Today I had an awesome day planned!
Flea market in the morning with Joanne, then catch some of the Phillies game in the afternoon.
That followed by some blogging and other inbound marketing efforts in the evening.
A perfect Sunday…
NOT! Tuned out it rained like it does in Philly in late April each year, by the bucketful!
I could have been down in the dumps, letting the unforeseen change effect me, but Stuart Mills had reminded me about the Circle of Routine.
This was exactly the kick in the rear end that I needed to stay on target with my goals!
It’s a marathon, not a sprint!
This was a week of two extremes.
First, reading Adam Toporek’s infographic about the pitfalls and huge odds that are stacked against a young small business. It made me think that as far as we’ve come, and as much growth as we’ve had in a still very uncertain economy, that there was still a lot of work to be done!
The second part was fantastic news, and I am so incredibly happy for this gentleman. Fellow inbound marketer Marcus Sheridan just celebrated day 800 of Inbound Marketing at his pool company.
Life and business could not be better for Marcus and that makes me so darn happy! Knowing what it took to dig their business out of the tremendous hole it was in, and where it is now, I have the utmost respect for him.
Seeing that number (800), also made me quickly grab the calendar and take a temperature check.
It read Inbound Day #540. I felt really good about our market position at this point, but also decided it was time to get out of my comfort zone and step it up again.
A Change in Mindset
I have to admit, making the transition from 18 months of business blogging to a personal blog has been tough transition.
To a certain extent with business blogging, I’ve found it can be one dimensional. On the B2B side, blog commenting is fairly nonexistent. Engagement with other bloggers wasn’t even on the radar.
In the end, as long as the business blog content is bringing in tons of traffic and converting leads, I am one happy camper!
The personal side is different. I am learning about building community and helping others (even more than helping myself). It’s a much different mindset, and it feels great!
What I learned so far, that in similar fashion to helping other small business owners grow their businesses, I was going to need to get to know the online community.
What I’m finding is nothing short of exceptional!
A New Recipe for Success
This rainy day gave me a huge opportunity to get inbound-jiggy-with-it! Here is a look at how I spent my day – engaging, interacting, cleaning (yes cleaning), blogging, and loving.
Linkedin – There were 18 new connections that were all sent a personalized email letter of introduction. I also took some time to review the status updates of my connections, liking and commenting, and helping were I could. Next, I browsed through my Linkedin groups, commented and started a few new discussions.
Getting to know other bloggers – This is fairly new to me, but has been great fun and a fantastic learning experience. I must have been on 20-30 different blog sites today. If any really stuck with me, I made sure to comment on the post.
Twitter – Any awesome blog posts I came across were either immediately retweeted or I made note of them to send out in the coming days. I was also sure to thank those kind folks who gave me some twitter love by retweeting me, and then responded to some thoughtful mentions.
Google+ – Still in it’s infancy, I am doing some limited engagement on G+, just kind of feeling my way around. Today I had some fun and posted my Awesome Cereal Mix of The Day, and a picture of the beer I enjoyed that was meant for the Phillies game. There were some other comments to respond to, and I have to say that most comments have been very thoughtful and engaging.
Blogging – What’s a productive inbound day without some sort of blogging. This post actually hit me while cleaning the bathroom and jamming to some Dave Matthews Band! As soon as I’m done here, it’s off to my business blogs to knock out a few for the week.
Loving – No, loving is not part of the required regiment for inbound marketing success, but it’s a perfect way to end the day and give Joanne the attention she deserves. She has been amazing through it all with me, and completely understands as she is building her businesses as well. Some couples have his and her pajamas, we enjoy his and hers computers, sitting side by side in the kitchen. It’s soooo romantic!
In the end, it was a perfect day. I learned about and interacted with some awesome people, blogged to my heart’s content, then shared
my heart with an amazing woman!
Is there anything you would have done differently to make the day and blogging efforts more productive?
Also, how do you push yourself, to stay out of a routine? Feel free to share in the comments 
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Now that right there Adam, is how you should spend a Sunday! Cleaning, reenergising, interacting, loving – doesn’t get much better than that.
