Michael Cornnell is Associate Editor for Promo Marketing Magazine.
If you train your staff, there's a risk they'll leave; if you don't, there's a risk they'll stay.
...
Why... be connected? I've often talked about my love of trade shows and the value of business relationships, which are...
May is National Bike Month. Here are five bike-friendly products and apparel to purvey for the next two weeks....
The Great Gatsby finally opened over the weekend. Does the unbridled glamour of 1920s-inspired fashion translate to the promotional products...
A promotional products distributor recently wrote me and asked how to handle clients that have figured out the industry's pricing...
When we communicate with others—through a presentation, through graphics or through text in an article—the use of color can truly...
Do you work in Michigan, or do you sell into the restaurant industry? I want to hear from you....
Getting out of the commodity game requires hard work, thoughtful work and requires learning new skills and work habits. You...
Or "Detective Fiction, Sales and the Art of Listening."...
Performance clothing has changed over the past 10 years: silkier, stretchier, more mesh, even less stinky in some cases. So...
Empowering is the act of giving away your power to those around you so you can elevate the group as...
Steven Covey reminds us that when setting goals ... "Start with the end in mind." That is to visualize the...
The Super Bowl has also become the Ad Bowl, where brands duke it out to see who has the funniest,...
It takes a single negative image to undo even the most successful campaigns in the eyes of your customers—and many...
There aren't many distributors who would describe themselves as manufacturers. But under CPSIA, the majority of promotional products distributors—at least...
What would happen if you woke up in the morning and your first thought was, "I am never going to...
It's hard to believe, but there are fewer than 100 days left to achieve 2011 goals! Are you on track...
A few weeks ago, I had dinner with Executive Apparel's president and its director of product development in Orlando, Florida....
|
Hey everyone! Long time no blog! Sorry about that. I've been on the road a lot this last month, and also trying to write 4,000 things at once. It was not a good combination, as I'm sure you can imagine. And now I'm off this week for PPAI Vegas, so hooray, MORE TRAVEL! But, I do have a little downtime today, so I thought I would share some of my 2013 work resolutions with you all. Boring? Exciting? Who can say? All I know is I always like reading yearly resolutions from the writers I follow online, so hopefully I can deliver a similarly interesting experience. So, here we go! Arranged in no particular order are my goals for 2013:
1. Take more vacations.
I took my first vacation in maybe two years last week. Definitely very much needed! I find it easy to get locked into "workworkwork" mode sometimes, where I don't pick my head up all day and just keep grinding away at what's in front of me. This is a terrible and stupid habit for a ton of reasons, and it was unbelievably helpful for me to step away for a week and just let my mind relax. So next year, more downtime!
2. Get better at social networking.
This was my first year at PM where I could say with confidence that I did "okay" with my share of our social networking responsibilities. Now I'll grant that "okay" is better than my usual "nonexistent," but obviously I would like to do better. Hopefully 2013 will be the year that I get a solid grasp on social media and can finally say with confidence that I can use it well.
3. Write more hard news stories.
I don't do a ton of work on our newsletters (that is more the realm of Kyle/Colleen/Elise), but I do write the occasional article for them. While I'm happy with everything I wrote for them in 2012, I did have a handful of chances this year to break some more "aggressive" news stories that I ended up backing off of for a number of reasons. By "aggressive" I mean articles that would have essentially been investigative reporting, say about something like "Company X rumored to have embezzled Y dollars from employees in massive tax evasion scheme." Now obviously that's a hypothetical example and in reality I didn't sit on any stories that were quite that big, but I did let a few decently big leads on stories go that I wish I hadn't. For 2013, I want to be able to say that I pursued all the meaningful "hard" story leads that were offered to me, whether they amount to anything or not.
4. Reach out to readers/the industry more, just to chat
I read something about a reporter I like a while back that explained how, every month or two, she would email old story sources to check in, say hi, and see if there was anything they wanted to talk about. By doing this she ended up with a ton of leads and even landed a career-making story. It's such a simple, brilliant idea, I'm actually embarrassed to admit it's something I never considered doing before. So, to any of beloved and too-kind interview sources that may be reading this, get ready to get even MORE emails and phone calls from me! Wooooooo! Also, if anyone reading has something they think the rest of the industry should know about, send me an email at mailto:mcornnell@napco.com and let's talk!
5. Compile a Top Distributors list I'm actually happy with.
I've handled PM's top distributor list for the last four years, and I've yet to get it quite perfect. I've gotten it close a couple times, but even still there is always some company's information I miss or a CEO who I can't line up for an interview in time that ends up making the piece less than I want it to be. It's an exceptionally popular piece, one of the most-read on our site, so I'd really like to make 2013 the year I make it absolutely perfect.
That's it guys! Thanks for reading, and see you all next week!
Like my blog? Why not follow PM on Twitter or Facebook (or just me on RSS or LinkedIn) so you never miss a post? Thanks!
MONDAY MIKE FACT: Went to North Bowl for the second time over the weekend. It's this little hipster-dipster bowling alley in the Northern Liberties neighborhood of Philly. Beautifully decorated, clean and has the most amazing vegetarian buffalo wings I've ever had. Plus, it's got super-cheap beer and plays great, upbeat indie music throughout the night! If all this sounds like something you'd maybe be into, you should definitely check it out next time you're in the area.
 |
|
COMMENTS
Click here to leave a comment...