The Golding Group

Self Branding and Career Development Advice

kylegolding — Thu, 02 May 2013 13:08:40 +0000

We were asked to give the PRSA New PR Pros advice about how a young public relations practitioner can advance their career in the right way. These are our notes:

Q: How to get a job without experience, because you can’t get experience without the job? A: Personal Branding.

You get to create who you are. Changed the perception by focusing on your most positive traits.
Do your own SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis. Take a good, honest look at your best skills and those that could use some improvement. Ask a trusted friend (or 2) to give their opinion of your personal assessment.
With your personal SWOT done, position yourself like a company does. Focus on your strengths, change the conversation to avoid your weaknesses.
Self Branding is a mind-set, not a business plan. Keep it simple, straight forward and easy to understand. Write your own elevator speech about why you’re a great employee or prospect. This exercise alone will focus you on what your best traits are. Again, ask a trusted advisor to listen to you and tell you if it makes sense when hearing it out loud.
Put your best foot forward, but keep it real. Self branding is not about creating a false narrative. Focus on the best parts and strategically avoiding the lesser parts of your skill set, experience or other professional attributes.

Questions to ask yourself:

Do people really write marketing plans for their own careers? No, not really, but doing the first few steps (Skills list, SWOT, Position, Elevator speech) can be of great value to any professional looking to advance their career.
What does it mean to cultivate your personal brand, and how can you accomplish this? By truly understanding yourself, what drives you, what your good at and what you are not so good at will create a picture of who you are as an employee. By understanding that what you do (at work and elsewhere) reflects on your “personal brand” will allow you to avoid pitfalls that trip up many young professionals. If your boss has a clear idea who you are and what you bring to the workplace, your value will also be evident.
How do you work up the corporate ladder without stepping on your co-workers? This is the nature of competition. To many businesses and individuals look at having competition (for a promotion, project, raise, etc.) as someone who needs to be crushed or eliminated. That’s not actually the case. Competition should be used to drive you to be the best you can be. No need to pull others down, but instead elevate yourself. A good employer knows the difference.
How do you promote yourself within an agency or in-house department? Is it too simple to say “work your butt off”? A solid work ethic, being a team player and always expanding your skill set will pay off every time. Pride in your work is good, being self-centered is a detriment. Take credit and give credit at the same time. Do not feel like giving your co-workers and others involved their “due” in any way subtracts from you as a professional. In fact, a team first attitude will push you forward.
But what about the “others” who cut corners and take advantage of situations for their personal gain? Solid ethics never go out style. Professional karma always catches up to you. Do it the right way, and the success will not only come, but stay with you.

Good to know:

Find a mentor! This can be someone you have an ongoing relationship with who actively pushes you to be better or a business professional you admire (even from afar). You can learn from great leaders, even if you never meet them or they work in a different field/type of work. Once you adapt the attitude of being mentored, you will never stop learning and improving.
Be patient! Your role models and mentors didn’t have overnight success, so why should you. Take a good look at how long it took the CEO’s of today to get to the top, even in companies they started. Slow down and develop a career.
Act like the person you want to be! This is my take on the old saying “Dress for the job you want, not the one you have”. Want to be the boss – think, talk and act like the boss. Want to keep the same job (and paycheck) forever? Keep doing whatever you have been doing.

Social Media, portfolio website, online presence

DO:

keep it up to date
Celebrate victories (yours and others)
Promote bigger than yourself
Keep it real

DON’T:

Fake it
Take “extra” credit
Be too slow on updates

When in doubt – stop and think about it.

I asked Twitter/Facebook for advice to give, here’s what you said:

DON’T be afraid to ask for help – it’s the best way to learn.
DO check your ego at the door…you might think you know everything, but you don’t.
DON’T go over your boss’ head without giving them the chance to review.
DON’T be afraid to ask questions.
Listen.
Do learn from others on the team.
Work hard.
Keep working on your professional development.
DON’T criticize without offering a solution to improve it.
Pay attention to company culture.
DON’T be afraid to admit you don’t know the facts yet or that you don’t have a skill.
Always learn!

Filed under: Marketing, Public Relations

The Golding Group Goes Three For Three at AMA-OKC Marketini’s

kylegolding — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 12:41:11 +0000

Coming off a double win at the AAF ADDY Awards, The Golding Group scores big at the AMA-OKC marketing awards event with three Awards of Excellence. Two wins came in the Integrated Marketing Campaign Category, the third for Social Media.