Thanks for linking to my post, I do appreciate it. Quite the nice surprise waiting for me in my ‘Pending’ section! And thanks for reaching out and connecting with me over the past couple of weeks, it means a lot that there are good people like you in the world out there.
Take it easy champ
Stuart recently posted..Summer School And The Meaning Of Life
Stu, it’s my pleasure. I don’t post it if I don’t like it and yours kept me challenged, which is ,awesome!
I have to say, it was a very fulfilling day. Sometimes we just have to make the best of a situation (like the flooded office I walked into today…more on that to come).
I really appreciate you stopping by. Peace!
-Adam
Adam Sokoloff recently posted..Who are my Biggest “Business Building” Role Models? My Kids of Course!
Adam:
My day was similiar to yours, but candidly as a small business owner, I always have stuff to do, so it does not matter if it rains or not. Small business people just need to discpline themselves to push the business forward balanced with taking time out to smell the roses – something that is difficult to do when it rains
Jimmy
Hey Jimmy, yes balance is certainly the key. I could have certainly found a ton of other “stuff” to do. Glad I took the time to engage with so many people. Felt like I was out all day without even leaving the house!
Adam
Adam Sokoloff recently posted..5 reasons why you CAN & SHOULD take on the GIANTS of business with Inbound Marketing
Sounds like a pretty darn good day to me too Adam. Sure wish you would send some of that rain our way. We haven’t had a day like that all year. Darn it!
Your list of what you started doing is wonderful. I just shot a video about LinkedIn, it’s a place I’ve been wanting to dive into more. I finally got around to learning more about the site although I’ve been on there for quite a while now.
Still haven’t dove into Google+ yet but I’ll get there. I’m also glad you are doing the personal blogging because a lot of the different small business blogs aren’t exactly in my area so they are harder to understand. But getting to know the person behind the business helps us understand your area of expertise more. Glad you ventured into this.
Really enjoyed you sharing this with us and I hope your week is as productive as your Sunday was. So here is to a great week ahead my friend.
Adrienne
Adrienne recently posted..How To Get Around In LinkedIn
Hey Adrienne, you are not going to believe this, but it rained again today!!! I am working on blogging you some rain
Will definitely check out your linkedin video. I’ve been on LI for a few years now, have over 1000 connections, but never did anything to engage with them until recently. There are some awesome peeps on LI, and some very good networking opportunities. We’ll have to chat soon about it!
So glad you stopped by and enjoyed the post!
Talk soon,
-Adam
Adam Sokoloff recently posted..Is Email Dead? 3 Key Areas to Check Your Email Marketing Pulse.
Hi Adam, nice to be here. You just described most of my week. It’s tough trying to keep up with the different demands that blogging requires. Some people don’t understand that this can easily be a full time job.
Vic recently posted..5 healthier things to eat rather than burgers and fries
True that Vic! I was just about to finally hit the sack when I realized that I hadn’t yet responded to these comments lol.
Thanks for stopping by. You’re always welcome back!
Adam
Adam Sokoloff recently posted..10 Small Business Problems Solved with Inbound Marketing
Adam,
Thanks so much for the inclusion. It’s amazing when you see it broken down like that just how much there always is to do with social media.
You definitely have the right attitude — marathon, not a sprint. I’ve only survived 6 months blogging and feel like that’s a solid milestone. So many quit within the first year, and I think a lot of it is because they don’t have such a great approach!
Good stuff Adam!
Adam Toporek recently posted..This Blog Is Dead: I’m Starting Over
Adam, thanks for putting it out there. The numbers really hit home for me. If I can just help a few small biz owners beat the odds, that would be great!
Congratulations on your 6 month milestone! That is truly awesome! I started business blogging and inbound marketing 18months ago, and it’s completely transformed my business. No matter what, we put three or more blogs out there a week. It’s paying huge dividends today.
The personal side is so different, but I’m really enjoying it. I didn’t have any plans to write for the Market Domination blog today, but that post just hit me like a ton of bricks.
