Bet you don't have a 2011 word of mouth marketing strategy
December 29, 2010Make it easy for your customers to give feedback or offer suggestions
January 2, 2011
It’s the end of the year and inspired somewhat by Seth Godin’s post yesterday and by Lyn’s post here, I thought I’d do a review of what has happened over the last 12 months and a bit of a look forward too.
Not another ‘Year in Review’ post, I hear you say.
Well, a little but not much.
What I wanted to do was personally build on an idea that I first heard about from Chris Brogan about themes. He suggests that what works for him is to pick and focus on 3 themes in your business and life that you want to develop.
Why 3? Well, isn’t 3 the magic number? 😉
Anyway, thinking about 3 themes, my business and reflecting on what has happened over the last year, I believe my 3 themes have been:
- Investment – to give myself and the space and time to develop my ideas on this blog, other content, connections and new knowledge as I step forward into this bright new and exciting social world that I find myself in.
- Publish – fulfillment of a personal ambition to write and publish a book, which has spawned all sorts of other ideas about how we can develop this further.
- Position – development, refinement and communication of my own ‘brand’ and beliefs about what drives good, sustainable growth.
However, in the coming year, I would like to take these three themes and develop them ……coincidentally, into 3 C’s:
- Create – new and sustainable growth for clients by continuing to push myself and others to create new content, ideas and strategies that are simple, straightforward and that just work. And, content that I can share (in different formats) with clients and readers that will push them, their business and me onto new and greater things.
- Curate – I believe that many new ideas come from the mixing of conversation and this coming year I will continue to read, learn, research and share all of the good stuff that I find here on the blog, via Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and via my monthly newsletter. However, what I also want to do is two things: 1. To introduce more guest posting here on the blog as well as video interviews of authors, entrepreneurs and thought leaders on customer centric growth and the principles behind RARE Business; and 2. To develop a pipeline of books working with different authors that leverage the RARE format and themes in greater depth.
- Community – Finally, my aim is to help build and develop communities of like-minded people: here, for other people and in other formats. It is my strong belief that by working together and helping other people and their customers to come together that we can accomplish amazing things.
So, these will be my three strategic pillars for 2011.
Why do I think this is important and useful? Well, what I know for certain is that during the coming year that we will all be presented with new opportunities and ideas that can appear very seductive at the time. But, I think that in order to keep us and our businesses on track it is useful to have a handful of ‘storylines’ or ‘themes’ that we can use as strategic filters to keep us on track and guide us as we move forward.
What are going to your strategic pillars in 2011?
Thanks to alykat for the image.
19 Comments
Hi Adrian
I love the way you’ve synthesised Chris Brogan’s three themes along with elements of Seth Godin’s blog and my own suggestions for acknowledging accomplishments in 2010 prior to creation and implementation for 2011.
You’ve set yourself up with a strong, yet broad, structure for your business over the coming year, allowing for all sorts of nuances to arise. Will you keep it somewhere visible so that you can refer to it and/or review it regularly?
Look forward to seeing your business flourish over the coming year. When I’ve finished my own review over the next few days, I’m inspired to use this structure, as I think it will help me distill what to focus on for this year, whether professionally or personally.
Many thanks and warmest wishes
Lyn
Hi Lyn,
Thanks for your comment and I am glad that you liked the way this has pulled a number of ideas together (your included). I guess that’s me off to a flying start when it comes to the ‘Curation’ bit.
As for keeping it visible and reviewing it regularly, it’s something that I’ll keep written in my ‘notebook’ and will ‘pass by’ constantly so it’ll stay front of mind.
Thank you also for your best wishes for 2011 and I look forward to seeing your themes and seeing your business grow and flourish too. Let me know if there is any way I can help.
All the best,
Adrian
New Year’s greetings to you, Adrian, and to all who participate in the community of interest we share regarding customer-centricity!
Three is the ‘magic’ number because it is the smallest number of points that provide both a stable platform and flexibility to adapt to a changing environment. You could have one great idea and a wide base (sort of a soapbox like one sees at Speaker’s Corner), but it doesn’t stand the test of time when the ground shifts a little. A platform based on three points however can provide stability and flexibility — much like the telescopic legs of a photographer’s tripod.
Three also forms a triangle of insight, where you can explore the individual points of view, the connections between pairs, the commonalities of the three in tandem, and even the framing of what is inside and outside your scope of focus.
As for your three choices, Adrian, they all resonate well with the behavior I have seen from you these past months and strike me as the way to take a RARE business to the next level. I’m looking forward to joining you at some points along that journey!
Marc
Marc,
Thank you for those insightful comments.
Actually, the RARE philosophy is based on a 3-legged ‘growth’ stool with Customer focus, people and leadership being the 3 legs. However, I really like your explanation about why 3 is the magic number.
Marc, this is a customer centric trip that many of us are on and I look forward to sharing and enjoying different parts of the journey with you.
Adrian
Excellent post.This was actually what I was looking for, and I am glad that I finally came here! Thanks for sharing the such information with us
Hi,
Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment. Glad that the post was useful.
Adrian
Adrian,
I think 3 just works. It is kind of like the seasons, you can count on it.
http://www.vic.australis.com.au/hazz/number003.html
Bill
Hi Bill,
Thanks for dropping by and Happy New Year to you and your family.
I guess 3 is the one that works. I, particularly, like from your link the idea that 3 is the least number of straight lines needed to surround something. Brilliant!
Adrian
You may have not intended to do so, but I think you’ve managed to express the state of mind that a lot of people are in. The sense of wanting to assist, but not knowing how or wherever, is something lots of us are going via.