We get deep in to the routine, look up one day and realize that we’ve been doing the same thing over and over again — and we haven’t evolved or grown personally or professionally. We also may realize that we may need to start learning some new skills to take business into the next step.

It starts with trying to do something different each day. It starts with thinking about just one thing differently each day. It’s not that you need to dig deeply and completely change everything at once. All it takes is thinking about your business and how you can make small, incremental changes that point it all in the right direction.

We’ve been going through this recently and we’re finding that it is opening up new possibilities.

We’re thinking about media differently We’re thinking about audiences differently. We’re seeing the start of what could be some very interesting work in social media. We’re learning more about what it takes to do good work in the ever-changing environment. We’re thinking about how we can keep growing our business with honesty and integrity.

And it’s all because we were willing to let go of the routine and think just a little differently.

So, think about what you’re doing now and find little things that you could change for the better. Is it a new way to become more organized and efficient? Is it a new creative outlet that can sprout ideas that can help? Is it taking the negative aspects of your work and spinning it in a positive direction?

No matter what it is, a little new thinking could put you on the road to things that you never could have imagined possible.

That’s when we met Fernando Sobrevilla.

Fernando worked in Hispanic media for years. Prior to that, in his native Peru, he worked for an advertising agency. What’s most impressive about Fernando is that he understands advertising, marketing and media. What’s even more impressive is that he understands the nuance and unique nature of the market. That’s why he does everything with authenticity and care.

One of our clients was looking to reach the Hispanic market. Fernando immediately understood how they could connect in an honest, authentic way that would increase traffic. Within a month, through a combination of traditional media (in this case radio) and promotion of a weekly bus line, attendance has expanded rapidly. Most importantly, though, this program has created great affinity for our client.

Fernando is a great testament to completely and holistically understanding the Hispanic market. It’s one thing to do a “buy” in the Hispanic market. It’s quite another to have a brand and advertiser more “embedded” in the culture because they took the time to completely understand their market.

In our case, our understanding came from Fernando and we couldn’t be happier to have him as part of the team. If you’re looking to be part of the ever-expanding Hispanic market, please contact us — we’ll set up a time for you to meet Fernando and see all of the new possibilities that await you.

You may have been advertising like crazy on a specific medium or spread it out a little bit. You may have done everything that you can to get the best value out of the relationships you have with your media partners. You may have even spent some extra money to get some creative and production done.

Your advertising (or “communication”) may have worked for awhile.

Then, out of nowhere, it may have stopped working. It could have been a slow boil or a severe drop.

And you can’t figure out why that has happened.

There are plenty of reasons why something like this could happen. But, there is one often overlooked aspect to communication and advertising: you may very well have just run your course with the audience.

The fact is, you have to stay very close to your communication. If you’ve been a long-time advertiser, say, on radio and you haven’t changed your message much, you could be in trouble. We’ve heard single commercials that have run, as-is, for months. Listeners get fatigued by this and will most likely tune you out. If it worked before and you have nothing new to say, it’s possible that your audience became more transactional than relationship-based.

Even if it’s subtle, you should always consider ways to mix it up so that the consumer can keep “getting to know you.” Keep giving them reasons to like you. Give them reasons to trust you. You can still retain the core of your message but you can present it in ways that keep the consumer interested.

The other to consider is that you may very well have saturated the audience. In this case, it may be worth considering moving on to a different medium or partner. It’s not always the case here since audiences tend to overlap — but it is something to consider to get the audience excited about you — new and old.

Most people may fall somewhere in between.

Make no mistake, advertising will continue to try to permeate the barrier between consumer and their mind. Some advertisers rely on tricks, they rely on gimmicks. This is a vestige of an earlier time when broadcast was king, queen and court jester. In some cases, all this does is makes the consumer cringe or worse, make them ignore you.

We’ve heard stories about how some local advertisers didn’t really care what kind of reaction they got, as long as there was a reaction of some kind. This seems to be highly counter-productive. Part of building an audience and loyalty is likability. Good advertisers bake that in to the equation by constantly asking themselves, “will consumers ‘like’ us if we put this on the air.”

Even better advertisers don’t really even think of themselves as “advertisers.” They think of themselves as good “communicators.” They know that advertising is one part of the puzzle but having an overall view of “communication” tends to take companies and businesses into better territory. Yes, advertising is changing, but communication (and good communication) will never go out of style.

