12 Resolutions For 2012

In 2011, Nebo experienced continued growth as a company, not only on the outside but also on the inside. We hired many new people, and we’re lucky to work with some of the best people in interactive marketing. Together, we all strive to push ourselves to greater heights. Our self-discipline, which begins with how we approach our work, minute by minute, hour by hour, eventually leads to the outward success we see in the awards we win, the growth we achieve, and the stunning results we help our clients gain from their efforts.

We expect 2012 to be no less amazing. Here are some of the resolutions our team is making to help guide us to greater success in the New Year. Some are business-related. Some are personal. All play a part in helping us continue to grow as a company. Whatever the New Year brings, whether it's another Google update, a new social network, or a new trend in marketing, we're prepared to face it with our best foot forward.

1. Give honest feedback more often and in a timelier manner. Since failure is an essential part of success, you often hear the phrase “fail fast.” We strive to share feedback more quickly, ensuring we learn as fast as possible and communicate more openly with each other.
2. Constantly ask: "Is this the best we can do?" It’s always easy to grow complacent and satisfied with good work, rather than great work. We need to challenge ourselves to always look for the best in our work – and that requires unrelenting self-questioning.
3. Better team integration. Like many companies, it’s easy to get siloed into one’s particular department or field of expertise. Yet, when people from different departments share knowledge (such as search marketing talking to user experience, or designers talking to content strategists) one’s perspective can shift in amazing ways. We strive to communicate more across departments and learn from our diverse team.
4. Write more. For our clients and for ourselves, we need to delve into our audience’s mind, understand what content they need, and serve it up. While content strategy may be a hot trend, we will always strive to create useful compelling articles, blog posts, and other forms of valuable information. Many at Nebo want to write more in 2012, and there isn’t a more perfect time!
5. Read more. Not just web articles and social media postings, but more books and ideas that help us understand our world, our profession, and our clients. Many of us have challenged ourselves to read between 2-4 books a month. In a world of information overload, sitting down with a book or other sustained argument over a long period of time is still one of the best ways to learn.
6. Stay on top of social media. Social media signals are much stronger and they are having a greater effect on search results. Google is now looking at the number of Facebook shares, the authority of Tweets, and other social data. Nebo plans to stay on top of these social media trends and be open to new directions.
7. Manage our time better. Not that we do a bad job, but time management is like a martial art – a lifetime of practice does not lead to absolute mastery, but it’s something where we can always improve. We will continually seek out more productive ways of using the hours in our day.
8. Less meetings, more productivity. While many meetings are useful, sometimes it’s easier (and more tempting) to talk rather than sit down and produce. Nebo will attempt to minimalize meetings (or condense multiple meetings into single meetings) in order to free up time for productive client work.
9. Network more. Networking is not something only the Nebo founders and business development team needs to do. Everyone should network. We will attend more networking events to meet new contacts, reconnect with people in our existing networks, and think of ways we can help people in our network succeed.
10. Become more involved in the community. While many of us at Nebo are involved in both professional activities (Technology Association of Georgia) and community organizations (PAWS Atlanta), we strive to find additional ways we can become involved with and do good for the community.
11. Get healthier. Whether it’s changing our diets or exercising more, many of us at Nebo strive to get healthier this year. By focusing on one’s health, work and life become less stressful and easier to manage.
12. Enjoy every moment and stop sweating the small stuff. Life is short. We’re not curing cancer or performing brain surgery. We will relax more, and enjoy our work.

And a bonus resolution… We've got a rooftop deck and a grill that doesn't get enough use. We will seek to change that!