Essential Tips to Building a Real Marketing Plan in 2024

Do you want to build a real marketing plan in 2024?

Read on and find out more about our secret ingredients and essential tips:)

We are all made of energy.

Energy alignment is about aligning your energy optimally, to be in tuned with your body, mind and spirit.

Energy alignment and resilience

Energy alignment and resilience

Energy drives the rhythms and flows of our work, our thoughts, our emotions, our connectedness, and our sense of self.

There are two types of energy:  focused and scattered.

Positive, focused energy keeps us aligned with our vision, our purpose. We feel grounded, present, and able to do high-impact work on a consistent basis.

Scattered, negative energy makes us feel un-productive, off center, and un-happy.

Our energy doesn’t die, but it will dissipate if we sap our energy unintentionally in doing things that don’t energize us, or replenish the energy that we’ve used.

When you are being mindful and conscious about where and how you spend your  energy, you’ll be able to keep your rhythms and flows going, maintaining a consistent vibrancy throughout your day. You’ll feel blissfully happy, massively productive, deeply aligned, and internally calm.

Building Resilience

Resilience goes with energy alignment; it builds stamina and keeps you balanced.

Resilience will help you recover quickly from difficult situations or events, bouncing back from the ups and downs that come with our business and life journey.

Energy alignment and resilience combined will keep our energy in check. Together, they will give you a reservoir of overflows so you can continue to serve your clients and family at the highest level.

When you put together your marketing plan for 2024, use these two guideposts to help you be visionary, strategic, creative, and laser-focused on your executions that matter and create impact that you’re here to make.

Ready to invest? 

Contact us if you need help in strategizing your marketing plan for 2024. We’re ready to roll up our sleeves and work with you!

2024 Marketing Tips: Prioritizing Energy and Building Resilience

2024 Marketing Tips: Prioritizing Energy and Building Resilience

Happy New Year!

We’re already into February…

No worries, there’s still time to work on your marketing plan for 2024!2024: Prioritize Your Energy and Build Resilience

I’ve just gotten mine done 2 weeks ago.

To be honest, beginning of 2024 shook me up a bit, because of the uncertainties and instabilities around us and in the world.

* Continuing war in Ukraine

* Extreme weather with snow and rain storms that are batting us left and right

* Rising conflicts in the Middle East

All of these seemed to send bad vibes. But I also pause to look at the good things in life and in this world.

* California is the first STATE to provide Universal meals to ALL students at public schools

* Women reproductive freedom and equal pay continue to be the center of policy discussion

* Over 23 states (California included) have 100% clean energy goals

* A biomarker breakthrough for Parkinson’s Disease

How cool are these progress!

Seeing the good with the bad help me balance things.

I learn to be more compassionate, more patient, and more resilient.

Prioritizing Energy and Building Resilience

Last year, I believed strongly that we needed to prioritize where we spent our energy in achieving our goals.

This year, I am adding “resilience” to my formula, and my entire marketing plan will be focusing on these two important things. Because energy will dissipate if we don’t build resilience to keep it up.

ER (no, not emergency response😊) is ENERGY + RESILIENCE.

It’s my Energy Reservoir that will help me continue to fill my cup, so I can have the overflows to give and serve my clients and my family at my highest levels.

The outcome is a happier and stronger me.

Do you see yourself with ER in this picture?

If you do, go and ER your marketing plan in 2024 with these guideposts.

Because when you do, you’ll get to focus your energy on doing things that are worth doing, and equipping yourself with an abundant mindset and healthy emotions that are going to help you balance the good and the bad, taking you onto better paths that will fulfill you professionally and personally.

Contact me if you would love some help in getting your marketing plan together. You’ll get to your goals faster when you have clarity, feel confident, and have great alignment with your energy and vision.

Finding Your Guideposts for an Abundant 2024!

In welcoming a new year, each of us has our own set of process and reflection time to clear our mind, our space, and our energy level to step into a new era.

While I aspire to do more, I’ve also reflected in the past year on a simple set of guideposts that has kept me grounded, focused, and energized.

I hold these 3 simple beliefs close to heart; and they have become my formula for success.

💥 Being real.

💥 Taking actions.

💥 Delivering on my promise

I’ve found that not only do these beliefs serve me well, they’ve helped my business and my clients too!

They’ve helped me navigate through my toughest moments, and also my proudest moments.

As you step into a new year, think about guideposts that will help you feel

⭐Grounded

⭐Focused, and

⭐ Energized.

No matter where you are with your business endeavors or personal circumstances. Because when you have solid guideposts and do things with intentions, you are going to get there.

Your output will be greater than the efforts that you’ve put in. You’ll experience the whole more than the sum of its parts.

Here’s to a great 2024!🌈⚡⭐

Top-Ten Commandments Leading Me to a Thriving 2023

I know.

This sounds like I am calling for a wrap of the year😊

Top-Ten Commandments Leading Me to a Thriving 2023

                    Jenny Huang, Founder & CEO, thriving with confidence!

Well, it’s a teaser definitely.

I have so much to be grateful for,  and I will be even more grateful for what is to come.

2023 feels like I am at the height of what I do in business, accompanied by challenging yet amazing personal growth.

⚡ I’m working with clients who are committed in applying strategic thinking and marketing in sharing their stories authentically,

preparing their Beta launches with less-than-perfect products to get early feedback,

and positioning their companies to deliver impact in alignment with their vision and mission, in more powerful ways than ever before.

⚡ I’m proud as a woman business owner who has embraced my struggles and pains and turning them into solutions to help others who are on similar journeys.

⚡ I’ve grown exponentially on my personal growth by honoring my past, embracing my present, and bringing future closer in alignment with where I want to take with my business, and how I want to be as a person.

These deep learnings come as a result of having my top-ten Commandments. They act as my compass on how I see life, how I show up, how I build and grow relationships, and how I want to be treated.

I’m sharing them out, and hope you’ll resonate with some of these, and perhaps they’ll inspire you to get through difficult moments on your journey.

1)     Always have something to look forward to

2)     The best working model is always your own model

3)     Strive to compete against yourself, instead of comparing to others

4)     Fast doesn’t always mean progress. Steady and flexible is.

5)     Don’t ask others to go down the path that you have not gone down yourself before

6)     Sharing vulnerability is a strength, not a weakness

7)     Don’t wait until you have a perfect product to launch

8)     Stand up for things that don’t feel right to you

9)     Take the courage to call out people who are bullies

10)  Love the sweet and kind person that you once were, and be that kid again!

I believe in these commandments wholeheartedly, and practice them on a consistent basis.

What are your top commandments that have guided you through difficult and joyful times?

I’d love to hear your thoughts in comments below.

 

EdTech Start-Ups Addressing Higher Education and Lifelong Learning

Through my relationship working with the Silicon Valley SBDC at San Jose State, I got connected  with Lydia Chan of San Jose State University’s Global and Professional Education team, on their partnership program with Tec de Monterrey. Tec de Monterrey has an initiative with an accelerator program that supports early-stage EdTech companies in solving challenges in Higher Education and Lifelong Learning.

Nine, selected start-up companies visited Silicon Valley on a one-week trip that gave them access to experts, venture funding partners, and networking as they prepare to launch and validate the next phase of their products.

As a marketing professional, a leader, and a parent, I am a big supporter for education. I believe education is one of the pillars that can lead nations and their people to enjoy better socioeconomic status and be on par with global technological challenges.

Participating in this opportunity enabled me to team with my SV SBDC business advisor colleagues Shawn Flynn and Hon Wong in providing 1-on-1 advisory sessions to 9 start-up companies in a two-day encounter.

I was impressed by the caliber of start-ups that I spoke with. I’m proud to see that they’re tackling educational and lifelong learning challenges in their respective home regions, e.g., Chile, Mexico, Spain, Argentina.

My conversations with these start-ups took me down the memory lanes when I was working in the Asia Pacific region, where I teamed with my regional colleagues to evangelize a global, co-branding program with local and multi-national OEMs.

