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blogtalkradio 12EST … 11CST … 9PST Today! Lorraine and Liz Talk about Fiercely Loyal Fans

Filed Under Customer Think, Successful Blog | 4 Comments

Getting Fiercely Loyal Fans

Powerfull Living with Lorraine Cohen


Today on the Powerfull Living Show at blogtalkradio, I’ll be talking with with Lorraine Cohen about how to form client and customer relationships in 7 key ways.

Listen in, if you have a chance.

PS You can call in to join the conversation by dialing

646 716 7937

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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How Smart People Can Be So Dense, Difficult, and Frustrating

Filed Under Customer Think, Motivation/Inspiration, Successful Blog | 12 Comments

Thinking about What I Think About

think_different

It was Valeria who challenged me and Joe who challenged her. The challenge was simple enough. Choose something that I have a negative response to and find a way to give my view a new spin . . . think “different” . . . change the way we’ve thought in the past.

When she put forth the challenge, Valeria said,

I tag Liz Strauss at Successful and Outstanding Blog(gers) — because she can think different.

which added a bit to the mix. My natural inclination to make things interesting was — BAM! — kicked up a notched because of what Valeria said.

For a whole day, I walked around
thinking about what I think about
so that I might think about
how I might think about
what I think about in a new and different way.

Naturally, my worry was that if I start out as someone who thinks differently, would my “think different” response end me up an answer that looks the same as most people already think?

Think about it. The question was mathematical. Does different + different = same?

I’ve resolved the issue, I think.

The Rules of the Challenge

Write a new blog post in which you “think different”. Interpret the challenge phrase the way you want. (Thanks, Joe, for letting me borrow yours.)

  1. State that the post is a part of the Think Different Challenge and include a link and/ or trackback to this post so that readers know the rules of the challenge. Feel free to use the above banner (inspired, of course, by Seth Godin).
  2. Include a link and/or trackback to the blogger who tagged you.
  3. At the end of your post, go ahead and tag some fellow bloggers. Don’t forget to email them to let them know they have been tagged.

People Really Do Think Differently

All of that thinking made me realize that I really had only one think different topic that was truly close to my heart . . . we too often forget that, from the very start, people really do think differently.

Let’s think this through . . .

When we solve a problem, make a plan, or try to teach something, we offer our thinking process using the order and logic we find natural. Listeners who can arrange ideas in the same way track what we’re trying to communicate.

Folks who think the same way as we do are smart, savvy, and quick on the uptake. Now, really, wouldn’t the world be a better place if everyone was as smart as we are?

Truth is, for all practical purposes, most everyone we meet is smart enough. We’re all just smart in different ways. The difference is in how we construct ideas.

Yep, it’s a fact that different brains construct thoughts in different ways.

  • Some folks have to see things; then they can do things; then they can talk about them.
  • Some folks have to see things; then they can talk about things; then they can do them.
  • Some folks have to do things; then they can see things; then they can talk about them.
  • Some folks have to do things; then they can talk about things; then they can see them.
  • Some folks have to talk about things; then they can do things; then they can see them.
  • Some folks have to talk about things; then they can see things; then they can do them.

Agree on the right order and the communication goes smoothly. Choose an order that’s unnatural to the listener and he or she will have trouble following the ideas.
That person will probably not “get” what we’re saying.

That’s when we start to think something like . . . the listener is . . . um, er . . . dense, or inattentive, or just plain difficult. After all, other folks “get it” when we say what we’ve just said. So it must be the listener not the message — right?

I’ve been “dense, inattentive, and just plain difficult.” So have most of my friends. We know because of inane conversations like this.

“I’m not following you. I don’t understand.”

“You can’t be so smart and not understand. You’re just being difficult.”

“Busted! It’s a plot to frustrate us both to no end.”

“Oh. What part don’t you get?”

By the way, I’ve been on both sides of that conversation. I suppose most folks probably have.

Presenting the information in a different way usually works, especially when the listener gets to ask for the data in the order that he or she constructs ideas.

Think “different” about how people think.

People really do think differently.

Don’t you think?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

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How I Tripled My Traffic in Less than an Hour

Filed Under Customer Think, Successful Blog | 7 Comments

Watch Yourself!

“GET” STICKY!

Do you watch how you do things? Do you ask other folks whether they go about things the same way? When you find the places that they do things the same way, it could be that you’ve found something that most people do.

It was by paying that kind of attention that I tripled the traffic on my writing blog in less than an hour. No kidding! It had a similar effect here — traffic nearly doubled.

What I Watched: How do I use blog archives on other blogs — in a certain way or a certain order?

What I Found:

  • It depends. Often I browse archives from old to new — ideas build on each other over time. Other times I read for certain topics.
  • Folks I know do the same things in pretty much the same way. I found out through informal conversations. A blog post could have gotten the same information. When the issue is small, I use what I already know.
  • I devised a way to organize my archives to meet all of those needs — I made sure that besides the date archives, folks could access a list of Popular Posts and find posts that were part of a series. It took less than an hour. (I did this first on my writing blog — See the sidebar. Then I did it here — See the Popular Posts and Successful Series pages.)

The day I did that my pageviews were three times higher.

Ever made a small change that had that kind of impact?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
I make business sticky. Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar. Call me.

Related:
See the Customer Think Series on the Successful Series page.

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Would You Rather Be Martha Stewart or David Armano?

Filed Under Customer Think, Successful Blog | 15 Comments

Before You Choose . . .

“GET” STICKY!

Did you read David Armano’s post on corporate stumbling this week? He cites an article in GlobeandMail about how Martha Stewart made a beautiful website that no one wanted to visit. He points to simlar mistakes made by Coke and Bud, and then explains “what really motivates users.”

  • There are literally millions of enthusiasts out there producing quality content in highly search engine friendly formats.
  • Not only is much of their content easier to find on the Web—it’s engaging, relevant,
  • and the people who produce it actually talk back to us.

David “gets” what’s “sticky,”

. . . it’s the content that will keep us engaged, and coming back for more. It’s the special sauce that can take a consumer and make them an active participant.

So will you be Martha Stewart or David Armano? The choice is yours.
How will you make yourself sticky to the customers already want to love you?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
I make business sticky. Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar. Call me.

Related:
See the Customer Think Series on the Successful Series page.

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QA QnA: Tom Vander Well Is Magic

Filed Under Customer Think, Successful Blog | 9 Comments

relationships button

Yesterday, I had coffee with Tom Vander Well of QA QnA. We sat right across the street from Sears Tower. He was the bigger deal. I was so looking forward to meeting him. Not many folks in the Customer Service Industry have figured out the power of blogging. Tom is one in a fine group that knows the business.

Tom company’s C. Wenger Group does data-based assessment of how the customer feedback loop works. The special magic is that his company sees the people and hears the words behind the numbers that they collect. That’s why they have some of the most impressive clientele in the Midwest — names that are on that Fortune list.

No matter what your work is, it really is customer service. You should be reading Tom Vander Well’s blog.

Tom Vander Well

Proof of his real customer-centered, relationship focus, though, lies in the gracious company Tom was. In my excitement at a long-awaited chance to meet-up, I rattled on like a box of birds about business and blogs. [blush]

Thank you, Tom! Please know the longer you know me, the quieter I get. Really.

Despite the picture he took, don’t get the wrong impression about what he says I lost at Panera. I had to tell him something that the folks back in Des Moines didn’t know yet.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

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