Marketing is the second section of five strategic areas for growth in the Vistage Executive Street 2015 forecast.

From the report: “ …smarter, more well informed and resourceful consumer who is empowered with information at their fingertips”

2015 Marketing Checklist –

• Optimize your online experience.
• Use social media to build your brand’s presence and credibility with its target audience.
• Narrow your focus to reach your true target market.
• Make sure your site is mobile friendly.

So what’s in your 2015 marketing game plan?

Download the report here:

Marketing – 2015 Trend Report

Remember these steps to get better results:

1. Schedule time to read the report when you can be focused and fully present.
2. Jot down a few ideas and goals that are applicable to your company.
3. Share the report, your ideas and goals with your team.
4. Ask them how you can help them achieve the goals.
5. Hold them accountable for results.

CEO Confidence index Feb 2015

A survey of 713 small business CEOs found that optimism among small

firms has remained virtually unchanged for the past four months, and

has been at its highest level since the survey began in June 2012. The

WSJ/Vistage Small Business CEO Confidence Index was 115.5 in the

February 2015 survey. This reading is identical to January’s reading and

nearly equal to December’s 115.0 and November’s 115.6. The steadfast

optimism indicates that small business CEOs hold a deep sense of

confidence about prospects for the U.S. economy.

The small changes in the components of the Confidence Index pale

in comparison to the stability of optimism, which remains at record

high levels. This renewed sense of confidence has not wavered despite

uneven news on the domestic and global economies. Nor has it yielded

to weather-induced losses due to the harsh winter as it did last year.

Overall, the data indicate that small businesses expect a stronger

economy, and as a consequence, a tighter labor market during the year

ahead. This will result in continue upward pressures on wages as well as

draw more idled workers into the labor force.

The Vistage 2015 forecast for growth is full of ideas, strategies and tactics to help grow your company in the year ahead.  It was released at the beginning of the year along with hundreds of other business and personal improvement lists to kick off 2015.

Can there be too many good ideas? Unfortunately, the answer is yes.  Too many ideas can confuse your focus and rob you of direction, leading to inactivity.  The New Year plethora of idea lists usually follows the same track as gym memberships – energized in January, forgotten by February.

The key to progress is continuous improvement. It needs to be focused and manageable.

So, let’s try something new. Now that we are away from the New Year noise we can explore the forecast one section at a time.

Try these steps to get better results:

• Schedule time to read the report when you can be focused and fully present.
• Jot down a few ideas and goals that are applicable to your company.
• Share the report, your ideas and goals with your team.
• Ask them how you can help them achieve the goals.
• Hold them accountable for results.

Here is the first section of five strategic areas for growth in the Vistage 2015 forecast.

Technology –

Key points:

• Embrace the Internet of things.
• Get your head in the cloud.
• Make big data a big deal.

Click the link for the full Technology report.

5 ways tech