PR TIMES AFRICA PR TIMES AFRICA Magazine june 2015 | Page 17

pointing me in the direction I
want to go. Once sure, I put pen
to paper and rewrite it. Not just
once, but over and over. And I
keep writing until I can't write it
anymore because I'm jumping
up and down with a new idea I
must do something about right
away.
4. Conduct a Survey
If you don't know what to do
next, ask your clients. (They are
clients, aren't they?) Conduct a
survey about anything that
interests you.
would you think of that new
product, marketing campaign, or
mail piece? Are you selling your
wonderful "stuff", or are you
providing them tangible,
meaningful benefits. Ask, "If I
were the customer, would I
care?" And if not, consider,
"What WOULD I get excited
about?"
2. Shift your mindset from
customer to client.
A customer is someone who
buys your goods or services.
The original meaning of client is
entirely different: someone who
is under your care and
protection. Now that's a switch,
isn't it?
If they're customers, your goal is
to get them to buy something.
But if you were to think of them
as under your care - would you
approach your business from
another angle? How would you
take care of them? How would
you "protect" them? What new
programs would you want to
implement immediately?
3. Revisit your vision
Whenever I feel like I'm in a rut
I return to my vision and I do
two things. First, I make sure it
still inspires me and that it is
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Ask them what's bothering
them. Ask them what they're
stuck on. Ask them what they
like about your company and
what they'd like you to do next.
Ask them about new features, or
new products, or new services.
If you're not happy with your
current customers, conduct a
survey among the kind of people
you'd like to have as customers.
And, if you can't do that,
conduct a survey online. Write
an attractive search engine ad,
promise something of value, and
drive people to a survey page.
Ask them anything you like - the
answers will almost always
provide you with a neat mind-
shift.
5. Focus on building your
strengths and dump your
weaknesses.
From the time we are little
children we are taught to better
ourselves by working on our
weaknesses. This is often both
frustrating and fruitless, and
certainly not as much fun as
practicing our strengths.
Try this on: What if you focused
100 percent of your energy on
being world-class in those few
things at which you are already
VOL 1. JULY 2015
1ST EDITION
very good, and out-tasked or
outsourced those things at which
you were mediocre.
Imagine if you never had to face
any of those things again and
could spend all your time doing
the good stuff. Would that
change the way you felt about
your business? Would that bust
you out of your rut?
6. Not if, but how.
Think of that wild and crazy
idea you had recently. The one
where you said to yourself,
"That would be great, but there's
just no way." Well, I know
there's no way - you just said so
- but if there was a way, what
would it be?
Answer that question as if you
believed it was possible -
probable even - and then get
busy making it real. That's
power, you know - turning your
vision into reality. Talk about a
breakthrough!
7. What are you willing to
sacrifice?
Some important things are more
important than other important
things, and trying to keep all
those plates spinning in the air
saps your vigor for the ones that
truly matter. Dissipated energy -
lethargy - is one of the reasons
we lie down in that rut in the
first place, and dropping a few
of those plates can really help
things break loose.
So let go. Make the sacrifice.
Clear your plate and give up
some of those precious things
you've been holding on to.
Focus your vitality on plans
which will really rock your
world.
Ruts? Who needs 'em.
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