Playing with logo ideas...

 

Logo 1.

Logo 2.

Logo 3.

Logo 4.

Logo 5.

Thoughts? Have you a favourite?

Lockdowns, daughters, and school oh my...

Life comes at you fast sometimes. A month ago, it was the middle of April, the trees were starting to bud, the weather was getting warmer. There were the afternoons, every now and then, where one could sit on the deck and catch some rays. Restaurants and bars were open, albeit with mask mandates and social distancing rules... friends could come over, in limited numbers for dinner and drinks. There was hope that summer might almost be normal. Then, at least in my little part of the world, the other shoe dropped. The third wave of COVID-19 hit Nova Scotia hard. The brakes were slammed. Plans had to be canceled and contingency plans had to be made. A year, almost exactly, since the province first locked down, we were in a lockdown again. It wasn't February, but we all felt like Bill Murray. That sound you heard the last week of April was the collective bemoan of all Nova Scotians. Sigh, here we go again.

The last week of April was also when I started school. Now, lockdowns and isolation are really not all that bad for a student. Being shut in, forced to avoid bars, friends, and travel, are a sure-fire way to focus someone on their studies... however, if said student is also a dad of three daughters, and works, part-time as a digital marketing consultant, a locked-down house can be a little overwhelming. And yet, I endured. I aced the first introductory course. I flew through my second course, although I did flame out a little bit towards the end. Studying with a three-year-old attached to one's hip can wear a fella down. I have been able to keep my marks up, even if it is difficult to stick to a set schedule. After 3 weeks of intense daddy-ing, things have settled back into a bit of a routine. My older daughters are back in school in New Brunswick, my youngest is back in her routine. Throughout it all I was able to stay ahead of the game, I plan to stay there. Not to be braggadocious, but I damn, I just kicked some butt. 

I have proven to myself that I can excel at my studies, offer quality consulting at work, and be a great dad and partner at home. Those are the goals I have set for myself. As for the Digital Lane, it is still very much alive. It is the long-term goal. All I am doing now is leading to the future success of the Digital Lane. The blog will be my outlet. A journal of my journey. Thank you for reading and supporting that journey. Your support is much appreciated. 

Things are only going to get better. 

The buds have turned to leaves.

The grass is just as green in my yard.

Summer is here!

Enjoy it!

So there is this...

 

Yikes, I clicked a few buttons, waited ten days or so, and finally, Google registered the Digital Lane as a business. What this means is that depending on the search query, Digital Lane should appear at the top or near the top of Google's search results. This is both exciting and frightening. Now, I do not expect my phone to ring off the hook. Of course, I would love for the Digital Lane to take off and be successful, but frankly, I am pretty busy at the moment with a project, and school is starting at the end of this month. I am at once chomping at the bit to get going. Call it spring fever if you will. But I also have to remain honest and realistic. I am pretty new to all this. I have a tonne of stuff that I still need to learn. 

This was a big step, at a time when I should probably be taking baby steps. I am a bit of a rebel. For better or worse, I am going to take on all challenges with exuberance. Which is how I got here. Ready to go, or as ready as I can possibly be. There are flowers to be smelled, and puddles to be splashed in. Huzzah to new beginnings!

Can you tell I am excited?

How would you like some news?

In my last blog post, you were promised that there might be some big news coming. There was, and frankly, I should have tried to fill everyone in sooner, but the news, which I will tell you all about soon, I promise, has kept me busy. Sorry to keep you out of the loop. What news? What news? 

The news is, that I have started a social media project with mapannapolis. They are a non-profit organization that connects students, instructors, and volunteers in creating web-based maps of local interest. I was asked to help them revamp their social media presence, and do some further research. They have some exciting things happening soon, I am very grateful and excited that they asked me to help. 

There you have it. That is the news. I encourage anyone that reads this, and that might have an interest in mapping, the Annapolis Valley, Canadian history, Acadian studies, Black Loyalist history, etc, etc to search out mapannapolis. They are doing amazing things. To make things easier in that search, here are some handy links: Their website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Show them some love. They deserve it.

That dear readers is what I have been up to... I promise to do a better job filling you in in the future. Now, back to clicking buttons. 

Welcome The Jungle

 

We've got fun and games...

