Behind every successful business is a plan for success. Without a plan, we drift around from task to task with no clear vision or goal in mind. This isn't a problem for me because I've always been a planner. I plan everything from grocery lists to vacations to major conferences and events. My friends and colleagues have always complimented my ability to organize and plan, but for me, it's just something that comes naturally.
But in 2010, I'm going to take planning to a whole new level by creating a plan to succeed. There are many challenges that come with being an independent PR practitioner and mom of two. It's a constant juggling act, but I know that with careful, creative planning, I will succeed at both.
I don't make New Year's resolutions anymore, but these are some actions I plan to take in 2010 to become a better communicator, leader and successful business owner.
1. Write every day.
2. Read every day.
3. Share interesting and inspiring stories with others.
4. Become better at remembering names.
5. Plan my day so that I maximize productivity and leave enough time for myself and my family.
6. Write a personal and business plan for the year with goals and measurable objectives.
7. Create a system to organize my business expenses to make life easier at tax season.
8. Smile more, listen more and spread joy.
9. Become a mentor to a young professional.
10. Identify an important cause and offer pro-bono consulting services.
This is my plan for 2010. What's yours? Happy New Year and may you be blessed with success in the coming year!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Seven Signs Your Business Needs a Communications Booster Shot
Your business or organization has managed for years without the expertise of a public relations or marketing professional, so why spend the money or time on PR when things are working just fine? Well, perhaps 2010 should be the year to consider how your business could benefit from a little professional advice.
Here are seven signs that your business could use a communications booster shot. Do any of these look familiar?
1. Your Web site looks like it was created by a sixth grade kid. Ten years ago. And the look hasn't changed one bit since it went live in 1999 (and now that kid is in medical school).
2. Your customers are talking or complaining about you on Facebook and you're not even aware of what they're saying. Even worse, someone outside of your organization has created a Facebook fan page and is communicating with customers, and it's not you!
3. The membership, enrollment, or client base of your organization has been stagnant or may even be declining, and you don't know why.
4. You haven't been regularly surveying your stakeholders to ask them what they think about the way you are communicating with them.
5. Your organization lacks consistency in its visual identity (logo, newsletter, Web site, slogan, business cards, brochures, etc.).
6. There's a new business in town competing with your organization, and there's a lot of buzz and excitement in the community about the new guy.
7. Your business has never had a communications or marketing plan that integrates with your business strategy.
If any of these signs look familiar, perhaps you should make communications a priority for your business in 2010.
Here are seven signs that your business could use a communications booster shot. Do any of these look familiar?
1. Your Web site looks like it was created by a sixth grade kid. Ten years ago. And the look hasn't changed one bit since it went live in 1999 (and now that kid is in medical school).
2. Your customers are talking or complaining about you on Facebook and you're not even aware of what they're saying. Even worse, someone outside of your organization has created a Facebook fan page and is communicating with customers, and it's not you!
3. The membership, enrollment, or client base of your organization has been stagnant or may even be declining, and you don't know why.
4. You haven't been regularly surveying your stakeholders to ask them what they think about the way you are communicating with them.
5. Your organization lacks consistency in its visual identity (logo, newsletter, Web site, slogan, business cards, brochures, etc.).
6. There's a new business in town competing with your organization, and there's a lot of buzz and excitement in the community about the new guy.
7. Your business has never had a communications or marketing plan that integrates with your business strategy.
If any of these signs look familiar, perhaps you should make communications a priority for your business in 2010.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Five Ways to Engage Employees through Better Communication
Is your communication style winning over your employees and making them want to come work for you every day? Or could you be turning them off with communication blunders you're not even aware of? Effective communication is not always something that comes naturally to managers, but those who do it well make it look effortless.
I recently read an email that a new manager sent to his employees. It was one of his first opportunities to communicate with his direct reports and establish rapport with them. His intent with the email was to communicate to his staff the importance of a new project and to rally the troops to accomplish a tough task with a tight deadline. Here's what he wrote: "This will serve as your only warning about getting this project done." Hmmm. How do you think his staff reacted to that stong language? How many of them felt motivated, and how many do you think went straight to LinkedIn to update their resumes?
Here are five simple things that managers can do to effectively communicate with their employees and engage them in their work.
1. Give them some face time. Whenever possible, make an effort to speak one-on-one with each of your direct reports every day. Take the time to sit down with them, talk about any current projects, and ask how you can support them.
2. Do it in person. Resist the urge to introduce new projects via email. Whenever possible, give directions in person so that you can encourage, motivate and avoid any misunderstandings.
3. Kill them with kindness. Before hitting the SEND button, read your email from the point of view of your staff. Think about the message you're trying to get across. Every email is an opportunity to either build or kill your employees' enthusiasm.
4. Be a reputation builder. Catch your employees doing something good and compliment them, preferably in front of others. This is a great way to use email by sending out a compliment and copying others in the company - particularly the executive suite.
5. Don't waste their time. Respect your employees' time by keeping staff meetings to a maximum of 30 minutes. Have an agenda, don't let topics stray, and schedule follow-up meetings for topics that demand more time.
It may not come naturally, but these simple acts done on a regular basis can help to build a staff that will be loyal, engaged and feel valued.
I recently read an email that a new manager sent to his employees. It was one of his first opportunities to communicate with his direct reports and establish rapport with them. His intent with the email was to communicate to his staff the importance of a new project and to rally the troops to accomplish a tough task with a tight deadline. Here's what he wrote: "This will serve as your only warning about getting this project done." Hmmm. How do you think his staff reacted to that stong language? How many of them felt motivated, and how many do you think went straight to LinkedIn to update their resumes?
