So Here’s Your Challenge

Do you look for shortcuts in order to more efficiently reach your goals?  Do you feel jealous when others achieve before you do?  If so, it’s not surprising: you’ve been programmed that way.  Many organizations set annual goals for their employees; they follow-up with annual evaluations.  Compensation is tied directly to achievement… and the cycle continues.  You’ve been programmed.

Have you ever been in a situation where someone has used a word that seemed wrong?  Or maybe out-of-place, suboptimal, or or ill-considered?  Each of these three words means something slightly different, and each tugs a slightly different emotional chord, although in this case, they are all negative.

How much spam do you get in your email box each day?  Probably too much.  How many Social Media “updates” do you read each day?  Probably too many.  And how relevant are they?  Not.

Most successful executives are bombarded with emails, voicemails, text messages, Social Media messages, and a queue of people looking for feedback or approval. With their attention so divided, how much time do they have to be creative, do their own analysis, or even digest the big picture?

How often do you read a blog post or listen to a podcast that was just not relevant?  Or from the content creator's perspective, how do you make sure that your content is relevant, makes a difference, and achieves its objectives?

Have you ever been in a situation where you answered someone’s question, and you’re sure that they didn’t “get” your answer? Or have you tried to explain an issue to a work colleague – and all you get is a blank stare?

If you have spent any time on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok (and now, sadly, LinkedIn), you may have been the victim of over-sharing. You are subjected to pointless, and often narcissistic postings, often from people and organizations that should know better.

While the impact on you is wasted time, the posters often don’t consider the brand impact of their actions: Every posting, comment, picture, or video, tugs the brand in one direction or another.

With all of the wheel-spinning and effort spent on social media, wouldn’t it be nice to actually use it to grow sales? Not improve awareness, develop the brand, help with marketing, or “continue the conversation”. But actually sell.

Project managers the world over build Gantt charts, PERT charts, Work Breakdown Structures.  They focus on delivering on-time, on-budget. No matter your role, is there something that can be learned from the profession of project management?

How do you determine the ROI on your marketing and sales investments?

Unfortunately, most marketers focus on the conversion rate - say 5%.  But this is a fundamental error: what about the other 95 per cent that haven't converted? What can be done about them?