I have dreamed of running a half marathon. I thought it would be such a major accomplishment and something that I thought would challenge me physically and mentally. Last January 2015, I made a commitment to start training for my first half marathon, as I had previously run 5ks. I did not sign up for a run or anything, I just started training, by following Hal Higdon’s plan. Halfway through my training, I realized that without signing up for anything the motivation could easily go away. With about 7 weeks or so to go before Wisconsin’s Cheesiest Half Marathon, which was the first weekend in May, I signed up for one after being inspired watching my Wisconsin Badgers make a deep NCAA tournament run and how hard those kids had worked to achieve what they were achieving. So, I was signed up, my training was rejuvenated and I was ready to go. I had a lot of rookie mistakes through training and running my first half marathon, 13.1 miles, and things that I will be sure to correct and be better at the second time around. Here are my lessons learned. Read more
Author: Anthony
Facebook Live Tips and Ideas
I was finally able to do a Facebook Live video recently on an organization’s page. I was more excited about this than I probably should have been. I have been itching to do a ‘Live’ Facebook video ever since I heard they were launching it. I couldn’t wait for Facebook to feature live video beyond celebrities and verified pages, so that everyone can get in on the bandwagon. Live streaming has been around for a couple of years now, but really caught steam with Meerkat, and Periscope. Before I even used it, I thought this would be huge, especially when I was at Visit Lake County. Pages were already seeing an uptick in engagement when you uploaded a video directly to Facebook vs. posting the Youtube link. Read more
Why Start Healthy Digital Living Blog
Why start a blog called Healthy Digital Living? I had set-up a generic blog years ago, that I would randomly post things to. I concentrated so much on the brand and company that I was working for and didn’t really brand myself. In December 2015, I felt it was time that I started to get some of my thoughts and knowledge out of my head and on paper, as there was a lot going on in there and it would provide me with a place that I would lose or forget my thoughts. My wife was on a journey of weight loss and healthy eating and I kept hearing the questions that people were asking her about it. I kept telling her and myself, we should start a blog about it and educate people. But yet, I wanted someplace to share my marketing knowledge, from there Healthy Digital Living was born. Read more
The Decision
As everyone who is reading this knows, I left my position of Director of Marketing at Visit Lake County to be the Senior Digital Strategist & Consultant at Dooley and Associates, a digital marketing firm in Kenosha, WI. The question that people have asked me after they hear I am at a new company is, why would you leave? It is then followed by the person saying, it seemed like you really liked the job, you were there for a long time, you’ve accomplished so much, why leave? It’s a simple question, but one of the toughest professional decisions that I had to make, and one I did not take lightly. Read more
My big game commercials reaction
At first I was kind of underwhelmed by the big game commercials. That was, until I saw the Doritos Baby commercial, as a father I could relate and my wife and I both laughed out loud when we watched it. We actually both agree that was our favorite commercial. For me, that was until the third quarter of the game, when the Toyota Prius bank robbery chase commercial aired. Now, I am I a little biased on this one because some of the highway chase scenes were filmed on the Amstutz Highway in Waukegan, IL and you see the city of Chicago.
Importance of Twitter for Brands
When I first joined Twitter back in 2007, it was a different time. Twitter was in it’s infancy, ad agencies didn’t see the value, but us marketers did. It was a way for people to connect with people, learn from others who they may never have met and interact with brands. It was a place where the early adapters would have conversations with brands, reporters other folks in their industry, etc. I have met some amazing, awesome, smart people on Twitter that I still connect with today.
Today, over one billion Tweets are sent every three days. It is a different time. There are more people on the platform than ever before. More people are engaging with hashtags, brands, sporting events, etc. It is a place where live marketing can happen in a moment, hence the Oreo lights out ad (You can still dunk in the dark), when the power when out during the Super Bowl a few years ago. Read more