Year in Review and Ten Takeaways
Hello Pathfinders! Happy New Year! 🥳🎉
SO the ball dropped on 2024, and the calendar page turned over to a new year… W👀W! …As a result, and as usually happens for me this season, I get very reflective on the past year’s events, and what the year ahead might bring.
I took a bit of a hiatus from this newsletter at the end of 2024 to get some personal plans in motion. I have missed connecting with you, and am happy to be back. I’m looking forward to resuming the journey we’ve been on together, and would like to start by looking back a little on what we talked about last year…
When I began this newsletter, my intention was to offer you my view of marketing in the hopes that it will help you make good, profitable decisions for your pet care business. Marketing is necessary for any business to exist, let alone thrive. And often it is one of the hardest parts of a business.
My vision is one of a newsletter (and email marketing)-centric marketing strategy that, in the simplest terms, frees up valuable resources for your business while also building strong relationships with your prospects, clients, and customers. My mission—the mission of Sitting Pretty Strategies—is to make marketing easier, more streamlined and effective, and maybe even a little bit fun. 🤓
Over the previous issues, we discussed marketing basics for pet care pros—going over the building blocks of marketing. I introduced my formulas for marketing success based on the above mentioned view: The Pawsitive Press Formulas. The first formula, The Pawsitive Press Framework for Newsletter Development, began showing you how Newsletters should be the foundational keystone of your marketing plan, as well as what it can mean for your pet care pro business.
In subsequent issues, we went deep into the five parts of the framework:
🎯 𝐏𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 🔴 Your Newsletter’s “Why?”
🧭 𝐀𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 🟠 Your Newsletter’s “Who?”
💡 𝐌𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 🟡 Your Newsletter’s “What?”
🗓 𝐂𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 🟢 Your Newsletter’s “When?”
🎨 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 🔵 Your Newsletter’s “How?”
A compelling, well-thought-out, value-driven Newsletter—especially when paired with a robust email marketing campaign—is a reliable, effective communication tool to build trust and strong relationships, giving you the ability to engage 1-on-1 with your prospects, clients and customers, while showcasing the awesome care, services, and products you provide. It also can easily act as the cornerstone of your entire content marketing, through a structured, systematized approach.
In coming issues of The Pawsitive Pathfinder: Professional Edition, we’ll be expanding on these ideas, as well as diving into AI, other good marketing practices, and additional frameworks incorporated into The Pawsitive Pathfinder Formulas.
In the meantime, let’s begin this new year with a reflection on the outgoing one… I’ve been looking back on things I’ve learned and observed over the course of 2024, and I’d love to share them with you.
Here are ten of my biggest takeaways from 2024:
🤖 AI IS HERE. AND IT IS HERE TO STAY.
Let’s begin with the most obvious—and crucial—lesson of the past year… Unless you’ve literally been living on an isolated island with no internet, you know this one: AI has taken the world by storm, and as with most other industries and business sectors, and the marketing landscape is no exception!
Whether you’ve been riding the AI wave the last couple of years, just recently beginning to incorporate AI tools into your business, or have been hanging back to see where this is all going, I have two things to say to you:
▶️ AI integration is crucial to the success of your business.
▶️ Those who do implement effective strategies for using AI tools will leave those who don't behind in their wake.
The power of AI should not be feared, as it is merely a tool—like so many other kinds of tools we all use every day in our businesses. Instead AI should be harnessed to whatever extent you can, now, while continuing to learn more about the tools that continue to come available, in order to keep competitive in the industry.
🤓 KEEP LEARNING.
Continued education is an important component of success in any industry. As we learn more, we grow into higher roles in our careers, and on a bigger scale when we run our own businesses. From a marketing perspective, in our modern culture the landscape is constantly shifting and changing, so it’s critical to stay on top of what works and what is obsolete—and most likely hindering your success.
🔑 CONSISTENCY IS KEY TO PROGRESS AND SUCCESS.
