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Inspiration When You Yeast Expect It

Written by Posted on Less than 0 min read

“No!” you’re screaming.

“This guy bakes one loaf of bread, and now I’m getting the ‘what marketers can learn from bread making’ column?”

Kind of.

I baked bread for three days straight. What kind of madman writes a column after just one loaf?

What does this all mean for marketing? Here are five bread-baking lessons for marketers.

1) Get a Head Start

I got inspired to try out a sourdough starter after reading a recent edition of The Hustle. I ordered the kit they mentioned from Mr. Holmes Bakehouse, and after staring at the package for a few days and trying to figure out what to do with it, I finally gave it a shot.

Getting a leg up is a great way to go instead of trying to do it all yourself. It’s also one of the most fruitful ways people participate in the Serial Marketers community, as members look for tactics and tools that help them get further along than they would by starting from scratch.

2) Get Help

The instructions from Mr. Holmes were so detailed, both with the package and over email, but I couldn’t figure out to do with what they sent. I emailed them some questions, and they responded with the info I needed. There was no point in assuming I could handle it all.

A few days later, I tried to make challah. I thought I could figure out a simple 3-braid design for it. I couldn’t and had to redo it. Then I searched for info, and the first video Google returned was from the Joy of Kosher series. In 30 seconds, I was able to fix my mistakes and get a not-terrible-looking bread braid.

Everyone needs help, especially now. Admit it, seek it out, learn from it, and apply what you learned.

3) Forgive Yourself

When baking the first loaf, I made a lot of mistakes. I couldn’t figure out why my first batch of dough was so runny. Then I realized that I forgot to add most of the ingredients to it. I botched other steps with that batch and others, whether with ingredients or timing or procedure.

It’s okay. At worst, it’s only bread. At best, it turns out alright anyway. And if not, you keep feeding the starter and try again tomorrow.

Self-forgiveness is a skill. We need it in our jobs. We need it in our roles as parents and children. We need to practice it constantly. Bread baking is just one visceral way to learn it.

4) Use the Ingredients You Have

Now’s a good time to be resourceful. What’s in your kitchen, and what can you do with it? Have some honey that’s sitting around? Some flavored salt in the back of the cabinet? A few extra bags of chocolate chips? (Yes, all apply to me.) Make use of them. Experiment. Now’s a great time to use whatever’s been gathering dust in the cupboard. (Disclosure: chocolate chips never gather dust in my cupboard, and they are replenished constantly.)

With marketing, now’s also a great time to use what you’ve been cultivating, whether for months or decades. Find people in your network to collaborate with as you rekindle dormant ties. Brush off some playbook you wrote years ago, perhaps literally. Or try doing something with a media account you just created. If you can’t use an idea for a client, or if you’re between clients or jobs, then it’s an even better time to use yourself as the test subject.

If it all goes awry, see Step 3.

5) Go the Route That Speaks to You

I grew up hearing the joke, “If you get ten Jews in a room, you get eleven opinions.” The same applies to bread bakers. For all the Googling I’ve done about bread baking, I can’t get straight answers about anything. I’m trying to figure out how long I can refrigerate my starter without feeding it (halving it, and then adding flour and water to keep it active), and answers seem to range from every 24 hours to more than a week, and that’s before factoring in a freezer.

My conclusion is I can do what works for me, within reason, and if I screw it up, I can remember the whole self-forgiveness thing. Be your authentic self, whether that’s Julia Child or the Swedish Chef.

Authenticity always matters. Be true to yourself with bread, and be true to yourself with your marketing. The rest, as they say, is commentary.

Meanwhile, what are you making of yourself? Whether it’s making bread or hunting for dough, let me know.

David

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LEARN. TRY. SHARE.
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NEW WAYS TO HELP MAIN STREET
Kudos to friend and Eniac Ventures founder Nihal Mehta for the latest upgrade to Help Main Street which lets you transact with 120,000+ local businesses, with links for how to support them directly instead of through third-party ordering systems that take a big cut. Read more in Axios, but more importantly, visit the link below.
https://helpmainstreet.com/

A SELF-DESCRIBED SERIAL MARKETER TELLS ALL
Todd Wasserman shares advice for marketers in Forbes. He quotes me, calling me a “self-described ‘serial marketer.'” I wonder if that’s how the first serial entrepreneurs were referenced? I like it.
dwasserman/2020/05/11/advice-for-marketers-be-like-apple-in-2001/#5df1d4e353f2

