Successful Blog

Thinking about How We Think

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How Nice of You to Ask!

The email came yesterday. I smiled hugely when I read it. What a gift! What a fine idea! Talk about something that is my passion! Here was a question on one of my favorite topics. We could explore this one for days.

The email said . . .

Do you invite or encourage ideas for posts? If so, I have a thought/question, a definitive answer to which I haven’t found anywhere:

How do people think? Well, to be more specific, does one use a language to think and form ideas? Or is it the result of a juxtaposition of experiences, facts and figures that enable one to think? Or is it an imagery without words in any language that helps you make a decision? What if one is fluent in three languages?

Well, the basic question is something like: When arriving at a decision, do you use words in your head?

Thank you, Zackman!

The short answer is that we all assemble our thoughts and ideas in different ways. So before we get to far into how it all works — left brain and right, young children, adults, and folks past their prine — let’s start by describing to each other the amazing ways our minds process words and pictures to bring us to the combinations of information that we call ideas.

Reflect for a while. Then would you write a few words about how an important, special, and fully thought idea comes to you?

I’ll write how it happens for me in the comment box. Once you read that, I suspect that you’ll have plenty of room and reason to write how it happens for you.

–ME Liz” Strauss
Behind every successful business is an outstanding manager –The Perfect Virtual Manager.

Related
Inside Out Thinking: Catching Ideas Coming In and Going Out
5 +1 Whole Brain Steps to Believable Strategic Goals OR Find Your Bliss Without Wasting Time

David Armano Was Drawing Conclusions Yesterday

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I agree

Look what David Armano has noticed something about business and blogging. Click his logo to take a look at what he said yesterday.

I agree.

In fact, as a web publisher who blogs, I inviteyou to consider this question posed by Robert Hruzek: How Has Blogging Changed You?

I’ll start. My answer’s in the comments.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

5 Things to Consider Before Starting a Totally New Project

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Never Been There, Never Done That

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The first . . . the first time we do anything from talk to walk to write our name, it’s a challenge. Hopefully, we bring to it the skillset that put us smack dab in the middle between the easy (bored) and difficult (anxious). Then we’ll be in flow, in the zone, moving forward through time and space without sefl-consciousness.

Even so, it helps to keep a few things in mind when we do something we’ve never done before.

5 Things to Consider Before Doing Something Totally New

Whenever I take a new task, yes there are still a few, I try to remind myself that I should look for what might be hiding inside the project.

  1. Everything is easier than it looks.

  2. Everything takes longer than I think it will.

  3. Planning the path at the beginning is worth every agonizing minute. No matter how much I want to run.

  4. Every project that I’ve never done holds a problem I’ve not foreseen, a decision I’ve never faced, a crisis that is totally new as well.

  5. It’s always better to consult the experienced folks before the problems start.

I know. I’m putting this one on my wall too. I would have told you the stories, but there are too many. Why don’t you tell me yours instead?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

The 5-Point Strategy to a Powerful Network

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A Networking Story

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Last Sunday, we released the announcement for SOBcon 07. It’s a relationship bloggers’ event. We lived our message. We reached out to our friends for help in spreading the news — if they believed the event was worth talking about on their blogs. Most everyone we asked to help has blogged about the event. We’re so grateful.

When we reached out to the folks to ask their help, something happened behind the scenes. Certain people I wrote emailed me back almost immediately. A few called or skyped. They had questions about the event. Those people, all friends and colleagues, contacted me for one of these reasons.

  1. They knew the people involved, and offered congratulations.
  2. They asked for more information upon which to make their decision.

In networking terms, their friendship, influence, and credibility and my friendship, influence, and credibility were talking to each other.

The 5-Point Strategy to Building a Powerful Network

Networks of people can be powerful influencers. A network of influencers expands our knowledge and our reach by engaging the power of “WE.” The problem is that networks take time to build and require attention.

You might have heard “It’s not what you know, but who you know.”

That’s not exactly true.

A powerful network requires two qualities: limited size to keep it sleek and easy to interact with, and people of like mind so that their connections and your connections are likely to be of the same quality.

Here is the 5-point strategy to build that powerful network.

  1. What you know is important. Learn as much as you can. Know what you know. Know its value. Don’t over value it. Don’t under value it. Understand how common or rare your knowledge and skill set are.

  2. Networks are built from relationships. Address books are filled with contacts. Relationships grow and expand as they age. They also require time and interaction to be of value. To build a top-notch network of people, choose people you would bet your reputation on — people who have your standards and similar goals. They will always connect to other people that you want to know.

  3. Who knows what you know is important. Read that again. Who knows what you know is important.Do you know the influencers in your market? Find ways to share your expertise with people who have influence. Influencers naturally talk about people who are great at what they do. Influencers are often asked for recommendations. How might you offer them a service that would put you on the edge of their network?

