Covid musings: December already?

Can you believe it’s December? What craziness is this that has warped the time paradigm this year? Seriously, I swear the clock has actually sped up. I don’t know about you but I’m equally excited and terrified that Santa will arrive in just 24 days and that 2020 is nearly over.

I had such BIG plans for this year. Two overseas writing retreats for my clients were booked and planned, a small Aussie workshop tour was ready to roll out, my next book was going to be published, and my decision to become a mother was never going to be questioned !!!!

But alas. The world had other ideas.

Covid musings

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Now is the hour of our discontent…

I’m not sure if it’s the time of year or simply the ridiculously weird twilight-zone bubble we’ve been in here in Melbourne, but I swear the days are flying by faster than ever before.

Since being ‘allowed out’ (from lockdown, not the asylum), I’ve felt confused, rushed and discontent.

It’s an odd reaction to being given back your freedom, right? I’m looking at myself curiously, wondering what’s going on…have I been institutionalised??? Or did I just find a lazy new norm?? Have I become a recluse? Have I finally morphed into the crazy cat lady my husband always thought I was destined to be???? Whilst I’ve loved seeing my family and friends again I have to admit I’ve not enjoyed the return to the kids’ activity runaround, nor the (perceived) pressure to suddenly be everywhere and do everything. I’ve not rushed out to go shopping or gone visiting all over the place. I simply don’t want to! (she says, stomping her foot like a 3 year old).

Hmm. Interesting…

This feeling has definitely affected how I show up on social media.

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Your Bounty Box

No, it’s not a box of coconut covered chocolates….

So what is a Bounty Box, then?

A Bounty Box is an actual box where I keep the kind things said about me from clients, colleagues, partners and peers. In it there are emails, greeting cards, small gifts, images of social comments and handwritten notes sent to me in appreciation for something I’ve done for them. I’ve been keeping this Bounty Box for about 7 years now, after I realised the importance of hoarding these goodies (and after my drawer started overflowing!)

Why do I have such a seemingly boastful box? Because it’s SUPER important to celebrate the impact you’re having on others, and be reminded every now and again, that you’re doing a great job and are on the right path. It’s also VERY powerful to see your world through others’ eyes.

How do I create a Bounty Box?

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4 Truths About Content Marketing

Marketing a small business is big business. There are so many ways to do it, experts to help teach it and platforms/apps/programs to support it. As a result, navigating the good from the bad, the necessary from the nice-to-haves and the impossible from the achievable is a minefield. On top of that, most small business owners find that just as they get a handle on one new way of marketing themselves they’re told that that’s old hat now and they should be looking at X. Content marketing IS an ever-changing field and unless you have a love of marketing and about 1000 spare hours in your week, it’s hard to stay on top of. In addition, common wisdom doesn’t always prevail.

I want to break it down for you, and give you 4 truths about content marketing that haven’t changed since its inception.

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Doesn’t everyone know this though?

This morning I had a root canal. An unexpected, expensive, bitch of a thing.

Whilst I lay there, with one eye scrunched close due to the mouth open situation, and the other staring firmly down the shaft of colour created by the iridescent light overhead, I willed myself to drift off into a magical meditative state so as to escape the hideousness going on in my head. Unfortunately I didn’t reach nirvana, nor even basic relaxation to be honest, so instead I tuned in to the conversation between the dentist and his nurse.
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The key to effective social marketing during Covid (and other uncertain times)

Effective social marketing during Covid requires you to listen, be human and stay connected. Baseline? You need to know your customers inside and out.

Overwhelmingly, the most popular question I’ve received lately is: “what should I be posting on social media right now?” And it’s a fair enough question too, because there is so much uncertainty around what’s right, what’s wrong, what’s perceived as politically astute and what’s not, what’s appropriate and by whose standards, and what sounds just downright delusional. So I want to talk you through what I believe is the key to effective social marketing during Covid – and by the way, this works in any uncertain times.

Tough as it may be, as a small business owner you can’t afford to stop marketing or selling right now, and that therefore includes posting (strategically) on social media. Why? Because your followers are spending more time online than they ever have before, which presents you with a unique opportunity to deepen your relationship with them and increase brand affinity. The challenge however, is that you can’t just pretend that it’s business-as-usual either, or you risk coming across as tone-deaf to an audience who potentially have heightened anxiety and sensitivities. Continue reading →

The joy in the minutiae

I have a very funny friend who has just had a baby, on her own, in her 40s. It’s not easy, but thankfully she has supportive parents nearby and an incredibly wicked sense of humour. I’m relishing her baby spam and blow by blow updates, as it makes me feel involved in little Jack’s life and also casts my mind back a decade to similar moments and feelings. I can’t help think that lockdown is actually the perfect time to have a newborn – no reason to go out, no pressure to join all the groups and do all the things. Heck, you don’t ever have to get your bub out of their jarmies if you don’t want to! It’s a great time to just ‘be’. Continue reading →

What do I know

As we come to the end of another week of lockdown in Melbourne, and the dust settles on my cabin-fever-homeschool-Mum nerves, I realise it’s been a while since I asked myself a really important question. I wonder whether it’s also been a while for you too? That question is this:

What do I know?

The reason it’s so important is because unless we know what we know…like, really know, it’s almost impossible to help others learn what we know and grow with what we know.

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Change is what you make it mean

“Jo – no heels?”

My friend Rachel recently asked me why I don’t wear heels much anymore.

Since moving to Somerville 6 months ago things have changed. It’s not that I don’t love how heels make my legs look or admire the craftsmanship of a really beautiful high-heeled shoe, but I just don’t have the hankering to wear them much anymore. It’s quite possible that I also don’t have as many occasions to don them as much as previously (although I guess I could wear them any ole day). OR perhaps it’s that when I put heels on I tend to adopt a kind of focused, powerhouse, get-shit-done kind of attitude…the attitude that accompanied me for a couple of decades in corporate land and in the early years of hardcore networking for my business.

But 6 months ago we made a change. And with it, a more relaxed state has washed over me. Boots are now more commonly adorning my feet.
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It’s my business birthday

5 years ago TODAY my business changed direction. The Content Coach was born! It’s my business birthday (of sorts!)

My biz had been running as a copywriting and content strategy business for almost 5 years already, under the name of How You Say It. But I had a sore neck…a sore back… and I was done. Done sitting at a desk into the wee hours of the night writing for other people. Exhausted trying to sound like other people all the time. I wanted – needed – to do something different.

I also wanted to leverage my experience more widely, globally. I wanted to use my time better – stop trading each individual hour for $$. I wanted to teach the man to fish (metaphorically!) – I was done fishing for him.

It was a crisis point for me.

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