Letter from Tarset: Management isn't for everyone, but foreplay is
Foreplay in B2B marketing, inbound PR, personal learning, endings and beginnings, #CommsSchool and a birthday fundraiser.
Sarah and I spent the weekend in a yurt in Tarset, Northumberland. We headed north on Friday with big ambitions and a long to-do list. We spent Friday night in a cracking pub and Saturday walking the border fells. In the event we managed to order the booze for our upcoming wedding and not a lot else. Sometimes idleness is a good thing.
💬 Demand better foreplay in B2B marketing
How many times have you accepted a LinkedIn invitation only to be spammed immediately with a sales pitch? I wrote this week on my work blog about a better way to start a conversation. Sending a thoughtful package in the mail is a personal and creative means of engaging a prospect. Typically, 50% of recipients will respond and 25% will turn the approach into a meaningful conversation.
📕 Book: Inbound PR
I’m going to re-read Iliyana Stareva’s blog-to-book Inbound PR this week after a conversation on Twitter. The book describes the technology and workflow for a modern campaign, using content to engage audiences in a conversation via the web. It was conceived in 2014 and is still ahead of its time. I was pleased to be there at the beginning to contribute a foreword along with David Meerman-Scott.
👩🎓 Take responsibility for your own learning and development
In the race towards the boardroom we're often quick to forget our craft, and yet it's critical to effectiveness. I’ve written this week about how all occupations rely on a mix of craft and management. A career path is critical to job satisfaction, but management doesn't necessarily represent success for everyone and that’s a good thing.
🛑 Ending well makes for a strong beginning: Ricochet AI
Knowing when to end something and doing so with grace is a life skill that few people ever master. I’ve huge admiration for Paul Smith and the team at start up Ricochet for publicly calling it a day less than a month after trading. The team that has spent six months developing a lead generation product for SMEs has decided to revisit the proposition based on customer feedback. I’ve signed up to the newsletter to find out what comes next.
🚌 #CommsSchool: lessons start on Tuesday
More than 300 students have signed up to Comms School, a virtual series of six lessons on blogging, social media and networking. It started, like the best things do, as an idea over a coffee with Marcel Klebba. Our goal is to give a leg up to young people starting out in their career. It’s started to get industry attention this week. Please sign up to the community and get involved.
🧁 Birthday foodbank fundraiser
It’s my birthday this week. Please send cake. Actually, please don’t, I eat well. Instead send a donation to the Bay Foodbank (via my Facebook page). Sarah and I are long time supporters of our local foodbank in Whitley Bay, which has distributed 1,000 three-day food parcels to families so far this year. £10 will buy dinner for a local family. Thank you.
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