Corporate culture. It always starts with an idea. Then you promote the idea into the biggest possible hit. Corporations buy advertising. Musicians pay to play the hottest clubs. Businesses give free samples. You use culture to engage the team, to keep them excited and involved.

Obviously, inspired people are more effective than the coerced. So use your vision and build a culture that inspires their best!

You have goals and ideas and you're willing to make the push to build a hit. But these are huge investments, and mistakes are expensive.

So step back for a minute. The easiest time to fix mistakes is before you make them. So you need to plan before you push. This is why the entertainment industry puts such a big emphasis on 'Pre-Production'. You want to get it right. By forcing the tough questions up front, you get to hash out most of the problems before hiring trainers, coaches, branding experts, and more.  All of which can save you a mountain of money!

Here are the 4 questions a good producer always wants to know before creating a vision for his masterpiece. You'll want to identify these same components before crafting your own incredible vision:

#1 - WHO'S YOUR INTENDED AUDIENCE: who are you building this piece for (customers, employees, sub-contractors, share-holders...? All of the above?)

#2 - WHERE'S THE HOOK: What's gonna make 'em want to pay attention?

#3 - WHAT'S THE TAKEAWAY: What lessons, ideas, or emotions do you want to offer and share?

#4 - HOW WILL YOUR AUDIENCE CHANGE: What behaviors, actions or thoughts will your audience choose to do differently after understanding your vision?

Every Billboard Hit, every Summer blockbuster, and every successful promotion starts with these questions. But when they skip pre-production, it's like starting construction with no foundation. It's possible to make something beautiful, but it can only manage to function with a great deal of luck. Take time for your own pre-production. Ask the tough questions up front and find the right answers later.

Since you already have a great idea, your vision has the potential to be powerful. You don't need luck. You have work ethic. So take your time. Hash out these questions and answers. Make the Takeaways plain and convincing. Help us to understand you, your ideas and how we benefit. When you take this time up front, you do us such a great favor. The world is filled with confusion. Thank you for making your own vision clear, succinct and valuable to us all.

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