by Kirby Hasseman
I was on the phone with our web designer, Eric Dingler, the other day and I realized something. Eric just finished a new web design for a client and we were talking about re-designing our own site as well. He was listening to my ideas on things I wanted to include and making suggestions. Then he spent some time telling me about website podcasts he listens to, and their advice on the matter. He excitedly told me about a new “tricks and tips” he could work into our site. That was when it hit me.
The best people to work with are the ones that are constantly learning and honing their craft.
Always. It never stops.
Then I looked around my office and noticed the same thing with our designer Josh. He is always looking at design. Sure, he went to school for design and he has the background and the chops. But he follows designers, he studies their work, he enjoys the conversation. He is honing his craft.
The question is…what are you working on? What do you want to become great at? If you will or if you won’t can be answered by whether or not you are continually learning or studying your craft. Want to be a fitness expert? Yes, of course you have to put in the work. You have to work on your own diet and your own fitness. But are you reading the latest blogs? Are you up on the latest workouts?
Want to stand out in Content Marketing? It’s not just about creating content (though that is super important). It’s also about studying other masters to see what is working and what is not? Want to lead in sales? It’s not just about making the sales calls (though that is where it starts). You need to continually be reading articles, books, and blogs on the topic. You have to get re-inspired and re-imagined to continue to be the best.
Do you want to be great at something or are you just saying it? A simple self-audit will tell you the truth if you let it. You are passionate about what you work at and study. Look at your calendar and study your time. That will tell you the truth. Make sure you never miss an update! It’s a great time to become a VIP! Sign up here for our weekly email with all of our content.
by Kirby Hasseman
Welcome to the very first edition of the He Said/She Said Podcast with Hasseman Marketing! This podcast is designed to give an inside look at projects we are working on and the challenges we are facing! We will even take a question from the audience each time! So listen in and let us know what you think! On this episode we talk about…
Trending Topics: This first time we recorded this right after Daylight Savings Time. Here are our opinions on why we need to pick a time (this one) and stay with it!
Weekly Whirlwind: Each time we will talk about the projects where we are spending our time. Amy gives the behind the scenes look at her building project (and what a project it is). Kirby talks about business at Hasseman Marketing…and why we are hiring.
Struggles: But entrepreneurship is not always roses! We talk about a couple of things that are tripping us up! Question from the
Audience: This time we answer a question we get a lot. “What is it like to work with your spouse? How do you make that work?” Listen to our answers and feel free to give us your secrets to success too!
Oh…and want to send us a question for a future episode? Email us here.
Shout Outs: Each week we want to give a shout out to an organization we see doing good work. This time we talk about a couple organizations in Coshocton County.
We will be looking all over for good things to talk about…so if you have an idea, let us know here. So that’s the first episode! We will be back…and we will continue to improve.
Any feedback will be welcome as we try to provide you value! Make sure you never miss an update. Sign up to be a VIP here.
by Kirby Hasseman
It seems everyone I know has been touched by some level of sickness so far this spring. If you have not been sick (thank goodness), you know more than a few people who have been. It caught up with me for a few days last week too. I am feeling better now (not quite 100%, but I am getting there), but it really knocked me off my game for several days.
During that time, I struggled to call people back because I could not talk without coughing, I did not create as much content, and I certainly was not thinking strategically! Everything I did made me want to lay down on the floor and rest. I was not myself, and it totally threw me off my game.
Times like this can be extremely frustrating if you are working toward a goal. For example, I had been working on creating a new fitness routine in the morning and had made some steady progress. But as the cold got me down, I threw fitness out the window in the name of more rest. When you do something like this, most people respond in one of two ways.
Not Perfect, So Forget It:
So many of us start striving for a goal and go full force toward it. We work out every day. Then one day we miss…and the entire thing goes out the window. Jon Acuff talks about this in the book Finish. He says the most important day is “the day after perfect.”
This is the day after eating perfectly. That is the day that often determines whether you will keep going. Self Empathy and Determination: The other way to look at a setback like this is simple. We are all human. Things happen. We can’t change the past. What we do need to do is start a new routine today.
We need to hold ourselves accountable without beating ourselves up. So if you have been thrown off your game recently (like me), start today with a new streak. For me, that routine starts with creating a new piece of content (thanks for reading it). Now I am going to head down to the basement to get a new streak started there too. Make it a great day everyone!
