Why you might give up on content + marketing

Horrified, I see ~80 people in a line snaking around the entire left side of the store.

I had ambled up to the cashier station from the right side, expecting an easy-in, easy-out situation. 

UGgggg. Two belts & a gift card in my hand: is this worth it?

It’s the weekend before Christmas, and I’ve been lazy about gift shopping. 

This problem isn’t going to get better by going to another store on another day the week before Christmas.

GRUDINGLY, I make my way to the back of the line, feeling things.

Irritated - at the world and myself.

Shocked by all. the. people. The line just keeps gooooooing.

Amused at how annoyed I’m letting myself get. 

In line, I mentally entertain myself: Counting people. Imagining their stories.  

Marveling at all the stuff in the store. Mentally assessing when the gift card will arrive in South Carolina if I send it today. 

Looking at my phone.

10 minutes later, pulling my nose out of my phone, I see I’m 3 people away from an actual cash register! Behind me, the line still snakes, even longer now. 

10 minutes ago, miserably at my starting point, I’d considered dropping out, calling bullshit on this nonsense, wanting nothing to do with it.

I’m about to cross the finish line. YESSSSssss!

It hits me in that moment that marketing, messaging, & content creation of our businesses feel exactly like this cashier line at Kohls:  

With every shiny new platform, updated tactic, change in your audience’s needs, we step to the back of the line. 

It’s easy to feel discouraged at how far back we are, maybe opting out completely: “I don’t want to do this part of my business”…

Maybe you’ve just decided “EFF this short-form video crap. I’m not getting on TikTok and I don’t care about REELS.”

Or you think, “Shit, every celebrity in the world has a podcast with 200 million downloads. Who’s gonna listen to me, anyway?” 

Have you let your marketing & content creation languish, wondering if “waiting in line” is worth it?

You gave up on emailing your list for MONTHS (years?). 

You gave up on LinkedIn because it’s feelin’ like Facebook over there now, and WHO CARES ANYWAYYYYY?

It’s SUCKY to be on the back of the line - you’ve got things to do and a vision to implement.

You haven’t got time for this pain.

But if you want the belts (which I do because my husband never asks for a thing, and he asked for these) 

- or the gift card (which I do because it’s my mom’s favorite store)…

then you wait on the freakin’ line. 

TIME IS GOING TO PASS, regardless of whether you wait in line or not. 

But if you want the thing, you’ve got put in the time & effort.

You can do it your way, but you still need to do the DO.

Consider what’s next for you & your business in 2022.

What do you really want?

You may not know all the hows and whats and wheres - but you DO KNOW some stuff…

It’s time to IMPLEMENT what you know. 

Over the holidays? Go ahead. Take time off. Enjoy yourself. Rest.

That should 100% be part of your game plan anyway. 

AND…in the back of your brain, consider your goal & commit to working a plan that works for you - 

My personal & professional goals for 2022 are to IMPLEMENT. I know a lot of stuff. I know what I “should” do.

It’s time to DO IT and put it all into play - with rest scheduled in.

Because just yesterday, that “I’m 3 people away from the cashier!!” euphoria kicked in, and it is WORTH IT.

And you deserve that same euphoria in your life & business

Xo, Jen