resolutions

2010’s Top Ten Marketing Career Resolutions.

  1. elVies-200Eat lunch with others—share a meal with colleagues. Eating alone at your desk might seem productive, but it won’t expand your career-advancing network. Make good use of the lunch hour with people inside and outside your organization.
  2. Seek high-profit areas—low-margins equal dead ends. Most of the praise and promotions go to people who work in high profit areas of companies. Learn the high performing (and high potential) parts of your business. Focus on getting a position in one of those areas.
  3. Develop your elevator speech—your brand travels by word-of-mouth. Decide what you would want people to know about you in a sentence or two. Maybe it’s that you have an MBA from a prestigious school or an in-demand skill. What makes you different in a positive way?
  4. Be the answer—figure out how to get things done. Your boss has enough on his or her plate without having to walk you through solutions. If you get an assignment, find a way to deliver the right response without wasting your boss’s time.
  5. Make the big play—assume some risk. Playing it safe won’t likely take you very far. You don’t need to constantly put yourself out on a limb, but you do need to be an aggressive change agent. In the end, it’s really the only way that you and your organization will prosper.
  6. Loosen the reins—recognize others’ skills and potential. Being a control freak won’t help you develop the strong people you need around you. Set goals and provide resources as well as reasonable oversight, but give others the freedom to find their own way of accomplishing it.
  7. Play to your strengths—get in the right seat on the bus. You always want to be open to learning new skills, but you also need to understand what you really love to do and what you’re really good at doing. The faster you identify this, the more quickly your career will advance.
  8. Learn to measure—metrics will get you everywhere. Like it or not, senior executives are increasingly demanding marketing metrics. Don’t abandon creative thinking or softer measurements like customer feedback, but also make a point to improve your analytic proficiency.
  9. Know the right people—invest your limited time wisely. Right or wrong, whom you know means a lot. Choose people who are successful themselves, appreciate your accomplishments, demonstrate a sincere interest in you and have a strong circle of influence that would benefit your career.
  10. Have some fun—lighten up now and then. There’s some truth to the “all work and no play” adage. You certainly don’t want to be the office clown, but finding humor in situations and being an enjoyable colleague will make you and everyone around you happier and more productive.

mb-2010-do-dont-v22bSuccessful Marketing Campaigns Won’t Hurt Either.

To help you along, we recently published a series of tip books titled The Little Book of Marketing Do’s & Don’ts. It’s a collection of the most viewed “Do’s & Don’ts” published by our MondoBeat newsletter. We’ve made digital versions available via SlideShare, topics include:

  • Taglines
  • Print Advertising
  • Referrals
  • Trade Shows
  • Corporate Brochures
  • Direct Mail
  • Thought Leadership
  • White Papers

Simply visit our SlideShare page to download your complimentary copy.

2009’s Top Ten Marketing Resolutions

  1. 10resolutions-4blog1Get out more—develop a social media plan. It’s relatively inexpensive and moves you into a fast developing marketing arena. To get up to speed, check out “Integrating Social Media”.
  2. Lose weight fast—clean your marketing database. If there were ever an incentive to improve accuracy and reduce excess pounds in your database, this is the year. And don’t forget about your email database, which can really pack on the pounds quickly.
  3. Reduce stress—get your brand’s assets organized. A study conducted a few years ago asserted that marketers spent approximately 30% of their time finding “stuff” — images, copy, documents, etc. There’s really no excuse with the wide range of asset management tools available.
  4. Reunite with old friends—spend more time with clients. We all know that the best source of new business is from existing customers, yet most companies continue to devote the largest share of marketing dollars to prospecting. This is the year to break bad habits.
  5. Quit smoking—smoke your competition instead. Nothing will get you further than developing true competitive differentiation. Commit to breaking free from “me too” products, services and marketing campaigns.
  6. Improve your finances—increase your marketing ROI. Justify your marketing expenditures with a measurable return on investment. Prove to your company’s executive management team that your marketing campaigns more than pay their own way.
  7. Help the environment—green your marketing program. Here’s the good news: You’ll likely save money in the process. Be sure to consider the entire marketing supply chain and make key vendors part of your environmental team.
  8. Serve others—develop a unique and timely product/service. There is opportunity in any market. Now is the time to show your ingenuity with a product or service that’s right for the times. Not launching anything new? Focus on showing how your products/services are clearly the best investment over the longer haul.
  9. Try something new—launch an innovative campaign. You need to break through the clutter more than ever, especially if you’re products/services fall into the discretionary spending category. Anyone can market through the good times when money is flowing, but next year presents an opportunity for you to separate yourself from the ordinary marketing folks.
  10. Save money—allocate your marketing budget more strategically. This approach is the opposite of being penny wise and pound foolish, which often happens during lean economic times. Spend more money where you can get the greatest return on your investment (like more dollars for a better booth space or page position) and cut the marginal stuff, even if it’s a personal favorite.

Looking for a Support Group?

Sticking to your marketing resolutions can be a tough, lonely road. MondoVox® Creative Group can provide all the strategic, tactical, creative and moral support you need to turn over a new marketing leaf. For more information, email Julia Moran Martz. Then relax, turn off the digital devices and enjoy a wonderful holiday season.

— by Larry Bauer