small business - Stealth Creative

One huge advantage of digital marketing is that real-time data is available to show you how effectively your campaign is engaging your audience. Another advantage is that you can use that data to make informed decisions about ways to increase that engagement, even mid-campaign.

That’s why it’s important to work with a marketing partner who believes in the power of data and has the experience and discipline to read and respond to the story it tells.

At Stealth Creative, we’re devoted to data. We think being able to identify key metrics, dig into the numbers and communicate results in clear language is table stakes. What we do with those results to fine-tune tactics, placement and frequency is the real difference-maker.

To the person with only a hammer, all problems look like nails.

Because our digital clients represent a wide array of industries, we use an assortment of digital tools and platforms to drive the results they desire. Whether it be ecommerce, ticket sales, form fills or email opens, we never lose sight of our goal to deliver a strong return on investment for our clients.

We may design a programmatic digital display campaign to reach a custom audience, create and optimize an ecommerce search campaign, drive form fills, create segmented content for an email campaign and improve a customer’s Google review ratings—all to ensure our clients’ marketing dollars are being spent efficiently.

Here are some examples:

Ecommerce FTW

A recent ecommerce search campaign for one of our national health and beauty clients produced a return on ad spend of 33:1. Not only did we track spend and correlate it with product sales, through access to their ecommerce and Google Analytics, we also were able to identify the users who made purchases from the campaign, which products they purchased, the dollars spent and other identifying characteristics. With this information, the client was able to send personalized messages to folks who made purchases for similar products or routine maintenance.

Reach for the Stars

We all know how important online reviews have become for companies. Some of our clients have asked us to help them develop a strategy to engage with customers so they will leave reviews or contact the company directly if they are not satisfied with the product. By working with one of our clients in the insurance industry, we identified customers who had recent contact with the company and created a personalized email asking them to leave a 5-star review. This approach resulted in a significant increase in the ratings for our clients.

Getting Social

A well-planned and developed social media campaign helped one of our entertainment clients set a record attendance at their event. More than $56,000 in ticket sales resulted from a spend of $3,600.

Making a Stronger Impression

Our media buying, from traditional to digital, is handled in house, resulting in greater efficiency for our clients. We took the Joplin Convention and Visitors Bureau’s digital media buying in house and reduced their cpm by 40 percent, which allowed us to buy an additional 1.2 million impressions. For more details, check out this case study.

News that Just Clicks

Madison Mutual Insurance Company wanted to increase the opens and clicks on their policyholder newsletter. Our solution was to segment the newsletter by geography and policyholder type. The result was an increase of 36 percent in opens and 250 percent increase in clicks. For more details, read the full story.

Want to know more?

Spend some time with our other case studies or drop me an email at ckolsky@stealthcreative.com.

About the Author

Charlie Kolsky is a digital and analytics specialist who’s dedicated to delivering results for our clients. He’s also a pretty mean pickleball player.

Maybe your company has its external, customer-facing communication dialed in to a T.

You’re seeing results. Sales are up.

That’s great! But have you been putting the same effort into your internal messaging?

It’s okay to admit if you haven’t. The customer comes first, right? Right. But…

While maintaining relationships with customers and winning new ones may be your primary objectives, keeping your people engaged and informed should be just as much of a priority. Strong internal communication not only helps maintain the health of your company, it also helps protect the bottom line.

And it’s not as simple as repurposing your existing customer communications or firing off a few company-wide emails. You’ve got to be strategic and consistent from the ground-up.

In other words, you have to be in touch with the intrinsic values of your organization.

Invest in ‘The Employee Experience’

Work environments and employee priorities are evolving at a quicker pace than ever before, so it’s never been more important to make sure your HR and workforce teams are on the same page.

The journey your employees take during their time at your company and the various factors that affect their satisfaction, productivity and longevity—that’s the employee experience.

