Day 2 – My Personal Mission

October 13, 2010

Review my personal mission statement.

I‘ve spent quiet moments reflecting on my purpose in life. In so doing, I have come to realize that my personal mission is to:

  1. Understand the world around me.
  2. Create order from within the apparent chaos.
  3. Share unconditionally the abundance in my life.

I especially find it invigorating to see how my personal mission aligns with my work as a marketing professional. Any good marketer, after all:

  1. Seeks to understand by listening, asking lots of questions, reading and conducting some type of market research.
  2. Creates content, tells stories and produces materials to help consumers navigate through the chaos of a noisy market place.
  3. Shares ideas using a variety of traditional and new media, helping individuals to make good decisions and wise purchases.

Life is great when one’s personal mission aligns with a noble career calling (such as nonprofit marketing).

Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment » | My Favorite Posts | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Duane Hallock

Day 1 – The Marketing Mission

October 12, 2010

Review the mission statement of the marketing department.

The first thing I do when confused or needing motivation is to ask myself, “Why I’m doing this? What’s the purpose? What is my mission?”

When I began working at the American Red Cross four years ago, I clarified the role of our marketing and communication function, articulating that our mission is to:

  1. Build and strengthen interactive relationships with key audiences.
  2. Increase community support of the local chapter.
  3. Generate revenue, both philanthropic and earned income.

Amidst the rush of our frenetic daily activities, that mission continues to anchor me and my team as we work on a variety of important projects.

Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment » | My Favorite Posts | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Duane Hallock

How Does Marketing Do It?

November 12, 2009

The mission of my marketing department, as described in a previous post, is to 1) build interactive relationships, 2) increase community support and 3) generate revenue. How do we actually do that?

My marketing team here at the American Red Cross accomplishes its work in these three steps: Read the rest of this entry »

2 Comments | Marketing & Strategy | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Duane Hallock

Why Do We Need a Marketing Department?

November 10, 2009

As a marketing professional, I often ask myself why my organization needs marketing. Why does my marketing department exist? What impact do we really have?

Sometimes I think it would be fun to remake the classic movie A Wonderful Life so we could see what the world would look like had we never come into existence. What would the company look like if marketing never appeared on the organization chart? What would be lost if my marketing group “went out of business?”

Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment » | Marketing & Strategy | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Duane Hallock

The Difference between Mission and Vision

October 8, 2009

A nonprofit CEO recently sent a question to my Facebook inbox. “I am trying to write a new mission statement and also to create a vision statement,” she said. “My problem is I am not sure what the difference is. My vision statements tend to look like mission statements. How are they different?”

Excellent question. She’s probably among a majority of business people who are confused about the two. Not knowing the difference contributes to foggy thinking and an incomplete vision. Here’s how I distinguish the two:

  1. A mission statement is present tense. It focuses on what your organization is today. It concentrates on the company’s current purpose and addresses why the business exists.
  2. A vision statement is future focused. It paints a picture of what you want the organization to become. It defines the new reality you hope to create in the future.

The mission and the vision should be complementary.

A mission statement should be differentiating and guide management in making day-to-day decisions about the company’s operations.

A vision statement, on the other hand, is usually more inspiring. Rightly done, it reflects the shared vision of the key stakeholders. It’s something everyone feels passionately about. People should rally around their vision, and it should compel them to work together on making that vision their new reality.

2 Comments | Marketing & Strategy | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Duane Hallock

My Personal Mission Statement

October 6, 2009

Several years ago I was a guest of the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City at a workshop on “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” One of the exercises was to write a personal mission statement. Intrigued with the process, I continued revising mine long after the workshop concluded.

You see, I’m one of those people who needs to know WHY. I want to understand my raison d’être—my reason for being. I’ve spent quiet moments thinking about my purpose in life, and I’ve come to realize that my personal and professional missions merge together seamlessly.

My threefold mission in life is:

  1. To understand the world around me.
  2. To create order from within the chaos.
  3. To share unconditionally the abundance in my life.

That’s it in three word:  understand, create and share. Those words came to life after I spent considerable time exploring the colorful dimensions of each.

Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment » | Life in General, Marketing Oneself | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Duane Hallock

%d bloggers like this: