Cultivate – What does it mean?
cultivate
[kuhl-tuh-veyt]verb cultivated, cultivating
- to promote or improve the growth of (a plant, crop, etc.) by labor and attention.
2. to promote the growth or development of (an art, science, etc.); foster.
I love the term cultivate, to me it represents nurturing, nourishing and caring for something until it comes to fruition. Until you can see the results, the growth, the expansion.
Sometimes we don’t know the outcome, what it will look like or how it will develop. If we are passionate and take the time it will surely reveal itself with the care it has been shown. Business is the same as a seedling; as the small sprout which comes from an idea, a concept, a service or a product we want to bring to our customers. Right from the beginning the small sprout needs to be cultivated to give it the best possible start.
Are the conditions right, is the environment favourable for growth and promotion, will there be sufficient nourishment, water, sunlight…
It pays to ask the same questions for your business – are the market conditions right, is the economic environment favourable, are there sufficient customers, supporters, is there a marketing and promotional plan to shine light on your product or service?
How we cultivate the promotion, nourish and feed the marketing to get the message out to those who need our products and service, makes all the difference to the growth and success in business.
Nurture and Nourish
Cultivation starts with preparation; preparing the landscape, researching the environment. You cannot expect success without a good base plan to promote the growth and development desired. Nor can you expect good results without nurturing and nourishment along the way. It takes constant monitoring, attention and adaptation during both the growth stages and the maintenance or plateau periods.
Adaptation is an important factor in cultivating the results you are after. Stay current in the marketplace by being able to adapt to changes in the economic environment, the technology space and consumer needs and focus.
Cultivating success in the online space means adapting to how consumers interact with your business, changes in consumers needs, changes in how consumers find you and how easy it is to engage with your business once they find you.
Responsive design for your website means consumers can engage with your business on any device with ease, continual monitoring of SEO factors and how your website is set up improves your ranking online, and a constant and consistent conversation on your website by blogging, updating pages and images, sharing content both within and externally of your site keeps your business fresh and promotes the development of your client community.
