Categories
motivation

Seeking the Lofty

A quote by Thorton Wilder reminds me how we need to be involved in seeking the lofty and watch our mental diet as much as our physical one.

Seek the lofty by reading, hearing and seeing great work at some moment every day.
Thornton Wilder

Thornton Wilder Quotes. BrainyQuote.com, BrainyMedia Inc, 2022. https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/thornton_wilder_122026, accessed January 4, 2022.

Garbage in, garbage out is a cliche not just for computer programmers but for people as well. Do we consider how the media we consume affects us? Could we do better by intentionally consuming material that will lift us up as well as others? In other words, is what we’re taking in edifying?

Cartoon of a pastor at a pulpit with a coffee maker. He says, "Today's sermon will be fully edifying, inspirational and caffeinated."
Published in the “Church of God ENewsletter.”

I will confess that I have to watch this all the time. Like everyone else, I am prone to take the bait of breaking news that is really more broken than breaking. I can be drawn to clickbait about a football player with a bad attitude or an outrageous politician that said something offensive.

We all have choices. None of us need to be led along by sensational headlines that only give us mental junk food. The Internet can give us just as much good material as the bad. We just have to be more intentional and look for it. Let’s look for the lofty today.

Categories
Marketing

A Marketer Ponders Contentment

Content is one of these words in the English language that can mean two very different things, yet are spelled the same. It would be very good if we used accent marks in cases like the word, “content.”

If you are “contént,” with the accent on the second syllable, you are satisfied, pleased, peaceful. You are happy and pleased with where you are, what you have, or what you are doing.

If you have “cóntent,” with the accent on the first syllable, you have an amount of something. This word is related to “contain.” Content marketing is the art of creating materials that do not explicitly promote a product, brand, or service. Instead, the content is meant to be useful information that indirectly promotes a brand.

Marketing exists to generate discontentment, does it not? Its aim is to help a person realize they want something and encourage them to fulfill that want. Can one be content while consuming content marketing? Can one be content knowing their discipline generates discontentment?

It is something I am wrestling with. As someone who values love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23), how does this mesh with marketing? There are no easy answers. But it’s worth pondering on this fine morning.

Categories
Exercise Marketing

How Social Media Marketing Is Like a Fitness Regimen | HuffPost

Source: How Social Media Marketing Is Like a Fitness Regimen | HuffPost

This article caught my eye because it resonated with my exercise experience. I began running after college. But it wasn’t until I took it seriously did I experience positive results. In fact, before I took it seriously, I was consistently gaining weight and had borderline high blood pressure.

I discovered consistency with a plan is more effective than sporadic bursts with no real strategy. This article has convinced me to treat my social media strategy in a more consistent, strategic approach.

Categories
Marketing

Why Hemingway Beats Hype Marketing – The Mention Blog

This blog post is a good reminder hype marketing doesn’t work. You may hook someone once, but you lose their trust in the end. It is better to underpromise and overdeliver than to make outlandish claims.

Hype marketing doesn’t work anymore, so you can stop writing your clickbait headlines now. Instead, take inspiration from Hemingway’s style.

Source: Why Hemingway Beats Hype Marketing – The Mention Blog