Hey,
We're only 12 days into 2022, and I don't know about you, but some of those problems from 2021 didn't just go away when the clock turned over to a new year on January 1.

For me personally (because I know you're itching to know), everything seemed like it was going to be fine when we arrived home from our Michiana holiday on December 29. 

Except, it wasn't.

Following our return to the tundra, we discovered a leaky pipe underneath our kitchen sink, which inevitably turned into needing a new pipe, then a new, bigger pipe leading into the basement, followed by needing an entirely new sink faucet (and another one for the bathroom). Our plumbers were great and gracious, especially when a mouse tottled out from underneath the kitchen sink, like, "NBD, just living my best life eating Kevin and Lonna's crumbs over here."

I was reminded of the advice I received from a dear friend several months ago when I felt compelled to open up a tiny crack of plaster crumbling down a wall in an upstairs hallway. He said, "Don't touch it. It'll just create a bigger hole and then all of a sudden you're doing a full upstairs remodel."

You can't live with a leaking drain no matter how hard you try to ignore it, and sometimes the leak uncovers more leaks, which can potentially result in major water damage that requires structural repairs.

Likewise, no matter how hard you avoid the temptation to fuss with the crumbling plaster on your upstairs wall, it's like a mosquito bite — you just gotta scratch the itch. 

And we all know how that works out. Once you start picking, you can't stop, and now you have a welt (or a gigantic hole in the wall). It's a real problem.

For a lot of businesses, content marketing feels a lot like a hole in the wall or a leaky pipe, or a mosquito bite. (mixed metaphors never work, do they? I hope you get my point.)

Once you build a blog, now you have the problem of having to write more blogs.

Once you start an email campaign, you have to keep sending them or your leads will freeze and die.

Once you write an ebook or white paper, you gotta follow up with more of your amazing insights and expertise, or what the hell was the point in the first place?

Customers expect to hear from you. In fact, they want to see you, learn from you, listen to you, read about you. They want to experience your product and services.

They want to be a part of your story. 

That takes content. A lot of it. 

So why start content marketing in the first place if it's only going to create the problem of having to write more content in the long-term? Because you've got competition, and one of the best, most affordable ways to gain leverage over that competition is through a sustainable content program.

A keyword there is "sustainable." You don't need all the tactics from everywhere in the marketing universe. In fact, you shouldn't have a podcast, webinar, blog, inbound marketing strategy, newsletter, video series, earned media campaigns, TikTok and all the socials. That's not sustainable, unless you're a huge brand with a huge budget and an equally huge marketing team that has the time, resources and expertise to manage it all.

Sustainable content programs for smaller businesses don't need to create more problems or more stress. In fact, they should feel easy, low-effort — even fun! Choose the content channels that fit your business type, your target customers, and the ones that work the best to share your story over time. 

So, what is your unique problem with content marketing? I'd love to know and help out if I can. And if I can't, chances are, I know someone in my network of branding and communications professionals who can.

Stay true. Stay you,

~Lonna

P.S. About that root canal and upcoming jury duty ... more "problems," but nothing I can't handle with a little help. Never be afraid to ask for help. People want you to succeed and feel good. Even the endodontist who spent two hours drilling holes in my tooth wants me to do well. As my friend Dayna said, "Hey, you saved your tooth, right?" Yep. Sure did.