First Blog of the year woohoo!
Wow, posting here seemed like forever ago.
I hope 2022 is treating you well. It’s the second quarter of 2022. Congrats on the first quarter milestones! If you’re just beginning again, keep on swimming.
The pandemic years were (and still) a whirlwind. Hasn’t it been for all of us?
In 2020, I was looking forward to traveling to key cities in the Philippines to teach digital marketing to business owners. Then the world had to shut down.
Working from home isn’t something new to me. Prior to COVID-19, I have been working from home for 6 years. The last two years were different because every. family. member. is in the house. It was a blast. I never imagined I’d get to create new habits with my family at this point.
I have kept those memories in my heart, especially now that my father (whom I call Papa) left us last July due to surgery complications. To say that it is a difficult time is an understatement. Even so, I now feel more compassion and empathy for people who have lost someone (basically all of us).
It was scary to even go out of the house. I remember the first time I had to go out to do errands. I got my complete gear of face mask, face shield, a head cap, and alcohol, but it felt like I should have worn an astronaut’s suit. Going to hospitals (especially when my Papa got sick) felt like if-you-don’t-catch-it-you’re-lucky times.
Everything around me sucked. I received news of friends getting COVID-19 (even my brother got it in January 2022). But hearing news that friends and colleagues died because of COVID-19 was just heartbreaking.
Even the most unimaginable thing happened: my websites had malware attacks! The bad guys must have thought, “I’m a friendly person in the banner image. Putting a not-so-nice thing here and there won’t hurt.” It was so stressful. It’s the first time it had happened to me. I’m so thankful to WPX for hosting my sites. They made the transfer easy for me. I now sleep better because they’re like the Avengers of websites.
Even so, there were lights in the dark, murky tunnel that I am going through.
Traveling to teach may have been halted. But I just got online speaking engagements left and right. (“Can you hear me? Can you see my screen?”)
I got projects that helped business owner embrace digital marketing and social media (I really wanted to say “I told you so” but this isn’t really the time for it.)
I got clients – more of them – during the pandemic. I eventually accepted a full-time division head role in Copy Geeks, a Scalewind company, while doing consultancy work.
And whatd’ya know, Facebook is now Meta! For a time, I was thinking if I should call myself a Meta Marketing Strategist. But I am still trying to understand the metaverse and how Meta wants to pave the path to it. So I’m sticking to the Facebook Marketing Strategist work. Nevertheless, I need a Meta shirt, Mark.
One of the things that’s still leaving me surprised: Pin To Top.
It doesn’t have millions of followers nor downloads. But it’s on every. podcast. list. of everything Facebook marketing and advertising. The most jaw-dropping for me so far are: Pin To Top is one of Massimo Chieruzzi’s recommended shows and the show chilling at the Global Reach of Apple Podcast. Aside from consistency in providing valuable episodes, I can’t think of anything else that makes Pin To Top special. In fact, why don’t you let me know by leaving a review?
There are still projects that I want to work on – both professionally and personally.
Sometimes, I stare at the sky, wondering if I should them and when. There are moments when I tell myself that I want to do this and this, but when I ask myself why, I often stop and continue to stare at the sky.
Answering the question “why” seemed easier before. Nowadays, I just couldn’t find the best answer.
I could think of many reasons: I am probably still grieving. I am just lazy. What I want to accomplish needs more work. I want to rest.
A friend told me that it’s probably the grieving part. It’s the phase that I told myself I will go through no matter how long and difficult. It’s the phase that I am still walking on, hopefully, not by dragging my feet.
When will the time come when I become my old self again? What if I am ready, but the world has moved on?
On the other hand…
Isn’t new a good thing, too?
So what if the world moved on? I don’t think it really cared about what I think and do, anyway.
I’ve had some wins and some losses in the past years, and I have no doubt that next year will be the same.
I have set goals and special plans for 2022. But the full details of each are still in the works. The full-time work, consultancy, mentoring, and Pin To Top podcast keeps me busy.
I felt calm after all the storms just last month, finishing every single book I picked from a book store without thinking how much it would cost me. Maybe, once every last page is read, I can focus on the real special plan for 2022.
Maybe.
Or maybe I’ll just keep on swimming. If I haven’t been so honest with what I have written here, the skies are still gray to me. Even so, I am happy.
I’m seeing people start new ventures, launch new things, and take bigger steps as we hopefully come through this pandemic. And it’s great! I’m excited and hopeful for you. I know it’s been rough for you and me.
If you need help with Facebook marketing and advertising, you know I am just a call away.
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