Excess weight is on my mind today. It could be because I started a 90-day Fitness Challenge. Or because I bought a FitBit for the challenge. Or because the FitBit told me my body fat is 29%.
Or it might be because I got the 5.5 pound, 1-inch thick Restoration Hardware Source Book in my mailbox. Yeah, that’s probably it.
So get ready for a litany of weight
metaphors....
GOOD WEIGHT VS BAD WEIGHT
I’m six feet tall and weigh 210 pounds. That’s not a problem. The problem is, I have 29% body fat when I should
have around 15%.
Same with Restoration Hardware. It’s not a problem that the company took hundreds of photos to create its Source Book. The problem is that nearly 100% of the use of
those photos was in its print catalog and on website. No Facebook presence, no Pinterest profile and one-way communication on Twitter.
I’m not the only one that needs to balance my
activity level along with my sources of consumption. Restoration Hardware makes a critical flaw of being too lean-back, when the current age of marketing requires more involvement.
BALANCED CONSUMPTION
I burn about 3,300 calories a day. That means I can eat 2,300 calories a day and reach my target weight of 185 pounds by mid December. But, those 2,300
calories need to be a balance of carbs, fats and proteins. Otherwise, my body will fall apart.
According to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, the Restoration Hardware Source Book
is estimated to have cost $3 per book package, while typical catalogs cost a third of that. One estimate is that Restoration Hardware spent “millions” of dollars on the mailer. In my
opinion, that’s a lot of carbs.
Let’s say it did cost $3. Imagine if the company had spent $2.50, which might equate to $400,000-$500,000. Spend some of those Source Book carbs on
digital protein, and that’s a much healthier balance. $500k would go a long way toward creating strong Facebook and Pinterest presences — both highly visual and scrapbook-like social
properties that encourage shopping.
Restoration Hardware isn’t alone, though. I use the company as an example, not merely to pick on it. Plenty of companies spend millions upon millions
on traditional advertising/marketing, but fail to earmark marginally significant budgets for social media.
TRIM THE FAT, DROP THE POUNDS
Of course, even brands with
great social media presence could slim down — an interesting proposition when we always look for more: More fans. More followers. More Likes. More shares.
However, there is plenty of fat
in posts: Posts that don’t engage, that don’t serve the audience, that don’t really say anything at all. And plenty of extra weight in ghost fans: Fans who don’t interact,
don’t log in, or aren’t even real.
HOLD YOURSELF ACCOUNTABLE
So, why, in the course of about 600 words, have I fully disclosed how painfully out of shape I
am?
Simply put: I’ve now fully committed, in a “no turning back now” way, to my 90-day Fitness Challenge. By setting a goal and proclaiming it in an accountable way, I now
have all you good people to hold me accountable.
Maybe you want to put more effort into social media. Or cut the fat of non-engaging social content. Or trim the weight of fans who
don’t add value.
Explain your 90-day challenge in the comments below, and we’ll hold each other accountable. Let’s see what we can accomplish in 90 days.