So I have been working in my new marketing career for a year but in some ways it feels like it has really only been since about February. A lot of the first 8 months was spent doing research but not really marketing. Then in the winter I started posting on social media for the brands and it has been an interesting, rewarding experience. One of the things that I’ve had to learn is the difference between my hobby activities and professional. As a hobbyist my inclination is to always produce more content even if it isn’t perfect but still make it solid, readable. I’m very proud of my blog but if I waited till everything was perfectly edited then I would never post anything. You can’t build a community like that.
As a hobbyist you also have limited windows to jump on opportunities and so you go for it. Like if someone wants to do a collaboration with me they don’t have months of planning to get it out. No most of the time it is a couple of weeks and we get the videos out. If I waited to research and plan everything then it wouldn’t happen and they’d move on to someone else. Right now on my facebook page I am posting a giveaway for a Target Beauty box and I have 319 entries which given my small fry status I think is pretty good. (Still 3 more days to enter http://gvwy.io/kk65w9 and if you haven’t followed me on facebook please do).
In my career I initially took this same approach into marketing. Diving into a giveaway without a ton of planning but figuring we ‘just needed to get things going’. It did work pretty well and we got a fair amount of tweets and followers for the products, which I am proud of. However, we also had all these contacts that we didn’t know what to do with. As a hobbyist I would email them and send them to my blog but it isn’t that simple with a business. All that kind of content has to be screened, approved, and made consistent with a thousand other factors.
It can be a little frustrating when I have an idea I know would work and want to pump it out but I have to keep pursuing it little bit by little bit. My inclination is to just give it a shot like I would in my content but that would be a mess for a large company. Still you see the tug of war I play?
So what I’ve had to do is continually remind myself to ‘slow down and make perfect’. At first I thought if I put in 40 hours (maybe more) even though I’m being paid for 30 it would look great for me, but I actually found it didn’t. On certain projects it does but I found it creates too much on my side and it is better if I take my time and make it the best. More content is not the solution. Even in project like gathering and researching Mommy bloggers, getting a list of a thousand content creators isn’t very helpful. What they need is 20 or so carefully researched. It’s just a slower pace than I would do on my own.
Not sure if that makes sense but the interesting thing as I have forced myself to slow down I have learned a lot. It reminds me of when I was a little girl my Mom making me slow down and measure a goose poster I had to draw. I hated her for it at the time but it was a good drawing in the end and I learned way more than if I were to rush. With the content being pretty strong it makes my coworkers happier because I am in a sense wading through the less good stuff first and only showing them the cream of the crop (not that it can’t always be better).
Anyway, it’s just a change in how things are done from a hobbyist to a professional. One of many such changes I am sure I will be absorbing in the next few years of this new career. The cool thing is I think it has made my content better right along with the work content and so in reality it is a win-win.
I think these videos turned out very nicely. (Although still far from perfect!).
Also check out the movie blog because I feel like several of my posts have been very strong especially a recent spoiler filled review I did of Inside Out.
https://54disneyreviews.wordpress.com/
Like the saying goes you live and learn. In the meantime I am working to ‘slow down and make perfect’
Thank you for all your support all these years with my less than perfect content and helping me to grow and improve. Thank you so much!!!
Rachel's Musings 
Nah, don’t worry about “spoilers.” They’re completely subjective. Anyhow, today’s theatrical trailers show so much, there’d be no sense in seeing the movies, if spoilers were that important.
Oh some people freak out about spoilers. Most people I know in fact. I get so much grief for that.
They must be the kind of people who will read a book only once, because after they know how it ends, they think they won’t enjoy a re-read. You and I know that’s not true: There’s always something different to be enjoyed in a well-written book. The same goes for a movie synopsis: If the story sounds good, I’m interested in seeing how the actors perform the details. I don’t need to be surprised to be entertained.
That is not true: I enjoy re-reading the books that are worth re-reading and I definitely love re-watching movies. However, I still like to go through that experience the first time and watch/read something with surprises, because it makes that first time so much more special.