Benefits, compensation, work-life balance, work environment and company culture all shape this experience, but a good internal communication strategy should be the common thread that unites all of these elements. Because:

1. A good employee experience fosters loyalty. You want to retain and grow the employees you have. Not only because turnover inherently costs more, but also because experienced employees can become powerful ambassadors for your brand.
2. A good employee experience means you’ll be attractive to prospective employees. There is a lot of fierce competition for good candidates; you have to put your best foot forward wherever you can.
3. A good employee experience is defined by and maintained through solid internal communication. People work better when they know what’s going on and believe in what they’re doing.

If you take nothing else away from this post, at least take this: IT’S NOT A GIVEN THAT YOUR EMPLOYEES ARE FIRM BELIEVERS IN YOUR BRAND.

If the goal of internal marketing is to wind up with fulfilled employees who are nothing short of walking brand ambassadors (it is), they must have a firm grasp on your company, processes and offerings. Effective internal communication gives your team an opportunity to be more active in the company, from onboarding to further training and company education.

Turning Inward

No matter how big or small your business, it’s easy to focus so intently on external or product messaging you’re putting out into the world that you lose sight of what’s going on right under your nose.

And even though it may seem overwhelming, getting your internal game aligned doesn’t have to be a mammoth task. Just remember:

Customer-facing and internal-facing materials should go hand-in-hand. In many cases, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Your existing marketing materials are often a good starting place for employee education. This product explainer video we created for Friendship Village employees is a perfect example of creative that’s adaptable for internal and external use.

Internal marketing strategy is just as important as external strategy. Just as you would define goals for your marketing and/or sales teams, you should develop a roadmap for your internal processes at all levels, too. What does success look like? How can your leadership and HR teams help to lift up other departments?

Tactful Tactics

From digital onboarding programs, to training videos, to business accountability tools, there are plenty of ways to maintain the health of your organization on all levels.

Live-action or Animated Video

Display, Search and Geo-targeted Ads

Recruitment Collateral

Branded Digital Onboarding Portals

Professional Development Training

Business Accountability Tools & Partnership

Consider your audience. What methods are going to be the most memorable—even fun—for them to engage with? What processes need to be improved? What are some hurdles management keeps running into?

The right combination of tactics depends on the nature of your company. Whether you’re in need of recruitment help or professional development training depends on your current needs or goals.

Make Sure Your Marketing Is In Sync

The way you talk to your employees can be the difference between success and failure.

Just imagine if your company had the tools to INVIGORATE your current employees, ATTRACT future candidates and BUILD a base of enthusiastic brand ambassadors from the inside out.

That’s precisely why it’s time to consider Stealth Internal Marketing — and we have case studies to prove the benefits for your business.

As the US literally blossoms back to life around us, leisure travel is quickly picking up steam. With each passing day, more and more people are planning road trips, weekend getaways, even full-on vacations. In fact, 56% of Americans expect to travel for leisure this year.*

Considering the year we just had, that’s huge.

And if you’re a member of a Convention and Visitors Bureau hoping to attract visitors to your community, Stealth has one simple message for you:

Start advertising. Now!

This is a fresh opportunity for your community to shine as an attractive destination. An opportunity to be top-of-mind as tourists reemerge. The easiest, most effective way to do this is through digital advertising (which happens to be one of our strengths).

Travel on Their Minds: The State of The States

In a previous blog, Heads in Beds: The Stealth Way, we outlined the general, day-to-day challenges convention and visitors bureaus face. That was, of course, before a global pandemic rocked the tourism industry worldwide. Since then, many CVBs have had to be creative about what attractions they promoted amid shutdowns (if promoting anything at all).

