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Powering Through the Bottom Third

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Let’s divide homemade bread into the job rule of thirds: 1) baking the bread: my passion, 2) shopping for the ingredients: so-so, 3) doing the dishes: blech. 

The job rule of thirds says that all jobs, even those that fulfill our passions and get us up in the morning, are subject to three levels of must do’s. One third of our tasks are those we absolutely love. Another third are tasks that are so-so, but not too bad. The last third, unfortunately, are tasks we dislike, maybe even hate. 

For many small business owners, marketing is like doing the dishes. It’s the bottom third of the job and we’d rather not do it. Yet, the reality is, if we don’t market our business, we won’t have a business.

How can we power through that bottom third and get this difficult task done?

Make It Fit, Set Goals, Follow a Routine

Sounds like an exercise program, yes? Actually, it is. It’s an exercise in growing your business. Here are three ways to help:

  1. Decide what kind of marketing fits you and your customers. If social media is your go-to, determine which platforms your customers use and how many of those you can handle. Whatever form of marketing you do, make it your own.
     
  2. Set quantitative goals. Maybe you’re going to spend one hour a day on marketing. Or maybe do three social media posts a week. Whatever goal you set, make it achievable.
     
  3. Follow a routine. Many people find getting the difficult task out of the way first makes the rest of the day more productive and fun. Whatever routine you choose, stick to it.
LET’s WORK TOGETHER

What I’m Working On This Month

My annual project—an annual report for Forward Mutual Insurance Company. Lots of fun stuff here; content, photos, financial graphs, reports and, yes, most importantly, a cover reflecting the unprecedented year of 2020.

What I’m Tuned In To This Month

  1. Roadside Culture Stands: Jay Salinas, from my client Wormfarm Institute, talks about the artist-built mobile farm stands popping up around Wisconsin.
  2. The Case for Reviving the Civilian Conservation Corps: Successful during the Depression, maybe it’s what we need now.
  3. Back on Track: Feel like you’re drifting after a year of COVID? Listen to this.
  4. A Nearly True Story: The Tale of the Hamlet, by Tim Rinne. A great article on neighbors coming together and growing food during COVID.
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The Sweet Freedom of Your Own Business

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There’s so much to love about winter—glistening beauty, outdoor adventures, indoor coziness. But if there’s one thing we all really love, it’s the END of winter.

a.k.a. Maple Syrup Season

Since I’m relatively new to syruping, I appreciate learning from social media groups. There you’ll find tappers of every kind, from a single tree in their urban backyard to thousands in rural forests. You’ve got your traditionalists hanging buckets and your enterprisers stringing tubal lines. You’ve got your watchkeepers over heat-induced evaporators and your innovators pushing the process with reverse osmosis.

Me? I’m thrilled with my six taps drip, drip, dripping into old-fashioned buckets and I happily stoke wood into our even-more-old-fashioned, not-at-all-efficient, outdoor fireplace. Yet, I’m hinting to my engineering peeps that a home-fabricated RO system sure would be interesting.

When it comes to maple syruping, I’m definitely my own girl. 

Speaking of Sweetness

In a recent workshop, I showcased Hilary Kearny, of Girl Next Door Honey. She’s a savvy business woman and is brilliant in branding herself to her profitable customers. 

When I asked Hilary about her tactics, she admitted: “If I’m totally honest, I was mostly just celebrating my own freedom to make my business and branding whatever I wanted.”

Celebrating your own freedom. Isn’t that simply the best?

Running a business is like tapping for syrup: there are many ways to do it. But in the end, your business is YOUR business. Celebrate the freedom to make it whatever you want it to be!

What I’m Working On This Month

As mentioned above, I recently presented a marketing workshop for the Women Food & Ag Network (WFAN) for its “Stories that Sell: A Robust Communications Toolkit for Sustainable Ag Farmers and Ranchers.”

Be sure to follow WFAN for upcoming podcasts, videos, webinars and handouts. 

What I’m Tuned In To This Month

  1. Family Recipe: A poetic video of family, ingredients, and blending together.
  2. No Ordinary Woman, by Janice Sanford Beck. Outdoor adventures—my own and other’s— have saved me from winter/pandemic blahs. Looking forward to reading this for my book club.
  3. Emily Ford—another amazing woman—has been hiking Wisconsin’s 1200-mile Ice Age Trail through since December 28.
  4. 13 Ways to Launch a Food Business of Your Dreams: by Bon Appétit. 

Seasons Greetings from Adunate!

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From our home to yours, may your celebrations be blessed!

So, yes, this is my home office, where for the past 15 years Adunate has worked its magic. This year my work space has been both a refuge and, well, an isolation (I’m guessing you can relate). But, hey, no complaints here. As we wrap up 2020, I’m thankful for so many blessings: faith, family, friends and good health. 

Keep On Keeping On

I’m also thankful for another year working with inspiring clients. It’s an understatement to say it was one of complexities and contrasts, thanks to the coronavirus. I watched some clients struggle to keep their doors open. Yet another client started a new business—check out Hymns In My Heart, a specialty card shop.

One of my clients had to cancel its annual conference part way through our project, yet I was privileged to present marketing workshops at two others. The world stopped meeting in person and overnight we mastered all manner of videoconferencing technology. Amazing, isn’t it?

Many of my clients have changed the way they deliver their products. Curbside pickup and online shopping carts are now the norm, which in turn changes the work I do for them. This year, web design kept me much busier than print design. 

