Regular readers will recognize that I’m just returning to TBYB! from a couple of months off. It’s been a great summer break for me, and I hope for you as well.
I will admit that it feels kind of bittersweet to sit down at my desk and fire up the ol’ text editor again, in a way that is so reminiscent of returning to school each fall. There’s that reluctance to leave behind the lazy warm days of summer, while at the same time anticipating the excitement of interesting new projects.
For those of you who are bloggers, I can tell you that I heartily recommend exercising the freedom to take a break once in awhile. It’s been very fertile and restorative to step away from the routine of posting, healthy for both R&R and R&D.
One thing I had time to work on was developing a tool that you’ll be able to use right here to make your own ads. It’s almost ready and I’m really excited about it. It’s going to be a great addition to our collection of techniques for making and delivering advertising to ourselves. I think it will launch in about a month.
I’ve also planned a couple of changes in the article format that I hope will make it easier and more fun to participate. For the fall season (spring in the southern hemisphere), we’re each going to identify one goal to work on, and use that goal to develop and implement a marketing campaign for ourselves. Each week I’ll write a new article that teaches you a technique you can use for your campaign. Rather than trying out these techniques ahead of time and reporting my results, I’ll be experimenting right along with you.
The first article in this new series is called “How to choose a goal for your back-to-school marketing campaign”. In it, we take a look at your goals for 2008 and pick one that you’d really like to kick some butt on before the end of the year. Look for it in your favorite feed reader next Monday.
Your action steps
This section is new. Each week I’ll suggest specific steps you can take immediately to implement the ideas you just read about.
- Find the list of goals you wrote for 2008. (Didn’t write any? Just make some notes.)
- Check back next Monday to choose the goal you’re going to work on
