Being a self-employed Marketer – I’ve realised that being able to grow my new fledgeling business has largely, for me, been about Community.
Those who I know. Those who I am yet to meet. Those who know me who know others. Those who talk to people about me. Those who don’t know me yet, but that I have on my list to meet.
My favourite quote has, for most of my working life, come from the poem Ulysses by Alfred Lord Tennyson. He writes about moving on – he writes,
Yet all experience is an arch wherethrough
Gleams that untravelled world, whose margin fades
For ever and for ever when I move.
How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
To rust unburnished, not to shine in use!
But that’s not actually my favourite part. My favourite part is the line “I’m a part of all that I have met”.
You see – I’m a firm believer in the fact that your community – be it your immediate working environment, where you live, where you go to school, your gym, your local fresh fruit & veg grocer, the little lady you bump into in the mornings while you wait for the bus – are all part of this great big journey we call life. And before I hastily run away on my philosophical horse, let me bring it back to the case in point. Self-employment.
I’ve recently had the wonderful opportunity to get back into my local community – and pick up commitments and engagements that kept me intrigued before heading on to new corporate pastures. I’ve had the opportunity to re-discover online networks where people, not too dissimilar to myself, are looking to grow their businesses, expand their profiles, and grab this thing we call The Gig Economy with both hands and succeed.
So this evening, that’s exactly what I did. Between updating profiles on freelancer websites, and joining expat forums – I soon felt part of a brand new community of the self-employed – who are all focussed on 3 things:
And what’s even more encouraging are businesses who are actively adapting their business models – and grabbing this new way of working – and respecting skills and talent – not business names and brands – to get the real success that they’re after.
And that’s encouraging – no matter who you are.
It’s summer in beautiful Dorset – and summertime in the UK (and most other countries, I presume) means Festivals, Fetes, Events, Fairs and anything outdoorsy that we can get our hands on.
I have the pleasure of working alongside a wonderful local event held in Beaminster each year, called Buckham Fair. Buckham Fair is hosted by Martin & Philippa Clunes on their farm in August every year and sees visitors from all over the world attend the event. Buckham is all things vintage – an old-school, feel-good, community event filled with food, rides, artisans, crafts, dog and pony shows and classic cars and more.
But working on this event has been about so much more than getting things prepared – if anything, being part of this spectacular event has demonstrated the power of the community spirit. The event sees over 100 traders from all over the countryside exhibit their businesses – whether they’re baking something delicious, or crafting something spectacular out of wood, whether they have the answer to your Christmas Gift list dilemma – I’ve realised that it doesn’t matter who you are, or what you do – what you do is special to someone.
We’re all looking for an opportunity to shine – and what a privilege it is to work with businesses making a difference.
Their stars will be extra-bright on Sunday 21 August.
This week, while having the fantastic opportunity to work on a new customer account and exploring the wonderful platform that is Quora (a Q&A social media platform) a little more to promote new business avenues, I came across a question which started the thinking juices.
The question was, “What are some common beginner mistakes in content marketing and how does one not get pointed at and told “you’re doing it wrong”?
Dripping with insecurity, this question floored me.
We (by “we” I mean “us marketing folk”) are social people. We like to share – but it’s also about drumming up noise. Noise to direct traffic to a point. Noise to get people to know about us (or our brands). Noise to make a point. And sometimes, noise, just for the sake of making noise. We’re all guilty of it.
And for a few minutes, I thought back to the starting block of my own career in Marketing – the overwhelming intimidation I felt by all these GREAT resources, top tips, 10 facts, Quick Start Guides, 5 rules, 7 insights that you see in the social hemisphere. And then there are the inspirational, 2 minutes with Richard Branson, the “One thing my mother taught me”, the influencer thought processes, the 30-second thought-provoking video – also aiming to direct traffic, shout about your brand, make a point etc – but in a slightly more passive aggressive way.
Make no mistake – I am a massive fan of the Top Tips and 5 rules content – but at the point of starting out – and taking my first step into the world of representing a brand publically – it was exactly these pieces of quick-fire content that overwhelmed my thought process. Yes, it quickly developed my sense of discernment in terms of who I want to listen to and who I choose to unfollow – but the daunting thought that I was about to leap into the super fast swimming lane alongside professional athletes who live in an “eat-or-be-eaten” marketing world was more than I could bear.
