Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

Thinking, writing, business ideas … You’re only a stranger once.

Delegation Happens: Working with Friends Can Be Dangerous

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Ever End Up Doing Someone Else’s Work?

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Susannah was an editor who worked me years go. She had a project that needed help and knew just the person she wanted to call … her friend Christie. Christie was an experienced editor on maternity leave.

A meeting was set. Christie came in to get the work. Susannah explained exactly what was entailed and when it was due.

When the due date arrived, the work never came. When the work came, it was less than what Susannah had described. Susannah ended up doing the work and paid her friend anyway.

Ever been there?

Some things to remember when you’re about to delegate work to a friend.

On the Internet, we meet and make friends easily, but sometimes we endow them with the “halo effect,” thinking their great personality is a sign of their great compentency.
Sometimes the only way to learn that we’ve gotten a wrong impression is by asking for help and finding out the person isn’t who we thought. Usually though, asking a few questions, and offering complete information can get us to a great working relationship.

We all have friends who are better than we are at so many things. Are you finding the right ones to help you when you need them?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
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Delegation 2: I Can’t Let Someone Else Do That!!

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No One Can Do This Like I Would

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Delegation is the art and a science of communication needs. For most of us, it’s a skill we acquire, not a talent that comes naturally. Delegation takes practice in order to fully share
enough information for another person to complete a task successfully. Have you ever left a meeting sure you knew what to do, only to realize later that you didn’t understand. Yeah, me too.

More than that, it takes the ability to communicate the importance of the task and to negotiate a work agreement that shifts the accountability for making sure that the task is on time, complete, and of high quality.

Before you delegate a job, have a plan to communicate to the person who’s joining your project. Great communication will help in making sure that you pass on accountability and a sense of mission with the work that you’re handing over.

The minute we delegate, communication becomes key. Unfortunately in an effort to show respect for other professionals we often tell them less than they need to know and still think we’re telling them too much. In like manner rather than looking like they don’t know, the often ask less than they might.

What’s the single biggest error you find you make when you’re asking someone to do work for you?

Tomorrow … Delegation Happens: Working with Friends Can Be Dangerous

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!
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When Anything Is Nothing Next to Something … One Sentence that Will Keep You Stuck

Filed Under Business Life, Strategy, Successful Blog | 8 Comments

People Who Need Help

In my business and though my conference, I meet people and businesses who are looking to move forward. I love helping people be successful. I love building businesses. Some make easy to help them. It’s a pleasure to help them get what they need or want. Some think they they make it easy, but in reality they do not.

One sentence I’ve heard too often lately has made me realize that it has the opposite effect of its intent. The sentence is …

I’ll do anything.

That sentence doesn’t win clients, doesn’t gain partners, doesn’t attract friends of the very best sort.

When Anything Ix Nothing Next to Something

Attraction happens when we know who we are. Whether we’re an organization or an individual, we need to attract people. Nothing attracts like focus. Focus draw others to us in the same way our eyes will follow a shining light curving through the dark.

That focus says they know where they’re going. They’re predictable. They’re productive. They’re positively contributing. Even when they aren’t in our business, we can learn something from them while we’re helping them.

Focus drives people and organizations to know things. You can bet they’ll know what sort of help they need. They’ll also know what values and skills they have to offer. When they ask for assistance, they’ll make it a conversation about working together. You’ll meet on the same side of the table.

People with focus offer something — they offer best of what they’ve got.

Focused people and organizations are easy to work because they come with an offer, a package put together with some thought. They do the work before you meet, which shows a high possibility that they’ll deliver. If the offer doesn’t match perfectly, it’s a place to start.

“I’ll do anything” is nothing next to something.

“I’ll do anything” leaves it to you to decide the offer. It leaves it to you to think up what the package might be and how to construct the relationship. It’s your time and it’s your thought put to work guessing at their values and their skills. Not a good idea. How can you be sure that they will deliver? It’s like saying “Here’s a tool you’ve never seen. Use it for anything you want.” The anything offer is nothing, because you have to decide everything about it for it to work. You do the work of thinking. You take the risk. They’re delegating up.

Turning Anything Into Something Valuable

Anything might only seem like something to the person who is offering it. Anything is nothing if the person getting the offer doesn’t know what to do with it. To turn an anything into a something think it all the way through. Be able to say exactly how your finished work will make what they do

Then you’ve got something valuable — something worth talking about.

Ever taken someone up on an “I’ll do anything” offer. How easy was it to figure out what that anything would be? Would you take the offer again?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
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The Secret of Work-at-Home Businesses

Filed Under Business Life | 8 Comments

The theme of SOBCon09 is the ROI of Relationships. To underscore the importance of relationships in business and to have a chance to make and celebrate a few while we’re doing that, I’ve opened up this series by successful and outstanding bloggers like you.

The Secret of Work-at-Home Businesses by Bizymoms.com

“Working for someone else is nothing like being an entrepreneur and the boss of your own business. To become an entrepreneur requires a different plan or map. You’ll be taking a different road to a different destination.”

~Noel Peebles (Author of “Sell your business the easy way.”)

Hundreds and thousands of home-based businesses are testimony to the growing popularity of work-at-home jobs. This is understandable; most people today are looking for work-at-home options because of the constantly looming threat of the dreaded recession-related job-cuts. Working at home also offers most people relief from a hectic lifestyle made worse by work-related stress.

