Remote work happens and has before 2020. Newsflash!
The pandemic made it essential. Corporate offices closed. ODL. Now what are we going to do?
Many were unsettled.
Front Porch Marketing didn’t miss a beat.
Going back to 2011 when our company was founded, I was inspired by a business leader who started her business on a virtual model years prior. They still are rocking remote work and a “galactic headquarters.” F yer I. Successful companies have been using this model for years and years.
Companies functioned virtually decades before 2020. Really? Yes, friends, yes, they did.
Many questions were asked in 2020: • Team engagement. How can we function as a team without our myriad of useless meetings? • New business development. How would I do new biz development if not meeting one-on-one? Talk to your business partners. Existing clients, associations, affiliations, time to find new connections via LinkedIn. • Meetings. We must be in person and spend an hour at least pontificating all the thing. Nope. No, you do not. • Client relationships. How can we nurture them if they aren’t in person? Pick up the phone.
5 key reasons, and there are more, remote work works
It is more efficient. Less time spent commuting, more working.
Remote work is flexible. Choose the hours you work. Throw in a load of laundry between emails. It is important to remember, however, you don’t always have to be “on.” Walk away from the computer light, Carol Ann.
Enhances the work horizon. Our team is all over North Texas and Colorado and and and which means we can benefit from being a part of many communities and have access to top talent anywhere.
Business development happens. Less disruptions, more focus. Biz dev doesn’t have to be face to face. Utilize your resources. Resourceful people find new ways to make shit happen so their businesses thrive.
Saves money. Eliminates the unnecessary things. I pay my mortgage only, not rent for an office and its utilities too. Only one cleaning service. Less tax burden.
How we work impacts everything from our satisfaction to the broader economy. Speaking of broader economy, we are seeing wide reaching benefits from the pandemic. More small business owners are open to working with agencies that aren’t in their own backyards.
I will save the story of the business referral someone gave to a rocking business owner in California that recently led to our newest client relationship.
We aren’t “remaking work.” Remote work is how we have worked for 10 years. We focus on doing great work with people we love for people we love while taking care of our loves.
If you had to think of a pinnacle moment with the C.E.O.S. in your life, what does that look like?
Does it center around an act of kindness that was fueled by previously voicing a need? Providing a spectacular purchasing process because you answered all of the customer’s questions? Or simply, being affirmed by a team leader for a job well done?
Through each of these experiences, the space to have a conversation was created.
The Pinnacle Question
Celeste Headlee, award-winning journalist, professional speaker and best-selling author of We Need To Talk: How To Have Conversations That Matter, is notorious for creating these spaces with people and raises an important question in 2016 that is still relevant today.
“Is there any 21st century skill more important than being able to sustain coherent, confident conversation?”
To put it simply, no.
Headlee believes that in order to hone this skill people need to engage in “honesty, brevity, clarity and a healthy amount of listening.”
Yet, sadly, this skill has been greatly inhibited by a highly polarized culture. One that is constantly driven by the need to speak with the intent to be heard instead of speaking with the intent to listen.
This egotistic intent, where the focus is on oneself instead of others, has created an unbalance that Headlee hopes to restore to balance.
“A conversation requires a balance between talking and listening, and somewhere along the way, we lost that balance.”
This unbalanced, polarized culture is fueled by the most trivial of issues from politics to entertainment. Nowadays people are so passionate for or against a side that the idea of compromise has become pointless to them.
“Pew Research did a study of 10,000 American adults, and they found that at this moment, we are more polarized, we are more divided, than we ever have been in history.”
Although this study seems daunting and irrevocable, Headlee’s decades of professional speaking experience allowed her to create a framework that will help renew the balance and bring people back to the roots of speaking with the intent to listen.
Headlee’s 10 ways to have a better conversation:
1: Don’t multitask. Be present.
2: Don’t pontificate. Enter each conversation with the assumption that you have something to learn.
3: Use open-ended questions. Find out the five W’s: Who? What? Where? When? Why?