So – looking at my Quora Question-Poser – I took a slightly different approach to the 93 other people answering the question. I was a little more real.
You don’t HAVE to be the best at what you do, when you’re starting out. You don’t need to be. You find just 1 or 2 people that you consider to have great advice and tips – you take what you like, you learn as much as you have the capacity for, you dip your toe into the water…. followed by your ankles, then your knees… and when you’re ready – you jump into the kiddies lane and paddle your way around, until you’re ready to swim under the lane separator and speed up.
There’s no Complete Marketing Degree that will teach you everything you need to know. There are good ways of doing things, and there are bad ways of doing things – but there’s no 1 thing. Marketing is ever-changing. Don’t be scared of it. Embrace it.
Just find the lane that suits your speed, and when you’re ready, you find a buddy, and then you speed up.
I saw my dad’s doppelgänger today.
I was standing next to the eggs, feeling frustrated that all the large free range eggs had sold out, when I looked up and saw this chap pushing his trolley towards me. Dressed in a pair of beige chinos, a navy blue jumper and light-blue collared shirt, covered up by a light brown bunny jacket (apologies if that’s spelt incorrectly – I have never had the need to actually write “bunny jacket” – and now I have my doubts as to whether it’s a real thing or not). Grey hair, small bump on the right hand side of his forehead and a sweet peaceful smile on his face. He caught my eye as he made his way towards the baguettes.
My stomach dropped into my Clarks pumps as the entire surrounding population of shoppers blurred into nothing and the world only existed for this gent and I.
You see – my dad passed away just over a year ago. And being a South African living in the UK – I have done most of my grieving from a distance while trying to balance the perception of “not being at home with Pops” against the “he’s not here anymore” comprehension.
So, as you would imagine, this split second of realisation caused my entire retaining wall, to crumble.
I pulled into the Whole Foods aisle while I tried to regain my composure. It didn’t work. So decided to go and say hello nonetheless.
I tapped him on his shoulder. He looked around at this blubbering mess and I commenced to explain that he reminded me so much of my dad and that I just wanted to say hello.
Expecting nothing less – he stood slightly frigid, but still smiling awkwardly – not quite understanding what to make of this melted pot of goo that interrupted his mission of a morning shop. Trying to make chit chat – he asked whether I was local. I said I was. I asked whether he was. He said no. I apologised for the emotion. He said that there was no need to. And at that point, I became aware of my invasion of his non-emotion with mine, and I took my leave by tapping him on the arm again and saying something ridiculously mundane like, “Thanks. It was nice to see you”.
I returned to my trolley – and power-walked my way through the brans, past the tuna and to the closest check-out counter I could find.
Hardly containing my emotion – I simply put my sunglasses on, paid my bill and left.
So – why have I shared all of this?
Well, later that evening, this little episode consumed me. Let’s play it back – quick statistical check:
I realised that my emotional outburst must have confused / annoyed / intrigued my doppelgänger dad. I wondered what he was thinking when I furiously pushed my trolley away. Did he just shake his head and associate my instability with “typical small-town country” behaviour? Or did this perplex him too. Whatever it was – I got to thinking about the exchange.
Imagine for a second that my doppelgänger dad is your brand. You merrily live your life, doing things, taking part in things, living in a world that is familiar to you. You have your ups and downs and you just go through each day facing whatever challenges and opportunities that confront you. Except – one day, you meet someone who doesn’t know your brand. They come from their own world and their own challenges, and they encounter your brand which represents a certain something to them. A certain something which you have no knowledge, or control of. And you are at once faced with an impression that you didn’t create, but one which created itself for them.
We are our own brands – and as much as we try to create an impression to represent something specific, there will almost always be a case where, as hard as you may try, your brand represents something completely different, to someone.
It either excludes. Or it includes. It either complements, or offends. And sometimes, there’s absolutely nothing you can do, but smile and ask, “are you local?”.
Need to review your brand? Let’s have a cuppa and chat about it.
So – after a busy busy week – I’ve had a little peek at the analytics and brains behind this very page you’re looking at now.
It turns out that this week, my visitors have hailed from:
So – Thank you. To all of you. I don’t know who you are, but I think you’re great.
And feel free to pop in any time again.
By the way – keep your eye out for next week’s blog – we’ll be talking Analytics and SEO and stuff – and no, I won’t be giving too many of my secrets away – but I’ll give you some stuff to think about.