Article – Page 4 – Brave Publicity Ink!

Vision is the ability to see clearly.
The ability to see beyond the immediate circumstances that surround us to what could be. It is the driving force for anything that would stand the test of time.

It fuels our passions, decisions, thoughts and actions towards the actualization of the things we deeply desire.
Vision is the force behind successful brands.
It keeps the dream alive and propels the dreamer forward in spite of obstacles and challenges.

Without vision, dreams will be lost and dreamers will give up easily at seed time, never pushing through to harvest season to see their visions come alive. Vision fuels the passion and staying power till all is fulfilled.

Vision always precedes structure and content, and the power of vision is strengthened with excellent strategy and consistent execution.

If businesses, brands and people could understand this clearly mapped out principle, then the world would become a much productive and better place.

The Strategy for Vision

Using some Biblical principles and lessons in view of vision, outlined below are some strategies and practical steps.
Principles that can be applied by anyone in the pursuit and accomplishment of their vision, goals and aspirations.

Vision

Why should you work with a strategy when you’ve got a vision?

You should because God is the Ultimate and Grand Master Strategist. His DNA flows through you and you have no choice than to function just as He does.
He set out with a strategy pattern right from the beginning, one we can all learn much from.

Genesis 1:1 says “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
Genesis 1:2 says: “The earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep.”

What does this mean?
The first statement says heaven and earth were created and then the very next verse says, the earth was without form, it was empty and there was darkness.
Contradictory right? No.

God already saw what He wanted to create right from the beginning.
A complete vision, even though the reality at that moment was emptiness, darkness and the existence of nothing.

Lesson 1:

You’ve got to see the end from the beginning.

Your dreams and aspirations have to be a concluded matter in the eye of your mind.
Many times, when we have big aspirations, the reality around may look like nothing could happen, but once you are able to see and have clarity of Vision, you’ve completed the first phase of your strategy.

Structure

Between Genesis 1: 1-18, we see God get busy with putting things in place be speaking and calling forth things to ensure that there was structure in place.

Lesson 2:

Vision without structure would only make a mess.

Many people, nations and economies could learn from this.
Without proper structures in place, one would end up putting right things in wrong places.
So structure for all things is a very critical next step.

Sometimes, you may not have any resources to put structures in place, but as God’s child, you have His DNA and He is your ultimate resource. In fact, He is resource Himself.

So you speak things into existence, just like your Father in Heaven did at creation. Not just positive declarations or affirmations, but declarations of His promises from His word, the Bible.

As you speak these words, you begin to believe them and it encourages you when faced with obstacles.

Faith or a firm believe comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God. So you have to hear and constantly remind yourself of the truth of God’s Word about you and your future. This propels you to take actions that move you forward.

So make moves in faith, take steps.

This is important because God blesses the work of your hands and not just your words or dreams or desires.
Remember, faith without works is dead. So, make moves to put structures in place about whatever vision or dream you have in mind.

Now, “Structure” can mean different things to different people.
To one it could mean “Finance”, to another “Training” and yet to another “Skill acquisition”.

It could also mean a variety of things like getting “An Education”, “Become an Expert”, “Securing a Physical building”, “Documentations”, “Creating a website”, “Creating an Online Presence” etc.

The bottom line is, you have to be able to identify the structures you need to put in place, structures that would make what you’ve envisioned work smoothly eventually.

Order is critical to the success of any vision and without the right structures in place, trying to accomplish any vision or a goal can easily turn a great dream into something very chaotic with lots of regrets.

Content

Next, from Genesis 1:20-27, we see God begin to fix in the creatures he made into the various structures He had put in place. That’s called CONTENT.
He first created the resources and structures required for their survival, before bringing them in.

Lesson 3:

Vision and structure always precedes content.

So, how does this relate to you?

Well, as you go through your life’s journey, God will place dreams and aspirations in your heart for various purposes and industries.
You’ve got to see it first and believe it. Then work towards making it a reality, putting structures and resources in place first.

For without structures, those you bring aboard your vision could become confused about where you are headed as their leader, or what is expected of them in terms of roles and responsibilities that would help move the vision forward.
So, do things differently.