But as 2021 roars back to life, there are undeniable factors driving the resurgence of domestic tourism…

Americans are so ready to travel. Many people have been stuck at home for a year. Families are ready to get the kids out and engaged with the world again. Consumer confidence is steadily rising, as more and more folks are getting protected by the vaccine.** The American road trip is alive and well!
Americans have spending money. Financially, American households stayed relatively strong during the pandemic.† Thanks to stimulus packages, historically low borrowing rates and the propensity for Americans to pay down debt and start saving during times of social distancing, CVBs now have a critical opportunity to cash in as spending increases once again.
Americans still want to support local. While Stealth can help you get in front of audiences across the nation, it’s important to keep in mind that some of your community’s best opportunities for support may not need to come from hundreds of miles away. While local businesses were undoubtedly hit hard in 2020, over 82 percent of consumers say they’d spend more to support state and local businesses after the pandemic.†† This sentiment is great news for your small boutiques and quaint brunch spots. Let’s remind the folks nearby

Be Where the People are Looking with Stealth Digital

So, it’s clear that the world is opening back up, and that you should be advertising to take advantage of it. (Like, yesterday!)

Now is the time to spotlight what’s special about your community—whether it’s indoor or outdoor-based! Get some traffic back through your museums, shops, restaurants and parks.

In addition to the full range of traditional advertising tactics we offer, Stealth will work with you to reach a larger audience with tactics like paid search, social media, content marketing and reviews when the user shows interest in travel.

If your community has an attractive mix of activities or destinations to offer—and you’re able to get in front of would-be visitors while in the planning stage—you’ll be in their consideration set for sure.

It’s time to get the word out. Let us help!

Joplin CVB Campaign Results

Not Just Your Vendor. Your Partner.

Whether you are a smaller community CVB with a team of five or less, or a big town with a fully functioning marketing department, Stealth Digital will integrate with you seamlessly to help you define and achieve your marketing goals.

We pride ourselves on our ability to be an extension of your existing marketing team, not a replacement.
We have experience working with local CVBs. We’re familiar with your pain points. We know how to address your concerns.
We are motivated to help America’s communities get back to business and we can help yours reach a larger, more optimized audience than ever.

Don’t miss out. Because NOW is the time

References:
* https://www.travelagentcentral.com/hotels/stats-56-expect-to-travel-for-leisure-2021#:~:text=Compared%20to%20last%20year%2C%2036,and%20third%20quarter%20of%202021.
** https://usafacts.org/visualizations/covid-vaccine-tracker-states/
† https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-16/the-american-consumer-is-flush-with-cash-after-paying-down-debt
†† https://mint.intuit.com/blog/money-etiquette/buying-local-statistics-survey/

Like most small businesses in the US, Stealth is adjusting to the new normal of social distancing. We’re working from home, taking guitar lessons on zoom and going to church on YouTube. We are finding it’s harder to decline a virtual happy hour. What can the excuse be? I am too busy. That doesn’t seem to work in times like these!

How We're Helping

As a company, we are helping our clients in different ways, depending on the category. We are reducing media for some and increasing for others. Some clients, we’re advising to keep a “heartbeat” of media going, so they can jump in faster once we are on the other side.

We are also looking at short term digital solutions and moving dollars between mediums. Social media is a good alternative! People are engaging more with family and friends and turning to social media for entertainment and news. Social allows us to stay light on our feet as messaging changes daily, sometimes hourly.

To help businesses in this time of need, we are offering a free 60-minute consultation to give you ideas and action plans for your business! Please email info@stealthcreative.com to sign up.

At Stealth, we are thankful for the internet! Right now, we are all one step from being Little House on the Prairie. We plan to take this one day at a time, but now with everyone being able to work remotely, we can take it one month at a time, which is comforting.

Take a Breather

If you have anxious moments, designate 15-30 minutes each day to write down what you are worried about then cross off everything you can’t control. This exercise can be a great way to refocus on your day and enjoy time with family.

Remember the six basic emotions we all have:

Mad
Sad
Scared
Peace
Joy
Power

Let’s focus on Peace, Joy, Power.

Working Remotely

If you can work from home during these challenging times, remember it’s a luxury that some can’t enjoy. Embrace the back to basics shift!

