Like many other Americans, my partner Lewis and our furry family members got in the car last Thursday to spend Thanksgiving with the family. In addition to the food and wine and silly bulldog antics, there was also the inevitable challenge of answering the “How’s work?” question in a way that non-marketers understand (and care about!)

I’m not always very good at it. I realized that the year one of Lewis’ step-uncles asked me how my “shopping” was going this year. At first, I thought he meant holiday shopping, but, no, somehow, he was under the impression my job was shopping in some form.

I guess it’s better than when someone said, “oh, you send me all those spam emails?”

But just barely!

Whoops.

This year, I did a lot better. Instead of focusing on what I had done work-wise since I last saw them, I shared how I helped my clients achieve their goals. I also shared a little bit about who those clients were and what I loved about working with them.

I shared my passion and enthusiasm for what I do and even got a little geeky. In short, I shared what I was doing in an authentic, personal way.

And, for the first time ever, instead of people politely changing the subject, I actually had more than one “wow! That sounds cool” response.

All of this reminds me to remind you, even if you are working on content for a “boring” industry, finding that spark of what interests you and what you are helping them achieve can make all the difference in your motivation and engagement.

As a bonus, it’s been my experience that putting my enthusiasm out into the world repays itself by connecting with others and often leads to great co-created ideas, too.

So, as we head into the end of the year, why not make a conscious effort to share what you love about what you’re doing with others. You just may inspire someone to follow in your footsteps!

Coming Up on #ContentChat

Content Chat is my weekly LinkedIn live video chat focused on sharing expertise and ideas amongst the content marketing community. Join the conversation on Mondays at noon Pacific / 3 p.m. Eastern. Be sure to mark your calendar to join the #ContentChat community and me for these upcoming guests:

• TODAY on #ContentChat, we’ll explore how to make the most of your end-of-year reporting with Amy Higgins. We’ll share how you can celebrate your successes with your team, spotlight wins to your executives, and use your EOY reporting cycle to generate new content ideas.
• Next Monday (Dec. 4) on #ContentChat, Pam Didner will sit in the hot seat to explain why content marketing is vital for go-to-market (GTM) success. She’ll overview the different types of GTM, which teams in a company are involved in it, and how content helps throughout the process.

​Get Involved with #ContentChat

Want #ContentChat on your calendar? Use this link to follow our calendar, so you never miss a chat.

We're booking guests for 2024—send us your pitch!
​Are you a content marketing practitioner, author, or consultant who is interested in being a guest for an upcoming edition of #ContentChat? We’d love to see your topic pitch via our Content Chat guest submission form.

Content Marketing + Related Jobs

​Content Marketing Manager, PicnicHealth.
​PicnicHealth aims to fix the broken healthcare system and help patients take complete ownership of their data. The company tracks down and organizes a patient’s records and enables them to share them whenever needed. Its team seeks a content marketing manager to drive the content strategy to reach biopharmaceutical customers and position PicnicHealth as a leader in patient-centric evidence generation.

​Head of Content Marketing, Exclaimer.
​Exclaimer sees email signatures as an opportunity to build customer relationships, maintain brand integrity, and make a lasting impression—so it offers an email signature management solution to do that! The brand is hiring a head of content marketing to manage its content team and map the content strategy to support and extend its marketing campaigns and demand-generation initiatives.

​Email Marketing Manager, 23andMe.
​23andMe is a leading consumer genetics company with multiple FDA authorizations to provide genetic health risk reports. Its team seeks an email marketing manager to retain, engage, and convert audiences. The role includes owning the entire email process from start to finish, including writing briefs, creative reviews, and building templates in HTML.

​Content Strategist, Catchy.
​Catchy is a developer marketing agency that has worked with clients including Atlassian, Meta, Deutsche Telekom, and Foursquare. The agency seeks a content strategist to support its diverse clientele, working closely to align messaging, build brand resonance, and create developer-focused content.

Are you hiring? We can help!

If you have a content marketing contract position, full-time job, or freelancer opportunity, reply to this email and let us know. We are always happy to share jobs with the community at no cost.

ICYMI

​How Personal Branding Can Improve Your Content Marketing.
​Building a strong personal brand can boost your career success and keep you resilient when faced with turbulence. But now comes the tricky question: What should you do to define and activate your brand? Christine Gritmon and I discuss everything you need to know in this #ContentChat recap.

​47+ Book Recommendations Create the Ultimate Reading List for Content Marketers.
​Looking for some fresh ideas on what to get your content marketing friends for the holidays? Or are you ready to level up in your career in the new year? Either way, check out this CMI Content list of book recommendations, including some of my favorites, like Everybody Writes, Content Inc., The Content Puzzle and the Missing Piece, and Find Your Red Thread. What would YOU add to their list?

​2023 B2B Influencer Marketing Report.
​Influencers are increasingly essential for B2B brands to engage their buyers and earn their trust, but what’s the best way to work with influencers? TopRank Marketing’s latest B2B Influencer Marketing Report shares nine habits of highly successful B2B influencer marketing programs and explains how you can find the right influencer mix to persuade your audience.
​
P.S. If you want to hear more about the report, check out the recap and video archive from my recent conversation with Lee Odden)

​How to Create a Social Media Content Calendar in Three Steps.
​If you haven’t already, it’s time to start your 2024 planning! This MarketingProfs article shares three steps to create a social media content calendar, which can also help inspire new content ideas or campaigns. Remember to stay flexible with your strategy and don’t go all-in on any single channel (RIP Twitter as we knew it).

​So What? Using Generative AI for Survey Analysis.
​You can use surveys to inform your content strategy or create juicy, data-driven campaigns in so many ways. As anyone who has commissioned a survey has faced, however, analyzing the results can be painful (whether you surveyed hundreds or thousands of people). This Trust Insights YouTube Live replay explains how you can make the process easier, with generative AI’s help.

Until next time, stay safe and be well!

Cheers,

Erika

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​Erika Heald, Founder & Lead Consultant​
​Erika Heald Marketing Consulting​
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LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/erikaheald​
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/misserikasf/
​Threads: @MisserikaSF​