4: Go with the flow.
5: If you don’t know, say that you don’t know.
6: Don’t equate your experience with the other person’s experience. All experiences are individual.
7: Try not to repeat yourself.
8: Stay out of the weeds. Focus on the root of the story not the trivial points.
9: Listen.
10: Be brief.
Although 10 rules seems like a lot to remember, Headlee states that if a person takes the time to master even one of these rules that they will be skilled enough to create a space to enjoy better conversations with coworkers, friends, and team members.
Conclusion
Whether you use one or more of these rules, Headlee’s TED Talk boils down to this, “Go out, talk to people, listen to people, and, most importantly, be prepared to be amazed.”
I am truly amazed each day by the people in my life and grateful for the conversations that have made me into the person I am today.
My hope for you, is that this framework will help you flourish in your day to day conversations with the C.E.O.S. in your life and encourage growth in your soft skills.
Go out and do great things!
Bio on Headlee
Celeste Headlee presenting at TEDxCreativeCoast on 10 ways to have a better conversation.
Celeste Headlee, the speaker of this TED Talk, “10 ways to have a better conversation,” has over 20 million total views to date. Celeste’s work and insights are featured on TODAY, Psychology Today, Inc., NPR, Time, Essence, Elle, BuzzFeed, Salon, Parade, and many more. She has presented to over 100 companies, conferences and universities including Apple, Google, United Airlines, Duke University, Chobani and ESPN, and received the 2019 Media Changemaker Award, (celesteheadlee.com).
We have put together a must-read list of ’10 marketing books for 10 years’. Front Porch Marketing turns 10-years-old this month! Marketing has been constantly evolving over the past decade. As an all-remote, agile marketing company, we’ve evolved right along with it. But sometimes it can get hard to stay on top of all the changes.
That’s why we turn time and time again to the experts in our marketing books. In honor of our 10th anniversary, we rounded up 10 must-read marketing books that we think demonstrate positive perspectives and practical advice.
Books are one of the easiest ways we know to dive into new marketing topics. Then we can grow our practice and application of that knowledge. We hope these suggestions offer you some inspiring new perspectives on the ever-evolving world of marketing and help you stay on top of all the changes. If we can help you with your marketing challenges in any way, please ask!
Must Reads: 10 Marketing Books for 10 Years – our marketing reading list for 2021
This is one of our favorites. Seth teaches you how to frame your marketing messages so that your customers will willingly accept them. Permission marketing enables brands to cultivate long-term relationships with customers. This builds trust and ultimately increases the likelihood of making a sale. Seth challenges you to only talk to people who are already raising their hand asking to speak with you. Then he shows how this customer is your most valuable one.
This one is near and dear to our own Front Porch Marketing mantra. Adam – an award-winning researcher and professor – says that the key to success is not ambition or greed, but thoughtfulness. Good guys will indeed finish first in Adam’s worldview. And he gives ample evidence and example to prove it.
Karen leads with proven and practical digital strategies to boost client leads. She shows you how to increase email click-through rates and generate higher opt-in rates. She shares how to assess your current digital marketing channels like SEO, email and PPC and optimize them for better results. And with an emphasis on small business, this book serves as a handbook to make the most of every marketing dollar.
Tyrona, a Google marketing alum, offers valuable information on attracting and converting customers using inbound marketing. With SEO, blogging, social media and email marketing as your toolkit, follow Tyrona’s step-by-step system to set up and deliver an inbound marketing plan. Turn strangers into visitors, visitors into leads, leads into customers and customers into loyalists using minimal resources.
The authors of this book base their thinking on a study of 150 strategic marketing moves spanning more than 100 years and 30 industries. They show you how to build lasting success from creating a new market space (a blue ocean) in which there are no competitors. This book represents a ground-breaking new perspective because dominant marketing thinking for the past 25 years has been concerned with creating revenue by taking market share away from a competitor.
