | Subcontracted training, misc | $3,200 |
| PROJECTED ANNUAL TOTAL | $60,000 |
REVENUE RAMP BY PHASE
THE KEY INSIGHT ON THE RAMP
Phase 1 is about planting seeds, not harvesting. The NLN trial offers, the testimonials, the Wisdom Partnership video, and the speaking outreach calendar are all Phase 1 investments that do not pay off immediately but make Phase 2 and Phase 3 possible. The two Strategic Planning engagements are the largest single contributors to the goal. Landing both before the end of Q3 is the single most important revenue objective of the year.
TREATMENT FOR THE ADDICTION TO THE STATUS QUO
This is your headline. This is your hook. This is the sentence that a burned-out prevention director reads at 11pm after a board meeting where nothing changed again, and feels seen for the first time.
Your existing framework — describing systems change through the lens of the recovery process — is a masterpiece of accessibility. Admission, readiness, treatment, recovery. Most of your audience has watched someone they care about go through that process, or has been through it themselves.
The solution to the jargon problem is not to abandon the language that is meaningful to you, but to create a second layer of translation that lives on your website, your email subject lines, and your social posts.
"Values-aligned transformative leadership rooted in systems change, justice, and collective liberation."
"You know your organization can do better. You just have not found the playbook yet. That is exactly what Confluence is for."
THE PRINCIPLE
Both audiences. Same work. Two different handles on the same door.
TESTIMONIALS: YOUR MOST POWERFUL TOOL
Collect 5–10 video testimonials from past clients. Authentic, unscripted stories. What were they dealing with before? What changed after? Feature these prominently on the website, inside email sequences, and as standalone social posts.
TURNING EVERY PRESENTATION INTO A PIPELINE
Right now, you are delivering nearly monthly presentations to TAADAS and other organizations, standing in front of exactly the right people, and then walking away with no new clients. Fixing this is the single most important move available.
THE POST-WORKSHOP OFFER
At the end of every workshop, presentation, or speaking engagement, make a single, simple, generous offer. Offer a free month of New Leaders Network membership. Get the commitment in the moment, when the energy of the presentation is still live.
Accompanied by a QR code linking to a simple Kit landing page, or a physical sign-up sheet collected before people leave the room.
3-MONTH FREE TRIAL BUNDLE
For clients engaging in bigger ticket work — retainer relationships, strategic planning, or Building Collaborative Coalitions — include three months of New Leaders Network membership at no charge.
This is not a discount. It is a bundled value add that builds loyalty and creates the conditions for long-term membership after the project ends.
EMAIL NURTURE SEQUENCE
Every person who joins through a free trial or attends a workshop enters an automated email sequence in Kit. This sequence does not pitch. It gives. It shows. It invites.
The Kit Creator plan enables the automation required to run this sequence without you doing anything manually after the initial setup.
EMAIL NURTURE SEQUENCE FRAMEWORK
What is Confluence? What can they expect? Your story in plain, human language. Link to the Wisdom Partnership explainer video when it exists.
A piece of content they can actually use — a tool, a framework, or a reflection prompt from inside the New Leaders Network. Show them the value of being in your world.
A testimonial from someone like them. Not a pitch, just a story. Let the story do the work.
An invitation to the next workshop, grow circle, or gather circle. Specific date, specific topic, specific reason it matters right now.
A soft, natural mention of Wisdom Partnership. Not a sales email, but a genuine 'this exists if you are in that place' with a link to the video and a way to schedule a conversation.
LINKEDIN: YOUR PRIMARY GROWTH CHANNEL
LinkedIn is where your ideal clients — executive directors, prevention directors, and nonprofit leaders — are already spending time professionally. It is the highest-leverage channel available to you right now.
PROACTIVE CONNECTION BUILDING
Set aside one hour per week to connect with 20–30 executive directors, prevention directors, and nonprofit leaders in Tennessee with a short, personal note. 80–120 qualified connections per month.
ORGANIC CONTENT
Three posts per week: one provocation rooted in the work, one tool or insight that gives genuine value, and one human post — a story, a moment from a workshop, a client win.
LINKEDIN EVENTS
Create a LinkedIn Event for every workshop, New Leaders Network grow circle, or public presentation. LinkedIn promotes these events to your connections and often beyond.
FACEBOOK BUSINESS PAGE
Setting up a Facebook Business Page opens the door to promoting events and, down the road, running targeted ads to nonprofit audiences in specific geographies.
