We all have a message we want to impart, whether we know it or not. We make decisions every day about what message we are sharing with the world. Our messages are communicated by what we wear out, how we look people in the eye, and what we type on our keyboards. Everything is a message.
For entrepreneurs, our message can walk a fine balance between personal and professional. We represent our business, and our business represents us. This concept makes our messaging even more important and puts greater weight on the audience receiving our messages, also known as our clients or potential clients.
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What We Say
Everyone must decide for themselves what their message will be. Industry professionals can be hired to refine, polish, and share that message, but no one can know what our intentions or goals are before us. We have to know what we want to say well before we say it, otherwise the chances of a garbled and inarticulate message increase exponentially.
What defines our business and the impact we want to have on the world through that business? For Noteworthy Communications, we desired to create positive conversation around the success of others. We saw this as a way to better our community and local economy in a creative and skillful way. Our task, every day, is to not only craft our own message, but to assist others in crafting and sharing theirs as well.
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How We Say It
How we communicate is just as important as what we are communicating. The words we choose to employ, the tone we use, the method of delivery, they all must work together in a way that best serves the spirit of the overall message. Genuineness is a crucial ingredient in every message we share, no matter how big or small that communication may seem. Our message means nothing if we do not believe it ourselves.
There are an infinite number of ways we can express ourselves these days and different topics require different methods of communication. Part of becoming an expert in communication is understanding what method is best suited for the message being delivered and the audience for whom the message is intended. What may be appropriate in one instance may not work in another.
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Who We Say It To
As a society and as individuals, we have never been more reachable. All day (and sometimes all night) long, we are receiving messages. Some of these communications come from people we know and some from people we will never know. Even still, no matter how many messages find their way to our brains, there are so many more than never have and never will.
If our message is failing to reach its desired audience, then we might need to reevaluate what we are saying or how we are saying it. Email campaigns reach a different audience than the same information that may appear in the local newspaper, but if that message is not compelling in the first place, then the method is doomed no matter what. Our intended audience has their own way of letting us know if our message is resonating, and that can usually be observed in how our business is performing.
As previously discussed in Chapter Five: The Oxymoronic Practice of Proactive Waiting, we learned how to make use of the awkward and frustrating times in between solid action. However, the very first action anyone can take before having to explore proactive waiting is an introspective exercise in messaging. What message do we want to share with the world and what message are we in a position to share with the world?
At Noteworthy Communications, we understand that a message can be an extremely personal thing, even when that message is for a professional endeavor. We cherish the trust that our clients put in us to help craft and deliver that message to a wider audience. We use these individual messages to spark full-on conversations and lifelong relationships between businesses and customers. When you have something to say, we are here to spread the word.