Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

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Five Delegation Thinking Traps that Trip Almost Everyone Who Wants to Scale Up

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Scaling Up Requires Pushing Down Lower-Level Tasks

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In the companies I worked with and for, product development schedules were cyclical, with seriously tight deadlines at certain times of the year and a more relaxing pace when those deadline had been achieved. To even out this ebb and flow of deliverables, we would hire freelancers, off-sire staff, and development groups. Even the most entry-level full-time people were managing and influencing the performance of someone else.

The ability to influence another person’s performance in positive ways affected how quickly employees could grow in their individual roles. The ones who scaled up most quickly were the ones who understood that to take on higher-level tasks, they would have to delegate effectively the lower level tasks that they’d already mastered. They delegated well.

Those who couldn’t scale were often tripped up by five thinking traps.

Learning to delegate well is critical to growth. Anything we do ourselves limits the time we have to get to higher-level tasks. Want to scale up? Avoid these five thinking traps and you’ll be better equipped to recognize great candidates who can contribute to your success.

You may wonder how to find great delegation candidates, especially if you have little or no budget to begin. Look to the people around you — those who want experience in what you do. Talk to local colleges to find interns. Ask your friends. Finding the people to delegate to isn’t nearly as hard as learning to delegate well. It will also be easier to attract temporary help, the best VA, or volunteer interns, when you know exactly what the job specs are and how to communicate your needs. the people we delegate to will be more interested in making the same great choices we would make.

What else do you find critical to scaling up?

Be irresistible.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
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The Book List: Social Media Geek-to-Geek and Launch: How to Prepel Your Business…

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The Book List: a weekly series by Teresa Morrow

I’m Teresa Morrow, aka The Author’s Cheerleader and I work with authors & writers to help them with their online book promotion and marketing. As part of my job I read a lot of books (I love to read anyway!). The books in The Book List series will cover a range of topics such as social media, product development, marketing, blogging, business, organization, career building, finance, networking, writing, self development, and inspiration.

‘Social Media Geek-to-Geek’ by Rick & Kathy Schmidt Jamison

“Social Media Geek-to-Geek is a great resource for technologists who use social media to communicate and share real-time information. In our business environment, where transparency and relevancy rules, it’s the perfect time to equip geeks alike to join the conversation and have fun!”
Michael Brito, VP, Social Media, Edelman Digital

“A fresh view, based on up-to-date marketing experience, and particularly welcome at a time when the ground rules are changing so quickly.”
Andrew Betts, Technical Sales & Marketing Consultant, Iconda Solutions

In Social Media Geek-to-Geek, authors Rick Jamison and Kathy Schmidt Jamison explore the increasingly vital role that social media plays in technology marketing efforts. They lucidly share how you, in a tech marketing strategy, analysis or implementation role, can harness its energy for your company. Peppered with actionable wisdom from start to finish, this enlightening book kicks off by highlighting a truism that is often overlooked–the fact that social media has been made possible purely by geek innovation.

Geeks have created this unique, powerful medium of communication just as they have created and enabled every digitally-based form of creative expression that makes social media interesting, engaging and popular.

Entertaining and informative, the authors of Social Media Geek-to-Geek very rightly point out that there is no rulebook or manual or IT department for social media. But the incisive and handy volume they have put together surely comes close to filling that gap.

About Rick:
By day, Rick Jamison is disguised as a mild-mannered corporate communications contractor. But at sundown, he reveals his real superpowers as author and cartoonist. Part illustrator, part subject clarifier, and part Big
Business underbelly tickler, his words and cartoons enlighten, enliven, enrich, entertain—and, from time to time, even educate.

About Kathy:
Kathy Schmidt Jamison is a blogger, photographer, and humorist. She is Director of Strategic Communications at Synopsys where she’s privileged to work directly for and with one of the finest übergeeks on
the planet, Chairman and CEO, Dr. Aart de Geus.

You can purchase your copy of ‘Social Geek-to-Geek’ either at Synopsis Press or on Amazon.