THE WISDOM PARTNERSHIP VIDEO
If there is one piece of content this entire plan depends on, it is this video. A 10–15 minute video — you on camera, telling your own story and walking through what the experience feels like — does what no website copy can do. It lets the prospect meet you before they decide. Post it on YouTube, embed it on the website, and link it in the email sequence.
FROM FREE TO HIGH-TICKET
Building a clear product ladder creates a natural progression that respects where people are financially while giving them a path toward deeper engagement over time. Each step reduces the perceived risk of the next one.
The top of the funnel. Every presentation, every post, every email is an invitation to this level.
Offered at every presentation and workshop. The foot-in-the-door that crosses the psychological threshold.
Ongoing membership. The recurring revenue base that funds everything else.
Cohort enrollment. Deeper engagement, higher commitment, transformative experience.
Individual engagement. Your most personal, most powerful offering.
Project management, coalition support. Sustained relationship with real organizational impact.
3–5 year organizational planning process. The highest-value, highest-impact offering in the portfolio.
STRATEGIC PLANNING: THE ANCHOR PRODUCT
Nonprofit organizations are entering Q2 of the calendar year — budget and planning season. Executive directors are thinking about where to invest resources for next year, and the current environment, with federal funding shifting dramatically, is creating an unusual level of urgency around strategic planning. Two engagements at the middle of the $5K–$10K range would contribute $15,000 toward the revenue goal — 25% of the path to $60,000 from a single offering.
PRACTICAL MOVES THAT PAY OFF NOW
These are low-cost or no-cost moves that address specific friction points currently standing between Confluence and its goals. They can be implemented quickly and will start paying off almost immediately.
Collect Video Testimonials
Identify 5–8 past clients or NLN members who would be enthusiastic advocates. Ask for a 2–3 minute video recorded on their phone. Authentic, unscripted stories.
Record the Wisdom Partnership Video
10–15 minutes on camera, speaking from the heart. Post it on YouTube, embed it on the website, and link it in the email sequence.
LinkedIn Connection Strategy
One hour per week connecting with 20–30 targeted prospects. Do not pitch. Just introduce yourself and mention that you share a world.
Build a Speaking Outreach Calendar
A quarterly outreach cadence of at least one direct contact per month, rotating through United Ways, Tennessee Nonprofit Network, Center for Nonprofit Management, and others.
NLN Free Trial at Every Event
Offer a free month of New Leaders Network membership at every presentation, every time. Get the commitment in the moment.
Fix the Registration Flow
Walk through the Ticket Leap registration process yourself as if you were a first-time visitor. Note every moment of confusion. Simplify wherever possible.
Shorten Your Emails
Break content down. Instead of one long email with multiple ideas, send shorter emails with one idea each. Give them something they can read in 90 seconds.
Create Events on LinkedIn & Facebook
Create a LinkedIn Event for every workshop, NLN grow circle, or public presentation. LinkedIn promotes these events to your connections and often beyond.
SMART INVESTMENT, MAXIMUM RETURN
Confluence is at a stage where smart systems and sharp positioning will do more work than large advertising budgets. The majority of the tactics in this plan depend on your voice, your relationships, and your expertise.
LINKEDIN SPONSORED CONTENT
Highly targeted sponsored posts reaching executive directors and prevention directors at Tennessee nonprofits, built around the Treatment for the Addiction to the Status Quo positioning.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Design support for sponsored content, email headers, event graphics, and any promotional materials needed throughout the year.
VIDEO PRODUCTION
Editing and motion graphics support for the Wisdom Partnership explainer video and short-form content for LinkedIn and Facebook.
THE HIGHEST-ROI MOVES AVAILABLE TO YOU RIGHT NOW
The following actions cost nothing and are collectively the most important marketing moves Confluence can make:
THE SUMMIT IS IN SIGHT
You already have the rarest ingredient: a point of view so clear and so needed that people light up when they hear it. Treatment for the addiction to the status quo is not a line that was invented for you. It is a line you already had. The goal is simply to make sure more people hear it, more often, through channels that lead them back to you.
The path from $30,000 to $60,000 does not require a massive advertising budget or a reinvention of what you do. It requires a conversion engine, a system that takes the attention you are already earning and gives it somewhere to go. It requires a website that does not lose the people who find you. It requires emails that respect how little time your audience has. And it requires a speaking pipeline that keeps filling the top of the funnel with the right people.
We hope this Base Camp has helped you see a clearer path to your mountain top. We look forward to working alongside you to get there.