Excuses fail us...they're within our control
reasons on the other hand - they're out of our control
In today's edition of Burke's Bits:
Excuses vs Reasons
Marketing Tip
From the Research Files
Pun of the Day
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Excuses vs Reasons
Are you a fan of Colin Theriot? He’s a copywriter turned coach turned Cult of Copy Facebook Group owner. Anyway, I’m a fan. I purchased an ad in his Directory of Writers and I was a member of his Vault for a few months. Anyway, he sends an almost daily email. This week one of his emails dealt with excuses. Which is where I got the inspiration to write today’s thoughts…
Excuses are great for stopping me from doing what I want to do.
“I only have an hour a day.”
“I need a better computer.”
“I'm working on my game plan.”
“I was busy this weekend.”
“I don't know enough.”
“I can’t do anything until I know it will be done right.”
Here’s the thing - when I care more about how others might think about what I’m doing…I can readily find an excuse to not do it. When I care more about the journey of doing something…focused on getting to the end result…it’s amazing how there are no excuses.
Now - there will be Reasons I can’t do something and they include those things that are out of my control…like…
Weather - trust me, when a tornado is coming through I’m not working on anything. The same might be true of a really bad thunderstorm that takes out the electricity.
Equipment glitches - occasionally my laptop decides it needs to update (yes I’m on a PC with Windows) and I’m forced to wait it out.
Illness - I don’t care if you think you’re Superman or Wonder Woman. You’re not. There will be times when the body doesn’t work right. During those times it’s best to rest and take care of the body. Which often means…nothing else gets done. This was me for the last 4 weeks. I got home from Las Vegas and was sick for 2 1/2 weeks. It was mild but man was I tired. Major fatigue. A lot of sleep. No appetite. Then this past week I slowly started doing some work - writing mostly. And only today, Saturday, have I felt ‘normal’.
Family issues - Spouses, children, siblings, parents all need our attention. Sometimes an emergency occurs and they are our priority. As they should be.
Emergencies - I’ve had a few in my life. Like when the house flooded, the car broke down, came home to a house that had been ransacked, and other such things. Again, out of my control but need my attention.
Broken tools - Software breaks, SaaS go down, sometimes a favorite tool actually gets pulled from the market.
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Marketing Tip
Consider adding another channel of marketing to your business. For instance, if your focus is solely on paid ads and social media…consider adding email marketing. (that’s my specialty by the way so I’m happy to talk about it if you want - click here to Talk With Charlene About Email)
If you do email marketing and social media consider adding direct mail (yes, it’s a viable option for most businesses and not nearly as expensive as you might think).
If you’re doing direct mail and email, consider doing paid ads on YouTube or another video channel.
There’s a lot of uncertainty right now. Inflation + supply chain issues + workers deciding they don’t want to work and walking out (to name a few things). You can prepare your business to weather any sudden change by diversifying your marketing channels.
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From the Research Files
aka random bits of info you may or may not be able to use in your life
Bed bugs reproduce when the male bed bug literally stabs the female in the abdomen with his hypodermic genitalia. Once he’s stabbed the female, he then releases his sperm inside her body cavity. The sperm travels via the female’s blood to sperm storage structures in her body. The males also are perfectly happy to do the same to other males, with their sexual attraction to one another primarily based on the size of the bed bug. So if you’re a pleasantly plump bed bug, male or female, expect to have males trying to stab you with their genitalia.
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Pun of the Day
Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.
With Gratitude,
Charlene Burke
Let's Connect
“I will prepare and some day my chance will come.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
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