If you’re a follower of this blog, you know I strongly believe in the importance of dreaming big and establishing a BHAG. Having a BHAG, or a vision for what you want to achieve personally and in your business, can set the stage and kick-start an inspired marketing strategy that is easy to plan and implement.

What Are OKRs? Breaking Down Big Goals into Smaller Goals

John Doerr takes the BHAG to the next level by linking the BHAG to smaller goals that are easier to measure and achieve in a shorter amount of time. His framework is based on creating OKRs (short for Objectives and Key Results) for yourself and for your business. Basically, OKRs are Big Hairy Audacious Goals that have smaller, measurable goals tied to them. OKRs can unite a team and help everyone work together, accomplishing small goals that align and collectively move everyone closer to achieving the big goal together.

For the system to work the objective must tick two boxes. First, it must be personally significant and aspirational—something that gets the goal setter out of bed in the morning. And second, it must be significant for the company—everyone can get behind it. Your objective (your BHAG) should be the “what” in your goal setting. Once you’ve defined the objective then you can set your Key Results, which are the how.

Answering the How

Key Results answer the how questions that will result in achieving your objective. Key results must: first, make the objective possible, second, be measurable, third, be limited in number, and fourth, be time-related. If you know about SMART goals then this is probably familiar to you.

It’s important to establish a company-wide objective and the supporting key results first—before you dig into marketing-specific objectives. It is essential (and obvious) that your marketing objectives support your company goals. With our clients, we ensure that we understand their company goals and objectives before we consider the elements that will go into a marketing strategy.

Small business owners are often the President, Marketing Director, Head of Sales, CFO, and VP of Human resources of their company. So when it comes to setting OKRs it can be challenging to focus on just one area. This is why your company goals must always come first—then everything else can fall under it.

Once you know your company OKRs you can help your team members create theirs. Their objective must align with the company OKR but are personal to their role in your business. The key results they establish directly correlate with achieving their personal objective, which ultimately brings your business closer to achieving the overarching company objectives.  The result will be a pyramid of aligned objectives that is personal to each individual on your team.

It’s amazing what can happen when you establish a big goal for your business and it’s miraculous when you set smaller goals that pave the way for achieving the big goals.

If this resonates with you, check out Measure What Matters and dig a little deeper into this method of achieving your biggest goals.

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Key Takeaway:

Once you have a BHAG, you need to set smaller goals, and OKRs are a great way to do this. Your “Objective” should be something that gets you out of the bed in the morning, and the “Key Results” you use to get there should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely (SMART).

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Other Posts on the Blog About Setting Goals:

• Discovering Your BHAG
• Why Does Your Business Need a BHAG?
• Why is Goal Setting So Hard?

About Fesyk Marketing

We are a small but mighty team of relationship builders and content creators.

We provide relationship marketing guidance and support to a variety of different businesses in Canada and the US. Our main focus is to help small businesses build better relationships with leads and existing clients so that they can grow through referrals and reputation. Content creation is at the heart of what we do. We have the capacity to bring to life our clients’ most creative ideas.

The post Why OKRs Are a Great Tool for Setting Goals appeared first on Fesyk Marketing.

Big goals are really important. Knowing what you want from your business and where you want it to go provides clarity. It helps you make decisions. It helps you create a company culture. It helps you decide which projects to take on and which products to sell. Setting big hairy audacious goals is an essential part of our marketing planning process and has helped to guide many clients towards success.

In the last blog, we shared some tips for how to come up with a BHAG. But today we want to talk about why. Why should you have a BHAG for your business?

The Evidence for Outrageous Goals

There’s actually research to support making big, hairy, audacious goals! Jim Collins and Jerry Porras, who originally coined the term “BHAG,” came up with the concept during their six-year-long research project into what made companies enduringly great. They found companies that had big goals like this were more visionary and more successful.

Another reason is that by striving for big goals, we’re always giving our customers the best version of ourselves. Goals that might seem “unrealistic” make us more successful because we’re always trying to take the next step to reach them.

Let’s talk about that word, “unrealistic,” for a moment. We often include impossible goals and outrageous goals in this same category – for example, “I want to go to Mars tomorrow” and “I want to go to Mars in the next ten years.” But we should really separate the two. Impossible goals make us feel hopeless and discouraged. But insanely high goals give us clear steps to take towards them, even if they’re hard goals to reach. When I encourage my clients (and myself) to set big goals, I encourage them to think of outrageous, audacious—and yes, maybe even unrealistic goals. But not impossible ones. The trick is to stop yourself from putting everything you want in the “impossible” category.