I don’t need to be surprised to be entertained, either, but I do prefer it at least once, because that’s the way the original writers intended. And there’s a world of difference between a movie synopsis and flat-out spoilers.
I think you are right. Some people are too spoiler sensitive that they dont want anything at all (then why are they reading my review I wonder) but I get what you are saying.
This week I watched a movie called The Red Shoes that I knew nothing about and it was kind of an exhilarating experience. I think the rewatch is great for rich textured details and not every good movie is rewatchable. Just depends.
I just saw Avengers 2 and loved it second time so every movie is different
Thank you for that. Always nice to agree. I will respond to your comment on the Inside Out theater issue but I apologize for being so harsh before. I want to explain some of my thoughts on the issue after deliberation and give perhaps some mild explanation, and thank you for not banning me because most blog-runners probably would have if someone left a message like that on their site. I will respond via e-mail if that is your preference since you wanted to keep it private.
No banning needed. I know your heart is in the right place. I was just disappointed you seemed to still see me and judge me as a prima donna who has life so easy. I’m single and 34. I’m alone a lot and have my share of heartache and disappointment. I thought I had shared that side of my life with you so it hurt my feelings a little to be attacked. But you don’t put yourself out there like I do if you don’t have very thick skin. I’m not perfect and I don’t word everything perfectly but I try to be loving, kind and serve God where ever I can. Email me if you want or we can move on. No hard feelings. It’s all good. There are always great movies to bond over. 🙂
I literally dont know anyone besides myself who doesnt freak out over spoilers. I have to be so careful. Seriously you arent in the movie/tv fan world. It’s a big deal to them to have the fresh experience. I could care less and agree with you. I’ve just learned the hard way if I want to keep my readers happy I have to be very careful about spoilers
Especially if you read the actual Inside Out Spoiler Review if I hadn’t gone out of the way to put that in the title and a disclaimer at the beginning I would have received some angry hate mail. It is pretty in depth analysis. My regular review is perfect for those that don’t want to be spoiled, so make everyone happy and it’s so easy to just add it to the title that it is no big deal.
Angry hate mail, about a motion picture review. Wow. Sounds like trolls are lurking under your bridge.
Maybe hate mail is strong but trust me nearly everyone I know takes spoilers very seriously
After I read your post! I must say that the struggle against the Perfectionism Beast is real! We all will always have this inherent notion within us to strive to achieve the best in whatever we do, whatever project we conduct, the only thing differs is the intensity of the need to BE perfect. I hope you won’t get inundated by the need to make your marketing projects absolutely FLAWLESS to the extent that you over-exert yourself. If you think that it’s good enough, it’s good enough. And even if you don’t think it’s good, get some objective opinion from your peers. They may help boost your ego with their compliments, and that’ll deter the Perfectionism Beast from messing with your emotions.
By the way, the reason I found your blog is because I typed Perfectionism into the ‘tags’ search box, and yours popped up at the top. So yeah, you could check out this article I wrote about Perfectionism too (and you’ll understand what the heck is a Perfectionism Beast haha):
http://imeanlike.com/2015/06/25/three-guys-and-a-beast-perfectionism-explained/
Cheers, and good luck on your marketing project! 🙂
You make very solid point. You can definitely swing too far the other way and be a perfectionist. I like that Perfectionism Beast. I will try to avoid it. I can be kind of OCD about things so it is a good reminder.
Welcome to my blog. I will definitely check out yours! I think what makes the perfectionism beast easier to avoid here with me is this is a new career so I know I’m a long way from anything being perfect. So much to learn.
High five! I also have my own personal OCDs to juggle with. Yes, you’re right. So don’t stop learning. And stay awesome 🙂
I think we all do. What’s so hard for me is keeping everything in balance. It’s impossible but I need to try harder.
Wise words. You’ll manage, I’m sure of that. Good luck! 🙂