Have you ever made a jigsaw puzzle? I did many while growing up. There was often one “in process” on a card table set up in the den, waiting for anyone with 10 minutes or more to try their hand at putting all the pieces together!

My first puzzles were taken on by choosing a piece, any piece, and then looking for a fit to it from another piece. It wasn’t long before the realization hit that this approach could take forever!! And it might find the puzzle just going back into the box, never to be completed!

Think about this as it relates to taking on your business goals … be it a marketing goal, product development goal, a scheduling goal, etc. Where do you begin? Do you jump into the heart of the goal or into any specific part of accomplishing the goal and build from there? Maybe you look up a “how to” that addresses a piece of what you need to do, but not all of it?

Going back to jigsaw puzzles, my success came when I applied a natural innate common sense process used by many:

Look at the goal – the picture of the completed puzzle.

Identify the pieces that must be connected for achieving this goal and all their demographics – shapes, colors, edges. etc

Identify the location of these pieces. (place the different types of pieces into like piles).

Create a mapping of the pieces and flow of connectivity. For example, work on the straight edges first , places the colors in respective areas inside the boundaries, as related to the puzzle picture/goal, and find matches by the types of edges.

What will keep the energy going, i.e. which areas within the puzzles might be easier to complete first and keep the interest alive.

What will be the best way to deliver the finish product to all who participate? Photo & back in the box? Laminate and place on the wall? A stack of finished puzzled on the book case?

The plan is in place, GO!
It’s a pretty simple and natural process and a fun one! It keeps the eye on the goal And it’s a process behind pretty much if not all the How To’s we use in business. It just gets hidden with added complexities!!!

It’s a process I bring awareness to for our use in achieving business goals. I have labeled it T.H.E., a 7 step process, directive, for making the achievement of business goals simpler AND more efficient & successful.

Stop putting goals you might have, back in the box before they are achieved. Reach out to know more … I welcome complimentary conversations,

Let’s successfully complete all the puzzles on your desk!

Here’s to your communications success!

#communicationsstrong

margie

$197

Instagram Reels? Stories?  Snapchat? TicTok? LinkedIn LIVE?  Twitter Chat? Video? Podcast? Flyers? Ads? Text?  FB Messenger?  Text?  Direct Message? Email? Telephone?  The list is endless!!

SO MANY RESOURCES TO CHOOSE FROM? They all shout “winning” reasons for using them … so should you use ALL of them? Only a few? Do the bells & whistles make a difference?

Where do you begin? Here is something for you to try … BEGIN just like you do when looking to hire a person. Create a job description of what you need done and then interview the applicants!

Example #1:

You need a resource that will enable you to attract people to your business. The job description might be something like this:

“this job requires having access to new contacts, either directly or indirectly, that match our targeted demographics, i.e.  professionals over 40 who need guidance for changing their career. Also required is the ability to be relationship oriented, i.e. the ability to support the successful establishing of rapport; and transparently lead new contacts to an awareness of our existence.  Soft selling support is very important. Must also support trust building techniques.”

TickTok, Facebook, Instagram Reels, and LinkedIn apply.  You immediately thank and dismiss TikTok and facebook because of the age demographics. Instagram Reels & LinkedIn definitely are stronger and both can support developing  awareness. LinkedIn may have a stronger access to the targeted demographic and also multiple methods for supporting indirect & direct ways to attract contacts….. LinkedIn would get the job offer.

Example #2: 

A trainer is needed for trainings on a new machine that helps moms do the laundry. The trainer must be able to instill the simplicity of using the machine, and how it is one of a kind. 

Applicants include a pdf doc detailing each step in using the machine; a slideshow showing each step of using the machine with photos & easy to read written description below;  a recorded video; a facebook live training upon purchase. 

• The pdf and the slideshow are eliminated as not being able to simplify the process as successfully as the other applicants.
  .
• Video is intriguing as it could serve two roles … one for training and one for marketing. It can also be referred to after the initial training.
  .   
• The live facebook could be excellent for training as it allows live Q & A. It’s a lot more restrictive but could definitely deepen customer bonding and contribute towards loyalty. 
  .
  This becomes a toss up! Maybe both applicants could be hired?  OR maybe the job search continues … find more “applicants” for that PERFECT match!!

An added benefit to writing out your job descriptions for each required task in your business is that you start thinking of things that would not necessarily come to mind. In writing example #2, the live Q& A is something I hadn’t thought about until I started writing!!  You also pick up much more clarity on what you are doing and why!  

Start playing with this approach.  Use it for any task.  Who/what can best open doors?  Who/what can best nurture and lead prospects? Who/what can best service existing customers?  

Explore which resources can best support and/or deliver the messaging needed at the right time … for example, in many cases videos are not great for attracting people who are not yet looking for what you offer, as they have no reason to click the video open much less take the time to watch.  However with the right product a video might be a great for attracting … for example, if you sell camping gear, videos on our national parks, etc. might do a great job attracting future prospects.  

It all comes down to your job description. 

Worse case, this exercise, forces you to give some deeper thought to your marketing/selling needs and how you address those needs. 

Here’s to your communications success in 2022!

#communicationsstrong 

margie

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  2022 IS ABOUT CONNECTING & MAKING CONNECTIONS  ~ ~  And the best place to initiate connections for our business growth, believe it or not, is within ourself! Having clarity on the starting point of our connections with others sets the direction for what we need and seek for connections to and from our business and to and from our buyers.