Our first Award of Excellence was for the Marketing/Public Relations/Sales Promotions campaign we managed in 2012 for the Rococo Restaurants and Catering. The judges gave us high marks for successful capitalization of PR and creating a Twitter account for Rococo’s best know food item @RococosCrabCake.

Our second Award of Excellence was for The Golding Group self-promotional campaign. We spent a great deal of time and effort to attract new business, educate the business public about the value of strategy and development plus counter the idea we were another standard ad agency or PR firm (not that there is anything wrong with that).

Last Award of Excellence came to us via the Twitter promotion we created and managed for Dan Gordon’s one hundred thousandth tweet (you are reading that right). The #Dans100k campaign for Twitter star @DanGordon was en especially creative way of utilizing social media for all the right reasons.

Not only did we gain a little recognition for our clients (and ourselves) but we got a lot of valuable feedback and had a great time with our friends in the OKC marketing and advertising community.

To find how how we can create award winning strategic planning for your business or non-profit, contact us.

Filed under: Announcement, Marketing

OKC Biz Small Business Advice Guide: Success starts with a solid plan

kylegolding — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 12:55:20 +0000

This article is published in the April 2013 OKC Biz Magazine.

Every business or nonprofit organization needs a strategic plan. Just as a carpenter needs a hammer, or accountants need calculators, a well-thought-out strategy is a business essential. It’s not enough to write out a wish list of things you hope to accomplish. You need to create a working document based on market factors and economic viability. As Benjamin Franklin said: “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.”

Startups, successful and transitioning organizations all need a professional plan with periodic reviews. Management, financing, marketing and operations all flow from the strategic plan. Don’t risk your investment, livelihood or future on guessing. Start with a fact-based, market-driven strategy.

There are a few key elements that must be included in a proper plan: mission statement, competitive analysis, SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats), market position, action plans and measurements. Without each of these, you don’t know where you’re going, how to get there nor what constitutes success or failure.

A strategic plan is not just a set of rules to follow, but a flexible and adaptive guide to success. Running a business is a dynamic pursuit; things change and business slows – even stops. Sometimes it’s within your control to fix the problem, such as quality issues or customer service. Often it’s out of your control, such as competitor actions, new technology, or the local and national economy. You have to be prepared for changes in the market before they happen.

No two businesses are the same, so avoid using templates or systems for creating your strategic plan. Best practices and successful case studies can give you ideas and inspiration, but a solid strategy comes from research, introspective questions answered honestly, and an open mindset. Preconceived notions, inability to consider change and lack of flexibility can end a business before it even gets started.

Best advice: Get Strategic.

Filed under: Marketing

Volunteer Communications for Non-Profit Management

kylegolding — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 15:45:55 +0000

I was asked to do a short training session with the staff of the Boy Scouts of America – Last Frontier Council on best communication practices for volunteer interactions. This information works for any non-profit who depends on volunteers (or any communications plan actually).

Step One: Be considerate of volunteers time away from work, family, etc….

Be contentious of their time:

Do not send too many emails, text, etc…. consolidate all instructions, information even “good news” and public relations articles in a single communication. Put essential information first, break up text blocks and use links to “the rest of the story”.
Do not sent too few emails. Give plenty of direction for new or different task. Less is needed for routine or follow-up task. Measure by situation.
Utilize committee structure (when available). If you can just communicate with a segment (committee, subcommittee or chairperson) without hitting your entire volunteer list, do it. This will cu down on clutter and confusion.

Be consistent:

Type of delivery – Use the format (email, phone call, text) your volunteers prefer every time. Changing between types of communication is confusing and harder to manage (for them and you).
Follow up in that format if you deviate. If you have to make a phone call when you normally email, send a summary email after. This allows for your volunteers to have the information, organized with all your other communications. Nothing worse than looking for information from an email that was actually a text or phone call.
Timing. Utilize a regular schedule, just like you would for face-to-face meetings. Same day of the week/month, time of day, etc. This allows your volunteers to plan and expect communications or be prepared to skip/save and look at when convenient.
Utilize your technology. Today, smart phones and email software can do combinations of emails, texts, message board post and even voice mail notifications. Take advantage of this and send a singular message that gets to your volunteers in the format they prefer.
Be aware of attachments vs. linked/shared documents. Email filters, text messages, etc. often hang up on attachments. Instead, send a link to a webpage, cloud hosted drive, Dropbox, etc. to share documents. Even better, utilize a shared document online that can be collaboratively added-to and edited by volunteers from anywhere they have web access.

