The Magnificence of Meghalaya

This one is for the part of India that makes my heart melt.

And yet again, she said, “everything is good” …

It was a beautiful summer morning of 1955. Sarojini was born in a small village named Khalisa, in Azamgarh. She was wise since she was little and would conquer the world with her smile. She had a curious mind that wanted to know everything. It was not a practice to send girls to school in...

3 questions that will help you put audience’s needs over sales messages.

This one ad is so ingrained in my neural system that there is no chance I am ever going to forget it. The Axe Perfume Ad where a bunch of girls run towards a guy who wore this perfume. Remember? Take a look- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtH4JBjVlyQ Back in 2009, an Indian man, Vaibhav Bedi sued the same...

What is the most effective way to use non-owned channels for content distribution?

Ever seen a lighthouse? It’s a tall tower that is designed to radiate light. They work as a navigational aid, especially to mariners. Why am I telling you about a lighthouse, when the topic is about content and content distribution? Because if content is light, content distribution channels serve the same purpose for content, as...

The one thing that you absolutely should not do in content marketing

In 2017, Audi faced a lot of backlash for including humiliating content in an advertisement featured in China. In the advertisement, while a couple is at the altar ready to take wedding vows, the groom’s mother walks up to the bride and checks her features. The message – “an important decision must be made carefully.”...

How do you decide if you need a full-time person for content marketing or not?

It’s been 3 years working in this industry and this question still perplexes me. It’s not the answer so much. As a matter of fact, the answer is pretty straightforward. It’s the existence of this question that needs some diagnosis. Like many puzzles, the key to reach an effective solution to this one is understanding...

What can you learn about YouTube marketing from John Krasinski’s ‘Some Good News’?

Some Good News! John Krasinski is no new name. People know him for his phenomenal work in shows like ‘The Office’ , ‘A Quiet Place’ and ‘Jack Ryan’, among many others. He was recognised as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, by Time, in 2018. He has 4.6 million followers on...

How do words and design help you with brand storytelling

Words and design are two inseparable elements of a story. Let me give you an example. The journey of traffic lights - The idea of electric traffic lights originated in 1912. In 1920, William Potts, a policeman from Detroit invented the four-way, three-color signal, leading to the invention of automatic traffic systems. While the design...

How to do “inclusive” content marketing?

Back in 2010, our college had organised an AIDS Awareness Program. The chief guests were a couple diagnosed with AIDS who were running an AIDS awareness centre in the city. I remember they gave a speech on the basics of the syndrome that included the fact that it wasn’t contagious. That it was okay to...

If you don’t have money for SEO, here’s what you can do alternatively

All these years of entrepreneurship have made me learn that the best marketing tactic is ‘honesty’. I have first-hand experience in denying the truth, or just not addressing the elephant: we have money, we just don’t know where to invest it wisely; let us first focus on building product, marketing is step no. 2 and...

How to create unique and useful content for your brand

Recently, I had an epiphany while creating content for our Instagram page (21dtalkies). We have been doing it for almost a year now. We redefined our strategies myriad of times. We were confused. We wanted to share content that drives engagement, content that people could not miss, content that made them pause and think. Initially,...

An encounter with life and death

Lifeso beautiful. That smileso beautiful. Those eyes,they look towards the ocean, towards usthey take so much in; they say so much out. Deathso mundanecold and tightso dark. In the beginning of a death,it’s not the life so much,it’s the moment before death, that we keep playing in our headsWhy did it happen, how did it...

Content Curation is an Art

I can’t think of a better example than The Trevor Noah Show or The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, for this topic. Or may-be I can, but I really think these shows get to the point real nice. These are talk shows that divide their content strategy into 2 parts – A. They invite celebrities...

How can you create and publish 10+ different pieces of content every day?

This blog is created keeping the following social media platforms in mind - Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Blog, Quora. Are you a rabbit or a tortoise? Do you run fast and stop after a while? Or are you a tortoise who keeps a steady pace and doesn’t stop until the finish line. Tell you what....

How to build the most kickass content distribution strategy ever?

If content is king, content distribution is awareness of King’s being. The more people recognise with your content, the more it matters. Pen is mightier than sword. It’s true. But it won’t save lives if what it creates doesn’t see the light of the day. To all content creators, your job is not done until...

