Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

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

Are You Listening? Influence and Participation Above the Noise

Filed Under Marketing, Successful Blog, The Big Idea | 12 Comments

Listening Is Essential to Communication

“To listen well, is as powerful a means of influence as to talk well, and is as essential to all true conversation” –Chinese Proverb

Last week, I got a chance to talk with Patrick Rooney, of the Zócalo Group in Chicago. As we discussed social media, Patrick discussed the perspective of corporate clients moving into the social media space now. He made a powerful point about how some corporate clients are slow to enter social media because they perceive bloggers as having no forgiveness for mistakes they might make. [not a direct quote]

Patrick and I talked about the digital divide that needs closing. the stereotypes in both directions: a bunch of undisciplined bloggers and social media rockstars who don’t like companies and a bunch of uptight, uppity corporate folks who think they know more than everything. We discussed opportunities to get some conversations started. I told him about the barns and bridges project. We made some plans to move things forward.

It seems so easy. All we had to was introduce them and get them talking and listening. Listening is the crucial part.

Influence and Participation Above the Noise

If you want to make a deal or a partnership, build a bridge, or solve a conflict, listening is the way in. If we don’t listen to what people believe, what they need, or what their goals are, how could we have their best interests in mind?

Listening is influence. A good listener has the power to change conduct, thought, or decisions, by encouraging discussions to go deeper, thoughts to get bigger, and people to raise their ideas above the noise.

Listening is participation. Great listeners are involved and thinking. That’s how we connect with other people’s ideas and values. Active listening helps us find the places where our minds meet and understand the places where our ideas separate. Here are just a few ways that listening enhances influence through participation.
Listening:

We talk, teach, tell people what we think and walk away feeling we’ve had an influence. Have we really? The folks we’re addressing could be ignoring every word we say and smiling while they do so.

If we want to form effective partnerships — raise barns and build bridges — we have to understand what the other guy cares about, where he or she is going and which of our goals match well alongside those. Listening tunes us in to potential partners.

Listen gives us direction and purpose in any collaboration. When we listen first, we make better choices about what we say and how we say it. Our voices become more powerful.

. . . it’s the listening that separates Social Media experts from Social Media theorists. said Brian Solis

Has social media changed the way you listen? How would you explain listening online to someone who’s new here?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

Some Listening Resources:
Chris Brogan offers a slew of advice on how to listen.
Conversations are happening online in all kinds of places. It’s important to understand how to get in there, and how to listen where the conversations are happening. Here’s a very impartial list of places to listen and how.

Once you’re through Chris’ list, here’s a Starter List of a few more Web 2.0 Social Tools.

Some new new tools that help us tune in include:
monitter, which allows you to follow conversations by keywordyacktrack which allows you to track a single term or a url, social mention which searches across 8 web media formats

Can you hear the Internet? Buy my eBook.

The SOBCon Influence According to BuzzLogic

Filed Under SOB Business, Successful Blog, Tech/Stats | 16 Comments

Conversationally

BuzzLogic logo

This news from Valerie Coombs at BuzzLogic . . .

I just did an influence query on “sobcon liz strauss” and got these results.

How did we get these results?
BuzzLogic’s influence algorithm takes a dozen factors into account in determining the influence of posts and a blog overall. They include:

Congrats to Lorelle VanFossen for the most influential post in the entire sobcon conversation!

SOBCon Remembered and Recommended

See below the Top 25 right as of the close of SOBCon.

  1. Liz Strauss
  2. Lorelle – Lorelle has the single most influential post ever about SOBCON!
  3. Phil Gerbyshak
  4. Brain Based Business
  5. David Armano
  6. The Blog Herald
  7. James D Walton
  8. Timothy L Johnson
  9. Bootsnall travel community
  10. Ben Yonkavitz
  11. Joe Hauckes
  12. Tim Draayer
  13. Des Walsh
  14. Dawud Miracle
  15. Jon Gatrell
  16. Drew McLellan
  17. FutureLab blog
  18. Kent Blumberberg
  19. Geoffrey Philp
  20. Robert Hruzek
  21. Christine Kane
  22. Amy Palko
  23. problogger
  24. Mary Schmidt
  25. Adam Kayce

See the screenshot of the Social Map around Lorelle’s post. Click to see it full size.

BuzzLogic Conversation around the Most Influential Blog Post

We will continue to watch the conversation and update you on changes…. Valerie, BuzzLogic

Do you have influence? Will the SOBCon blog posts you write change this listing?

