My life with two daughters, a dozen sheep, and marketing

This isn't my typical blog post, but National Pink Day only happens once a year! First, colors have the ability to affect people’s emotions, which studies show influence a person’s buying intent more than the actual content of an ad or promotional piece. Considering individual preferences, pink is typically associated with joy, creativity, playfulness, youthfulness, and compassion. If you want to convey these emotions into your message, pink is a great option. Keep in mind brand standards trumps any other color usage. Secondly, it’s an unexpected, eye-catching choice in your marketing. You only have two seconds to catch a viewer’s attention on social media. Grabbing your audience for a few extra valuable seconds with an unexpected color like pink may lead to increased buyer awareness of your brand. Finally, pink is a neutral. It’s a bold statement, but I stand behind it. And its ability to pair well with others can help define your messaging even further. Pair it with black for a...

I saw a rather remarkable quote yesterday from Edwin Land , “An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail.” Is that really possible? Can a person be 100% unafraid to fail? It’s not possible for me, but I’m working really hard towards taking more calculated risks in my life – like delving back into writing after a longer hiatus than I care to admit – and focusing on what magical things may happen if I succeed rather than the worst that could happen with a failure. It also got me thinking about our sheep. How’s that for a subtle transition? You see, sheep are basically adorable little floofsters built to eat a lot, poop even more, and run really fast…away from humans, even their human family. I try not to take it personally. It makes sense since they’re prey animals who believe safety lies in numbers. Being creative wouldn’t really fit with flock mentality. But I’ve found a loophole – treats, specifically licorice-flavored goat treats . (Make sure any treats you pick ar...

Just like the majority of mothers out there, marketers often take a back seat to the action. Let me tell you a story. Both of my daughters show sheep and cattle, and they’re pretty darned good at it. Even from the very beginning, though, showing became a “dad thing.” Though I showed horses for eight years and dabbled in showing lambs and heifers, my level of “expertise” couldn’t begin to compete with my husband’s many, MANY years of showing and judging livestock. I’m barely a big enough person to admit he knows more than I do in this subject. This shift in responsibilities was a big change for everyone. As a mom with a pretty flexible work schedule who is married to a rancher, I tend to do the majority of activities with the girls. If you’re in a farming or ranching family, you get it. However, adjusting to taking a back seat without being a back seat driver has been admittedly a bit of a challenge. I must relinquish control of the schedule, duties (hee hee, duties; you laughed, too!),...

Welcome back to “Stuff My Daughters Have Taught Me About Marketing.” If you’re new, here’s a little bit of context. I have two daughters different as night and day, summer and winter, Nebraska football and, well, any Florida team. It’s fun and challenging and leaves me on the edge of my seat wondering who’s going to end up on the verge of tears today. #girlmom   Here’s today’s lesson. It’s the second to last day of school, which means fun activities – specifically bowling and water parking – for my girls. One daughter has been packed for the water park since last week, woke up at 5:30 this morning (sorry in advance, teachers) and baked muffins. The other daughter still wasn’t dressed for school at 7:20 and may or may not skip school to avoid going bowling. They don’t love the same things or like to be convinced/told/disciplined the same way. How does this apply to marketing? I’m glad you asked!   You see, your audience doesn’t respond positively or negatively to the same i...