There are rituals around every season and springtime is no exception. Some of the ways people celebrate include:
- Taking a walk and looking for signs of spring such as blooming daffodils and tulips
- Ice out! I grew up on Lake Minnetonka and every year we bet which date in April it would be Ice out
- Easter and Passover celebrations
- Coloring Easter Eggs
- Spring cleaning
Who doesn’t remember the annual ritual of spring cleaning? I don’t know about you, but around my house everyone got involved and it seemed to go on forever. And while I never loved doing it, I sure did like the results, and as I grew up and started my own life and family, well that ritual is one that stuck with me. Spring is a time of letting go of winter, and creating an opening for the new sprouts of spring, whether in the home or the garden, or when it comes to our digital files and assets.
When was the last time you did a thorough clearing of all things digital? Time for a spring cleaning there as well.
Question.
Is your inbox at zero?
Haha…don’t worry. I’m not one of those email Nazi types who insists your inbox be at zero at the end of each day. For one thing, I have not been able to manage it myself, so I’m certainly not going to tell you that you have to do it. However, it is a good idea to get rid of what you absolutely don’t need. It’s not only taking up space on your device, but it takes up space in your mind too. Sort them and those that aren’t necessary, simply hit “delete.” It’s wonderfully satisfying too.
Now that we’ve gotten started, what else?
Do an audit.
Check everything. Check all the links on your website and your social media channels, particularly your profiles. Make sure nothing is broken and that everything works.
Review all your web pages.
Make sure contact information and any changes you’ve made to your brand have been updated. Make sure all your channels are consistent with who you are and what you are currently doing.
Consider integrating.
If you have more than one website, consider integrating them and getting it down to one. I understand if you have resistance to this. At one point, I had three websites and it was just getting out of control. I finally bit the bullet, hired someone who could do this fairly easily, and got it all down to one. Boy, did that free up some of my mental energy.
Analyze your brand.
If you’re an author, you are the brand. Even if you write lots of different books in different genres, you are the one constant and, therefore, the brand. Who are you? What is important to you? What is your main message? What do you want to share with others? There is a lot that goes into making a brand. In an upcoming Savvy Sunday News, I will devote the whole issue into what goes into creating a brand, but the point here is that if you’ve been changing, it’s time to be sure that is reflected in your digital assets.
Change all your passwords.
Do this as a matter of routine at least twice a year. Quarterly is even better. Then get an account with LastPass or one of the other password managers that will not only save your passwords, but scramble them so that each one is very unique. Then, all you need to have in a safe place is that one master password in order to have access to everything that has a password.
Review.
Review pictures, logos, everything to make sure they’re up to date. If not, get rid of them.
Get rid of the fakes.
Every so often, it’s time to go through and get rid of the fakes and the spammers that are following you. With social media you have friends and followers. People you know, and people who know of you. But there are also bots and fakes out there that may have started following you or used someone else’s profile to get into your circle. Now and then, it’s good to go through your accounts and get rid of the fakers. Simply do a search for “get rid of fake followers and bots” and techniques for doing that on each of the social platforms will come up.
Check engagement.
Make sure that if anyone has engaged with you over the past few months that you responded. If not, take this as an opportunity to do so and not only renew that connection, but share new information with the person–if you have any.
Reevaluate.
As you review all your channels, really take a thorough look at each and every one of them. Are they performing for you? Are you selling more books? Are you increasing the numbers of those connected in your network? If not, maybe it’s time to let it go and delete that channel. Why spend your precious energies on things that aren’t working?
Clean it out.
You know how good it feels to finally tackle that junk drawer or messy closet in your house, right? Well, it’s time to clean out the junk drawer that is on your digital devices. Maybe it’s downloads that you don’t need. Perhaps it’s all the programs you bought at one time and you’re probably not going to listen to it now, so delete them.
Bottom line.
I’ve been spending a lot of time getting my home clean and the garden ready for this growing season, and now it’s time to take care of the digital files, downloads, and assets, too. Review, prune, deadhead, delete. Take what you no longer need and use, and get rid of them. You will feel so much better and lighter, and that’s a great way to celebrate spring as we begin heading into summer.
To your success!
Joanne
P.S. Sometimes cleaning can be drudgery, so some lively music helps.
#springcleaning
#prunedigitalassets
#bookpublicity
#bookmarketing
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