Successful Blog

How to Speak or Write for Beginners, Experts and Forgetters Alike

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An airplane traveling from New York to Chicago is off course 98% of the time. Still it gets there. Why? The pilot is always adjusting with the destination in mind.

For a writer, a speaker, a teacher, or a presenter, the audience is the destination. Connect with your readers and you’ll be home free. It may sound obvious, but it’s worth stating — if you don’t know where you’re going, you’re not going to get there.

How to Speak or Write for Beginners, Experts and Forgetters Alike

Ever loved a blog one day and didn’t know why you went there the next? That’s a blogger who hasn’t picked an audience? Ever sit through a presentation in which the speaker brought a canned speech written widely and given to every group? That’s a speaker who doesn’t realize that different groups come to listen for different reasons.

It’s always important first to know what we want to say.
Without that, our ideas will be unfocused — like an airplane off its flight plan.

Equally important, we need to know who is tuning in what we’re saying.
Without that, the message sent may not be the message they receive.

So before you write, speak, teach, pr present, take time to reflect on the people who’ll be listening to what you have to say. Here are some questions to help with that. Take a shot at answering them all in a single sentence.

  • Who am I writing for?
  • What do they want to know?
  • Why are they tuning into what I have to say?

Write down your audience profile. Revisit it every now and then as you write. Revisit every time you speak to a group. Adjust it as your readership grows or as the group you’re speaking to grows and changes. Use it as a guide to choose your ideas, your presentation style, and the stories and examples you use.

See if you can describe your audience in one sentence every time. Fine tune the sentence by considering the group and how they’re like you.

Most audiences are mixed with beginners and experts. Most of us are beginners on some things and experts on others. And we have forgotten some of what we once knew.

Our audience is likely to be a lot like we are — people tend to be attracted to people whose minds work alike. (We think people who think as we do are intelligent and and to think of those who don’t ,as not so intelligent or being difficult.) So as think about your text or live audience — beginners, experts, and forgetters alike — see them as intelligent people who simply need a refresher on what you are sharing.

With a clear destination — a message and an audience in mind — the minor decisions of communicating get a whole lot easier. It’s a matter of adjusting direction and timing to land it safely where you want it to be.

How do you know when you write or speak that you’ve chosen right for the audience you’re trying to reach?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Bid for the Presidency…Tweeted? What Does that Mean to YOU?

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Guest Post
by Riley Kissel

On May 11th, House Speaker Newt Gingrich announced he’s running for President of the United States. According to CNN, he officially announced his intentions to run via the popular social networking site, Twitter.

Anyone who takes their online marketing seriously needs to pay attention to the 2012 election starting now. Political action at the national level was always executed with the intent to cast the biggest net possible, similar to business advertising, but those tactics are changing. In traditional politics the customers transcend all market “types”. There’s a particular focus put on the means to reach everybody all at once through television or radio, because votes can come from anyone, kind of like how money can leave anyone’s pocket and go into your business. But today’s political arena is focused on strike force access to niche markets through social media, with the expectation that these strikes will go viral and the effort will be more cost effective than alternative mass-media means. Your entrepreneurial arena is undoubtedly the same.

President Barack Obama is estimated to raise $1 billion dollars for his re-election campaign. This number is unprecedented in presidential politics, but it won’t be for long. President Obama’s comparatively enormous war chest is the result of his presidential efforts back in 2008. Obama was the first national politician in American history to utilize the power of social media and social networking effectively. Nearly half of that figure was attained through donations of $200 or below made online. It wasn’t that Obama pulled the right strings, it’s that his team saw the possibilities of these online marketing techniques when opponents hadn’t yet. Never again will a serious presidential contender not have Twitter and Facebook accounts.

What about You?

