Last week’s game in which the St. Louis Rams special teams faked the punt against the Seattle Seahawks to help win the game, highlights the strategic importance of specialization, and believe it or not this type of strategy can be applied to teams in the workplace.

Special teams are some of the most overlooked in football. They can however, make the difference in controlling the game. Their moving the advantage up and down the field can lead to the big win. They are specialized and trained in their purpose. Whether punting the ball deep, keeping the opponent in a poor field position or making those final, last second field goals – they do something that the rest of the team cannot.

What makes special teams special? Practice, training, more practice, more training.

In this age of Do it Yourself (DYI), technology provides instruction on pretty much anything. Google has become the “go to” for immediate answers on how to accomplish an unknown task. No longer do we have to slog through piles of research. We can learn anything from how to reupholster a chair, how to tweet or learn how to sharpen our Excel skills. It’s great to be able to have access to this wealth of knowledge. But it does not guarantee the level of proficiency that only time, focus and mentoring can provide.

In order to create a winning strategy, become a leader and grow your small business, remember you can’t be all things to all people. It is critical to know when to call in the special teams.

You may only call on your experts for such specialized projects such as branding and marketing strategy and execution or human resources. As your business grows and time becomes more precious, you may use those special teams on a more permanent outsourcing basis to keep your eye on growth and innovation.

Whatever the case, when you need a game changer, call in special teams.

One of the things that makes marketing rock is the combination of science, art and a whole lot of planning. Clients that come to Front Porch Marketing typically have marketing goals they are trying to achieve. Sometimes they are WOG’s (wildly outrageous goals), sometimes they are motivational or aspirational.

Regardless of the size or type of goal, without a brand strategy and marketing plan, it is just a dream.

You are planning a trip from Dallas, Texas to Taos, New Mexico. You have plugged it into your GPS and you have selected the route with the shortest drive time. You know how long it is going to take to get there and what it is going to cost.

The STRATEGY: (your why) Family of four wants to have a safe trip to Taos, New Mexico, and enjoy time together.

The TACTICS: (your how) Travel by car in 16 hours, spending $200 on gas. You have your plan!

Not so fast.

What tools do you need to be successful? A driver’s license, a car, food, water, lodging and gas. There are a lot of vehicle models just as there are endless marketing tools (branding, social media, radio, TV, direct mail, print, e-mail marketing, e-commerce, in-store POP, affiliations, cross-promotions, customer loyalty, on and on).

The vehicle selection for a road trip is important, as is the selection of your marketing tools. Having a budget upfront can be helpful in determining tool selection. Who doesn’t want to drive a Bugatti Veyron to Taos, but is that the best tool for the goal?

Always tie your tactics and tools back to your goal and strategy. The performance and constant analysis of your tools is the science of marketing. There are tangible metrics and formulas for each tool ranging from frequency, reach, engagement and ROI.

When and how you use your tools is the art.

Ask the tough questions. What else do you need to know to be successful? For the Taos trip you might ask: Are there other destinations you want to visit along the way? What is the weather forecast? What are the traffic patterns? What is the longest stretch of highway between gas stations? Even the most expensive and sophisticated vehicle without fuel is just a heavy piece of metal.

Ask every question that will help or prevent you from achieving your goal. Then ask 10 more and PLAN accordingly.

Want to know a little secret? Summer is not, well, pleasant for me.

Don’t get me wrong! I love spending extra time with my children, the vacations, hanging with out of town visitors among other things.

Working parents have several balls in the air during the school year. When summer comes, those spherical objects spin and a multiply. Heck ~ I dream about them.

In addition to keeping my family’s schedule straight, as a small business owner, I am also managing my team’s vacation schedule and filling in the gaps where needed. Even rockers need vacations!

