Commit to Try

I really don’t think life is about the I-could-have-beens. Life is only about the I-tried-to-do. I don’t mind the failure but I can’t imagine that I’d forgive myself if I didn’t try.
Nikki Giovanni





(I sent this message to the Executive Committee of my college alumnae association and wanted to share it here, as well.)

As we begin the second month of this new year I hope you have already logged many things into your journal of “Things to be Thankful For”. This month, I encourage you to take some time to create another journal—a “Things I Want to Try” journal. We all have them—things we’ve always wanted to do, or try to do, but haven’t quite gotten to them yet. Let’s commit to starting at least one of those things in February—start learning a new language, volunteer to work on a political campaign, write a page of a book, take one dance lesson, sign up for one cooking class... I know we are all SUPER busy, so just commit to try.


What is your one thing you will try in February?


Here are 2 of mine:
- actively participate in the fundraising efforts for my upcoming 20-year class Reunion
- practice with Spanish language audio 20-mins 1x/week

Four Singing Penguins...

Today is the fourth day of Christmas. According to the popular English Christmas carol "Twelve Days of Christmas", the gift recipient would be receiving four colly birds. [Yes, colly birds, not calling birds, as is commonly sung]. Colly birds are European blackbirds (or crows), which were a delicacy in Medieval times. Not so today. Can you imagine someone offering you a gift of crows? So, I am giving myself permission to re-write the verse--instead of colly birds... singing penguins (smile).

As we approach a new year I am also giving myself permission to re-write other things that need to be changed, or at least updated--like the way I prioritize, reviewing our client base, updating my skill set, refreshing my perspective on down-time.

Give yourself permission to re-write some things in the new year too. Consider these as a start:
- review your business practices to ensure they are serving your company efficiently
- revisit your existing commitments and if they are the best use of your time and resources
- refresh your ways of communication (ex. practice active listening, or allow yourself a "cooling off" period before responding verbally or via email to situation, or work toward conveying your ideas more clearly)
- re-visit your time budget to allow time to volunteer or serve as a mentor

Go ahead, re-write your own lyrics, sing a new song. All together now... four singing penguins, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.

We Appreciate You!

The team at KAI Strategic Marketing Group is truly thankful for our relationship with you. What an incredible journey we’ve had together—full of positive change and growth experiences. We expect even more growth this upcoming year as we make more
positive changes.

Beginning in 2012 KAI will no longer be providing strategic marketing services to small and mid-sized companies. We will begin shifting our target to corporate marketing management and implementation. We will, however, continue to provide valuable informational marketing resources through our online presence; so please stay connected to us.

It has truly been an honor to serve you and work with you, and we wish you all the best as you continue to thrive. The future is going to be awesome for all of us!

Christmas and New Year’s Campaign Checklist

With Christmas being just a few days away we wanted to give you a final quick checklist for your holiday campaigns:

• Create and post messages to your social media accounts that not only promote your products/services, but spread well-wishes to your clients
• Send Christmas cards by Monday, Dec 20th or Happy New Year cards by Monday, Dec 27th to selected valued customers
• Send a Happy New Year email blast to your entire database on Wednesday, Dec. 29th
• Give a small token to your vendors whom you can't live without - mail carrier, print shop specialist, coffeeshop barista by Friday, Dec. 24th
• Make a donation to a charity in the name of your clients and send a notice telling them what you did. It's a very meaningful gift that you can give anytime.

Marketing Quick Tip
If you are running a holiday sale or special promotion, in addition to adding it to your social media sites, be sure to add a short, descriptive "buzz" sentence about it to your company email signature, voicemail message, and invoices.

And, remember, to take a breath and enjoy the special moments that the holidays bring.

It's Time to Deck the Halls (re-visited)

(This is re-post from last year. The tips are still fresh and valuable.)

Well, as Halloween comes and goes, stores are already putting out Christmas decorations. Yes, it's hard to believe that the holidays are just around the corner. And, if you haven't already started planning your holiday marketing campaign, now is the time.


But, before you run out and deck the halls with marketing messages remember: holiday campaigns must be integrated with your overall marketing strategy. They must have clear goals, objectives, target audience, and must stay consistent with your overall brand promise. A focused plan can help your company generate sales, increase awareness about your product/service, and show appreciation to your existing customers, employees and partners.


If your campaign will rely on heavy email-marketing, the right time to start will depend on what product or service you are offering, to whom, and when they are likely to buy it. Restaurants may want to begin now in promoting holiday parties and gift cards, while last-minute gift retailers should wait until the beginning of December. Internet marketing expert Paula Skaper encourages that your email campaigns allow enough time for readers to receive the promotion, respond and receive delivery of their products/services on time for Christmas (click here for full article).