‘Launch: How to Quickly Propel Your Business Beyond the Competition’ by Michael Stelzner

“Launch is your road map to success in an ever-changing world.” Guy Kawasaki, author of Enchantment –from book

“What Stelzner shares here is proven! He’s already built a community that propelled his brand not only beyond the competition, but ahead of an entire industry.” Brian Solis, author of Engage! –From book

About the Book
If you’ve been let down by the undelivered promises of marketing, this book is for you. Launch reveals a new way to grow your business that involves focusing on the needs of others, giving gifts, working with outsiders, and restraining your marketing messages. These principles are precisely the opposite of traditional marketing. Yet they work. And they are the future. If you follow the formula outlined in this book, you can attract countless customers and prospects, resulting in amazing business growth.

This book will show you how to:

Create highly sharable content that meets people’s needs
Identify and work with outside experts, many of whom will gladly promote your content
Attract and retain raving fans that will help your business grow
Creatively market and sell to people who will gladly purchase your products and services

Launch isn’t like other marketing books. Rather than making keen observations about others who’ve achieved success, the ideas and principles in this book were developed, refined, and practiced by the author to great success.

About Michael:
Michael Stelzner is the founder of SocialMediaExaminer.com (one of the world’s largest business blogs), author of the books “Launch: How to Quickly Propel Your Business Beyond the Competition” and “Writing White Papers: How to Capture Readers and Keep Them Engaged.” Michael is also the man behind large summits, such as Social Media Success Summit.

Twitter: http://Twitter.com/mike_stelzner
Facebook: http://Facebook.com/smexaminer

You can purchase your copy of ‘Launch: How to Quickly Propel Your Business Beyond the Competition’ on Amazon

The Book List: #MYBRANDtweet & What Color is Your Parachute

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The Book List: a weekly series by Teresa Morrow

I’m Teresa Morrow, aka The Author’s Cheerleader and I work with authors & writers to help them with their online book promotion and marketing. As part of my job I read a lot of books (I love to read anyway!). The books in The Book List series will cover a range of topics such as social media, product development, marketing, blogging, business, organization, career building, finance, networking, writing, self development, and inspiration.

‘#MYBRAND tweet’ by Laura Lowell

Here are a couple of tweets on personal branding I enjoyed:

#3 A brand is a promise you make—a promise of value, consistency, and expectations.

#10 You can mess up once or twice, but by the third time what is consistent is that you messed up.

#19 Remember to focus on what you’re good at and what you love to do—chances are you will do it well and enjoy the process.

#29 #MyBrand has a strategy because you can’t afford to create your brand by accident!

#42 Go to the source and learn about what your audience is learning.

#55 #MyBrand needs a value proposition that puts you in context of the competition.

About the Book:
For anyone new to personal branding, or who needs to take their career to the next level, #MyBrand tweet is your first step toward differentiating yourself in a very crowded environment. From defining the idea of personal branding and the mechanics of building yours, to getting your brand out there and keeping it alive, #MyBrand tweet helps readers define their identity and build awareness for their unique value in the marketplace.

The idea behind personal branding has taken on a life of its own. The idea that everyone stands for something isn’t new. But the fact that you have a way to communicate your unique value to millions of people all at once certainly is. Before jumping in and creating your personal brand, it is vital to understand what you mean, what the market thinks you mean, and where the gaps are.

About Laura:
During her 20+ year career, Laura worked for Hewlett-Packard where she was the Director of Worldwide Consumer Marketing Communications with responsibility for planning and implementing integrating marketing campaigns across all HP consumer product lines. Earlier in her career, Laura spent several years at Intel Corporation where she was on the start-up team that developed and implemented the Intel Inside branding program. A degree in International Relations prepared her for work assignments in Hong Kong and London, after which she received her MBA from UC Berkeley, Haas School of Business with an emphasis on marketing and entrepreneurship.

Laura has been featured on Oprah & Friends, ABC, The Huffington Post, and more. Laura is also an active blogger authoring The Rules…According to You about branding and marketing for entrepreneurs. A dynamic speaker, Laura has been a keynote speaker at conferences around the world.

You can pick up your copy of ‘#MYBRAND tweet’ at Happy About.com, the publisher’s site

Another book that is on my Book List is ‘What Color is Your Parachute:A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers’

‘What Color is Your Parachute:A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers’ by Richard Bolles

“Ideally, everyone should read What Color Is Your Parachute? in the tenth grade and again every year thereafter.”
–Anne Fisher, Fortune

“There’s Parachute, and then there’s all the rest. . . . A life-changing book.”
–Career Planning and Adult Development Journal

“Parachute is still a top seller and it remains the go-to guide for everyone from midlife-crisis boomers looking to change their careers to college students looking to start one.”
–New York Post

About the Book*

These are some of the questions at the forefront of the modern job-searcher’s mind. And they are thoroughly and thoughtfully answered with all-new chapters in the 2011 edition of What Color Is Your Parachute?, the best-selling job-hunting book in the world for more than three decades–in good times and bad. A longtime fixture on best-seller lists, What Color Is Your Parachute? features life-saving information that is updated each year to cater to the specific requirements of today’s job market.

