Every Journey Is Different
Sales funnels need to be treated differently depending on if you’re a B2B or B2C company. If you’re a business marketing to other businesses, it… Read More »Every Journey Is Different
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From the Desk of NC – 2018 In Review
Jazz is in my earbuds, and has been since I moved to the Bay Area in January 2015. I’ve always been a fan of the genre, especially in a live environment – begging people to come with me to the Blue Whale in Los Angeles or to random venues around New York to hear the tight, syncopated sounds in action. For some reason I’m steeped in the genre now more than ever before.
In music theory, they teach you that the notes you hear right before the phrase, verse, or song’s conclusion are called leading tones. They’re the notes that hover in space and create tension. They beg for resolution, because notes want to be resolved – they want to go home.
In the first half of 2018 I traveled a lot for work. In a matter of months I flew to Tokyo, London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland, New York, and Las Vegas – whew! It left my head spinning.
I spoke at events in Berlin and Hong Kong. I went on adventures, from walking a tiny part of the Great Wall of China in the foggy morning rain to attending La Tosca at London’s Royal Opera House to riding the Shinkansen bullet train down the coastline of Japan. I visited with new international friends and started to outline my second novel. I worked hard at Matrix and volunteered with organizations like Hive and Tech For Campaigns. I moved into the city with N.
Being Agile
Your marketing team needs to sync with your dev team. Marketing tools and campaigns need to be updated all.the.time. And often a dev is needed.… Read More »Being Agile
Part 58: Anywhere You Go
Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash “Moving on up!” The mover said with gusto as he pushed the final stack of boxes off the steel… Read More »Part 58: Anywhere You Go
Part 57: Moving Shapes
I’m moving from Oakland into San Francisco. They say that cells in the human body regenerate so that over a period of seven years we… Read More »Part 57: Moving Shapes
The Unbreakable Chain
You have to work for someone you respect. And leaders need to be willing – and able – to step into that role. It won’t… Read More »The Unbreakable Chain
It’s Complicated
I always hear business owners say things like “When more people (or businesses) see how great our product is, then we’ll be in a position… Read More »It’s Complicated
Connecting The Dots
The success of any marketing campaign depends on one thing only. It’s the ability to connect the dots between your product or service and your… Read More »Connecting The Dots
From the Desk of NC – 2017 In Review
2017 Highlights
2017 was an unbelievable year, a self-induced jolt after a good 2016 and a rocky 2015 before that.
It’s helpful to provide a bit of backstory in order to best illustrate the greatness of 2017. In early 2015, I moved to the Bay area from New York. This was for two reasons: to join a new company, and to start over after a painful breakup. I spent most of that year heads down in work.
I had few friends in San Francisco, and was acclimating to life in the Bay Area. I was processing the break-up, and healing from a physical injury that made it difficult to participate in sports.
Prior, while in New York I had started a novel, and made the call in 2015 to finish it. I hired a life coach to get organized, and together we created spreadsheets. Many, many spreadsheets – mostly to track and optimize my time (was I actually doing my physical therapy?). Also, to measure my writing process.
I started taking better care of myself that year and built a stable base to operate from. Not that my life was in shambles before all of this happened, but it sure helped to gain some clarity, direction and focus.
Learning To Swim
Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash
In the dream I had, the lake bubbled like a hot spring. The water was crystal clear, and I could see all the way down to the bottom.
Antiheroes swim. Flesh and blood protagonists from popular 21st century television shows with enormous flaws and the deepest of secrets – Olivia Pope, Don Draper, Emily Thorne – they all swim.
6 Ways To Overcome Failure
I walked into the buzzing workspace with my head down. I paused to stand up a little straighter until I heard the familiar crack in my upper spine. It was time to shift gears into networking mode.
“Act intelligent,” I told myself. “Don’t tell them that your company failed. Don’t tell them any of it. And don’t forget to smile.”
Part 56: Ice Baby
Photo by Chris Lawton on Unsplash When you make it simple, when you take it all away. The people, the phone calls, the errands and… Read More »Part 56: Ice Baby
Life Hacking For The Rest Of Us
Photo by Haley Phelps on Unsplash
It’s impossible to keep up.
Every day I see self-help articles about life hacking with tips, tricks, and never-ending lists of things to do in order to become a successful human being. According to these articles, If I do these things I’ll run like a machine. I’ll be living life at 500%, 100% of the time.
Part 55: The Art Of The Segue
Photo by Cristian Georgescu on Unsplash There’s a popular term in the DJ community called “cauliflower ear.” It’s when you wear big headphones –… Read More »Part 55: The Art Of The Segue
Why It Pays To Be A Misfit
About five years ago I attended a party that a friend was throwing in celebration of her new clothing store launch in downtown Los Angeles.
I spotted the host off to one side and walked over to say hello. As I approached, she looked around, then behind me.
“Did you come alone?” She asked in a high pitched voice, the end of the sentence curling up into an extra-squiggly question mark. “Yep,” I cheerfully replied, holding up a pair of neon-yellow drop crotch trousers to my waist. She grinned. “You’re such a lone wolf! I love it.” She touched my arm in a way that maybe she thought to be conspiratorial before turning to walk away.
The Introvert’s Guide to the Workplace
I’ve been working in digital media for most of my career – building websites, doing marketing, graphic design, and even photography. But there came a time that if I wanted to advance in my career, I had to get out from behind my tantalizingly-oversized Apple monitor and lead actual meetings. It became critical for me to be present in the workplace not only as a project manager, but as someone who was able to successfully lead client meetings as well.
Why Repealing Affordable Health Care Will Hurt The Freelance Economy
Photo: Aaron Thomas via Unsplash
The Affordable Care Act has made health insurance accessible for millions of freelance workers, a number that is expected to account for 40% of the workforce by 2020. For various reasons self-employment is also increasingly popular amongst millennials, with nearly 40% of the millennial workforce already describing themselves as self-employed. To put things into perspective, that is 60 million Americans, and the numbers are on the rise.
Read More »Why Repealing Affordable Health Care Will Hurt The Freelance Economy
Part 54: A Couple Of Years
Photo: Martin Dorsch via Unsplash The cool breeze doesn’t exist anywhere but here. The one that kisses your cheeks and cools your skin. It doesn’t… Read More »Part 54: A Couple Of Years
Part 53: Rock ‘N’ Roll Forever
The last time I visited this club in particular there was snow on the ground. My boyfriend at the time was on the opposite… Read More »Part 53: Rock ‘N’ Roll Forever
Part 52: A Wabi-Sabi Kind Of Life
Photo: James Padolsey via Unsplash And I returned to San Francisco, and it was spring. It was somebody’s spring, at least – I’m not sure… Read More »Part 52: A Wabi-Sabi Kind Of Life