Call me corny, but I love the start of a new year; not only is it the perfect time to reflect on the past year's accomplishments and failures, it's also a wonderful time to set intentions to reinvent yourself… or dare we say, rebrand yourself. ; )
While we had a big year at TIS in 2017, there is always room for growth and improvement. But, if you wish to see different results, then you can't continue doing business or living life the same way you always have. That means some shifts in habits and behaviors need to take place in order to see a more desired result in the new year.
Since we place a high value on transparency here at TIS, we're not only going to share our 2018 goals—we're going to tell you what we plan on doing to achieve these goals. Check 'em out below!
Goal 1: Grow and develop our digital marketing services
We've clearly come a long way in our digital media and marketing capabilities since TIS first opened its doors in 2003, but we know that we haven't quite tapped our potential just yet. We've got a rock-solid web development and design team, but to further advance our digital marketing services, we plan to hire someone who specializes in this discipline.
How: Hire a Digital Marketing Strategist
As a smaller firm, many of us wear several hats throughout the workday (which has its benefits), but we are currently in the process of hiring a Digital Marketing Strategist so TIS can really hone in on our digital marketing efforts and be the best digital ally for our clients in 2018 and beyond. We'll be sure to introduce you to them once they're part of the team!
Goal 2: Provide more valuable content to our audience and clients
Since we hired our copywriter Natalie a few years ago, we've grown both the quantity and quality of blog posts and other content pieces. Last year, Nat set a goal for herself to publish one blog post per week. She was sooooo close to hitting that goal (46 posts in 52 weeks! Wow!), and I was extremely proud of her accomplishment. Toward the end of 2017, she definitely started to feel some burnout: creative burnout and quality burnout. So, we've taken a step back this year and we're adjusting our content strategy for 2018 to provide our readers with an even higher level of quality content.
How: Create more well-researched, on-topic content pieces
We're focusing on writing more meaningful content pieces in 2018: both standard-length blog posts and long-form content. Producing more valuable content equates to more time and research, so while you'll see the quantity of our posts decrease, you hopefully will find increased value in the content we publish.
Goal 3: Continuously work to improve diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace
While TIS has sought to use our business as a force for good for our community, employees and planet since Day 1, we started to measure our impact on the triple bottom line once we became a certified B Corp in 2016. Last year, we shifted much of our focus to diversity, equity and inclusion with the help of B Corp's 2017 Diversity & Inclusion challenge and our friends at Event Garde. In the spring, Aaron Wolowiec led us through a D&I workshop that guided us through establishing achievable initiatives to grow our D&I practices, which made it much easier to accomplish our goals. But there's still more work to be done!
How: Complete the 2018 B Corp challenge and recertify our B Corp status
First of all, we'll definitely be participating in B Corp's Inclusive Economy Challenge again this year. By participating in this year's challenge, we'll be able to further our equity and inclusivity practices at TIS. In addition, we're up for B Corp recertification this year. We will specifically be looking at the following areas during the recertification process:
- Financial Services for Employees: Providing financial products or services that help to meet urgent needs of employees, discourage predatory lending and/or facilitate savings
- Management of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: Implementing programs and initiatives to manage and improve the diversity, equity and inclusion of the workplace
- Product and Marketing Inclusion and Accessibility: Ensuring company products and/or marketing materials are inclusive or accessible
- Supplier Screening: Having a social and environmental screen in place that is used for a majority of TIS's significant suppliers
What are your 2018 goals?
Even though we're already a few days into the new year, it's not too late to set goals and intentions—professionally and personally—for 2018! Every day is an opportunity to begin again—take advantage of that!
Stay tuned throughout the year for updates on how we're doing with our 2018 goals. Updates to come!
