Curious about Strategy: Do You Have One for Your Business, Life, and Marketing? How Important Is It for You?

Definition of Strategy: a careful plan or method; a clever stratagem; the art of devising or employing plans or stratagems toward a goal.
Definition of Tactics: the art or skill of employing available means to accomplish an end; a system or mode of procedure.

I have included both definitions, because I have found in articles and on CDs that there is a fine distinction between them, even though they do go hand in hand. Following are two interesting and partially informative quotations:

“Strategy is buying a bottle of fine wine when you take a lady out for dinner. Tactics is getting her to drink it.” - Frank Muir, English writer

“Strategy requires thought, tactics require observation.” - Max Euwe, Dutch celebrity

I chose strategy for this week’s blog because I have been working diligently on devising a new marketing strategy for my portfolio career. I have hooked up with two new mentors and several other gurus to accomplish this exciting task. Yes, you read that correctly. I am excited. Everything is moving so fast that I feel that we must keep taking a lot of action every day.

The French leader, Charles de Gaulle, was right when he said, “You have to be fast on your feet and adaptive or else a strategy is useless.”

As I pull together my list of tactics, I realize that I must take effective control of my time. The American writer Ted W. Engstrom is helpful, when he wrote, “What do you want to get done? In what order of importance? Over what period of time? What is the time available? What is the best strategy for application of time to projects for the most effective results?”

If we answer and apply every one of his questions, we will be on our way.

Some of the other strategy quotations that I found extremely helpful:

• “In marketing I've seen only one strategy that can't miss - and that is to market to your best customers first, your best prospects second and the rest of the world last.” - John Romero, American inventor
• “The strategy of my coach and me was that we looked at pictures of all the best pole vaulters from around the world, and we took the best parts from them, and we created a person that had never existed. We then started to work toward being such a person.” - Sergei Bubka, Ukrainian athlete
• “Leaders establish the vision for the future and set the strategy for getting there.” – John P. Kotter, American educator
• “However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.” –
  Winston Churchill, English statesman
• “A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all.” - Michael LeBoeuf, American businessman
• “Finally, strategy must have continuity. It can't be constantly reinvented.” - Michael Porter, American educator

And, just a couple more for you to chew upon:

“If you look at the various strategies available for dealing with a new technology, sticking your head in the sand is not the most plausible strategy.” -Ralph Merkle, American scientist

“My whole career strategy has been to build a base so that I could take the roles I want to play. I'd hate to think that a shorter part might not be available because I was worried about my billing.” - Jack Nicholson, American actor

So, do you have a strategy in place that you are using successfully. I would love to hear your feedback.