Ah, social media. The digital quagmire of our time. It is very easy to get lost in it all. It is at once, the greatest marketing tool, right at our finger tips, but it is also our greatest source of distraction. It is so easy to simply click an icon and lose an hour or more. Scrolling, scrolling, forever scrolling.  Each of us experience and use social media in our own way. Those of us that need it to make a living, or use it as a promotional tool, have to sort out how to separate work, from play. I have had to separate my work profile, from my personal profile. I distract too easily. I can waste hours and hours. That said, we want the clickers, the scrollers, the commenters, those that we can engage, those that are willing to give us their time. It is there that we can build relationships and perhaps, pedal our wares.  

With all those eyeballs scrolling away on social media, which platforms are the most important in terms of digital marketing? Where should we focus our attention? Where best can our stories be told?  

Facebook is the big dog. In 2020 Statista published a study where it asked digital marketers which platforms were the most important to their businesses. Facebook was the clear favourite, by a wide margin. 59% of digital marketers said that they believe that Facebook is the most important platform for their digital marketing purposes. Instagram and LinkedIn are 2nd and 3rd, at 17% and 14% respectively. YouTube, Twitter, and Pintrest are also important, albeit much less so. 

Why is Facebook so important? What makes it stand out from the rest? Web.com published a list of 9 reasons as to why FB was the most important marketing tool. To paraphrase, Facebook is huge, growing, and people spend a great deal of time on it. Add its continued growth, and its relatively inexpensive advertising options, and you've got a Goliath that doesn't appear will be slayed anytime soon. 

Does that mean we should focus on Facebook marketing alone? No. An organization needs to have a prominent Facebook presence, of course, but why limit ourselves to one platform? Our goal should be to garner as much attention as we can. That means that the best social media strategy would be to publish posts across multiple platforms. Search out those eyeballs, find those clicks, engage with as many potential customers as possible. 

It makes little sense however, to post unique content on all platforms. Doing such is very time consuming, and perhaps more importantly, we want our social media presence to have a consistent voice. There are many tools and software packages that allow us to efficiently manage all aspects of a social media campaign. Hootsuite for example, posts updates across multiple platforms, and also provides analytics which break down how your posts are performing. Hootsuite is great, and the tools it provides are very helpful, but it is very expensive. If your social media campaign grows, and it appears that the marketing that comes with it, is helping drive revenue, it might make sense to download advanced, and frankly quite pricey digital marketing software. But if you are just starting out, and have little to no revenue coming in, it probably makes more sense to use whatever free tools you can find. I particularly like Canva , Hubspot, Animaker, and Capterra all of which offer free tools, and are user friendly. 

Set your goals, find your voice, use whatever tools you can find to share your vision. Consistency in message, and posting regularly will do wonders for your marketing campaign. It does not have to be difficult.   

Yes, it is a jungle out there. The digital marketing world may seem ominous, or even overwhelming. But fear not, there are strategies and tools for every digital marketing situation. We can beat back the underbrush, roar back at the lions, and repel the bugs no matter how small we are. How? By finding our voices and expressing them intelligently. We are all in this together. Let's help each other sort it all out. 

Thanks for scrolling. 

Little fish...

 

Hello again. 

First off, thanks so much for the love and support I received in response to the first Digital Lane blog post. I can't tell you how good it feels, and how important it is that I have a support group behind me. You all are my backbone, my rock. My hat is forever tipped. Much love.

March 4th was an exciting day. The birth of a new idea, the start of any new journey, always is. I was fired up. I worked well into the night. It was a day to dream big. Hopes and aspirations abounded. I was going to take over the world, or at least my tiny place in it. As day turned into night, however, the realist that I am, began questioning everything. What about ethics? What about small business loans? When, how, and do I really have to register as a business? That company in the UK, that has the same name as mine, do I have to worry about them? Does my purchased domain name protect me from that? Am I ok because of jurisdiction? Should I reach out to them? Could I get sued? 

So yes, some air has been let out of the ballon. Not because I am any less excited about the future. I fully expect to take over my world. But, and there are always buts, it is now time to step back, evaluate where I am, where I want to go, and how, realistically, I can get there.

I haven't yet, for example, participated in a single, structured, digital marketing course. That starts soon, in late April actually. I am though, constantly researching, always searching, and self-learning. But institutional education is important. A piece of paper as proof of acquired skills is always a bonus. That journey will start soon. You folks will hear all about it, I promise. 

