Remember how Voltaire said that common sense is not so common? Here are some common and not so common hacks that can make you or break you.
Ask me anything
Not really, I don’t believe in this catchphrase. Don’t ask anyone anything. Ask what you really need to know. Ask something meaningful. Ask the question that has been bugging you for days. If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.
Content is the queen
If you’re a GOT fan think of Sersei Lannister! King is powerful, impactful but also can be perceived as arrogant and in your face. Queen is subtle but thoughtful and calculated. She knows when to press play and went to hit pause. She is not driven by status, but by impact her actions have on people. Think like a king, but act like a queen.
Care to share?
You live you learn. In the last 3 years, I’ve lived in 5 countries, started 3 startups and ended up homeless and broke twice. Share your failure, even better, celebrate them. They speak louder than words of how daring and brave you are in a world full of cowards and play it safer’s. As a company, when you share your failures you receive empathy and gain even more followers through emotional connection. Just be real, genuine and authentic. Don’t pretend everything is perfect, we are all people, we get it.
Hear them out!
Last month a post got 14000 unique visits a day and I got 350 emails. I spend the whole week addressing each and every one of them. I hear out my community because they made me and they can break me. This applies to large brands especially! Never disregard someone’s honest concern or a problem they are having with your brand.
Blue Lagoon
I like to say that words are my playground! But words are also like playing with fire. One wrong move and you’re burnt! Blue Lagoon in Zakynthos and Blue Lagoon in Iceland aren’t the same, but how do you know which one someone is talking about it if you only hear their content without the context? Put your stories into context!
Consistency!
You need to be consistent in your strategy and many large brands expect something to work only after 3 months. If it doesn’t show results quick enough they change strategy as the wind blows. That gets you nowhere. You need to be patient and consistent to see results.
Gotta catch them all!
Whether they love me or hate me, in the end, they make me. Never delete negative comments from your accounts, always address them. They are like gray hairs! You kill one, 3 come back to haunt you! Large brands make horrible mistakes with this, please don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Retargeting:
You probably know that 98% of traffic doesn’t convert. You need to find new ways to keep your brand in client’s mind after they leave your website. There are many tools that can help you with that. Remember: Chase them until you’re out of breath! And then keep running!
Uncreate to recreate
Don’t be afraid of breaking things, it is one of the best ways to rebuild them in a way you never saw possible initially. Travel industry as we know is broken and it is shifting and growing into something most large brands aren’t ready to embrace. You evolve or you die. Don’t only study about what is new but start implementing new ways into your business today.
Expect the unexpected
The industry is changing on daily basis and it can be overwhelming to stay updated with everything that is going on. But no matter how in the loop we are there will always be something that we didn’t see coming. Far too many people complaining about it instead of learning to embrace it before their competitors do. Don’t oppose the change, embrace it and let if shift your mind in a new direction.
Native Travelizing
Let’s talk about travel and failing when working for large corporations and brands who are afraid to try out new things and take the road less traveled. Don’t do the same thing over and over again and expect new customers to float it. If you chose to work with influencer chose native advertising. Influencers know their followers better than you think you do. Do you come to a restaurant and bother the chef you’d rather have your dish prepared a different way like you do it at home? I didn’t think so
Marketing Technologist?
Marketing and Tech are my two biggest passions and they go as gin and tonic, my favorite drink! You can’t do one with the other, at least not nowadays! I use over 10 marketing software’s that make me unbeatable when it comes to Inbound marketing. When you compare my skills and knowledge with the help of those software tools I am like a superhuman compared to your average marketing person. I’ll share these tools with you over Linkedin, just shoot me a message!
The Wall Challenge
I hit the wall every now and then. It helps clear my head. Jokes aside, it hurts when you hit the wall, but it is a great opportunity to think about why that happened. Was the wall there the whole time and you hit it because you weren’t focused? Covering your scars with ice is a great opportunity to rethink your decisions.
Rejection=Redirection
I don’t take rejection personally. For me it means redirection. Redirection of focus, energy, time into something else which will pay off more for me at the moment. Rejection from a client or partner is just an opportunity to see where they were pointing their fingers for the whole time and what’s the thing bugging them. See if it is something you do, or is it that you are just not a match. Accept that and proceed.
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
No matter how cool something is, you shouldn’t use it if it doesn’t resonate with your customers. How many of you actually remember Mary Poppins? You get the point. Use simple words that resonate with your audience. Forget what is hip and cool unless you are a coffee shop in Brooklyn.
Contently&Ceros
Here is the insight into 2 of my favorite tools. Contently is pure gold when it comes to large brands who need special attention with scaling their content strategy. Ceros is interactive marketing software that enables you to act like a team of rockstar developers and designers when in fact it’s just you.
Ignore the competition
If everyone in the company is paying attention to the competition who is being the visionary? Hire someone to follow all about the competition and brief you with the most meaningful stuff.
Random Reads
Get out of your comfort zone, learn about what you don’t know! My favorite blog is Waitbutwhy and my favorite thought provoker is Seth Godin. I have a zero inbox policy that I stick to, so making it to my email is a miracle, but Seth has a priority inbox spot guaranteed for a reason!
Pass it on
My most important thing in life is my legacy. What will I leave to future generations, to young people from Serbia following me and will I motivate them to learn more, grow more and care more! I do that by spending time every week to write posts about how to get your first online job, enroll a college on a full scholarship or travel the world for free. Even if you don’t have money to give, give time, share experiences and empower people who surround you! There is always someone who knows or has less than you and who could benefit from your help. Sharing is caring!