In her article 10 Tips for Designing Your Holiday Email Campaign, Karen Scharf further suggests to segment your merchandise and mailing lists to make shopping easier, such as Gifts for Men, Gifts for Children, etc. Or if you are a service-based company, segment by market--Specials for Retailers, Specials for B2B Companies. "There is so much competition for the in basket at this time of year, don't waste your customers' time with promotions that are irrelevant to their shopping habits."

Because I'm big on the personal touch, consider investing in a small postage budget and mail a gift card or coupon to selected loyal clients and customers. It's a good way to say "thank you" and generate business.

Bottom line: start planning now for happy holidays. Waiting until Thanksgiving will be a little late and will have you and your team scrambling at the last minute--and there is nothing happy about that.

Click here for more holiday marketing tips.

On the Personal Side: Commit NOT to Over-Commit

(On The Personal Side are rare personal entries by the owner of this business journal blog. We hope the insights here have value for your life.)

Well, this week marks two months since my surgery that I was so excited about having. What was supposed to be a 5-day recovery turned out to be a 2-month ordeal of complications and after-effects (some very serious). So much so that one of my doctor friends said that if I had gone through this 20 years ago, I would not have made it. While I didn’t know the medical implications, I did know that the combination of infection, fibroids tumors breaking down, dehydration, menstruation, vomiting, and excruciating pain was horrible.

So, I am certainly grateful for the miracles of modern medicine, but I know that it was the effectual prayers of the righteous that truly availed much on my behalf (James 5:16b). Now, my infection is cleared, blood pressure is great, hemoglobin levels are good, food is staying down, and pain is manageable—all opposites of where I was 3 weeks ago. I continue to work on my stamina. I still get tired easily, especially while talking. So, thank you for your patience with me if I’ve not yet responded to your caring phone calls. I do check all of my messages and soooo appreciate them. I also check my email and respond to those a little quicker. I love, love, love, love, love all of you so much.

I am starting light duty this week with the expectation that I will be strong enough to return to normal duty the 1st week of November… But, a word about that “returning to normal duty”--I learned something during this journey back to health.

While my healing process has been a painful and draining one, it’s not been all bad. I’ve seen many good movies, read good books, experienced my husband as a good caretaker, enjoyed my dog, seen my parents twice (to help take care of me, my good caretaker husband, and my dog), re-discovered my love for old-fashioned letter writing, and learned Il bel far niente--the beauty of doing nothing (as taken from the lesson learned in Italy by Elizabeth Gilbert in Eat, Pray, Love—one of the good books I read.)

There were so many days that all I could do was stare at the sky that I began to appreciate the value of doing so—(I mean doing so when I am not in excruciating pain and on heavy, street-value drugs). That’s something I rarely ever allow myself to do. Between working 14+ hour days with various large and small clients; and maintaining a house, healthy marriage, and an over-active dog, taking/making downtime was a luxury I couldn’t afford. So, during the last 2 months, in between doses of medicine and all the after-effects that I mentioned, I had a few days that I felt well enough to do nothing but read a few pages of a book without the weight of all my other responsibilities, and I liked it.

Excited about my new Il bel far niente discovery, I sent my friend Melanie a text message to tell her. She kindly noted that I actually wasn’t doing nothing, because I was reading the book and texting her. So, OK, maybe doing nothing is a stretch, but the art of doing less-things-than-I-normally-do is what I am seeking. Or, as my other friend Kay said, “maybe just try to do two things, instead of your normal 20.”

I think that is doable. Strangely, it helps that right now two things is about all I can manage; but I do expect to gradually restore my stamina back to a normal level and I want to be intentional about not restoring my activity to a normal level. I confess it was a bit much, even for me. I also confess that, while it sounds noble to lighten my load, I know it won’t be easy. It means making some hard and sometimes unpopular choices. But I’ve got to do it—for my health, for my sanity, and for my longevity.

So, I’m making a commitment NOT TO OVER-COMMIT, and I’m asking all of you to help hold me accountable. What do you need to commit to?

New Season, New Look

In honor of our favorite season, we are springing forward with a new logo. This new look dones a natural color palette, and organic feel, which parallels our strategic and creative process. Our marketing process is flexible and natural, which helps us develop unique marketing tactics for our clients that fit together into a unified, organic whole.

Let us know what you think...