Remember the Root Goal
There might be a better picture to describe the intentions of this post. I should start this blog post with a catchy anecdote; I’d better go find a story that matches what I’m looking for. I’m going to go ask Twitter what they think. Once I get that all done, I’m going to stumble, digg, mixx, sphinn, delicious, and reddit the post. After all that, I’m going to add it to LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, and everywhere else. Then, I’m going to go comment on 10 blogs that have similar posts, and try to subtly convince people to come back over and visit my site, because hey, there’s a new blog post over here. Hey! Come look at this incredible blog post!
The goal is rarely that. The goal is conversation. Or if you’re someone else, the goal is sales. Or if you’re someone else, the goal is thought leadership. Or the goal is capturing business practices.
It doesn’t require the right picture. It doesn’t require a blog post. It doesn’t require anything very specifically, as much as it requires realizing that you’re doing what matters most to the goal. If my goal is to make money blogging, then I do a really poor job of it. If my goal isn’t about this blog at all, but for something larger, then getting tied up in my stats and things like that means I’m not focusing on the goal.
The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. Right?
Photo credit, Michael Morel
How Small Boxes Help You Succeed
Constraints are important to marketing, but also to all executions. We need boundaries. We need a sense of what goes in the box. Understanding what you can and cannot do is one set of rules, but putting together a system of what you intend to do, your goals, requires a strong understanding of the boxes you are going to configure.
Too esoteric? How about this: you don’t want to buy cars from Coke. You don’t want your airline pilot cooking your supper. You, yourself, shouldn’t try to be a combination web designer / CPA. It’s not that you can’t do this, but rather that the results are less than stellar. This is some of the mindset behind the way the folks at 37 Signals create software, by the way.
In planning my goals for 2009 (and yes, I’m thinking about that right now), I’m thinking about which small boxes to use, what goes in them, and how I will address the challenges faced by choosing not to do everything. I’ve got some plans for what I’m doing with CrossTech (both Media and Partners), as well as how I’ll work with other social media types across the globe.
Want a peek inside my head?
As with all things I do, the goal is to give you something to help you figure out YOUR 2009.
Planning and Constraints: a Framework
Let’s start with plans/goals. If I don’t, I’ll just put stuff in place for no reason .
My big plans for 2009
- Publish Trust Agents and help others develop.
- Educate through speaking / advising / articles or interviews.
- Equip businesses through a social media practice.
- Improve blogging to educate more. Deliver smaller chunk projects.
- Improve my physical health to improve my capacity.
(Note that my plans are all phrased around my biggest core belief: be helpful.)
Now, here are some things that are important to me, and important to my sanity, and important to my business needs.
Some Constraints
- Writing practice even more disciplined. (I write TONS, but need to focus on what goes into blogging versus what goes into work.)
- No more than 3 trips a month.
- Small (2-3 day vacations) every 3 months tops.
- Walk daily, especially if I can walk my daughter to school in the AM instead of my commute.
- ALL conferences reviewed on: opportunities / reach / committed time.
- Check ALL requests versus the five above-mentioned goals. Fit in? If not, pass through to others.
- EVERYTHING goes out of my inbox and into review. Approved projects are commitments.
- All commitments have time allocated to them, and all time is budgeted.
- All commitments are checked against revenue needs and time budget.
- Commitments are spreadsheeted: who, what, due, hrs, $, notes, status.
- Twice weekly commitment reviews, and success reviews. (Am I doing what I said? Are my projects succeeding? If no to #1, fix it. If no to #2, can I fix it or do I kill it? No screwing around, because of the economy.)
- Accountable to Operations head.
If I hope to succeed, I do also have to keep track of what I’ll need to deliver on my five big goals.
Some Things I’ll Need
- An assistant and/or an intern. - I can’t manage my inflow by myself any more. I need a parser.
- Build and enhance my network of support. - CrossTech and I have a framework started for this. I’ll enhance it even more.