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by Kirby Hasseman
Okay, so maybe that was a bit of reverse psychology. If you are reading this, though, it must have worked. But I promise there is a point to this exercise. Many of you know that we have been creating content for quite some time now. I have created hundreds of podcasts, probably over 300 videos, and well over 500 blog posts.
I have committed to the idea of creating value through content, because it’s the right thing to do. (And it’s working). But one thing I have yet to REALLY learn is what will work. I talk about this a bit here.
What I mean by this is that sometimes I write a blog that I think is really good. I am excited about the topic and I think it will add value to a lot of people. I am fired up to push publish…and…nothing. Often, those sure-fire hit blog posts don’t seem to resonate. Then, especially as I was committed to writing a blog every day, I might crank out a quick one with very little thought and BOOM, that article takes off.
When I blogged about this in the link above I got quite a bit of feedback that I needed to see what my audience was passionate about, and stick with that. So I tried. I noticed that sometimes I wrote specifically about a marketing topic, and that did well. For example, this blog about how to deal with Haters online was read quite a bit. So I decided to write another article like that. Here is a one that discusses treating social media like a cocktail party.
The results? Meh.
Okay…maybe it’s about “real” stories and authenticity. This is a word everyone throws around a ton, so that must be true! I wrote this article saying “I am NOT for everyone” and it was one of the most read blogs of 2018. It was written out of a moment of frustration.
So what if I shared those moments more? I wrote this blog about being overwhelmed and…well…the results were okay. I have had the same results with video. I am excited about my Day in the Life videos. For example, this one where we lost our Drone got over 500 views pretty quickly. But we have others in this series that (it feels like) no one watches.
Just currently, I am excited about this video we created that’s a little more inspirational. It’s gotten some great feedback, so I am thinking of creating more things like that. The point of all of this exercise is that it’s a work in process. Even the best content creators have pieces of content that flop.
It happens in Hollywood all of the time! The best studios, producers and actors team up on a project…and no one cares. So if it happens to the best, don’t worry when it happens to you. It’s important, I think, to just keep showing up. Keep pushing out your message and your value into the world. You probably won’t know when something will flop.
But you also might be delighted when something really takes off and makes a difference. Oh…and the same is true for sales too. You never know if THIS will be the sales call that helps you break through. Go get it.
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by Kirby Hasseman
I have heard Twitter called the Cocktail Party of social media. Though I think that has merit, I don’t think it takes it far enough. I think Social Media is the new Cocktail Party. “Ok,” you might be thinking. “Why does that matter?”
It matters, because I think it really does give us a roadmap for how to behave online. The more I have the chance to speak to groups and organizations around the country on the topic, the more I am convinced. We hear all of the time that social media is different. It’s making people act differently. And, certainly, in some cases that is the truth.
There are the “keyboard activists” that you hear about all of the time. There are trolls. But those people are around us every day…not just online. My contention is social media is VERY much like the three-dimensional world. We try to make it different. But if we treat social media just like real life, we would be better off! Here are a few similarities I see between social media and a cocktail party.
Don’t Lead with Politics: If you just moved into a new neighborhood, and you were invited to a cookout, you would probably not introduce yourself to your new neighbors with political vitriol. You might not like the current President (or the last one), but you probably would not LEAD with that. And even if you did, you would not continue to say it all night long. We all know that person that posts 8 times per day about his or her political rants. I guess you might do this, but you would not be invited back.
Less Mean…More Good: If you (and the rest of social media) communicated as if they might see people later that day, we would all get more civil. Here’s the thing, we might still have the same opinions, but we would say them differently. What your mom told you years ago is still right. “It’s not what you say, but how you say it.”
Don’t Sell ALL of the Time: I am looking at you businesses and salespeople! You would never walk up to every person at a cocktail party and try to sell them your product without knowing anything about them! Sure, you might want to sell to them…but not at hello! But businesses do this all of the time! You go to their pages and all it says is “Buy from me. Buy from me. Buy from me.” Just like it real life, people are saying “I have to go over here” to get away from you.
Make People Laugh: People who are fun to follow online are very much like people you want to hang out with in real life. They make you laugh. They make you feel good about you. They inspire you. In a world where everyone seems to be all about snark and cynicism, make people smile. That transcends any platform. So if you (and your team) want to be better on social, stop treating it differently. Start treating it just like your next networking event. You might be surprised with your results.
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