Growing your business is a daunting but rewarding challenge. We live in an age of unprecedented growth and disruption. When looking at the Fortune 500 list of companies today, you will find only 60 names that appeared on the first list back in 1955. In that time, the average tenure for companies on the S&P 500 fell dramatically. In 1965, corporations stayed on that list for an average of 33 years. In 2012, the average tenure shrank to 18 years.

Very few of the companies that once stood at the top of their industry withered from internal weaknesses. Instead, they kept doing what they did best and focused on what that meant for their brand. This approach sounds like good practice, but in the meantime, the market around them completely changed. One day, they looked up and they had stopped growing. Many had dwindled significantly.

The difference between those companies and the companies you still see on the Fortune 500 list 61 years later is nearly all in the latter category barely resemble the company they were back then. They have changed dramatically, and they didn’t even have to do it all at once. Instead, they fostered innovation, talent and what we now call “disruptions” readily, and then they gradually incorporated these “edge” activities into the center of their business.

We see this process happening at light speed within relatively young companies like Amazon, Netflix, Google, and Facebook. While these are all great examples I will soon touch on, let’s first look at a tale of two different companies that illustrate this point beautifully to show you how to grow your business.

Two Companies: One Grown by Force and One by Choice

If you are like me and grew up well before the age when even dial-up internet was common, you will recognize two huge brand names that are almost synonymous with the word “industry”: Kodak and Xerox. Both stayed at the cutting edge for years, but Kodak was unprepared for the brutal market forces that came with the rise of digital photography. Xerox, on the other hand, remains a common — albeit often hidden — name in the business world, and they also frequently appear on the Fortune 500 list.

The most stark differences arise when you do a little digging. I’ll quote Wikipedia here since it’s a telling example of how these two companies are seen by the public and the employees tasked with maintaining their public image [emphasis mine]:

• The Eastman Kodak Company […] is an American technology company that produces imaging products with its historic basis on photography.
• Xerox Corporation […] is an American global corporation that sells document solutions and services, and document technology products in more than 160 countries.

Both companies have completely rewritten what they once did compared to their past business model, but unlike Xerox, Kodak was forced to sell off a majority of their analog film technology, intellectual property and patents in order to stay afloat. When digital cameras came around in the late 90s, the company thought they could simply transition without realizing the consequences to their business model. Kodak is now once again a successful business, but only after bankruptcy and profound restructuring.

Xerox, on the other hand, spread beyond photocopying technology consistently throughout their 70 year existence. By the 1980s, they had lost their market share of photocopiers but had become a 20% competitor in the market for electric typewriters. As digital photocopying technology emerged in the 90s, Xerox was poised to capture a huge portion of market share once more. Through the past seven decades, they have also acquired a financial services wing, professional digital printing technology, a managed services & outsourcing operation and more.

While both companies are now profitable, recognizable, maintain brand prestige and find themselves on sure financial footing, Xerox’s deliberate changes stand in stark contrast to Kodak’s painful, forced restructuring.

Bringing the Edge to the Center With Growing Your Own Business

Obtaining consistent business growth means seeing beyond the horizon and preparing in advance. Develop innovation and cultivate talent within your ranks. Do not be afraid to explore market options for affordable vertical or horizontal acquisitions. These actions may seem risky, but in the end, they afford opportunities well beyond what you are currently capable of.

Think about how Netflix spent billions on video compression technology and server hosting even as their mail-rental DVD business stayed successful. Now, they spend billions on original content, and they started producing it several years before other streaming services became serious threats.

Similarly, look at how amazon Web Hosting Services, Amazon Echo, Twitch and Amazon Maritime Services, Inc. shipping lines have become lucrative side businesses all to their own. Look at how Google is working on self-driving cars, VR technology, and neural networks all while simultaneously running the world’s most popular search engine, browser and free email service.

I could drone on and on for days (look at Amazon’s drones!), but the gist is that every single one of these companies was prepared to weather the inevitable disruption storm by doing something different. By looking within your company’s existing operations and tapping into opportunities for growing your business, you can emulate their success.

