Successful Blog

Thanks to Week 324 SOBs

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Successful and Outstanding Bloggers

Let me introduce the bloggers
who have earned this official badge of achievement,

and the right to call themselves
Successful Blog SOBs.

I invite them to take a badge home to display on their blogs.

muddy teal strip A

They take the conversation to their readers,
contribute great ideas, challenge us, make us better, and make our businesses stronger.

I thank all of our SOBs for thinking what we say is worth passing on.
Good conversation shared can only improve the blogging community.

Should anyone question this SOB button’s validity, send him or her to me. Thie award carries a “Liz said so” guarantee, is endorsed by Kings of the Hemispheres, Martin and Michael, and is backed by my brothers, Angelo and Pasquale.

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Want to become an SOB?

If you’re an SO-Wanna-B, you can see the whole list of SOBs and learn how to be one by visiting the SOB Hall of Fame– A-Z Directory . Click the link or visit the What IS an SOB?! page in the sidebar.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

What IS Most Crucial to Influence? What Moves People to Action?

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Redux: I wrote this post in Dec. 2010. Based on recent conversation, it seems even more relevant now and so I choose to pick it up, add some clarity and publish a newer version this week.

The Outcomes We Achieve

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Every person has influence. What what we say, and how we act has an effect on how others think, feel, and behave. As a writer, an observer, and manager, I’ve watched and studied how people respond to what we do, what we say, and what they see.

As every parent and pet owner knows, sometimes the outcome we’re going for — a change in belief or behavior — isn’t the outcome we achieve. Our intent, our feelings toward an audience are only one side of the equation. How that audience interprets our words and deeds determines the change in belief or behavior that might result.

Our influence is highly affected by context.

  • The world view of the people we might influence. An individual’s emotional associations and beliefs can filter how people interpret our intentions, our words, and actions. A person who believes all learning must be their own experience will ignore a warning to avoid a dangerous part of town. A person who has only had bad experiences with people from our “group” may fight against any message we offer.
  • The value those people put on their relationship with us. Filters such as the halo effect and other cognitive biases, such as wishful thinking, can change how our message is processes and received.

We don’t control how other people think, what they feel, or how they interpret what they hear and see.

Though we may carefully consider and choose the most generous way to communicate and interact within those those contexts, the audience will choose their interpretation of that interaction. The same authentic, highly influential, collaborative message to one audience will be a disingenuous, controversial, alienating rebuff to another audience. We see that all of the time in the world of politics.

The most crucial element of influence is understanding what the audience already knows and already believes. If we want to influence people, to move them to an important action, to change their core beliefs, we need to know the audience, listen to their world view, champion their cause, and honor their reality.

Do likes, follows, impressions, site visits, retweets and the similar quick expressions of attention really qualify as actions. Have they influenced anything?

Don’t fool yourself by the game of numbers — don’t start thinking that 1 in X000 of those likes, follows, impressions, site visits, retweets and the similar quick expressions of attention will buy!!

The kind of influence that gets me to buy a product isn’t a result of a frivolous passing gesture on the Internet. Talk to the people who buy your products and ask …. what moved them to action? what got them to believe?

I know it’s a novel idea, but the people you want to influence know what will get and keep their attention and most of us would be relieved if you’d just ask.

How do you decide what will move people to action?

Be irresistible … and ask them.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

What Twitter Talk Is Good for and What It’s Not

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Twitter Talk is great for a fast moving volley around a narrow idea or collecting the opinions of a crowd. But the very speed and compactness keeps the rich and telling details out — the details that explain why and how. If an idea or a problem takes exploring or discussion, Twitter doesn’t measure up.

If I’ve made assumptions about you, the message I get won’t be the one that you sent. If we use language differently our communication can go woefully wrong.

Sometimes whole conversations are important

  • to get something done.
  • to clearly state a position.
  • to define a project and outline expectations.
  • to participate in a negotiation.
  • to coax, cajole, or romance.

and in many other situations.

Twitter doesn’t do whole conversations well. Nuance, clarification, details all require more than 140 characters. Such interactions require fuller conversation. Fuller conversation needs other tools.

Where do you go when Twitter needs to change to a fuller conversation?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

I’ve spent a couple of days on Twitter. Actually too many to count. My first tweet was March 16, 2007 and

Thanks to Week 323 SOBs

by

muddy teal strip A

Successful and Outstanding Bloggers

Let me introduce the bloggers
who have earned this official badge of achievement,

and the right to call themselves
Successful Blog SOBs.

I invite them to take a badge home to display on their blogs.

muddy teal strip A

They take the conversation to their readers,
contribute great ideas, challenge us, make us better, and make our businesses stronger.

