Angela Crocker

Write. Teach. Organize.

[Podcast 001] It’s a Digital Life

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Transcript for Episode001

ANGELA: It’s a Digital Life podcast shares a guiding voice about the issues, challenges and joys of living in these digital times. Whether you’re online occasionally or checking your device every hour, you have the power to build a joyful digital life that integrates just the right amount of technology. We think of it as the quest for digital happiness.

Yet, digital living is filled with decisions about what tech to use and how to use it.  Plus figuring out what to share online and what to keep offline. There’s also the challenge of selecting the digital options that work for you or choosing to ignore technology altogether! From digital friendships and content creation to parenting in this digital age and keeping up with technology, there’s a lot to consider. It’s even more important to build an integrated digital life that blends online and offline activities. With this podcast, we will be a beacon of authentic information and real-world advice.

SEAN: Angela is a Mom, my Mom, in fact. She’s also a pioneer of ethical social media,
a business savvy digital goddess and an information organizing superhero.

A thought leader on online communities, digital decluttering, and content planning. Angela works as an author, speaker and instructor to help individuals and businesses. She is also the author of several books including:

The Content Planner
and Declutter Your Data.

And, if you should happen to meet Angela at tea time, conversation will inevitably include her love of vintage toys, road trips, sunsets, Star Wars, and how to doodle with fine art supplies.

ANGELA: Sean is a middle school student learning the usual language arts, math and science complemented by explorations in a wide range of topics from music to computers, woodworking to robotics, home economics to physical education. Outside school, his interests in trains, LEGO, ROBLOX, Minecraft, computer building, cosplay and other pursuits are fully supported by his equally geeky Mom and Dad. In the tech time breaks, you’ll find Sean at the dojang working towards his latest belt test in Taekwondo or outside riding his bike.

ANGELA: Together with our listeners, let’s all step closer to the joyful life that integrates just the right amount of technology and online life. Part lifestyle, part technology, part parenting and a whole lot of fun, It’s a Digital Life helps listeners explore and create joy in their lives both online and offline.

SEAN: We invite you to subscribe to our podcast. Learn more and get in touch through our website at www.angelacrocker.com/podcast x2

 

Black Friday Unsubscribe Bonanza

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Updated November 23, 2022

I love Black Friday. I use this marketing madness to declutter my email. It’s amazing how many email lists only reach out to sell me stuff on Black Friday.

Tile image: Black Friday: the day I clean up my unwanted email newsletter subscriptions.

Happy Email Relationships

Now, let’s be clear, I enjoy happy email relationships with numerous online retailers. Reitmans, LEGO, Tombow, Trinny London, and other retailers are all welcome in my inbox. I buy, use, and enthuse about their products. I welcome their emails because we have an ongoing relationship.

Similarly, I have happy email relationships with many professional colleagues and organizations. I look forward to hearing from Rebecca Coleman, Mike Vardy, Chris Brogan, and Vicki McLeod, as well as GetConnected and BC BookWorld.

Unhappy Email Relationships

Black Friday is when the unhappy email relationships appear. The spammy business  lists are a good example. Retailers and other businesses that only email to sell you their latest offer. All sales all the time is not a good look!

There are also crowdfunders that have added me to lists based on my Kickstarter support.  Some of those are happy email relationships. A few of the 94 campaigns I’ve supported have been disappointments. And it seems the disappointments are the companies I’m most likely to hear from on Black Friday. Sigh…

What treasures have popped up in your inbox this Black Friday? Any truly archaic contacts? Weirdly wonderful messages? Frustrating free-not-free content?

Unsubscribe Is the Solution

By law, every bulk email You have been unsubscribed.you receive should include an easy way to unsubscribe. A simple click is usually all that’s needed. And if you’ve read my book, Declutter  Your Data,  you know I’m a big fan of digital decluttering.

If I unsubscribe, please don’t take it personally. I may no longer be interested or I have been added unwillingly to your list. For some brands, I find it easier to keep up to date with your community via Facebook, Instagram or YouTube. As Sandra Yancey said about customers who aren’t meant to be, “bless and release”. There’s no point in forcing someone to stay on your email list if they aren’t interested.

I find it interesting that so many companies pay to keep names on a list. As a business owner, I would rather have a small list of quality contacts. Yes, I understand some email marketing campaigns are a numbers game. If 2% respond and your list is 1,000 strong, in theory, you’ll have even more success if your list is 10,000 strong. But I maintain that it depends on the quality of your list!

Black Friday Emails

In summary, I love Black Friday. It helps me declutter my email subscriptions, reduce my inbox overload, and saves the sender a few marketing pennies.

And, yes, I purchase a few Black Friday specials, Small Business Saturday items, and Cyber Monday deals. My bargain hunting ways are a different story…

P.S. Unsubscribe works any day of the year!

Delete Facebook memories?

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Yesterday, a tough memory popped up on my Facebook profile. I shared a personal note with my loving inner circle from my Mum’s time in hospice four years ago. It’s a sweet memory because it documents a special time, one of  my last happy times with my Mum. Yet, I had the instinct to delete it.

Facebook Made Me Cry

Every time I see this painful memory makes me cry. Ugly cry. The post in question doesn’t make my eyes misty. It rips the scab off a part of my heart and I grieve all over again. From one point of view, this is a good thing. Crying, while distressing, is good for us. We release hormones that make us feel better. We’re in touch with our emotions. And we appreciate the good things. And there are medical benefits, too.

To Delete or Not? That is the question.

From Facebook, a screen capture of On This Day for Nov 21On the flipside, I’ve been tempted to save myself the upset. I could easily delete the post thus ensuring it won’t pop up next year. But should I?  As I’ve explored my digital cleanse, I’ve wrestled with the question of whether or not to delete old posts that make me sad, make me mad, or otherwise make an emotional storm. Should we delete Facebook memories?

I haven’t deleted any to date. I’ve been tempted for sure. Even with the tears, it strikes me that life isn’t all sunshine and roses. The perfect life so many of us put online isn’t the reality of our day to day lives, right? There’s the sad days when we cry and the tough days when we’re injured and the horrible days when we’ve been fired. Yet, the contrast between good and bad make us complete. Those challenging moments are a big part of what makes us human.

So, for now I keep my past intact just as I shared it in many posts over the last ten years or so. And on Nov 21 each year, I’ll have a cry and think of my Mum with love.