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It’s National 👻 ✒️ Ghostwriters Week, Reader! We don’t actually see you but we definitely see you and your work.

In today’s edition:

• Today's 👉 Tip of the Day is for marketing

• ⚖️ Marketing on the side

• Changes to 💲 monetization on Facebook

• 📣 Additional industry news from Facebook and YouTube

Are referrals your main source of clients and customers? Word of mouth is some of the best marketing you can get. Thankfully, it doesn’t always have to be completely out of your hands. A bit of strategic self-promotion can amplify or augment what satisfied customers are already saying.

Spotlight Achievements

Highlighting awards you’ve received in organic and paid content isn’t tone-deaf bragging. It demonstrates third-party validation and shows prospective consumers that you’re trusted by others. 

Just be sure to balance self-promotion with valuable content so you don't come across as self-centered.

Today's tip is inspired by Kris Kiehn.

Discover Proven Marketing Strategies and Tips [NO COST]

Want to go even deeper with your marketing? Check out the Social Media Marketing Podcast! 

Publishing weekly since 2012, the Social Media Marketing Podcast helps you navigate the constantly changing marketing jungle, with expert interviews from marketing pros. But don’t let the name fool you. This show is about a lot more than just social media marketing. 

With over 600 episodes and millions of downloads each year, this show has been a trusted source for marketers for well over a decade. 

Check out the Social Media Marketing Podcast now.

How to Run a Marketing Side Hustle While Working Full-Time

Interested in building your own agency or consultancy while working full-time for someone else? Wondering how to balance the demands of multiple careers without burning out? 

Jen Herman has successfully run her social media consulting business for over 11 years while simultaneously working a full-time job in the aerospace industry. Here are her tips for nurturing a budding business and avoiding burnout:

Clear Communication

Attempting to hide a fledgling side business often breeds resentment among family members later on when your divided time and attention becomes apparent. Setting realistic expectations prevents misunderstandings and friction when your focus gets pulled in multiple directions.

Start by explaining specific goals, aspirations, and timelines with those closest to you. For example, let them know whether you’re aiming to fully replace income down the road or just looking to generate supplemental cash in the short term. 

Second, be upfront about any concrete impacts on your schedule like potential absences at certain family gatherings or a lack of flexibility around dinnertimes going forward. 

You also need to outline any support you’ll need from a partner with household chores or childcare duties to free up bandwidth. 

During these conversations, be sure to create space for loved ones' input, but make your non-negotiables clear regarding activities that spark joy or promise career advancement.

You can revisit these conversations as your business evolves.  

Strategic Scheduling

Maintaining two careers alongside other life commitments leaves little margin for error scheduling-wise. This slender margin means you’ll need to comprehensively calendar every fixed obligation across the sectors of your life, from staff meetings to project deadlines to family activities. 

Block off every chunk of time dedicated solely to your main job, your side job, creative brainstorming, professional development, networking, etc. Block out time for life circumstances such as holiday schedules or children's school demands. Block off time for nurturing seasons of rest and renewal because attempting a life of nonstop hustle will prove unsustainable. Finally, set reminders leading up to big deadlines, and most importantly, stick to the boundaries created around both jobs' scheduled demands. 

Pro Tip: As you move through the year, pay attention to the natural ebbs and flows in your energy levels as well so you can continually adjust your calendar.

Your Exit Strategy  

When starting a side hustle, it’s important to think through the future and consider where you want to end up down the road. Do you hope to turn the business into your full-time job one day? Or gain valuable skills to advance your career? Or take a break to refocus on your passions?

Once your end goal is clear, outline and construct an ideal timeframe upfront to get you there, then map out milestones to aim for along the way. 

Building this plan early on gives you clarity, prepares options if juggling both jobs gets too stressful, and can define your exit strategy from the side hustle or your full-time job.

Stay flexible and adjust your exit strategy when needed. But keep a vision in mind for life after your side hustle years.

Today's advice is provided with insights from Jenn Herman.

🗞 News on Facebook: Meta is removing the dedicated News tab from Facebook in the United States and Australia in early April. News content will be integrated back into the common user feed. After the Facebook News tab is gone, users in the US and Australia will still be able to view news content that appears in their normal Facebook feed. News publishers can also continue posting links, articles, and other content to their Facebook pages per usual. Source: Facebook

🗞 Monetization on Facebook: The platform is removing monthly limits on how much money eligible creators can earn from the Performance bonus program. Now, creators can potentially earn unlimited payouts each month. Additionally, Facebook is continuing to shift its video monetization programs from ad-based payouts toward performance-based payouts. Over the coming weeks and months, additional creators will receive notifications that their In-Stream Ads earnings are shifting to the performance-based model. To help creators optimize under this new system, Facebook is introducing new metrics in In-Stream Ads Insights highlighting engagement and viewership data. These metrics will roll out first to select creators using Meta Business Suite on desktop. Source: Facebook

🗞 Podcast Sorting on YouTube: Over the past week, YouTube Music implemented new "Sort" features for organizing podcast episodes, including "Newest to oldest" and "Oldest to newest" sorts for shows added via RSS feed. It also introduced options like "Most popular" and "Default" sorts for podcasts native to the YouTube platform. Source: 9to5Google

Did You Know?

Wild axolotls are found in only one place: Lake Xochimilco in Mexico City.