Miri helps brands understand the why and how of infusing their marketing strategies and tactics with an authentic voice that will resonate with consumers. This book serves as a template for helping brands discover that voice, and their story, and structuring them to share insights with their customers.
Joe and Robert – the founder and the Chief Strategy Advisor for the Content Marketing Institute – share bold thinking putting content at the forefront of marketing. They’ll help you create value for consumers and instill loyalty in your followers. This book outlines how to look at marketing as a profit center instead of a cost center. Content marketing helps brands own media instead of purchasing it.
Joe, the former head of strategy at social media giant Reddit, offers effective engagement strategies on social media through the lens of human psychology, neuroanatomy, biology and anthropology. Using more than a decade of experience, he explains consumer behavior in social media in terms of how the different social platforms each represent different mindsets: the Id, the Ego, and the Superego.
From the MIT Press, Anindya draws from his extensive research in the US, Europe and Asia using real-world examples from global companies to explain consumer behavior in the mobile realm. He identifies nine forces that shape consumer behavior and how to tap into those forces to influence shoppers and maximize brand opportunities.
Before jumping into content marketing, step back and assess what the core business problems are that content marketing can solve. Steve offers a guide to identify and define those problems. Then he helps you understand where content marketing can add the most value for your brand. Content marketing is more than just writing and design, and Steve teaches better techniques for distribution, measurement and optimization.
Let us know if you’ve read some of these, or have others that are your favorites! Please share your favorite marketing books in the comments to make our list more complete.
Most business leaders know successful marketers when they meet them. These marketers are focused on the same things they are. Building enterprise and customer or client value.
Marketers must mobilize all the people inside and outside the organization. They are focused on return. Do less, more consistently and effectively.
Therefore, hate to tell you, just because your bestie is on Instagram, doesn’t mean she is a marketer. Newsflash. Sorry to disappoint.
Moreover, our team is filled with seasoned marketers. We have fabulous, cream of the crop interns. They keep up with multiple clients, projects, deadlines, industries and trends. These folks are skilled enough to have conversations with CEOs. Front Porch Marketing is not a teaching hospital. For instance, we are triage surgeons on most days.
Technology and consumer attitudes have and will continue to change drastically. Marketing professionals must stay flexible. Know a bit of everything that is going on in the company. Some days are filled with customer service and distribution. Meanwhile, other are sales management and internal communication.
However, despite the varying roles, these qualities are at these professionals’ core. Super powers they have in common.
The Super Powers of Successful Marketers
Adaptable. In other words, with all technology changing at light speed, know how to evolve with it.
Analytical. Marketing is data driven. Some don’t know what to do with all the data being generated. Therefore, if you can sort through it, and find the relevant. You will be indispensable part of any organization.
Collaboration. Must be an extraordinary team player. Seek input. Solve issues. Foster cooperation. Similarly, often the CMO is the company’s glue. The entire team rallies around the company’s vision because of this person. Illustrate how collaboration creates more value.
Excellent communicators. Words have power. The right words break down barriers and rally the troops. Inside and outside the organization.
Creative. Marketers value innovation. Take risks to facilitate it. They vigorously seek solutions. Explore new approaches. In conclusion, continuously.
Inquisitive. The best marketers are a cross between a detective and a scientist. Therefore, they ask the questions.
Strategic. Start with why. Strategy is the key to successful businesses. Obsessed is a strategic thinker. Constant eye on the market. Diligently studying consumer behavior. In addition, watch the competitors’ every move.
In conclusion, marketing is a marathon not a sprint. Have the right people on your team. Boulders move up the hill with smart people pushing them. Above all, right now, everyone could use a few less boulders. Therefore, pick the marketers that demonstrate super powers.
Have an internal marketing team? Outsourced function? Freelance consultant?
It doesn’t matter what your marketing team looks like. Or what the project looks like. If you’re B2B or B2C. Ask the questions.
It is the last week of the first month of a new year. Therefore, one third the way through first quarter.