7 things to keep in mind when you make content for mobile

Smart phones are handy and way more accessible than desktop or laptop. So, it is not a surprise that more than 50% of global internet website traffic is attributed to mobile devices. Chances are that you are reading this blog on your smart phone. In my experience, unless the content is specifically built for mobile,...

Before you publish any content, always ask, what conversation will this start?

In ‘I've never been (Un)happier’, Shaheen Bhatt talks about her personal experience and ongoing struggles with depression and anxiety. The book started a series of conversations on mental illness in many parts of the country. Even though credit to immediate recognition of the book could be given to the author’s elite stature, it’s worth what...

When it comes to content, the only call to action that you should care about.

Let's think like a user. The most common engagement points across media channels are – Like, Comment, Share, Message. Every action point reflects a particular behaviour – Like – A reflex action. Truth be told, from a friend’s anniversary post to a brand’s inspiring quotation, we 'like' everything that catches our attention even a slightly...

How can you make videos on ridiculously low budgets?

When was the last time you read a book? When was the last time you read a blog/article/long Facebook post? When was the last time you finished watching a movie or a series on Netflix? When was the last time you watched a You Tube video? I know, I know, your answer to the 2nd...

How can Instagram DM and Facebook Messenger be used for cold emailing?

First things first, if our purpose is to reach out to potential customers, I don’t see any reason to not leverage these platforms. If anything, these forums provide way more authentic and interactive opportunities than a conventional cold email. With that said, it’s not to underestimate the significance of cold emailing. Why we should definitely...

What have I learnt so far from ‘Orange is the new Black’?

I began watching this series (Orange is the new Black) a couple of weeks ago and am now on the 3rd season. Before I move on with further episodes, there are a few thoughts that I wish to put together for you and for my future self. The story of this show revolves around a...

How can I create content that is unique and useful?

The sky is black. That’s what science says and that’s public knowledge. But wat color do you see when you look up beyond the stars? Blue? Pink? Green? Black? Orange? Now that’s perspective. Your perspectives and your experiences make your story unique. So, as far as uniqueness of your content goes, analyse the subject or...

I want to start an online teaching business, what should I do?

First of all, ask yourself – “Do you love teaching / coaching?” The answer to this question will greatly impact your business potential. Now, assuming the answer is ‘Yes’, let’s move on to understand the intricacies of starting out an online teaching venture. Is it a good idea to take teaching online? About 59.6% of...

As an entrepreneur, what is the first thing I do every day that keeps me grounded

Everyday we (my partner and I) make new plans to expand our business, think of new strategies and services to add to our service lines, discuss new ideas to implement. There are days when we feel extremely proud of ourselves, as if no one ever came up with the ideas that we did. Then there...

5 ways to survive the COVID19 recession

No doubt this pandemic is hitting us pretty bad. The economy was already moving slow and this whole catastrophe has made it worse. I know it’s bad and I am not even trying to sugar-coat it. Because that’s not going to help. It’s like depression; unless you talk straight about your feelings, no one can...

How can you put heart and soul into cold emailing

Cold Emailing – “A cold email is an unsolicited e-mail that is sent to a receiver without prior contact.” – Wikipedia. By any definition of cold emailing, the premise holds that the sender doesn’t have any existing connection with the receiver. Nada. The sender doesn’t know the receiver and the receiver doesn’t know the sender....

What has work from home taught me, that working at office did not

When joining an organisation, we all looked for the ‘work from home’ clause in the contract/policy document. As this culture was still making this place in the environment and in the minds of decision-makers, people considered it as an indicator of a fancy or a modern workplace. But now that it has got real for...

Why is Instagram the best place to launch your writing start up

I should tell you that Instagram has over 1 billion active users, out of which nearly 63% comprises daily active users. But you already know that. I should tell you that Instagram is one of the fastest growing social media platforms with highest engagement rate amongst its peers. But you probably already know that too!...

3 things that you think you may need to start a business, but you really don’t

“I want to do something on my own. But I can’t leave this job. The market is not right. My customers are not ready yet. Will anyone pay for what my company has to offer? May be next year then.” Every existing and aspiring entrepreneur goes through this dilemma and many more. You can never...

Are you feeling stuck in your business? Try this.