Here are some things for working parents to rely on during the month of August:

1. Camps – Even if it is one from 1-4 p.m., sign that boy or girl up.
2. Helpers – Full time babysitters, part time college helpers, couldn’t get through this chaos without them. I have three and only two kids. No joke.
3. Friends – Ditto. They help with the shuttle to and fro, the additional activities to keep the kiddos entertained and they are your go to for that much needed GNO.
4. Family members – Make the call. Most often than not, they want to help and spend time with your children without you around.
5. Your colleagues – Amazing how helpful they can be in a pinch if you just ask.
6. Exercise – It changes your mood and increases metabolism.
7. Mindless activity – Read a trashy novel, do the dishes, watch TV ~ I am currently obsessed with The Good Wife and watch an episode every night before I say nigh nigh. Already plowed through these this summer: Homeland, House of Cards, Revenge and Scandal. Started on episode one, season one on all of them.
8. Positive thinking – Think half full. Always. Being an optimist reduces your stress and is better for your overall health and well being.
9. Healthy eating – How do you feel after eating fast food? Nuff said.
10. Sleep – It is non-negotiable. We need seven to nine hours to be productive.
11. Music – It can have a powerful effect on mind and body far beyond its ability to promote relaxation and stress relief according to Dr. Andrew Weil.
12. To do list (Mine is a ta da list) – Hit the ground running in the mornings with focus and a list of tasks at hand. Here’s a great article to how to make yours effective.

Only a couple of weeks before school starts. You can do it!

Make Waves … I remember the email that started it all, seems like only yesterday …

Patti Johnson, CEO and founder of PeopleResults, sent it a few short years ago.

She hired a company to assist her in redesigning and updating her company’s website and received round three or four of creative. She forwarded the concepts to me to get my opinion and eventually partnered with Front Porch Marketing to manage the project.

First step, we had several brand strategy meetings to outline the PeopleResults brand architecture.

Next step, we used the brand strategies to drive the website creative.

Along that journey, we recommended:

• Adding a blog to the site ~ you can subscribe to it here. It ROCKS!
• Then, defining the social media strategy for the brand and the individual partners
• Conducting team and individual social media training
• Creating a social media content calendar and blog schedule
• Developing a team marketing bar where team members could present their individual marketing ideas and several other initiatives, but trying to keep this brief

And, the rest is history.

We initiated change with smart, concise thinking tailored for key personalities at PeopleResults: the PeopleResults Partners. From there, the strategies were clear, and together we built fresh path forward for the leadership team and brand.

Patti recently credited me for starting her journey that resulted in, “Make Waves: Be the One to Start Change at Work and in Life.” For that, I am very honored and humbled. It was a team effort though. Without her courageous leadership, a trusted, two-way partnership and the willingness of the leadership team, it wouldn’t have happened.

The book is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Indie Bound and Walmart.

Wave Maker out!

One of my favorite movies of the year is Jobs. Who doesn’t like to watch Ashton Kutcher on any screen … sorry I digress …

They had me at, “Don’t be better. Be different.”The. Best. Marketing. Advice. ITHOE. 

In a few critical points in product development, Jobs calls in Steve Wozniak, to help him develop a new product for Atari (that was 1980 somethin’), reinvent the Macintosh, etc.

It got me thinking.

Who is my Woz? Everyone needs one (or 10) Wozs on their team.

Here are a few roles a Woz can play:

1. Whiz Bang Woz – The creative genius you run a situation or opportunity by, or pass off to, and they come up with THE brilliant idea
2. Practical Woz – The one who tells you, “They didn’t call your baby ugly.” Enough said.
3. Relationship Woz – The one who is your people person. Always looking at how thing are interpreted and will play out from the people side of the business.
4. Financial Woz – The one who asks you the real numbers questions. You may not like the questions they ask but know the answer. Thank goodness for these folks.
5. Work Life Woz – The one who reminds you to keep it real. The voice that is the same in your head. Work is for work. Enjoy and be present with your family.

Have them in your iPhone contacts and you are good to go.

It was homework for our team members to watch this movie.

One comment was, “Steve wasn’t a nice man.”

Truth. Sometimes the best business owners or leaders are not nice but they are smart enough to surround themselves with folks to remind them to be or they let others lead the people part of the business.

Have you met the Rockette and The Rock?

Julie Porter is the Chief Rocker at Front Porch Marketing. You can follow her or her company on Twitter @JulieDPorter01 and @ItsFrontPorch and Instagram @Julie_Porter and @ItsFrontPorch. Connect with her on LinkedIn or email her at julie@itsfrontporch.com.