Shout-Out To Fathers
Editors Note: This newsletter was originally published on June 21st, 2021.
Yesterday we celebrated Father’s Day. Much like Mother’s Day in May, These are times when we get to recognize the influence that our parents have on us. It’s also a time when parents get to reflect on how they are raising (or raised) their children.
In my case, I was blessed with a Dad who helped develop some of my best traits. I can honestly say that I’d not be doing what I do now without the example that he set.
There is one negative aspect that frustrated me around Father’s Day as a youth. Both my Grandfathers passed away before I was born. It was tough missing out on some of those memories that I felt were missing. I’m sure for my Mom and Dad, having lost their Fathers was tough on them as well.
I was blessed when I met my wife, Stephanie, as through her, I was able to have a relationship with her Grandfathers. Both of them were great and welcomed me. They provided a connection that I’d missed for a long time.
Even though they’re no longer with us, I still have a great relationship with both my Dad as well as my Father-in-Law. I also get the privilege of being “Dad” to two great Sons (who I see a lot of myself in – sorry Honey! *wink*).
If you still have your Father (and Mother), be sure to take time to let them know what they mean to you and keep in touch with them. Our relationships change, but they’re the ones there for us!
Thanks, Dad (and Mom)
Note: If you missed the previous edition mainly focused on Attracting Talent in our current environment, you can check it out here.
I liked this Jovian Wade quote when I came across it this week.
It seems as if everyone is trying to build an audience and we all want shortcuts.
Similar to the proverbial joke that “Banks won’t lend you money until you prove to them that you don’t need it”, many people try to increase their exposure by getting high-follower accounts (like Gary Vaynerchuk, Taylor Swift, etc.) to share their content or mention their products/services.
While “Whale-hunting” can offer large-scale rewards, building your following and nurturing your own audience is still the most consistent path to growth.
For every “Crazy-Girlfriend” meme that goes viral or every moment where a Hollywood star is seen wearing your t-shirt, there are many more opportunities where you can build authentic, engaged relationships with your target audience that grows into recurring interactions.
Regardless of how many things have changed, the Tortoise is still winning on a daily basis across a multitude of areas (business, investing, etc). Just keep putting in the work!
Other Links
What is SEO Visibility?
As more and more content publishes in the digital world, our measures for effectiveness need to evolve as well. Where we might have only looked at Traffic in the past, new measures (like “Visibility”) are becoming normalized. While Traffic is a quantitative metric (“How many visitors to your site?”), Visibility is a comparative metric evaluating the percentage of Users who choose your content from SERPs over others. While raw numbers are still important, understanding how you compare to other content sources can guide the material you post & when.
Getting more of (and from your) Links
Making shareable content is one way to expose your material to wider audiences (based on “link” recommendations (shares) from others to their audiences). Developing a consistent strategy to build and promote links needs to be one objective of any good SEO strategy.
Google My Business feature updates (Search & Maps)
If you’re doing local marketing in the digital space, Google My Business (with its integration to other tools like Search and Maps) is an important area to focus on. If you’re just starting out (or just starting out your digital marketing) targeting a local customer base, GMB and Instagram are the starting points I’d recommend.
If you need some help setting up a two-phase local digital strategy, shoot me an email and we can chat.
Over 8 million households could face eviction
There are plenty of debates to still be had about whether eviction moratoriums were a good or bad idea. Regardless, they were put in place during the Covid-19 pandemic and extended due to concerns about the fallout that would occur once they were no longer in place. They are again due to expire at the end of June after which evictions for unpaid mortgages and unpaid rents are guaranteed to restart.
Fundamentally, the markets must be allowed to reset and continued delays are not going to help. There is an extremely low inventory of homes for sale which are driving prices unsustainably higher in the near term. In a similar vein that “no good thing happens to a vacant home”, nothing else good happens to real estate where mortgages & rents are unpaid. Homeowners will not perform upkeep on homes they don’t expect to keep & landlords will not perform maintenance on rentals that are not performing.
Continuing the moratoriums just delays the inevitable. We need to allow the market to reset and return to its “new normal”.
10 Roku Tips & Hacks
Transparently – I have 1 TV at home and use DirectTV. (We all do watch content on our devices so we’re not fully living in the Stone Age!) That said, we’ll eventually replace our “cable” with SlingTV and add a Roku-enabled TV as well. If you’re interested like me, here are some good hints for starters.
For those checking out the book reviews, I finished The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes. My post of notes from the book is complete. You can check it out on my blog at this link.
If you would like to read along, I will be starting Content Inc. by Joe Pulizzi soon.
Note: Book links are Amazon affiliate links.