Our world looks different than it did even a month ago. With the constant changes, it is critical to focus on the “why.” Make sure the entire organization is aligned. After that, measure initiatives and report results and data.
Business leaders and their marketing team share the responsibility for growth. In other words, work together to achieve collective outcomes to improve enterprise value. Reframe conversations. Arrive at common language. In conclusion, ask and answer the questions.
Marketing Team: Ask These Questions
Do we remember why we are here? The first step to create alignment, excitement and positive team energy cross-functionally.
Have our business goals, objectives and strategies changed? Similarly, need to be tweaked?
Who are our customers / clients? Are the same as last year? How have our existing clients’ mindsets, decision drivers, perceptions changed in the last month?
Are we doing enough to add value and fully leverage our relationship with them?
Where are we falling down? A positive discussion with constructive criticism and actable outputs.
What could limit or impact our strategy, direction or execution?
What has been our biggest marketing success this month?
Are there new key relationships and milestones or events coming up we should be aware of?
Marketing contributes more than 50% of firm value when brand, customer and digital assets are properly valued. And, the impact of marketing performance, collaboration and perceptions are measured. Marketing is an asset, rather than a cost center or risk mitigator.
We are grateful to work as a marketing team for our clients. Front Porch Marketing asks the questions. We can work as fractional CMOs and outsourced marketing department. In addition, we help write marketing plans and execute marketing initiatives on a retainer or project basis.
Reflecting on the past year, we are so grateful for courageous, fearless business leaders. We continue to be inspired by those who bravely carried on in 2020. Grit and gumption.
Cheers to those leaders who showed up. Those who made the most out homeschool, while working or not, closures, pivots, business opportunities and personal and professional loss.
Earlier in the year, I watched no TV. I read only the daily work related briefs and blogs.
However, in the later part of the year, I read a good chunk of mindless trash. This is how I escape. Reading fiction, mostly murder mysteries and romance novels.
The two personal and professional development books I did read were life changing for me. Leaders must read. One was this. The other was Brene Brown’s Braving the Wilderness. I read it twice in the past two months.
Leaders will brave the new year.
How?
Do you. Brown talks about praying and cussing. Those who know me will not be surprised I love this. She talks about not being moved. Doing work in an honest way that is true to yourself. Leaders, time to truly support each other. I let others “do you.” And, I do me. Belong to yourself. ” … brave the wilderness of uncertainty, vulnerability and criticism.”
Speak truth to bullshit. Do not shut down. In other words, that is the easy road. Leaders do not avoid communication. Learn more about others. Even if we still disagree, at least we engaged in meaningful conversation. We have a deepened mutual understanding. However, at all costs, be civil.
Strong back. Soft front. The latter is most challenging for me. No more armored front. I will stay open. Leaders are comfortable with vulnerability. “A soft and open front is not being weak; it’s being brave, it’s being the wilderness.” Eeeek … here goes. I can do it.
Be fearless. I am a Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program alum. The experience was life changing. My co-hort continues to inspire me. My growth group was named, “The Fearless Five.” Coincidence? “Fear is how we got here.” Fear and blame. Own your pain. Do not inflict pain on others. Be fucking fearless.
Read the book. It is worth your time.
And, in conclusion, I am driven to make this my best year, for me and my family, business, team, clients, community, country and world.
And here we are at the end of 2020. Last year’s reflections focused on time and community. At the end of 2019, we encouraged you to spend the first year of this new decade in community with others and in the company of those you love. Little did we know how life-altering 2020 would prove to be.
This is the year of the letter “I.” 2020 has not been idyllic, but it has been, for better or worse, impactful. First, it has been isolating. But, 2020 has illuminated how important people and community are, and how much we take for granted in our modernized world.
2020 highlighted the fact that we are all imperfect people who could use a little extra kindness and grace extended toward us.
It’s been a year of incredible innovation and imagination to say the least. How did this happen? Industrious people were required to slow down and indulge in the company of those closest to them while requiring others to be indefatigable in their care of others.