There is one company based here that is doing just that: Nike. You may not be seeing as many Nike TV commercials as in the past. Part of the reason is that a vast majority of their conversation and communication lives online now. This is where the people are and this is where they respond. This isn’t to say that the company has abandoned advertising — in fact, far from it. But, Nike has always been masterful at communicating its brand, its identity and its essence.

Even smaller businesses and companies can learn from this. There is “advertising” but the more effective approach to creating something truly special is through the discipline of constant, effective communication — no matter where it lives.

That’s the reality.

So, in light of all of the changes around us, what is the one piece of ammunition that we all have but sometimes never use?

Learning.

It’s true. We get so caught up that we’ve forgotten how to learn about the things around us that could make us more successful.

Take social media, for example. We love it, but we’re far from experts. We know that it can be integrated into existing campaigns and strategies well and we’re starting to see that with some of our clients but we’re still clearly in the “let’s keep learning” mode. It’s exciting to see how these platforms can add yet another layer of sound communication — where people are flocking. We also know that we’re very much at the front end of this communications revolution and we’re learning everything we can so that it can be part of everything we do.

Another place where we have learned more than we even could have thought was the Hispanic market.

For such a long time, we worked under very traditional media guidelines when it came to this area. We recently brought on a Hispanic expert who has completely opened our eyes to what good communication to this audience is all about. There is a style. There is a distinct delivery. There is more intimacy. When you get past the numbers, you’ll find that this audience is incredibly passionate and likes to be spoken to in a very specific way. In our past experience, we didn’t realize the nuance of it all.

As times change, we have the power to change with them. At times, we all go kicking and screaming because it takes us out of our comfort zone a bit. But, we have the ammo and we just need to remember to keep using it — and learn something new every day.

Really?

Have you done a “word audit” of your positioning, tag lines, slogans, brochures, website copy, advertising copy — and anything and everything else that requires “words?” Chances are, you may not have paid much attention to some of the things you wrote some time ago. It’s reality: you get going on life and work and the next thing you know, something is stale.

We’re going through exactly the same thing. And it’s not something that we’re looking at as bad. If anything, it gives us a chance to refresh, a chance to grow and a chance to evolve.

This site will change. The words we use will change.

We’re still working on the words we want to use moving forward. We’re trying to figure out tone. We know that we’ve probably been more stiff than we would like. Again, this isn’t a bad thing at all.

Think about your business and the words you use to describe it. Don’t think about visual cues or visual design. What we’re talking about are the words that can paint a picture and that give you a clear distinction and, in some cases, clear separation from your competitors.

If it feels tired, it probably is. If it feels dated, it very well might be. You may have been in business for a long time, but times change and your words should change with them. That’s not to say that you have to abandon it all — but freshen it up and give it a chance to keep growing.

We always enjoy this time of year because it is a time of renewal. We get a chance to get out more often with our horses (more on that in a future post) and otherwise just enjoy our time in the Pacific Northwest.

Renewal also underscores another important point: optimism and opportunity.

Yes, many of us are just dusting off the remnants and hosing off the stench of 2009. From this “cleansing” comes new opportunity. Make no mistake, there are and still will be challenges to face but it seems as though the best way to make progress is to take incremental steps.

In the traditional world and in the past, it was all about the “big” win. Sure, there is still opportunity to get some substantial business but the most important thing to consider is your pace and using your time wisely. It’s also vital to think about your resources and how you are using them.

Give yourself the opportunity to shed things that might be keeping your from moving forward. Take a good, deep look at where you can make changes. This means adding, subtracting and adjusting.

If its media you’re working on, be very honest about what is working and what isn’t working. If you are leaning on “relationships” with your media partners and you’re not getting what you need (big difference from what you “want”), then have an honest discussion and make the changes you need to move forward. Sometimes it’s good to wipe the slate clean and get a fresh start.

As you go through this process, you’ll find that you’re opening yourself up for all kinds of possibilities. Think about how you can use these resources for different and other media. Take a good look at what you’re doing on your website and your digital media strategy including social media and email marketing.

