10 COMMITMENTS FOR 2008
Tags: LOUD! Creative
2007 was a great year, and 2008 promises to be even better for LOUD! Creative Group. I’ve personally reminisced over the relationships we’ve cultivated, the goals we’ve accomplished, the challenges we’ve overcome, and the lessons we’ve learned.
But at LOUD! Creative… we’re passionate about personal growth and corporate development. I feel compelled to be extraordinarily transparent with you. Instead of just posting another tip on branding, business or marketing… I thought I’d share with you the areas in which we’re committed to improving upon in 2008. We don’t have it all figured out, and we learn so much each and every day. So, here we go.
COMMITMENT 1: TO BE MORE EFFECTIVE AT SERVING OUR CLIENTS, AND MAKING THEM FEEL SPECIAL
Simply put… this is our heartbeat, but we can certainly improve. Relationships are at the core of who we are… but sometimes the chaos of a busy schedule and a host of screaming distractions dilute our effectiveness in this area. I am committed, truly and sincerely committed… to serving our clients better in 2008 than ever before. I want to be more in touch. I want LOUD! to become even more of a right-hand partner for our clients, eager to solve problems and add value wherever and whenever we can.
COMMITMENT 2: TO IMPROVE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN OUR TEAM AND OUR CLIENTS
We’ve actually made some progress towards this goal already, but we’ll continue to make progress in 2008. We’ve implemented a Project Hub that bridges the gap between LOUD! Creative and our clients. This Project Hub allows us to manage all facets of large projects like tasks, milestones, files and messaging… all in one centralized location, making project communication more streamlined, convenient and accessible.
COMMITMENT 3: TO ADD VALUE TO MORE BUSINESSES
While LOUD! has partnered with numerous small and large business clients in 2007, it’s simply not enough. In stride with the costs associated with providing high-quality creative, technology and marketing services, our price-points have also been high, prohibiting many smaller business owners and leaders from partnering with us. Well, no more!
In an effort to break down this barrier, we’ve already lowered the pricing structure for our email marketing services by 25%. We’ve also created a Media Portal product, that allows businesses to post their video, audio and image content onto the web for an affordable low monthly fee. Last but certainly not least… we’ve created 2 significantly lower price point packages for website design & development, that start at $299 and $2,999. We want to add value to as many as we can. This is a great step, and we’ll continue to pursue even more innovative strategies to make our services more and more accessible to the small and mid-size business owners.
COMMITMENT 4: TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF OUR BLOG
Our blog is primarily for the purpose of providing free tips on business, marketing, technology & design. Well, it’s time to take it up a notch. Be on the lookout for better tips that can help you market and grow your business. This post excluded… I want to say more by saying less. I want to abbreviate the word-count of our posts to save you time. You’ll be seeing more posts that feature relevant and inspirational stories about celebrities, athletes, politicians and business leaders. And last, I will be making a concerted effort to be more personable… and to share more intentionally through the filter of my own personal experiences, and those of LOUD! Creative Group.
COMMITMENT 5: TO MORE EFFECTIVELY FOCUS ON SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT
If you frequent this blog, then you already know that I advocate the development of business systems. Systems are necessary to become more efficient, to cultivate employee loyalty, to provide predictable results for clients, and to unshackle you from the tyranny of business slavery. Systems are imperative to your ultimate business success. Well… we fall as victim as many of you do to the challenges in mastering this absolutely necessary discipline as we scurry onto the urgent, while neglecting the important. I am committed to focusing more prolifically “and” proficiently on the operational, financial, sales, human resources, information technology and marketing systems of LOUD! Creative Group.
COMMITMENT 6: TO BE MORE IN TOUCH WITH OUR CLIENT FAMILY
This one may sound simple, but we frequently fall short in this department. Whether it’s the fear of being a pest, or the trappings of an arduous schedule… we’re often not as effective as we should be in staying in touch with our existing client family. That’s how we see our clients… as an extension of our family. Whether it’s followup call, an email to touch base, or a hand-written note to check in from time to time… we want to be more in touch. We want our clients to know that they’re special and important to us… and that we’re ready and accessible whenever they need us.
CCOMMITMENT 7: TO BE MORE PHILANTHROPIC
While we’ve served our community through organizations like the Greater Houston Partnership and the Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce, we want to raise the bar. We believe there’s no greater synergy than that which comes from serving others and adding value. We’ll be burrowing ourselves even deeper in these, and other organizations that focus on business development and the overall well-being of our community. We’ll be serving more, leading more, and contributing more.
COMMITMENT 8: TO SHARPEN OUR OWN BLADES
We only recruit the most talented creatives, technicians and leaders in the marketplace. But we’re still committed to improving in our prospective disciplines. Evolving technology and emerging trends require us to remain aggressive in our pursuit of personal growth. We’re committed to understanding and using the newest, stat-of-the-art software, tools and creative resources available to us. We’re committed to honing our individual creative skills in order to remain sharp, agile and relevant, and in order to provide the highest possible quality of design, applications and creative marketing services for our clients.
COMMITMENT 9: TO GROW OUR TEAM AND AVAILABLE RESOURCES
Each time we add a new person to our team, we grow exponentially. We’re not just adding another set of hands. Every new team member introduces a fresh perspective and creativity, leadership, new talents, unique experiences, business acumen, marketing savvy, and additional skill-sets that symbiotically compliment those of our existing staff, allowing us to offer even more horse-power to better serve our clients, and exceed their expectations. 2008 will be a year of growth, and we’ll certainly be adding some dynamic new talent into our mix. We’ll keep you posted.
COMMITMENT 10: TO ASK MORE QUESTIONS
Last but not least… we want to do a better job of asking more questions in 2008. We really can’t demonstrate a true commitment to growth and development without asking the tough, but necessary question… “How can we be better?” While this process can sometimes be painful, we recognize that our brand is founded upon the perceptions of our clients, prospects and community. We desperately want to get better and better and better at what we do, and we need to implement gauges to effectively accomplish this goal. We’ll be implementing a post-project polls and surveys that will allow our clients to candidly review the quality of our work and services… honestly, and openly. This might be difficult from time to time for us… but we recognize its necessity in our relentless pursuit of being the best we can possibly be.