Dear ,
As New York days slowly shine longer, the winter cold blows through to remind us of the need to huddle together for warmth.
Regardless of what’s happening outside wherever you are now, the community and people around you are core to your business and your life.
Unlike the family you’re born with, I call this "your chosen family."
Connecting with people in your life enhances and adds meaning to it.
In this vein, like marketers, my husband and I committed to a personal goal of building community.
But community and other types of human relationships require showing up and caring. My favorite example of this is the Little Prince in Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s book, Le Petit Prince. In my opinion, it’s one of the best guides for building relationships.
These 2 quotes show why:
“He was only a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But I have made him my friend, and now he is unique in all the world.”
“Here is my secret. It is very simple. It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; What is essential is invisible to the eye.”
To this end, we started hosting our annual winter party where we invite our
friends and colleagues over to our home to spend an evening with great company and food this past weekend.
We dubbed our party a “Beat The Winter Blues Bash!". (BTW: I’ve recommended this type of celebration to B2C marketers for years to jump start your selling year.)
Similarly, my friend and colleague Andy Crestodina hosts a monthly live event, “Wine and Web” at Orbit Media in
Chicago. If you live there, put this event on your “Must Attend” list.
At its core, business is about building a community.
I learned this lesson working for a local weekly newspaper in Queens (a borough of New York City) when I was in college. (BTW, the newspaper is still going and has added a digital version!)
Local newspapers remain a viable business model because they serve their hyper-local communities. It’s where members turn to learn about their friends and neighbors.
Beyond births, marriages, and deaths local newspapers run on human interest stories like Little League and the latest local politics. Like content marketing, when in doubt add more photos of people. They sell newspapers.
How can you build your business community?
The answer is simple: Show up, listen and care.
If you engage and operate your business online, by definition, you’ve got a global audience. (Understand that this differs from a global business.)
What does this mean?
Your readers may come from anywhere in the world since they can access your content on the platforms where you share and distribute it. They bring their own diverse
perspective and experience to your information.
Further they may consume your content through the use of translation software adding another layer of communication complexity.
Bottom line:
What you innocently write and share with the best intention may be seen as hurtful and shortsighted.
Therefore be aware of these differences and be sensitive to your audience’s point of view.
For example:
Fringe Association’s Karen Templer discovered this the hard way this week. A knitting blogger, Karen innocently wrote a culturally tone deaf post about a bucket list trip she was planning. Her post caused a firestorm from angry readers.
But I give her credit for quickly and publicly
addressing the matter to her community head-on. I strongly recommend that you read her 2 blog posts as examples of how to engage directly with your community when you have a problem.
While Karen may lose some readers based on the post, she’ll deepen her relationship with those who stay and entered into the dialog on her blog.
What does this mean for your marketing?
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Get out from behind your desk. Attend industry and local events to build your relationships with the people in your community.
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Reach out and talk to your colleagues and customers. Schedule calls even if you can’t meet people face-to-face. With various types of communications, geography shouldn’t
hold you back from engaging. You get the bonus of feeling more connected and learning at the same time.
Heidi Cohen,
Actionable Marketing Guide
Happy Marketing,
Heidi
When less than 60% of digital traffic is non-human, you need to ensure that your marketing is better at reaching people! This includes your:
- Advertising
- Owned Media
- Content Marketing on other sites including social media
Use these predictions and tactics to get your content marketing on track for this year.
 Brush up your 2019 social media marketing plans with these recommendations.
Join Me and top social media marketers in San Diego, March 20th – March 22. Register now and save – prices go up every week! Heidi Cohen Around the Internet
Terrific! You made it this far. Now here's the fine print:
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Social Media Marketing World 2019