c+p digital

Conversion driven digital marketing agency, focussed on creative content.

social distancing

A Rebuilding Roundup: Key Infrastructure Needed for Our New Normal

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I don’t know about you, but here at c+p digital we’ve noticed our thinking shifting slightly. Dare we say, toward the positive? We’re not naïve, we know there’s a long way to go before we’ll see ANYTHING resembling normal, but it almost feels like we’ve entered a new, never felt before (in our lifetimes, anyhow) stage of this particular Covid-19 grief we’ve all been going though: let’s call it cautious optimism!

Here in Canada, individual provinces are at different stages of re-opening and loosening social distancing restrictions. But loosening they indeed are! Wheeee!!

And that inspired us this week to bring you a special, “rebuilding roundup” of some of our recent 4 AM Report podcasts. Instead of the gloom and doom of March and April, we’re focused on the new normal for businesses. And we wanted to share episodes that would inspire you as you navigate these new, still slightly choppy waters.

Of course, many entrepreneurs and business owners simply aren’t ready to take next steps. We know that. But inspiration only comes to you if you seek it. So, let’s celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit and doing whatever it is you have to do that takes you to the next step and keeps you from jumping off those cliffs!

We’ve curated five episodes we think you’ll learn something from. Let’s get started.

Upending a Successful Business to Follow Your Passion? That’s NUTS! Or IS it?

Sandra D’Souza, Founder and Managing Director of Sandstone Solutions Group, talks about upending your tried and true business networks, what it’s like to feel like a “newbie” while dipping your toes into a new sector, and what it’s like to start again from scratch (sort of).

As an experienced business professional with over 20 years’ experience in senior finance and recruitment roles, Sandra shifted the focus of her very successful business – going from a comfortable money-making space, into new uncharted waters!

Very BRAVE!

That said, it’s not surprising that what keeps her up at night is breaking into a new audience segment and making those solid connections we all strive for in order to grow. 🌱🌱🌱

Why Publishing a Book Can Lead to Serious Business ROI

Be honest. We’ve all thought at one time or another “I should write a book!”…amiright?

Or, maybe you’re looking at the screen cock-eyed right now wondering why a business owner/entrepreneur should put the work in and get a book out?

Well, Scott MacMillan, President and Executive Publisher at Grammar Factory Publishing, brings the receipts!

Of those who wrote a book, 86% of them grew their business, 72% got speaking engagements, and 34% saw their overall earnings double! Plus, being published gave them authority and helped them stand out from competitors.

BOOM!

Building Relationships from Behind the Screen

Video might have killed the radio star, but it ALSO provided many (if not most) of us the ability to continue working during these crazy, Covid times. It’s also added a valuable extra layer to marketing efforts, if done right.

That’s why, on this episode of the 4 AM Report, we did a deep dive into how to slay your next video meeting. This top talk with a video expert – Janine Harris, executive producer at Keyring Media Inc., specializing in video for business – will teach you:

·   Tips and tricks for looking fine on camera.

·   How to jazz up your surroundings so people are focussed on YOU!

·   And how to use video, in general, in your marketing efforts.

Pro-tip – good lighting should be your North Star! LOL

HR and Small Business – Invest in Talent Infrastructure BEFORE Crisis Strikes

We talk a lot about building out corporate infrastructure, most importantly digital infrastructure, that sort of thing. But more and more companies, large AND small, are realizing just how important it is to invest time, energy, and real emotional intelligence in your people.

Life Works Well’s Helen Patterson talks about investing in an often-overlooked part of small biz infrastructure – human resources! What better time, really, when the work-world is upside down!

You’ll learn why it’s so important to have HR policies in place BEFORE a scramble starts. Why the hiring process isn’t the best use of time for a busy entrepreneur. And why compassionate and humane leaders who treat staff with respect will sail through any crisis.

Solid content, and much needed as employees start to return to work.

Sick and Tired of Non-Stop Bad News? Get Ready to Be Covid Inspired!!

Ugh. The news-cycle these days is brutal. And as if 2020 couldn’t get any worse – we now have Murder Hornets!! Murder. Hornets. Ugh. In this episode, rather than doom and gloom and “what’s keeping you up at night?” we shift focus and bring you ALL THE GOOD NEWS!

There are some really exciting and innovative things companies are doing to stay in business and survive Covid-19, and we (Will and Susan, of course!) focused on four categories:

·   The all-in, boots to the ground, search for a vaccine!

·   Health and lifestyle/beauty (Hello! Remember haircuts?)

·   Sports

·   And technology

It’s a nice reminder that there still are great people out there and lots of good news these days. And that’s the type of content I know WE are here for!

We’re of course on Apple Podcasts – subscribe to us – you won’t regret it!