It has been fun helping entrepreneurs coming from Latin America and European regions. It’s even more rewarding working with SJSU and SV SBDC counterparts to provide support at a global level on education.   

What Does It Mean to Be an Authentic Personal Brand?

Customers Are Craving Connections with Brands at Personal Level

Today, consumers in general are skeptic about brands whose messages and actions are not aligned, because some brands speak and market in ways that are not genuine, and might trick consumers into thinking that they are buying a good thing; when in reality, it’s not.

Therefore, it’s more important than ever for companies and individual business owners to show authenticity and establish trust upfront with their customers in genuine ways that will allow their relationships to flourish. 

Building an authentic personal brand is essential for both individual business owners and public-facing executives at larger companies. Because consumers in this digital economy crave for connections with brands at personal levels, so brands need to make the efforts in meeting their customers where they are at.

Cultivating an Authentic Personal Brand

Being authentic is multi-folded, it means that:  

1)  You’re not afraid to express yourself, because you know who you are deep down. You speak your mind with candor, yet respect others on their opinions and give them space to speak theirs.

2)  You’re being transparent, and you don’t come with an agenda. When you are genuine and show interest in listening to what others have to say, you will win their hearts first and their minds second. Because most humans appreciate honesty and transparency, your authenticity gives them the visibility into your thoughts and feelings, and that encourage them to open up and have candid conversations that will lead to powerful outcomes.   

3)  You’re not afraid to step into fear with courage and commitment. You don’t let fear gets in the way of holding you back from taking a positive step forward, whether it’s doing scary things like kayaking in the sea for the first time, swimming in the ocean, taking a stand on something that you thought it might be embarrassing yet fascinating to others, or taking a solo trip to places that you have never been before.

4)  You’re not afraid to share your vulnerabilities. Because you take the courage to share your struggles, your fears, and your doubts, someone else may be on similar journeys as you are. Hearing your stories enable them to reflect on theirs, which could turn out to be valuable lessons for others to learn from, and give them strengths to go through what they are going through.

5)  You peel the onion as far back as you’re able and comfortable with. Don’t doubt or regret on what you’ve shared. People who resonate with you will identify with you, and may want to form deeper connections or do business with you.

Amplifying Your Authentic Personal Brand

Once you understand what it means to be authentic, you can amplify your authenticity by showing up and role modeling on what it means.

For examples:

You call out when you see something that is misleading the truth.

You teach others on how to act and live authentically.

You’re always in deep alignment with your values and beliefs, your thoughts and feelings, your relationships with self and those with others.

You help people share their stories authentically and powerfully.

In sum, cultivating and amplifying your authentic personal brand means that you are giving yourself a voice and helping others in finding theirs.

You hold a genuine presence and an approachable persona that attract your tribes to you.

You earn a reputation on what you stand for, and you possess a soul that never gets tired of being true to yourself  — all of which will make your more WHOLE in living out your authenticity to its fullest degree.

 

NOTHING gives me a fuller heart…

Nothing gives me a fuller heart…

…than seeing the outcome of my client’s efforts when she has executed on her vision, her branding and messages, and most importantly, expressed her personal story in a deep and caring way.

I took Debbie Drennan on as my private client because I understood the importance of her work, and the amplification of her work’s impact that brings tremendous joy to the people and the families whom she serves – people that hold a special place in my heart.

As I was coaching Debbie on all key aspects in creating her brand, extracting her personal story, clarifying her high-impact work, and anchoring her passion, I learned that we both had experienced similar struggles, in terms of being parents of young children who needed a little more attention and care than other kids.

During our sessions: we brainstormed; we laughed; we cried; we embraced; and we celebrated.

It was amazing experience working with Debbie, because she is willing to invest in herself and her efforts showed.

Debbie has launched her website that cohesively tied together what we had worked on in a few months. It’s not just a website; it an embodiment of her life’s work, the efforts of us working together, with help from stellar photograph and website designer.

I’m truly blessed to be doing high-impact work with Debbie that enables the possible, warms hearts and strengthens the human spirit.