Within my own company, Vonazon, we are currently trying to grow our social media marketing portfolio in order to become a market leader for an in-demand service where differentiated providers are few. In my career, I also went from a software programmer to a marketing agency head to providing enterprise-level marketing automation solutions to huge brand names.

Yet, my journey still continues, and so does yours.

Look to the edge of your life — the things you feel passionate towards or that offer exciting promise — and make those your pet projects to nurture until they blossom, all while keeping a focus on your current business growth. Do that, and your roots will spread deep so that your company can continue to grow no matter what. If you need any advice or guidance on how to get started, feel free to contact me.

Market forces, bring it on!

The post Measuring Business Growth Demands That You Bring the Edge to the Center appeared first on Kevin England.

Today, I want to discuss how to increase productivity when you feel unmotivated. Motivation is becoming a precious natural resource in the modern business era. We have more distractions at hand than ever before. Finding productivity can be difficult at times. Most of these distractions are cleverly engineered to make us feel good about getting literally nothing done. We also seem to have stress and complexity piled on us higher than ever before, making the temptation to succumb to distractions almost painfully irresistible.

Yet, we can’t give in. There is much to do and a limited time to do it in. No matter how much we want to play hookie from work or sneak off to play some Candy Crush on our phones while no one’s looking, our responsibilities, challenges, and the tasks we’ve procrastinated on will still be there when we get back. Worse, they’ve probably gotten only bigger and uglier while you hid from them.

So how do successful people avoid this trap? It’s not because they have stronger willpower than you or because they are somehow naturally motivated all the time. Instead, they know ways to force themselves back into the grind even when it feels like the last thing they want to do.

For those of us struggling to stay productive when we feel like procrastinating, here are a few tips the pros use to boost motivation and get themselves going again:

Bribe Yourself

The easiest way to find motivation is to force yourself into doing something with the promise that you will reward yourself later for it. So how do you increase productivity? As the unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt says, you can stand anything for 10 seconds, so just stretch that timeframe further to get at least a little bit of work done and see where that gets you when you are done.

If your goal is to accomplish a task or work without distraction on something for at least 30-45 minutes, you can then reward yourself with a short break. You can also give yourself a literal treat, such as chocolate. Chemicals in chocolate can release dopamine and help wire your brain for better motivation as part of a positive feedback loop. Just don’t “over-motivate yourself” into a bigger pants size!

Get Rid of Distractions

If the temptation to get distracted is too great, remove the temptation.

You can use apps like StayFocusd or SelfControl to block out certain websites that kill your productivity. By allotting a limited amount of time for distractions or locking yourself out from distractions for a set period, you can realign your focus and get more done.

Use an Inspiration Trigger

Much like how a mantra or totem can help people feel strong, using an image or quote as inspiration can help push you through the toughest of slogs. Try using a peaceful, natural image with lots of green, or look to a quote from a hard-working individual you respect to try and think more like they do.

If you use these devices well enough, sometimes all it takes is another glance to find the productivity you didn’t think you had.

Focus on “Why”, “What” and “How”

A lot of times, we feel unmotivated because our to-do list seems to pile up so high that it’s casting a shadow on our mood.

You can gain a feeling of control over this backlog and help boost motivation by taking a second to write it all down. Jot down your current task backlog from memory on a blank document or a physical notepad. Then, mark the tasks you need to do most immediately, including the one you’re having trouble mustering the courage to start.

You can even outline the task you intend to do. No matter how many times you’ve done the task before, writing an execution strategy can make you feel more confident while making big tasks seem small.

A way to get an extra boost is to write down a short sentence as to why you are doing the task. If you can focus on the goal you hope to accomplish rather than the nitty gritty of the task itself, you can slog through it with more energy.

Setting Goals to Boost Motivation and Maintain Productivity

All motivation and productivity essentially comes from your inner drive to get things done. We all have overarching goals, like “break a sales record this quarter,” but without the ability to focus on smaller goals, our big ones become mere pipe dreams.

If you can see the forest for the trees and meet the day-to-day grind head-on, you can feel satisfied knowing you’re on your way to getting more done to reach your life goals — and eventually being in a happier place for it.

The post How To Increase Productivity When You Feel Unmotivated appeared first on Kevin England.

