How an Acronym can Increase Your Marketing Success
The barre class I missed passed in a blur, the sun now warming my keyboard at 7am, a time when I would normally be returning from my workout. Notes for the big show, blog posts for the week of, and other details waited. With a looming deadline, skipping exercise seemed justified. After all, I reasoned, my career was at stake. One week passed, then two. Suddenly my new routine did not include exercise. I maintained I needed more sleep to ward off illness. When I returned from traveling I would reset.
Just like that, my morning practice tilted to “at risk.” You may have found yourself in a similar position when life interfered.
My preference for a touchstone, what some refer to as a reminder, caused me to think about an acronym. Discipline. That’s what I need!
Scribbling furiously, I wrote the labels that discipline incorporated. Decisions, infrastructure, strength, clarity, introspection, preparation, performance, leverage, imagination, notes, and enthusiasm were on my first list.
The blessing of travel is time out of ordinary. Long plane rides, down time in the airport terminals. While sipping a latte, uninterrupted by normalcy of friends and family, I reflected about mornings that included exercise. One thing I know for sure: the joy of movement is supportive and desirable. Concentrating on desire, I determined to resurrect the exercise habit. With my choice of words now framed differently, I crafted verbs to illustrate the momentum I hoped to create.
Focus and purpose shaped this project that took on increasing importance. As I continued to reflect on my acronym the symbols seemed applicable to more than the one morning routine situation.
At destination, prior to my first conference meeting, I enrolled in a total motion class. It felt empowering to take a step in the direction of my goal to restore my exercise routine. Throughout my four-day stay I evaluated and tweaked the acronym. “Could this really work?” I asked.
Change results with Discipline as a marketing acronym
Choose. I realized I could choose to allow the acronym of DISCIPLINE to work for me. Just as quickly, I knew I’d turned some imaginary corner because I had committed to returning to my morning routine.
D-I-S-C-I-P-L-I-N-E
- Decide on your goal
- Initiate one step
- Savor the vision, the results you’ll produce
- Clarify benchmarks
- Implement accountability
- Prepare for success
- Perform as if you’ve met your goals
- Label the lackadaisical as old school – kick it to the curb
- Increase your effort by adding oomph, enthusiasm
- Notice how strong you feel, how supported
- Embrace the new you
What if I used the acronym to change my results in another area, an area such as marketing with social media? (Increase your marketing success using discipline as an acronym.)
How, you might ask, can an acronym help to develop discipline? Like many artists, I find social media to be a continual distraction. Rather than embrace its benefits, I’m often guilty of touting the problems social media creates. What if I could change and reframe that perspective? Discipline is what I really choose.
With my choice in mind, I revised my commitment to social media using discipline as an acronym.
Discipline as an acronym
Decide: For the next 12 months, I commit to an expanded version of social media with a minimum posting schedule that looks like this:
- 3x weekly Facebook
- 3x weekly Instagram
- 3x weekly Pinterest
Initiate one step: My initiation requires me to post the commitment on my blog beginning with this simple post today.
Savor the vision: Within one year, the actions I take will create a visible impact for me, adding followers, create engagement with other like-minded creatives, and establish a clear, purposeful path that generates results for my ongoing classes and workshops.
Clarify benchmarks: I use the ebb and flow of engagements to generate calls to action: an April class series, an August workshop series, etc. In between, I commit to doing my part to create regular blog posts and tell people about them in order to create a content calendar that delivers additional eyeballs.
Implement accountability: In addition to using the public blog post here as accountability (feel free to ask me how it’s going) I promise to make this accountability a function of reporting during my regular mastermind calls. I agree to send my fellow participants an email requesting they ask me about my commitment. A link to this post will provide context and background.
Prepare for success: Because I know life has a habit of getting in the way, during my return trip I’ll develop a series of 10 posts that can serve as backups or fillers when I am pushed off track.
Perform as if: Step into the moment as if I’ve already got a following, as if I’m a model for a successful social media.
Label the lackadaisical as old school: Rather than give credence to the old story, I embrace my new and ongoing habit of daily social inputs.
Increase your effort: What I’ve discovered is that enthusiasm (acting as if) works.
Notice your strength: Like training muscle, ongoing attention to social media works.
Embrace the new you: Remember how good it feels to achieve a goal? This is the opportunity you’re stretching for, preparing for. This is who you are.
Don’t wait. You too can increase your marketing success using discipline as an acronym. Using acronyms is one way to bust the paralysis of marketing anxiety. Another is to talk with an expert who can help you see with fresh eyes. Call me if you’re tired of marketing paralysis. Together we’ll find a way to move forward.
