Janet Lee Johnson | The Art of Marketing

Sometimes we have to make significant choices. I believe my clients would rather deal with a woman with a soul than a machine tethered to technology. Which is why I chose (consciously, many times over the past weekend) to stay unplugged from the grid.

On Friday afternoon, we packed the dog in the car and drove the short, 70 miles it takes to get to the Oregon coast, where friends had invited us to stay for the weekend.

I had packed my laptop (to write the second in a series of “how-to” digital marketing papers I’m working on) and a manuscript on mobile marketing (for which I’m providing a pre-release quote) - both with good intentions to finish them.

We arrived at sunset, and - martinis and champagne in hand - we toasted weekend ahead outside and (because it was chilly) inside the house, enjoying an unobstructed view of the big red sun slipping into the water for the evening.

It was a great start to a delightful weekend of ignoring car, computer and iPhone. Here’s what we did instead:

• Walked to coffee (six times in two days)
• Walked to lunch and looked at places for sale
• Let the dogs romp along the beach (exhausted Joey was a trouper on those three-inch legs)
• Played cribbage again for the first time in 30 years (won one game, lost one…)
• Bought lottery tickets (people from small towns win more often than those who buy in big towns)
• Watched a sea eagle hunt for dinner over the dunes
• Contemplated the randomness of life, observing flowers change while walking by the place where a plane crashed into a home in August (that happened to be right along our walk)

I can read the manuscript in the evenings, and write my paper between meetings this week.

My choice to unplug means I will always have the memories we generated at the coast this weekend. Some delightful, some contemplative, all fuel for my soul.

I’ve not blogged enough recently. And it’s not because I haven’t wanted to, because I have… In fact, I’ve got a ton of interesting projects I’d love to talk about, but I can’t quite yet. For several clients, it’s because I’m under NDA. For others, it’s because I’m helping their businesses be more competitive, and it just doesn’t seem fair yet to share.

At the same time, I’ve felt an additional pressure when I blog to be more ’serious’ and ’scintillating’ since my posts are being distributed over on the Content Management Connection blog. Once you’re syndicated, it seems the pressure to perform is ratcheted up.

Sometimes, adding value to the online conversation is just plain hard. Especially when I’m not particularly funny or edgy or whimsical, even on a good day! (I’ve found plenty of great bloggers default to some innate trait to help them out of a void.)

So I feel as if this blog post is a bit akin an old Seinfeld episode… a post about nothing. Except to admit (and that’s exactly the point) that sometimes it’s hard to participate in the blogosphere… Or the Twittersphere… and be “on” all the time.

But confession is good for the soul, the sun is pouring through the windows here in Portland, and I live a dream life. I’ll be inspired all day, I just know it. And I hope to add value again by sharing some of that inspiration. Meanwhile, the muse awaits…

I’m sitting alone at a table in the Pearl Bakery this morning, having been forgotten by my 9:00 appointment. Which is fine, because I’m drafting off of someone’s unsecured network and feeling productive with an extra hour of work time. But I’m probably making people around me nervous as my shoulders shake from laughing so much.

I just got today’s installment of the BeThree newsletter, one of the few non-tech, non-marketing newsletters I read. Because it’s compelling and perfect. Today’s installment is brilliantly titled “The Traveler’s Trots.” Of course I had to open it!

Talk about descriptive phrases… (forgive me if you’re squeamish, but these girls can paint a vivid visual picture):

“….the thought of getting a shot in the butt to avoid unloading a Montezuma’s Revenge poop smoothie in a foreign public bathroom is not an option.”

And the photo at the top? I just have to show it here. Again, perfectly done. (Okay, sorry for those of you whom might take offense, but I think it’s most excellent.)

Sign up for this newsletter to experience descriptive writing. Oh, and it’s powered by PDX’s very own eROI team… thanks to Dylan Boyd for turning me on to this treasure.

I got a note last week that I just have to take the time to expose to the air… from my friend Gillian. Her words struck so personally I feel moved to blog them:

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I hope you don’t mind me reaching out to each of you on a rather personal note…As most of you know, I lost my father to pancreatic cancer 9 months ago today. Although pancreatic cancer is one of the major cancer killers, it still receives little to no government funding or support.

Some of you may have heard of Dr. Randy Pausch, a 47 year old Carnegie Mellon professor who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, whom through his “last lecture” has gotten lots of media attention (Prime Time, Good Morning America, and yes, even Oprah). Well, here is his recent powerful appeal to Congress - it would mean a lot to me if you would take a moment to listen to it.

If you are so moved, here are a few additional ways to help:

1. Write your local legislator
2. Donate to the cause (be sure to earmark your contribution for RESEARCH) - through my mother’s efforts to raise awareness we have raised almost 30K in research funds in my father’s name, James J. Kennedy
3. Continue to stay educated through http://www.pancan.org/ and http://www.lustgarten.org/

I appreciate your time with this and I can only hope that what we do today will make a difference.

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Apparently Gillian received a huge response to her note, and there were some further follow-on clarifications:

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I know there were some questions about donating to PanCan - it sounds like the only way to earmark the donation for research and/or make the donation in my father’s name (James J. Kennedy) is to either:

• call PanCan at 1-877-272-6226 and make the donation over the phone or
• mail in a check that has the information in the memo. The form for this and info about how to do it is here.

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Gillian and her mom are just trying to raise awareness. Apparently her mom is quite an expert on pancreatic cancer now. If anyone has questions, I’m happy to connect you with them.

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