So we hope these reflections lift your spirits and provide hope and inspiration for a brighter 2021.
Chief Rocker Julie Porter
For me, 2020 was always going to be a monumental year. I anticipated significant changes in my personal life. But I never would have imagined how quickly and continuously my family would have to adjust our plans and expectations.
From a personal perspective:
My son graduated from high school during COVID. Bands of angels are singing that it happened. Then, his school, as did most others, adjusted their plans to provide a wonderful graduation celebration.
Yes, he also left the nest and began his freshman year of college. Now, he’s more than 1,000 miles away. No amount of planning could have prepared me for this. So I simply miss him. My heart yearns for his presence every single day. Yet, I am so proud of him. Of course, he has acclimated brilliantly to his school in a different state, even without the usual opportunities to build new relationships.
Next, I quickly learned I should not quit my day job in favor of becoming an elementary school teacher. Actually, I would be awful (and miserable!) at it. My daughter, an extrovert, began learning online after Spring Break 2020. Homeschooling isn’t for either of us. As a result, I could never be more thankful for those blessed with the ability and passion for teaching.
And finally, my husband, employed with the same company for 19 years, left his job. That could be a whole blog post itself.
From a business perspective:
This year, I have marveled at the Front Porch Marketing team. Their talent, attitude, dedication, collaboration, innovation and work ethic are unmatched.
Honestly I don’t know what I have done to receive them as one of my many blessings. They are the best.
So 2020 was a reminder we need to let people do their thing. I often said to our team members, “You do you. I will do me. There is no judgment.”
Inspiration has come from business owners and leaders who pivoted, rebranded and/or valiantly stayed the course. Hence, I am grateful many have realized the power of branding and marketing in growing and saving their businesses.
Mid-March, I wasn’t sure what would happen to Front Porch Marketing. What would happen to our clients’ businesses? Where would new business come from?
Every year brings new lessons. 2019 was hard for my family because of a personal loss. It made us stronger ~ my family, my business and me. Thus, I am grateful for the strength I gained and could rely upon this year. Looking forward, I am hopeful for the opportunity 2021 holds. May we continue to be the light. Always find the joy.
Media Rock Christine Finnegan
2020 was a pivotal year in my life. To start, I had to take hold of my family’s well-being like never before. This was more about a mindset than physical acts, particularly with college-aged sons. Their emotional framework was dictated by how I was reacting to our world, as we knew it, changing seemingly overnight.
Consequently, my sons and I operated as a unit and, as such, our already strong bond increased to a new level. So 2020 made me more resilient. I hold the ones I love closer and tighter. In some ways, I am going to miss the closeness the quarantine afforded my sons and me.
Rock Star Vanessa Hickman
One special outcome from the year is gratitude for all the things! Big things, small things and everything in-between. Bigger and better appreciation for simple creature comforts (toilet paper), ability to provide for our kids, travel and go to school.
Separation intensifies love, so my case-study of one validates absence makes the heart grow fonder. This year brought great appreciation for missed events, gatherings and people. It really put a spotlight on our priorities and was a reset on how and where we spend our time.
We are more grateful for our family, friends, community, healthcare providers, food suppliers, teachers, delivery drivers, and leaders than ever before.
We continue to be amazed by our community’s resilience, resourcefulness and ability to keep going with a positive attitude. It is always good when your blessings are bigger than your bummers and that is how we are wrapping up the year and to that we give thanks!
Rock Collector Alison Moreno
In such a turbulent year, I have found that being grateful for the small things helped me find more moments of peace. First, making a concerted effort to find joy in the everyday helped me to recognize I was able to spend extra time with family. I could learn new skills, enjoy being outside on a beautiful day and work with wonderful people. In these things I have found healing in gratitude and I am going into the new year knowing there is always good around us – we just have to look for it.
Intern Allison Corona Del Cid
2020 has been filled with challenges. But it has also been a true blessing to spend this year growing closer to my family, friends and faith. And I am truly appreciative of my FPM family and the joy they get from our clients’ successes. So here is to a new year! My biggest wish is for health, happiness and hope for all.
