Example: "our business must grow" is an obscure, non-measurable objective. What exactly should we measure in order to find out if objective was met? But if we change it to "our business must grow in sales volume with 20%", we've got one measurable objective: measure being percentage sales rise from present moment to given moment in future. We can calculate this very easy, based on recorded sales figures.

3. Be ATTAINABLE!

Some use term "achievable" instead of "attainable", which you will see it is merely a synonym and we should not get stuck in analyzing which one is correct. Both are.

It is understood that each leader will want his company / unit to give outstanding performances; this is spirit of competition and such thinking is much needed. However, when setting objectives, one should deeply analyze first factors determining success or failure of these objectives. Think of your team, of your capacities, of motivation: are they sufficient in order for objectives to be met? Do you have means and capabilities to achieve them?

Think it through and be honest and realistic to yourself: are you really capable of attaining goals you've set or are you most likely headed to disappointment? Always set objectives that have a fair chance to be met: of course, they don't need to be "easily" attained, you're entitled to set difficult ones as long as they're realistic and not futile.

Example: you own a newborn movers company and you set objective of "becoming no. 1 movers within state". The problem is you only have 3 trucks available, while all your competitors have 10 and up. Your goal is not attainable; try instead a more realistic one, such as "reaching Top 5 fastest growing movers company in state".

4. Be RELEVANT!

This notion is a little more difficult to be perceived in its full meaning; therefore we will start explaining it by using an example in first place.

Imagine yourself going to IT department and telling them they need to increase profit to revenue ratio by 5%. They will probably look at you in astonishment and mumble something undistinguished about managers and way they mess up with people’s minds.

Can you tell what is wrong with objective above? Of course! The IT department has no idea what you were talking about and there's nothing they can do about it - their job is to develop and maintain your computerized infrastructure, not to understand your economic speech. What you can do it setting an objective that IT department can have an impact upon, and which will eventually lead to increase you wanted in first place. What about asking them to reduce expenditures for hardware and software by 10% monthly and be more cautious with consumables within their department by not exceeding allocated budget? They will surely understand what they need to do because objective is relevant for their group.

Therefore, quality of an objective to be "relevant" refers to setting appropriate objectives for a given individual or team: you need to think if they can truly do something about it or is it irrelevant for job they perform.

5. Be TIMELY!

No much to discuss about this aspect, since it is probably easiest to be understood and applied.

Any usable and performable objective must have a clear timeframe of when it should start and/or when it should end. Without having a timeframe specified, it is practically impossible to say if objective is met or not.

For example, if you just say "we need to raise profit by 500000 units", you will never be able to tell if objective was achieved or not, one can always say "well, we’ll do it next year". Instead, if you say "we need to raise profit by 500000 units within 6 months from now", anyone can see in 6 months if goal was attained or not. Without a clear, distinct timeframe, no objective is any good.

As a future Marketing professional, creativity is a basic skill as well as analytical thinking: you should prove them by including your own comments, opinions and conclusions upon subject and not limit yourself to present only what other people said. Be critical to yourself and to others. Don't be afraid to bring out your own vision – that's what counts most!

Writing style

Your paper is an academic piece of work, and so it should look and feel like. Give a lot of attention to your writing style:

- language issues – keep an academic and formal style, with no colloquial expressions and no slang terms. Be very precise and avoid hypes (yes, yes, we know it's hard to do it especially when you're a Marketing or Advertising professional-to-be) and irrational use of superlatives ("the best", "the greatest", "the most"… ). For a professional look, avoid using vague expressions such as "some authors say…", be specific and precise! A common mistake is to assume some things are obvious or known: no, they're not obvious to everyone, so you have to justify your statements (okay… except maybe if you're saying that "1+1=2"...)

- grammar issues – nothing can cut enthusiasm for a paper more than poor spelling and grammar! Check – check – check and check again your grammar before submitting your work: make use of grammar facilities included in word processors, ask your friends to proofread your paper, use dictionaries and grammar books every time you're unsure about something.

- layout and other issues: keep a professional clean simple layout, and stick to one font type (eg. Arial, Times New Roman or Verdana). Unless you're asked to submit your paper in another layout, you might want to leave 3 cm (1,2 in) edges on both left and right side, use line spacing at 1.5 and font sizes 10 to 12 (depending on font type) for normal text, with chapter title sized at 14. Double check your quotations to be acknowledged, and make sure tables and drawings are numbered correctly.

Take a final look at your work and ask yourself if you're feeling proud of it. If answer is a strong "yes!", you’re probably ready to present it.

Presentation – final torment!

Let's not forget these guidelines were written especially for Marketing students. For you, presentation of your paper should count much more than for other students, since it is a way to promote yourself and your work. If you fail at marketing your own person, how can you be successful in marketing something / someone else? This is reason why you should dedicate a lot of time and energy to this apparently insignificant last issue.

Don't fall into trap of thinking that since your paper content is great, it will speak for yourself. It will not! You have to bring out strengths of paper and try to minimize its weaknesses, if any. Treat your paper like it is a new product that needs to be launched, and your teachers are consumers. Make them "buy" your paper, make them enthusiastic about it!

Start your presentation with an introduction of how paper subject attracted you, then shortly point elements of novelty you bring in. After that, you can proceed with content briefing: keep short and very objective. Talk loud and clear and note people's attention level: try to keep them awake but if you see them drowsing, you can refresh atmosphere by changing your tonality or inserting a joke.

At end, don't forget to conclude: a paper with no conclusion is an unfinished pointless paper! Sustain your speech with a proper visual support: in most cases, a projector would do a great job. Be careful of how you build your slides: use 80% drawings and figures and only 20% text, as human eye and brain respond much better to suggestive drawings instead of regular boring text. Pay attention to coherency: your presentation must flow and your ideas must have continuity. Practice your speech at home or in front of your friends, ask for comments and critics.

Good luck!!!