You Can Do So Much Less When You're Informed

Too often I go to a meeting where I'm bombarded with questions or ideas about how to promote a company, a product, a service, a person, a...whatever.

"What do you think we should do about X?" "Should we go to YYY show?" "I think we should sponsor ZZZ, what do you think?" "When can we start seeing some big hits?"  You get the idea.

I always find it's a good idea to just let this go until the person or people have run out of steam.  Listen carefully and well to substance and intent. Once they pause to take a breath - wait. And then ask:

"What are you trying to accomplish?"

Sometimes the person knows, sometimes they don't. Triangulate until you get a high enough level answer (NOT: "50 promotions on mommy blogs." MORE LIKE: "Dominate the market for non toxic window cleaners" or "Command 45% of the market for jellybeans among women with children who like dogs") -- specific enough, BUSINESS-DRIVEN enough, quantitative enough that you can actually react to it.

Once you have the answer to the question, WHAT to do becomes much simpler to divine -- because in the context of the goal, certain activities that sounded great without the benefit of context will not make sense.  Once you know the resources you have to work with, then WHEN and HOW to do things becomes much simpler to articulate.

You can do a LOT of work in PR and marketing and never get anywhere -- much like a duck paddling against the current.

Too often agencies just move forward without understanding how their work translates to the client's bottom line (or the internal department does not really understand their role in driving the business).

Get clarity at the highest level question possible -- and you'll be able to do a lot less to achieve the goal.

Paddling with the current is always easier.