BIRTHDAYS, SOCIAL OBJECTS, and MARKETING
Oh, My!
Hi, Everyone!
August is my birthday month; my parents call it the “Month of Maura” (I think there’s some snark in that moniker, but I choose to ignore it). I spent last month working on a specific set of goals and thinking a lot about goal-setting, doing what many people do in January with their newly-formed New Year’s Resolutions. July was more freeing to me than January — the pressure of the new year wasn’t there; the constant barrage of the goals and plans of others wasn’t splashed across social media as a distraction. Instead, by choosing a month that worked for me rather than a month prescribed by others, I could put in the time and concentration I needed to make it work. Here’s what I learned from July and what August holds for me regarding the next steps, new goals, and accountability.
ACTION ITEM – Identify your social object
It may seem like a pointless exercise or a lesson in futility, but trust me on this: you need a social object (and you likely already have one…or several). So what is your personal social object? Here’s my take on social objects and why they’re important, especially for your social media presence. Wondering about your next steps with social objects? Check out my 5 Quick Questions with Philip Becker about his amazingly popular Margarita Mondays and how they helped to build and brand his business.
Favor I’m Asking of You This Month – For the entire month of August, I’ve created one small, simple random act of kindness to make my birthday month a month of Giving and Giving Back. Follow along on my Facebook page or Instagram, and please won’t you join me in making August even more awesome?
Article I’m pondering – A good friend posed a question last week on Facebook about using emojis in the subject lines of your emails (**ahem**checks own subject line of this newsletter**). He asked: “When you see an emoji or icon in an email subject line, do you (1) immediately think it’s spam, or (2) give it more attention or think it’s more important?” It got me thinking, which led me to Googling and ultimately find this interesting read from the Wall Street Journal on why you should use emojis at work — what do you think?
Celebrate with me! What does August mean to me? Here are a few fun thoughts on my birthday month. But seriously, here’s how you can celebrate with me: do something nice for yourself. Buy yourself that one thing you’ve been wanting; treat yourself to that dessert you’ve been denying yourself; schedule that pedicure or massage or day at the spa you’ve been putting off. In short, pretend it’s your birthday, too, and celebrate accordingly. I raise my glass to you this month, my friends! [Insert clinking champagne glass emoji here! LOL!]
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Thanks for reading – see you next month!