Through it all, I cherish our meaningful friendships. I truly work with the best clients! As Curtis Mayfield used to sing, “And there’s still a lot of faith and warmth and trust, when we keep on keeping on.”

And that’s just what we’re doing—keeping on.

What I’m Working On This Month: Vacation!

Every holiday season my husband and I take time off between Christmas and New Year. This year we’re adding a couple days on either side to make it a full two weeks, said with a big cheer! We’re planning a few day trips, hiking (hopefully snowshoeing) and plain ol’ hanging out at home. Glorious!

These off-days are also the time I clean my office and start planning the new year. Stashing the old calendars and putting out the new is always rejuvenating. I think we’re all ready for that, right?

Good riddance, 2020!

What I’m Tuned In To This Month

  1. Christmas in Lake Country: meaningful for the whole family, either in Facebook or YouTube
  2. Ever want to align your planting with the seasons? Me too. I bought this Gardening By The Moon Calendar for 2021.
  3. WFH is a hot topic. I love perusing home offices and creative spaces.
  4. Art Story: The Ecology of Expression and Perspective, celebrate Winter Solstice with the Women, Food & Ag Network.

Wrapping Up 2020

However you celebrate the holidays, my prayer is that God is with you. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Pickles, Pumpkins, and the Pandemic Pivot

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This year, for whatever reason (let’s just blame COVID), we had a horrible cucumber crop. But we had green beans galore, so we pickled dillies instead. We lost all our pumpkins to beetles. But we had a glorious peach crop, so I’ll buy a pie pumpkin for Thanksgiving and serve cobblers the following months.

Our summer gardening mimics the change in direction many businesses have recently taken. Call it the Pandemic Pivot, if you will, it’s the dance businesses large and small have done in order to survive these past seven months. It’s the steps they may have to continue for the next seven months. 

How’s business been for you? What might you need to do differently next year? Now’s a good time to take a reality check.

What I’m Working On This Month

Ever wonder why some businesses get all the media attention? I’m putting together a workshop that answers just that. Check out the Women’s Farm & Ag Network Annual Conference and sign up for “Create a Media Kit that Brings Publicity to Your Farm.”

What I’m Tuned In To This Month

  1. The Land Remembers, by Ben Logan.This month would have been his centennial birthday. A great memoir of growing up on the farm in the 1920-30s in Driftless Wisconsin.
  2. Young Blood Beer Co. Their business plan was to open a taproom, then COVID hit. In their words, they “revised,” “adjusted,” and accepted “it is what it is.”
  3. Octoberfest Brewery Tour. Every year we take an annual “celebration of sipping and scenery.” This year we’re social distancing on the North Shores.
  4. Revisiting Carole Cadwalladr’s still-relevant TED Talk. “It’s not about left or right…it’s about whether it’s actually possible to have a free and fair election ever again.” 

Create a Media Library For Successful Marketing

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Being the visual creatures we are, photography is one of the most attention-getting and storytelling means of marketing your small business. This is true whether you’re posting on Facebook or printing a hardcopy brochure (still very effective, by the way). 

Fortunately for us, smart phones make it easy to put together a media library filled with quality photos. The tricky part is ensuring that “perfect shot” is usable and, haha, findable when you need it.

In this post I’m covering usability. Stay tuned for my next post on findability. 

Photography Determines Project Success

From my experience as a graphic and web designer, here are three tips for success in your marketing project. They will also save you time and money.

Your photos should:

  1. Be Consistent With Your Brand
    Your photography should always match your business values. It should resonate with your target market. Earlier this year I updated a website for The Real Estate Duo. Check out the photo they gave me to use on their Meet the Duo page. It shows perfectly the fun, sassy, and totally capable Realtors that they are. 
     
  2. Elevate Your Narrative
    Storytelling and marketing go hand-in-hand. What stories do your photos tell? When Wisconsin’s Soil Sisters were featured in Modern Farmer Magazine, the photography conveyed the unique relationship these women have with one another. It also enabled readers to feel part of their farms and family. Do you have storytelling photos ready when it’s your turn to shine?
     
  3. Be High-Res
    When it comes to saving you time and money, I can’t stress enough the importance of high-resolution photography. This is especially true when it comes to hardcopy promotional pieces, where professional printing requires 300 dpi or higher (note: photos copied from the internet will notwork). Remember, you can always downsize the dimensions or resolution of an image after it’s taken, but you can never increase it. Shoot your photos in the highest resolution available—in fact, change your camera settings right now! Also, be sure to email photos to your designer in their fullest size. Do not diminish the file for the sake of easier emailing. 

Stay tuned next month for helpful tips in organizing those photos!

What I’m Working On This Month

August is Fermentation Fest month—for the guide, that is. The Fermentation Fest team and I have been researching, gathering, laying out, rearranging, editing, rearranging, adding, and rearranging again. All this behind-the-scenes is culminating an extraordinary gem; a literary/art zine, both beautiful and intelligent. Watch for it in mid-August throughout Wisconsin, Chicago, and the Twin Cities.

What I’m Tuned Into This Month

  1. Turning Personal Pain into Power, Regina Brett interviews Mary Watson on resilience. Good choices determine our life.
  2. The Corner Table, Forage for Your Supper, Wow, talk about creative entrepreneuring! Fermented hot sauce, wild food walks, wild food dinners, and CSA wild greens. 
  3. Bruschetta with Pesto: Fresh tomatoes and basil, hmmmm. My favorite of the gardening season. 
  4. This is Your Brain on Nature: Even more relevant during this summer of Covid.