HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Can you believe it’s actually 2023? I mean, we’re already a month into the new year but it still feels fresh ya know?
The new year always hits me in two phases:
Phase 1: I’m motivated, energized, reorganized and full of hope. Usually during this time I’ll set a bunch of over ambitious goals, personally my favorite way to self-sabotage.
Phase 2: My brain is in overdrive trying to maximize every part of my waking life to be the best version of me. This results in decision paralysis around what it is I “should be” doing in order to achieve maximum-Meg-capacity.
This year I’m skipping both phases, or at least trying to.
You probably saw on Instagram that I’m committing to 365 days of skating this year which YES is an over ambitious goal but it’s exactly what I need to keep me out of Phase 2. Because skating forces me to be present. There’s something about falling on your ass that reminds you why it’s so great to be alive. That, and all of the bullshit thoughts/to-dos swirling through your head can be put on pause for your mind and body to team up to do something badass.
This daily practice forces me to make a mental shift between work, to skating, then to life, that leaves less room for decision paralysis. Instead I’m listening to what my mind/body need in that moment, not optimizing for maximum-Meg 5 years from now.
Last thing I’ll say and then I’ll shut up about skating, but I have to go into every skate sesh prepared to fall. You have to know and expect this possibility of falling but can’t let that scare you from trying something new. I like to bring this concept into other areas of my life, relationships, art, work by asking myself these 3 questions:
What are you scared of trying?
Are you prepared to fall?
What do you need to be prepared to fall? Moral support? Butt-pads?
Not to mention, I love watching myself fall. Other than it being hilarious, seeing precisely how I fucked up on camera is the most direct way to make sure I learn from my mistakes. So yeah, right now I’m actually calling you from my garage where I’ve been rolling around every day for 25 days in a row and it feels good! I’ve also made a few friends at the skatepark which is MUCH needed considering how that pottery class went. Can you believe I went to 4 weeks of classes and not a single person joined?! At least I got a planter out of it.
A professional highlight lately is that more people have started coming to me for branding, podcasting, and video advice which is awesome for building my confidence as a creative consultant. One of the things people always ask me is…
Where do I get inspiration and how do I make B2B content entertaining?
And they’re oddly shocked when I say look literally anywhere but B2B content.
Maybe it’s just because my real dream is to be someone like Amy Poehler or Tina Fey, writing for SNL or making the next pop culture shaping movie/tv show of the 2020s—but at the end of the day I just want to make something that I’m excited to show my friends. If I can’t make myself laugh or enjoy what I’m watching, why am I making it in the first place?
You know that my downfall is that I can be a bit too silly for the corporate world sometimes, but being a maximalist to my core I try to throw everything at the wall then peel back the wackiness to achieve balance. And when I think about it, I like to work like this probably because ever since I was a kid I loved to make people laugh.
It’s something I always saw my mom was great at, but I never considered it something I was good at. Not until I MC’d a variety show in high school anyways. It was no SNL but writing the skits for that with fellow classmates and seeing it make an auditorium of people laugh made my heart sparkle💖
Then last month when I was leaving you that voicemail I realized this is the dream I’ve been too afraid to tell anyone about. Because who thinks I’m funny or wants to listen to me and how exactly do you jump from VC to Netflix? But in true 2023 fashion I said FUCK THAT and started doing something about the work that makes my heart sparkle. So to start, I began reading this book on comedy writing, Poking a Dead Frog by Mike Sacks, it features interviews with some of the best people in comedy (minus Tina Fey).
A concept that resonated with me early on was this idea of “clapter”.
“Clapter is that earnest applause, with a few “whoops” thrown in, that lets you know that the audience agrees with you, but what you said wasn’t funny enough to actually make them laugh.”
Now clapter isn’t bad necessarily, but it won’t differentiate you from the noise or make the most impact.
