In this weeks newsletter:
– Clarity on what’s important.
– Great advice on giving feedback to content writers.
– Where does marketing go next?
– A great set of hot links.
– Get Better Friday – saying what you want to say.
Stir crazy. That’s what comes to mind now that I’ve been home for 6 weeks without leaving.
In good news, I’ve totally reworked my home network with a new professional-grade firewall while running cat6 cable throughout the house. Its been nice to work on projects I’ve put off for months, always telling myself, “I’m too busy to get to that right now.”
I’ve never had an overly complicated life. I’m very lucky to have a job and a lifestyle that allows my wife to be a stay-at-home mom. We don’t have competing schedules, daycare and we live far away from family, so we don’t have busy weekends either. Yet, with the current situation and now working from home, even my life has slowed down. Which is something I really needed.
A struggle for me has always been trying to decipher between doing the important work and just being busy for the sake of being busy. These last 6 weeks have given me a chance to clear my head and set my priorities right. Which is good, cause the coming economic disaster is going to be one of the most difficult times in our lives. Hard decisions will need to be made.
The way through is knowing the difference between important and urgent.
Words matter
This is a great post for anyone who works with content writers, not just freelancers or contractors. How you give feedback is critical with everyone on your team and there is a huge difference between being good or bad at it.
The best way I changed my feedback style was to stop recommending fixes. Instead, I focus on providing information on what the reader might be doing, looking for or thinking while they’re looking at the piece. Then, allow the writer to be the expert and professional. Why? Because they are! Let them be the expert. Let them choose how to create and present the content. Trust me, they’ll make way better content when they know they’re respected.
This is a great read and worth your time. If you’re looking for a place to get started, use this as a way to get better at giving feedback.
How to Give Clear, Actionable Feedback to Your Content Writers | Marijana Kay
Thinking ahead matters, too
Serious business decisions are coming soon, if they haven’t happened for your business already. I know its hard to envision the future right now, but if you can put anything down it will help. For me, putting some time and energy into the future helps distract me from the present. What I’ve been focusing on are the things I can actually influence. I can’t control this pandemic, the governments response or the ongoing economic impact. I can, however, control my reaction, my focus and intentions.
What steps can you take, no matter how small? Every step forward is still forward. If you need someone to brainstorm with, shoot me a line and I’d be happy to talk.
Preparing Your Business for a Post-Pandemic World
Hot Links
- Marketing is More than Communication cartoon | Marketoonist | Tom Fishburne
- The Founder’s Field Guide for Navigating This Crisis — Advice from Recession-Era Leaders, Investors and CEOs Currently at the Helm | First Round Review
- How People Read Online: New and Old Findings
- The DO Lectures – ‘It’s Just Me’ Manifesto.
- Benchmark Data: How COVID-19 Is Impacting Sales and Marketing Performance [Updated Weekly]
Keep tabs on this page. The data is interesting and the insights help phrase what we’re all thinking, but might be struggling to convey to the right people. If you’re communication has increased to customers, consider increasing your communication to your internal stakeholders just as much.
This quote stood out to me: “Instead of dialing up the promotion of your products and services during a crisis — an approach that may be insensitive to your customer base, focus on nurturing the long-term relationship. Identify where you can help your customers today, without asking for anything in return.”
What to say | Get Better Friday
With the coming economic impact from COVID-19, a lot of hard decisions and even harder conversations are going to happen. This is going to be an incredibly hard time for everyone, including us as leaders. Whether or not its our decision, we’ll have to break news to our team we hope we’ll never have to say.
I know I’ve been worrying about it. Hell, everyone has been worrying about it. This nagging feeling of what comes next. What is the next part of this journey? So many people have lost so much already and based on the jobs report that came out this week, its going to keep getting worse.
We all want to put on a strong facade for our team. Show them strength. But, true leadership doesn’t come from hiding your real emotions. Real leadership is having those emotions, sharing them, and in spite of them preserving anyway. I’ve mentioned before that its okay to have feelings and to make them known in your team. They need to see that transparency now more than ever.
How about this one time, you say what you want to say not what you think you have to say.