Do you ever get stuck in a rut? Find yourself doing the same thing in the same way over and over? Sometimes it’s great to really get something down pat so you don’t have to give it much of your bandwidth, that’s the way we’re hardwired to learn.
But sometimes when you look at your results, you might find that a tiny shift in approach can make a huge difference. It can be really worthwhile to shine the light of awareness on to your habits and measure the difference that little adjustments can make.
This newsletter is a great example. Like most people with a mailing list, I’d like it to grow. Whenever I get a thank you note or kind response, I realize how many more people there are out there who would appreciate receiving it. And quite often when I ask my real world acquaintances if they get my weekly Monday Love news they’ll say “No, what’s that?” so I know that this list has a lot of room to expand.
One of the ways I grow this list is through social media. It’s one of the basic concepts I teach people about when I’m working with my one-on-one coaching clients. All to often people will tell me that they have a lot of friends on Facebook, so they post all their offerings there, while neglecting their mailing lists.
But assuming that everyone is paying attention to your post is a fatal mistake. On social media, everyone is just one cat video away from losing interest in your amazing work. Most people use social media as a distraction rather than a place for taking action. When people are in their email boxes on the other hand, (which is also perfectly acceptable while on the clock at work) they are in a much more engaged mindset, much closer to their calendars or bank accounts where real decisions are made.
So my go to advice if you’re seeking to grow your audience and engage with your followers is to use social media as a place to grow your mailing list. In other words, make your social media activities engaging, interesting, and valuable, but make your end goal to gather email addresses and build your mailing list. Then make your newsletters so consistent, valuable, and engaging that people are eager and grateful to open them up and read, (but that’s a topic for another time).
As you probably know, we here at Conscious Dancer and Dance First maintain several active social media outposts. We’re on Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, and of course Facebook. Whenever one of our Dance First members posts an event on our MoveMap, we immediately publish the link across all of our platforms, potentially reaching a combined audience of over 30K.
On Facebook, we have our Conscious Dancer business Page of course, ‘Liked’ by 15,618 people, and we also have the Conscious Dancer Group with 8,248 members. (and btw, if you’re already a member, please add your friends!) I’ve known for a long time that people liking our Page or joining our Group are an excellent resource for growing this list, however, until recently I’ve been handling it out of habit, with less than exciting results.
The rut I’ve been stuck in has been to send everyone who joins the group a welcome message, with an invitation to join our list. I’ve been including a link to our home page, where there’s a signup form at the bottom.
But what I noticed was that hardly anyone was actually taking the trouble to add themselves to the list, and I was starting to think that the whole process was an exercise in futility. A shift in approach was in order.
So now, instead of pasting a link and hoping for the best, I simply say hello and ask if they get my newsletter. More often than not, they say no, I reply and ask for their email address, and violá, our list grows! Sometimes they have questions about it, sometimes they’re adamant about not wanting more mail. And yes, it takes a couple more steps and a personal exchange, but the results are totally worth it, I’m adding new subscribers every day.
So if you have something in your life that you’re doing by default and not getting the results you want, take a step back and ask yourself what little adjustment you could try to improve your results. There’s always room to experiment and adjust your approach accordingly. You’ve got a lot to offer the world and your community, so keep giving your all and make your contribution count.
Much love until next week!
Mark Metz
Director of the Dance First Association
Publisher of Conscious Dancer Magazine
Dance First Member Spotlight: Alana Shaw and the Turning the Wheel team!
Today’s Dance First member spotlight is on Turning the Wheel, the inspiring national youth empowerment organization led by Alana Shaw. You may remember me writing about my trip to Boulder earlier this year, when I joined them for a week long ‘Caravan’ offering movement, art, and embodiment programs at a variety of schools ranging from kindergarten to high school.
That’s me with Alana (right), and Khiri Lee, her right hand gal (left) in the photo above. This week we are working together on a Caravan in Oakland, and we’re off to a great start! We’re starting our days with two groups of international kindergarteners at a Waldorf-based transitional school, and then working with a group in the dance department at Oakland Tech High School. Our days finish with a boisterous group of elementary school-age kids in an after school program who have lots of extra energy to burn.
My role in these groups is to provide the music, and because I bring a turntable and a carefully curated selection of records the sound is organic and inspires movement immediately from the inside out. For a mid-week highlight I offer a full demo of my DJ equipment and a talk on Analog Awareness. We also have a live musician with us, and Alana and our other team members are unanimous that the warm sound of records flows together with the live music of the guitar and drum far better than the digital playlists they used to use ever did.
The thing I like about Turning the Wheel’s approach is that it is totally positive and solutions focused. Participants are infused with possibility, connection, and empowerment which can then become the healthy foundation for the inevitable struggles of class, race, or social justice every growing youth must face. But there are no axes to grind in a Turning the Wheel offering, only an authentic experience of the creative potential for our expanded universal humanity.
At the end of each Caravan week, there’s an open workshop for grownups called The Body Now. This is your opportunity to participate in the experience, play the connection games, and share in the levity and joy that makes this work unique. It’s a three-hour fun-filled journey that is of tremendous value for any type of facilitator, therapist, or educator who works with groups of any age and wants more ways to build healthy connections faster.
Join us this Saturday at Studio 12 in Berkeley from 1-4pm, and experience the magic of Turning the Wheel at The Body Now workshop. I highly recommend it, so consider this my personal invitation to all my Bay Area friends and I hope to see you there!
Thanks Alana! I’m happy and grateful to get to be part of your team, and really want to publicly acknowledge all the serious effort and dedication you bring to the hard work of raising consciousness for future generations!
The Body Now :: Turning the Wheel Workshop
May 13th, 1-4pm, Studio 12, Berkeley