Career guru Richard N. Bolles leads job-searchers to find meaningful work. He asks, WHAT skills do you most love to use? WHERE–in what field–would you most love to use them? And HOW do you find such jobs without depending on agencies, ads, and online postings?

This book is not only about finding a job in hard times, it’s also about finding your passion. In the words of Fortune magazine:

“Parachute remains the gold standard of career guides.”

What Color Is Your Parachute? is the world’s most popular job-hunting guide, with 10 million copies sold, in more than 20 languages. Written by career guru Richard N. Bolles–who coined the terms “informational interviewing” and “transferable skills”–this New York Times and BusinessWeek best seller answers such questions as:

“What are the five best–and worst–ways to search for a job?” See chapter 3 (starting on page 31).

“What are the most helpful job sites on the Internet, out of the thousands that are out there?” See pages 53-54.

“What interview questions can I expect to be asked, and how do I answer them?” See chapter 6 (starting on page 93).

“I want to use a resume. What should I include?” See chapter 5 (starting on page 71).

“I haven’t a clue how to do salary negotiation. Help!” See chapter 7 (starting on page 121)

About Richard*:
RICHARD N. BOLLES has been a leader in the career development field for more than thirty-five years. He was trained in chemical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and holds a bachelor’s degree cum laude in physics from Harvard University and a master’s in sacred theology from General Theological (Episcopal) Seminary in New York City. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, Marci.

You can pick up your copy of ‘What Color is Your Parachute’ at Amazon.com.

*Information and picture provided by and/or located on Amazon.com

The Book List: 42 Rules to Jumpstart your Professional Success and We First

Filed Under Business Book, Business Life, Successful Blog | 4 Comments

The Book List: a weekly series by Teresa Morrow

I’m Teresa Morrow, aka The Author’s Cheerleader and I work with authors & writers to help them with their online book promotion and marketing. As part of my job I read a lot of books (I love to read anyway!). The books in The Book List series will cover a range of topics such as social media, product development, marketing, blogging, business, organization, career building, finance, networking, writing, self development, and inspiration.

’42 Rules of Professional Success:A Guide to Common Sense Career Development, Entrepreneurial Achievement’ by Bud Bilanich

About the Book:
Written in a straightforward, common sense manner, 42 Rules to Jumpstart Your Personal and Professional Success provides the reader with practical, down to earth advice on how to create a successful life and career. In this book you will learn how to:

take responsibility for your life and career
become more self confident
create positive personal impact
become and outstanding performer
become a dynamic communicator
become more interpersonally competent.

’42 Rules to Jumpstart Your Professional Success’ is a guide to common sense career development, entrepreneurial achievement and life skills. Author Bud Bilanich, The Common Sense Guy, has been helping people succeed for over 30 years. He’s spent the last 10 years studying successful people, cracking the code to success. He shares what he’s learned in 42 rules to Jumpstart Your Personal and Professional Success. Bud shares stories of personal and professional triumphs and failures and what he learned from them. He also tells other people’s stories that he finds inspiring.

About Bud:
Bud Bilanich, The Common Sense Guy, is an executive coach, motivational speaker, author and blogger. He is the Official Guide for Executive Coaching at SelfGrowth.com, and the Careers Group Coordinator at FastCompany.com. He is a member of the USA Today Small Business Advisory Panel. He writes the popular blog (www.SuccessCommonSense.com) to which he posts five days a week. Dr. Bilanich is Harvard educated but has a no nonsense approach to personal and professional success as a result of over 35 years of business experience, 10 years of research and study of successful people and the application of common sense. Bud is the author of seven other books, including Straight Talk for Success: Common Sense Ideas That Won’t Let You Down.