KEEP MOVING, EVEN WHEN YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’RE STANDING STILL
My former colleague Megan Levy offers some good advice here, sharing links to a bunch of courses and networks, with an added focus on female-oriented community resources.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/keep-moving-online-networking-skills-building-focus-megan-levy/

POLL: HAVE YOU USED LINKEDIN POLLS YET?
-Yes! I took the one you shared on LinkedIn (and below) about accepting connection requests.
-Yes! I took someone else’s. This isn’t all about you, you know.
-No!
LinkedIn does have this feature now, and it works well. In the first four hours, I got 200 votes. I also learned that one of my connection’s thumbnail images looks a lot like my Uncle Jeff. Also, since you can see how people respond individually to your poll, I reached out to one person whose vote surprised me, and we had a fun exchange about it.
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6666011432523448320/

PRUNING A JUICY STORY FROM THE PLUM
The agency Manifest launched a media property, The Plum. Here’s why this idea wasn’t the pits.
https://manifest.com/news-ideas/what-going-gray-can-teach-marketers

Also, check out more community news from Serial Marketers members, powered by Vestorly. Want to add your site here? Let me know.

RESOURCE HIGHLIGHTS
There are now so many that I’ve broken them up into categories. Keep the terrific links coming.

DATA

DONATE & SUPPORT

GUIDES

TOOLS & ESCAPES

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EVENTS
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Please send over any events you’re hosting or attending, and I’ll add them to the list. All events below are virtual, and all times are EDT, unless otherwise specified.

SERIAL MARKETERS SALONS
Tuesdays, 3pm
We have an incredible lineup coming up:
-5/12: The Future of Fundraising with auctioneer CK Swett of Lot 1 Auctioneers
-5/19: Ask a Recruiter Anything with Kelly Herrick of Searchlight
-5/26: How Local Businesses are Adapting with Dani Hall of Yelp
-6/2: E-Commerce Trends with Sarah Hofstetter of Profitero
Request access: 
https://www.meetup.com/Serial-Marketers-Community-Members/

CULTURE CLASS
May 13, 2pm (today)
Via Brad Grossman, host of this weekly series: “The purpose of Culture Class has always been to keep you smart, culturally relevant, and thinking ahead, and now we’re here to help you through these most confusing and challenging times. Our Special Expert Guest will be Christa Carone, President CSM Sports & Entertainment, and we will learn about how those in sports, marketing, entertainment and events are navigating our current world.”
https://zeitguide.com/free-culture-class

MOVING AT THE SPEED OF CRISIS
May 14, 9am
Virtual webinar
Perry Hewitt’s fantastic — catch her here:
“For many enterprise organizations, making swift changes to product and messages can be an insurmountable challenge – but for start-ups accustomed to rapid change, it’s part of what they do. Join us on Thursday May 14 to find out what lessons we can we learn from start-ups to help us all right now.
“Hosted by Board Member and Marketing and Digital Strategy Advisor, Perry Hewitt, we will hear from Julie Johnson, CEO, Armored Things and Rob Schutz, Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer, Ro on how they have shifted their product offerings in security and healthcare to respond to the crisis and engaged their audiences via smart marketing.”
https://www.marketingsociety.com/event/moving-speed-crisis-webinar

NEW ECOMM PLAYBOOKS FOR THE NEW NORMAL 
5/19
Enjoy this free, all-day virtual conference from Profitero, featuring marketers from lots of brands you know and love, plus a keynote from some random guy named Gary.
https://insights.profitero.com/CommerceLive.html

SOCIAL MEDIA WEEK’S #SMWONE – STARTING THIS WEEK
May 5-28
One of my favorite annual events is going virtual:
#SMWONE is a month-long virtual conference series taking place May 5-28 that will deliver live content, talks, panel sessions, and workshops, together with on-demand content, product demos, attendee hangouts, and networking experiences. They pivoted both of their NY and LA conferences into a single event and adding double the programming.
Confirmed #SMWONE speakers include Kristin Patrick, CMO of PepsiCo, Rishad Tobaccowala, Chief Growth Officer at Publicis Groupe, Pam Wasserstein, President of Vox Media, Rishi Magia, Creative Strategist at Instagram, Dara Treseder, CMO of Carbon 3D, and Joe Marchese, CEO of Attention Capital.
A Delegate Pass Pass allows access to 100+ hours of sessions with 300+ speakers. Through my link, you can get 20% off:
https://events.smwone.com/?promo=SMWdbONE20

