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Friday, May 29, 2015

4 Tips for Leaders to Maintain and Improve Office Morale

Leaders recognize the need to consistently monitor and maintain office morale. While they may not have their dream budgets to manage dips in morale, they find ways and develop initiatives to keep their teams happy, passionate about their work and secure in their place within the company. 

Studies show that employees who are happy at work are more productive, but leaders care about more than productivity. Your team is comprised of individuals who have unique strengths, concerns, interests and goals; leaders recognize and appreciate these things and want to empower their teams to feel and be their best both in and out of the office. Consider this notion as it relates to morale: 


















Doesn't your team deserve to contribute to an environment that invests in them as individuals and as productive employees? Of course! So here are 4 practical tips on improving and/or maintaining the morale in your office: 

1. Bring in a food truck. 

A leisurely lunch isn't always an option. Deadlines, emails to answer and the thought of braving traffic to get lunch strip the leisure right out of what is often the only break your team may take each day (which is a concern in itself; see #2). Eliminate those concerns by finding local food trucks to set up shop in your parking lot once a week. Look for food trucks that offer a variety of foods to accommodate your team members' different diets. Providing this inclusive gesture will make their lunch yummy and convenient and allow the opportunity to enjoy time away from their workload. 

2. Encourage walking and physical activity. 

Sitting is the new smoking, according to recent research. Show your team you care about their health and well-being by encouraging them to take breaks to move around during the day. We all deserve moments each day to push away from our work, and we all most certainly deserve opportunities to be proactive about our health. 

3. Develop partnerships with local service providers. 

Think about what amenities you would enjoy while sitting at your desk. Looking out the window and watching your vehicle be detailed? Having someone come in to pick up or drop off dry cleaning? Enjoying a chair massage? Contact businesses that offer such amenities to show your team you care about creating a environment that is considerate of their needs. 

4. Offer a generous PTO policy. 

Vacations, appointments, unexpected emergencies or illnesses and mental health days. These are issues everyone on your team must manage, and you can help them with a flexible and generous PTO policy. This allows for several wins: 

     A) encouraging your team to schedule PTO time can help the rest of the team to plan work accordingly; 
     B) asking your team to own their time off puts them in the driver's seat of their schedule; and 
     C) providing your team with ample time off eliminates concerns of "wasting" time off when they, their family members or their pets are sick. 


What ideas on boosting morale have worked in your office? 

Tweet us: @rme360

#pepupyourmorale

By: Susan Gail Taylor, Social Media Manager and Copywriter at RME360

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

"Once Upon A Time...": Why Storytelling Matters in Marketing

Your audience is attracted to stories. 

We all are. We're social creatures and enjoy relating to other people.

We also enjoy relating to and connecting with brands. How does your brand use storytelling in its marketing? We'd love to hear about it in the comments below!

To see a larger version of this infographic, click here



























Tweet us about your brand's story!

@RME360


By: Susan Gail Taylor, Social Media Manager and Copywriter at RME360




Monday, May 11, 2015

Your Brand Has A Story to Tell: The Value of Storytelling in Your Marketing

Happy Monday! 

We're kicking off a week of social media focus on the value and power of storytelling in your marketing with this infographic.

Your brand has a story to tell, but do you know the optimal times to do so on social media?













What would you add to this infographic? What tools do you use to post on social media? Tell us about your social media experience in the comments below!








How do you tell your brand's story? Tweet us about it:

@RME360

             By: Susan Gail Taylor, Social Media Manager and Copywriter at RME360

Friday, May 8, 2015

4 Tips to An Innovative Marketing Runway

"It’s always about timing. If it’s too soon, no one understands. If it’s too late, everyone’s forgotten.’”

-Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief for Vogue, on innovation and creativity 


Considering today's array of choices in products and services at consumers' fingertips and the ease of comparing them to competitors, the marketing runway is ripe for a messaging style that tells an authentic story and connects with prospects and clients. 


To that end, there are many less than innovative trends, tricks, tools and tactics to avoid. In the fashion world, Wintour would refer to the continued of these as a faux pas. 



Remember: timing is everything, and it's time to retire a few things from your marketing closet. 

1. Say no to spam. 

Your marketing should speak to a specific audience who needs your products and/or services and who will respond to your messaging; it shouldn't be a net you cast out to a broad population as you hope for the best. Use data to identify your target audience and personalize your messaging to connect with them. Segmented emails may cast a smaller net, but the results will be worth it. 

2. Don't write thin content. 

Thin - or shallow - content does not provide value to your audience. Keyword stuffing as a tactic has been far from trendy for quite some time, but it's still present among less savvy content marketing. Invest the time and effort into providing useful and insightful content that your audience will not only want to read but will also want to share. This level of crowd marketing is an excellent way to create buzz about your brand and also increases your rank among search results. 

3. Avoid smoke and mirrors storytelling. 

Your prospects and clients are keenly aware of marketing tactics. They recognize when they're being sold to and when a brand is attempting to connect with them to fulfill a legitimate need. Don't overlook this awareness; avoid using misrepresentations in your messaging that will put off your prospects and clients. 

4. Remember to interact with your audience. 

Don't rely on talking to them through your messaging; instead, talk with them about their needs, their expectations and what you can do to serve and exceed both. 

By: Susan Gail Taylor, Social Media Manager and Copywriter at RME360

Friday, May 1, 2015

Blank Spaces and Goals: 5 Tips for Goal Achievement

Earning a promotion. Eating better. Starting a business. Balancing our work and personal lives. These are points of change in our lives, points that require us to tackle a laundry list of tasks in order to achieve our goals of change. It's easy to set goals; it's not so easy to work toward them. We lose willpower, motivation escapes us and day-to-day bogs us down as we pursue change and greatness. But it doesn't have to be that way.
You've got these blank spaces, so write your goals:





1. Recognize who you need to become to achieve your goal. Change is coming, right? Your goal is something you've never reached and the work that precedes that is something you've never experienced. That means you've got to be ready to become someone new. 
2. Write down a plan to meet your goals. This one seems simple, but it's also easily overlooked. If you want to earn a promotion, write down each step it will take to get you there. What do you need to learn? Who do you need to lean on for professional support and advice? What responsibilities do you need to take on? Begin with these questions and discover other details that are important to consider. Answer those questions each day with your actions. 
3. Devote time to your goals each day. This may mean giving up your time to do other things other things or at the very least reallocating your spare time to make room for your new goals. Discipline yourself to do what's needed each and every day; when you reach your goal, you'll be proud of how far you've come.
4. Ignore excuses. Excuses will enter your mind with ease; ignoring them will be difficult. However, a critical part of your plan to meet your goal is working through those difficult days when you wake up unmotivated and those difficult nights when you come home feeling underaccomplished. Commit yourself to ignoring any excuses, and continue towards achieving your goal. 
5. Strive for excellence. What can you do better? What aspects of your performance can you refine for better results? What changes can you make TODAY that will impact your growth tomorrow? Create opportunities for excellence in even the smallest tasks and work toward daily improvement.

What tips would you add? What advice has help you reach your goals? We'd love to hear about it! Let us know in the comments below. 
By: Susan Gail Taylor, Social Media Manager and Copywriter at RME360