Almost exactly one year ago I wrote the first post on SlopeFillers. Seems like yesterday. I guess time flies…when you’re blogging about resort marketing. With an anniversary to celebrate and nearly 250 posts under my ski blogging belt, I thought I’d reminisce about the lessons I’ve learned and add a few takeaways both on an individual, but also a marketing level.

1) If You Want to Get Better at Something, Do it Every Day
There are two things I absolutely love to do but haven’t always been the best at: writing and designing. Aside from learned boat loads about resort marketing, SlopeFillers gave me the excuse to both design and write every morning. Some of you might argue otherwise (with a strong case), but I feel like a better writer than I did a year ago. I’m more comfortable, confident, and best of all, efficient. And you know all those 650px wide by 125px graphics that appear at the top of 75%+ of the posts I publish? An excuse to practice one or two design principles every day. So, the first lesson of the day: if you want to get better at something, do it every day. My next project is photography. What’s yours?

2) Be Succinct, People Like Fewer Words if Fewer Words Work
It’s just the way our society/culture/whatever is, we don’t sit down and read long, long articles unless the hook is really set deep. I didn’t expect I’d be able to do that day in and day out, so the first rule I made for myself as I started SlopeFillers was that I would try my best to keep posts short and to the point; something a marketer who was starting his daily work routine could read in less than 2-3 minutes. I don’t know how many readers appreciate it, but many have taken the time to say thanks. Going forward, I don’t see marketers (or anyone for that matter) winding up with more and more time to put toward reading so it’s a practice I’d highly recommend in all the media you create. What’s some content that you can make more succinct or easier to consume?

3) Be Consistent but Avoid Playing the Same Repetitive Note
Not every blog post I publish is a home run, very few are in fact, but by blogging every day and consistently trying to hit the various veins of value, I have a better chance of delivering what you, the readers, are hoping to receive. That said, I see a lot of repetition (video styles, Facebook status topics, photo subjects, etc.) so be careful not to hit the same note every day. Create a wide melody of topics and styles for the content you create. If nothing else, it will make your followers appreciate the good stuff that much more ;) What marketing concepts have you dabbled with but haven’t put a consistent effort toward?

So, there they are, nothing you haven’t heard before, but three things that I’ve seen first hand over the last year. Apply them to whatever you’d like – learning a new marketing strategy, building your social media presence, blogging, video snow reports – and l bet you’ll have as much luck as I have. Thanks everyone for reading, here’s to another year of SlopeFillers.

About Gregg & SlopeFillers
I've had more first-time visitors lately, so adding a quick "about" section. I started SlopeFillers in 2010 with the simple goal of sharing great resort marketing strategies. Today I run marketing for resort ecommerce and CRM provider Inntopia, my home mountain is the lovely Nordic Valley, and my favorite marketing campaign remains the Ski Utah TV show that sold me on skiing as a kid in the 90s.