Whether we’re talking content creation, outreach, education, product development, or analysis, consistent and forward action is what produces momentum, and continued momentum creates success. …And baby steps count. All forward progress counts. ...The deciding factor on when success happens is strategic planning. And then working the plan consistently.
🗓️ SCHEDULE BLOCK TIME.
When you’re facing an entire plan filled with tactics and tasks, it can easily get a bit overwhelming. And when you are an entrepreneur, you wear many hats and often keep a pretty hectic schedule. This can lead to scattered focus. Creating block time—time blocked out on your calendar specifically to focus on one task, and one task only—into your schedule can help with this. I have found it really elevates my focus, and my ability to dive into deep work for designated periods of time. 💯
🌞 CREATIVITY COMES IN MANY FORMS. AND IN MANY WAYS.
A lot of people don’t believe themselves to be the creative type, or that creativity has a place in their business. The reality is that ideation, innovation, problem solving, flexibility, curiosity, perspective, and brainstorming are all based in creativity. And everyone has the ability to be curious, brainstorm new ideas, solve problems, adapt, visualize, and express their understanding of things. Cool, right?!
👋 OUTREACH IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF SUCCESS.
No matter your business, all business is about the same thing: PEOPLE, and the relationships you build with those people. And that applies to both sides of the equation: internal and external. Relationship-building begins with outreach.
🤗 FIND YOUR PEOPLE. BUILD A COMMUNITY.
There’s an African proverb that says, “To go fast, go alone. To go far, go together.”
There are times when you are building your business when you’ll need to put your head down, block out the world and hustle. But most of the time, in order to really grow and thrive, a support system is necessary. People who understand what you are trying to do. People who understand what you are going through. People who align with your view of the world and what you wish to accomplish in it. We all need help, support, feedback, and encouragement. Seek those people out and build a community around them. Having friends who have perspective make the journey and the hustle both easier and more fulfilling. And cheerleaders make the game more fun!
🤡 PLAY MORE. AND TAKE TIME TO RELAX.
I don’t know about you, but when I get on a roll during phases of working on my business, I tend to turn into an “all or nothing” kind of person, and keep hustling until I burn out. …It’s a bad habit, actually. …One of the big takeaways from 2024 for me was the importance of actually scheduling time to rest, recuperate, and relax. And its equally important cousin, playtime. Giving yourself time to relax and recuperate from all the hard work you do helps you maintain the momentum all that work can bring, so you can continue to grow and thrive. Taking time for fun shows you what all the hard work is for, and gives you drive to keep going.
🐾 BEGIN.
There’s a Chinese proverb that says, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” (Are you sensing a trend here?)
Was there something you wanted to start in 2024, that you put off and shoved to the back burner? One of my takeaways from last year was that when you have an idea to begin something, it is imperative that you JUST BEGIN. …I have the personality type that I need all my “ducks in a row” before I can even think about starting a new (or restarting an old) project. But I have come to realize that, while having a plan is a good thing, perpetually planning and never beginning is just another form of procrastination. Usually brought about by fear of some sort. When I make myself stop thinking, and just begin, I am amazed at how much momentum that energy can create. 🥳
🧐 WHEN IN DOUBT, RETURN TO THE FUNDAMENTALS (ie: REVIEW).
There will always be crises, challenges, and obstacles along your professional journey. And when they arise, you may feel like you just cannot figure out what to do. I have found that when I am there—when I find myself in The Dip 🕳️—returning to the fundamentals always helps me. Whether it’s writing or creating content, marketing or strategy, or even the basic skill of coming up with new ideas to solve problems (which can often lead to new services and products). Returning to what I learned when I began that skill acquisition helps me move out of the challenge and into solutions.
And there you have it! My 2024 review and takeaways. 🌟
What are YOUR biggest takeaways from the past year? Hit REPLY and let me know!
What are your big goals for your business in 2025? If you’re not sure where to start, Sitting Pretty Strategies and The Pawsitive Pathfinder are here to help. Reach out and let me know what you're struggling with.I'd love to see how I can help you.
Until then...
