503. Ins and Outs, 2024 🦤
Trends, topics, ideas, and resolutions for the new year
Hellooo 👋 So happy to have you here. I’m Kevan. I have spent 15+ years as a head of marketing for some cool tech startups. Now I’m co-founding a brand storytelling business called Bonfire. We do coaching, advisory, and content, and we’d love to hear from you, anytime. Come say hello.
Ins & Outs, 2024
In years past, I would kick off every January by sharing my predictions for the new year — the trends and topics and strategies and channels that I thought would make waves. Here is last year’s. I’ll spare you (or, more accurately, spare myself) from sharing too many others since the passing of time makes my older predictions look worse and worse and worse. Remember the fated social network Ello? Remember when I thought it was going to be the next big thing? I’m trying to forget.
I have been so bad at predictions, predictably, every year, that I thought this year I’d change it up.
Around the new year, a fun trend went around social media with people sharing lists of their Ins and Outs for 2024. (Example, example.)
These lists are cousins of predictions — less prognosticating, more vision-setting. So rather than guessing at how things are going to be this year, here is my list of Ins and Outs for 2024 — it’s a mix of business-y things, life things, marketing strategies, hopes and dreams. Feel free to hit reply and let me know anything you’re excited about for this year!
Ins
For me:
Building a business on our own terms. We started Bonfire a few months back as a place to celebrate storytelling and to support creative marketers. And it’s been such a joy! As a first-time business-builder, I would often read about how a new business is supposed to feel (hard) and how you’re supposed to do things (by the book). We’ve thrived by doing things our own way, so here’s to more of the same in 2024. I’ll be sure to share more behind-the-scenes with you here, too.
439. It's time ⏰
·Learning new skills. Currently: a new language (French), a new instrument, and a new exercise.
(Related to the above) Being bad at hobbies. And not judging myself for it
Saying nice things to people as soon as I think of them. Includes: Complimenting strangers (a major growth step for me)
Sleeping in
Making playlists
Watching all the longform videos on my YouTube watch list
Writing stuff down. To-do lists and bullet journals exist for a reason.
Reaching out to former colleagues and old friends to tell them how much I appreciate them
For marketing and branding and business, generally:
Storytelling
Quality over quantity
Quitting your job to start something of your own. (You can do it!)
Finding a new job that prioritizes your health and happiness above climbing the career ladder
Brand experiences. Taking big swings, trying new things, telling stories in wholly original and unique ways, cutting through the noise
Embracing AI as a productivity tool
Threads
Community-building. I’m excited to try out more community-building things with this Substack in 2024, too. Stay tuned …
Outs
For me:
Tying my identity too closely to work. It’s an ongoing process for me, but very worthwhile! Having my own business has helped immensely. Identity is also a trend I hear about more and more among friends and peers. We’re all ready for a new paradigm.
Being jealous of people on LinkedIn
Eating lunch at my desk
Finishing books that I’m really not enjoying
Grinding without a purpose
Saying “no” because I am scared
Caring about what’s trending
Acting nonchalant about things I actually care a lot about
Using the phrase “circle back.” Along with most other business lingo and pretty much everything in this Upwork ad.
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For marketing and branding and business, generally:
Glorifying overwork
Using AI as a replacement for creative work. Rather, let’s use it as a creative accelerant
Layoffs. Please? Can we be done with layoffs?
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About this newsletter …
Hi, I’m Kevan, a marketing exec based in Boise, Idaho, who specializes in startup marketing and brand-building. I previously built brands at Oyster, Buffer, and Vox. Now I am cofounder at Bonfire, a brand storytelling company.
Each week on this substack, I share playbooks, case studies, stories, and links from inside the startup marketing world. Not yet subscribed? No worries. You can check out the archive, or sign up below:
Thank you for being here! 🙇♂️
I’m lucky to count folks from great brands like these (and many more) as part of this newsletter community.
