Lots of years, taking the summer off is a good thing. The weather is nice, if you have kids they’re out of school, and it’s a classic time to travel and relax.
But this isn’t a normal year. We just took 2020 kind of “off” (if by “off” we mean a year and a half of anxiety and struggle).
So allow me to invite you to take the summer on, by making meaningful progress on That Thing You Care About. (Your business, your side hustle, your podcast — you know what it is.)
Not by spending all summer grinding on your project. That just sounds depressing.
But by spending the summer taking small, consistent actions that will roll up into epic goodness by the time we see September.
Let’s do this
I’ve noticed a lot of “100 days” challenges around the web. 100 acts of sewing, 100 days of sketching — whatever you like to do in your free time, someone’s doing it for 100 days.
As I hinted last week, any time I hear “100 days,” I instantly hear the Phineas and Ferb theme song, which begins,
There’s a hundred and four days of summer vacation
Then school comes along just to end it
So the annual problem for our generation
Is finding a good way to spend it …
If you know the show, you’ll have that in your head the rest of the day. Which isn’t such a bad thing.
If you don’t know the show, you should watch it. It’s hilarious and smart and sweet and inspiring.
So this summer, I’m going to be publishing 104 days of tips, techniques, insights, and simple to-dos around the topic of content strategy. I’ll talk about things like:
- My simple “VEP” content marketing framework that keeps your site on track
- How to grow an audience of customers without being a saleshole
- Smart ways to get the word out about your gorgeous brilliance
- How to publish consistently — and skip the burnout
- Why “personality” alone isn’t enough to create engaging content
Perhaps you have questions
Sonia, you’re seriously going to write a whole post every day? Oh, hell no. These will be short, fun, and manageable.
No huge projects. No Mount Everest to-do lists. Just a string of small things-to-do (or things-to-do-differently) to make your blog, podcast, or YouTube channel actually get the results you want.
When are we gonna start? First day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, which is June 20, 2021.
So how’s this going to work? On Sundays, I’ll send a slightly longer message with some things to think about for the week. On the other days, I’ll send quick techniques to help you make that happen. And The Fierce will come to your Inbox as usual on Friday, oriented to that week’s theme.
Is there a hashtag? There is a hashtag! It’s #SummerOfStrategy. Soon to be showing up on Twitter and Instagram.
OMG, I’m in, what should I do next? If you don’t get my emails yet, drop your info in the box below, and remember to click that “Confirm” button in the first email you get from me.
OMG, please no, my inbox is already trying to kill me No worries — If you’re on my list and the thought of daily messages gives you The Dread, every message will have a link you can click to switch you over to weekly messages.
Do you realize that it’s not summer everywhere? I do. Sorry, Oceania. The tips are still good! You can have a … Winter of Winning? Content and Chill? I dunno. Suggestions welcome.
Three other good things
Three resources for you this week.
The first is (self referential but not self promotional) my course with Brian Clark over on Coursera on The Strategy of Content Marketing, co-produced by UC Davis. This course has two great things going for it: It’s incredibly comprehensive, and it’s free. (You can pay Coursera for a certificate if you want one.)
It has two not-as-great things going on as well. One, I don’t have access to update it, so a few things are out of date. (Links to ebooks that aren’t there any more, that kind of thing.) And two, it’s massively overwhelming.
If you’re in the mood to dive into a giant pool of learning, this might be the giant pool of learning you are looking for.
I don’t make any money from the Coursera project and it doesn’t really benefit me in a tangible way, but it is really cool and I (and a lot of other smart people) put a bunch of work into it.
Cool thing number two this week is Tamsen Webster’s new book on finding the “big idea” in your business or project. If you’ve tried to figure out your big message before and struggled, she has a very step-by-step process that approaches things from some different directions. I’m finding it super useful.
Cool thing number three is Amber Naslund’s brutally hilarious new project. Here’s a sample. Definitely do not click if swearing makes you uncomfortable.
That’s your Fierce for this week. Hope you find the #SummerOfStrategy to be both fun and useful!
If you aren’t getting my emails yet …