I thank all of our SOBs for thinking what we say is worth passing on.
Good conversation shared can only improve the blogging community.

Should anyone question this SOB button’s validity, send him or her to me. Thie award carries a “Liz said so” guarantee, is endorsed by Kings of the Hemispheres, Martin and Michael, and is backed by my brothers, Angelo and Pasquale.

deep purple strip

Want to become an SOB?

If you’re an SO-Wanna-B, you can see the whole list of SOBs and learn how to be one by visiting the SOB Hall of Fame– A-Z Directory . Click the link or visit the What IS an SOB?! page in the sidebar.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

You’re Not Alone …

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about what we think about ourselves.

You’re not alone.
We’re all afraid.
How often I tell people that — wherever I go.
It seems to be my calling.

And our biggest fear, the one we live with daily doesn’t really sound big enough.
It’s not nuclear war, or terrorists, or even being homeless.
… though we have deep and sincere respect for dangers implied by those and more.

But our biggest fear is more dear and much closer.
We’re afraid of the ideas of ourselves we carry in our heads.
We’re afraid of not being seen, not being heard, not being understood.
We’re afraid of being lost without someone to show us how to find our way home again.

It’s not so crazy when the state of the economy has led us to question everything we’ve learned about authority and trust in leadership. It’s not crazy when we’ve learned to follow paved roads to everywhere we go. It’s not so crazy when we’ve learned what behaviors get us the right kind of attention … or they did when companies still cared about employees more than the bottom line.

The skies might be gray and you should know that.
But that’s a fact … not a mood-setting necessity.
Grey doesn’t have to mean bad times or things to fear.
Face the fear. Acknowledge the reality. And move on.

Put a new idea of yourself in your head.
Decide that people will see, hear. and understand — value the people who do and move away from those who don’t.
Move in the direction you would show your best friend or your child to go.

You’re bigger than the biggest fear.
Let yourself know.
Let the fear pass over you.
Move forward.

Be irresistible.

Liz's Signature

How to Save on Business Insurance – And Why You Need It Now

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Business owners face a lot of expenses. One way to lower costs is to shop effectively and look for how to save on business insurance rates since every nearly every commercial enterprise needs insurance.

Get the Right Insurance

Business owners need to be aware that when they drive their car, truck, or van for commercial purposes, they need to purchase commercial auto insurance. This can be for one vehicle or for several vehicles, but premiums can get expensive.

Just like people need auto insurance for the vehicles they drive for personal reasons, they also need to purchase commercial auto insurance for the cars they drive for work. Commercial insurance has a different risk category than personal lines.

Hire Safe Drivers

Safe driving is a key step to keeping costs low. If there is an accident when the owner or an employee is driving for the business, the business insurance policy will cover the vehicle and the protect person driving, but an at-fault accident will increase rates. This is why it is important to hire scrupulous drivers and screen them in advance.

Drivers with clean driving records are the best choice as they present less risk and can save you a lot of time and hassle in the long run. It may be difficult to find several drivers who have completely clean records, but business owners can weed out those with checkered records as they can raise
business owners’ premiums.

Also, if a business owner has multiple vehicles, it is best to combine them onto one policy so as to take advantage of multi-vehicle discounts. Many of the top auto insurance companies offer great policy options for business owners.

If you have drivers putting on a lot of miles, it may be wise to put them through a defense driving training course. Some insurance companies offer discounts to drivers who attend safety courses. By having their employees in these courses, business owners may be able to lower their insurance rates. Check with your company to see if this discount is available.

Raise the Deductible

As with personal insurance policies, business insurance policies have a deductible, the amount of money that the business owners will pay if their vehicles are involved in a car collision. When the deductible is higher, the insurance company will lower the insurance premiums. However, Business owners must be sure they have the funds available to pay the deductible if their drivers are involved in a vehicle collision before they choose one that is too high.

Consider Different Payment Options

By choosing the right payment options, business owners will save a lot of money on their insurance premiums. First, they can opt to pay their premiums all in one sum rather than on a monthly basis. This option helps them save on the administration fees the insurance company charges for month-to-month payments.

Business owners will receive up to a 10 percent discount from some insurance companies for paying their premiums up front. If business owners find it more affordable to pay their premiums by the month, they may be able to save on the administration fees if they sign up for electronic payments. This option also prevents them from being susceptible to having to pay late fees because the amount will be debited from their bank accounts on a set date.

What’s stopping you from having the right insurance for your business?

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Author’s Bio:
Jason Nelson writes about driving safety tips and how to save from top auto insurance companies at BestCarInsuranceCompanies.net.

Thank you, Jason! Great information!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!