What’s Your One Question? …and Other Lessons from TNNA Summer 2015
The thing about working in an industry for nearly 7 years is that when you leave that industry, you never really leave. Lucky for me, the needlearts industry is one that I stumbled into because of my personal interest in the crafts (in addition to my marketing qualifications), so it’s always fun to spend a little time among the folks who make it a vibrant community at the TNNA Show.
For the second time this year, I was invited to teach some business classes at this trade conference, and I was pleased to see such a great turn out for both of my Building Better Business Day classes (Digital Marketing Planner, Social Media Tool Kit), as well as my ever-popular Digital Marketing 101 class and my hands-on lab (Digital Marketing Blueprint).
Small & Medium Business Questions to Explore
In the classes, we explored some of the common questions that small/medium businesses face on a regular basis when it comes to getting a handle on their digital marketing: What do I post? How often should I post? What’s the right balance between promotional and beneficial content? How can I manage my digital marketing better? What should I measure?
As a teacher and consultant, it’s always interesting for me to explore the questions that people bring to me. But I think that one of the best pieces of advice shared at the event was by educator/designer/writer/business consultant Gwen Bortner who encouraged the 150+ students in our day of business classes to focus on one question that they wanted answered during the course of the day–just one.
In the hectic environment that we all currently work in, sometimes it’s hard to keep our eye on the challenge at hand. It’s important to make sure to stop now and then and make sure we’re looking to answer that one question, so that we can forge ahead.
Hold Onto What You’ve Learned
During the few days following any conference, I feel like I see a lot of buzz in the community as people continue to absorb ideas and explore possibilities.
Still buzzing with the great things I learned at #tnnashow THANKS @zontee_hou @kellienuss @GwenBortner @Patty_Lyons
— The Websters (@YarnAtWebsters) June 2, 2015
@zontee_hou, thanks for such an awesome class yesterday! Looking forward to it tomorrow too! #TNNAShow https://t.co/EodI2USM0L
— Sally Rudkin (@stitchinspired) May 30, 2015
The challenge is to hold onto the energy and turn it into tangible actions. Therefore, the thing that I always recommend to my students is to make a plan in the early days (during or just following the show), but to break up the actions into items to do over the next few weeks and to put them on a calendar. If they’re on your to-do list already, I believe you’re more likely to do them.
Connect and Learn from Others
Another great tip from Building Better Business Day was to identify an “accountability buddy” with whom you can establish your goals, compare notes, and hold each other’s feet to the fire. Again, for small/medium businesses, I think this is a valuable piece of advice to help them get more about conferences and classes.
Were you at TNNA? Do you have other lessons for small businesses? I welcome you to leave a comment and share your thoughts.