Consider then, what this says about the future of social media marketing as it applies to your business. I’m assuming you don’t have presidential ambitions, but you can still relate. If no competitor is Tweeting or updating a Facebook status, why aren’t you? If they are, you need to right away. It’s going to be hard to compete against someone who can instantly notify their customers of sales when all you have are weekend coupons. Find an online marketing consultant who can help you get started. Once you’re active in social media, it’s time to utilize it effectively. Big announcements need to be made on it. Subscribe to competition and do a little (perfectly legal) espionage. These are important tasks to achieve when you’re getting your social network foot in the door, and consultation will help.

Television was perhaps the most important communications invention of the last century. People often forget that it wasn’t until the Nixon-Kennedy debates of 1960 that the world began to understand the potential of its power to influence and persuade. The Internet will no doubt be the most important piece of communications technology for at least the first half of this century. Don’t wait to let its power start working for you.

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Riley Kissel is a freelance writer who covers many industries with style. You can find out more about him at RileyKissel.com

Thanks, Riley, for simply showing how great thinking has built great success.

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

How To Socially Date Customers.

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A Post by Matt Krautstrunk

We all know how important customer service is to your long term success as a business. You probably don’t need a briefing on that, so I’ll spare you the lecture on why the “customer is always right.” However, what you probably haven’t realized is the fact that customer relationships are becoming more fragile.

 

We all remember the days, going to the local grocery store with our parents, and having the employees greet us by name. Loyalty is a wonderful thing; however something seems to have changed since the 50’s. Customer relationships aren’t what they used to be, they are becoming more fragile than ever. As businesses strive to create relationships it seems one negative experience can cause a breakup, according to Social Media Paige, “negative online shopping experiences result in brand abandonment. Smart consumers are very unforgiving.72 percent said they would share a negative online experience with friends and family. Another 70 percent said they would turn to a competitor as a result.”

Many managers also fail to realize how important social media is to their customer service. Whether you are trying to attract new customers or keep existing customers engaged, having a social presence gives your company a platform to reach your audience. I think businesses who try to “date” their community are able to retain a higher percentage of customers for life.

Link Multiple People To Your Businesses Social Account. Putting your PR, customer service and sales people on the same account, not only improves your reach but integrates your customer knowledge. Say for instance you only have one PR professional running your Twitter, he/she may not realize who they are actually speaking with. Having an integrated internal social media account improves your communication strategy by leveraging knowledge across multiple units. A good idea would be to add email contacts to your social networks from multiple accounts within your business. You can use your salespeople’s, marketing department, and anyone you deem fit’s email address book to upload their contacts and follow them.

Although it’s important to integrate your internal departments on social networks, make sure they understand their roles. Have your sales person answer all sales inquiries, and all customer inquiries be handled by customer service.

Build Loyalty. Building loyalty is essentially taking your customers on dates. Keep your community engaged, active and excited about your brand. When the spark dies, you are much more willing to have a tragic breakup. Do this u

Solve Simple Problems Transparently A major advantage of conducting your customer service on social media is the fact that everything you do is transparent. Other followers will see your activity and you generate good PR for every issue you’ve solved. Don’t limit yourself on these platforms; figuring out how to work in social in to your strategy will help you keep your date for longer.

Keeping a customer for life is one of the most valuable things any business can ask for. We all know that 80% of business comes from 20% of your customers, so it makes sense to make sure that these people are happy to the fullest extent.

Matt Krautstrunk is an expert writer on postage meters based in San Diego, California.  He writes extensively for an online resource that provides expert advice on purchasing and outsourcing decisions at Resource Nation.

 

 

Please Don’t Ask Before You Say Hello and Another 9 Don’ts

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Lead with Relationships

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Again this week, I got an email from someone who doesn’t know me, who wanted to engage my network in her cause. This post is about that one email exchange that exemplified too many don’ts in my inbox.

I’m a person, not a network. And my network is made up friends and colleagues I respect. I value them. I treasure them. I trust them. I know I can’t replace them. I don’t give, share, or sell their attention to people I don’t know. So please …

1. Don’t Ask for Things Before We Know Each Other

Any person who takes the shortest while to follow me online knows that I’m a giver and I love to support my friends. Any person who takes a second longer also knows that

I want a relationship not a one-link stand.