Why? Because BHAGs Keep You Focused

It’s easy to get distracted by the things that happen day to day so having a big hairy audacious goal can be your north star, your lighthouse, that always brings you back.

Some famous examples of BHAGs help illustrate this. Here are two well-known ones:

• Microsoft in the 1980s: “A computer on every desk and in every home” (This seems obvious and inevitable today, but in the 1980s it was crazy to think of a computer in every home!)
• SpaceX (and Elon Musk): To put a human on Mars and bring them back.

Does this make you feel intimidated! Don’t be! Those are their goals, not yours. But take it as an example of how big you can make your goal. Are these goals big, hairy and audacious? They sure are!

Next, think about how simple these goals are. They’re not vague, they don’t just promise to do “better.” These BHAGs state a concrete vision of the future. So the answer to why create a BHAG for yourself is that such a clear, memorable vision gives you a direction. You won’t get distracted.

You won’t forget what it is. You will know when you’ve achieved it.

But take the time to make sure this goal is what you want. You probably don’t dream about going to Mars! (Or maybe you do—that’s fine too!) When you think about your future, what is something that feels big and scary, but is truly something you want to achieve?

For example, my BHAG is to be able to run my fulfilling, profitable business from my own beach house by 2030. This is my concrete vision that puts together all the things I knew I wanted when I started my business (see above:  earn a good living, work flexible hours, have the freedom to move cities or countries if need be, and get a sense of fulfillment). But a beach house is a straightforward vision I can always keep in the front of my mind. And having this vision means I can keep reorientating my priorities when I see they will not get me to where I want to go.

So there you have it—two reasons for why you should make a big, hairy, audacious goal.

It can be really tough to allow yourself to think big, and decide what you want personally for yourself and for your business but if you take some time it can be a difference-maker in your business.

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Key Takeaway:

Why have a BHAG for your business? 1. Big goals will make your company visionary. 2. A big goal will keep you focused on what you really want to achieve.

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I know you can do it! Want more tips on goal-setting, marketing, and more? Subscribe to our newsletter to get more resources like this straight to your inbox.

Resources:

• Discovering Your BHAG (Fesyk blog)
• Jim Collins on BHAG
• Investopedia definition of BHAG
• A blueprint for setting ambitious goals
• This Is Why You Should Start Setting ‘Unrealistic’ Goals

The post Why Do You and Your Business Need a Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG)? appeared first on Fesyk Marketing.

But there is something important you need to have before we can get started on these tools: a vision for your business and for yourself.

Why you need a vision for your business

With a solid vision for where you want your business to go, we can create a goal-specific marketing plan. Even a glimpse of your pie-in-the-sky dream helps us hone in on which tools and tactics we can use to get you there. Don’t get me wrong, we love all the feels that come with relationship marketing, but more than anything, we want to help you determine your why and move toward those big goals. 

And that’s no easy task! Putting your finger on one single vision can feel like the most daunting thing in the world for a passionate business owner. I tell my clients over and over again, “stay in your lane,” “Stop creating content for content’s sake,” “Get laser focused on your vision, and you’ll increase your chance of success”. 

But I realized today that I’ve been giving out this excellent advice, and I haven’t walked my talk. I haven’t shared my vision for Fesyk Marketing.

We’ve helped clients write blogs, create downloadable e-books, launch their speaking careers, start YouTube channels and run weekly live shows, like The Art of Renovation LIVE!. I feel like our small-but-mighty team can do it all! 

But when I stop and look at who we are, and what’s our why… the messaging is fuzzy.

Is Fesyk Marketing a social media company? A full scale marketing agency? 

Are we bloggers? Coaches? Planners? 

Are we all of the above? Maybe. But it’s time to pick a lane and make our messaging clear. 

The Fesyk Marketing Vision

We are a team of content creators and relationship builders. We see opportunities for connection everywhere. Our super power? Leveraging our clients’ expertise into engaging content, building trust and brand awareness. Our clients are fun, passionate, collaborative people who are great at what they do (and they love to do it!). 

Our mission at Fesyk Marketing is to help our clients achieve their biggest goals by creating amazing content that amplifies their brand and builds their loyal, unique community.

Our core values — collaboration, connection, and creativity — are woven through every post, plan, and promotion we create.

Our vision is to inspire passionate people, guide them to success, and create a stronger sense of community in the world. 

That’s our “why”… what’s yours?

