In a few hours, we will be welcoming in a New Year. We’ll all be making personal resolutions (finally, to lose those last 10 pounds, organize my desk, start a garden, finish 2 novels, etc.). The pressure will be on to make it through the first 31 days of January without giving up and the call to action will be looming over our heads. Will we make it? Will we actually be able to accomplish anything? It can be quite a stressor, especially if you’ve been down that road before and you know your pattern of behavior. You don’t have to raise your hand here if this applies to you. Just nod your head…and smile.
Set Goals for Your Business
On the business side, perhaps you’ve also set some other goals to complete. There are always goals on this side to set as they never get old, they are never boring or never will you do the same thing twice. Almost never. But what’s so much fun and enlightening about setting business goals is that you get to see your hard work in action. Whether that’s on an online business that you’re developing or as a key producer in your corporate chain. Whichever side of the spectrum you fall into, it’s well worth understanding that without writing down your goals and plotting your course to success, you will not be successful. Many successful corporations have CEO’s who share their stories about their goals that they’ve set, how they worked to achieve them and the results that they now enjoy. What are your corporate or business goals for 2009?
I’ve been writing on this blog since around July of 2008 and I’ve gotten to meet and talk with a lot of interesting, smart and capable individuals in the media relations industry. Having left traditional corporate America over 10 years ago, I am still connected with my corporate colleagues, both online and offline. The corporate world is a very different world, but not so much though in terms of communications and reaching out to your customers. You still have to implement the same tools and strategies to win customers whether it’s through Twitter or whether it’s through a breakfast meeting with a potential client. In other words, customers want to see what they’re getting, why it’s so great and what makes you different than the others.
Make YOUR Blog Different
You have a corporate website or blog and perhaps you feel that it’s doing what it needs to do…but is it? Is your blog achieving the goals and objectives that you want it to? Is it attracting and retaining the readership that is specifically for your product or service? Have you sought out or marketed to those warm markets? In media relations, the job of the process is to provide information and a landing place for the potential customer once they’ve decided that they’re ready to buy. How does your media relations pitch stand up?
Looking back at 2008, I want to share just a few websites where media relations efforts seem to be a high priority on the minds of these corporate blogs or individuals. They seem to “get it” and they’re making an A+ effort to find, connect, communicate and interact with their customers.
General Motors blog: This blog is very personal, very customer-centered and approachable. It seems like GM knows how to make a corporate blog work to their advantage.
A very impressive blog from Marriott International. The CEO is the blog writer himself. Or, he addresses the audience himself. Why am I impressed? Any corporation that has the foresight to let the CEO blog is just asking for it…success that is! Everyone wants to know what the boss thinks!
The BBC blog gives a fresh insight and behind-the-scenes kind of coverage that you don’t find on most other blogs. Whatever makes you different, whatever makes you stand out is where everyone looks. The BBC site also features a voice from their bloggers and equal time to voice it. What a great way to get more visitors than to let the bloggers speak. All eyes on BBC please…
What will your corporate blog do differently in 2009 to stand out? What goals have you set for your business? Your staff? Your department? How will you implement changes for 2009?
I am a freelance writer, blogger and professional motivational speaker. I primarily focus on business content, offering my clients strategic marketing strategies for their businesses. I have been an entrepreneur for over 13 years, after having worked extensively in corporate America.