Actionable Takeaways from Berkeley Haas Climate Real Talk

As a board member of the BerkeleyHaas Alumni Network Silicon Valley chapter, I teamed with our colleagues and the Sustainability Alumni Group at BerkeleyHaas in launching our first program addressing climate change and global warming.

On June 27, we hosted a panel discussion on “Climate Real Talk,” where we gathered liked-minds from Berkeley Haas’ academia and select industry experts to give us a real talk about where our carbon footprint is now, where it’s headed, and what personal actions that we can take to stop amplifying climate change and global warming that are already here.

Our panel comprised of:

Professor Andrew Isaacs, a Leading Climate Change and Sustainability Expert

Emily Chueh, Co-Founder, Okapi Reusables, and

Fiona Baker, Strategic Sustainability Science Program Manager, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)

Here’re a few actionable takeaways from our “Climate Real Talk” panel discussion:

1) Minimizing usage of fossil fuels.

If we can be mindful about how much we drive using gasoline, how much we fly using jet fuels, and how much coals are being used to produce energy, we’re moving a step in a positive direction to minimize usage of fossil fuel that contributes to increased carbon emissions.  

2) Zero carbon emission is an ideal state, making progress towards carbon footprint reduction in any key aspects of our lives are more important.

Think about “Reduce, Re-use, and Recycle” as a basis to live sustainably. If we can make conscious decisions daily about reducing anything that contributes to higher carbon emission, we should embrace it.

If we cannot reduce, we can consider re-using items as many times as possible, and extend the life of our tech gadgets as long as possible. So, things like plastic cups, paper, computer or clothing waste don’t get piled up in our landfills too quickly.

After we’re done with our re-use, we can recycle outdated or wear-and-tear items in appropriate ways to minimize effects to climate change.

3) Going beyond personal actions and unifying others to support living sustainably by teaching our community to respect our mother Earth, and treat her as our national treasure.

The damage that global warming has done is not reversible. The way to move forward is by teaching others to take care of how they want to conduct their lives in terms of their food consumption, energy usage and transportation habits.

Some examples on how we can modify our lifestyles to live sustainably:

Food consumption:  Eat red meat less frequently.

Energy:  Charge your electric car during low-usage hours. Buy energy from community-based clean energy grids.

Transportation: Work close to where you live. Conduct meetings via Zoom instead of driving or flying.  Invest in an EV car if you drive more than 5K miles/year.

These are a few examples of things that we can do to start the process of slowing down amplification of climate change.

Like the old saying goes: “it takes a village to make a transformational change,” same goes for supporting our climate change movement. 

It takes one to create a small ripple. It will take a collective effort from everyone to create even bigger ripples that will multiple the effect and lead to exponential change for the good of our climate and our planet Earth.

About Jenny:  Jenny Huang is the Founder & CEO of Jenny Huang Marketing, LLC. She is brand and marketing leader who is passionate about helping young and progressive companies in sharing their stories powerfully and authentically, and launching their products cohesively to the world. You can get in touch with Jenny directly via email info@jennyhuangmarketing.com

 

PC:  Robert Lukeman of Unsplash

Climate Real Talk: Impact, Opportunities, and Challenges of Personal Actions

 

Climate change is already here! The devastating aftermath in coastal cities brought by intense rainstorms earlier this year served as a wake-up call for all Californians, and a stark reminder on why the fight against climate change is more important than ever. It’s up to us to rise up, and take personal responsibilities for our energy, transportation, and food consumptions that contribute to the reduction of carbon footprints in our global economy.

Join us for a panel of experts in discussion on the impact, opportunities, and challenges of personal ac-tions. Everyone can choose a role that they can play and become a champion for sustainability and climate change. Let’s unify our efforts in making transformational changes to protect our mother Earth.

Date:  June 27, 2023, Virtual

Time:  5:30-7pm PST

Cost:  Free

Register

Details

5:30-5:40 pm: Program Introductions

5:40-6:15 pm: Speaker/Panel Presentations

6:15-6:55 pm: Panel Discussion & Audience Q&A

6:55-7:00 pm: Wrap up