And just like that, it’s July.
Q3 is here, and we are just over halfway through 2019.
Whoa! What happened to this year?
And, even more importantly, where do you stand when it comes to the PR agency goals you set at the beginning of the year?
Perhaps they were covered in snow?
Or got spring fever?
Maybe you packed them away with your sweaters and flannel sheets?
Wherever they went, now is the time to dust them off and take an inventory of where you are, where you need to go, and what changes from the past six months they should be updated to reflect.
Summertime Slow Time Means PR Agency Go Time
First, can we take a moment to appreciate this subhead? Ok…moving on.
The six-month mark is a great time to do a refresh and reevaluate because it’s halfway through the year.
It is also a great time because gods of PR agency growth (we can call them Revenueria and Expansionaities) blessed us by positioning this point during a less busy time of the year.
Between vacations, sunny distractions, and school being out, summer tends to be slower going for most businesses.
Now is the time to take advantage of a slightly less hectic schedule, regroup, refocus, and re-strategize.
How?
Follow these four steps to get yourself organized and back on the train to the PR agency success station (choo choo).
Be a Clean, Mean, Business Goals Destroying Machine
Yep, clean.
Clean out your office, your email box, your desk, and filing system.
A clean and organized environment will help you focus on what you need to get done and be more efficient.
Check out these posts on decluttering from both Gini and me to get you started.
And yes, we both hate clutter in real life as well.
You should see our houses.
Work More Effectively Anywhere: The Communicator’s Digital Declutter
https://spinsucks.com/entrepreneur/declutter-stay-sane/
To achieve your PR agency goals, you need to operate from a command center that facilitates success.
Drive Some Cars Off Your Parking Lot
Have you been wanting to take a professional development course?
Start writing more?
Begin a new client reporting system?
Whatever that “thing” is you’ve said to yourself for the last six months, “man, we should really do this…but I just don’t have time…”
Guess what? Now you do.
So just do it!
Put them in the “parking lot”.
This is the place we “park” ideas that are aligned with our business goals, but we just don’t have the bandwidth, time, or resources to implement yet.
You can be sure that over the next couple of months, you will bring some of those ideas full throttle into action.
Engage in Professional People-Watching
Another great thing about summer is people are out and about more than usual.
Likewise, you probably spend more time at the beach or pool, or even at amusement parks or classic tourist traps.
Here in Maine, not only are the locals roaming around, but we have an influx of tourists.
As a communications professional, this provides a fantastic opportunity to engage in some hardcore, professional people watching.
This really should be an Olympic sport.
People watching is a very important habit for a communications pro, since after all…our focus is people.
Connecting with them.
Engaging with them.
Understanding their motivations and habits.
People are the core of what we do.
Don’t worry about a result or outcome from your people-watching.
In fact, it is better if you watch with no intent or “end goal” in mind.
Just go out and do it.
You’ll be amazed at what unexpected insights you’ll come away with.
Prioritize Your PR Agency Goals
In order to accomplish any of the above, you must focus.
When I struggle with my focus, I’m reminded of a post in one of my favorite blogs on focus from a few years ago.
In it, the author tells this story:
When Bill Gates first met Warren Buffett, their host at dinner, Gates’ mother, asked everyone around the table to identify what they believed was the single most important factor in their success through life. Gates and Buffett gave the same one-word answer: Focus.
Focus is crucial for success.
Unfortunately, it is often the first thing to go when the demands of growing a PR agency slam down on us.
And just at the time, we need it the most.
Prioritize and Conquer
Take a look at the business goals you’ve laid out, the strategies, and resulting tactics you’ve put in place to achieve them—and prioritize.
Maybe this priority is different now then what it was at the beginning of the year.
That’s ok.
Just update your strategy to match those changes.
Once you make your priority list of business goals, have a hard and honest discussion with yourself and/or team about what is possible.
Don’t miss all of your business goals because you tried to spread yourself too thin and diluted your ability to achieve the ones that mattered most.
If you need to eliminate a few (for the time being), don’t view it as a failure.
View it as a strategic choice to allow you to focus on the business goals that are of top priority at this stage in your PR agency’s life cycle.
And then go forth and prosper.
What other midyear tune-up tasks would you add to this list?
Photo credit: Grow Your PR Agency This Summer with a Mid-year Tune-up