This newsletter issue is going to be different.
Because. Instead of marketing success, we'll be going to discuss failure.
When visiting Paris in January, I found Sheila Heti's book Motherhood on my friend's bookshelf. The book isn't really about whether or not to become a mother. It is a book about meeting the expectations imposed on us by the society.
One sentence stuck with me, and I've since read it many times over.
"Only in our failures are we absolutely alone. Only in the pursuit of failure can a person really be free."
Now this is a sentence that every reader will interpret differently. It is the perfect mirror-sentence that reflects back our own reaction to the words "failure," "alone," and "free."
As I read this sentence, I think that I'd like to let go of and fail in so many things – so that I would finally have time to be free.
And this is exactly what I've been doing since January 2024: saying "no" to the work projects I did not want to do.
On saying "no" ...
In the past three months, I have said "no" to:
Projects proposed by other people:
- A three-month well-paid project where the communication with the founding team just didn't feel right.
- Another well-paid long-term project where my wish to remain freelance was not respected nor heard by the founding team.
- Three long-term marketing projects where I wasn't interested in the product or even found the product unethical.
- A few startup founders' invitations to "have a chat" or "have a coffee." I appreciate your interest but I need this time to do work for my clients who don't take my time for granted or think they're entitled to it for free.
- Doing a live marketing workshop in Estonia because the proposed fee was 60% lower than my usual rate. I don't work for half-fee: it's either the full price for businesses or free pro bono work for some small cultural/literary projects.
Projects proposed by myself I said "no" to:
- Last week's marketing newsletter because I badly need more time to work on my lyrical essay book proposal – the deadline is Mid-March.
- Around ten LinkedIn posts I had marked to my to-do list. I didn't feel like having anything special to say. (Most people seem to post even on such no-idea days, I find it a waste of my own and readers' time.)
- Writing three new blog articles to grow my blog's organic traffic by ca 3,000 readers/month.
- Re-designing my marketing blog as it needs a facelift and better SEO structure.
And number 5: an exciting but highly time-consuming marketing course project we'd been discussing with a friend for weeks now. THIS newsletter was supposed to include the big announcement.
But we decided to postpone the plan. Because. It didn't feel like good timing to either of us. We both need our time for something else.
And so, we simply decided to say "no"...
... in order to say "yes."
Saying "no" to all those marketing projects allowed me to take on three small-scale marketing audits/workshops. And to say "yes" to a digital ad project for a brand I've always liked and respected.
And I still have 2.5 weekdays free for my university and writing projects.
This extra "free" time allowed me to read and write my monthly life & book recommendations newsletter and experiment with creative writing (e.g. here).
It allowed me to travel to Paris twice to see friends.
It allowed me to take either Saturday or Sunday completely off and do the things I enjoy most: going to my favourite bakery next to London Fields and reading the latest London Review of Books; taking long walks by the Regent's Canal; getting a shabby-chic Peugeot roadbike and exploring Hackney Marshes.
It allowed me to meet friends for dinners and performances and gallery visits. And to dedicate time for long phone calls with family and close friends.
Saying "no" to work allowed me to do the things that make me feel alive.
Let's say "no" to everything? – No!
I am not advocating for saying "no" to all work or obligations. Quite the contrary: once I have said "yes" to something, I stick with it.
I am advocating for a work-life balance that doesn't make you look back at these years and think: I wasn't really living.
As the French saying goes: Do not live to work but work to live.
We all have some projects and tasks that are not truly part of our job. Things we've taken up because they once made us feel excited or helpful.
Are these things still exciting or wearing you down?
I think that the ability to say "no" isn't a personality trait. It comes with experience. I've been getting better at understanding the alternative use of my time – realising the things I'd like to say "yes" to but can't if I say "yes" to something else.
Even if some of these extra projects would have been the next step in my marketing career, I wanted to say "yes" to being a writer much more.
I wanted to fail and say "no" and thereby be free to say "yes."
Coming up next week: 1-week break
As we're already here and saying "no," I've decided to shift this newsletter to a bi-weekly schedule.
It will go on a summer hibernation from May - September while I'll be completely off marketing work and writing my book. Yes.
If you liked this more personal newsletter with its philosophical meanderings, subscribe to my monthly newsletter on London life and reading recommendations.
Merci! 🐿️
This is the 10th (!!) Marketing Things newsletter and I appreciate all of you who have subscribed. Send your feedback and thoughts by replying to this email.
Thanks for reading!
Karola