Dear Leaders, Entrepreneurs, Dreamers, and Creators of Great Things: I write these Love Letters each month with the hope of bringing you a little encouragement, some marketing help, and a few minutes of joy. Whether we are already friends or have yet to meet, I hope you’ll enjoy my stories from the road and some awesomely random takeaways, tools, tips, and updates.
What’s the plan?
If you are following me on the socials, you know that while you are reading this, I am on a safari trip to Africa. I’ve traveled all over the world, but Africa was always on the Someday List. As in, “Someday I’ll do that. Someday I’ll make time for that. Someday.”
I spend a lot of time planning. In fact, I conduct entire workshops devoted to planning. Business plans, strategic plans, marketing plans – they are the cornerstone of a lot of the work I do with my clients. I like planning. It’s practically my love language.
But I think we often do it wrong.
Nine times out of ten, when we are in the planning process and we get to the part where we write down our goals – most people write a dollar amount. They say: I want to make this much. I want to sell this many. I want to net x dollars.
But money isn’t the real goal. It’s what the money allows you to do. (Or not do!) To achieve. To accomplish. To give. To create. The real goal is freedom.
For years, Africa was on the Someday List. I just moved it from one year’s list to the next. I kept putting a dollar amount down and focusing on that number. When I’d hit that number, I just pushed it higher. But rarely did I knock something off the list.
Until last year. Last year, instead of a number, I simply put a photo of a giraffe. I wanted a constant reminder that I wasn’t working toward a number. I was working toward what that number meant.
Here’s a little food for thought, friends:
What’s your giraffe?
What is your customer’s giraffe?
Are you looking at that? Are you talking about that?
Is that what you focus on in your marketing?
Is that what you are putting in your plans?
Little Lessons
On Saying No:
Like everyone, I often struggle with saying no, so I have been doing some research on how to improve. I loved this advice from Samin Nosrat. She said, “The more clear I am about what my goals are, the more easily I can say no. I have a notebook into which I have recorded all sorts of goals, both big and small. When I take the time to articulate what it is that I hope to achieve, it’s simple to refer to the list and see whether saying yes to an opportunity will take me toward or away from achieving that goal. It’s when I am fuzzy about where I am headed that I start saying yes to things willy-nilly.” — Here’s to less fuzzy and more clarity.
The brilliant photographer Pei Ketron once gave a talk about becoming an influencer. She said, “Being famous on Instagram is like being rich in Monopoly.” (lol) She went on to say that there is no winning formula in life or in marketing. We simply need to create the type of work that we are passionate about and proud of. “Check in with yourself regularly,” she said. “What do you want to do? Share that. And ask yourself, would you still do and enjoy the same kind of work if social media didn’t exist?” (Whoa. Big lightbulb moment for me.)
Costco moves its stores around frequently. Not so much that you’d notice at first, but if you go looking for something you often buy, you’ll regularly find yourself having to search a little. I did a little reading on this, and I learned that Costco found that when they move their popular items around, the average amount spent in-store by customers goes up. This is simply because you have to wander more, and you are more likely to spot new things you can’t live without. This really made me think about pattern interruptions and how often we are building these into our own marketing strategies. There’s something to be said for shaking things up.
This is where I share the good stuff.
… the latest websites, books, & tools that are inspiring me, the people who are making me smile, and the stuff I have been writing on sticky notes.
- Y’all – MY BOOK IS AVAILABLE FOR PREORDER! Ok, I am sorry for the yelling, but also I’m not. I am so excited to share this with the world (and to be honest, also super nervous.) Thank you to everyone who has preordered, and if you haven’t… what are you waiting for? You’ll find the links here.
- I have been spending more time on LinkedIn lately – and there are three folks you definitely should be following there!
This guy. And this guy. And this lady.
Each one of these humans bring complex ideas to life in simple and awesome ways. - A little story you might have missed.
Quote of the month:
“Imagine time is like a cake. Each day you only get one. We are quick to give it away. And often find ourselves licking the crumbs. The requests keep coming if you don’t draw the line. Resolve, from this day forward, to protect your cake.” – Chanel Miller
Thanks for reading, friends! If you want to get these in your inbox every month, be sure to get on the mailing list. And if you are looking for a speaker who will motivate your organization to get up, get moving, and face change head-on, I would love to chat.