I have had a weekend to let things stew, the dust has settled a bit. There is still that new blog smell, but it isn't quite as shiny. Many of you have taken a look around, I trust that you took your shoes off at the door. Personally, I have had a few days to step away, breath, think about things. I have slowed it down a bit. I have played daddy. I went out into the sun and snow. My batteries are recharging.

A lot of the ential concerns, although still valid, are not as brain-melting as they were the morning of the 5th. I am still worried about ethics. I believe with all my soul in doing business ethically. This may be a hinderance to my bottom line, but I will not sacrifice my beliefs for a few extra dollars. I plan to slowly build a code of ethics and conduct, and I promise to do my best stick to that code, no matter the circumstance. After talking to friends, and doing some research, I am much less worried about my nemesis from the UK. *If they read that, I am joking. Peace and love.* Further thought and research is also needed as to how I move from blog to small business. We aren't there yet. I of course, will take on any project sent my way... but there is a long way to go until the Digital Lane becomes a viable small business. 

The practical side of setting up a small business, and becoming a solopreneur is an on going process. One that will be chronicalled extensively in this blog. There is a lot of fodder in that journey. I will do my best to let you all in on the fun. I will ask for advice. I will always need your support. I know I will hit a wall. I am going to fail, a lot. To those that are in my support group, thanks in advance, I'll need you to lift me up from time to time. 

I started this post with an image. I imagined myself as a little fish, in a big pond. As I banged away at the keys, and ideas began to emerge, I started to see myself as a small fish, yes, but I realized that  maybe I could control the size of my pond. I don't want to be the big fish, and I have very little interest in the big pond. My role is to be the small fish, in the small pond. Let's do micro well. Let's excel at the local level. Let's beautify our small pond together. 

Keep swimming, keep swimming.

Welcome (A love story)

 

Well hi there. 

Thanks so much for stopping by. I am truly excited that your eyes are reading the very first post on the Digital Lane blog. What is the Digital Lane? Who are we? Am I? That is what I am going to try and explain today.

The Digital Lane is a love story of sorts.

My name is Joseph Lane. For years I have worked in the service industry. I was a server, a bartender, a bar manager. It was what I was good at. I can pour a pint, crack a joke, and disarm a drunk. Easy peasy. It was a world I knew. Was I happy? Not really, but I was in my comfort zone. I was doing what I knew. My life ebbed and flowed. There were good times, and bad. But then I met Katrin. 

Katrin challenged me to be better. She believed in me no matter my misgivings. She was willing and able to support me as I broke from my comfort zone and changed career paths. It was with her love and gentle guidance that I decided to become a digital marketer. Yes, this is a digital marketing blog. A blog, that once the dust settles, will morph into a website, and finally be the home of the Digital Lane. 

Like many love stories, babies are made. The Digital Lane, is my baby, it is in its infancy. It is brand new, it is still trying to figure out its place in this world. It will need to be handled with kid gloves. Mistakes will be made. Hurdles will need to be leaped. But it will get there. The Digital Lane will blossom, because it is a labour of love.

Ok, great, now that I have made you feel all mushy. And yes, I want you to fawn over me. I want you to like me. I need to earn your trust. If I am going to be the person that you entrust with digitally marketing your business, you need to believe I will always be on your side. And I will. Just like the Digital Lane is my baby, your business is just as important to you. You deserve someone that cares just as much about its image, and success as you do. I promise to always try my best to respect your wants and needs. This is your journey. You are the voice of your business, I am simply a megaphone.

Finally, a little more about me; Katrin and I live, work, and study in Greenwood NS, which is in the heart of Nova Scotia's amazing Annapolis Valley.  I am studying digital marketing at Eastern College. So yes, I am a newby, and learning. I have however, been a social media manager for various small businesses, and a published marketing copywriter for over 10 years. Having also worked in the service industry for 20 years, mostly in the beautiful town of  Annapolis Royal, I have grown passionate about local business, and building strong relationships between small business owners. I believe strongly, that we are all in this together. Communities grow stronger when we support local enterprise. I want to help small, local businesses have their voices heard above the noise. I want to see booming downtown cores. I want to help you sell your labour of love. Let's work together. Let's make our communities bloom. There is a new dawn coming. Let's make our own new normal, together. 

I guess that if I push publish then we are live. If you have read this blog post, and would like to work on a project with me I can be reached by commenting on this post, or sending me an email; josephlane73@gmail.com. Let's start the journey together.