Under Promise and Over Deliver

A mantra that I believe is extremely important to keep as a business ethic. The idea of under promising but over delivering may sound puzzling to some, and even a marketing disaster to others but the benefits of this outweigh …

How to get a promotion and the 15 minute rule

1. Do you deserve a promotion? First things first you need to be able to look at yourself and see if you actually warrant a promotion. More times than not traits that we don’t like in other people we can …

Re-branding and continuity

When it comes to re-branding, much like any other business, many things have to be taken into consideration. Re-Branding usually tends to need an excessive amount of planning; and as the 6 P’s go: Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. …

Time Management

It can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking you have all week to accomplish all the things that you have lined up for the week. Your weekend is over and it can sometimes be a little bit hard to get into that motivational spirit that you need to achieve everything you need to achieve.

In my previous post, I addressed the issues of writing things down, this has never been truer than when organising your time. Self-motivated people tend to have a passion that makes them get things done; however, it can be difficult to get in to routine on a Monday when you’ve just had the weekend off (that is if you’re lucky enough to have the weekend off!).

Do you prioritise?

One of the most basic, but fundamentally important skills, of independent time management is being able to see what high priority is and what low-priority is. Is a client dependant on you to keep their business moving by meeting a deadline? This is what I would call a high-priority case, when you have people relying on you then these requests must be met otherwise you are in danger or jeopardising your own relationship with clients.

Lesser priority cases are things that need doing, but do not need doing now – it’s important to make sure you deal with high-priority immediately, as the more they are put off then the worse the eventual results will be as it will feel rushed but you also put unnecessary pressure on yourself, which can even ultimately affect your health.

Do you procrastinate?

Do you spend endless time worrying about what you’re going to do as oppose to just doing it? I don’t think anyone has ever not felt this, but only the successful manage to get this right by moving on. Time is very valuable, and as the saying goes, Life’s too short so you should make the most of all the time are given. It can be easy to become your own counter-productive worst enemy. Give yourself deadlines, and stick to them, get a diary and write it down if needs be! Just by keeping on top of your work and planning in advance how you intend to spend certain amounts of time will work in your favour. Trust me… I learned the hard way!

Just remember Prioritise not procrastinate

Develop a great idea!

Have you ever sat on a great idea? Of course you have, we all have! We all have great ideas but don’t always act upon them.

There’s always an excuse; but if you ever want your idea to work then you have to do it now!

Write this down

This will amaze you! Do you know why, and even how, most people succeed in their goals that seem so difficult? No. It’s easy, they write it down.

How to focus your attention

On a day to day basis, there will be many missed opportunities that you don’t even realise. The human mind can only hold so much information, and things we think we may remember we often don’t. By writing down any goals you have and putting them in an easy to view place you give yourself a constant visual reminder. This helps you focus and keeps you heading in the right direction.

I didn’t believe this strategy could possibly work yet through my degree I thought I would give it a try. I gave myself a goal, bought a diary; and wrote down anything I wanted to achieve. This worked for me, and I was never one for excellent organisation but I now think I stand a fighting chance. In my kitchen I have 4 major things written down that I would like to achieve. I see these before I leave my door every day; they are etched in my head. I’ve also already completed two of my main goals considerably sooner than I think I would have if I had not had a constant stimulant as I left. I made an equivalent post it note at work that sits on my desk too. I look at it and it reminds me to keep my eye on the prize.

Trying to remember too many things can result in you struggling to put things in the correct priority order in your head. Things that matter can be thought about but it is difficult, near on impossible, to keep your mind focused on one thought process. You could end up concentrating on something less important and having to rush something that deserved more of your attention.

Writing it down is not the same as typing it!

Typing is a skill set that you have learnt over time, and for generation x this is going to become less and less of a problem but typing something does not etch things in your mind as well. It’s been proven by the NHS that writing is more effective as a learning tool.

 

Taken from the NHS site:

The researchers say that during the act of writing, there is a strong relationship between how the brain processes the information and the sensory and positional feedback it gets from holding the device. 

The importance of continuity in branding

You’ve created a brand; that may seem like the hard part is done and dusted, but how far away from the truth do you already know that to be? In the world of business nothing comes easy; but those who work hard are rewarded with recognition and very often financial gain.

Continuity is a vital aspect to any brand. Think how easy it is to spot that red Coca Cola can in the supermarket; the brand recognition is almost instant. I doubt very much people have to read to see what is a can, or bottle of Coke. By keeping the same theme across your products with a constant logo you are subconsciously offering your potential customers easy accessibility.

This applies to your online world. Your website; your twitter, your facebook, your instragram; and whichever other social media outlets you are using. If these are all different, not only does it present an unprofessional image but it also is damaging your brand by losing an incredibly valuable asset from the consumer; trust.

Customer perception of your brand cannot be undervalued; this is your platform to get your message across but also deal with your customers in, almost, real-time! Make sure that when you send your customers an e-mail; no matter what, that you always keep your branding in mind! You can easily set up an e-mail signature in programs like outlook. Use these every time you use an e-mail; even internally. It will help your brand overall to do this!

I would bet that you can identify the brand easily when I mention the Golden Arches; or the colonel. OK; they’re both fast food example but worldwide these have become famous logos. Icons if you will.

It’s understandable that businesses need to develop; if a business isn’t developing then it’s not going to be the success it could be. Change is a good thing; development is an important part of expanding your business empire but little things make all the difference. This means if you change your twitter picture then make sure it’s changed on every other aspect of social media that you are using to promote your company. It’s a re-branding overhaul that takes under 10 minutes to do! As I mentioned, it’s the little things that your customers will pick up on.

This is something that matters whether you’re a small start-up operation or a huge multi-national company. If you have these tools at your fingertips then use them as a free marketing campaign when you do update them! There’s a tweet already written for you. You can even use this to engage with your customers and find out what they think of your new brand image or logo.

Without continuity you are shooting yourself in the foot. Something as simple as changing a few pictures; and making sure your company are all on board and implement the changes at the same time will not only benefit your image but also in time, the company pocket.

Why is a blog needed in modern-day business?

An online presence is vital nowadays; there’s no getting away from it but how do you make sure that you are getting return visits to your site and providing ever-flowing quality, unique content? Simple. The power of a blog. I write on a blog to you today; and you may have a blog yourself; you will understand how to begin building your own online network but also the potential audience that you hold at your fingertips.