Dear ,
Despite New York's glorious sunshine and warm weather, my husband and I spent Memorial Day weekend organizing our apartment.
TRANSLATION: Clean out files and get rid of papers we no longer needed!
To do this, we channeled Marie Kondo.
Facing years of unnecessary financial, client and family documents, I asked myself: "Will I still need this information and does it mean something positive to me?"
What did I discover?
In the name of keeping "important" papers, I had enshrined painful memories.
Just looking at them brought tears to my eyes!
"Why are you holding on to them?" My husband asked.
Since we don't have a working fireplace, my husband made a ceremony of destroying each piece of these painful memories
What does this mean for you?
Create you own "Personal Freedom From Painful Memories" ceremony.
Get rid of the papers and photos that make you feel bad.
Be kind to yourself. You deserve it!
While papers and photographs are the toughest items to discard, filling big black plastic bag after bag to bulging gave us a sense of achievement.
Actionable Marketing Lesson:
-
Clean out your office, computer and other business storage areas. Get rid of extra copies and drafts of work you no longer need. File papers and documents on your
computer to free storage and brain space.
-
Record business ideas you find and inspirations you get. Don’t assume that you’ll remember them later.
We also included a healthy dose of relaxation!
Instead of dealing with opening weekend crowds at the beach, we stayed in the cool air conditioning of our apartment.
While watching some enchanting children’s movies, namely Charlie and The Chocolate Factory (Tim Burton version) and Neverland, I made progress on several knitting projects. (BTW--This is how I rationalize being
a couchpotato!)
Why do I have several projects going at one
time?
When I hit a challenge or make a mistake on one project, I put it aside and work on another one.
I've learned that I make knitting mistakes worse by continuing to fix an error when I need to let the project rest. Like writing and other creative work, sometimes you need to walk away.
Apply this approach to your
marketing.
Like my knitting, have several marketing projects going at the same time. When you hit a roadblock on one, instead of pushing ahead without making progress, change to another project entirely.
Learn when your brain is up to complex tasks and when it’s not. Have easy work lined up to keep you going.
For example, Danielle
Steel (whose Glamour interview was cited by both Ann Handley and Austin Kleon) claims that she never has writer’s block.
Why?
Because she starts her next book before she finishes the current one.
While I do this all the time with my knitting, it’s taken me time to apply this one simple approach to my marketing work.
Actionable Marketing Lesson:
-
Write down every idea for a new piece of content and/or marketing project when you get it. Add additional notes.
-
Outline the steps for you next project before you finish your current one. Be like Danielle Steel and know what you’re going to work on next.
What are you planning to do this summer and fall to up your marketing
game?
If you act now and purchase by May 31st, you can save money on these events:
-
MAICON July 16th to
18th in Cleveland. Please use code Cohen100. Since it’s an affiliate code, I’m offering any of my readers who use my code a 1-on-1 meeting during the conference. (That’s a $300 value!)
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Content Marketing World (September 3rd to 7th) in Cleveland. Please use code
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MarketingProfs B2B Forum (October 16th to 18th) in Washington, DC.
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Want to improve your social media and content skills? Then join Wave.Video's Wave Around The World Project. It's a 24 hour video webinar starting at 8:30pm EDT 31 May (or 10am AEST 1 June) and ends midnight EDT 1
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For more information, check https://www.facebook.com/wave.video.
Heidi Cohen,
Actionable Marketing Guide
Happy Marketing,
Heidi
Shout
out to new readers:
Allison, Krailoes, Lani, Toni, An, Jean, Doug, kay, Sonia, Tarini, Mohamed, Recardo, Jamie, Camille and George. Welcome and thank you for joining our community.
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Prevent your visitors from reaching a marketing dead end!
Instead use connected content to get them to take another step and increase their engagement with you.
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Then follow these 3 tips to extend your social media relationships to real life!
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HEIDI COHEN AROUND THE WEB
• How Do You Measure User-Generated Content?
By George Stenitzer – Crystal Clear Communications
If you’ve considered tapping into the power of user-generated content, then this article is a must-read! It provides insights and examples from thought leaders including Heidi Cohen.
Also it’s worth checking to see how George Stenitzer uses his company blog to answer the 100 most frequently asked content marketing questions. It’s a great way to create content marketing since you know what your audience wants!
Bonfire Photo: by Olivier
Morneau via Pexels | cc zero
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