Susan Does Social

If you're not reading as much as you're writing, you're falling behind. Image: burrus.com The temptation is to go into monk-mode (per Greg McKoewn ), but you can't do that indefinitely unless you're in academia. Social media has had too great an impact on every industry for writers to close themselves off. However, you have to balance. The top social influencers in HR and Recruiting, including personal favorites  +William Tincup  and  +Tim Sackett  tweet, on average, 10 times a day. They also manage to write, lead companies and live life. How do you achieve balance? Or, some semblance of it?

How many times have you sat down to write out a strategic plan for a company? Or an annual plan that carefully details your strategy for the year and every marketing dollar you're going to spend? Depending on the size of your marketing department, this focused and intensive project likely took you away from other things. However, you told yourself, like every other good Stephen Covey  reader, that the task was important, but not urgent, and you were making the right choice.   But, were you? Sometimes, we get stuck in a planning bog and cannot escape because our plan needs to be perfect. As a writer by trade, I have fallen prey to this many times--rewritten a white paper so many times it becomes irrelevant, waited for the perfect blog topic so long that the audience gave up, edited so thoroughly that the original voice was completely lost. (Right now, I am fiddling with the font so that the look is perfect, but I am going to get back on point so that there is a point here ...

Are you on Optimistic time or Honest time ? Image: Elizwrites.com Godin posted on this, and it struck a chord. In marketing, you are aiming to meet the client's deadlines. Sometimes, you have great clients who can see everything that is involved in something as mundane as sending an email, and they are willing to give it an extra day or quality control. In that scenario, both of you can be on honest time and plan accordingly. (This does not take into account the art director's tantrum or the intern with "food poisoning", but you can work around those thing if you have time.) What really causes the crisis in most agencies is that only one or two people are on honest time. The rest are on optimistic time, and clients have been taught that the optimistic deadline is correct. So, that is the expectation. Now, what happens when deadlines are hit on optimistic time? As Godin says, someone suffers. It may be the client who has the smallest account, or the one who recently sa...

What's something that needs improvement? American writing.  Is there hope? Yes! If you read yesterday's post , it may have seemed a bit harsh to condemn American writing. But, there is hope! And no, you do not need to pay for a professional writing class. Step 1: Read....Read amazing writing. If you don't read, and the last thing you've read since college is People , it's time for an upgrade. Every week, you should read something that challenges you--challenges your ideas, your vocabulary, your writing rhythms. If you need a quick read, choose a top blogger . If you have more time, choose Steinbeck, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Isabella Allende, Poe, Shakespeare. One student found their passion in The New Yorker  food reviews. I recently read " The Life of St. Francis of Assisi " which challenged me because of the complexity of the ideas and the language. Step 2: Write....Write and have someone else read it. I have taught hundreds of grammar classes, and one wa...

Day 3: Tell us about something that you think should be improved. So, anyone who makes their living as a writer, or who just enjoys a good read, would agree--the state of American writing is abysmal. People assume because they learned about writing in school and have written something before that they're a great writer.  Now, before you think I am an elitist snob, there are things I am terrible at. No one will ever pay me to run (or really even watch me on purpose) because I am very, very bad. But, I realize this and when people ask if I am a runner, I usually make it clear that I am a person who runs, but definitely not a runner. Ditto for pretty much any other sport--ever.  I am not comparing myself to Steinbeck but rather recommending him. Shame on you for only looking at the picture! Image: NPR.org But, I'm a decent writer. It's not because I was born with a miraculous talent or because my parents read Shakespeare to me in the womb. I believe that I can write well becau...

By Susan Muegge What matters most? My favorite business book of 2014 was Essentialism by Greg McKeown . With four kids, an active volunteer and faith life, a professional career I am passionate about and a physically demanding lifestyle, you realize that there are only so many hours in a day. In the past year, I've realized that each of those minutes is a gift and should be spent with as much purpose and passion as possible. I've recently turned down two job offers, one from an amazing company I would love to work for, because I realize that I am spending all my time doing what I love. If I took on something new, I'd have to give up something. (This is a dramatic switch from my 20s when I did everything I wanted and drank more espresso. An espresso maker of my own was both the best and the worst gift ever. My husband disposed of it out of love for me.) I still fail--there is more TV than I'd like, and sometimes I get sucked into facebook, but I try to come back to the c...

By Susan Muegge Why are you doing the YourTurnChallenge ?  When I had a full-time job, I was a Seth Godin addict--I loved the brevity of his posts and the impact of his ideas in the marketplace. In recent years, I have spent more time Spartan racing  and leading missions personally and focusing on employment screening  professionally. It's time to reclaim my personal brand and re-enter the conversation on B2B marketing and content marketing--my first professional love. Somehow, I got recruited into B2B marketing for HR almost 10 years ago with Starr Tincup, now the Starr Conspiracy , and I have remained there professionally since--with the exception of five years of teaching college classes. Let's get this party started.