This past weekend I attended one of my favorite things I get to do all year – Megaphone Summit 2018 (#Megaphone18). Maybe its because so many of my favorite people all in one room. Maybe its because it’s in one of my favorite places in the whole U.S. of A (Fayetteville, AR). Maybe its because it brings my annual kick in the pants. Maybe because the value vs. the things I bring home just makes so much sense. I could keep going. But, my heart is full, my mind was rolling on the way home, my anxiety level kicked in on Sunday afternoon with all the things I felt like I needed to catch up on, and the notes in my journal pad were super, super full.

Am I the only one who still takes paper notes? I’m always afraid as a digital hoarder that I won’t ever go back to read my notes if I type them all in while I’m at my meeting. Plus, there is something about writing it down that puts it in my mind. Also, as a self-manage technique, I’ve started putting a “star” on things I need to take immediate action on. And, this year, I went even one step further – I left the sheet at the front of my note taking section blank to write action steps that came to my mind while I was in sessions. It is now torn out and sitting on my desk to build on and find a place in my paper task tracker! (our session on productivity apps proved most of us still love paper and the strikethrough when we do something.)

The biggest thing I have to tell myself is that these things don’t all have to be done tomorrow. I need to prioritize the list and set realistic goal dates beside each of them. I guess if I’m going to treat my side hustle like me real hustle then I’ve got to build in goals and planning like I would with my job. Or, as Lyndi, aka NWAFoodie says – schedule a board meeting with myself.

As I come off this incredible weekend that really did so much for my heart and hustle, I thought I’d share with you 2 lists – what I learned and what I’ve got to do.

Heart Strings:

• I’ll share more on this in a different post, but I got to do a session about Social Connections and why they matter – the conversation in the room with this group of women was probably the highlight of my trip. Its why I want to come back and do a whole separate post on it – but the one thing that I walked away with was this reminder – COMMUNITY MATTERS. And, I put my own spin on it – COMMUNITY MATTERS, BECAUSE PEOPLE MATTER. I don’t know that I needed this as a reminder as much as I was thankful that it was a theme of conversation.
• AUTHENTICITY IS KEY. – I don’t really know that much more needs to be added to this statement. People do business with people. People connect to real-life human beings who have real-life human being problems. Organic, authentic, native, transparency they are more than popular topics and trigger words – its how we all want to live!
• CONSISTENCY IS IMPORTANT. just be who you are. Your people expect it. Simple.
• COMPARISON IS THE THIEF OF JOY. – Credit the comment to whomever you want. But remember it. You will kill yourself trying to be the things that other people are. Your life is amazing. Go live it. Your kids are cool, you are a great mom, you are a great dad who is hustling and working for your family. You will master that skill. Your kids will not die if their clothes are mismatched. I promise come Nov, you will NOT remember what they wore the first day of school. They will be awkward in junior high, there are not enough things you can do to fix that. Walmart and Target backpacks are ok… PB is not the only way. Don’t wear makeup, do wear makeup. Don’t wear torn jeans, do wear torn jeans. It’s all ok. Look up, be present in the zip code of your shoes and the people around you will be grateful and will not die. (See point 1)
• DON’T COMPARE SOMEONE’S ONLINE TO YOUR EVERYDAY.– I have nothing else to add!
• BE PROUD OF OTHER’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS. When we truly live in a space where community matters, we realize that other’s successes are our successes. Be excited for someone else, even if they get something you want. I loved how passionately my friend Julianne, of Julianne {gray}, shared about this. It really is so hard to cheer for first place when they are willing the prize you want. But, cheer on. Cheer, cheer on. Jennifer Maune, from Maune Legacy, shared it simply like this – CELEBRATE OTHER’S SUCCESSES!
• DO WHAT YOU CAN WITH THE TIME YOU HAVE. One of my favorite sessions at #Megaphone18 was the first session I attended under Kristi Thurmon from First Security Bank and OnlyInArk.com. She presented on Shortcuts for Busy Brand Managers. Frankly, I’ve yet to find a Brand Manager that is not busy. And, her big point to all of us was to just do what you can, build and add when you have space, learn and grow as you need to.

Hustle List: (things I’m going to research and tackle first)

• WP to Twitter plugin
• Look up the Mari Smith method
• stories strategy – need one! – just take the leap
  • I did learn a good mindset for this…where we used to just live post at any event, that’s really one way that people are using stories, especially on Instagram. They might only post once a day to Instagram or in a specific strategy where their stories are specifically that… a free-flowing, end to end piece of what’s going on in their day.
• Tailwind Smart Loop
• Canva Design School
• Pinterest – clean up old links  that point to blogger
• General clean up – go back to popular posts and clean up images, grammar, style, etc
• Pillar content – determine what it is and make pillar pages – optimize and get all over Pinterest – catch up on Boss Girl Creative
• Yoast SEO – turn on Site Map
• are Google Analytics and Monster Insights set up right
  • make a plan for actually looking at these and letting them help you make decisions
• make sure Google Search Console and Ads are set up for searching writing ideas
• find out what tools you really should be paying for
• date out of permalink or in permalink?
• optimize Etsy pins on Pinterest – make them rich pins
• Ask Natalie and Rhonda for notes from their sessions!

So, if you were at #Megaphone18, What stood out to you? Did I miss a high point? What did you go home with on your to-do list?