Business – Page 3

So you want to pick my brain

Disclaimer: this is not about you. I have received many pick-your-brain emails through the years. I also volunteer a lot of time to community efforts and provide free content (like this newsletter and blog) because I believe giving back is important for sustaining an industry.

So you want to pick my brain about what I do and how I got here. Before the pandemic, you probably wanted to grab a coffee, now it’s video chats.

Time to reexamine or create your company values

Usually, at the formation of a company, you write up a mission statement and identify your brand values. It’s a good idea to also reexamine these from time to time to see if anything has shifted in light of major events, like operating in a pandemic or the mainstream discourse on Black Lives Matter.

Questions to reflect on

I will be honest and say that my mind is blank as to what to write right now. It happens. Despite what people may think about creative types having an endless supply of ideas and inspirations, my ideas well has been dry for quite some time now. Instead, I’ll share some questions I’ve been reflecting on.

How to handle racism as a company

Imagine that you had a friend who kept poking you with a stick. With every poke, a mark was left on your skin. Sometimes the mark disappears and other times, it remains present and scarred over. You tell them to stop. You ask why they’re poking. You say it hurts.

On mental health & reopening

It took a while to figure out what I was going to write for this issue. At 4:45 pm Pacific time today, I locked in on something: the mental health angle of reopening. It’s something I want to reflect on, so stay with me here.

Planning the plan for the plans

There’s a weird partnership between perfectionism and marketing. You spend too much time thinking about how a campaign can go poorly and you miss an opportunity. But if you don’t think about enough, you might end up trending on Twitter in a bad way. How do you craft a plan that feels good but also stops you from becoming a nitpicking monster?

NEW: Free 15-min brainstorming sessions

Because I’m not actively seeking clients right now, I have a little free time to spare and give back. If you’re a coffee business or organization that has been or will be affected by COVID-19 and you’d like to bounce potential marketing ideas off of me, I am offering free 15-min brainstorming sessions.

Marketing in a time of crisis

It’s rough times. And the service industry is getting hit so hard. Marketing during a crisis always feels a little…off. Some business emails have looked more like virtue signaling. Like, bare minimum, I hope you’re treating your employees well.

Giving yourself some grace

I’ve been grappling with the idea of “grace” lately. And not the religious or spiritual kind. As you might know, I moved to a new place three weeks ago. Since moving here, I’ve already gone on two trips. But to me, it feels like I’ve been here forever and why haven’t I already organized everything and put decor on the walls? If it was any other person, I’d tell them to take their time but since it’s me, I feel like I’m lacking that same patience and grace.

Read the digital room, kthxbai

“Read the room” is a common phrase when talking about analyzing an audience while you’re the speaker. In case you’re unfamiliar with the phrase, you take into account nonverbal and verbal cues from the people you’re around and adjust your words accordingly. A good example of this would be that if you’re at a posh dinner party, avoiding sharing intimate details about your life (unless, of course, that’s the topic- and that’s where you’d “read the room” to adjust your words).

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