Swiss Army Rock Lea Ann Allen
2020 – the year that seems to have taken away so much from so many. On paper, it meant job loss, isolation, breast cancer and a pandemic. But I choose to acknowledge that this is the year I have realized a lifelong dream I never thought was possible. After a 30+ year career as a female creative, I am finally doing work that I am good at doing. And it is work that I love doing – for and with kind people who value me.
Now I work exclusively with women-owned businesses like Front Porch Marketing. Women have always been strong. This year, for the benefit those around them, women across the world have had to take on additional roles and shoulder heavier burdens. It surprises me not at all that women are persevering and creating work for others: recommending each other, lifting each other up and keeping each other afloat. In short, 2020 has been a year of incredible strength and resilience on everyone’s part.
Lil’ Rock Maria Gregorio
This year did not go according to plan. But, as Julie always says, “Be the light.” I choose to shine a light on the good things:
My niece, Elise, was born in November. She’s a few weeks old and doing great.
I have a job that I like and that I’m good at doing. (If someone told me as a kid that I would make a living with my creativity, I’m not sure I would have believed them.)
I have great friends and family. They are all people with whom I can share the good stuff and the bad stuff.
I am grateful for what I have because it’s a lot. It’s a lot.
From All of Us on the Porch: Let Your Light Shine, Friends
But, maybe, especially right now, we all should hold each othera little closer, a little tighter.
How can I write about September 11 – an event that I did not witness in person and yet simultaneously affected everyone?
Here on the Porch, I am known as an excellent writer. But, for this assignment, the words were not flowing like they usually do. I stared at a blank page for a while.
Everything I thought of writing sounded like empty
platitudes. So, when words fail me, sometime lyrics come to mind. Maybe because
songwriters are geniuses and that is what songs are supposed to do – stick in
your mind forever and describe a moment in time perfectly.
New York Minute
New York Minute is a song by Don Henley and came from the album (aptly enough) The End of Innocence. To me, the song’s chorus describes the events of September 11, as well as its aftermath. One minute, I was getting ready for work at my on-campus job. The next minute my mom was talking to me on the phone, through tears, half a world away, telling me to be careful.
On the morning of September 11, my oldest friend in the world – Bella – was going to meet her friends for breakfast at the World Trade Center. The next minute she was running for her life. We have been friends for 20 years now. If she did meet her friends that day, Bella would have been a cool girl I used to know.
Later that fall, in one of my history classes, we had to
talk as a group about a landmark event that touched everyone’s lives. For a
previous generation, that discussion could have been about the Kennedy assassination
or the Moon landing. For us, it was September 11.
A classmate shared an especially poignant story. His dad
was a pilot. He was supposed to fly one of the planes that hit the Twin Towers
that day. He switched flights with a colleague so he could attend his youngest
son’s soccer game that morning.
Left or Right
What is my point in sharing all these anecdotes? I’m not sure to be honest. I keep thinking about all these seemingly small moments in our everyday that when we look back on them, turn about to be a big fulcrum in the story of our lives. Points in time where the axis of our lives turns in a dramatic way. Running late, running early. Take the day off or go to work. Left, right.
I guess, my point is, we don’t know where these dramatic
turns will be. We think its going to be the next big promotion or a move to a
new city. And usually, its nothing like that. It is the small things that can
alter the trajectory of our lives.
Turning Points
A chance encounter with a co-worker in the break room who
could turn out to be the love of your life (my brother and his wife).
My dad getting juuuuuust a high enough score to pass the
Armed Service Vocational Aptitude Battery test and join the U.S. Navy. His was
one of only 150 spots reserved for Filipino citizens each year.
One night during my sophomore year, I took a call from a boy
I “sorta kinda” knew in high school. A mutual friend said we should talk to
each other. So we did. That one call turned into calls nearly everyday. He
turned into my boyfriend. And then my husband. That was almost 20 years ago.
