Check your progress at mid-year.
Have you set Communication goals for your business this year? Goals that might include developing a newsletter, blogging, speaking, doing media outreach?
Yes, these are daunting activities; many business executives focus more on the day-to-day operations of getting things done than on the bigger Communication picture.
Here are some ideas to address:
- Have you launched or continued a newsletter?
- Is your blog current? Are you blogging regularly?
- Have you written an article for the blog of another company, LinkedIn or Medium.com?
- Have you published an article in an industry publication that prospective clients read?
- Have you spoken at an industry conference or a networking group?
- Have you connected with reporters who cover the market sectors for which your insights are most relevant?
- Have you circulated that news story in which you were quoted?
If you did set goals, the end of the second quarter is a good time to reassess. Consider where you stand with the goals you outlined. Is it appropriate to KEEP them, DROP them, MODIFY or SET NEW GOALS?
If you didn’t set goals, you still have time to do so now.
Pause to look at the big picture.
This Month’s Tip
Make an appointment with yourself to address one of these Communication goal questions each day for the next week. As a reminder, when setting a Communication goal, the acronym S M A R T guides you to successful completion of the goal. This list integrates several versions of S M A R T:
Specific – Rather than contact the media, commit to email two reporters each week to introduce myself as a source for comment.
Meaningful – Understand why this goal is important to you.
Action Oriented – Develop steps to help you arrive at this goal.
Realistic – Assemble your resources – knowledge, funding, technology – to ensure you will reach this goal.
Timely – Set a date when you will complete this goal.
Contact
Don’t go it alone. To help you (and myself) get a better handle on setting goals, I’m creating an accountability group where each person is accountable to the group on a monthly basis and to a partner on a weekly basis. Frequent check-ins and peer pressure spur members to work towards their individual goals and to support their peers. If this approach appeals to you, contact me at Janet@JanetLFalk.com, book an appointment here or call me at 212.677.5770. Let’s count on each other as we work to meet our respective Communication goals.
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