Here I am the Thursday after Sandy came to visit New Jersey, and I'm 'Still Climbing Out.' Perfect for Bathroom Blogfest 2012, right? As a result, I've had ample opportunity to appreciate all that Digital Marketing makes possible and have come up with 10 'Still Climbing Out' survival tips to share with you.
I love digital marketing and social media marketing. It's what saved me intellectually, professionally and socially starting in ~2004 when my division at Solutia was shutting down, I transferred to another division in flooring and Solutia entered into bankruptcy reorganization. Digital marketing allowed me to reinvent myself and uncover new ways to creatively and effectively deliver value with minimal marketing resources.
As Hurricane Sandy reminded me [as well as that freak snowstorm last year during Bathroom Blogfest 2011], digital marketing is premised on being connected - via electricity, via cell, via Internet.
To put things into perspective, my family and I came through the storm unscathed - amazing when you see all of the downed trees and power lines and the images from the areas directly in Sandy's path. We're still lacking power and water, but have found safe havens with Internet service [thank you, Starbucks and Panera]. We have the basics covered and see progress happening with each day.
However, not being connected radically changes your appreciation for how to deal with real-life. That said, here are my 10 real-life tips for surviving digital shutdowns...
In addition to having bottled water, as many tubs filled with water as you have tubs in your house, Duraflame logs, starter logs, logs from the tree that fell during last storm, candles, candle stubs from all the candles you've burned during the year and a propane stove that puts out enough heat to warm a house, here -finally- are my 10 tips to get you connected quickly and no longer 'still climbing out.!
1. If you have a generator, make sure it is working - before a storm hits.
2. Don't have all of your cell phones and smartphones on the same service provider. Divide and conquer!.
3. Investigate alternate sources of Internet connectivity. What about Dish satellite service?
4. Have a stash of cash available in case ATMs, credit cards, Square, PayPal and your Starbucks card stop working and you need to buy food or gasoline.
5. Have lo-tech entertainment options available at all times: think books, Scrabble, cards, old style Kindle which keeps a charge for six months.
6. Don't forget that your car has radio for hearing emergency communications.
7. Don't get irritated when your only source of information is Facebook and you have no Internet access.
8. Have friends located in different parts of your town, on city water and sewer if you are on septic and well water, and closer to a main thoroughfare so text messages come through.
9. Locate your nearest Starbucks and Panera and hunker down. [Have a power strip so when you commandeer a power outlet you can magnanimously offer others access. Added 11/3/12]
10. Don't despair if the Internet is too slow to follow #kbtribechat in real time, to contribute to Twitter, to keep the Bathroom Blogfest online momentum going or to even publish a blog article (this one has taken 4 tries after being repeatedly bounced off of the Internet, Panera has imposed a 30 minute limit and now I'm writing via miPhone). Just be grateful for the wonderful digital and social media friends you've developed relationships with and look forward to being back online with them soon!
Assuming you've had to be 'still climbing out,' what would you add to the list?
Happy Bathroom Blogfest 2012!