The above are strategies and life principles, that are applicable to individuals and corporations.
One provided by the Creator Himself, proven over and over again to always work and produce results.

So, what are you waiting for? It’s time for some strategies!

Getting Practical with a Strategic Plan.

Taking into consideration the principle above of VISION, STRUCTURE and CONTENT.
We are sure you’ve realized that for any vision that would stand the test of time with a strong legacy, requires much depth, structures, resources and input from others or a team for success in the long run.

Every vision takes time before it becomes a true picture of itself, but the important thing is to be able to plan efficiently and pace yourself for the long haul.

This implies having a “Strategic Plan” for specific periods that must be evaluated from time to time.

A simple strategic plan should contain the following:

1. Your Vision Statement

This refers to your overall vision as a carefully articulated statement.

An example could be:
“To become Africa’s Leading Pediatric Consultant with a chain of state-of-the-art medical facilities across the African continent, offering prompt and excellent medical services to children.”

The point is, you need to identify the big picture and try to articulate this clearly as a vision statement.

2. Your Action Plan

This should be broken into short-term goals (6 months, a year) or long-term goals (5 years, 15 years or more).
Irrespective of which you choose, your action plan should capture action steps that will help in the actualization of your vision for that period of time.

Still in line with the example above, a short-term action plan for a year under a career category could be to:

“Get into Medical School” and some action steps for this particular goal could include:

*Study for 2 hours daily after each class.
*Ace all courses, especially science courses.
*Graduate with an excellent result in high school.
*Volunteer with medical related organizations during school breaks to increase my extracurricular activities via Internships and volunteer work experiences.
*Apply to win a college scholarship among the top 10 leading medical colleges in the world etc.

3. Your Key Performance Indicators

Also known as KPI’s. This means you need to identify those things that indicate that you are making good progress towards the accomplishment of the goals for your vision.

Your KPI’s using the example above could include some of the following:

* Studying and understanding better my subjects after each school day.
*Obtain an A grade in all courses especially my science courses.
*Successful internship with a medical nonprofit at the end of my summer break.
* Securing at least 5 medical school scholarship offers at the end of my school year etc.

4. Your Accountability Resources

This means identifying those things or people that will help keep you accountable for accomplishing your goals in view of the vision set.

This could include:
Family members, mentors, teachers, friends and people you can really trust.
It could also mean the use of technology and tools such as your mobile phone for keeping a schedule or setting reminders that help you stay organized and keep you on track daily.

Usually a schedule or tool that helps you identify things you need to do, friends or people that you can partners with in achieving some action step such as “studying daily” etc.

We hope you get the idea, and all of this should ultimately help you make steady progress daily.

Conclusion

Your strategic plan does not have to be detailed to the T, but should only help enhance your productivity in the accomplishment of your goals and overall vision.

It is however important to stay flexible, as sometimes our plans are influenced by external factors, changes and challenges.
In such moments, you must think productively about what can be done to move forward in accomplishing your vision, instead of staying stuck.

As long as you have the vision within your heart and believe in it, your actions, decisions and steps will automatically flow and align towards its accomplishment, until it is done.

The Brave Planner Tool

Now, if putting together a strategic plan would prove to be too much of a task for you, not to worry! We have just the right tool for you, called the “Brave Planner Tool” designed and created by Brave Publicity Ink.

This tool is available at our online store.
It is a ready-made and easy to use tool. It can be customized to help you get more organized in crafting and putting together a compelling and actionable strategy for your vision!

Article by Opeolu Adeyemi.
Corporate Communications and Public Relations Consultant
Founder, Brave Publicity Ink!

In a highly competitive environment, where bigger and more popular brands dominate various industries.
Such brands combine both SEO and SEM strategies, making the market and playing field for smaller brands a difficult place to penetrate.

However, all hope is not lost and SMEs can still harness the many available opportunities by understanding and using SEO strategies to move ahead and make consistent progress.

SEO and SEM

The term SEO stands for the acronym -Search Engine Optimization, while the term SEM stands for the acronym- Search Engine Marketing.

