by Kirby Hasseman
I am a believer is routines. Whether you have good ones or bad ones…you have them. And often, they are the driving force behind your life. I talk about that in detail here on the DMJ Podcast. That is why I have set up intentional routines in my morning. It’s a way I can get control of the first part of my day. And in my experience, the attitude in the first part of my day has a big impact on the rest of my day. But recently my family introduced a “routine destroyer” into my life. The havoc-wreaking hurricane of cuteness is called…a puppy. A puppy does not care in the least about my morning routines. It cares about barking, whining, peeing, pooping, chewing, scratching and sniffing. Pretty much every single noise they make signals that something bad is happening. They are constantly busy and constantly distracting. (I am just sitting down for the 4th time to continue typing this). There is a reason God made them cute. This is not a post to say “woe is me. My routines are screwed up.” Well, it’s not JUST that! It’s just a dose of reality. No matter what you do to create intentionality in your life, things will interrupt. If you work to be positive in your life, negativity will still fight to break through. I believe in setting up routines in the morning, but life is getting in the way. It happens. But now what? First, I think it’s important to understand that this is a season. Finn (yes that’s his name) will not be a puppy forever. As the old saying goes “This too shall pass.” It’s important to not get too frustrated (as hard as that is) in the moment. Next, I need to work with my new reality to create a new, intentional routine. I honestly don’t know what that is…yet. But I will figure it out. And once I do that, I will be able to get back to “normal” again. Finally, I can’t use this as an excuse. Yep…this is throwing me off. It’s harder to maintain my writing schedule every morning. And? It’s incumbent upon me to keep going anyway. We all have things that get in the way. It’s still on us to put in the work. It’s time to make sure you never miss an update! Join our VIP list here. We send out an email every Monday to give you a list of all the content for the week! Get it all in one place. Oh…and if you want to look for the best Promo the industry has to offer, you can check that out here.
by Kirby Hasseman
How many of you have ever started a new year (or a new quarter, or a new week) with the very intense desire to improve your fitness? Raise your hand…everyone. You had decided that “enough was enough.” You were going to put in the work. You were going to follow the plan. You had a goal in your mind. You had new “workout shoes.” You were fired up and you were committed. And you failed. Sound familiar? It does to many of us…me included. We know what to do. We just struggle with the discipline to do it. You know the quote I use all the time… The greatest distance in the world is the distance between “I know” and “I do.” I think the same is true for success in content marketing. As a matter of fact, I see a lot of similarities between success in fitness and in social media! Don’t believe me? Here are 10 ways Content Marketing and Fitness are the same! 1. Success takes a long time: One of the common misperceptions that causes frustrations in both is that results happen quickly. They don’t. The best plans for both start extremely slow and show only incremental progress at first. 2. You need to focus on the day…not the goal: If you continue to look at the marathon, you will get discouraged quickly. You don’t need to run 26.2 miles on day 2 of training for the marathon. You just have to run 2. The same is true with content. You don’t need a million followers. You just need to do the work today. 3. Consistency is Key: You can’t work out for a week and take 2 weeks off and have 6 pack abs (trust me, I know). The best success comes from consistent work. 4. It’s important to track progress: Most training plans have you weigh yourself at the beginning (and take pictures). That way, when you are frustrated, you can see how far you have come. The same is true with content. Start with your traffic baseline. The progress will be slow…but then you can look back later to your progress. 5. Most people start fast…and can’t keep it up: I started P90X the first time and went out of the gates like crazy. Then I could not lift my arms for a week. We have all see the company that started off with a Facebook page like crazy…and then have not posted in 2 months. 6. Most people use the same excuses about why they can’t do it: I know. You don’t have time. Bullshit. Yes you do. Do it or don’t do it. Your call. But time is not your issue. 7. The best plans do a little every day: You don’t have to go out the first week and run 25 miles. It’s often better to start slow and build up. The same is true on the content side. Start slow. There is no point firing out at a pace you can’t maintain. 8. The best people are intentional: You don’t have to (and probably shouldn’t) work out every day. You need to create rest days to let your body recover. But you need to do it on purpose. If every day becomes a rest day, then the routine is over. If you follow a plan, it’s much easier to stay on track! 9. The first 3 months are the hardest: In the program P90X, it’s 90 days for a reason. In that time you can create a habit in your day to workout. And you START to see results then. The work isn’t done. But that’s when it starts to become a part of you. 10. Most people know what to do…but aren’t willing to do it: Fitness and fad diets are huge business. We all want the shortcut. But if we eat less (or better) and work out more, most of us will get results. The fact is, we know that. Most of us are just not willing to DO it. These are just 10 ways that Content Marketing is like Fitness. There are more. So let’s put the excuses to bed. Create a plan. Then, let’s get to work! Make sure you never miss an update (like a mental workout). Sign up for our VIP newsletter here!
