I’m thrilled to say that Colibri Digital Marketing just hosted our first annual team building retreat in Peterborough, Ontario (that’s in Canada, eh?). A great time was had by all as we discovered the individual life goals and aspirations of each of our team members for Colibri Digital Marketing.
We also hammered out a new version of our organization chart, brainstormed how to improve processes, and built trust as we slithered through Canada’s Warsaw Caves with only one flashlight between us. (Thank you, Lydia, for having the foresight to bring a headlamp all the way from South Africa!)
Our biggest take home was the importance of communication in team building. As a marketing firm, we knew communication was important, but after spending 10 days together the importance of excellent communication took on new meaning.
Here’s a short list of the lessons we put it into action to make communication smoother and more effective:
1. Always take a moment, especially if you feel emotional, to figure out what your motivations are (do you feel hungry, angry, tired?).
2 Stick with the objective facts. Then share the feelings those facts generate.
3. Think through what would help improve the situation, and make a request — understand that just because you make a request doesn’t mean you’ll get your way.
4. Ask the person or group with whom you’re communicating to repeat back what you’ve said. You’ll be surprised how often people hear something different than what you meant.
Try these tips and let me know what you think. If you have better ideas, I’d love to hear them!
Colibri Digital Marketing Hubspot Partnership
As you may know, Hubspot is the leading software platform for inbound marketing — a key component of the digital marketing services we offer. Colibri Digital Marketing has been selected as a Hubsport agency partner, and as such we are receiving training and support about how to build our business to the next level.
Many of the materials, from videos to spreadsheets, we used during our retreat came from this partnership. Thanks, Hubspot!
In Other Colibri Digital Marketing News
I had the pleasure of sharing the stage with Lauren Messmer of digital marketing firm Meet Geraldine and John Gumas of Gumas advertising at a Townsquared digital marketing panel. The turnout was great, and everyone was eager to learn how to leverage digital marketing for their businesses. My home girl, Jasmine, showed up, supported me, and helped spread the word about Colibri Digital Marketing to a new audience.
In case you’re not familiar with Townsquared, they are niche social media platform built especially for small, local businesses. Being on the platform is a great way to meet other local business owners, network, and get the skinny on all things local business.
One of my personal goals for 2016 has been to improve my public speaking skills. You may have heard that people are more afraid of public speaking than of dying and, while I don’t exactly feel that way, I do get the jitters! To combat that, I’ve joined the Golden Gate Business Association (GGBA) Toastmasters, which meets on every other Wednesday at the Small Business Association offices on Market Street from 7:15 to 8:30 am.
Good public speaking skills are form of communication that will definitely pay dividends. Come check it out!
What’s Ahead
As we head into the last part of summer, we’re going to be consolidating what we learned at our retreat. I speak for the team when I say that we feel stronger together now and look forward to a bright future for our agency.
As always, let us know if you have questions about digital marketing. If you have something to say about communication, don’t be shy, speak out!
Colibri Digital Marketing
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