Thoughts on Marketing

What’s your secret to getting a strong start?

[Originally published as The Marketing Mix newsletter on Substack]

You’ll be seeing a lot of productivity and planning tips on social media this week. I guess we all start the New Year thinking that we’ll ‘do better’ this year!

One that caught my eye was this story on LI from Jade Bonacolta, sharing a tip from Warren Buffet

The three steps echo an approach I’ve been following for years – the 18 Minutes method by Peter Bregman. It forces you to focus on 5 core things, and while I don’t follow it perfectly, it does give me a fighting chance!

There are a ton of articles and books about productivity. I’ve read (and forgotten!) quite a few of them. But here are a few that I think are worthwhile, if you do want to get a bit more disciplined this year:

18 Minutes by Peter Bregman. An annual planning exercise (which I follow), reinforced by taking 18 minutes a day to reflect (which I am not so good at doing🙄).

Atomic Habits by James Clear. This is a rare “must read.” I wrote about it on LinkedIn last year. And a precursor, The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg, covers similar ground

The Productivity Project by Chris Bailey. If you’re skeptical about the hacks, then this one’s for you. Chris spent a year trying a whole bunch of techniques, and he reports on the successes, failures, and what lies behind them.

And consider following Jade Bonacolta on Linkedin, or sign up for her Quiet Rich weekly newsletter.

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🤔Maybe your New Year’s resolutions include getting more from your Marketing..!

I work with Founders and CEOs of small-but-mighty tech companies, both as a fractional Marketing leader, and delivering on specific implementation projects.

If you’re not sure which marketing tactics are right for you; or if your current programs aren’t moving the needle, we should talk. Book some time to chat.

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Dry January

In support of those who are trying for a ‘Dry January,’ I’m going to skip the cocktail recommendation this week.

[Confession: I had a glass of fizzy stuff on Jan 1st, without thinking, so even if I cut back… I can’t claim it’s a Dry one this year]

If you like beer, here’s some thoughts I had on the low-alcohol varieties a few months ago. And here’s a useful (UK-based) website with a ton of reviews of low/no alcohol drinks.

Plus, there’s always that other fabulous beverage…a quality cup of coffee!

Cheers! 🥃

Steve

P.S If you know you need to take marketing seriously, but don’t know where to start, let’s chat. I help growing B2B tech companies build their marketing muscles.

P.P.S If you’ve enjoyed this article, please consider subscribing to The Marketing Mix newsletter – my thoughts on B2B marketing, sent out every 2 weeks.