Strategies for Success. Highlights from the Start Strong. Finish Extraordinary! Webinar

As the calendar year winds down, many business leaders are gearing up to set the stage for a successful 2025. The recent webinar, Start Strong. Finish Extraordinary!, brought together a panel of experts to share actionable strategies for achieving organizational excellence. Featuring Wayne Ottum of Ottum Enterprises, Tanya Bamford of Bamford Strategies, and Erin Longmoon of Zephyr Connects, the discussion offered invaluable insights into strategic planning, marketing, and recruitment. If you missed it, you can watch the full recording here on YouTube.

Key Takeaways from the Webinar

Wayne Ottum: The Five-Step Success Checklist

Wayne Ottum shared a structured roadmap for starting strong and finishing extraordinary. His checklist emphasized:

1. Developing a Strategic Foundation: Build your vision, mission, and values to guide decision-making.

2. Setting Performance Standards: Define clear standards across the organization to ensure accountability.

3. SMART Goals: Create specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound goals.

4. Performance Management Tools: Use systems to measure and provide feedback on progress.

5. Communicating and Leading Change: Share expectations transparently and guide your team through transitions.

Tanya Bamford: Marketing Strategies for 2025

In this segment of the webinar, Tanya Bamford highlighted the importance of intentionally creating marketing plans to drive growth. Keys to that planning process include:

• Thorough Assessments: Conduct a year-in-review and SWOT analysis to evaluate your position relative to your prior year's goals, as well as your competition.

• Leverage Customer Experience: Gather client feedback to amplify your value proposition by showcasing authentic client testimonials that serve as powerful social proof.

• Strategically Aligned Content Creation: Build a content calendar that aligns with strategic objectives.

• KPI Measurement: Monitor metrics like website traffic, social media engagement, and conversion rates to refine strategies.

Erin Longmoon: Recruitment and Retention Strategies

To help organizations bring their plans to life, the final webinar panelist, Erin Longmoon, offered insights into attracting and retaining top talent:

• Employer Value Proposition: Highlight what makes your organization unique.

• Employee Personas: Identify the ideal candidate profile for your culture.

• Retention: Focus on core values alignment, onboarding, and ongoing professional development.

• Employee Engagement: Create an environment of psychological safety and meaningful work.

Actionable Strategies to Start Strong in 2025

The panelists’ insights boiled down to actionable steps any organization can implement:

• Create a strategic foundation with a clear vision and measurable goals.

• Develop a marketing plan that leverages client insights and prioritizes authenticity.

• Build a compelling employer value proposition to attract and retain the right talent.

Watch the Webinar Recording

This webinar was a treasure trove of practical advice for leaders across industries. Don’t miss the chance to hear the full discussion and audience Q&A session. Watch the webinar now on YouTube and start planning for an extraordinary 2025!