SOCIAL FRESH X
June 1-6
Social Fresh runs terrific events, and I’m looking forward to their virtual edition. Basic tickets are free, with added perks for premium passes. “A virtual conference for marketers adapting to the unknown. Learn how to create new content, stay relevant, and engage your audience without sounding out of touch.”
https://socialfreshx.com/

COMMUNITY CHAT SUMMIT 2020
June 3-4
I’m excited to attend this one. You should too and take advantage of $49 earlybird tickets which cover the full two days: “The Community Chat Summit is a gathering of community builders helping each other navigate the world of community building by sharing resources, strategies, and best practices. Featuring keynote speakers, workshop sessions, 1 on 1 networking and more.”
https://hopin.to/events/community-chat-summit-2020?ref=b768882e4f91

FIRST WEDNESDAY
June 3, 6pm
First Wednesday is back! We have dozens of great people RSVPing for this fun NYC tradition that is now open to anyone virtually. Len Bilello might even by you a drink.
https://www.meetup.com/Serial-Marketers/events/ltmsnrybcjbfb/

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIES SUMMIT
June 9-12
The previously-Chicago-only event is now virtual and coming up soon. I’ll be speaking about how to build and run a successful B2B community. Of course, I will be including examples from many others, with a bit of experience covering mistakes I’ve made that others can learn from.
https://socialmediastrategiessummit.com/virtual-event-june-2020/

EVERFLOW CONNECT
June 15-16
“Discover strategies, insights, and connections for driving more performance through your Partnerships.” I’ll be on the panel 6/16 about building communities that drive results.
https://www.everflow.io/connect

MEDIAVILLAGE
Ongoing
Events for May and June include conversations between Jack Myers and luminaries such as Ford’s Lisa Schoder and Jim Motavalli, Madison Avenue Manslaughter author Michael Farmer, and LUMA’s Mr. Lumascape Terry Kawaja.
https://www.mediavillage.com/article/upfront-and-digital-newfronts-calendar-for-2020/

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JOBS
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I’m working on sourcing more jobs for this. In the meantime, check the resources below, and keep checking out the #jobs channel in Serial Marketers.

TIKTOK
Various product marketing roles
NYC
Via Chris Vennard on LinkedIn: “I have 3 roles open on my team, and a few more in our overall group. All of these roles are leading Go-to-Market strategy and execution around the TikTok ad platform. For my team, I’m looking for very deep & specific experience within programmatic advertising and API, as well as some more general experience across 3rd party marketplaces and Ad Measurement on our larger team.”
https://careers.tiktok.com/position?keywords=product%20marketing&category=6704215882479962371&location=CT_114,CT_94,CT_243&type=1&job_hot_flag=&current=1&limit=10.

Other job resources:

  • Ad Ops Online: Job listings for ad operations, programmatic account management, sales operations, and more.
  • Advisable: Get instant access to top marketing freelancers
  • AMA Job Board: Listings from the American Marketing Association (maybe you can also ask them anything)
  • Built in NYC: Jobs at a range of levels and functions, as long as you’re okay working in this quaint, backwater hamlet.
  • CareerList: Here’s a form for companies hiring and a form for job seekers; here’s the public list with tabs for both
  • CoronaHub: Jobs relating to the crisis response
  • ExecThread: Senior roles spanning a range of verticals and cities; membership is free but fully vetted (this uses my referral ID to get you in faster)
  • GLG: Get paid to share your topical expertise; it can lead to some interesting conversations at a potentially decent hourly rate
  • The Hired Guns: An array of jobs in marketing and related fields at brands, agencies, and media companies
  • Hunterz: A way for connectors to get paid to introduce startups to large enterprises
  • Lead5: A paid service for executive roles, plus intel on changes with companies and PE investments; you can try a risk-free weeklong trial to see if it’s any good for your needs
  • Lunch Club: Match 1:1 around predetermined goals with accomplished professionals (free)
  • NYC Ad Jobs & Networking: A popular Facebook group
  • One Club for Creativity: COVID-19 Jobs Board
  • TechNY Daily: While more technical, there are also some sales and marketing jobs at NY startups.
  • VentureLoop: Free startup job listings; their paid option is $15/month and might surface more leads (but it might not).
  • Wanted: Wanted helps top talent in tech and marketing find a job at your desired pay. Plug in your salary, stay anonymous at first, and connect with companies that want to recruit you.

Do you run or enjoy other job listing sites? Let me know, and I’ll share them.

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