For the past 7 years, I set aside time in late December to reflect on the past year and choose a theme for the year ahead. Note: Every year, I’ve shared my theme for the year ahead in a blog post. My theme in 2014 was change and resiliency. In 2015, it was vulnerability. In 2016 it was mindfulness. In 2017, it was honey over vinegar. In 2018, it...
REFLECTING ON MY 2ND YEAR IN BUSINESS: TOP HIGHLIGHTS AND LESSONS LEARNED
As I enter my 3rd year in business, I’m going to share some of the key highlights and lessons learned on days 365 – 730. I started my business in November 2018. In my first year in business, I had some early wins. However, I got to that point through intense focus and working A LOT OF HOURS. It wasn’t a sustainable way to grow and run a business. Since day 1, my goal is to run a...
How current search trends are predicting the future of remote work
COVID-19 has taken the way we view office work and turned it on its head overnight. Employees used to seeing their coworkers in person each day were suddenly thrown into a remote work setting. With the abrupt change came not just a change in scenery at the “office”, but a different way of collaborating with teammates throughout the entire work process. As coworkers exchange face-to-face meetings...
HOW TO WRITE AN EFFECTIVE CONTENT BRIEF IN 8 EASY STEPS
When it comes to producing any content, spending an extra 20 minutes upfront detailing the goal and desired outcome for a piece can save a bunch of time for you, your team, and your writers. Enter – the content brief. Without a content brief to lay the groundwork for writers, a simple blog post can take excruciatingly longer than desired to complete. Not to mention, the finished product can...
An Introvert’s Guide to Networking
As an introvert, talking to a bunch of people who I just met and engaging in small talk can be a bit daunting. Sometimes, just the thought of “networking” at a conference or event has me thinking about skipping it in favor of cozy sweatpants, Netflix and maybe following along from the event hashtag. Fortunately, I’ve learned some tips over the past few years for how to get more...
11 Excellent Brand Marketing And Copywriting Talks You Probably Haven’t Heard Of
Chances are – we’ve all heard the great speeches like the late Steve Jobs’ Think Different and David Foster Wallace’s “This is Water.” However, digging through Youtube and TED, there are thousands of great brand-building, marketing and copywriting talks online. In this post, I’m highlighting 11 excellent marketing and copywriting talks. 1. How To Become A Better Copywriter –...
My Word For 2020 – Momentum
Every year since 2014, I’ve deliberately set aside some time in late December or early January to evaluate the past year and set my theme for the year ahead. For the past 6 of those years, I’ve shared my theme for the year in a blog post. My theme in 2014 was change and resiliency. In 2015, it was vulnerability. In 2016 it was mindfulness. In 2017, it was honey over vinegar. In 2018, it was...
Reflecting On My First Year In Business: Top Highlights & 9 Lessons Learned
I’ve heard many of my fellow entrepreneur friends say that starting a business is like a rollercoaster ride. While it made sense, I don’t think I fully internalized that until this year. I started my business in November 2018. Now in my 13th month, I can say that I experienced more intense ups and downs than the prior three years combined. While I had some wins (especially in the second half of...
The State of B2B Content Marketing in Q4 2019 (Including 70+ Statistics)
The world of B2B content marketing is constantly changing. As technology and best practices evolve, so do marketing strategies. While there’s a certain amount of testing, creativity, and intuition that goes into marketing decisions, you can and should rely on data to shape your strategy. In this post, I’m sharing more than 70 B2B content marketing stats that will help you with your marketing...
The WIIFM Principle – How to make your marketing stand out
WIIFM stands for – “What’s in it for me? However if you want your marketing to stand out and resonate with more prospects and customers, you need to be thinking about what’s in it for THEM, not YOU. Another way to think about this is – why should anyone care about what you are creating? What is WIIFM? While it is usually not intentional, most content that marketers write is pretty...