AMiable Solution #97: Get Moving. Literally

Believe it or not, spring is here.  That means you’re probably itching to get outside.  Work in the garden.  Ride your bike around the neighborhood or on the towpath.  Take the kids to the playground.  To reactivate your personal life outside of the house.

Spring is a great time to reactivate your work life outside of the office, too.  Just as getting outside can reinvigorate your mood and energy, getting outside of the office can get your pro-mojo going, too.  Schedule a meeting outside.  Meet a client at a park.  Take a prospect client to lunch at a restaurant.  Ask a new or long-standing customer for a tour of THEIR facility to see if the two of you can brainstorm new ways for your customer to market or communicate to clients.

Better yet, just get outside and take a walk around the block.  Even a quick, ten-minute walk during the work day can improve your productivity.  Exercise makes you more alert and gives you more energy, which means you’ll be more likely to tackle that next project or brainstorm that next marketing campaign with more clarity and insight.

The more you move, the better your bottom line will look, and who doesn’t want that?

AMiable Solution #96: Growing More than Green

Community involvement is—and should be—about more than getting good publicity.  It should be about your organization’s core values: how management presents them and how others adopt them.

Yes, you have a responsibility to your employer and your co-workers to provide a quality service or product and to generate the most revenue, donations, or memberships possible, but it’s also important to remember that there are other people and other organizations struggling to do the same thing.

Just about everyone can use a little support these days. 

Is one of your organization’s own suffering from an unexpected personal situation or medical condition?  Rally your organization around that person and his/her family.  Sponsor or participate in a local fundraising event or organize your organization’s own special event (we love the story about the Massachusetts company, Granite Telecommunications, that raised more than $2 million dollars for a Boston cancer hospital when 400 employees shaved their heads or beards).  Announce your support on your website and encourage customers to join you.

Does another business or organization in your neighborhood need a little extra boost?  How about giving them a shout out on your website or brainstorming a joint project or sales opportunity?  If your businesses are very different, get creative!  You never know what may result.

Has a vendor suffered a devastating loss or particularly bad time recently?  Show your support and appreciation for all of the quick turnarounds, special prices, and personal service you’ve received by being an even bigger endorser of the company’s work.  Chances are, your vendors have seen you through trying times, too.

However you define your “community,” plant something good this spring.    

AMiable Solution #95: Get Social

When was the last time you socialized with your customers or members?  Really socialized with them.  In person.  Without your iPhone or desktop.

Although online networking enable marketers to reach audiences in more personal ways than traditional marketing methods previously allowed, they still have their shortcomings. With online communications, you have the advantage of preparing and editing your words ahead of time.  However, you can’t make eye contact, give a firm hand shake, or offer a genuine smile through email or a social communication.

What’s more, the feedback you receive in person is even more instant than any “likes” or clicks you tally online.  And you can answer any questions and clear up any confusion instantly and in a more consumer-friendly, face-to-face manner than simply sending an attachment full of data.

So, go ahead.  Reconnect with your market without all the high-tech gadgets.  Invite them to your office for coffee and doughnuts and a tour of your facility.   Offer a special in-house test-run of a new product.  Or host a free, one-hour, in-house Q&A session with a company expert.  Whatever you do, do it in person.