Shownotes
In this episode, Amy kicks off the Love my Museum Summer Book Club; a special podcast and email series built around her free ebook, Getting Visitors Through Your Museum’s Doors: Building Connection in a Noisy World.
Amy shares the inspiration behind the series and explains how the podcast episodes, weekly emails, and downloadable ebook all work together to support busy museum professionals who want to increase attendance and build deeper community connections.
Listeners will hear why now is the time to focus on turning visitors into fans who bring a friend and how even small, consistent steps can make a big impact.
Links from the Episode:
- Download a free copy of the ebook: www.lovemymuseum.com/ebook
More Free Resources for Museums:
About the host:
Amy Kehs is a brand strategist and communications expert for museums. She has owned Kehs Communications since 2000 and has worked for the most renowned and well-loved museums in Washington, D.C. Her goal is to ensure that museums thrive into the next century and she hopes people will come to love museums as much as she does. Her proven process sets up proactive communication habits for museums, cultivating relationships with visitors who will want to return and bring a friend. Want to talk more? Click this link to book a call.
Transcripts
Today's episode kicks off our summer book club series.
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:I've written an ebook and we're going
to walk through it a little at a time.
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:Over the next few months.
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:I'll tell you what's inside, how it can
help, and what to expect from the series.
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:Let's get started.
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:Hello and welcome to the
Love My Museum podcast.
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:I'm your host, Amy Kehs
and I love museums.
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:I'm also a brand strategist and
communications expert for museums.
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:I care about museums so much that I wrote
a 35 page free ebook on what you can do
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:to get more visitors in your doors and
have them love their experience so much
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:that they come back and bring a friend.
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:And so we are going to go through
this new ebook bit by bit over
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:the summer am calling it the 2025
Love My Museum Summer Book Club.
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:You know, over the summer you might be.
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:Listening by the pool or on your commute
to work, or sneaking in a minute of
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:professional development between meetings.
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:I really hope this series feels
supportive and gives you some
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:quick wins over the summer months.
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:If you're listening and if you've been
following me for a while or you've been
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:on my email list for a while, you might
remember that every summer for the past.
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:Three summers, I have been doing
a summer email series, and each
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:series has had a particular focus.
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:For example, last summer I did a
brand camp where we looked at your
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:museum's brand messaging all summer.
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:And so that tradition continues, but
this year I'm shaking things up a bit
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:and going a step farther and adding
these podcast episodes to the series.
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:So it will be a summer book club
around my new free resource.
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:An ebook called Getting Visitors
Through Your Museum's Doors.
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:Building Connection In a
Noisy World, it's free.
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:It is packed with ideas that
you can actually use, and it's
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:designed specifically for museums.
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:The podcast, the weekly emails and
the ebook are all working together
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:this summer to give you structure,
encouragement, and momentum.
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:You can go ahead and
download the book now.
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:The link is in the show notes, and
you can also just head to my website.
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:I know I always forget to go back
to the show notes on my website.
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:You can find it@www.love
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:my museum.com/ebook.
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:This book has been.
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:A labor of love.
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:I know how hard you are working
and how many hats you wear.
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:I also know how easy it is to get stuck in
the daily grind and not make time for that
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:big picture strategy work that is actually
going to help you grow your audience.
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:So.
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:This summer series is my way of saying
you don't have to do it alone, and
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:it doesn't have to be overwhelming.
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:So here's how it's going to work.
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:We'll have eight podcast episodes in this
series every other week starting today.
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:In each episode, we'll explore a different
theme or a different section of the book.
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:Think of it like a book club, like going
to a book club and having a friendly chat
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:with someone who knows what it's like
to juggle everything that you juggle,
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:the programs, the events, the exhibits,
the emails, but you still wanna find
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:that time to grow your museum's impact.
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:In addition to the biweekly podcast
episodes, there will be weekly emails,
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:that have encouragement and action
steps and bite size prompts that
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:help you apply what you're learning.
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:Nothing too heavy.
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:This is, this is all built with
busy museum professionals in mind.
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:So on the weeks that there is a
podcast episode, you'll get a link to
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:that episode, and on every other week
you'll get these bite-size prompts
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:and ideas for you to apply everything
in the book, the podcast, and the
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:emails connects back to one big.
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:Goal, helping you get more visitors
through your doors and giving them a
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:reason to come back and bring a friend.
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:This summer is all about taking
action, but doing it in a way
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:that feels supportive and doable.
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:You won't need a retreat or a full day off
to make progress just a few minutes a week
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:and the willingness to try something new.
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:Let's talk about why this matters.
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:One of the biggest challenges museums
are facing right now is attendance.
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:Museums are doing incredible work.
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:You offer meaningful programs.
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:You're preserving and
telling important stories.
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:You're creating thoughtful exhibits.
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:You may still though, despite all of
this hard work, still be struggling
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:to get people through your doors,
and that's not just a revenue
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:problem, it's a relevance problem.
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:The world is noisy.
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:People have more choices
and more distractions and
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:more reasons to stay home.
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:There's a lot of uncertainty in the world.
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:Museums don't always tell their
potential visitors the why.
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:Why does your museum matter?
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:Why should they care?
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:And if we want people to know that we
have to meet them where they are and give
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:them reasons to visit and keep visiting.
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:In the ebook, I talk about how
getting people in the door is just
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:the beginning, that the real magic
happens when we turn those casual
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:first time visitors into lifelong fans.
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:People who have such an amazing experience
that they not only come back, but they
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:tell their friends, they bring their
families, and they advocate for your
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:museum when you're not even in the room.
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:So the big question guiding the
series is how do we turn those first
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:time visitors into lifelong fans
who come back and bring a friend?
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:So how do you get the most out of this?
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:Well, here are three ways on and how to
make the most of the summer book club.
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:First, download the ebook
if you haven't already.
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:It's completely free.
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:And you can find the link in
the show notes or@www.love
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:my museum.com/ebook.
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:If you have some time, just skimm
through the book and see if there's
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:something that jumps out at you,
and use that for number two.
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:Number two is to set a goal for yourself.
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:Maybe it's to work on.
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:Your email list, maybe it's to
plan a community partnership.
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:Maybe it's just to put on your calendar
and block out the time to read the
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:emails and listen to the podcast.
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:Whatever your goal is, let
that guide your summer.
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:And finally, number three,
keep an eye on your inbox.
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:Those weekly emails will
have encouragement, practical
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:tips, small action steps.
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:To help you stay on track.
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:Oh, and please share this with a
friend or coworker, Send them the link
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:to this podcast episode or send them
the link to download their own ebook.
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:A summer book club is a lot more fun
when you're doing it with friends.
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:Oh, and one last thing, because I know
that summer schedules can be really wacky.
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:My goal this summer is to make these
podcast episodes really short so
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:that you can get on about your day or
your beach time, or your family time.
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:I think that's everything.
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:I'm so excited for our summer
book club, and I hope you are too.
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:I'm so glad you're here for
it, and I can't wait to dive
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:into this new ebook with you.
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:Don't forget to grab your free copy and
get all my email list so that you get
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:all of the fun resources this summer.
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:That's it for today.
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:I'll see you next time.