For more about BuzzLogic, visit Jeremiah’s post of Shel’s Interview with the Co-Founder. Sandra and Valerie are both in the vid.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

How to Own the Incredible Influence of a 65th Crayon

Filed Under Motivation/Inspiration, Successful Blog | 18 Comments

65th Crayon Portrait

When I was little, I used to play with crayons. They were like people to me. In some ways, crayons helped form my philosophy of life. Now sometimes I think of people as if they are crayons. For me, the metaphor works. I see — the Needy Pinks, a Bossy Blues, or the occasional Frail Gray ones.

Those folks don’t get much of my time. When they tell me what to do, I don’t really listen no matter how loudly or sweetly they speak. That’s because, at the end of the day, they’re always trying to move me to do something for them.

People who are centered on themselves are like broken crayons to me. They’re not as much fun to work or to play with. It’s kind of sad really. I don’t think that most “broken crayons” are particularly aware, or particularly selfish on purpose. They seem to be trying to hard to prove they have a right to be here.

I’ve been lucky enough to have the privilege of knowing a Shining Silver. One day I hope to be one. The Shining Silver is special in that she knows herself well, and she’s about everyone else.

It’s always a pleasure to do whatever she asks. That’s incredible influence.

In that way, she’s a 65th Crayon.

How to Own the Incredible Influence of a 65th Crayon

What’s a 65th Crayon? Why is one so influential? A 65th Crayon is someone who is one of a kind, who thinks individual thoughts. Some folks call it being out of the box. Well, of course, a 65th Crayon would be out of the box — only 64 come in the box.

You need to live seven key ideas to own the incredible influence of a 65th Crayon.

  1. A 65th Crayon is self-sharpening.
    It is, and always will be, sharp enough already.

  2. A 65th Crayon isn’t about making a mark or proving it’s smart.
    It doesn’t need to make a point, to get a point, or to point out anything.

  3. A 65th Crayon isn’t about drawing lines.
    It blends and balances other colors, coaxing out their vibrant shades.

  4. A 65th Crayon doesn’t worry about fitting in the box.
    A 65th crayon is the perfect size to fit in the whole world.

  5. A 65th Crayon is unique and thus precious like every crayon ever made.

  6. A 65th Crayon cannot hide. It’s colorful personality gives it away.

  7. A 65th Crayon may get misplaced, or shared, but it is never lost.

Influence comes from understanding that we’re all different, that we all come to our conclusions on our own. Incredible influence comes from knowing that it’s always about the other guy not me and that we all feel like the one left out of the box now and then. Turning that feeling into a good thing is a spectacular outlook to live by and model. That’s what a 65th Crayon does so well. Who isn’t attracted to that?

In the end, who do we listen to? . . . I listen to the ones who assume the rest of us crayons already know how to draw.

Are you a 65th Crayon? What other crayons have you known? Go ahead. Have some fun. Give them a a colorful name.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

SOB Business Cafe 06-30-2006

Filed Under Branding, Content, Marketing, SOB Business, Successful Blog | 8 Comments

SB Cafe

Welcome to the SOB Cafe

We offer the best in thinking–articles on the business of blogging written by the Successful and Outstanding Bloggers of Successful Blog. Click on the title shots to enjoy each selection.

The Specials this Week are

Benjamin Yoskovitz guest hosts at Steve Remington’s blog to ask us if we’re sure we know what our blogs are about.

What's Your Blog About Again?

Mike Sigers lets us in on secrets we need to know about selling.

Fraser talks about and offers video on the influence of effective communication.

Fraser on influence -effective communication

Marianne Ricmond returns from WOMMA with a message that is as old as the fifties wbout how we should see our customers.

Message from WOMMA: Open, Honest Communication

Easton lets us know why Business Blogwire is so popular. (All of this time I thought it was Yoda.)

Best of Business Blogwire

Related ala carte selections include

I was listening to Christine Kane while I was typing this and drinking coffee from a beautiful golden coffee mug from Tom Vander Well. Thanks, Tom!

Tom reminds us that upselling can be a way of helping out.

Upselling Doesn't Have to Be Hard Selling

Sit back. Enjoy your read. Nachos and drinks will be right over. Stay as long as you like. No tips required. Comments appreciated.

Have a great weekend!

–ME “Liz” Strauss