It’s easy to feel motivated in January.
Want proof? Just look at all these wins Simplest Marketing Plan (SMP) members shared in last week’s Office Hours:
Wins are easy to come by when you’re motivated. (Marketing works when you do it!)
But motivation can be fickle.
One day you’re commenting on LinkedIn, reaching out to potential clients, and writing new content.
Then suddenly, you don’t “feel like” doing it anymore.
That’s why now is the perfect time to develop something stronger than motivation.
Something that will carry you through no matter how you feel:
Habit.
Here’s a new way to look at the habit of marketing…
One of my new favorite writers, Adam Mastroianni, writes in his blog, Experimental History, that there are two different kinds of problems:
-
Diploma Problems - where you work hard at something until it’s done and you never have to do it again. Like learning to ride a bike.
- Toothbrushing Problems - which are things you have to continue to do until you die.
Marketing is more of a “Toothbrushing Problem.”
Which is actually great news.
Because when you develop the habit of marketing so that it becomes automatic, you no longer have to depend on motivation to continue getting wins every month.
You just do your 30 minutes a day, every day, no matter how you’re feeling and no matter the state of the economy. Easy as picking up a toothbrush.
(In fact, you could stack those habits: do your marketing right after you brush your teeth.)
Listen as I explain this and share tips for staying positive no matter what the economy is doing in the Best Bits from our last Office Hours session here:
Don’t overthink it.
Just pick something - anything - and do it for 30 minutes. Then do it tomorrow. And the next day. Until doing your marketing becomes automatic.
And if you still can't get yourself to do it...
Try what my friend Alan Seiden does to get his email newsletter out when he doesn't feel like it.
Here's what he told me:
"My trick is to have a team member 'baby-sit' me on a Slack Huddle call while I do it. I say 'This email looks good?' They say yes and I send it. Meanwhile, I am seeing it through their eyes."
Co-working really is magical! That's why we've built it into the SMP+ program with dedicated co-working sessions and our Focusmate group. More on that here.
Need a visual reminder?
Take a look at this “Ink Insight” from our Office Hours, drawn by Architect of Vision Antonio Meza:
What are your wins so far this year?
Share them here on LinkedIn and let’s see what everyone is up to!
Need more guidance on what you should be doing with your 30 minutes a day? Pick up a copy of the Simplest Marketing Plan (SMP) for 2024 – it includes a one-page weekly marketing schedule you can print out and follow!
You’ll also get to come to every live monthly Office Hours session in 2024 - so you’ll stay on track all year long.
Get it now here.
Now go do your 30 minutes of marketing!