Soul Business meets the Business Media Club for 2023

10 Jan Soul Business meets the Business Media Club for 2023

Soul Business is an ethos we work to at Chris Green Media – based on fundamental principles that work best in life as well as business.

The aim is to communicate from the heart and soul to truly connect with people at a deeper, more meaningful, level.

The core is effective communication – not just informing people of what you do and how you do it but, primarily, why?

Indeed, you’re missing a trick if you’re not a Soul Business these days with lots of latter-day business talk of authenticity – being the one and only original you – indeed marketing what makes you, you.

Skill, experience, and expertise are fine –all really useful attributes – but to reach that gut level of instinct that sways so much of our decision making you need to cultivate a deeper level of trust – the sort of warm glow that just somehow feels right and enables us to sleep sound at night.

So in 2023 Soul Business morphs into the CGM Business Media Club with a focus on positive, proactive communication.

We want people to make 2023 their Best. Ever. Year. That means shaping a positive attitude to overcome the negativity that can easily drown and drag us down at times so we stay focussed on potential and possibility. Proactivity can put those positive thoughts into action.

It starts with our January meeting theme – Perception.

How we think and feel about things is often more important than the facts relating to them. Fact.

That’s why gaining a greater sense of perspective is key to address dominant perceptions of how people may feel about us, maybe the dominant images of our profession or industry, size or location of business, even our age or gender.

To set our sights on the road ahead we need to assess the assets we have in our backpack and potential barriers we need to remove (misconceptions maybe?) and, of course, to accurately gauge the direction and distance we wish to travel.

With that in mind, February’s meeting focuses on Belief – communicating the courage of our convictions to accentuate the positive values we believe in that can enable us to connect with people who share our beliefs (so are easier to work with) and to build trust – which should always be your No 1 goal.

Using our Ingenuity (March’s theme) is essential for opportunity spotting and innovation to devise and supply products and services that people want and provided in ways which makes sense to them and are  possibly different, better and maybe marketed more proactively than your competitors.

That requires Character, which we turn to in April, asking you to Be the Change You Want to See in the World.

Living and communicating our values positively can draw us towards people who travel our way and recognise the value of integrity, credibility, honesty, reliability and trust – a world away from fly-by-night, so-called ‘characters’, with questionable reputations.

Caring, sharing communities is the topic of May’s theme – Culture. Working together for the greater good can make life and work more enjoyable and fulfilling. Teamwork becomes dreamwork and when we care about and share with each other it lightens the load. Doubt what I’m talking about? Just put ‘don’t’ in front of ‘care’ or ‘share’ to see how negative cynicism looks.

None of this is possible without having a good story of course so June’s focus is Once Upon a Time – how we can best use that age-old, hard-wired skill of storytelling to create a narrative around our business to inform, educate and entertain.

In July, we look at The Gift of Giving, the feelgood factor of proactively seeking to help others and play our part in the community, which not only brings its own reward but recognises that doing good is always  good for business.

After a summer break, we return in September to an essential skill we constantly need to fine tune – learning to listen. We can all espouse our own views, but how good are we at looking and listening outside in to people we may wish to work with – be they customers, partners, suppliers, maybe even colleagues or family?

Few things matter more than our reputation – so With My Reputation? in October we look at image crisis management which, if you’ve done most of the things mentioned in the previous eight meetings in the right way, should provide a credibility buffer of-sorts – but a prepared plan is always necessary. Just in case…

Neither Soul Business or positive, proactive communication is a game we ever a win or fully master. It is a continuum – an art we consistently need to practise and a principle of progression – so November’s theme Cohesive Coordination is about balance – combining the elements from previous meetings into a plan so we keep being the best version of ourselves we possibly can be whether in our home, family and personal lives or in business.

Each Business Media Club meeting in 2023 will focus on two main things:

Why – Positive steps you may wish to take to make 2023 My. Best. Ever. Year. and

How – Proactive communication methods you can use to help take you there.

Feel free to visit our CGM Business Media Club webpage for further information and to book your place at any or all of our meetings.