Note: Forgive me on the timing here, but this post has been in my drafts folder since mid December. Have been meaning to post, but 2011 has already proven to be busier than ever. Better late than never I guess.
At the beginning of 2010, I wrote a post about why Three Deep is going to have a great year in 2010. My predictions were right. We were named the 9th Best Place to Work in Minneapolis-St. Paul in the Small Business category, were one of the Inc 5000 fastest growing companies in the country, and have added enormously to both our staff and our clients. 2010 was very successful year for the company and I am already looking forward to seeing how things shape up for Three Deep in 2011.
To kick off 2010, I posted my personal work goals on our website for everyone who visits our website to see. It was an interesting experiment in public accountability that was equal parts invigorating and scary. Thankfully, I was able to achieve most of these goals(with some going above and beyond my original expectations), so the post certainly helped me stay on track. For those interested, here is how I did:
- Land at least one speaking gig at a local conference or event: Success! I was invited to speak at both the NJ Chapter of MENG on Social Media, and the MIMA Summit on Google Analytics. Both excellent experiences that allowed to demonstrate my passion and expertise for two completely different topics.
- Conduct primary research with a client or trusted partner and have it published: Success! We helped conduct research for one of our clients on the value of search engine marketing and how it correlates to in store purchase intent. This research was published internally at our client organization and the results helped prove the value of our search marketing campaigns. In addition, I wrote an article that was published on the Google CPG Blog, highlighting the impact of research conducted by BabyCenter and Google on moms online.
- Get Three Deep certified in all available areas of the Google Advertising Professionals Program. We are currently certified in two of the three areas, and I have complete confidence in our team’s ability to become certified in the remaining area: Fail! I didn’t make this enough of a priority in 2010 and I am not sure if we will get there in 2011 either, but remain hopeful
- Continue to help Three Deep get more press: Success! We succeeded here in several ways, starting with a Star Tribune feature in January, extending into our open house in July, being named a Best Places to Work and making the Inc.5000 list. Each little piece of notoriety counts, and our efforts are starting to result in more awareness of our company in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.
- Continue to innovate new ideas, techniques and services while staying on top of changes in the Interactive space: Success! while we add more people to the Three Deep team, we’ve also added new expertise and our team has continued to develop their knowledge. We’ve added new offerings for our Home Improvement contractors and are working on further developing some of our other offerings to add to our increased innovations.
- Compliment our GAAC status with a Google Website Optimizer Authorized Consultant (WOAC) certification: Fail! We just didn’t quite come around on this program in 2010 and have learned that it will not be an option in 2011 either.
- Become a Seminars for Success leader and be more active in the search marketing and web analytics community: Neutral! While I have inquired several times about becoming a seminar leader, it is apparent that this is not an area where there are openings for new leaders. We have, however, become more active in both the search and web analytics communities in the Minnesota area. This should continue in 2011, as we have already announced our sponsorship for the MNSEM Search party in February.
- Rewrite the service descriptions on our website: Success! In a team effort with Diane the intern, we’ve been renovating our service pages throughout the year. Stay tuned in 2011 for new pages that better communicate our expertise and why you should consider Three Deep for your online marketing needs.
Total 2010 Tally: 5 successes, 2 failures and 1 neutral. While I don’t like seeing any failed attempts, the successes we have seen more than make up for them.
For 2011, I think that a lot of my goals will fall into similar buckets as they did in 2010, with further focus on growth as a marketer, a businessperson and personal growth as well. New goals for 2011 include:
- Become involved in non-profit organizations through volunteering and board memberships
- Help Three Deep grow by 25% in 2011
- More speaking events
- Continue to help grow our interactive services team professionally and in total employees
- Travel to my 6th continent (Australia)
These seem to be pretty easy to achieve, so perhaps I need to add another stretch goal. However, that may cause me to push this post back even further, and posting a 2010 recap in March would be pathetic.
Hope you enjoyed this post – post your goals in the comments if you would like… or send me an email!
As marketers, we all know that there is a fair amount of turnover throughout the dynamics of the client/agency relationship. This post series covers solutions to many common problems that may arise while inheriting a Google Analytics account.
