Are You Relevant?

4 Questions to Consider

As a former reporter and news director at WGN Radio in Chicago, I knew that one of the keys in the news business is to have news that is timely, informative and relevant. Even a mundane local government story can be written in such a way to give the reader or listener a sense of why the story is important to them.

Relevance means that it matters, that people care. Relevance also means that it hits people where they live. Pocketbook issues are some of the best examples of this.

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In business, in leadership and in just about any endeavor, relevance is one of the most important qualities you can have. If your product isn't relevant, if your idea isn't relevant, if your service isn't relevant, your chances of success are much more limited.

Questions a leader or business owner should ask include:

• "Are people still asking for my product or service?"
• "Is there someone offering a better product or service?"
• "Has something beyond my control caused my product to gain or lose relevance in the marketplace?"
• "What are people saying about my product or service?

When you look at these and other questions, you begin to get a sense of how relevant you and your businessreally are. Does anyone care? Would anyone notice if you went out of business tomorrow?