damselfly digital

Ignore the rumors: Email marketing is alive and well. But somewhere along the way, we made it far more complicated than it needs to be. A newsletter was never meant to be a performance, tangled in algorithms, analytics, content calendars, and the pressure to consistently produce something compelling. At its core, it's an opportunity to share something meaningful with people who trust you enough to have invited you into their inbox. It's a way to communicate more intimately wi

"Social media is a mirror. How we do something is how we do everything." Ali Tate Showing up consistently on social media can feel like a full-time job, especially when you're also running a business, serving clients, and managing everything behind the scenes. But effective visibility doesn't require posting constantly, chasing every trend, or measuring your success by likes and comments. It requires a clear strategy, useful content, meaningful participation, and a sustainabl

"Great writing - and great thinking - should be at least a little unexpected. It should challenge, delight, probe and grab. It has a lot of work to do. In short, it should be anything but average." Farah Cormack We tend to think of feng shui as something we practice in our physical environments: arranging furniture, clearing clutter, improving the flow of a room, or creating spaces that support how we want to feel and live. But what if we applied those same principles to the

“Creativity is the ultimate differentiator and force multiplier.” Liz Taylor I've spent my career watching online marketing evolve. I came into this field into 2013, as social media was expanding from personal networks to businesses and organizations. I watched website SEO blogging and digital PR become essential, email transform how brands communicate, and influencer marketing reshape how consumers discover products and services. Each shift changed how we worked, where we i

"Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.” Steve Jobs I have worked in marketing for nearly 20 years and I STILL feel like I haven't mastered it. There are days where it feels like my head is spinning with ideas and decisions and options. This is an incredibly complicated and complex, even for someone who has been doing it for a while.

“If you don’t toot your own horn, don’t complain that there’s no music.” Guy Kawasaki There’s a strange paradox in the marketing world: some of the people (ME!) who are best at growing other people’s businesses really struggle to market their own. We can develop a strategy, clarify a brand, create compelling content, attract customers, and generate impressive results for clients—and then completely blank when it’s time to do the same for ourselves. If this sounds familiar, yo

"If people like you, they'll listen to you, but if they trust you, they'll do business with you." Zig Ziglar One of the biggest mistakes business owners and content creators make is trying to be someone they're not. They mimic trending creators, force themselves into videos that feel stiff and performative, or assume every piece of content has to educate in the same way. The result? Content that feels flat, inconsistent, or inauthentic. The truth is that the most successful c

“The most important trait of a writer is an authentic voice. Cherish your own voice. Don’t try to sound like anybody else.” Anne Rice As artificial intelligence floods the internet with faster, cheaper content, something unfortunate is happening: Everyone is beginning to sound the same. Every day, millions of blog posts, newsletters, LinkedIn posts, and emails are generated with the same handful of prompts that results in content that is grammatically correct, polished, safe,

"Start by identifying what your people know, what your audience needs, and how you can bring the two together." Justina Perro Organizations spend considerable time and money trying to make their brands more visible, credible, and relatable. They invest in content marketing, social media campaigns, influencer partnerships, and brand messaging—all in pursuit of attention and trust. But some of their most valuable communicators may already be on the payroll. Employees have first

The problem with spending 15-20 years in marketing and communications from agencies to in-house, nonprofit to small business, is that I became the epitome of the generalist—someone who can think strategically and execute across channels. When I first started freelancing, so many people recommended me to “just pick one thing”. Cue the resistance. The grief. The quiet panic of feeling like I've being asked to abandon a career you worked hard to build. Did you know that Nobel Pr

You can have a meaningful mission, a beautiful brand, and a genuinely useful service or product—and still struggle to get people to understand why they should care. The root of the problem? The message. Messaging is the bridge between what you know about your business and what your audience actually understands about it. When your messaging is strategic, al of your assets and materials work together cohesively. Your audience begins hearing the same core ideas over and over—a

“What’s the point if you make something that’s not you?” Gloria Estefan We’ve all experienced it by now—that subtle cringe when reading something that says all the “right” things… and yet somehow says nothing at all. It’s clean. It's polished. It’s structured. It’s optimized. And it’s completely flat and formulaic, and thus- relatively forgettable. As AI-generated content is becoming more and more common, consumers are practicing the human art of discernment and responding (

Sometimes you don’t need a six-week project. You just need someone who knows what they’re doing to sit down, focus, and get the thing done. That’s the idea behind a Creative Production Day: a concentrated block of creative time reserved for one client and one clearly defined project or set of related deliverables. They’re especially useful for organizations that have a design or content need sitting on the to-do list—but don’t need a full campaign, brand overhaul, or long-ter

"The secret to life is to put yourself in the right lighting. For some, it's a Broadway spotlight; for others, a lamplit desk. Use your natural powers -- of persistence, concentration, and insight -- to do work you love and work that matters. Solve problems. make art, think deeply. Spend your free time the way you like.” Susan Cain In a culture obsessed with personal branding, selfies, and constant visibility, it can feel like the only way to succeed online is to put your fac

"The job of the strategist is to understand and cope with competition.” Michael E. Porter In entrepreneurship, we’re often taught to think about business as one giant competition. Who has the biggest audience? Who ranks higher? Who charges more? Who is getting more press, followers, clients, or attention? But the goal isn’t to constantly draw comparisons in order to"beat" your competitors. It's simply to understand the landscape well enough to find your own place within it. F

“Content is the atomic particle of all digital marketing.” Rebecca Lieb These days a content calendar isn’t enough. You need a complete content ecosystem—a living, breathing strategy built with clarity, intention, and consistency. If your sales and conversions feel scattered or inconsistent in its results, it’s likely because you're skipping or rushing key steps. Most brands make the mistake of jumping to execution (Step 4) before even establishing goals (Step 1), resulting i

“If you don’t find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die.” Warren Buffett The new American dream is having an income that is completely independent of your location and time. As a subject matter expert, your knowledge holds value and is the core asset from which your services and products are developed. Leverage this by creating and monetizing educational content, literally making you money while you sleep. In this post I'll share how you can tra

“People don’t attend events for information—they attend for connection.” Joe Lazauskas Event marketing is equal parts strategy, storytelling, and logistics. When it’s done well, an event doesn’t just fill seats—it builds trust, strengthens community, and extends your brand’s impact long after the last attendee leaves. When it’s done poorly, even the most beautiful concept can feel chaotic, under-attended, or forgettable. Whether you’re planning a small workshop, a large conf

“Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the stories you tell.” Seth Godin In a world of AI-generated content, shrinking attention spans, and declining trust, narrative is one of the last real differentiators left. Not volume. Not speed. Not hacks. Good old-fashioned STORY. Storytelling isn’t about being wordy, clever or creative for the sake of it. At its core, it’s actually about clarity and credibility. It’s how brands and organizations: earn trust

“Dollars flow where the friction is low.” Brian Halligan In business—as in nature—energy flows where there is the least resistance. Just...