In some ways, you’re taking a puzzle apart. But, it’s a great opportunity to put together a new picture that will make you look forward to what the rest of 2010 has to offer.

Go to the Oregon Coast.

Have a leisurely dinner with family or friends.

Take a long walk.

Go to Powell’s and waste a few hours.

Explore a part of the area you’ve never visited.

Head to Washington Park.

Read a book (or two).

Take some time in the Columbia River Gorge.

Just relax.

Work will always be there.

Work will always take up most of your day. Work will challenge and inspire you. Work will make you happy. Work will drive you crazy.

But, work will always be there.

Don’t forget to give life the time it deserves. Take a break. We are and we know that we’ll come back relaxed, energized and ready to take on whatever comes our way.

Best wishes for a great Spring Break.

For those of us who are getting started and getting deeper in the game, these are good reminders and possibly part of a road map.

We attended a social media conference last week in Portland. There was quite a bit to absorb and there was much talk about where social media is and where it’s going. But, one of the most important aspects, it seems, is the one that tends to be overlooked by businesses: the “social” part.

Social media is not meant to be a blunt, direct sales pitch. Admittedly, we were caught up in that at the beginning but quickly realized that our role in social media is purely about sharing what we know — and learning about what we don’t know. It’s very easy to get caught up in the “me” side of it all, but we’re learning (see, we’re learning) more and more about what really makes good social media.

A few things that stood out:

Don’t Be a Jerk On Facebook
That seems pretty obvious but you’d be surprised at how many people are using the bullhorn of Facebook to be clowns. It comes down to common courtesy.

Also, you have to give, give and give some more. You won’t receive until you give. Share links, get engaged with your friends on your Fan Page. Give ‘em what they want. If it isn’t what they want, you’ll find out soon enough when your friend list goes down or someone give you “the business” publicly.

Additionally, you have to be as real as possible. In business, it’s easy to tow the company line, but Facebook isn’t the place to do it. Be real. Be honest. Be yourself.

Blogs Are Good
This is where you can really make an impact. As a business, you have thoughts and ideas and you like sharing them. For example, we have a level of experience and expertise in media. We like sharing our thoughts on a number of subjects that impact our business every day. It may not be for everyone, but we hope that any size business can glean some wisdom that can help them out.

The biggest part of blogging is to keep it up to date. We do our very best to get a couple of posts out per week. At some point, we will increase the number of posts. The goal is to get something up every day. We’ll get there, but this is where we are right now. Knowing that we’re trying to keep it as fresh as we can is a great motivator to get us to the once-a-day post.

Reputation
The long and short of this is about negative comments. Social media (including blogs) are ripe for criticism. That’s 100% OK. We’ve had some feedback on some earlier posts where people didn’t agree.

That’s a good thing.

The dialogue is open and you really can’t take it personally. You have to look at is as an opportunity for further discussion. That’s when the real progress can be made. However, it’s never a good idea to attack or respond back publicly. Most of the time, you’ll want to take it offline so that you can get to the root of the discontent and learn from it.

On it, you’ll find farms, farm stores, a nursery and other things that make our part of Oregon so unique.

The speed limit on this road is 55. About 2 miles in to the drive, there is a sign before a rise in the road that reads, “Hill Blocks View.” It also asks you to slow down a little bit so that you can navigate it and get to the other side.

It got us thinking about some of the “hills” in business and advertising today. There are plenty of them lurking around. And some of them may be difficult to get over if you’re going too fast.

One of the behaviors we’ve heard about from advertisers and companies (especially smaller ones) is that they try very hard to do as much as possible in a very short period of time. They feel as though they need to “catch up” with the market. What can happen, though, may be detrimental: mistakes can be made and focus can be lost because the leaders of the company feel as though they need to push harder and harder.

We know one person who was running hard (still runs hard — but much smarter) and doing everything possible to get as much business in the door. He ended up losing his focus, even though he had a handful of very good clients. In the middle of the year, the economy turned even more south for his clients and he got caught in the undertow.

It was a very difficult time, but he also realized that this was a great opportunity to think about the core business and what he liked doing most. He slowed down and completely rethought his approach. He simplified and has put himself back on the road that he’s most comfortable on.

In times like this, it might not be a bad idea to slow down a little bit to get over the hill. Because the last thing you want is for it to block your view.