His clients include Pfizer, Glaxo SmithKline, Johnson and Johnson, Abbot Laboratories, PepsiCo, AT&T, Chase Manhattan Bank, Citigroup, General Motors, UBS, AXA Advisors, Cabot Corporation, The Aetna, PECO Energy, Olin Corporation, Minerals Technologies, The Boys and Girls Clubs of America and a number of small and family owned businesses. Bud is a cancer survivor and lives in Denver Colorado with his wife Cathy. He is a retired rugby player and an avid cyclist. He likes movies, live theatre and crime fiction.

You can pick up your copy of ’42 Rules to Jumpstart your Professional Success’ at the publisher’s site

Another book that is on my Book List is ‘We First: How Brands and Consumers Use Social Media to Build a Better World’

We First: How Brands and Consumers Use Social Media to Build a Better World by Simon Mainwaring

“We First lays out a movement to transform corporate America, providing plenty of food for thought for the business leaders of today and tomorrow.”–Tony Hsieh, New York Times bestselling author of Delivering Happiness and CEO of Zappos.com, Inc.

“Mainwaring is an inspiring leader that truly understands the dynamics in play in the new world of business, online consumer behavior, and how they can collaborate to rethink and rework paths to true global renewal.”–Brian Solis, award-winning author of Engage

“Simon Mainwaring shows how to use social technologies to create and deepen business relationships, which in turn drive profits. Put meaning back into your business by buying this book. Actually, buy two and give one away to someone who is also yearning to take their business to the next level.”–Charlene Li, author of Open Leadership and Founder of Altimeter Group

About the Book

A social media expert with global experience with many of the world’s biggest brands —including Nike, Toyota and Motorola—Simon Mainwaring offers a visionary new practice in which brands leverage social media to earn consumer goodwill, loyalty and profit, while creating a third pillar of sustainable social change through conscious contributions from customer purchases. These innovative private sector partnerships answer perhaps the most pressing issue facing business and thought leaders today: how to practice capitalism in a way that satisfies the need for both profit and a healthy, sustainable planet. Mainwaring provides case studies from companies such as P&G, Walmart, Starbucks, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Toyota, Nike, Whole Foods, Patagonia, and Nestlé as well as a bold plan for how corporations need to rethink their strategies.

About Simon:
Simon Mainwaring is a branding consultant, author, blogger and speaker. A former Nike creative at Wieden & Kennedy, Portland, and worldwide creative director for Motorola at Ogilvy, he is the founder and CEO of We First, a social branding consultancy that helps brands and creative companies use social media to reinvent their industries and our world.

He is a member of the GMI Digital Advisory Board, the Advisory Board of the Center for Public Diplomacy at the Annenberg School, AdAge’s Power150 and is an Expert Blogger for Fast Company. Most recently he was a guest of the Brookings Institute at the US-Islamic World Forum in Doha as part of their New Media working group and a speaker at the 2010 Cannes International Advertising Festival.

In 2011 Simon’s first book entitled We First will be released that presents a new vision for the practice of capitalism, the role of the private sector, and for how brands and consumers use social media to build communities, profits and positive impact: www.wefirstbook.com

Simon has received over sixty international awards at the Cannes Advertising Festival, the One Show (U.S.) and the British Design & Art Direction Awards, among others. He studied Law and Fine Arts (1st Class Honors) at Sydney University and lives in Los Angeles. His website is www.wefirstbranding.com, he blogs at www.simonmainwaring.com and tweets @simonmainwaring.

You can pick up your copy of ‘We First: How Brands and Consumers Use Social Media to Build a Better World’ on Amazon.com.

The Book List: #SOCIAL MEDIA PRtweet & The Seed

Filed Under Business Book, Business Life, Successful Blog | Leave a Comment

The Book List: a weekly series by Teresa Morrow

I’m Teresa Morrow, aka The Author’s Cheerleader and I work with authors & writers to help them with their online book promotion and marketing. As part of my job I read a lot of books (I love to read anyway!). The books in The Book List series will cover a range of topics such as social media, product development, marketing, blogging, business, organization, career building, finance, networking, writing, self development, and inspiration.

‘#SOCIAL MEDIA PRtweet’ by Janet Fouts

In #SOCIAL MEDIA PR tweet Janet Fouts shows you how. Social media, as she explains lucidly, is not about one-way broadcasting but about two-way communication. Sure, your company’s PR messaging needs to go out but after that you also need to engage your audience, assimilate feedback and close the loop. In other words, social media is all about dialog.