We aren’t experts yet, but with a few weeks under our belts, we’ve decided to compile some tips from our employees about how they are making their home offices a productive workplace.

Here are our tips so far:

Thank You!

We are sending gratitude, love, prayers and support to the essential workers who have been working around the clock to fight COVID-19.

Life is good; you are a blessing! THANK YOU to all the businesses that made the difficult decision to work from home while we fight this virus as a country. You are making a difference.

Though the world continues to change around us, convincing travelers to spend time in our own little slice of it remains a top objective and a driving economic force for many towns, both large and small.

In fact, tourism marketing is a major contributor to the United States economy, accounting for approximately 2.75 trillion U.S. dollars in 2018.

So, who’s in charge of attracting all of those visitors (and dollars)?

At the heart of the local tourism industry are Convention & Visitor Bureaus (CVBs). The CVB is the organization that pulls individuals and groups together to market their community as a whole. Hotels, restaurants, local attractions and event promotion teams all work with their local CVB to attract visitors and locals to their businesses.

Many CVBs get their marketing dollars from state agencies and local hotel taxes. The job of the CVB is make sure there are “heads in beds” at local hotels, motels and bed and breakfasts.

But what if your community doesn’t have a pro sports team, a vibrant food scene or some of the other attractions larger cities might offer?

Small markets must take a unique approach to advertising their communities. More creativity is required in determining what is considered an “attraction,” and more strategy is needed in order to speak to potential visitors in a compelling way. (For example, there is a rising number of travelers looking for experiences that are “off-the-beaten-path,” or of historical significance. This is where a smaller community can shine!)

The Challenges Convention & Visitor Bureaus Face

But even after a town has identified what to say and how to say it, smaller CVBs will continue to face the same key challenges:

Staffing
It is typical for a smaller community to have a small CVB staff. Many CVBs are staffed by one individual who is responsible for everything from marketing their community, to acting as a step-on guide, to organizing local events to overseeing social media for their community. All of this is in addition to the daily rigor of managing a budget, attending city functions and many other administrative tasks. Therefore, self-promotion efforts are limited or too often pushed to the back burner.
Budget
A smaller community, with no large-scale attractions, is going to have less money to use in marketing their community. They are going to have to work closer with other businesses in the community to make those funds go further and will have to be creative in how they spend their money to receive the best ROI.
Attractions (or lack thereof)
Among the largest challenges for smaller communities is how to answer the question: “But what is there to do here?” And sometimes the struggle isn’t always just from outsiders. If your city doesn’t have an attraction that brings in thousands of people a year, it’s easy for even your locals to think that there is nothing to do.

It all comes down to time, money and resources.

If your staff is being pulled in many different directions, it’s important to bring in someone who can help take responsibilities off their plate. That’s where a marketing agency comes in.

When you hire an agency, you have a full team of people ready to assist with all aspects of your marketing plan. From marketing strategy, to creative design, to media placement, working with an agency increases your staff multifold. You’ve got graphic designers, digital and brand strategists, experts in all types of media placement and account executives to help keep everything on track.

With more than 50 years of combined experience in CVB marketing and media placement, Stealth Creative can help you find the best venues for marketing your community. We have staff that have worked for CVBs and have seen the challenges up close. Based on who your ideal visitor is, we can assist you in determining the best way to reach those individuals. With so many options out there, it’s important to have an expert in your corner, helping to make the most out of the limited budget you might have.

One of the CVBs we currently work with has lost several attractions over the past few years. Their focus has now turned to the local art scene, foodies who travel for the experience of eating unique cuisine, American history buffs, and individuals who want more active vacations – hiking, biking and canoeing are all great options in this area. Stealth has been able to help this CVB determine new target markets and opportunities to promote what makes their city great… and then make sure they are advertising to the travelers that are most likely to visit!

No one can be an expert in everything. But you are an expert on your community. Let Stealth be the experts in marketing your community.

As always stay tuned until the next time we go Off the Radar.