Plus, if you’re losing sleep over a particular marketing/business related problem during this Covid-19 economic uncertainty, or if you have a guest idea on the topic, let us know. Drop us a line at c+p digital.

And as always, sweet dreams…well, hopefully!

c+p’s favourite things – social distancing edition round 2

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Physical NOT social distancing

Let’s stay apart and help #FlattenTheCurve. Here are the cool ways we, and others, are doing just that.

Virtual, live-streamed pub quiz night!

Are you like us and enjoying trivia nights with friends and family on zoom? Well if you are, Edinburgh-based Goose’s Quizzes is staging nightly, live pub quizzes at 7pm BST (so that’s 2 pm EST. So perfect time for an afternoon break from work).

Form a virtual team, download the form, answer the questions and the winner will be announced the next day. Why not have a drink too? With team names like “QuaranTinaTurner” and “Quizteam Aguilera” how can you not give this a try?

Cheers, mate! 🍻

Listening to Sir Patrick Stewart reading nightly sonnets.

Ok seriously. This is more soothing than the Calm app…

Dancing with Debbie!

Are you old enough to remember the movie (and TV show) Fame? Remember those leotards and early 80s dance moves? If just reading those two sentences got you So excited! And you just can’t hide it!, then tune into her instagram Wednesdays for a live dance class with iconic dancer, choreographer and director (and yes, star of Fame), Debbie Allen!

Ew, Covid

Yes, c+p digital favourite, Schitt’s Creek, may have ended its 7 year run back in April, but we still can’t stop referencing Annie Murphy’s character Alexis’ classic line ‘Ew, David.’ So when we saw this fan account selling this shirt, it made our lockdowned day!

People are funny.

And finally, all the businesses, big and small, who are taking a leap of faith, sticking their neck out and hanging in there.

Much respect.
(Susan and Will talked about this on a recent episode of The 4 am Report, Good News and Inspiration.)

Stay safe, friends!

CERB CEBA WFH UGH FML

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Show of hands if the acronyms are getting to you 🤷‍♀️  

The Canadian Emergency Business Account
CERB.
Fuck. My. Life!

This  week has me thinking in more circles than any other week thus far.
And I’ve said that every week thus far. 
(Notice: pattern! Shit’s about to get worse. But preparation may be possible. You decide.)

This story is one I want to tell, in particular, to Kristen. And Kristen supporters.

(Tl:dr – Kristen is the name of an audience avatar we created a couple years ago. She’s a woman entrepreneur on a growth path. Either our client directly, or a key client of the large enterprises we work with that offers huge growth potential but isn’t well understood on the psychographics front.)

I get her, though! And she has many avatars. I’ve built an organization out of that emotional intelligence, and we’re proud.

So here’s the story, some musings, and one key war cry for Kristen, and Kristen supporters.

When I started this gig, it was me and my couch. Nope. I lie. It was me and the corner of my bed, and my hangover-pregnancy comfort pillow, used as a laptop holder. 

The first year I made 11,000 dollars.
That year I did one more thing.

I registered for a GST/HST number.
I know. You don’t need to in Canada till you make 30K in any given year. 

So why did I register for an HST number before I had to?

Because I didn’t want people questioning the prices I put out, based on their assumptions of how much I made and how quickly I could grow, just because of an INVOICING LINE ITEM.

I invested the time, energy and SaaS dollars to make sure all that was processed way before because I wanted to be taken seriously. And I had no time to waste.

Fast forward a couple of years. I made my first 6-figure year.

That year I did one more thing.

I incorporated my company.

Why did I incorporate at a point when most people were saving a lot on filing corporate taxes, and making sure finances were separated, thereby paying a lot more to the establishment overall?

Because everyone who lost a job called themselves a ‘freelancer’. And that meant that I, and the superlative back-end support team I had hired on contract models, was getting lost and passed over in the noise. 

The second I was incorporated, I opened my doors to a much higher level of corporate, which was my goal at the time. People instantly knew I was not  just someone claiming to be self employed for a few months while I found another job. (Bear in mind I was a reasonably fresh immigrant to Canada at the time, and a lot of my experience was being overlooked.)
Fast forward another year.

I got some proper payroll in place. I started to pay myself a salary that was over 50K. 

Why did I ‘payroll myself’ on paper early in the game?

Because I wanted to make the company debt worthy.

And today I am grateful. Because this means that the enterprise I built, little Lego bits at time, now adds up to something that the ‘establishment’ recognizes.

That’s always the challenge to me.

As entrepreneurs, we’re building something that is quintessentially disruptive in nature.

(From an entirely unemotional space, I’ve learned to see it doesn’t get a whole lot more disruptive than me.
An immigrant.
Woman of colour.
Came to Canada.
Got no jobs as a mom to a newborn.
Refused to work at starbucks to ‘get into the system’. Because it didn’t make financial sense to pay someone more than I’d be earning to raise my kid. Side bonus: I ended up raising my own kid and figuring out my head.)