What that means is that I want to get to know you before I recommend you or share what you do with my friends.

2. Don’t Ask for My Network

I’m writing because I’ve identified you as someone who is part of a networking empire that is basically unstoppable, and a major online influencer when it comes to what people are thinking and feeling and doing.

Translation: I want to use your network because my own isn’t big enough to reach my goal.

In itself that’s not a bad strategy to ask a friend to reach out to her network. But the relationship — the friendship and the trust — needs to be there first. This someone saw me as a channel of distribution, not a person. She wasn’t really looking at aligning our goals.

3. Don’t Assume Your Mission Is My Mission

The next five paragraphs were about her, her mission, and why her mission is important to her. Aside from describing their philosophy and stating that I lived it, the mission itself wasn’t very clear. Neither was why I should invest in it.

4. Don’t Lie by Omission

I got curious to find out more about the cause or the product that this mission was all about. It’s a retail and lifestyle brand of apparel. Funny how that never got mentioned in the first or the emails that followed.

5. Don’t Act Like I Work for You

Why have I gotten in touch with you today? Because I believe you embody my mission and can help others do the same.

Tweet the following message ….
Post the following message on Facebook …
Share the following message with your readers …

Again, I might do plenty for a friend, but without that relationship, calling me to action so directly was telling me to open my network to someone I’ve never met.

6. Don’t Ask Me to Cross the FTC

Doesn’t telling me what to tweet or post break the FTC rules?

7. Don’t Offer Me Favors

My lack of response might have signaled that I was busy or that I had a lack of interest. But apparently it did not. Soon I got a follow up repeating a shorter version of the same message above the original.

Did you get it? Do you have any questions for me?
I’m working to develop a huge wave of enthusiasm … hope I can count on your support. And since I know favors go both ways, in return for your support I’d like to offer you a limited edition … t-shirt…
or maybe something else? Networking or entrepreneurial support?

8. Don’t Assume I Have Nothing Better to Do

Let’s talk, and find out more about how we can help each other. Please let me know your thoughts ASAP …

Your urgency isn’t my urgency. I have my own work.

9. Don’t Shout Louder After a “No, Thank You.”

I replied as graciously as I might. My exact reply was …

I got your message. You have a lovely message that you want to share. Your energy is admirable. I can see your passion for what you’re doing. I wish you the best of luck with it.

Unfortunately, my family, my clients, and current projects are all I can keep up with. It wouldn’t be fair to them to take on another project.

Thanks for asking,
Liz

I might have expected that would be the end, but it wasn’t.

The reply read:

Hi Liz,

I understand and thank you for your reply.

The real reason I’m connecting with you is because YOU (as an individual), appear to fit [our] profile and seem like someone who’d want to be a part of something great, in its infancy stages – by doing something little to help spread the word and enthusiasm.

Even if just via your personal Facebook account or something – is there any way you’d be willing to help me out?

There’s a free [deleted description] T-shirt in it if you are… :o)

Best to you with your business endeavors as well…

Two more emails followed in which I was commended for my “due diligence” in having checked out the emailer and set straight in that she had built her huge network from being positive and sincere with people who showed immediate enthusiasm for her cause.

I didn’t know that I had done that.

It was never mentioned that the “cause” was the philosophy behind a retail apparel brand.

These are only the don’ts from one email exchange with one person.

Do you have other don’ts that belong on this list?

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

These are only the don’ts from one email exchange with one person.

Do you have other don’ts that belong on this list?

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

What Have You Done to Become a Leader?

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Following or Finding a Path 1

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Who are you? How do you make a difference? Sometimes it’s a natural talent. Sometimes it’s a skill. Sometimes it’s a core value or quality that speaks to our humanity. Always it’s a statement based in the strengths of uniqueness. Sharing that unique strength with purpose is what defines a leader’s path.