Be clear and concise:

Get right to the point. Nothing unnecessary such as salutations, jokes or other ice-breakers are needed.
Most important information first. If you consolidate instruction with additional information, make sure to order by importance from top to bottom. You will occasionally lose readers half way through long post.
Good headlines that are easy to identify. This will help with opens, spam filters and organizing messages for later retrieval.

Step Two: Think of your communication as a mini-meeting.

Meetings have structure, an agenda, etc…

Tell them what you will tell them. Set the agenda, get (and keep) their attention.
Tell them. Provided the essential information, make assignments, set expectation.
Tell them what you told them. Summarize and clarify. Allow for questions and clarification before beginning task.

Who, What, When, Where, Why and How

All great communication is story telling. Use the tried and true 5Ws+1H to get all the essential information to your volunteers.
Do not skip the Why. In a business setting this is less essential, but or non-profit volunteers the Why is key. Tell them how this is important to the overall mission.
Link to “the whole story”. Sometime there is so much more to the story it can’t be sent in a single email, text, etc. Use links to send volunteers to the additional information on the website or a cloud based document to read on their timetable/need.

Define success

Assign specific action items to be accomplished. If there is not something to be done, why are you communicating with them?
Designate who is responsible (as specific as possible) or ask for commitments. Communicate directly with those individuals or subgroups during the task.
Create a timeline, even if it’s very general or could change.
Anticipated outcomes. What and how will you measure when an action items is complete? You must do this before you start to know when you’re done.

Allow for discussion, but control it (see note one)

Do NOT create email chains. If there is a lot of back and forth, ask those involved to start a new discussion and free up others not involved.
Move “offline” as needed. If there is too much confusion or inability to execute the task, change the dynamic by getting off email or text and have a phone call or other different form of communicating. Set parameters, create expectations and move forward – don’t let discussion of “what if” and “what do you think” take over.
Refer back to committee chairs, subcommittee leaders. to keep everyone out of the discussion, email/text chain, etc.

Hopefully, these helpful tips might help your communications planning. If you need to know more, contact us.

Filed under: Marketing, Non-Profit

IABC-OKC Panel Discussion: The ROI of Winning Awards

kylegolding — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 12:56:58 +0000

I was asked by the Oklahoma City chapter of IABC (International Business Communications Professionals) to participate in a panel discussion about the ROI of entering (and winning) awards program such as the Bronze Quill. Joining me on the panel was John McLaughlin from Jones PR (center) & Rachel Wagner from Wal-Mart (left). I expected John and Rachel would come prepared with great reasoning such peer-to-peer review, benchmarking and added value for the client. I decided to focus on tips that might not be covered by the other two panelist.

Since this was a panel, I didn’t fully prepare a whole lot of material, instead I made myself a few notes. After a great discussion and very positive feedback, I decide to expand on my notes and share them with you here.

Do not enter award programs for your ego: The attitude that you need to “beat” other communications professionals (designers, writers, etc.) is a negative. Competition is not to be crushed, but to push you to be your best. NEVER create with winning awards as the main reason. That is cheating your client. If the work is right, effective and well done – the awards will follow.
If you don’t know, don’t enter: If you cannot explain, quantify and prove the effectiveness of your work, you might want to reconsider entering in an awards program. The value of entering the Bronze Quill is this gives you a reason to evaluate what you did for the client. Did you meet the goals? Did you utilize all the strategies and tactics outlined? Did you deviate from the plan? How are you measuring success? These are great questions to ask yourself when looking back at work and deciding if it’s award worthy.
Be Selective: Do NOT enter everything you work on in every contest you can find. First, it’s not very strategic. Second, see note #1 about ego. Third, you are killing your ROI by spending so much on award entries (and your boss/client will eventually have enough of it). Pick your best work, find the criteria the best meets your project.
Get the feedback: The best part of entering awards with expert judging is the information contained in the judges sheets. Their notes and opinions are highly valuable for several reasons. They are industry pros who have no reason to like/dislike your work based on personal feelings, popularity or reputation. They also have no reason to spare your feelings. Real feedback from the real world. Can’t beat that for professional development.
Speaking of development: The process of reviewing, selecting the best projects and filling out entries is great for refining your professional skills. Entering communications contest is good for you as a professional and a person. Take an honest look at your skills and effort. Put yourself out there, be open to constructive criticism and check your ego. These things will make you a better designer/writer and possibly a better human being. Free your mind, and the rest will follow.

