Successful Blog

SOB Business Cafe 02-29-08

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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 titles to enjoy each selection.

The Specials this Week are

Common Sense PR and 14 others see the value of WOW!
Just as important as the product or service you deliver is the way in which you do it.

Today we celebrate some examples of people and companies that create a sense of occasion, a sense of specialness.

Essential Keystrokes sees value in flexibility for project design.
The power of the WordPress platform absolutely amazes me! I recently finished a project for a design company called TwistnShout which completely stretched everything I knew WordPress could do and then some.

Just Creative Design sees the value in resources.
Below is a list of 99+ graphic design resources, in English and (and a few other languages), that all designers must know about.

Dumb Little Man sees the value of saying “no.”

As an online entrepreneur, you will, at one point or another, start to receive all sorts of propositions. Some will, of course, prove to be great opportunities which you definitely need to take advantage of. Others, on the other hand, are nothing more than time-wasters you need to steer clear of.

Carl Ocab sees the value completing his first year.
Blogging has taught me hundreds of things since then. Today, I’ve compiled them and picked the best to share it with you. I’d suggest you bookmark it, print it out and save it in your desktop.

Make It Great! sees the value in offering you a fee service until March 15!!!
I invite you to head over to MinuteFix and check us out. There’s no cost until March 15th, so I’d bet you can get a few of your problems fixed, or at the least, you’d know that we are a great company and one you can count on to fix those annoying computer problems you’ve been having for years.

Related ala carte selections include

Word Sell, Inc. knows the value of humor as a marketing tool.

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

–ME “Liz” Strauss

How to Network at a Social Media Breakfast

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My Name Is Liz Strauss

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In a few minutes, I’ll be leaving to attend Jeff Pulver’s Chicago Social Media Breakfast. If you haven’t heard, Jeff is going around the US meeting folks from the world of Tech and Blogging. He came to Chicago for this event. Bloggers are gathering to me him and each other. Yeah!

As the host, Jeff has invented a way for his guests who just met to find it easier to talk to each other. Take minute to watch him talk about his “Social Networking Toolkit.”

I’m having a few thoughts about how I might make those two hours successful. Here are my tips for anyone who might be doing the same in the near future.

  • Dress comfortably. In clothes that make you feel good about who you are. It’s no fun to meet people feeling like you are really who you are.
  • Keep your goal for attending realistic and low stress. I want to meet new people and find out what they do.
  • Know that even though the other folks there might be looking at you. They could be thinking about you looking at them. Smile as if we’re all in on the secret. Break the ice for them by making yourself approachable, most will be grateful.
  • Have a question ready for that moment when the air seems call for a conversation to start between you and another person. Mine is “What do you do when you’re not doing this?”
  • When someone asks a question that leaves you feeling self-conscious or without an answer say so. . . . “I make everyone at these events so important. It throws me a bit. Could you hold on while I recover my ability to think? . . . Often just saying so gets past the feeling and moves me on to the next part of the conversation.
  • If you make everyone else the center of the universe, it’s hard to feel self-conscious or under a microscope. Get curious and see how many people you can get to tell you about themselves. Ask broad questions such as how they got where they are, what they wonder, or how they’d rewrite a recent industry event if they could.

I remember a friend who, when she and her husband started a new business, they made a contest to see who might get the most rejections from sales calls. I’ve made a contest for myself. I’m going to see how many folks I might get to talk to me when I go there.

What advice can you add for networking newbies about to attend their first networking breakfast?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

Procrastination: Effects of Procrastination

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Welcome to Part 3 in Gaetano’s series on procrastination. We know the causes. Time to talk about the effects.

Procrastination Mini-Series – Effects

by Gaetano Caruana

Procrastination seems to be fun to do at first but it won’t take long until the procrastinator feels the effects of his/her choice. Procrastination has devastating effects on the person who does it and is completely not worth it. In this part of the procrastination mini-series, I am going to highly some of the procrastination effects, with the hope of making you more aware about procrastination and motivate you to avoid it or work hard to beat it.

Sense of guilt: Even though it is you who choose to procrastinate, you still feel guilty for doing it. The fact that you waste time instead of getting things done makes you feel bad with yourself. Even though, with a lot of effort and working extreme hours, you manage to make it by the deadline of a particular task, you will still feel guilty. This is because you will have doubts whether you could have produced something of better quality if you made good use of your time.

Become a liar: In today’s world nobody works alone. Everyone is part of a team and every team member depends on other members. The fact that you procrastinate and fall behind schedules makes you feel bad, since you keep back the whole team with you. When asked to give reasons for the delays, you start lying to find excuses to cover up your procrastination problem.

Prone to other vices: A study conducted by Fuschia Sirois and Timothy Pychyl of Carleton University, clearly shows that procrastinators are more prone to start other vices such as smoking or abusing alcohol. Starting new vices will further make it difficult for you to stop procrastinating and will further make your life miserable

Health Problems: Living a procrastinator life is not easy! Procrastination has both psychological and physical effects. The same study by Fuschia Sirois and Timothy Pychyl shows that college students that procrastinate in their schoolwork are more likely to have health problems such as suffering from insomnia, diet and exercise problems

Gaetano Caruana writes for the FruitfulTime Blog, where you’ll find the free ebook Stop Procrastination Now.

