Think creatively to break out of your rut (Photo by broterham)
Admit it. Sometimes you feel like you’re in a rut. You set goals for yourself and your firm, but they just seem tedious—more things to bog down your ever-increasing to-do list. If that’s the case, then you need to take a second look at your goals. As Jill Konrath writes in her article, Challenge Yourself: Why You Need to Set Big Goals, goals are meant to inspire you, not burden you.
To break out of that rut, challenge yourself. Set goals that seem unattainable, Konrath says. Doing so will help you to think creatively and grow your business faster than you thought possible.
One goal could be to double lead generation through social media marketing—Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. Think it can’t be done? Think again. In his podcast interview—Social Media Marketing Better than SEO for Web Traffic—Michael Stelzner, founder of SocialMediaExaminer.com, talks about how in just six months the website has generated 100,000 visitors a month using primarily social media marketing.
You also shouldn’t think that those mediums are not for B2B firms. In fact, Stelzner points out those firms laid the foundation for social media marketing, especially consulting firms. And it’s still a very young medium, with the potential to grow much more.
Bylined articles and blog posts go a long way toward making your social media marketing a success. Your website or blog can the home base to which you direct people from Twitter and LinkedIn. But getting articles published in other publications can also help with business development, says David M. Freedman in his article, How to Leverage Bylined Articles for Business Development.
“A series of articles under your byline, published in respected periodicals, builds name recognition and shows that you are authoritative, credible, and reliable—exactly the kind of adviser your clients and prospects look for,” Freedman says.
Many businesses are seeing the benefits of social media and other pull marketing strategies and are spending accordingly. This week’s chart shows that spending on inbound marketing, which includes social media channels and blogs, is expected to rise. Of the 231 businesses surveyed, 51% expect to spend more on inbound marketing tactics.
A firm’s success also depends on whether it provides environments that allow staff to excel, according to Robert Croston, John Doerr, and Mike Schultz in their article, Strong Performance Environment Key to Firms’ Revenue Growth. You might develop challenging goals, but won’t come close to achieving them if you don’t provide an environment that enables people to meet them. If you want your people to become rainmakers and help grow revenue, give them the tools, resources, and environment that allow them to do so.