About Fesyk Marketing

We’re a boutique agency that believes great relationships are the key to having a successful and sustainable business. And we see opportunities for connection and collaboration everywhere!

Our amazing team specializes in creating content and leveraging social media to help our clients strengthen relationships, increase referral rates and attract new business. As a vision based company we create bespoke marketing plans with the end goal in mind and then work right alongside you to make it happen.

One of our favourite mantras is, “If you can dream it, you can do it.” and have proven time and time again that authentic, meaningful content is the foundation for building a community of loyal customers.

Does this sound interesting to you? Send us an e-mail to connect and learn more about how relationship marketing can help your business.

The post Our vision for Fesyk Marketing: Why you need a vision for your business appeared first on Fesyk Marketing.

As Fesyk Marketing continues to grow I find myself revisiting inspiring business concepts more and more. I began to dig into these concepts years ago, but they’ve become even more meaningful since I’ve started to grow my own business. One author I recently went back to is Jim Collins. If you’re not familiar with Jim Collins, he is a brilliant author of well-known books including Good to Great and Beyond Entrepreneurship 2.0 (must-reads for any business owner), and he’s responsible for some pivotal concepts including the Flywheel Concept, the Stockade Paradox, and the Hedgehog Concept. 

I totally geek out over inspirational concepts like these, and as a small business owner I find Jim Collins’ insights to be invaluable. I think it’s more important than ever for businesses to look inward and define what they truly do better than anyone else. This can help you to connect with your audience on a deeper level, or to create a stellar marketing plan for your clients that they won’t get anywhere else. 

The Hedgehog Concept

The Hedgehog Concept is “a simple, crystalline concept that flows from deep understanding about the intersection of three circles.” Each circle poses a pivotal question that, when you can confidently answer each one, you’ll have something a lot of others don’t: The upper hand on what makes you the best in your industry.

The three circles that make up your hedgehog include:

1. What are you deeply passionate about?
2. What can you be the best in the world at?
3. What best drives your economic or resource engine? 

The term “hedgehog” comes from Isaiah Berlin’s famous essay The Hedgehog and the Fox. Based upon an ancient Greek parable, Berlin divides the world into hedgehogs and foxes, where foxes know many things but hedgehogs know one big thing. 

When you truly reflect and answer these three questions, you can identify the one big thing you do best in the world. 

Why your hedgehog is the secret to success – professionally and personally!

I know, it feels intimidating to actually consider that you might be the best in the word at something. And when I asked my team this very question, their faces said it all: I have no idea! 

But follow me for a second here. 

Not only am I going to ask you what your business does better than anyone else, I’m going to ask you what YOU do better than anyone else. 

Why is it so important that you can confidently answer these questions? Because when you can truly understand what you’re passionate about, how you can be the best at the thing you’re passionate about, and communicate to others why they should love it too, promoting your business becomes a natural instinct. And what more could a business owner want? 

How the Hedgehog Concept has helped grow my business

We’re emerging from a pandemic, and the struggle is real. These past couple of months have brought some really big changes to my business. We’re not who we were a year ago, and neither are our clients. The world has changed, and fingers crossed, it’s for the better. But that being said, it’s hard to pivot your business unexpectedly. 

We’ve all had (maybe too much) time to look inward. Why do we do what we do? If we can take a moment to truly define what it is that we’re passionate about, what we do better than others, and what lights us up in business, we might just be able to find that sweet spot. 

Since discovering our hedgehogs, my team is beginning to feel a bit more confident in what we do, why we do it, and how we’re truly the best at it! 

If you know your one big thing – if you’re a hedgehog – then you can adapt to anything and boldly take the next steps in your life and in your business. 

But if you need a little help figuring out how to share your hedgehog with your clients, we’d love to help you. Send us an email and let’s start strengthening those connections! 

About Fesyk Marketing

We’re a boutique agency that believes great relationships are the key to having a successful and sustainable business. And we see opportunities for connection and collaboration everywhere!

Our amazing team specializes in creating content and leveraging social media to help our clients strengthen relationships, increase referral rates and attract new business. As a vision based company we create bespoke marketing plans with the end goal in mind and then work right alongside you to make it happen.

One of our favourite mantras is, “If you can dream it, you can do it.” and have proven time and time again that authentic, meaningful content is the foundation for building a community of loyal customers.

Does this sound interesting to you? Send us an e-mail to connect and learn more about how relationship marketing can help your business.

The post The Hedgehog Concept: Your secret to a strong team and successful business appeared first on Fesyk Marketing.