Public relations is a changing field and it can be a challenge to manage and control corporate messaging
in these times of lightning fast responses and broad data dissemination. Bottom line? You can’t control social media, so you’d best learn to understand how to work with it instead of against it. The tips in this book will get you on the road to understanding the potential of this medium. The fact that these are delivered in 140 characters or less demonstrates the value you can deliver in small packages.

Here are a few tweets from the #SOCIAL MEDIA PRtweet I enjoyed:
#10 Social media is turning PR professionals into content publishers.

#24 Post relevant and useful content on a forum with a high Google page rank and it will raise the ranking of
your website too.

#40 Every day find ten people already in your network and support them in some way. Share their blog post, or their new product or service.

#47 Creating a blog can open a lot of doors and help establish you as an industry expert, serve as a
platform to engage consumers on a deeper level, and be a safe place to introduce a new product.

#76 Be generous. Quote others and link to their content as a benefit to your followers without apparent
benefit to yourself.

About the Book*:
PR has always been demanding. With expectations of lightning-fast responses, today’s consumers, vendors and general public all make it challenging to manage and control corporate messaging and PR. Surely you have heard somebody promoting social media as a silver bullet or band-aid for all PR issues? Therein lies the danger…and the opportunity. It’s very easy to make PR blunders with social media, simply because you cannot control it. Then how do you learn to use social media, work with it, exploit its potential fully and make it an integral component of your PR toolkit?

About Janet*:
Janet Fouts, is a social media coach, author, speaker and entrepreneur who helps individuals and corporations use social media tools effectively and efficiently. Her recent titles, Social Media Success! and #SOCIALMEDIA NONPROFIT tweet drew on her 15 years of experience in online marketing and social media, working in the trenches with businesses of all sizes. In addition to her coaching practice, Janet is Founder of the Social Media Coaching Center and Senior Partner at Tatu Digital Media, an award-winning, San Jose-based web design and development firm. She generously shares her knowledge and expertise on JanetFouts.com.

You can order a copy of ‘#SOCIALMEDIAPRtweet’ online at Happy About (the publisher’s site).

Next, I would like to introduce you to a book on the business book list on Amazon: ‘The Seed: Finding Purpose and Happiness in Life and Work.

‘The Seed’ by Jon Gordon

This book came out recently on the new releases (business) list on Amazon.

“Why am I here? What is my purpose? Is this what my life is supposed to be?

Great questions! Jon Gordon’s new book, The Seed, helps readers discover the answer. Through a wonderful story about a man given a two week leave of absence by his employer to, essentially, contemplate and renew his commitment to his job, we learn a method to explore our own satisfaction and find our purpose. The keys are, first, being open to discovery and, second, being open to the possibility that we may already be living our purpose but are missing the realization of, and passion for, that.” Eleanore Biddaulp, Amazon reviewer

About the Book
A business fable to help you discover your purpose in work and life

New from Jon Gordon, the international and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Energy Bus, The Seed takes you on a quest for the meaning and passion behind work. Josh, an up-and-comer at his company, is disenchanted with his job. Challenged by his boss to take two weeks to decide if he really wants to work there, Josh takes off for the country, where he meets a wise farmer who gives him a seed and a promise: find the right place to plant the seed, and his purpose will be revealed.

Through Josh’s journey cross-country journey, you’ll find surprising new sources of wisdom and inspiration in your own business and life.

Nobody captures the deeper meaning of business like Jon Gordon, and The Seed is his most searching and significant book yet. Whatever your profession, take this insightful look at the purpose behind work, and plant The Seed of inspiration in your life!

About Jon*:
Jon Gordon is a speaker, consultant and author of the international best seller “The Energy Bus,” “The No Complaining Rule,” “Training Camp,” “The Shark and The Goldfish” and his newest book “Soup: A Recipe to Nourish your Team and Culture.”

Jon and his books have been featured on CNN, NBC’s Today Show and in Forbes, Fast Company, O Magazine, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. His principles have been put to the test by numerous NFL coaches and teams, hospitals, Fortune 500 Companies, school districts and countless leaders in business, healthcare and education.

Jon is a graduate of Cornell University and holds a masters in teaching from Emory University. When he’s not speaking to businesses, hospitals or schools, you can find him playing tennis or lacrosse with his wife and two “high energy” children.

*courtesy of book website and/or Amazon

You can purchase a copy of ‘The Seed’ at Amazon.

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