by Kirby Hasseman
For many years now, I have said that all of us are media companies. It’s a mind shift in marketing your business or telling your story that is the result of cell phones with amazing cameras and the internet. You are no longer a company that sells cars. You are a media company that also sells cars. This shift makes you think differently about how you tell stories. I talked about it in this blog back in May. It really changes the way you think. You start to see stories that need telling. We did. We started to see those stories. But we were not sure this blog or website was the right place. So we decided to create “the right place.” That is why we created “Ohio’s Heart.” Ohio’s Heart is an online media company dedicated to promoting positivity and spreading kindness in, what we feel, is an underserved area in Ohio. What is that area? Think of the area along the intersection of 70 and 77. We will cover up to Wayne County and down to Washington County. We will have articles, videos and podcasts as we move forward. And we will be looking for ideas on stories to cover (so help us keep an eye out). We are starting slowly, as we are learning as we go, but we posted our first article to social media Friday (check that out here). What can you do? First off, feel free to follow us on social media. We are on Facebook and Instagram. Next up, share any articles you think have value! Finally, as you check into the site, you can make sure you never miss an update by signing up for the Ohio’s Heart email. It’s a great way to know about positive things going on in our region. So check out the website now and give us your two cents. We appreciate the feedback and the support as we try to make positivity louder in our region! P.S. Special shout out to Skylar Hasseman, who has been working hard to get this site up and running for the last couple of months! With the help of Josh Williams and Eric Dingler, we have it live. Nice job Skylar! We have a new post each and every day on THIS site. Make sure you stay connected by signing up for our VIP newsletter here.
by Kirby Hasseman
I hear the world “authenticity” thrown around a lot today. Heck, I even find myself using it a lot. It’s almost become one of those business cliche’s that pops up in every meeting. These are the words that lose their meaning, because they are used so much. (As a side note, friends and I would play Buzz Word Bingo at an old job. We would keep track of all of the cliche terms, and when we heard them all, we could yell “Bingo!” It was really funny…once.). There is a problem with authenticity though. It’s a term we like when it serves our needs. We don’t ALWAYS like authenticity. There is an asterisk beside the term. *We like authenticity in specific circumstances. *We like it for ourselves: We love the idea of authenticity when we are talking about ourselves! Yes…people will love the real me! “If I am genuine and honest and transparent (another new buzz word), the world will flock to love me.” But are we as excited and enthusiastic when other people are THAT genuine? *We like it when we agree: We love the idea of someone who is authentic and is saying what we believe. We can’t get behind that enough. We might (as a culture) even label them as brave for doing it. Good stuff. But what about those people who authentically disagree with us? Do we label them as “brave” or as “evil and misguided?” *We like it when we understand: This is a close relative to above, but it’s not exactly the same. We might not TOTALLY agree, but we have friends that do. We at least understand the plight. So you we can gladly laud them for speaking up! But what about the causes or efforts we don’t understand.? You get the point (I hope). We can’t just love and admire the authenticity of a few. And in the interest of transparency, I preach being authentic. I think, to find your voice, it’s incredibly important. But if it’s a characteristic that is to be admired and cultivated, we need to open our minds…authentically. We have a new piece of content every day. Want to keep up? Sign up for our VIP newsletter here. Our goal is to provide you value, so make sure you never miss a post.
by Kirby Hasseman
I was struggling.
We all have days like that. We have those days that make us wonder why we do what we do. Does it really matter? Does anyone really care? I don’t think it’s just me. So that day I was having “one of those days.” And then I got this message posted on my Facebook wall.
“Like a lot of people, I’m sure, I listen to podcasts while I’m driving. Yours is one that I listen to. Bailey (my 6 year old) generally hates when I “just listen to people talk”, but, the last few times she’s gotten in the car she’s asked if we can listen to Kirby. When I told her you are a friend of mine that I’ve known for a long time, she instantly declared “I want to be friends with him too”. I’m not sure that 6 year olds are the audience you are aiming for, but we are all fans of yours. ?” Sarah
I can’t tell you how much this brightened my day! But it’s not about me…it’s about you.
Though Sara and her 6 year old Bailey boosted my day, that’s not the point. The point is, we all have the ability to spread that piece of joy.
My rule is simple. If I catch myself saying something nice about someone behind their back…I tell them.
That’s an easy rule that we can all take a moment to follow. So give some thought to that person that helped you this week (or this month).
Make a list. Then take a minute to reach out to them on Facebook, or via text or pick up the phone. It’s very likely that you will lift someone’s day (like Sarah and Bailey did for me). And what’s even cooler is that you will likely lift your own spirits as well!
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