SEO and SEM help search engines understand better what a person or business represented online via the various online platforms (websites, blogs, social media etc.) has to offer, when someone searches using words or phrases related to such a business or brand.

For examples, when an online user searches using the phrase “Photography studios in Lagos” or “Lagos Photographers”.
Relevant brands are likely to appear in their search results based on some factors that will be highlighted below.

When a search engine returns results, some of them are paid advert and the rest are unpaid results that search engines believe are relevant to the phrase entered into the search box.

These unpaid results are referred to as “Organic” results, while the sponsored or paid advert results are referred to as “Inorganic” results, because they are paid for.

The ability of an SME to harness SEO opportunities will determine if it is able to yield great organic results when there is a search for anything related to its brand.

The Search Engine Algorithms

Search engines have formulations or algorithms that help them order the list of results.
The search engines constantly scour the web for new content and try to make sense of it.
Where your website, blog or communication platforms appears in these results is affected majorly by the words (keywords) you use on your site; as well as other factors such as how many websites link to yours etc.

Search engines look out for the best possible results using some of the following:

1) Popularity: They look at how popular and active a site or communication platform is.
This is why a good following and active communication platform is very important. A dormant website or communication platform will often experience a decline in popularity.

2) Engagement: What other people or sites are saying about them.
A communication platform that is active and has lots of engagements (likes, comments and shares of its content) is likely to rank higher than one with little or no engagements.
This is why regularly putting up engaging blog posts, articles and generally relevant content on your communication platform remains essential and redirecting traffic using links is important.

3) Keywords: They might also consider words on the web pages/ blogs or keywords in the code of a page to better understand the topic or search phrase or word.
When crafting content for your communication platforms, it is important to ensure that relevant keywords that describe your SME or brand, what it offers as a business and what it stands for should be infused and incorporated into your content.

This ensures that your page is recommended to the right demographic and audience when there is a search.A keyword search needs to be performed to ensure you have relevant and treading keywords that can give your communication platform a boost and an opportunity to be ranked higher by search engines.
Some tools you can use to conduct a keyword search include: Google Adwords- keyword planner, SEM rush, KW finder, Keyword tools, Moz’s Keyword Explorer etc.

4) Location: The searcher’s geographical location.
Indicating your SME’s location on your various communication platform remains critical and helps Search engines recommend your pages to people who might find your brand and service offerings relevant to their needs in proximity to the location or address they indicate in their search.

The use of google listings using “Google my Business” is a good place to start, asides the listed location information on your various communication platforms.

5) Device: The devices used by searchers so that they match searchers with the best possible results.
Yes, search engines also consider devices.
In an era, where most people now communicate and work on the go using mostly mobile devices, then it is important that your communication platforms, especially your website or blog remains navigable and mobile friendly.

This is because, when a mobile user finds your page but experiences difficulty in navigation, such a user is most likely to leave your page and move on to one that has better navigation and clarity. Even when you may have the exact services they may need.

All of these components help search engines find the best match for a search by an online user.
It is true that even though bigger brands already take into consideration all these factors to optimize their online presence, as an SME or Small business owner, you can ensure that you also tap into these SEO opportunities and not lag behind.

Applying SEO strategies as an SME may not be the fastest way to grow, but pays off in the long run with organically generated results. It only requires some level of patience and a lot of consistency, even as you continue to adapt and apply the changes that occur in the world of search.

This is because the work of SEO is never done.

Key Highlights

Grow actively and steadily your communication platform with relevant information that keeps your audience engaged. This can be done organically without sponsored content. A slow approach, but one that is achievable.

Encourage the engagement and participation of your audience on your communication platforms.
Sharing insightful information, trivia, giveaways and sometimes, fun activities that help with great engagement.

Use relevant keywords, as well as trending keywords or phrases that are related to your field, what your SME or brand represents and stands for.

Be listed online and include details of your location on your website and communication platforms for identification and recommendations by search engines to an online user during a search.

Ensure your website and communication platforms are navigable and mobile friendly.