Tiny celebrations go a long way… in achieving bigger goals…
Throwback photo from a few years back when all teams got together to look at the screen because our video was about to hit 2 million views. We had shots made out of… well, I won’t say what, but everyone did a shot. It was a tiny celebration, a quick 10-minute party, and then everybody got back to work.
But it’s those tiny celebrations that define the culture, the freedom, the camaraderie, friendships, and the drive to do it together. When the journey is fun, the outcome is also great.
Always remember: when you’re creating content, you’re not creating for yourself or the client, but for the audience of the client. Be obsessed about figuring out what’s in their interest first.. walk in their shoes, do research, deep dive into their pain points and micro moments.. make sure you have a lot of dots to connect for that one killer idea.
The goal of the video isn’t just for them to watch it. The goal is to make it so compelling that they share it. Make it worthy of sharing first.
When your audience is happy, & content is being organically shared.. stakeholders are happy. It’s win-win-win. If you start focusing solely on your client, you’ll be stuck in the race of pleasing them.
Stop pleasing your stakeholders, stop pleasing your clients & start creating genuinely authentic content for & about your audience. When you give them value for every second they watch, you’ve cracked it.
In my experience, if you’re skilled at what you do, if you love learning and getting better at your craft, you can figure out how to schedule and prioritise – that’s the easy part.
But in all of this, you must carve out time for yourself each day to focus on what you love in the whole process – the part where you forget time, which you truly enjoy, that one aspect of the whole game.
If you don’t do this, you’ll stay in the rat race of handling multiple projects as a skilled vendor/service provider, whether in a job or being independent, but you won’t grow in your career.
Remember, career growth must be like building/investing in an elevator to take you higher, not like climbing stairs.
So, while juggling priorities: 1. Figure out realistic time requirements for each project. 2. Aim for excellence, not perfection. Produce what’s required. 3. Most importantly, set aside one hour a day for self-improvement, playing with your craft, following your heart, learning and experimenting. Give your best to get better.
This daily practice, over months and years, will give you an exceptional flow in your craft. And that, my friend, will produce magic.
Prioritize effectively, but never at the cost of your growth. This will help you tackle multiple projects while still moving forward in your career.
In my experience, in digital marketing – per-person efficiency needs to be exceptionally high. We don’t need people skilled in just one area, We need full-stack marketers – people who can be creators themselves, understand copywriting, video production, analytics, experiment with AI, produce ideas under pressure and more…
Everyone on the team should, apart from doing their primary job, invest time in learning new skills and collaborating with peers in the industry. We need small teams of ninjas or superheroes.
This way, the dependency isn’t on one person but on the team and the process. When need arises, we have more perspectives, skills and worldviews, leading to on point and faster execution.
In simple terms…
1. Understand the one true metric: engagement
2. Learn and acquire as many skills around it as possible
3. Collaborate and share knowledge within your team
4. Stay adaptable and ready to wear multiple hats
This approach creates a high-performing team that can tackle diverse challenges. Remember, in the fast-paced game of digital content, it’s not about who you are, but what you do that defines you. So, suit up, and create some magic!
Prioritize fun! Great creative output is always an outcome of fun, freedom, and happiness – not the other way around. The more you’re having fun, the more your mind flows freely. Ideas happen when dots connect naturally.
You can’t force it. Just go for a walk, play a game, chat with a friend. What’s that one activity that gives you joy? Do that for 30-60 minutes and come back fresh.
Creative roles aren’t like traditional jobs. Your success depends on the quality of ideas you produce. And that’s always an outcome of fun, freedom, and happiness.
I remember working on a video once.. which went on to become the one with highest engagement in Asia a few years back… Before we finalised it, we just took a break for a few hours.. filming slow-motion shots of toy cars falling off the table For an hour we made Hollywood style footage with our phones.. After that, we got back to work.
About deadlines, break projects into manageable chunks with mini-deadlines, one brick at a time. Don’t get overwhelmed about building the entire wall. You need progress, not perfection. Celebrate the tiny wins. The more it seems like an adventure, the less overwhelmed you’ll feel.
In my experience, the best ideas come when you’re not trying so hard. So loosen up, have fun, and let creativity flow!