Running a business is like running on a track, only a way longer one. When you start, you are excited and optimistic, every struggle seems like a treat. Then, there is a point when you feel out of breath and you don’t know how to pace it up, because even keeping the balance seems tough....

A book on business wisdom that you must read

“…in search of excellence and in fear of failure, most of us opt to fit in rather than stand out.” Stories move me but they hardly immediately change my perspective. They have to hit me intuitively and should be backed by credible data. If there is one book that has done it magically, it’s ‘Originals’...

How to find the best SEO keywords for your website

Sam enters into a supermarket which consists of every product item that he can imagine. He is specifically looking for a red colored bottle. He asks one of the supermarket representatives, Sara, to help him find that. Sara takes him to the lane where he could find each and every red-colored bottle in different shapes,...

It gets tougher before it gets better

My grandmother was a very simple and an extremely hard-working person. Back then, women were not allowed to go out of their homes without permission of an elderly male member of the family. There were many conditions attached to this permission, with a lot of why’s and where’s. This system still prevails in a lot...

History repeats itself. So how long should we hold on to it?

Every time Anaya would broach the subject of her interest in dancing, her family would gaze at her with disappointment and concern. This wasn’t a new predicament. Payal, Anaya's mother, was a dancer herself and had run away to city for the love of it, after giving birth to her. Payal had never looked back...

While running 21D, what till date is your greatest personal failure and your biggest learning from it?

We, Anuradha Ghosh and I, started 21D Solutions about one and a half years ago. Our shared interest in creating something new and useful and our penchant towards entrepreneurship, held us together. In this duration of more than 18 months, we tried myriad of things – from offering training expertise to social media content to...

As an entrepreneur is it okay to have a personal brand?

Glossier, informally known as the ‘Millennial Beauty Brand’, established in 2014, was valued at $1.2 billion in 2019, five years into the market. Those who know about Glossier and its products, certain know about Emily Weiss, the founder of the company. Conventionally, when a company is established, investors are the first set of people who...

Becoming – How Michelle Obama inspires us to ‘Become’ our best selves through her story

Who is Michelle Obama? What’s her biggest accomplishment? How do you know her? How much do you know about her? Most of us know her as the ex-first lady of the United States. But those who have followed her, who have heard her or read about her, who have worked with her, who have met...

3 growth marketing hacks to get your first $100

TBH, I read a lot of other blogs before starting to writing on this topic. I wanted to know what all options are already out there and how I can bring something new to the table. Like with every other Google Search I got a googol of results, but nothing exactly what I was looking...

Mentoring by less experienced people – Better or Worse?

I was watching this Instagram video of a celebrity who is a father to two very cute little girls. In the video he was showing one of his daughters a video of him raising a hand on his wife, that was a part of an act meant as a prank. The little kid didn’t understand...

Why is post corona the best time for D2C marketing?

Corona times that we are living in today have changed the once considered eternal way of living. The work from home setting that many were conservative towards, is no longer an option now; the online grocery shopping that many generations were not receptive to, is now the need and order of the day. With this...

Your heart knows when you are settling for less

You are the relationships you came out of. You are the secret you didn’t disclose. You are the choices you had but you didn’t make. You are the roads you didn’t take. You are what you let go. It’s hard, it’s painful, it’s hurtful and it’s exhausting to let go of something or someone who...

What is more important? Happiness or Contentment

We have a house help, named Gyanwati, at my native place in Lucknow, India. She is the most hard-working person I have ever known and I believe I will ever know. She works for around 14 families, cleans utensils, does cleaning and dusting, and other household chores. Needless to say, even 24 hours are not...

Dare to dream. Dare to fail. Dare to fly.

The other evening, as I perched myself on the quaint wooden table on the terrace of my home and as the evening grew darker, I couldn’t help but think about life and purpose and dreams and goals. Quite cliché, I know, yet classic! Our time in the world is limited, then what are we really...

No time management can cure a blurry focus

It’s been three and a half hours that Nick has been longingly looking at the paper, but he still got nothing. He has other commitments to fulfil too, the ones towards his guitar lesson that he can spend hours on and not get bored, towards his Netflix series, and towards some lockdown mandatory phone calls....

Parenting – A responsibility of lives for Life

For as long as parenting goes back, it’s always been a natural phenomenon. Wanting a child of our own is a biological, sociological and psychological need or desire, but a kid's future is something we never plan for enough. At max, the best of the planning involves possessing enough financial resources to bring the child...