However, not all such ventures are successful. What is then, that differentiates a successful home-based business from a not-so-successful one? What is the secret-formula that all those successful work-at-home business entrepreneurs are using? Noel Peebles was right; to become an entrepreneur requires a “different plan or map.” What is the plan/map that you’re going to use?

Do you have what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur? Just keep the following in mind and you should be on your way to building up a successful home-based business.

Don’t get caught to “get-rich-quick” schemes

The recent years have also seen a rise in “work-at-home job-scams.” This is when so-called “job posters” use “fake” job listings in order to get hold of applicant details, which include both personal and financial information. It’s important to be-aware of such scams before you start applying for jobs online. Always think twice before you provide any website with any of your details, no matter how “authentic” the website may seem. And remember – if it sounds too good to be true; it probably is. Contact the Better Businesses Bureau (BBB) for information on the company- The Better Businesses Bureau’s website will also give you information on complaints, (if any), in relation to the company. And if you require information on commission actions, contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Do something you enjoy!

If you don’t like what you’re doing, chances are that you’re not going to do your best. And if you don’t do your best, chances are that you won’t succeed. For your business to be a successful one, you simply have to do your best; give it your “best shot!”

Business planning is a must

It doesn’t matter how “small-scale” you think your work-at-home business is; you have to have a business plan. A business plan will help you plan effectively and keep an eye on your goals as well. Planning every single aspect of your business will ensure that most things – at least the ones in your control - run smoothly.

Be “money-wise”

Make sure you keep the cash flowing. If required, get yourself a good money-manager. No business can survive without a reasonable “cash-flow.”

Be “time-wise”

In order to manage a successful home-based business, it’s important that you manage your time wisely. This will ensure that your business runs smoothly, effectively and of course - efficiently. Even if what you’ve got is a small-scale, three-hour, part-time job; it’s important that you get yourself organized. When you work-at-home, most often than not, you get to choose “when” you want to work. This added time flexibility also means that most people who work at home begin to take time for granted. Make sure that you use the “time-flexibility” that comes with most work-at-home jobs, to your advantage -instead of the other way around. Allocate “business time” and make sure that you stick to your schedul

Create your own “work space” within your home. Get yourself organized. And no; you can’t do it later! Procrastination is a slow-but-sure way to kill your business. It’s also a very easily developed bad-habit; especially when you work at home.

Advertise effectively

Effective advertising can go a long way; whether you do it via a website or through flyers and leaflets distributed within your local neighborhood. Word-of-mouth advertising can go a long way too – so make sure you keep those customers happy.

Take extra care to keep your customers happy

Pay attention to your customers and make sure that you “follow-up” and “follow through.” Remember that keeping your customers is extremely important – just as important as “winning new ones over” is. Research has shown that most businesses thrive on business from regular customers rather than on business from new ones.

Atya Shakir is Manager of Webmaster Relations. he arranged for this article written by the writers of Bizymoms.com , which has been dedicated to helping women work from home for over 10 years! Visit their interactive message boards, informative articles, help and advice from the Bizymoms’ Home Business Support Team and achieve your own work at home dreams with our home business start up kits.

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When Language Fails to Communicate

Filed Under Business Life, Guest Writer, Successful Blog | 8 Comments

A Guest Post by Christa Miller

I recently had a disturbing experience: a misunderstanding with a dear friend during which I began to wonder if language could be too communicative.

The cop and the writer

I’ve been a professional writer for almost eight years. My friend has been a professional cop for over 25 years. I tease him about his “trust issues.” He teases me about my “big words.” Our misunderstanding centered, of course, on both.

Some of his words had hurt my feelings. My response hurt his. His communication began to resemble police radio traffic: terse, brief. I went in the other direction, apologizing profusely, multiple times, as clearly and yet as eloquently as I could. I wanted to convince him how deeply I felt my regret, how much I wanted to put it behind us and move on.

Still he didn’t budge, and I finally gave up. He did not seem able to trust what I was telling him. So I agreed with him that professional communication was best for the time being, and I too backed off.

Is my word my bond?

Most of us who blog as part of our businesses have some facility for words. We may not write with Liz’ poetry or Chris Brogan’s sensibility or Amber Naslund’s passion, but we trust our own ability to use the written word to communicate most accurately what is on our minds.

So whether writing is one tool in an arsenal of many, or the form of communication we rely on most, the idea that someone can’t trust our words is a reason to stop and evaluate. Why did the words fail? What does it mean? Was there too much of “us” and not enough of “them”? Does a fundamental communication gulf exist that threatens the whole relationship?

In my case, my writing may have been too honest, too desperate in its quest to be taken at face value. It was based on what I have learned: to use words to clarify. I never stopped to think that in my friend’s world, words are used to conceal. In fact, veteran cops will tell you that the longer someone tries to convince you of something, the more likely it is that s/he is lying. Needless to say, this was not the message I wanted to send.

Doing it their way

Not everyone trusts strong written communication, forceful speeches, or social network websites. Marketers know that the key is to find what people do trust, then use the appropriate tool. So too with individuals and words. This is harder than it looks. Writing and analysis are my strengths, but to talk to my friend the cop, I now need to emphasize using the phone and humor—two of my worst weaknesses.

This is a strong friendship, and I’m willing to make room for an opposite style of communication. But where’s the line? How do you decide when to accommodate, and when to cut your losses?

Christa M. Miller writes content and talks about social media at Christa M. Miller. Her twitter name is @christammiller

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