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How do you get back on schedule and stay on schedule?

First, recommit to getting a newsletter out on a certain day/week of the month. Create a budget of story ideas so you know what you will be writing about several editions in advance. And then, take advantage of the most underutilized newsletter hack out there:

Guest columnists.

Invite people from your orbit to contribute content every so often.

Wait a second. Isn’t this a newsletter for my product or service? Why bring in somebody else who will talk about something other than what my company does?

Well, first things first, you invite a guest columnist who does offer something of value to your readers. In the past, our sister company PR Works has welcomed contributions from business coaches, IT specialists, HR providers etc. Many of our readers own a small business and these topics are of interest.

So, how did that help?

First, it provided content. Don’t underrate that, especially when our readers found it helpful.

Second, it provides insight into the types of professionals we work with. It certainly doesn’t hurt your company image to be associated with smart people.

Third, it provides you additional audience members as your guest columnist will want to share your newsletter with their customers and network.

Our own Joe D’Eramo recently showcased this strategy. In case you didn’t know, Joe started a newsletter called My Home Office Hacks, sort of a virtual water cooler for people who work from home.

One of the work from home topics he addressed is what foods to keep in the house. He invited a Wellness & Nutrition Coach, Marissa Szabo, to share some pointers. That issue can be found here.

“This was by far one of our more read issues,” said Joe. “What was interesting was the amount of people who saw the article on LinkedIn. Those are largely people from Marissa’s network. It really was a win-win and we’ll have Marissa back at some point with another wellness tip.”

You can sign up for Joe’s newsletter here.

If you would like to be a guest columnist for an upcoming My Pinnacle Network newsletter or PR Pointer, drop a line.

“I now think of myself as a farmer.”  

He went on to explain the analogy. He works at home (the field), his kids are educated at home (much like they did centuries ago), and every so often he ventures into town for necessary supplies.  

Now, our ancestors didn’t have the creature comforts of home and Al Gore had yet to invent the Internet, but you can see the point.   In terms of work, a farmer does not plant a crop and then harvest it in a month or two. It takes several months. Wanting that crop to be ready for sale today does not make it so. It takes time, just as it will take time and compliance for this pandemic to pass.  

So, what can today’s farmer do in addition to tending to this year’s crops? How about cultivating other skills and interests. My Pinnacle Network and other organizations are offering a number of complimentary webinars to provide information and help you learn other ways to grow your current crop or perhaps supplement your harvest.   For example:  

Our Sales Coach is offering one entitled “How to Get More Virtual Meetings with Decision Makers”. You can download the flyer here and register by clicking here.   My Pinnacle Network, along with Rockland Trust and South Shore Networking Professionals Group, is offering another put on PR Works entitled Leverage Podcast Guest Appearances to Boost your Business. To register, click here.

Yes, we would all like to be back in our offices and meeting face-to-face with clients, prospects and those in our networking circle. Taking advantage of current opportunities is one way to make productive use of the current time and get to a bountiful harvest.  

Happy farming!