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Living Well + Learning = Hygge

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Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.

—Henry Ford

We’re all into hygge-ing these days with our cozy fires, flannel shirts and hot cocoa. But if we harken back to hygge’s origins—the word derives from the old Norse hyggja, which means “to be” or “to think”—maybe the hunkering season is also for learning something new.

Winter is a great time for online learning and there are plenty of platforms that, relatively speaking, are not that expensive. I’ve taken a number of courses from LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda’s) and the computer and marketing skills I gained more than cover the costs. Just recently, an entrepreneurial course from MasterClass caught my eye. Along with a bread making course. And wine appreciation. Have I ever mentioned my curiosities run the gamut of ADHD?

Whether it’s for business or personal, lifelong learning is essential to living well. What new things are you learning while cozying up this winter?

Hygge in Door County means Bayside Tavern in Fish Creek. It’s our favorite warming station after hiking the snowy trails. 

Tis the Tax Season

It only took me a couple years of self-employment before I realized some things are better left to the professionals. Like taxes. Organizing data for my accountant forces me to align my bookkeeping for the upcoming year. It’s a necessary, but good thing.

The same can be said for your marketing. Need help with your words or design? Give me a holler!

What I’m Tuned In To This Month

Let’s Work Together

Think Adunate might be a good fit for your next project? Give me a holler and we’ll discuss ideas.

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Spring Cleaning Your Social Media Marketing

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Two social media posts recently hit my feed. One raised my stress level and the other organized me into a calm.

The first was an email on how to start a LinkedIn newsletter. Ilise Benum is one of my favorite marketing consultants and I always gain from her advice. But, sigh, this time adding another marketing chore felt overwhelming.

The second was how to organize my home in a month in less than an hour a day. My dear cousin, successful realtor JerriLynn Osmar, shared this just in time to ease my mind.

I’m thinking the psychological lift we get from spring cleaning our homes also applies to social media marketing. The key to both is organization.

3 Steps for Organizing Your Social Media Marketing

  1. Know where your target market hangs out. A LinkedIn newsletter is an excellent idea IF your target audience uses LinkedIn. Based on my ongoing observations, I know Adunate’s audience uses Facebook and Instagram much more than they do LinkedIn. Therefore, my focus will be Facebook and Instagram. Do you know where your target audience hangs out?
  2. Cross-post your content. Cross-posting, or sharing the same content across multiple social media platforms, greatly simplifies your content curating life. Manually pick and choose which platforms are best for specific posts or use cross-posting apps for automatically posting to all your platforms at once. The key to cross-posting is judiciousness.
  3. Create a content calendar. Nothing organizes the brain more than a calendar. Planning your posts can be as simple as writing on a desk calendar, using a free template, or subscribing to one of many online apps. The key is to plan ahead and document your ideas.

What I’m Working On This Month

Spring means annual reports and newsletters. Such pieces serve to educate, entertain and/or persuade, and all must be done in a visually pleasing manner.

What I’m Tuned In To This Month

Let’s Work Together

Think Adunate might be a good fit for your next project? Give me a holler and we’ll discuss ideas.

CONTACT ME

Spring Has Sprung

Time to get out on the trails!

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Equinox and Moons: Reaping What We Sow

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Wrapping up September is always a transition. Last week we celebrated the autumn equinox and this week we’re waxing in a new moon. It’s the time we reap what we’ve sown, as the Good Book says, and we plan for the winter months ahead. 

Speaking of transitions, Mother Fools Coffeehouse in Madison, WI, recently unveiled its new mural “Dissolve,” by Audifax. Since 2001, this arts-focused cafe has hosted a rotating graffiti wall. Isn’t this piece beautiful?!

Our Marketing Harvest: 3 Months Out

In the same way we’re now harvesting abundance from the garden seeds we planted in spring, so goes our marketing. Studies show the average time to see results from marketing efforts is 3-6 months (depending on the industry, that timeframe can extend up to nine months). This means the marketing we do now determines our outcome for the holidays and upcoming months. 

Need help sowing your marketing seeds? 

LET’s WORK TOGETHER

What I’m Working On This Month

Adunate is wrapping up a web design project for HUB Waukesha, a group of non-profit organizations working together to reduce health barriers and promote the well-being of the Hispanic community in Waukesha Co, WI.

I’m privileged to work with such caring people! Check out their website here.

What I’m Tuned In To This Month

  1. Sauerkraut! This was a good year for cabbage and fermentation guru Sandor Katz shares a recipe.
  2. Is Plastic Waste the Cost of Eating? Everyone needs to read this, everyone needs to do their part.
  3. 3,000-Year-Old Canoe Found, Wisconsin’s second ancient dugout.
  4. Farm/Art DTour starts this weekend in Driftless Wisconsin!October 1-10. Rolling farmland, art installations, cows, puppets, music, fall colors, poetry and food, food, food! A must-do for autumn.

Timing is Everything When Marketing Your Business

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Every July Japanese beetles decide our vineyard is the tastiest on the block. Since we only have 100 vines and are striving to be organic, I simply knock those iridescent irritations into a bucket of soapy water and feed them to my chickens. My mode of defense is easy enough, yet timing is the key to its success. Japanese beetles are lethargic in cool temps, but quick to fly away (and later return) as the day gets warmer. If I want them falling into my bucket, I have to get out there with the morning sunrise.

Timing is everything, as they say. The same can be said when marketing your business. 

Timing Is Everything

  1. Plan six months out. Yes, we’re enjoying the heat of summer, but now’s the time to finalize your autumn marketing plans and brainstorm for winter. Anything big happening in 2022? Got any ideas for a marketing theme?
     
  2. Follow your industry. An awareness of what’s happening in your industry enables you to plan, respond and adapt. Is your product subject to seasonal creep? Do you need to start promoting it earlier? 
     
  3. Stay flexible. A well-scheduled plan makes marketing easy but even the best laid schemes can go awry. Weather, current events or other hot button issues sometimes require a deviation from the plan. Do you have a handy backup?
LET’s WORK TOGETHER

What I’m Working On This Month

I’m super proud to serve as a director for Women Food & Ag Network, a non-profit empowering women in healthy food and ag systems. So many inspiring people! This month we’re storytelling as we develop our fundraising/membership drive. After all, stories are the most powerful tool in a marketer’s box. 

What I’m Tuned In To This Month

  1. The Impact of Her Spirit: a 1980s oral history project. Great research for a workshop I’m presenting in November.
  2. What Defines a Family Farm? Obviously, there are differences of opinion, as shown in this article. Either way, we’re loosing our farms.
  3. Grandma Gatewood’s Walk: The Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail. A well-researched bio of both an amazing woman and the famous trail. 
  4. Firefly Coffeehouse: A story of COVID survival and loyal employees. How’d they do it?
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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.