Above is my favorite picture of my dog Maggie. She loves to ride with her head through the sun roof of my car.
This morning she got me up earlier than usual. She doesn’t like heat and as the days have become much warmer, she demanded an early walk. She will not be denied.
Early morning walks in this particular park are a gift. The birds call across the lake, the foxes are all rushing in from their hunting trips, and the air is fragrant with spring that seems to be bursting to bloom this year. I was reminded by a great TED talk I saw recently called Happy Maps: http://www.ted.com/talks/daniele_quercia_happy_maps. It’s a talk by a former efficiency expert who discovered that by adding a few extra minutes of things that add to our happiness we don’t lose time we gain enjoyment. It got me thinking about using his concepts in leveraging our own business growth.
At the park, I ran into another dog walker a new-ish business owner who I’ve known for a few years. She told me the story told by thousands of entrepreneurs – wearing all the hats, all the things she had accomplished so far and how much was still ahead of her. Then she started to ask me about how to increase her reach to attract more people to her endeavor.
It’s Hard to Know Where to Start
It’s common to take the typical marketing routes that others may recommend. But it might be more fun and productive in the long run to first start with the things you do well. We all thrive when we experience more happiness doing the things that light us up. This makes sense to me. Does it make sense to you too?
I told her to look at her strengths first. In her former life, she was an editor and writer. So I mentioned that writing might be a good place for her to start. She already is good at it. She has tremendous expertise and it’s a winner since she needs to use social media to grow.
I gave her a couple tips on making it a more organized process by using an editorial calendar to speed her on her way and always know what she needed to do next. Look for the next post to learn how to put one together.
If you don’t know what marketing actions to take, first take a look at your strengths and then connect them to the actions that utilize them. Get rid of the “shoulds” and start doing what will make you happy and productive.