Bonus: Who owns work: I get this all the time, and I promise to write about it more in the future. Often designers/writers/photographers find themselves at odds with an employer or client over who “owns” the work created. If you get paid by the client (or get a paycheck) then the person who wrote the check owns the work. You do have a right to “fair use” for displaying in a portfolio but that gets tricky when that includes a website, Facebook page, etc… If the company or client ask you to not display, best (in the long run) to pull it down. More on these scenarios at a future date.

Now, go find you best work, evaluate / measure, then enter the right competition for what you do. Good luck!

Filed under: Marketing

Third MHACO Project Honor (and probably last ADDY award)

kylegolding — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 13:38:24 +0000

Last weekend, the Annual Report we created for the Mental Health Association of Central Oklahoma (MHACO) won a bronze ADDY award from the Oklahoma City Ad Club (AAF) for design. This is the third award for this project (AMA Marketini and IABC Bronze Quill in 2012) and our 12th ADDY award (there are others, long story). This will probably be the last ADDY awards we enter.

The ADDY awards are different than other communications awards. The full focus is on design, creativity and execution. We offer award winning design services, but it’s not the bulk of what we, as a company, do day in and day out.

Other awards are based on strategy and results. That’s were our work is focused, much more than design. ADDY awards are for ad agencies, web developers and graphic designers. The Golding Group is something different. We do the work behind the design.

Good luck to our ad agency and designer friends in next year’s ADDY awards.

Filed under: Announcement, Marketing

Double Golding Group Award Wins For Design Work

kylegolding — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 13:57:11 +0000

The Golding Group walks away with two bronze medals (actually just certificates, no bronze medals for winners this year) at the 2013 ADDY awards. Our work on the Samuel Gordon Jewelers / Tag Heuer Watches oversized banners and the MHACO annual report took home honors for design/execution.

We love working on great project like these with great clients. Awards are nice, but….

Filed under: Announcement, Marketing

Coming Soon: OKC Biz Article

kylegolding — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 21:17:12 +0000

Make sure and pick up the April 2013 edition of OKC Biz featuring the strategic planning article “Success Starts With a Solid Plan” from our very own Founder and Chief Strategic Idealist Kyle Golding.

Look for more publication pieces from The Golding Group experts in the coming months.

Filed under: Announcement, Marketing

New Client Announcement: CASA of Oklahoma County

kylegolding — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 13:42:07 +0000

The Golding Group is happy to announce our latest non-profit partnership: CASA of Oklahoma County. CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates, serving children in the Oklahoma County legal system. CASA is best interest advocacy for abused and neglected children by a trained community volunteer.

The Golding Group is excited to be working with the CASA staff to refine strategy and develop marketing tools to better tell their story.

We will also be facilitating board development, creating a long-term operational plan and helping the organization celebrate their 25th anniversary year.

Please, take a few moments and learn more about CASA of Oklahoma County.

Filed under: Announcement, Marketing, Non-Profit

Two More Awards For The Golding Group

kylegolding — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 14:10:05 +0000

The Golding Group starts 2013 right by adding two new awards from the American Advertising Federation. Projects we designed and executed with two of our favorite clients Samuel Gordon Jewelers and Mental Health Association of Central Oklahoma (MHACO) have won ADDY awards for 2012.

The first winner is the oversized 3-sided banner we designed in partnership with Tag Heuer Watches. The banners, printed and stitched together by Showtime Graphics, features Hollywood beauty Cameron Diaz and can be seen from blocks away in either direction. We also mounted them in a way to not do permanent damage to the SGJ building (client request).

The second winner is the Annual Report (2011) for the Mental Health Association of Central Oklahoma (MHACO) conceptualized by Cher Golding and designed by Kyle Golding in 2012. This annual report has also won awards from the American Marketing Association (AMA) and the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC).

We are proud to be recognized for our creative work on these two project, but even more proud to create highly functioning tools for great clients.

Filed under: Announcement, Marketing