I tell you this because I am super used to dotting my ‘i’s and crossing my ‘t’s.

I want no pity!
When you’re not ‘mainstream’ you get strong.
When you get strong you find gratitude, or you become a DC villain. (Kinda average, and typically beaten by someone. Good or bad.)

Out of my gratitude, for me came release from negative self-talk.

(Because believe me, there has BEEN some negative self talk along the way! 
‘Who do you think you are, assuming you can find a salary out of this?’ 
‘If it was that simple, everyone would have done it’ 
‘Gay Hendricks is wrong. There are some people who have no genius. They are average and under the radar. You’re one.’)

My demons are as eloquent as I am.

What the government is doing now, as it decides who’s a viable business to invest resources in and who is a wildcard, is asking to see your ‘i’s and your ‘t’s.

If there is one key learning I can impart to you it is this.

Think beyond survival.

In every step, tell yourself you WILL be here 3 steps from now. 
And act accordingly.

It WILL not fail you.

Note: this is NOT the same as fake it till you make it. If you have no strong foundation, nothing will save you. But believe that what you have built has some value. And then dot every ‘i’ and cross every ‘t’. If not the establishment never recognizes you. 

It’s the cost of entry.

Trust me. I know, from decades of this shizzz :)… That’s why after my experience in the 2008-10 downturn, I did some things to protect myself and my near and dear. 

And this is my story.

Stay strong.
Fight for what you believe is right.
But above all, believe in yourself and invest when the chips are down.
I’m no expert, but the odds, I understand, are always better that way.

Marketing in the Time of Covid-19

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Digital marketers the world over are in the middle of a bit of an existential crisis these days.

  • COVID-19!! BAD!
  • Self-isolate (good)
  • Work from home (most of us already do that!)
  • Many of our companies live in the digital space (no bricks and mortar!)
  • All this use-tech-to-get-shit-done stuff means we might be able to save our businesses!
  • Wait. Ew. Now is NOT the time to be a sleazy marketer.

So, how can you balance the need to keep your business running, and get employees paid, with marketing? It’s simple. You become the non-marketer.

What in the Hell is Non-Marketing?

Here’s one way you can get started practising non-sleazy, non-marketing.

For the love of GOD, if you have a system whereby you pre-populate automated social posts for yourself or clients – stop NOW – and turn that off.

Check the tone and voice of any social content you’ve pre-drafted. And – while it might take a bit of extra work – take your social sharing to a day-by-day schedule.

Understand that the news cycle re: this virus is out of control right now.

And it ranges from anywhere between the shock and disbelief of what is happening in Italy, to better news coming re: testing and efforts to flatten the curve.

People are stressed out, worried about family and loved ones, and they do not want to hear about your latest discount on party supplies or your “top tips when travelling.”

Don’t Be That Guy

I know, right? I can hear you saying “Oh COME ON! No one is social posting stuff like that, are they??”

They are. In fact, we’re thinking of starting a weekly series called “Brilliant? Or Barfy?”

Because friends, we STILL have our senses of humour through all of this.

There’s no point in naming and shaming right now, people are still learning, and these are unprecedented times. But….

  • There was a tweet two days ago from some thrombosis society from somewhere, yadda yadda, warning folks about the correlation between flying and Deep Vein Thrombosis. I mean, seriously. Read the room, random Thrombosis society.

  • A gift company tweeted today sharing “The State of Swag” – when chances are there won’t be many corporate, swag-sharing events in the near future. Never mind the fact that many cases of Covid-19 have originated at packed conferences and the like.

  • And multiple big brands are pulling ads left, right and centre (after they’ve ran and gotten complaints!!) for promoting huge gatherings, high fives, sharing a soda, even “booking a cruise.”

Mistakes Happen – Just Don’t Let Them Happen Again

The point is this: if even the massive brands with huge budgets are cocking it up, you can cut yourself a little slack if something slips through.

But what you can’t do is ignore what’s happening and carry on with your marketing like everything’s normal. It’s not. And it might not be for a long time.

Consider using your corporate social media profile and your reach to actually help. Share good news stories. Promote local companies who are going out of their way to give back to others.

By all means, have a little fun (but have someone on staff who can check you in case what you’ve written or created is pushing “fun” too far!).

And yes. Market. We all have to work to keep the economy rolling as best we can. Just remember we’re all in this together. Be OVERLY sensitive to what’s going on – know your audience and act accordingly.

It’s better to err on the side of caution than, you know, to just err!

Let’s end with this fabulous quote via Salon.com:

“In “Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities,” Rebecca Solnit writes: “Inside the word ’emergency’ is ’emerge’; from an emergency new things come forth. The old certainties are crumbling fast, but danger and possibility are sisters.”’