A Quick Recap of My Last Year......

This month marks a year since I’ve been out on my own……and it has been a crazy, fun, busy, stressful, anxiety-inducing, mentally stimulating, incredible year. I have gotten to do some really fun things with the clients I work with. So I thought I’d take a minute to list them all out. Not only to answer the question I get from friends of “what do you even do” but also for myself to help me remember and just get it all down on paper. So here goes. 

-          Paid Search (SEM, Google AdWords, Bing, Yahoo) – National

-          Multi-Market Super Bowl Ad

-          Multi-Market Home Page Take Overs

-          Pandora buy

-          Managed a complete website redesign project (B2B / Transportation Category)

-          NPR

-          Online Display – Retargeting (multi-market across the Country)

-          Online Display – Site Specific, Contextual, Behavioral (multi-market across the Country)

-          Online Display – International planning (Soon to be executed!!!)

-          Online Display – IP-Specific Targeted campaign

-          Paid Facebook Ads

-          Outdoor – Standard Bulletins

-          Outdoor – Transit Advertising

-          Outdoor – Downtown / High Pedestrian Digital (investigated)

-          Spot TV – Multi-Market buys

-          Print – Major dailies & Community Weeklies

-          E-mail Marketing & Content direction

-          Google Analytics implementation & tracking

-          Managed a complete website build-out & content writing (locally-based small business)

-          Board member for our local Children’s Theatre

-          Proposal writing

-          Collateral development directing

-          Competitive analyses

-          Market deep dives for market insights/media placements

-          Video testimonial project management & scripting & producing

What’s fun about this is it’s for clients of all sizes. I work with a few that do the multi-market, larger buys and some that are small local startups. 

I enjoy the flexibility and getting out in the community more. What a great experience. One I'll never regret - no matter where it leads. 

Why Growth Is Not So Scary

I hear it - actually, I say it, too - "growth can be a scary thing." But, I've decided it shouldn't be so scary. Over the past year, I've had the good fortune of growing. And I have had my ups and downs with managing it, not gonna lie. But if I decide that growth is scary, I won't push for it.

And if you don't grow, I believe you can easily become complacent in what you do. And if you become complacent in what you do - you're not passionate about it. And if you're not passionate about it, you won't do a good job. And if you don't do a good job, you can lose business. And then all of a sudden you wish you were growing but you can't and it's too late. Or it becomes harder to grow. Are you with me on this?

So growth can't be scary. Sure. It can add some pressure. It can make you busier than you anticipated.

But I have decided I won't be scared of growth and here's why:

It gives me new experiences to apply in other areas. Thus bringing better ideas and new ideas to clients.  Whether it's new things someone has asked me to look into - or something I read about and see that may be applicable for others. Or something that completely bombs and needs adjustments for it to do well elsewhere. It's the opportunity to do things you don't normally do that provide better recommendations and opportunities for clients.

It takes me outside my comfort zone. It is easy to recommend and push for what you know. But in this age of change and ideas, it's imperative to be trying new things. And if you don't reach outside your comfort zone, you'll never be comfortable out there. If everything was fun and easy, there would be no such thing as a comfort zone, because, well - it would all be a comfort zone. Which would be so boring. So monotonous. So routine. Maybe that works for some. Not so much for me.

It allows me to make mistakes. And then I have the opportunity to realize that it's OK. I mean, you don't want to make the same mistake over and over - but everyone makes mistakes. And somehow it's not the end of the world. And sometimes you need to remind yourself of that. Not to mention the fact that - you learn new and different and often better ways to do things because of those mistakes.

It forces me to work harder and smarter. Because of all those mistakes I make. And all those things I learn of and from that space outside my comfort zone. Are you sensing how all these tie together yet? Because they do.

Practice makes perfect. Look. No one is perfect (don't tell anyone) - but if you don't keep growing, you don't keep practicing. And who doesn't want to be the best at what they do? You don't get there without practice. And I want to be the best at what I do.

The thrill of the chase. And let's face it - we all love the thrill of the chase. Don't we? There's something about that competitive nature that comes with the growth or possibility of the growth that is exciting.  The reward at the end of the tunnel in getting there that provides a validation to everything you're working towards. You can't win them all. I tell my daughter on a regular basis you have to lose some to appreciate winning more. No one likes to lose (especially  not me - those of you who know me well can attest to that) - but losing is a part of life. And if you can embrace it and handle it with grace, it could turn into other opportunities elsewhere. That could be a completely separate blog post. Maybe in 6 - 8 months I'll expand on that.

So. I will continue to work towards growth. And all that comes with it. Good and bad.

Because - growth is not scary.