Canadian Small Business Women

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Planning for success

sandra

We’re already at the half-way mark of the month of October! The last quarter of the year always seems to go much faster than the first three for some reason. Sometimes I wonder if it’s just me because I always feel the need to end the year with a bang 😉

One of the things on my current to-do list is to complete my plan for 2017. In the last 5 years or so, I have dedicated time in the fall to reflecting on the present year as well as putting together the plan for the upcoming year. I’m sure we’ve all heard it said that a goal without a plan is just a dream. I know that I personally haven’t been able to accomplish anything of real significance without a plan to make it happen.

Whether everything went according to that plan is a completely different story! If there’s anything I’ve learned in planning my goals and helping clients with their own, it’s that things rarely go exactly as planned. The reason for this is that we make the plan with a limited understanding of what’s possible, no matter how open minded we are. As we take action on our goals, receive guidance from others and test the waters, we learn new things that often alter the course, but never the final destination.

An important part of the plan for me is taking the time to celebrate our accomplishments to-date. We can sometimes downplay the progress we’ve made because we’ve set such high expectations of ourselves. I know from personal experience that it’s when we take the time to acknowledge the small wins that we can focus our energy on attracting even bigger ones.

Planning before the start of the year helps us set the tone for 2017. With an established plan now, we know exactly what to do when the New Year starts! It also gives us the opportunity to share our plan with people we know will support you and hold you accountable. It’s about really setting ourselves up for success, not only with the creation of the plan, but making sure that we have everything and everyone we need in place to support us in achieving our goals.

Take the time to start planning your New Year. Trust me, you’ll be glad you did! This doesn’t have to be a chore; you can have fun with it. Plan a girls’ night in and make vision boards. Do a family exercise where everyone shares one thing they want to achieve for the year and everyone brainstorms (in a positive supportive way) different options to make those goals a reality! Planning for 2017 is about creating your future, what can be more exciting than that?

If you want some support in creating your plan for the New Year, join me the weekend of November 11-13 for the Jump Start Your Year Retreat in Blue Mountain! Visit http://bit.ly/jumpstartyouryear for more information.

Sandra Dawes is a certified life coach specializing in helping women who feel unfulfilled with their 9-5 follow their dreams and pursue their passions. She holds an Honours BA, an MBA as well as a certificate in Dispute Resolution. She has completed her first book,Embrace Your Destiny: 12 Steps to Living the Life You Deserve!

Connect:

www.embraceyourdestiny.ca

www.facebook.com/embraceyourdestiny

www.facebook.com/embraceyourdestinythebook

www.twitter.com/sandradawes

How to develop your story for the media

CHuntly

Once you are ready to start planning for your media relations outreach campaign, the first thing you should do is make sure that what you have to say is relevant not only to your audience, but also to the media. You have to make sure that the story you are telling is the right mix of brand and human interest to make the media want to talk about.

Here are 5 ways to make sure that the story you are telling is media-worthy:

#1: Brainstorm

There are few things that are more satisfying than a great brainstorm session! The key is that whether you are having a solo session or a group session, no idea is a bad idea at the initial phase of the process. I like to get as many ideas on paper as possible then eliminate them one by one until I am down to the final 1 – 3 ideas. Then I look a bit deeper into those final ideas to make my final decision.

#2: Play Devil’s Advocate

I am sure you have heard that we are our own worst critic. Well, when you are taking your story to the media, this isn’t a bad thing. It will help you edit out the stuff that will weaken your story. Ask yourself tough questions and be hard on the idea. If you can answer to all of the things you are saying, then you know you have a great idea on your hands. If you are left more confused than ever, then you likely have to go back to the drawing board and tweak your idea some more.

#3: Compare to competitors’ stories

While you don’t necessarily want to get into a rut of “well they’re just doing it better,” you have to see what your competitors are doing so you can push yourself a bit when it comes to creativity as well as differentiating yourself. It doesn’t make sense to pitch the exact same story to the media as your competitors have done, however, you have to take into consideration whether they were successful with their story or not. If they were successful, look at similar elements you could focus on for your own story. If it wasn’t, then find a completely different approach.

#4: Talk about it

Once you have either narrowed down your options or you have landed on that great story, talk about it to family and friends. Gage their reaction. You can generally tell whether someone finds your idea interesting or not, and, on occasion you might find that friend who will be totally honest with you. Take the reactions and constructive criticism and apply it to your idea where appropriate.

#5: Develop consistent messaging

After your idea has been tweaked and criticized, you should have a great story idea to pitch. Now you have to build the foundation for your outreach by creating messaging that will be used throughout your pitches, media releases, media kits, etc. Your messaging document should be short points that outline your brand story. Consistency is key, and repetition will get you remembered.

 

Candace Huntly is the Founder and Principal at SongBird Marketing Communications, an award-winning agency working to take organizational and individual brands to the next level. With a passion for all things related to creativity and strategy, she specializes in business intelligence, marketing & branding, content strategy & development, media & influencer relations, and social media. Basically, if you need to put your brand, product, or cause in the public eye, she will find a way to do it, while making it unique to you.

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