To be truly connected we need to be truly emersed in all the primary components of our business … what I refer to as the trifecta of “source”
for all business communications…the buyer, our business, and our self … and it begins with ourself.

It’s a practice that is done by many at this time of the year, when we are all “bright eyed and bushy tailed” for refreshing and upping our game. But a single review of our “connectivity” at the beginning of the year is hardly enough. Without continually re-syncing our connection to ourselves and our “trifecta”… logically, emotionally, purpose and passion,etc  … gaps will open and enlarge as time slips by. Existing and new connections will become looser and looser and we can find ourselves way off track in who we are pursuing for business success. We might find ourselves lost on a path to lower paying clients, missing the mark for what our business is truly all about, simply connecting to what is easy and convenient for what will get us by? Is anything resonating??

How often should it be? Some people practice it daily with a short morning meditation. If that works for you, I applaud it!  Otherwise, no less than weekly is what I recommend.  It simply involves connecting ourselves to our business…. be you a business owner or employee. Take a quiet moment to truly connect your mind and your heart to the three elements of business conversation for your business…

1) Reflect upon yourself. Why are you a part of the industry and why and why are you in your current role? How did you get here? What are the emotions, passions, goals, values and PURPOSE for you behind being here.

2) Reflect on your connectivity with your buyers .. what do you have in common industry wise and even purpose wise with those you seek as a connection for your business.  What is the ideal mindset they will have… industry wise, career wise, goals, passion, ambition, feelings, etc. And of course how does what you offer play into the results they envision for
themselves and for the work that they do! What is the tightest connection?

3) Reflect upon all elements of your business .. the individual products and services and how they deliver results that provide the answers and solutions being sought after by your “connections!” Go through each offering, via you mind and heart, and reflect upon the value they hold for others.

Follow this practice and feel a recharging of energy within yourself to the elements of your business. Have clarity for your outreach to your connections .. where, when, how, why and WHO! Be confident, excited, ready for identifying and securing the matches that qualify as the best connections for your business success.

If you’d like some assistance for becoming familiar with your trifecta, custom training is always available. I also recommend my Content Marketing and Messaging Expertise program in which  working 1-on-1 we cover it all and more! Click here for details! 

Happy New Year!!  #communicationsstrong
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Here’s to your communications success in 2022!

margie

310-306-1453

COMMUNICATIONS! COMMUNICATIONS! COMMUNICATIONS! For 2022, it’s the new “Location! Location: Location!” cry for 2022 success!.

Happy New Year!   2022 is tomorrow and I wish you the most successful of years, business wise and health wise!   Contributing to both will be what I’m talking about here … communications!!   Have you noticed that everywhere you look, quality communications is the prescription for making everything better and positioned for success!  It is the newly recognized “glue.”

By “communications” I mean, engaging and going deeper into conversations than just surface chit chat … exploring the why’s, how’s and what’s that are behind and/or beneath what is being shared and discussed in engaging communications. You might call it “tending” to the topic at hand … giving whatever is being discussed,attention and care …”tending” to the elements within our conversations with others –  both written and verbal!

Communicating is the “newly” prescribed cure for:
– Seller to buyer success
– Leadership success
– Team and peer-to-peer success
– Management success especially with hybrid office situations
– Family success
– Relationship success
– Self-confidence success, our conversations with ourselves!

WHERE & HOW to begin?  

1. Be aware! Look for the needs & opportunities: 
   Where are your weak links with people,
   Where are your weak links with yourself?
   What needs to be strengthened?
   What needs to be “tended” to?
2. Begin engaging with what you have in common with the other person:
   What do you share?
   What is a common denominator between your lives?
   The ideas can be many especially depending upon what you are trying to improve. Maybe its:
   – how you both ended up working at the same company?
   – a currently shared success?
   – how the drive in the pouring rain was that AM?
   – liking of what one is wearing & story behind it?
   – what made you fall in love?
   …again.. something you have in common where there “is” strength”
3. Lead the conversation from the strength to the weakness and then ask questions to get agreement on the weakness. DO NOT ACCUSE anyone of weakness. The mindset is that “A SITUATION” is not working.
4. Explore and encourage a sharing of thoughts, feelings, ideas for improving,”the situation” i.e. develop a feeing of camaraderie and fellowship … remembering that both and/or all participants are respected and valuable.
5. Tend to the deeper elements of the weakness. Really nurture shared ideas and thoughts within your communications so that all discussed will be remembered and given attention after the immediate communications are over. Godeep. Go beyond surface chit chat which will accomplish nothing.
6.  Enjoy a strengthened “situation” and/or an elimination of a problem!  But keep your eye on it as it solidifies… .managing its twists and turns as all progresses into the next “situation” that needs tending to!

Can these 6 steps be applied to written communications, marketing communications, all business communications?  Absolutely, YES, the same process.is used as you develop your communications strategies.  Giving guidance and direction
on this is what I do. Apply it to simply conversations, marketing campaigns,
selling …. where ever you need strengthening and/or a sale!!

Happy New Year!! Let me know how I might be of assistance in 2022.
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Here’s to your communications success in 2022!

margie

310-306-1453
#communicationsstrong