Please understand:
I didn’t magically appear on the marketing stage out of nowhere. (Yes--one Twitter follower actually asked me this!) 

Like you, my work life has more depth and breadth than appears in any single blog post, presentation or social media interaction.

As my husband often tells me, “No one really knows what you've done since you only say, ‘I do marketing?’” (In the audio version, his voice goes up at the end of that sentence like an almost-question.)

In my case, my bosses:

• Didn’t understand business, much less marketing despite their fancy titles, experience and/or education.
• Had to talk to me before lunch because she drank her meal (And I don’t mean diet shakes.) 
• Made an open secret of sleeping with their boss to underscore the power they wielded.
• Diminished their direct reports to the point of tears.
• Took full credit for the success of my work.

But, the lesson I learned was:
Regardless of the boss or salary,
ONLY I had the power to control how I felt about myself. 

And, like me, you have this same power!

That said, today, you can have the best job in the world and still feel lonely.

• Almost half of Americans sometimes or always feel alone or left out. Two in five Americans sometimes or always feel that their relationships aren’t meaningful and that they are isolated from others.
• One in five people rarely or never feels close to people or that they have people with whom they can talk.
• About half of Americans have meaningful in-person social interactions daily. 

Yet, contrary to popular belief:
Social media does NOT predict loneliness based on survey results of heavy and non-social media usage.

WHY?
Because as humans we have a profound need to connect socially.  

While you may believe that you have a job that lets you:

• Work anywhere in the world,
• Set your own hours, or
• Squeeze routine  errands and housework into your work hours.

The stark reality is:
You are more likely to feel more disconnected with less overall well being. 

To combat this sense of loneliness and provide real life social connections, I am laser-focused on building community this year.  #Inclusive, #WokeInTraining

Because together we can create something greater than any one of us can do on our own.

More importantly--As a result, each one of us will:
Feel less alone and more empowered to create flow yielding higher levels of personal satisfaction!
 

Because life is too short to spend feeling lonely and unfulfilled!

Therefore I challenge you to reach out to your family and friends as well as to take your social media relationships offline and meet people face-to-face. 

So please join me at: 

• 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!)
   

• Content Marketing World (September 3rd to 7th in Cleveland). Please use code Cohen19. Since it’s an affiliate code, I’m offering any of my readers who use it a 1-on-1 meeting during the conference.

Heidi Cohen,
Actionable Marketing Guide

Happy Marketing,
Heidi

Register today. Use my code: COHEN19 to save $100.

Business Travel: How To Survive Business Travel

By Ivana Taylor

Influencers: How to find and collaborate with the right influencers [Updated]

By Andy Crestodina

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