- More business acumen. This past month, I crippled myself by putting out too much travel budget in one big pop. It left me broke for several weeks. Small businesses need to manage their cash flow, and I’m now much more aware of how this works.
- An Operations head, mentioned above (have someone in place for this).
Boiling This Down
If you want to do something like the exercise I did above, here’s what I did:
- Decide what matters most. Articulate it in the largest possible way. It’s easier to drill down when you have the larger goals in mind.
- Put constraints around HOW you’ll accomplish the goals you’ve set out to accomplish. Include accountability in the constraints.
- Figure out what you need to help you achieve those goals. In my case, I need two other people and some more education. You’ll need something else.
- Make your goals public in some form or another. (This helps with accountability).
If you can put your giant plans into small boxes, it will help you move towards your goals. It’s part of what Julien and I think about when we talk about “Make Your Own Game” in our book. (That’s the chapter we’re writing so it’s heavy on my mind.)
What do you think? Does it make sense? How does it match your own needs? What would you change?
Photo credit, Alana Elliott
Beware of Bubble Thinking
People don’t read print any more. Oops, unless they’re rich. People don’t watch TV. Except for the people watching TV. People all use Macs. Unless they are trying out Google Chrome (which released for the PC first). PR and Marketing are the most important part of building a business. Unless…
It’s up to us to keep our thinking open and expanded. Are you watching sources outside your little bubble? How are you challenging your thinking to make sure you’re not contributing to the merry-go-round?
Photo credit, Monroe’s Dragonfly
Upcoming Speaking- A Busy Few Weeks
I was just going over my calendar and realized that I’ve got a fairly busy speaking schedule coming up shortly. In case you’re going to any of these events, and/or would like to meet and talk, I’ll post where I’ll be:
MarketingProfs Business to Business Forum 08 June 9th-10th in Boston. I’m speaking on the 9th at 1:45PM on lead generation.
Enterprise 2.0 Conference June 9th-12th in Boston. I’m speaking on the 11th at 8AM on social media in the enterprise, and on the 12th at 10:45AM on microblogging, both times with great people.
ITEC Indianapolis June 17th-18th in Indiana. I’m keynoting on the 17th, and I think I have a panel to moderate. There might also be a social media breakfast.
Podcasters Across Borders June 20-22nd (the weekend). I’m speaking at some point but don’t remember the details because mostly, I’m going to be a general member of the community. This will be my first time at PAB.
And then, I’ve got no conferences until PodCamp Boston3 in July, and I like it that way. : )
Will we meet up? I hope so.
The Importance of Risk
I was speaking with a really interesting CEO this morning after speaking at the North Shore Technology Council panel on social networks and their impact on business. This man turned companies around for a living. Complex work, if you think about it. One thing he said really struck me, and has resonated all morning.
There was a company he was once evaluating, and he mentioned that they had taken almost ZERO risk. My immediate thought was that he probably saw this as a good thing. Instead, he said, “If you don’t take risks, you can’t grow.” Wow! He knew MY answer, instead of what I thought he would say.
Risk is Important
Hours after that conversation, I spoke to a young professional who wanted to do something meaningful with his time and effort. I asked him whether he had a “lab” where he could test out potential ideas. At first, it sounded really foreign, but when I told him that most of what I’ve done in life came from trial and error, he started to see where I was going.
If you don’t try new things, you don’t discover new things. If you don’t fail, you don’t know what comes out of the failure. If you don’t risk your career, you won’t invent the job of the future.
Where are YOU Taking Risks?
The future is risky. Deciding to use social media to promote your business, augment your internal collaboration, or other uses is risky. It’s untested, or not very tested. It’s different than how people did things before. Convincing people that ads don’t work well when the folks selling ads have numbers is risky.
Where are your risks, business or personal? What are you doing to move over that crazy divide? How are you readying yourself for the inevitable fall on the face that comes with not being 100% certain? What’s your take?
Photo credit, Smiles are Free