Lessons in communication from Simon Sinek that would help leaders

Communication is a two-way street. Even when you are speaking at a podium, you need to communicate, that is to say you need to involve everyone you are talking to. It doesn’t mean that everyone should talk while you are at podium, it means you are able to reach them and make an impact that...

Religion ‘and’ God or Religion ‘or’ God

Life is beautiful. God is powerful. Religion is wonderful. Then why is it that religion always comes in the way of humanity and makes lives miserable. Do you think Jesus, Allah and Ram, WaheGuru- they would treat people differently if they belonged to different religions; they would protect people basis their religion and harass the...

Smart Conversations: Key to a smarter world

Scene 1 - “I don’t like Mr. X.” “How can you say so? Do you even know anything about him?” “Well, for starters, he is not a great personality to know much about.” “Well, it’s really naïve of you. You should get your facts right.” “Like you know anything at all.” “Sure, I do” “Whatever”...

Try with all your heart or don’t try. Go big or Go home

Dashrath Manjhi, a resident of a village in Bihar, India, spent 22 years to carve out a path through the mountains, so no one else would have to struggle to reach the city, for emergency purposes. After his wife died for the lack of medical facilities in the village and unavailability of time and commute...

The purpose of our lives is to be happy- Dalai Lama

‘Once, just once you become a successful business tycoon, your life will be set’; ‘if you study hard enough and get into a reputed college, you will not have to worry for the future’; ‘once you are settled with an able spouse and children, as per the social norms, you will have achieved everything’. These...

Thank God, life is complex

It takes 2-5 weeks for a caterpillar to turn into a beautiful butterfly. It takes about 150 days for an eagle to take rebirth and be able to enjoy another tenor of life. Life is complex, some lives more than others. Remember the first piece of writing of yours that everyone loved? Remember the first...

Is intense suffering necessary for compassion?

Lord Buddha was born a prince in the Shakya clan, in Lumbini, Nepal, about twenty-six hundred years ago from today. He was consciously protected from any suffering in the world for 29 years of his life by his parents. For 29 years he did not encounter a single depressing experience. Life for him was pleasure...

It is only through the stories of others that we can make sense of our own

I am a big ‘Zakir Khan’ fan. Zakir Khan is an Indian stand up comedian. More than a comedian, he is a storyteller, he says the most obvious things that most of us have experienced at some point, in ways that leave us astounded and impressed. One of the things that he said and that...

Showing up and showing up

Nishant was scared. He had never talked to his father like that before. But he really wanted to pursue fashion designing course. It was something he just couldn’t live without. Every-time someone wore non-matching clothes, it horrified him, no kidding! He knew it was his calling. But unfortunately, fashion was not a ‘Man’ thing for...

I woke up and It was Christmas, in the middle of summer

I was sleeping alright. It was cold so she had put a warm quilt over me. Maya had been really nice to me ever since she took me in her house. It has been around 3 years now that we have been together. Oh, I am sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Kat...

Is success a straight line?

I don’t know, but I hope to come to a conclusion by the end of this article. Let me start by putting together the standalone meanings of ‘Success’ and ‘Line’. A line is a one-dimensional figure that extends infinitely in both directions. As for success, Oxford dictionary definition of it goes like this: The attainment...

Self-worth

From the very beginning her fate they drewBut her dreams could fly who knew You are someone’s responsibility, she was always toldBut she got other plans, she is smart, she is funny, she got all gold She fought every man, every woman, every thought that resisted her pathShe is fierce, she is ambitious, she can...

If Only…

If only I had turned off the main switch a little sooner, if only I avoided eating those chocolate chip ice creams in the middle of desperate nights, if only I had broken up before it got too late, if only we all listened to Mr. Bill Gates when he warned us of a pandemic...

Illusion

In the unlikely event of an emergency, my mind wanders. In those heavy moments, where you can feel the rhythm of your heartbeat, I feel light. There is so much to life and yet it’s so meaningless as if we are all inanimate structures of a large establishment that no one cares about. We plan...

Hope

A story from a long time back A girl, a tortoise, a train and a bag. She lived in the train, tortoise was her family The bag was a secret, she cared for dearly. Many came looking for her, but she was never found A mystery herself, living in a train, well it was never...