Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to aim for content and other things
Speaker 1: that aren't dated and that work any time of year.
Speaker 1: That is, things that are evergreen, as our friends and
Speaker 1: marketing like to say, like an evergreen tree that keeps
Speaker 1: its foliage year round. Evergreen materials last through the seasons
Speaker 1: and years too. They don't become quickly out of date.
Speaker 1: Keeping this in mind can save time and avoid waste.
Speaker 1: If you've been listening to this podcast for a while,
Speaker 1: you know that while I acknowledge seasons and sometimes some
Speaker 1: specific events like the coronavirus, many of the episodes can
Speaker 1: be listened to at any time. I know people come
Speaker 1: to this podcast and listen to past episodes without regard
Speaker 1: to specific dates. And of course, aiming for broadly applicable
Speaker 1: means that I can produce the episodes at any point too.
Speaker 1: When things are going well, I can bank a few
Speaker 1: evergreen episodes which can run when things get busy later.
Speaker 1: The magazines and newspapers I've worked for in the past
Speaker 1: have done something similar. We would bank a few evergreen
Speaker 1: features or how to stories so if the news was
Speaker 1: like or another story fell apart, the evergreen content could
Speaker 1: go in. This principle is applicable in all sorts of areas.
Speaker 1: If you want to buy New Year's decorations, don't get
Speaker 1: ones with a specific year. You won't want to display
Speaker 1: a banner saying happy one in, so you'll only get
Speaker 1: one use out of your purchase. Choose a banner without
Speaker 1: a date, and you'll be able to keep using it
Speaker 1: no matter what the calendar says. Silver wrapping paper can
Speaker 1: be used for Christmas, birth days, weddings, and baby showers.
Speaker 1: Unlike seasonal paper, it is evergreen. Same thing with seasonal attire.
Speaker 1: My family has started a new tradition of getting matching
Speaker 1: family pajamas at Christmas. The two years i've done this, though,
Speaker 1: I've gotten patterns that are festive but can be worn
Speaker 1: past December. Think a subtle snowflake pattern or a dark
Speaker 1: green plaid rather than Santa. At work, avoid putting a
Speaker 1: specific date on anything you are going to use repeatedly.
Speaker 1: I think things like performance review or quarterly report forms,
Speaker 1: or assignment guidelines. If you're a teacher, maybe how to
Speaker 1: documents or videos on your website and so forth. Instead
Speaker 1: of including dates in the document or video itself, maybe
Speaker 1: you could include relevant dates in the email or cover
Speaker 1: letter that disseminates the materials, or or if a document
Speaker 1: has to have a date on it, just type it
Speaker 1: in one place at the top, not multiple places throughout.
Speaker 1: This saves you from having to go through and change
Speaker 1: it or risk confusion or perhaps embarrassment when it isn't
Speaker 1: changed in some places. The big idea here is to
Speaker 1: aim for content that can run at any time, and
Speaker 1: for stuff that gets multiple uses instead of stuff that
Speaker 1: is one and done. When you don't lock yourself into
Speaker 1: using things at a specific time, you have a lot
Speaker 1: more options and I am a big fan of anything
Speaker 1: that boosts efficiency in the meantime. This is Laura, Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening, and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, face Book, and Instagram at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: pod that's B the number four then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: podcast at i heeart media dot com That Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,
Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is
Speaker 1: a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from
Speaker 1: I heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.