Photo Courtesy of the Joplin Convention & Visitors Bureau.

That is the question… Ah, meetings – often, a necessary evil. And when handled properly, they can be extremely effective in accomplishing business objectives, moving projects forward and opening lines of communication.

But when handled poorly, they quickly become the bane of our ‘working’ existence.

The Scenario

It’s 9:55 a.m., and a crucial meeting starts in five minutes. You grab your notebook, tablet, laptop or whatever tool you use to take notes, and head off to the meeting room. It’s pitch black. You’re the first to arrive. You sigh, roll your eyes, and head into the room, flipping on the lights and dialing into the screen-share conference call.

And…you wait. And wait. And wait. ⌛️

At 10:10 a.m., people start rolling into the meeting room. Finally, the meeting can begin. But, one of the necessary attendees still hasn’t arrived. Everyone decides to proceed, as it’s already well after the start time of the meeting.

You’re 10 minutes into the agenda (oh wait…do you have an agenda?), and that necessary attendee walks in, interrupting, and asking: What’d I miss?

Not wanting to be rude, the meeting organizer reviews what’s already been discussed, putting the entire meeting behind by yet another five minutes – and wasting the time of those who already had this discussion.

Once caught up, the meeting continues, random things are discussed in no particular order, and the meeting ends with people mostly in agreement on what was shared/talked about. Everyone heads back to their desk to continue with their day.

So…what’s wrong with this scenario? A lot.

How to Run an Effective, Efficient and Fun Meeting

Let’s talk about how to avoid the late-starting, chaotic meeting outlined above with these six steps, which we’ve also worked into an infographic.

1. Decide if a meeting is truly necessary.

We’re so in the habit of scheduling meetings that we often do it by rote. And while it’s great to get together with your fellow coworkers, clients or vendors, it’s not always necessary. Meetings take time away from and interrupt the natural workflow. It’s important to think about whether or not the value from the meeting outweighs that disruption. Things to consider:

Is the meeting more informational than discussion-based?
If it’s the former, consider sending an email to share the necessary information, and provide a way for the recipients to reach out with any questions instead of scheduling a physical meeting.
How many people need to be involved?
You know the phrase: Too many cooks in the kitchen spoil the broth? The same often holds true for meetings. Many times, the meeting organizer feels s/he must include everyone vs. paring it back to the primary decision makers who must be involved. If you want to be inclusionary, send a follow-up email or provide updates on a Slack channel or other IM platform to update the meeting attendees and those who weren’t asked to attend on what was discussed/decided.

2. Have an agenda, state your objectives and assign next steps.

I have a confession to make: When it comes to a meeting, I am not an agenda kind of person. I’m more a: Let’s-get-together-and-chat kind of person. But, I am a let’s-state-our-objectives,-recap-and-assign-next-steps kind of person. But, here’s the thing: Not everyone learns and communicates in the same way, and it’s our job as the meeting host to ensure that those who need an agenda, have one – and that we stick to it as much as possible. Each meeting invite should include the following:

1. Name/purpose of the meeting, preferably in the subject line of the invite.

Example: How to Run an Effective, Efficient & Fun Meeting

2. Description of the meeting’s purpose in the invite copy.

Example: Our objective is to walk through the key steps to ensure all of our meetings run as efficiently and effectively as they can – all while still having fun at work.

3. Attach an agenda.

- Review objectives. Walk through common scenarios/challenges of meetings.
- Review best practices.
- Decide how to modify the current process to ensure effective future meetings
- Recap & open up for discussion/questions.
- Discuss next steps.
- Assign tasks and due dates.
- Determine a follow-up time to touch base.

4. Include a call-in number or screen share when you send the invite.

This is a simple thing to do, and creates less confusion than updating an invite in the future. If there’s even a chance you’ll need it, set it up before you send the invite.

