By Aimee Woodall
Time – who has it? And with the New Year fast approaching (Can someone please explain where 2013 went?) and the days turning into night before happy hour, it seems like everyone’s in a race against the ticking clock. There’s a lot of pressure to meet the goals you haven’t thought about since January, and even greater pressure to start 2014 off on the right foot, once and for all.
We get it. You told yourself you were going to beat the odds, increase sales, and take your business to another level. Then you snapped your fingers and found yourself eating Thanksgiving leftovers in what seemed like a matter of minutes. This year, give yourself a fighting chance by following these simple instructions:
- Prepare now. Don’t be silly and think that you can launch a full-fledged PR plan by January 2 without planning for it today. Make sure you have the basics covered (press kit, media list, goals, and the tactical steps to achieve them) or you will drive yourself and your team crazy. If you don’t have these things in place, get to work, and factor that time and those resources into your long-term forecast.
- Set reachable goals. If you own a local banana stand, you probably can’t expect to end up on Good Morning America by March, so don’t set yourself up for failure by making the impossible a priority. Set small intermediate milestones that lead up to a greater, quantifiable goal so you can track your progress every step of the way.
- Organize and systemize. If you’re living in the clutter of 2013 (or worse, 2012), there’s no way you’ll make it past Valentine’s Day. Clean out your files, put a system in place that’s easy to use, and stick with it. Heck, make “stick with the organization system” a goal, and remind yourself of it every day.
- Schedule a time for checks and balances. Twelve months may seem like a reasonable reporting period, but that doesn’t mean you have to position your blinders until next year at this time. Before 2014, schedule days when you (and perhaps, your whole team) can reassess your goals. Be prepared to shift and shuffle along the way so that your goals are what’s best for your company – not just an item on your checklist.
- Pat yourself on the back. [Nerd alert!] The Premack Principle states that “more probable behaviors reinforce less probable behaviors.” You know, eat your vegetables and then you can have ice cream. At Black Sheep, we like to reward ourselves with Champagne after a week of completed goals. Try small rewards for small goals and big rewards for big goals. As a marketer, you should know the power of a good incentive.
We know, we know. It is cold and you just want to go home, watch a sappy movie, and avoid the holidays (and the impending lecture about “where your life is going”). You’ve got a whole 1/12 of the year left and there’s much you can do; so get positive, get moving – and if you’re productive, pour yourself a glass of eggnog. Because, like we told you… rewards work.
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Aimee Woodall is the owner of The Black Sheep Agency, a Houston-based creative agency specializing in non-traditional public relations, social media, and experiential marketing. Visit them on the web at www.theblacksheepagency.com or follow them on Twitter @shearcreativity and on Facebook at Facebook.com/theblacksheepagency. You can contact Amy at 832.971.7725 or [email protected].
