When you buy a bag of coffee at the grocery store, or the coffee shop, they always ask if you want your beans ground. It's the default action. Yet if you talk to any coffee snob, or the barista themselves, they'll probably admit that this is
I often get confused looks when I describe my profession. "Marketing Operations" is a rather generic term for anyone who isn't already exposed to it. It gets even trickier and we get more specialization within it, where one marketing ops professional may look and act completely
"It looks like we have similar connections"/ "It looks like we both work in [generic industry or job function]" = How do you do, fellow kids? "I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn" = I cannot be bothered to put
I'm surprised how often I still see low unsubscribe rates touted proudly in companies. Don't pat yourself of the back about your low unsubscribe rates. These days it's easier to mute or simply filter messages than to even be bothered to click the unsubscribe
If you were to watch my two dogs play together without any context, it would look a bit like they were fighting, trying to bite at each other's ankles and pin the other into submission. You might even try to break them up. But once you spend any
The popular narrative on Linkedin is to only hire for passion - that any and all skills can be taught along the way. I think it's true passion matters, but as the sole factor? Probably only in junior or entry-level jobs. You're not hiring someone with
In the Scott Vaughn episode of the Martech podcast, they mention two metaphors describing the interplay between brand and demand in a marketing strategy.: 1. Demand is like eating sugar while brand is like eating your vegetables. 2. Demand gen is like taking painkillers, while brand is like taking your
When I describe my career, I tend to focus on the tangible stuff. The systems I build, the insights I derive, the efficiencies I create. But I tend to overlook the softer aspects of my work that are often what matter most. Most of all, socialization of projects and education
I'm in hiring mode right now, so I've been reviewing a ton of applications lately. A few observations: 1. Any online job posting is likely to have hundreds, even thousands of people applying "cold". It is very easy to miss good candidates in this
Think about when you're asked by someone to build an exception. To move their request to the top of the stack. To bend the rules. It's totally up to you what you say "yes" to, but for most of us, it's a
I'm working on a lot of data projects right now, and building out basic reporting chief among them. It's logical, straightforward work to me, but I'm always amazed at the reactions I get from non-ops people that such reporting is even possible. It'
It's easy to let your day devolve into a rotating series of distractions. Procrastination has never had an easier time taking over from the work we probably should be doing. Yet it seems to have trouble with already busy people. Distractions just don't have the same