Are you noticing the sluggish pace of business this week? We have reached a perfect storm for halting productivity: there are record high temperatures and strong storms across much of the US, it is summer (prime vacation season,) and the Fourth of July falls on Wednesday – right between two hot summer weekends.
I remember when a Wednesday holiday was a big nothing-burger. You got an extra day off in the middle of the week, but there was nothing to do. It did not augment your weekend, and you certainly couldn’t plan a trip anywhere for just one day.
Today, mid-week holidays translate to a five-day weekend for many. In the middle of summer, the lucky folks throw in a few vacation days and make it a wapping nine-day vacation. That is an amazing ROI on the use of just two vacation days.
A Vacation from Writing
Vacation can be a strange concept in the writing world. I imagine the same ideas apply to other creative fields, but I can tell you that writing does not spew forth fluidly for days and weeks in a row because there are no days off. The creativity required for content writing composes its own work rhythm.
For this writer, a vacation means a period of recreational writing that my brain longs for. If you write a blog for your business, you probably know what I mean.
For this writer, a vacation means a period of recreational writing that my brain longs for. If you write a blog for your business, you probably know what I mean. Even for those of us who enjoy writing, the pleasure is dampened by keywords, word counts, and weekly deadlines. A vacation from writing means writing without constraints.
After many weeks of keeping up with your business blog, the creativity can dry up. Even if you launch new products and services every month, your blog seems to hammer away at the same general topics. And let’s face it, who has time to write a weekly blog and launch new products and services regularly?
Celebrating Independence
This week, Americans are celebrating independence from the British monarchy. It is the same independence we’ve celebrated every July for my entire life, and yours too, I imagine. (I remember 1976 when the Bicentennial Barge came down the Erie Canal as an extra special commemoration of the 200th year of independence.)
Marking 242 years of independence, and I assume as many celebrations, this July 4th will be a communication triumph, once again. Somehow, writers manage to recycle the Independence Day theme every year at this time and make it exciting — again!
How do they do it? A cursory analysis of historic data brings out these tips:
- Do not stray too far from a classic theme. It is July 4th, not Memorial Day or Armistice Day. Stay on message!
- Offer reminders about the reason for the celebration. Retailers tend to march out Uncle Sam for this history lesson. There are always newbies in the audience who don’t yet know who he is.
- Apply the tenants of old messaging to new ideas. Independence is a universal concept we could attach to many modern affairs. Make the connection and drag an old holiday into modern day.
- Historic profiles help reinforce the messaging while adding new information. There are plenty of historic details we are not saturated with. Dig some up and show them off.
If writers can repeat the same message for 242 years, you can continue writing your weekly business blog for the foreseeable future. There are infinite ways to re-purpose, re-invent, and re-hash the topics that are important to your customers and useful to your business.
The other lesson we can take from this old holiday celebration is that when you have a winning message (Freedom!) it never gets old.
Christine – You weaved the Independence Day celebration into weekly blogging in a constructive manner. Loved the final sentence – Freedom is a great message. Thanks for sharing.
And thank you for your service, Len!
Christine =:-)