Archive for the ‘Strategic Planning’ Category
Thursday, December 13th, 2012
I’ve been working productively from home for a number of years, first as a freelance writer (part-time) on nights and weekends and, for the past four years, as a full time marketing communication consultant. My interest in remote work, or telecommuting, stems back many years to when I worked with an organization that was going through a merger. It was highly likely that the corporate headquarters would be in a new location and I was not interested, or able, at that time to relocate. So I was curious.
Based on my own experience as a freelance writer for a number of years I knew firsthand that, yes, it was possible to establish client relationships and deliver value to those clients from a distance. But, would that same model be embraced incorporate settings? Could I, for instance, find a role as a director of corporate (more…)
Tags: effectiveness, efficiency, productivity, remote work, telecommuting
Posted in Business Development, Strategic Planning | No Comments »
Thursday, October 25th, 2012
One of the most important elements of successfully implementing a strategic plan of any size (whether a business plan, an annual company plan, a marketing plan, etc.) is establishing benchmarks or objectives that are specific and quantifiable and that will be tracked throughout the planning period. The use of dashboards is a great way to visually – and simply – convey information on how the organization is doing. Sharing this information openly (more…)
Tags: Business development, dashboards, data, measurement, metrics
Posted in Business development, Sales, Strategic Planning, Strategy | No Comments »
Thursday, October 18th, 2012
A journalist asked me last week what I thought the key elements of a successful strategic plan should be. That’s not an easy question to answer and there are, in fact, a wide range of inputs and elements that go into ensuring strategic plan success. But it was a legitimate question and one that I know many strategic planning consultants–and their clients–are deeply concerned about. (more…)
Tags: marketing strategy, Strategic Planning, Strategy
Posted in Strategic Planning, Strategy | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 2nd, 2012
As I work with different organizations I’m struck by the variation in their approaches to communicating with employees. Having worked in director of corporate communications roles for several years in some very large companies, my bias is toward communicating more not less. And, I’ve been fortunate that the companies I’ve worked for have been very open, transparent and honest with their employees.
Not all employers take that approach, however, and it’s not a place (more…)
Tags: communication tactics, Employee communication, Strategic Planning
Posted in Employee communication, Internal Communication, Strategic Communications, Strategic Planning, Strategy | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 25th, 2012
In the interest of full disclosure, I’ll reveal a personal “pet peeve” right up front. I have a strong negative reaction any time I’m approached by someone – colleague, client, prospective client, etc. – who says: “Let’s do…” without having taken the time to develop a plan (even a very quick and abbreviated plan) to help them determine whether the thing they wish to do makes sense within some larger context.
Here’s a 10-step process to developing communication/marketing plans that will provide you with the direction you need.
(more…)
Tags: ad strategy, communication tactics, market plan, market planning, Marketing, marketing plan, marketing strategy, plan, strategic plan, Strategic Planning, Strategy
Posted in Marketing communication, Strategic Communications, Strategic Planning, Strategy | No Comments »
Thursday, September 6th, 2012
Having been involved in corporate communications and public relations for a number of years I’m well aware of the concerns that organizations often have about too much information being shared with too many audiences. Transparency, I believe, is under-rated! While there are obviously “trade secrets” or “inside insights” that organizations wisely protect, too often information that does not really present any real risk is kept close hindering the ability of the organization to actually achieve its goals.
One big example of this is (more…)
Tags: Employee communication, planning, Strategic Planning, Strategy
Posted in Employee communication, Internal Communication, Strategic Planning, Strategy | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 4th, 2012
I recently had a business colleague ask me for some advice as she embarks on a major strategic planning effort for her organization. That’s a big question, but I gave it some thought and considered some of the “big rocks” that I’ve come across both in my own strategic planning efforts and in the research I’ve done on strategic planning. And, while this really represents just the “tip of the iceberg,” there are some foundational issues that can lead to the success, or lack thereof, of strategic planning efforts.
(more…)
Tags: planning, Strategic Planning, Strategy
Posted in Strategic Planning, Strategy | No Comments »
Thursday, August 30th, 2012
I’ve worked in marketing for a number of years with clients with both large and small budgets and with a number of not-for-profit organizations that typically need to keep costs down. My personal approach to marketing, regardless of budget, is to always strive to “get the most, for the least” (in terms of time/money/effort). And, in truth, these days most organizations’ budgets are dwindling so less is definitely more!
Foundationally, I feel the key to marketing on a small budget (or large budget, for that matter) is to have (more…)
Tags: Advertising, budget, Marketing
Posted in Marketing and Branding, Strategy | No Comments »
Thursday, August 9th, 2012
Working in large organizations I became very familiar with “leading” and “lagging” indicators and, admittedly, sometimes I found what I thought was the “complexity” of the concepts to be a bit overwhelming. But, I’m very data-driven and very committed to measuring the impacts of my efforts whether working in an organization, for a client or for myself. The premise is really quite basic: if you are looking for (more…)
Tags: Business development, measurement, Strategy
Posted in Business development, Business Development, Sales, Strategy | No Comments »
Thursday, August 2nd, 2012
We’re all familiar with the saying: adapt, migrate, mutate or die. Charles Darwin put forth his theory of evolution in 1859 and its relevance to businesses has long been applied by academics and business experts. But, in today’s fast-paced environment, while still applicable it suggests a pace that is much slower than our reality.
Adapting, migrating and mutating takes time–sometimes a long time.
While it may not be relevant from a biological standpoint, businesses today might be well advised to follow a different piece of advice: (more…)
Tags: Business development, competition, Innovation, marketing strategy
Posted in Business development, Competition, Innovation, Strategy | No Comments »
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