Let me just say that day 7 of the challenge didn’t quite go as planned. But, have any of my days for this challenge gone incredibly smooth as of yet? Answer: No, not at all. That’s okay, though. I’ve learned how to pivot when I need to and day 7 was just that — a pivot day like no other.
Day 7 of the 30-Day Challenge: Creative Movement:
Task: to complete the second day of creating a promotional packet (somewhat similar to a “media kit” used by social media influencers to promote their brands and to attract brand deals). But, hold up. The task actually changed. Instead of working more on my promotional packets, I switched over to a dear platform of mine that I’m looking to make a presence on and I created my first ever VIDEO PIN on Pinterest.
Reason for Task: Yesterday, I discussed the need for my promotional packets due to some local opportunities I’m steadily working on developing with educational entities and programs in my city. And, I wholeheartedly champion the idea of having a professional portfolio available to promote my brand to these entities and programs. I want them to have something concrete to review (something representative of what Degrees of Maternity is all about).
Duration of Task: This task was supposed to be a 2-dayer, but it ended up lasting 1 day with the need to fulfill day 2 some other time during this challenge. Let’s just call this task a “split task”, shall we? However, the task I did manage to complete took place in 1 day with the idea that I’ll be video pinning consistently on an on-going basis.
Outcome for Day 2 of the Task: Well, the reason that I implemented the old “split task” tactic for the promotional packets had everything to do with spontaneous combustion of the what-makes-sense-to-actually-do-at-this-point-in-time phenomenon.
To refresh your memory on yesterday’s agenda for today, I actually wanted to take this second day of working on the promotional packets and make it a professional print day. I’ve historically gone to the FedEx Office Print and Ship Center, where I have an account set up. It’s a pretty handy facility and used to be where the old Kinko’s was in which I frequented when needing copies or printouts made.
And you might be wondering about my ability to print at the old homestead. Well, I currently have a many year’s old Epson WorkForce Pro printer, but it quite possibly could be on its last leg. And, I really need a new heavy-duty printer that turns out professional art prints, since I’ll be looking to provide print copies of my product offerings here locally. Until then, I’ll just have to rely on the print services of others until I research out the best printer for my purposes and actually purchase it.
Anywho, today was supposed to be all about the printed copies, so I could put my promotional packets together and have them ready for future meetings with potential clients. However, I decided to wait and do the prints at a later date. I don’t currently have any meetings set up, so no harm no foul.
Getting professional prints made is an expensive business outside of my control. Hence, the reasoning behind investing the money into my own printer, ink, paper, etc., which will be cheaper to manage and wouldn’t require me to travel to get my prints made anymore. Whoo hoo! So, wisdom is telling me to hold off on going to the printing center. I’ll get my own printer to print my copies or use the professional print services (only if necessary) before getting my new printer.
Okay, let me change the course of the discussion here and get to what I actually did on day 7. First of all, I finished up a couple of pieces of the packet that I needed to tweak (the introduction letter template and the thank you card). So, I did manage to do a teeny bit of packet work to where all the pieces are now created and ready for printing action when the time calls for it. But since I knew early on that I wasn’t going to get the prints made, I was left with the question of “What to do? What to do?” for day 7’s task challenge. And then, I remembered that I still had some pinning on Pinterest to do for the day.
Now, I have for some time been hearing about the importance of pinning a variety of pins to your Pinterest boards in order to draw more traffic to your little nook of the Pinterest universe. Besides image pins, there are product pins, story pins, recipe pins, video pins, and the new “idea” pins that have just come out recently for some Pinterest users. (Oh, I’m sure I’m leaving out some other types of pins, but you get the idea — there are more than just the image pins.)
I’ve also been hearing, quite consistently, that Pinterest tends to promote the newer stuff that they roll out. So, why not jump on that bandwagon and see if all the hype is true to form, regarding the new pin types that one can create? Well, because I tend to be a scaredy cat when it comes to new processes in the use of technology. But, I took a great leap of faith in the old Pinterest algorithm and decided to see what I can do. I’m a little late jumping on the bandwagon, but at least I finally took that jump.
Video pins have been out there a while on Pinterest, but I made my first one today. It wasn’t as complex as I was making it out to be in my mind, which is why I probably put off doing it for so long. It was actually very easy, in fact.
I used pins that I had already created in Canva, set them to an mp4 format in Canva, uploaded the few seconds video to Pinterest. And there you have it. Done! And now that I know video pinning isn’t a difficult process, especially when you already have all kinds of pin images available at your beck and call, then I’ll be utilizing them more often. Hopefully, they’ll help draw more audience attention as well. (And, if you’d like to check out my first ever video pin, which highlights my DOMinators News newsletter going out to Degrees of Maternity newsletter subscribers, check out my Pinterest account here. “Idea pins, watch out! I’m coming for you next.”
Practical Application of Day 7 for Your Life: It’s so funny, because I intended to have a different practical application for you today, based on the whole promotional packets task. But that totally changed. So, here’s your golden nugget for the day. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” When one plan of attacking your list of to-dos doesn’t work out, then stay flexible and pivot, as needed. You’ll always have plenty of things to do in the course of your day or week. So, pick the next to-do on your list and get after it!
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