The New Year, for me, has always been an exciting and happy time! Recently while talking with some friends, I compared New Year to a new page.

The new year always brings opportunity for what seems like a new beginning, a chance to "start over". It always seems crisp, clean and exciting! We all get to start with a "new page" and it's up to us what we want to "write" on it!

Take a few minutes and reflect on last year and your goals, but don't dwell on past year's missed opportunities. We need to look ahead with excitement and anticipation for what we can do with this year's new opportunities (pages) that will be presented.

Whatever you "write" is an opportunity within itself! At beginning of a new year we are all at same point, granted some may be beginning with more than others, but we are all beginning!

As you begin "writing" your business this year, focus on ways to "work smarter and not harder". We unclutter and organize our garages, our houses, our closets, our cabinets, right on down to our drawers! Shouldn't we do same for our minds?

Eliminate (unclutter) situations that are stressful. Focus (organize) on what you did that was positive last year that caused practice to grow and then expand on each of those areas.

PR Going According to Plan?

Think carefully! You’re a department, division or subsidiary manager for a business, non-profit or association and you really need to achieve your operating objectives.

But even a yes response to headline above leaves really big question unanswered – does your current public relations plan help persuade your most important outside audiences to your way of thinking, then move them to take actions that lead to your success?

If answer to that question is uncertain or even no, change is in order. Change that gives you a public relations blueprint that helps lead to managerial success and, some might say, survival.

I refer here to kind of blueprint that moves emphasis from communications tactics to an aggressive plan for reaching those outside groups of people with a big say about how successful you’re going to be – your key external audiences.

Here’s essence of such a blueprint: people act on their own perception of facts before them, which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action very people whose behaviors affect organization most, public relations mission is accomplished.

Use it to deliver behavior results like lots of new inquiries, buyers coming back for more, fresh queries about joint ventures and strategic alliances, meaningful increases in capital contributions or brand new specifiers of your component products and services.

To make it work, you need to lead those public relations people assigned to your unit away from a preoccupation with communications tactics over to that new, comprehensive blueprint. As a manager, you’re now prepared to create external audience behaviors you need to achieve your department’s business, non-profit or association objectives.