Determining how to achieve your business goals is one of the most frustrating and painful things someone in a leadership role can do. Often times the first thing we do is dissect our failures. But mulling over the things you failed to achieve in the past is the surest way to guarantee you actually meet your new goals in the future.

Let’s back up.

We talk a lot about data in modern marketing. Data lets us actually observe things as they are and draw connections that reveal patterns and critical insights. Only by studying data can we form hypothesis about how to change the future. Want to get more engagement on your posts? Study the engagement data for posts that exceeded the benchmark as well as the ones that failed miserably.

This transformative power of data extends beyond the digital world and into our everyday actions and decisions. That sounds kind of heavy, so let me rephrase: making smart observations about past failures can teach you what you need to do to succeed.

Getting this kind of data is tough because it is collected in your own head rather than on a computer. But you can start by writing important facts down regarding the goals you failed to meet in 2017.

Then, with a little detective work, you can make a plan to achieve your business goals and succeed in 2018.

Start With Reflection on Goals You Achieved and Missed

Your first order of business is to revisit your biggest goals set from the past year.

Ideally, you have these goals written down in some form. Maybe you have an official memo you sent out to department heads. Maybe you jotted them all down on a Post-It note and shoved it in a desk drawer.

From whatever sources you can scrabble together, come up with a list of things you intended to accomplish. Then, pick them all apart.

Which ones did you unquestionably succeed at? Which ones were partial successes? Which ones did you make headway but stopped short? Which ones got neglected entirely?

Write everything down. When you do this, you have just created data points that can reveal the difference between success and failure.

Learn From Your Business Goal Mistakes (And Achievements)

When you have the goals you failed at in front of you, try to draw objective observations.

Where do you think you went wrong?

For a lot of our goals, failure comes down to a lack of planning, for instance. We didn’t form a plan for success. There was no concrete outcome or end goal, just a vague idea of one. In turn, you weren’t able to structure a project around a goal, let alone a timeline of activities that will get you to it.

That’s ok! We have only so many things we can do in a day. Your intent right now should be to guess how you could have done things differently to find success.

So, for each goal you failed to achieve, write down at least three things you could have done to help you improve.

Establish Concrete Metrics for Success

Your next step is to ensure that all the business goals you intend to meet in the future have a measurable metric of success.

Let’s say you want to “do better at content marketing.” What does this mean? More conversions? More engagement? Industry awards?

Just listing these three end goals shows you how different your approach might be. If you set a goal of all posts having a 20% engagement rate, for instance, you will prioritize creating content that grabs attention and sparks interest a wide audience. If you want a higher rate of conversions, then maybe you want your content to have a less-broad appeal and a tighter focus on getting people into the next stage of your funnel.

And if you want to win awards, then your content will go above and beyond in terms of quality, aiming for far higher than you need to meet any typical business goal.

Come up with some numbers or distinct targets with your goal setting. Then, you can use these targets to establish a process that can lead to success.

Form a Strategy and Work the Process

With concrete goalpoints in hand and a list of what led to your prior failures, you can form a smarter strategy than ever for success in 2018.

Come up with milestones for your project that can help it succeed. Using the award-winning content example, this can include having brainstormed ideas by some deadline, a few proof of concepts by another date, and a first draft for one of your top choices well before the eligibility deadline.

These milestones in turn teach you what resources to allot and what schedule to set in order to meet your goals.

Brainstorming may require input from dozens of creative people and project leaders but only a small amount of time. Proof of concepts require several project teams working in tandem for a few weeks at minimum. Getting a first draft requires dedicating resources from multiple departments, including graphics and top-tier editors.

In this way, you form a map detailing your eventual journey to success. If you fail, you can determine what went wrong at more specific stages compared to having to guess.

Use this process to be more deliberate about how you plan ahead and avoid failure in the year to come. Believe in yourself, know what you’re capable of, and do better than you’ve done before.

Through this system, every mistake becomes an opportunity to be a more consistently successful person in the future. For more on how to achieve your business goals, check out my podcast Figuring It Out for more insights.

The post How To Achieve Your Business Goals by Revisiting the Ones You Missed appeared first on Kevin England.