  4. Take an interest and be the first to offer a favor. When you meet someone of quality, ask questions, listen actively, and be the first to give a favor without strings. People remember sincere curiosity and true generosity, especially the first time it happens. Make friendships and relate positively to everyone that you meet.

  5. Listen for when a mentor appears, and welcome him or her gladly. Mentors are hard to find when we’re looking. They find us and show themselves by offering advice or wisdom to see whether we recognize it. Don’t miss (or mistake) the mentors who will come your way, offering their experience and connections. They see something in you.

These five points will lead to a network that is more powerful than most folks develop. It will be a group of people within the larger group of folks we know — a network built from relationships that are thoughtfully matched. Not everyone we meet is a lifelong friend. We already knew that.

Why am I thinking of kissing frogs and a prince?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
If you think Liz can help you find focus or direction, check out the Personal Virtual Manager on Work with Liz!! page.

Related
Self-Promotion as Easy as Knowing What You Do
Money Strategy, a Dead Horse, and Folks
Are You a Freelancer or a Solo Entrepreneur? Use Guy Kawasaki’s Mantra as He Meant

What Do I Offer Those Who Don’t Blog?

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I've been thinking . . .

If I asked you, “Are you 5 years old?”

You would say, “No.”

If I said, “Could you predict how a 5 year old child would answer my questions?”

You would probably say, “No.” again.

But you’ve been 5 years old, what would get in the way of your answering?

You no longer represent the group called “5 year olds.”

In the years since then, you have made discoveries; you’ve picked up details; you’ve learned things that you might not even remember how you know them.

Why am I writing about 5 year olds?

Hang in for one more minute.

Once I built my first blog and I learned to spell HTML, I left the world of “those who don’t blog.” I made discoveries; I picked up details; I learned things, things that I don’t even remember how I learned them.

I no longer represent the group called “those who don’t blog.”

Many of “those who don’t blog” read blogs, yet many will never become bloggers. Many more of “those who don’t blog” are bound to start reading blogs too.

What do I have to think about to be sure that I offer them the same positive experience that I offer bloggers? Hmmmm.

Liz's Signature

5 Reasons People Don’t Get Hired and the Only 3 Questions that Count

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The Best People

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It happened to me more often than I liked.
When I was an Executive Editor, it was another Executive Editor.
When I was a Director, it was another Director.
When I was a Vice President, it was another Vice President.

Not that I think there was a pattern. Here’s the scenario.

I’m in my office, finishing up a meeting. One of the people described above calls and asks whether I have time to talk about something.

I say, “Sure, come on down (or up or over wherever my office happened to be.)”

The person arrives; sits across from me; and explains why he or she wants to hire one of the people on my team.

We discuss the opportunity that is on offer. It’s always a great one for the employee. I support it.

At the end of the discussion, I hear some version of this sentence, “You hire the best people.”

As the person leaves, I think, Yeah, I know. Boy, do I know. I get out the most current job listing for the soon-to-be-vacated position and start editing.

I would hire and train.
They would wait and hire from me.
It happened with freelance and vendor help too.

5 Reasons People Don’t Get Hired

An interview or a client presentation is a test. It’s like an oral exam in which the subject is you. When I put it that way, it seems like folks should do better than some folks seem to do, doesn’t it? What it that gets in the way?

Here are 5 Reasons People Don’t Get Hired for that Job or that Contract

  1. Candidates feel self-conscious about putting forward their skills and talents.
  2. Candidates don’t take the job acquisition process seriously.
  3. Candidates miscalculate their value. This could be monetary, ability to fill the skills required, or how common or rare their skill set might be.
  4. Candidates don’t show knowledge or interest in the specifics of the business hiring.
  5. Candidates are arrogant, rude to the receptionist, have no energy, or are just not likeable.

You might know even more than these.

The Only 3 Questions that Count

In any meeting in which a person is deciding whether to offer work to another, only three questions matter. Though the questions never get stated aloud, all conversation really is about the three quesions. It’s best if both parties know what those three questions are.

The Only Three Questions

  1. Can this person do the job? This question is about the job or project description — expertise, skill set, and industry experience — salary is included here.
  2. Will this person do the job? This question is about motivation, energy, and work ethic.
  3. How will this person fit with the team? This question is about interpersonal skills, stress management, and communication.

Prove you are the correct answer to all three and the offer is yours. It’s great branding. It’s great business practice. It’s a service to yourself and your employer/client to know what you’re really talking about when you’re talking.

It stops being a test when you have the answers.

Be irresistible.
–ME “Liz” Strauss