As we make anything, video, podcast, painting, social media or blog post etc, we should be asking ourselves “Does this really matter or is it just for clapter?” Not that we are always looking to make people laugh, but rather are we saying something meaningful or just to feel validated. One of those is clearly more self-serving.
Businesses don’t need more B2B “content” they need art. Real, human, emotional art. Just earlier today I saw this stat on LinkedIn:
69% agree that B2B purchasing decisions are just as emotionally driven as B2C (source)
All touchy-feely feelings aside, business leaders historically agree that brands needs to be memorable, and the first step to being memorable is resonating. The first step to resonating is creating resonance (AKA art, an idea, a vision, a story, a solution based off a shared experience or feeling).
Businesses need brands that resonate with their target audience. Remember your customers? Those people you claim to be sooo “customer obsessed” about. They’re people, and they usually have a way better time working with humans than with an ambiguous corporate logo no matter how cool that logo is.
People care about people, not your brand.
Authenticity is the only way to sustainably grow as a brand and as a person. This led me to thinking about what is authenticity and how do you scale that in a business sense?
Authenticity > Trust > Intent
What is authenticity but trust that the person is coming across as they intend. Their intentions are clear. No bullshit. No ego.
Scaling authenticity is like a product’s viral loop—and the solution is different for every personal brand just like every product (because everyone's intentions are different). You need to show value by staying true to your intentions.
I like to use that show positioning statement template from Wistia that I showed you. It helps align all parties on goals and intentions for a project, highlighting the common pain point, experience or memory tying you to your community/audience ensuring that each asset you make is providing clear true value, not just content for clapter.
An example of an authentic personal brand at scale
Yoga with Adriene. She’s not another one of those Pilates/yoga robots in your hot-yoga class who appears to physically not be able to sweat. She’s just human.
Side note: Hot yoga is basically a sweaty speed run of Simon says. Like how the hell am I supposed to relax and find my Zen when Jessica is 3 poses ahead of me by the time I’ve picked my wedgie. No hate on Jessica, but that is just not for me. Anyways… Adriene is super smart in her marketing strategy, she creates this carousel of content that is genius💡
Content carousel breakdown
YouTube: I originally followed Adriene on YouTube for her free yoga videos
Instagram: Then after getting to know her and her cute dog Benji.
Newsletter: After that I subscribed to her newsletter to stay up to date with new video releases.
Mobile App: Now I pay $10 per month for her mobile app to get an even more curated experience and have #noregrets.
It sounds silly (silly not-fun, not silly ha-ha) but the biggest blocker to me doing my daily yoga practice is the decision paralysis (clearly a common theme in my life) of picking out what video to do and then physically taking out my mat. Both of which take less than 3 minutes to achieve. Yet I’m willing to spend $10 a month to have Adriene help me keep this routine because it feels like she’s supporting me, like a friend or personal trainer who doesn’t mind if I show up in PJs before I’ve brushed my teeth.
I start my day with her every morning. It’s all of her free videos but specifically curated to the routine experience that makes it easier to integrate into my lifestyle.
This flywheel of brand touchpoints builds a sense of routine, trust and community on the app with people I have never, and will never meet. It’s magic.
And most importantly every time I interact with Adriene’s brand I feel good after. Every time I interact with her community I feel good after. And that brought me back to what I was saying to you a while ago about personal brands: Everyone has a personal brand, it’s just about how someone leaves you feeling after you’ve interacted with them.
Something that Adriene says that I say to myself a lot is…
“Progress is not linear”
“Keep Struggling” was the best advice I ever got in art school.
So as I head into this new year I’m trying to remind myself of that. Going through a lot of changes and evaluating where we are today/how to most impactfully get to where we want to be and figuring out how to do more of the work that makes my heart sparkle. Sometimes that feels like taking a step back to get a better step forward.
Alright I’ll stop rambling now, but I swear this month has felt like a year in itself. Any who, it’s always great to hear from you! I’ll check back in with you soon, byeee!
Marketers Against Boredom | Sorry I Missed You (4)