I mean, do you believe your company has reached its pinnacle and can go no more? Are you so proud of your company, brand, marketing efforts etc that you are so elated and don't really see the need to plan more?
Fail.
I recently read the transcript of an interview with the President of a major women's organization. This President, we'll call him Mr. X, stated that he did not see the brand evolving or growing much more because he believed everyone knew about the brand and that its reach was fantastic.
Fail, again.
Knowing this brand and organization personally, I can say that prior to six years ago (or so), I couldn't tell you the difference between IT and its major competitor. And to be honest, I don't think 98% of the US population could tell you the difference or would even care to know what the organization is...even though it is a major resource to thousands of young women across America each year.
The failure here is that this organization's leader was not (or did not seem to be) strategically planning for the future. There seemed to be no sense of urgency, need for marketing, or need for development from the head honcho! However, if you ask the number of women involved in the organization, they would have at least 1000 ideas ready to submit in minutes.
Your business should always be growing. Your brand should always be evolving. You constantly want your facebook page, spokesperson, and media efforts to be engaging and developing. A flat, stale, stagnant business is doomed to fail.
Here is what I do to propel vision, growth, and development with my own companies:
1. Get a planner
Don't download an app, seriously get a planner from the Dollar Store and a pencil. Start penciling things in for the year. What would you like to do in December? Maybe a holiday sale? Ok, so that means you may need to start your marketing efforts in November...? Pencil in dates that you will send promo emails, create images and Instagram them, etc. What about in a year? Do you know you want to nab that major contract in September? So does that mean you need to start planning in February? Plan it in!
KEY: By putting your thoughts down on paper, you are taking the first step to making your dreams and goals into a reality.
2. Talk to myself
Ok, not literally (maybe sometimes) but I have to ask myself to honestly assess where my company or brand is. How many people know about me? How many events do I attend and what is the return on investment/attendance? How many connections did I make this month and how many had a positive return? Etc.
I then need to talk to myself some more - where do I see my business or brand going? How do I expect to get there? What is my vision? What is my model? What is my plan to get there? I jot these down and make a plan of action...and then I get cracking!
KEY: make yourself all about vision! Where are you going and how are you going to get there? Honestly assess where you are and where you want to be - make the plan of action, set goals and target dates, set measurements to test your success against and do it!
So my question is: Really, how big are you? How big can you become? What are you doing to turn your growth problems into growth successes? Comment below, I want to know!
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