7 Questions to Turn Your Mission Into Your Message

Sometimes people get confused between the mission, and the message. They’re quite different, and one serves the other.

The mission, or how you want the world to change, is “bigger than you are.” It defines what you set out to accomplish, perhaps through your business, for the long term.

1. Do you know how you want the world to be different? Write it down.

2. So what’s the NEXT step to creating that world, ushering it in?

In our case at Write2Market, my tech PR firm, it’s our mission to “build reputation for unrecognized industry leaders, bringing them the attention and recognition they deserve in order for them to attract best-in-class employees, profits and partners.”

Mission is an overarching statement, encompassing your goals and intentions.  There may be lots of people with similar missions, but only you can own your message.

Message, like “identity” or “brand”, it is an over-used word that seems to have lost its punch. In the context of your mission, I want your message to be defined as “how someone can live the mission in the moment, through you.”

Messages change, as people or companies evolve.It’s okay if your message is “not for all time,” not accurate next year, not “complete,” and not the “whole story”—all at once. An effective message, however has two big things going for it:

  • It is cemented at this moment in your maturation.
  • It moves you closer to your mission.

Message is grounded in change that can happen today. In order to break your mission down into a message, try these questions:

3. What can someone do about your mission because of you? This can be as general as “volunteer with me at the homeless shelter on Saturdays.

4. Where do they do it?

5. Who else does it with them?

6. Why should they do it?

7. How do they begin?

With these answers, you can ground a big mission in the moment, and create a resonant message that works RIGHT NOW.