Top Marketing Blogs This Week: Defining Success, Writing Press Releases And More

This was a good week for reading. Maybe a bit of spring weather has helped us clear out the mental cobwebs, because everyone seemed to be on top of their game. Weeks like this make it tough to come up with a mere five posts. I hope you’ll enjoy these because we’ve got everything from inspiration to how-tos to stuff that will make you think. Enjoy!

Should Happens (Thanks, Josh)

Written by Matt Monge

I put this first because I loved this one and if you get called off to pick up the baby or check the pancakes, I want you to remember this and come back to read it. It’s clever. It’s hilarious. And it’s true. Matt shares a universal lesson here: what you “should” do is stop listening to the shoulds! You know the story… someone tells you that you “should” be on Facebook or “should” send out more emails or “should” do this or that or something else in a well-meaning but ultimately debilitating way. Matt makes an excellent and entertaining case for doing your own thing. or else you just might find yourself up should creek.

Read the article at themojocompany.com and Follow Matt on Twitter @MattMonge

How Do You Define Success?

Written by Robin Thornton

How do you define success? More importantly, when was the last time you examined this question? Robin gives you food for thought in this post about the various definitions of success and its changing nature. I bet you’ve experienced a change in your definition at least once – depending on your life stage and values, success can mean money, recognition, comfort, freedom, time… How you define your success will also define how you approach your work and your life. Robin shares a bit of her story and will get you thinking about your own definition. Challenge yourself to answer the questions posed in this article: “What is important to you? What do you want to be remembered for?”

Read the article at leaderswest.com and Follow Robin on Twitter @RobinEThornton

Billing And Invoicing Doesn’t Have To Be Everyone’s Nightmare

Written by Gerry Michaels

Going from inspiration in the previous articles… to the practical reality of getting paid. If you’re a service provider you know this pain. From keeping track of due dates to collecting overdue invoices to “But I don’t have a credit card”, dealing with billing can be time consuming and frustrating. But Gerry offers some great practical advice for billing – and getting paid – that’s worth considering. After all, if you run a service business, you’ve got to deal with the money-side whether you like it or not. And since it seems like many of us are conditioned to shy away from asking for (or demanding) anything when it comes to money, this is a post worth reading. Gerry lays it out neatly and stress-free. Try one or two of his tips to fill in your gaps and I bet you’ll be a lot more stress-free too.

Read the article at steamfeed.com and Follow Gerry on Twitter @GettysburgGerry

How to Write An Eye Catching Press Release To Promote Your Business

Written by Sylviane Nuccio

If you want to promote your business using press releases, it pays to learn a bit more about what makes a press release a press release. You may be a great writer but if you’re not familiar with the format and requirements of a press release, you could be sabotaging your efforts. Sylviane is a writer who knows the ins-and-outs of writing, and just as importantly, the structure of writing. Just like a blog post is not a tweet is not an email… a press release has its own nuances. Read Sylviane’s post if you want to know more about how to start one, what specific details to include and how to conclude it so that next time you submit one of yours to a busy publisher, it’ll be more likely to get read.

Read the article at sylvianenuccio.com and Follow Sylviane on Twitter @SylvianeNuccio

Think More About The Why And Less About The How In Social Media

Written by Julia Claire Campbell

As you’re busily collecting “how to” posts and attending training webinars, have you stopped to ask yourself the fundamentals? More specifically, what are you trying to accomplish with social media? Why do you want to be there in the first place? We get so busy trying to figure out how to do the next-best-newest thing that we often leap without looking. Fortunately, Julia is here to throw a bucket of cold water on all that hectic speed and make you slow down long enough to think about it. She offers plenty to think about and some questions that are worth digesting. These aren’t yes/no questions and they will require you to think, and perhaps to reevaluate. Julia hits on perhaps one of the most important points, too, which is that there are no “right” answers – only the ones that are right for you.

Read the article at jcsocialmarketing.com and Follow Julia on Twitter @JuliaCSocial

If you have a favorite on this list, let me know which one!