3. Use Lombardi Time.

Vince Lombardi is considered by many to be one of the greatest NFL coaches of all time, named NFL Coach of the Year twice, two-time Super Bowl champion, six-time NFL champion, and inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame and the Washington Redskins Ring of Fame.He was famous for his ‘on-time-is-late’ philosophy, expecting his players to be 15 minutes early to games and practices, considering ‘on time’ to be late. While expecting employees to be 15 minutes early to meetings may not always be feasible – or necessary – showing up five minutes early should be doable.Arriving early allows everyone to get their coffee, get settled and have a few minutes for pleasantries before getting the meeting underway. This is essentially crucial if you’re the host. Nothing is ruder than making your clients, vendors or fellow coworkers wait because you’re running late.If you absolutely cannot make it to the meeting on time, let the host know; so they can proceed without wondering if/when you’ll be able to be there. And if you are the host, let the meeting attendees know you’re running late and what time they should join the meeting.I once had a boss who was so adamant about being on time, he’d lock the conference room doors the minute the clock struck 10 a.m. (or whatever time the meeting was supposed to start) and not allow anyone arriving after that time to even enter the room.

Now, that may be a bit extreme, but it definitely drove home the point. And I can tell you that after arriving late once, you never did it again.

Arriving a few minutes before the meeting start time shows consideration to all of the meeting attendees – whether internal or external – and helps the rest of the day stay on time.

4. Schedule time between meetings.

Many times, we’re running from meeting to meeting to meeting. And, sometimes that can’t be prevented. But many times it can.By scheduling 10 to 15 minutes in between meetings, you allow yourself – and the other meeting attendees – the ability to make a pit stop, gather their thoughts and ensure they can make it to the next meeting before it’s scheduled to start.Adding this little bit of breathing room between meetings can create a much calmer and more focused meeting environment.

5. Use the ‘belt-and-suspenders’ approach.

It may seem obvious, but it’s amazing how often the host of the meeting comes to the meeting unprepared. This often means the meeting attendees are forced to just ‘hang out’ while the host finds the files or sets up the technology needed to conduct the meeting, which wastes time for all.One of my mentors taught me the value of “belt-and-suspender-ing it,” as he called it. Essentially, always have a back-up plan (or two) should your first approach or tool fail.For example, let’s say you’re planning to show a PowerPoint presentation to a client. You have it saved to your laptop, and grab your standard projector connector before heading to the meeting at the client’s location.When you arrive, unbeknownst to you, they don’t have the same projector connection you do, and now you’re unable to easily switch to another alternative, instead having to search for a jump drive, save the file to the drive, and use the PC they have in the conference room.Uh-oh…you have a Mac. That means chances are the PC will render the PowerPoint presentation slightly differently, which could impact the overall quality of your presentation.

Had you taken the belt-and-suspenders approach, here’s how that situation would have unfolded. Before heading to the client’s, you would have:

Saved your PowerPoint presentation as a PDF in case you had to use a different laptop or computer to show the presentation, which wouldn’t render the PPT the same way.
Saved both the PowerPoint and PDF versions to a jump drive in case something happened to your laptop.
Ensured you had both the pin and HDMI connectors for whichever type of projector the client may have. Maybe even called ahead to find out which type they had.
Printed copies of the presentation as a last resort.

Taking these few small steps ensures that regardless of the situation you encounter, you’re prepared for it. Why? Because you not only have your belt, you added suspenders, too.

6. Tell them what you’re going to tell them. Tell them. Then, tell them what you told them.

To run an efficient and effective – and hopefully fun – meeting, follow these steps:

Chit-chat.
It may seem counterintuitive for an efficient meeting, but starting the meeting with a few pleasantries can actually put attendees at ease, and set the stage for a casual, relaxing meeting. Spend no more than 5 minutes on this, and preferably use the 5 minutes before the actual meeting start time to get this out of the way. After all, everyone arrived early, right?