Are you an artist, great at details, exceptional math? Can you code like banshee or persuade others to do anything? Are you easier to work with or faster than almost anybody? Do you ever find yourself thinking that what you do well is something everyone can do?

Just because it’s easy for you, doesn’t mean that I can do it.

Leaders know their uniqueness and own it.

Sorting out and evaluating what we know about ourselves is a leadership task. As Warren Bennis said in his book, On Becoming a Leader … we become leaders the moment that we …

  • decide how we will be.
  • take blame and responsibility.
  • know that we can learn anything we want to learn.
  • reflect on our experience, because it is through reflection we understand what we’ve learned.

Becoming a leader is a decision and a strategy, not an accident.

Reflect a while on what Warren Bennis said ….

  • Have you decided how you will be? Have you defined what the best version of you is? Have you chosen those values are most important to you? Do you choose the people you work with and the people you call friends by the values they share? Do you know what behaviors are your deal breakers? A leader is impatient to be the best and the most human now, not sometime in the future.
  • Do you take responsibility for yourself? Have you figured out it’s not the bad things other folks do, but how we hold on or respond that makes the difference? Are you still blaming someone for something that happened when you were a kid? A leader takes responsibility for building a life in which such things are history.
  • Are you the learning you could be? It’s true that we can learn anything we want to, but we’ll always be more inclined toward what we’re genetically programmed to do well. We can learn to move our fears and use them to fuel our learning. We can learn to change our minds about what we like doing. We can learn to find the best in any situation. Leaders are hungry to learn from everything and everyone around us. That’s what propels us forward.
  • Do you reflect on what your experience? Most of us spend time thinking hard about the negatives. We debrief our failures until we know them intimately. What about our successes? Do you reflect on what gives you energy? Do you think about why people listen to you? Leaders take time to reflect on the things that move them and engage the people around them.

Leadership is first about leading our own lives.

Learning to lead ourselves is how we understand what makes a leader. People see that in our demeanor and we see it in other people. They recognize the unique value and strength that’s individual in each person. It’s natural to reach out as leaders to align our goals and build something that none of us can build alone.

What have you done to become a leader in your own life?

Be irresistible.

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

Related articles:
The Only One

7 Solid Business Outcomes of Comradeship, Cause, Communication, and Compassion.

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All Leaders Motivate People

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The day before SOBCon 2011, Jackie Mitchell, (@Your_MsSunshine) of the Red Cross Chicago, stopped by the event site. I was explaining to Terry St. Marie, (@Starbucker) my business partner, that Jackie is that rare person who hires to a team — meaning that she interviews people to find individuals whose skill sets will add up to a stronger single unit simply by the act of teaming them together. During that conversation, Jackie mentioned how stunning it was to her to realize that the majority of the people who work for her (80% ?) don’t get paid cash for the hours they work.

Volunteers are motivated by a currency other than money.

Paid employees aren’t motivated by money either. Peter Drucker proved that money is a disincentive … rather than moving us to work more — money has the most powerful effect when it’s missing or too small.

Leaders understand that more powerful currencies attract, engage, and motivate people.

7 Solid Business Outcomes of of Comradeship, Cause, Communication, and Compassion.

If you’re looking to build a team of employees as volunteers or volunteers as employees place your investment in offering comradeship, cause, communication, and compassion. These deeper currencies will draw other leaders to build something they can’t build alone. The call of a community quest to build something strong, lasting, and meaningful is a powerful payoff in itself.

Thinking minds perform amazing feats when we are dedicated to purpose they believe in and love. We rise to our better selves when we find a group willing to invest in us and each other for a quest bigger than any one of us alone.

When an organization offers meaningful engagement of head, heart, and purpose, it reaps seven deeply solid business outcomes.

  1. Self-Awareness — Remembering. The unique value is the person, his or her skills, talents, experience, and wisdom, not the job.