Of course, not every chance encounter or small movement
is going to turn into something big. You simply don’t know. But, maybe,
especially right now, we all should hold each other a little closer, a little
tighter. Because everything can change.
The Rocker Spotlight Series interviews each rocker on the porch. To begin, Chief Rocker Julie Porter shares marketing insights. Let’s dive in and learn more about this incredible business leader.
Favorite Thing About Front Porch
My favorite thing about FPM is being my own boss and doing what I love for clients I love while taking care of my loves.
Misconceptions and Lessons Learned
The biggest misconception about marketing today is that it is cheap and fast. Furthermore, there are three key points: good, fast and cheap. Your marketing can be any two of these but never all three.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is don’t be the biggest barrier to your own success- get out of your way and get stuff done. However, if you can’t get something done, delegate it to the smart people around you.
What is Good Marketing?
Good marketing is elevating the customer experience, building personalized connections, adapting to technology evolution, attracting customers using inbound and outbound marketing, and more.
Culture On the Porch
Our culture is one of straight talk, true partnership and aligned values. Therefore, the team at FPM all regards their families as their highest priority, and we are servant leaders who believe in service to ourselves, team, families, clients, and the communities in which we live and work.
Julie’s Characteristics
I would describes myself as quirky, competitive, and anxious. If I could be anywhere in the world it would be in my living room playing a game with my family since Andrew leaves for college this fall.
Fun Fact about Julie
I got to work with Renee Russo inside the NYSE to celebrate a client’s IPO. I’ve also worked with the Flying Elvi, the skydiving team from the movie “Honeymoon in Vegas,” all over the country to celebrate a promotion for an international sunglass manufacturer.
Thank you for reading! We hope you enjoyed Julie Porter sharing her marketing insights!
In times of uncertainty, it can be easy to focus on the
negatives. Economic downturn, job loss, and our loved ones getting sick are certainly
reasons to be feeling distraught. While these feelings are normal, an important
shift in our thinking is crucial to survive this fork-in-the-road and come back
stronger than ever. There are positives of the pandemic that should be
accounted for, and I am here to highlight these for you!
Positive #1: Experiencing and appreciating the little things
Now that we are all on house arrest, it gives us the opportunity to get outside more. Maybe you are getting to know your neighbors and even family members better. Yay for lawn happy hours! This positive of the pandemic has instilled in us a better sense of localism. It also helps us realize how interconnected we are and (hopefully) allows us to recover a sense of society.
Positive #2: We are more in touch with our networks!
A perfect example of this is my family’s weekly Zoom call. Before COVID, I wouldn’t hear from or see my family in Dallas for months at a time. This crisis has opened a new channel of communication for my family and allowed us to check up on each other frequently. We all have technology to thank for this!
Positive #3: Surprising effects on climate change
Another positive effect COVID-10 has had is fewer carbon emissions, potentially saving around 300 MILLION tons of carbon emissions per year. Not to mention all the other awesome benefits such as work/life balance and decreased traffic congestion! Air quality has improved in areas of lockdown, and carbon emissions are down in China. From February 3rd to March 1st they experienced a 25% decrease in emissions.
Positive #4: Our responses to future pandemics should
improve
Our current situation has exposed shortcomings all around, including test kit accessibility and a faster global response. Taking what we have learned from this pandemic, there is all the more reason to be more prepared in the future.
Positive #5: It has encouraged altruism
Celebrities and athletes have made considerable donations to those taking a hit by the pandemic, and that is just naming a few. Some major health insurers have also promised to cover care and testing related to COVID-19. Our client Faith Family Academy has approached the the situation with immediacy, and teachers have made generous food donations for their students, as well as other restaurants such as Cane’s!
Overall, we don’t want to dismiss your normal and expected feelings of despair during difficult times. However, we also need to shed light on the positive opportunity the pandemic has presented us. Let’s turn a new leaf and embrace these positives today!