Tell them what you’re going to tell them.
To ensure everyone’s on the same page going into the meeting, it’s important to open with the meeting’s objective: Why are we here? Even though it was originally included in the meeting invite, assume no one read it. Example: The purpose of this meeting is to walk through the key steps to ensure all of our meetings run as efficiently and effectively as they can – all while still having fun at work.

Tell them.
Whether you pull up your agenda from the meeting invite, as a separate Word doc or even have a printed copy for each attendee, share it so those folks who need to check-off items as they go, can do so – and to ensure the meeting stays on track.

Speaking of staying on track, one key component to work into your internal culture to avoid inefficiency and frustration of meeting attendees:

Do not recap for anyone who arrives late.
Make it known that if you arrive late to the meeting, you’ll have to wait until the end recap (tell them what you told them) to get caught up on what you missed. This helps drive the wanted behavior of arriving early or at the very least on time to internal meetings. (This isn’t always feasible for external or client meetings.) As you’re walking through the various agenda items, take time for discussion and questions as applicable to the different topics, ensure everyone has the opportunity to voice their opinion, and don’t be afraid to work in some humor and laughter along the way. After all, laughter has been shown to have a positive effect in the workplace.

“According to research from institutions as serious as Wharton, MIT, and London Business School, every chuckle or guffaw brings with it a host of business benefits. Laughter relieves stress and boredom, boosts engagement and well-being, and spurs not only creativity and collaboration but also analytic precision and productivity. Plus, cracking jokes at work can make people seem more competent.” ~Harvard Business Review: The Benefits of Laughing in the Office

Tell them what you told them.
Once you’ve completed the agenda, and the meeting is coming to a close, recap what was discussed. Don’t assume everyone was laser focused during the meeting. It’s possible to miss something crucial just because your mind wandered for a minute – or because you arrived late. Wrap it up by recapping what was discussed/decided – and confirm you accomplished the meeting objective shared at the start of the meeting.

Determine next steps and assign responsibility.
This is often the most overlooked step in holding a successful meeting. Everyone walks through the agenda, makes a few decisions, and heads back to their desk to continue on with their day. Unfortunately, when you reconvene to see if everything discussed was accomplished (if there were things yet to do), many items may still be left undone because everyone thought someone else was handling it. Instead, decide what the next steps and due dates are, when you’ll reconvene to ensure those items were handled, and which team member will be assigned the task and hold the responsibility for completing it on time.

Tell them what you told them – again.
Depending on the scope of the meeting, it’s often important to follow up after the meeting by sending notes to the attendees, outlining what was discussed and itemizing those to-do items just assigned. This not only puts into writing what was discussed during the meeting (perfect for visual learners vs. auditory learners), but also can inform any team members who were unable to attend what happened during the meeting.

So what do you think? To meet or not to meet?

The next time you conduct a meeting, you’ll be able to put these six steps into place to start holding efficient, effective and fun meetings at your workplace. And you’ll be amazed at how much more you get accomplished in less time, which is a win-win for all attendees – and for your business.

As always stay tuned until the next time we go Off the Radar.

“You manage things; you lead people.” ~ Grace Murray Hopper

Many of my clients have asked me, how do you keep yourself and your business moving forward to achieve small business success? I wish there were a simple answer, but it is complex and takes lots of focus.

Small businesses can find themselves kind of adrift at sea. I’ve created a strategy for myself, and for my team, that helps keep us focused, organized and moving the ball down the field. Ultimately, quarterly goals need to link to annual goals and so on.

To help explain my organization method, I broke it down into sections. It may seem like a lot, but it is takes hard work and dedication to be successful and attain set goals. Here we go…

Annually

The Stealth Creative leadership team develops long-term goals together. This helps get everyone involved with long-term goals and plans, and brings our team together to work together toward a common objective. These goals are usually focused around a growth goal, an employee goal or a set of financial goals. However, if you set goals and do nothing more to execute them, then nothing will ever happen.

