A Newsletter on Marketing (and Life) #020

Pillar Content + Pride + 2024 marketing insights

Author

Jordan Ogren
November 03, 2023

I never do this.

I'm sitting under buckets of (real?) plants, writing to you…on a day off.

That felt weird writing.

But I did it. I have a supporting team/leaders who care that I (everyone on our team) take time off to refresh and refocus. I don't know why I struggle with it. Ask my therapist.

But I'm doing it. And that's my opening premise: Do things you don't want to do so you can make progress.

What is one thing that you dread doing that, when finished, will help you make progress?

Better yet, What is one habit you need to start but don't want to that will help you be your best self?

For me, taking time off and replenishing my well.

Enjoy this week's letter:

Marketing Micro Essay 💡 Pillar Content

(Time to read: 1:01 minutes)

This could get confusing; you've been warned.

Pillar Content, or as I call it, Macro Content, is critical in your content strategy. It's how you get off the hamster wheel of one-off content assets and begin building content assets that deliver value for longer periods. It makes your content creation go much further (do more with less).

Pillar Content, a term coined by Gary Vaynerchuk, underscores creating a substantial, cornerstone piece of content. This could manifest as a daily vlog, keynote, podcast, or any other immersive content piece mirroring the brand's ethos.

The brilliance of Pillar Content lies in its ability to birth a plethora of micro-content pieces tailored for diverse platforms, all while maintaining the core narrative. It's not just about creating content; it's about orchestrating a content ecosystem that resonates, engages, and proliferates across the digital realm, nurturing a community bound by shared interests and values.

Here is what that would look like:

While Content Pillars and Pillar Content are different concepts, they are interlocked. Your Pillar Content will touch one (if not more) Content Pillars to ensure your content resonates. Without tying your Pillar Content to Content Pillars, it will help you generate even more useless, non-engaging content.

If the division is clear and you're confused about why I'm spending so much time on this, here is a top blog that completely gets it backward:

NO. NO. NO.

Agreeing on the definitions of the words we use is critical. That's why we took this detour. Now, back to scheduled programming:

📹 Marketing Clip of the Week

Those *perfect people you admire on the interwebs (or in real life)...

They don't have it all together.

😮

I love how Marcella paints this limiting belief many of us have (I do, at least...)

Three Books – Three Quotes

"Prose is the residue, the consequence, of the writer’s choices,
Choices about the shape of each sentence
And how each sentence shapes the others.”

– Verlyn Klinkenborg (Several Short Sentences About Writing)

"Without a hierarchy of values, which helps form and direct desires, we can’t even begin to think about what to pay attention to and to what degree.”

“Grief was passive. Grief happened. Mourning, the act of dealing with grief, required attention.”

“Grief turns out to be a place none of us know until we reach it.

– Joan Didion (The Year of Magical Thinking)

Heard – Saw – Experienced

Heard:

I attended a panel event in Milwaukee last night on planning your marketing for next year.

It was awesome to see familiar faces and meet some new humans.

Here is what I heard that you may find helpful:

  • Video is only continuing to play a central role in content creation

  • Email marketing has regained strength after COVID-19–Continue investing

  • Humanize your brand by putting your people in videos and photos

  • Stop resisting AI and begin to figure out how it can help you

I even got to ask a question to the panel. My question: What is marketing?

My favorite answer? Marketing = Storytelling.

Saw:

Proud.

That's how I felt when I saw a mural my wife designed this week. I attended the Golden House ribbon cutting, and my wife's environmental design was fully displayed during the press conference.

It's an incredible feeling being married to someone so creative. While I could feel jealous and wish I was being celebrated, I chose to feel lucky and proud.

What did I do to deserve someone like her...

Experienced:

I went to my first Jewish Museum yesterday.

With everything going on, my roots in Christianity, and my natural curiosity, I ventured into the Milwaukee Jewish Museum.

The special exhibit that was on display was called Women Pulling at the Threads of Social Discourse. If you know me, you know how I've recently been pulled into the cause of women's rights.

It seemed like a sign from God. The connection of Jewish women with the issues I've been thinking about.

I love art because it does something to me that I can't put into words.

It changes me from the inside out, and I only find out later on how I was impacted.

What does that for you? Go experience it.

Personal micro essay 🙆‍♂️ ON Pride.

(Time to read: 1:33 minutes)

I’m an Enneagram Type 2 (Helper).

While I don’t (fully) believe in behavioral/personality assessments, I think they have some value (all models are wrong, some are helpful?). After getting my results, I read The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective by Richard Rohr, which proved this true.

He shared much wisdom, but one thing that stood out was the power that pride had on me. It is the trait shown by two’s when unhealthy.

In Russ Hudson’s words, “The root sin of the TWO is pride, not in the sense of showing off, but pride as a kind of false humility.” Pride keeps them from seeing their own needs. TWOs need to be needed. For this reason they are easy to manipulate. As soon as they hear the little word “need,” they scrape together the last remnant of their energy to rush to help you. (Type Two: The Need to Be Needed by Richard Rohr)

I never even knew this kind of pride existed. I thought pride only existed as a Ric Flair-type ego. I looked back at my life (or last week) and saw it everywhere. This subtle and subversive force was frequently to blame for suffering in my life. I just never had a name for it…until now.

I also see how needing to be loved (seen/heard) has made me an easy target for people to take advantage of me. And how this leads me to help others to receive that same love back.

I love how Richard paints the positive of Type 2’s:

TWOs long to be loved, to love with their whole hearts, and to be allowed to live for their beloved. They sacrifice themselves for the welfare of others. They are benefactors, givers, and helpers. They give others precisely what they want for themselves. Their seeming altruism is a “legitimate” form of indulging their own egoism. (Type Two: The Need to Be Needed by Richard Rohr)

That last part…

Ego is something I now see I’ve been indulging in. The arrogance to think I can have strength for two. To think I can help a few people put their air masks on before I strap mine on. The pride to believe I’m that strong/smart/stable.

Now aware of my root sin, next I want to look at the gift that you and I can have when we overcome pride.

Works in progress:

I want to leave you with a simple question:

How could I help you make progress on something meaningful to you?

Reply to this email with an answer, and I’d love to help ☺️

Have a beautiful weekend!

– Jo (every second counts)