How To Discover Your Hidden Resources
I received my graduate degree in Design Management from Pratt institute. I decided to enroll, becauseI really wanted to understand the business side of the creative disciplines. One of the first things I and my classmates were taught is the definition of Design Management. "The identification and allocation of creative resources for a sustainable business advantage." We repeated it until we memorized it and could recite it in our sleep.
But to be honest, it took me a while to understand what it actually meant. What is a sustainable business advantage? What is the allocation of resources? Well, to put it simply and for our purpose: You gather all the resources available to you so your business has an advantage to thrive in your market.
I'm bringing it up because 2018 is coming to an end and I am starting to reflect on my business and marketing decisions. So I would love it if you could play along.
Think about which marketing tools were helpful and which ones were a complete waste of time and money. I can tell you that for me, Facebook presence has been disappointing. The change in the algorithm and the overly saturated space of everyone's feeds has made my attempts to grab attention completely futile. I opted not to invest in paid advertising, because it didn't make sense for my business. As disappointing as it is, this little reflection exercise is helping me understand what I need to focus on in 2019.
Now back to resources. I've noticed that we have gotten accustomed to a scarcity mindset of sort and we naturally underestimate the resources we already have. It's easy to do. Example: If don't appear on Facebook feeds then I have to start paying for advertising. But wait... Does it even make sense for me to pay for the Facebook ads or should I pour my resources into something else?
We rush to pay for new application, service or a program that should alleviate our already busy schedules and fill our rosters with clients. Later we realize that we probably could have lived without some of the new shiny tools we paid for. And in the end we see that the investment didn't pay off at all.
Happens...
But why do you think it happens? Because we don't spend enough time identifying already existing resources at our disposal.
So let's talk about the two most common resources that we are in deficit of:
Time
Money
These are absolutely universal. When it comes to marketing your business, these are even more glaring. If you only had the time to spend on creating a marketing plan. Or if you only had the money to hire a full time marketing person.
But as Michael Hyatt says in his book "Your Best Year Ever" resources are not your main problem for reaching your goals. In fact, he argues, that limited resources make you more resourceful and disciplined. I would add that the resources you have right now can take you to the next level you're aiming for. But you need to identify them first because action without reflection can lead to costly mistakes.
The resources you have right now can take you to the next level you're aiming for.
By reflecting on how you have been marketing until now, you might see that there is a way to save time and money by cutting away the inessential tools and methods. Putting together a marketing plan is the first step in your reflection exercise. That's why I have created a simple marketing plan template that you can use in organizing your thoughts and evaluating your next step.
If you are worried about time, this simple plan will not require a lot of it. By spending the short time completing the template, you will see that your current resources will be enough for that next step you need to take that will bring you closer to reaching your goals in 2019.