“It is absurd that a man should rule others, who cannot rule himself.” ~ Latin Proverb

Quarterly

I like to use the 6×6 execution, which I adopted from Bill Hybils’ book, Axiom. Each leader, including myself, has six goals to accomplish within six weeks. The important thing here is that everyone’s 6×6 have be interlocked; so we’re all pushing the ball uphill together.

This can be tricky, but in my opinion, this works as a lever to really accelerate the organization. We truly work together to achieve these goals. We ask ourselves: “What should we do if we did nothing else?” An example of this would be onboarding a new substantial client.

Weekly

Every Sunday I carve out some time so that I can review and prepare for my upcoming week. Once I figure out everything that needs to be done that week, I put it on my calendar; this helps me to remember the vast amount of tasks I need to finish. I set a plan of action for the week, because a goal without a plan is just a dream.

I plan Stealth’s weekly staff meeting and prepare my agenda. One of the things I always do in our weekly staff meetings is to celebrate the successes and learn from our failures. What would we tweak if we could do that thing again? How would we do it differently if given a second chance? I also like to announce the week’s upcoming goals so everyone is informed.

Once my week starts, I’m focused on the small things that might get us closer to a certain 6×6 that needs to be accomplished. I contact people I’ve been trying to work with, or someone I would like to work with. Some of my big focuses for the week could involve preparing for meetings, onboarding new clients, hiring new employees, finishing a contract, or creating and updating to-do lists. Whatever the week throws at me, I’m ready for it.

Some of the standard weekly duties include scheduling and scheduling conflicts (things come up and you have to be prepared to move stuff around): Making new business calls, clean and file, check my email, etc. One of my weekly goals is to get my inbox down to zero unread messages by Friday, which as you could imagine is an ongoing task. I’m working on integrating the Evernote system right now to help me with this.

Focusing on long-term goals when you have a list of short-term goals or deadlines can get difficult. I like to write down 5-year, annual and quarterly goals to see how they can manifest into 6×6 goals. Sometimes it can require attaining those short-term goals to move on to something bigger.

Education and knowledge are important keys to success. Whether it is a seminar or a business book, I like to make sure I’m informed and current. How do I have time to read a book while running a successful business? It’s simple; I set aside a small amount of time each day to read. If you can read just 10 pages a day, you can read up to 12 books in a year! It’s crucial to stay up to date on what is happening in your field and the world around you. Generally when I dive in for 10 pages, I usually get in 50!

Daily

What are the most important things to do today? I can’t go home until they’re done. One of my daily goals is to read all of my email, which on a given day could be about 200. Sometimes it can get can get overwhelming trying to work with all of the incoming calls and messages. You just have to find a system that works for you.

I like to set up scheduled times that I check messages and emails. I also identify two projects to do per day. This helps me make sure that I accomplish something everyday.

I always make sure to connect with my employees, whether that be mentoring or just having lunch together. I like to walk around daily and talk to each every one, even if it’s just asking them how their day is going, or how their families are doing. I like to make sure they aren’t overwhelmed, and if they are, I assist in finding a solution to help them. It’s important for me to stay connected with my employees, because we’re working together towards a common goal.

On top of everything else, you also have to remember the little stuff. I ask myself:

Does my day support my long-term goals?
Did I remember to celebrate success?
What didn’t go right?
What did go right?
How can I learn from the things that didn’t go right?
Do any employees need to be counseled?
Is everything on my calendar?
Did I turn the oven off?

You get the idea. It is also important to make sure you carve out time for yourself. You have to make sure you don’t get burnt out, or neglect yourself or loved ones.

The real trick to staying organized is finding a method that works for you. Everyone has a different style. As long as you’re working hard to reach your own personal goals, that’s all that matters. It helps when you have a group of talented individuals working with you to reach those goals.

I want to close with a quote that really sums up why it’s important to have goals, and why being well organized is vital to reaching them. I hope this has helped or inspired you to get organized and keep your eye on the prize of small business success.

“Goals are a reflection of our character. When we reach them, we become something more.” ~ Unknown