    Employees who see themselves as people who do a job, rather than people who are a job offer perspective, humanity, maturity, and balance that people filling a role have lost. The faster paced the situation, the more we need time for reflection, to check in, to ensure that we don’t leave behind the learnings of our failures AND our successes. We can’t remember, reenergize, and reignite what we’ve forgotten, devalued, or not taken time to realize, claim and internalize.

  2. Meaning — value and values. Meaning — the “why” we work — it is the values inside our value proposition.

    Money can’t buy love … or loyalty. To invest our best in a common vision, we have to know what we offer and how our contribution has meaning. Meaning allows us to express our value and attracts other who have value to offer. Meaning gives us a reason to show up to become a part of something bigger than ourselves – the ultimate share the risk, share the benefit of a common cause, building a business that no one person can build alone.

  3. Peak performance — productivity. Loving you do is a simple shift to seeing that doing good work is less stressful, more fun, more fulfilling, and more profitable.

    People who love their work bring more, invest more, do more, go further for the company and the customer.
    They’re constantly seeking faster, more efficient, better answers. They get satisfaction from satisfying coworkers and customers in ways that makes the company grow. They recognize and protect the company where that’s going on. Peak performers attract other peak performers who love

  4. Communication — Value-Based Leadership. Employees who love their job find ways to communicate their values and their level of commitment in clear ways that other people can understand and trust.

    We value what we earn and what we love. As employees undercover their core values, they learn how to communicate what those values are and what they are not. That values base line helps them sort their own stories. Employees begin to see how their values build as confidence, clarity, competence, integrity, respect, and more predictable behavior, the hallmarks of leadership. That leadership inspires and attracts the other leaders who hold the same values.

  5. Focus — Balanced View. Employees who view their role as integral to the business zoom out to see the customer (values) and the company (value proposition) and back in to focus their best balanced thinking to deliver for both.

    The people who conceive, design, build, and share with customers what we sell have always know what works best and delivers value. Whether the job is building a product, answering a phone, responding on Twitter, closing a deal, or moving a box in the warehouse, a meaningful view toward serving both customers and company is within every employee’s grasp. Thoughtful decisions happen where they make sense, at the right moment, and by the person at the right level. Time is saved. Costs decrease. Quality goes up.

  6. Teamwork — Problem-Solving. Employees doing what they love have more patience, time, and energy for problem solving and for each other.

    Invested employees see the value of teaching newcomers the culture and helping those learning new skills. They align their goals to protect the environment which benefits them, the community in which they work, the business that is growing, and the customers they serve. The essence of teamwork is the idea of building something no one can build alone.

  7. Influence – Benefits of Relationships. Leaders who love their jobs understand the value of aligning their goals to build lasting relationships.
    They reach out to coworkers, vendors, partners, customers, clients, stockholders and families and make them a part of building the business. They live collaboration without fearing mutation, knowing that their values and value proposition will guide the big decisions. They talk benefits and focus on others when they build and handle the product, when they tell the company story to the customers, and in how they talk about the company as a value in serving others. The respect of a loyal community shows in everything it does.

    They build a barn, not a coliseum, inviting everyone who picks up a tool to help them. They are mission critical to their coworkers’ and customers’ missions. That loyalty becomes its own barrier to entry. No competitor can that knock that off.

And those seven outcomes result in powerfully persuasive ROI — Market Share, Market Differentiation, and Market Value. Rolling all seven into one, nothing beats the 360 degree investment of brains, heart, energy, resources, goals, and dreams all in the same direction. Any financial firm worth its salt looks for that combination when funding a business.

So when we look to engaging a great team for our business — large or small. Focus first on finding leaders who want to build something they can’t build alone. Focus fast on finding ways to bring them fully into the experience. And fund them and their work the best you are able, knowing that money can’t buy love.

How might you build more comradeship, cause, communication, and compassion into every role you offer the people who work with you?

Be irresistible.

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