More About Those Rural Campaign Training Workshops

(Chuck Muth) – I have a pair of introductory campaign training workshop titled, “The 15 Worst Mistake of Losing Candidates” and “The 20 Questions Every Candidate Better Be Able to Answer Before Talking to Voters, Donors or Reporters.”

I’ve done this 2- to 3-hour workshop all over the country – and use plenty of examples from Nevada.

I’m ready to do a “rural tour” and conduct this training around the state.  If there’s enough interest, I’ll continue to do such rural tours throughout the 2024 election cycle on different subjects.

Other workshops (with more in development) include…

• How to Write a Winning Campaign Plan
• How to Deal with the Media
• How to Write Killer Campaign Fundraising Letters, Blog Posts, Op-Eds, E-mails and Social Media Posts
• How to Put the “FUN” in High Dollar Fundraising

That last one is my favorite.  We live by it at Citizen Outreach…as evidence by our two ultra-fun major fundraising events this year (so far): The Pastapalooza Awards Dinner in January and the Death & Taxes Murder/Mystery Dinner in April.

If you missed them, you missed a whale of a good time!

Anyway, these workshops are unlike anything you’ve ever seen – based on my 25 years in, not only politics, but high-end direct response marketing.

Because winning an election is not a political campaign so much as it is a sales and marketing campaign.

You need to persuade voters to vote for you.  You need to persuade donors to donate to you.  You need to persuade volunteers to volunteer for you.  And you need to persuade the media to cover you.

And even if you’re not a candidate, and don’t intend to be one in the future, the workshops are extremely valuable so you’ll know when a candidate you support (or is asking you for a donation) isn’t doing what he or she should be doing in their campaign and can provide a little “fatherly advice.”

Here’s my initial thinking for the rural tour…

• Monday Night: Ely
• Tuesday Night: Elko
• Wednesday Night: Winnemucca
• Thursday Night: Fallon
• Saturday (day): Carson City
• Monday Night: Yerington
• Tuesday Night: Hawthorne
• Wednesday Night: Tonopah
• Thursday Night: Pahrump

Ideal time for nighttime workshops would be from 5:30-8:30 pm.  Daytime workshop in Carson City could be in the morning or afternoon.

Now, here’s the deal…

• I don’t charge anything for my time
• I pay for my own gas
• I pay for my own hotel/motel room
• I pay for my own meals
• I pay for my own beer – unless you want to buy me one!

The only thing I need is for someone in each of those towns to secure a room that’ll hold about 20-35 people, set up classroom-style, and put “cheeks in seats.”

If the venue already has equipment for a Power Point presentation…great.  If not, I travel with my own.

If there’s a cost to rent a meeting room, you can charge attendees a nominal fee to offset the cost.  For example, if the room is going to cost $400 and you expect to have 20 attendees, charging just $20/head will offset the fee.

I’ll be ready to kick this off right after the end of the current legislative session.  So if you’re interested in bringing the show to your town, shoot an email to chuck@campaigndoctor.com.

And remember…

It’s not the best candidate who wins.  It’s the best campaign.

Let’s get back in the Winner’s Circle!

7 Worst Habits of Highly Unelectable People

1. Picking the wrong race
2. Picking the wrong district
3. Picking the wrong issues
4. Picking the wrong time
5. Picking the wrong consultants
6. Picking unnecessary fights with the media
7. Picking door-knocking over fundraising

FAMOUS LAST WORDS

“To change things, we must change the laws.  To change the laws, we must change the people who make them.  To get elected, your candidate must be on the ballot.  To get on the November ballot, you must win the primary.  To win the primary, you must get the support of people who make endorsements in the primary, who reliably vote in the primary, and who get out the vote of others in the primary.” – Veteran conservative campaign strategist Richard Viguerie

Mr. Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, publisher of Nevada News & Views, and founder of CampaignDoctor.com.  You can sign up for his conservative, Nevada-focused e-newsletter at MuthsTruths.com.  His views are his own.