Here are five simple things that managers can do to effectively communicate with their employees and engage them in their work.
1. Give them some face time. Whenever possible, make an effort to speak one-on-one with each of your direct reports every day. Take the time to sit down with them, talk about any current projects, and ask how you can support them.
2. Do it in person. Resist the urge to introduce new projects via email. Whenever possible, give directions in person so that you can encourage, motivate and avoid any misunderstandings.
3. Kill them with kindness. Before hitting the SEND button, read your email from the point of view of your staff. Think about the message you're trying to get across. Every email is an opportunity to either build or kill your employees' enthusiasm.
4. Be a reputation builder. Catch your employees doing something good and compliment them, preferably in front of others. This is a great way to use email by sending out a compliment and copying others in the company - particularly the executive suite.
5. Don't waste their time. Respect your employees' time by keeping staff meetings to a maximum of 30 minutes. Have an agenda, don't let topics stray, and schedule follow-up meetings for topics that demand more time.
It may not come naturally, but these simple acts done on a regular basis can help to build a staff that will be loyal, engaged and feel valued.
Monday, December 28, 2009
The News I Will Choose to Follow in 2010
It's that time of year where all you see in the news is those annoying recaps of all the top stories of the year, the ones that made the big headlines and that everyone was talking about on Twitter and Facebook. You know the ones I'm talking about: Tiger Woods, Kate Gosselin, Michael Jackson, David Letterman, the balloon boy, the White House crashers...the list goes on.
You'd think our whole world must revolve around celebrities (or celebrity wannabes) and their scandalous lives. But I'm convinced there is more to our world, and there are good stories to be told, and so in 2010, I am making it my mission to seek out, read and share positive stories that remind us there is more to life than sex scandals, blackmailing, and hoaxes.
Here's one example about a teacher who writes letters to his current and former students every year on their birthday. This inspiring story reminds me of my favorite teacher, Brother Alfred Kolb, a Brother of the Sacred Heart who taught English at Vandebilt Catholic High School in Houma, Louisiana, where I grew up. He was my senior English teacher, moderator of our student newspaper, and one of my first mentors. His encouragement and insistence on perfection helped form me into the successful PR professional I am today. For many years after graduation, Brother Alfred and I wrote to each other, and every year I received a Christmas card with a handwritten letter inside. He was a very special teacher, mentor and friend, and a positive influence on hundreds of students who passed through his classroom. Brother Alfred passed away a few years ago, but he will never be forgotten for his kindness and caring.
"Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation." (Mark 16:15)
You'd think our whole world must revolve around celebrities (or celebrity wannabes) and their scandalous lives. But I'm convinced there is more to our world, and there are good stories to be told, and so in 2010, I am making it my mission to seek out, read and share positive stories that remind us there is more to life than sex scandals, blackmailing, and hoaxes.
Here's one example about a teacher who writes letters to his current and former students every year on their birthday. This inspiring story reminds me of my favorite teacher, Brother Alfred Kolb, a Brother of the Sacred Heart who taught English at Vandebilt Catholic High School in Houma, Louisiana, where I grew up. He was my senior English teacher, moderator of our student newspaper, and one of my first mentors. His encouragement and insistence on perfection helped form me into the successful PR professional I am today. For many years after graduation, Brother Alfred and I wrote to each other, and every year I received a Christmas card with a handwritten letter inside. He was a very special teacher, mentor and friend, and a positive influence on hundreds of students who passed through his classroom. Brother Alfred passed away a few years ago, but he will never be forgotten for his kindness and caring.
"Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation." (Mark 16:15)
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
It's all about planting seeds
If you're a PR pro, it helps to have some experience in agriculture, or at least gardening. Don't worry, I'm not asking you to break out the shovel, but it helps to think of business in terms of planting and harvesting.
You see, as an independent PR practitioner and business owner, it turns out that my whole career has been based on the idea of planting seeds over the course of many years. At the beginning, I didn't even realize I was planting anything. But every contact I have made, every relationship I have built, is a seed that one day may harvest and become a client, business partner or professional reference. That's why it's so important to build bridges and not burn them and to present yourself professionally wherever you go.
I'm rather new at the solo PR thing. After 15 years of working for various organizations, I took a leap of faith and started my own business in 2009 so that I could focus on my real talents and strengths and have more time to raise my children. My business development strategy has consisted of a great deal of gardening. I plant many seeds and nurture those relationships, giving them time to develop and harvest. Some of those seeds were planted 10, 15 or even 30 years ago. It just goes to show you that you never know when the right opportunity might come along, so be alert.
2010 is looking good. I'm excited about my new venture in gardening!
"Let us not grow tired of doing good, for in due time we shall reap our harvest, if we do not give up." (Galatians 6:9)
You see, as an independent PR practitioner and business owner, it turns out that my whole career has been based on the idea of planting seeds over the course of many years. At the beginning, I didn't even realize I was planting anything. But every contact I have made, every relationship I have built, is a seed that one day may harvest and become a client, business partner or professional reference. That's why it's so important to build bridges and not burn them and to present yourself professionally wherever you go.
I'm rather new at the solo PR thing. After 15 years of working for various organizations, I took a leap of faith and started my own business in 2009 so that I could focus on my real talents and strengths and have more time to raise my children. My business development strategy has consisted of a great deal of gardening. I plant many seeds and nurture those relationships, giving them time to develop and harvest. Some of those seeds were planted 10, 15 or even 30 years ago. It just goes to show you that you never know when the right opportunity might come along, so be alert.
2010 is looking good. I'm excited about my new venture in gardening!
"Let us not grow tired of doing good, for in due time we shall reap our harvest, if we do not give up." (Galatians 6:9)
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