Best,
Adam
Adam Sokoloff recently posted..Fishing for Sales? 5 Reasons Why Consistently Fresh Website Content will Catch you More Whoppers!
Seems to me like you had a great rainy Sunday! A rainy day is a great excuse to just stay home and do something fun…like blogging. Haha. If it were me, besides using most of those social media sites and commenting on other blogs, I would have been doing some writing. Either writing for my blog, for a guest post, or just free writing.
Blogging is definitely a marathon. It’s learning to enjoy the small wins along the way. That’s what keeps me moving towards the next small win.
Benny recently posted..The Exciting Thing About Life
Benny, it was an amazing rainy Sunday! I love to go out, but at the same time am a complete homebody.
“Blogging is definitely a marathon. It’s learning to enjoy the small wins along the way. That’s what keeps me moving towards the next small win.”
I love it, very well said! Today’s post was a small win for me. While telling a story, I was really happy to help others out. It was essentially my first post doing that.
Thanks for coming by and don’t be a stranger!
Have a great one!
Adam
Adam Sokoloff recently posted..Who are my Biggest “Business Building” Role Models? My Kids of Course!
Adam, wow brother, this read made me smile man. Now that’s a Heck of a day!
Sounds like you’re really, really catching the vision of community and interaction and all that’s needed to make this difficult thing we call a ‘personal blog’ to work.
BTW man, your design here is great . Really clean, love the font and colors too.
Anyway, I’ve finally subscribed brother, and thrilled for all your success.
Marcus
Marcus Sheridan-The Sales Lion recently posted..The 13 Best and Most Powerful Blog Header Designs on the Internet
Marcus man, so glad you could swing by! I really appreciate it!
It was one heck of a day, and so was the next one, but for different reasons…and I’ll be writing about that soon enough.
This post was fun to write! I took a totally different approach (at your suggestion), and it felt like a weight had been lifted. Fun + helping others + community and interaction = one happy blogger!
As for the design, it is pretty clean, but almost a little sterile if you ask me. Like this blog, and Sunrise Signs, it will be always be evolving. Hopefully some day it will make your best and most powerful header designs
I know I have some work to do! I’d certainly appreciate any other feedback you have.
Dude, thanks for subscribing. Means a lot! Catch up to ya soon.
Adam
Adam Sokoloff recently posted..Who are my Biggest “Business Building” Role Models? My Kids of Course!
I am finding the same pleasure in blogging as you are Adam. Meeting new people is never dull. Learning new things everyday. That’s what I do to make blogging more productive, read, comment and ask questions and really connect with people who also really want to connect.
As for your other question, I like routine as long s it’s my own(!) so I don’t push myself to stay out of it at all.
pea recently posted..Time Bandits
Pea, How do you manage all the blogs you are checking out? Google Reader?
Yea, I think having a routine is great, as long as we step back every once in a while to reflect, and mix it up. Otherwise, I think we become creatures of habits.
Thanks for stopping by!
-Adam
Adam Sokoloff recently posted..Is Email Dead? 3 Key Areas to Check Your Email Marketing Pulse.
Not Google reader because I like to visit people at their ‘homes’ as it were. That way I get more of their essence. They’ve spent time designing their site and I like to see their work and artistic choices and all those nuances and extra bits of personality that readers can tend to iron out for brevity. I simply bookmark them and visit them.
Re: routine, I have OCD so perhaps my case is a little different. Similar to autism (Rainman) I function better with structure and indeed being a creature of habit. And whilst I always step back and reflect all the time, mixing it up is not on the agenda! I put everything back as it was or indeed form a minutely altered new routine!
All the best.
pea recently posted..Time Bandits
Hi Adam,
What a productive rainy Sunday you had! All the loose ends tied and ready to face a new week. I bet you had a smile on your face when you finally went to sleep. Hope you also had a good lunch or dinner to make it complete.
A perfect rainy Sunday for me would be a quiet time with a good book and time to catch up on the personal development blogs I subscribe to.
Here’s hoping to more success for your business. Have a nice day!
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