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Thanks, Gaetano!

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Decision or Choice: Is the Difference Stealing Your Focus and Your Time?

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Possibilities and Direction

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You walk into an ice cream store. So many flavors sit in the case before you. You consider or you know right away. You place your order.

You have a meeting with your boss only to find out that the job you love is likely to be gone in six months. You have an opportunity to take a higher position in another state or you can stay in the city you love with a fair certainty that your job is going away.

One is a choice. The other is a decision.

One is about possibilities. The other is about direction.

Decision or Choice

Whether we’re thinking about sending a child to private school, where to go on holiday, or buying office supplies, every day we opt for one thing over another. Sometimes we’re choosing. Sometimes we’re deciding. Doing one when the other is called for can get in our way.

Do you know the difference between a choice and a decision? Consider what the words mean and how that might apply to your business and your life.

The Definitions [via Answers.com ]

  • A choice is a selection from a number or variety of options.
  • A decision is reaching a conclusion or passing judgment on an issue.

The Etymology — History of the Words [via Merriam-Webster Online,]

  • Choose — Etymology: Middle English chosen, from Old English cÄ“osan; akin to Old High German kiosan to choose, Latin gustare to taste
  • Decide — Middle English, from Latin decidere, literally, to cut off, from de- + caedere to cut

Synonyms [via Thesaurus.com]

  • Choose — (definition select) — accept, adopt, appoint, call for, cast, co-opt, commit oneself, crave, cull, decide on, designate, desire, determine, discriminate between, draw lots, elect, embrace, espouse, excerpt, extract, fancy, favor, finger, fix on, glean, judge, love, make choice, make decision, name, opt for, predestine, prefer, see fit, separate, set aside, settle upon, sift out, single out, slot, sort, tab, tag, take, take up, tap, want, weigh, will, winnow, wish, wish for
  • Decide — (definition determine) adjudge, adjudicate, agree, award, call shots*, choose, cinch, clinch, commit oneself, conclude, conjecture, decree, determine, elect, end, establish, figure, fix upon, form opinion, gather, guess, judge, mediate, opt, pick, poll, purpose, reach decision, resolve, rule, select, set, surmise, tap, vote, will

When we choose, it’s like picking an item from a menu. If we come back the next time, we can make another choice. But a decision, cuts off — kills — other options. By its very definiton a decision is a turning point.

Is the Difference Stealing Your Focus and Your Time?

Decisions and choices build our character, form our life path. They’re the sum and substance of what makes our resume and our business success. Even so, what is a decision or a choice for you, me, or anyone is, in itself, a decision or a choice.

How we handle decisions and choices deeply affects our lives.

  • Do you angst over every choice as a life-changing decision? Take a look at what you’re investing — time, energy, stress — and what you’re investing in.
  • Do you avoid clear decisions by treating them like choices? Take a look at the options you’re holding onto and how they’re holding you in place.

Those two mistakes steal time and focus and often generate stress.

The difference is fairly simple.
A decision marks a direction.
A choice marks an option until we return to choose again.

How will you use this information?

It’s your decision . . . or your choice.

Be irresistible.
–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related:
When Is Being Good Not Good for Business?
7 Ways to Carve a Path to the Future of Your Dreams
How to Know If You’ve Lost Track of Your Vision

When Is Being Good Not Good for Business?

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Good Isn’t Good Enough

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A good friend of mine is a designer. His ideas are good. His service is good. The artwork on his blog is good and the information is easy to access. Everyone I know thinks he’s an all around good guy.

He’s the guy everyone invites to every event. They ask his advice and solicit his input. His reputation is impeccable. He has a pile of references. Everything about this guy is good, except his business. No one chooses him for their projects.

Could it be that he’s the wrong kind of good? Can being good be not so good for business?

When Is Being Good Not Good for Business?

In a blogosphere of 80 million blogs, being good isn’t enough to get noticed — that’s something folks might not recognize right away, but eventually we all tune in. This conversation is bigger than that. Some folks I know are more than good and it’s that very fact works against them in at least five ways.

  • Good makes some folks think they don’t need to be nice. Having the skills to do a job well doesn’t go far if folks don’t like to work with them.
  • Good makes some folks think that the world will eventually come to them. It’s naive to think that the rest of world has time to find out what we don’t have time to tell them in a compelling way.
  • Good makes some folks focus on perfection. They end up adding quality only they can see. That drives up their costs and lowers their understanding of how clients see their work.
  • Good makes some folks unable to talk about the price of their work. They feel that a true artist or a “good person” shouldn’t ask for money.
  • Good keeps some folks from being great. It’s hard for some folks to take risks when they’ve achieved a place of some stature. Thoughts turn to defending against what might be lost rather than what could be won.

What good is being good if it’s not good for your business? Being centered on those we serve is more fun and less complicated to do. Deciding how to offer a unique value to the people we work with and for makes a whole slew of “good” issues disappear.

In what ways do you think being good can be not so good for business?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Analyze whether you’re getting in your own way. Work with Liz!!

SOBCon08 is May 2,3,4 in Chicago. Register now!

Questions to Get Closer to You: Question 13

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Get Closer to You

This is a series of questions, I don’t know how many. They are the ones I ask when I help folks get closer to their personal identity.

What’s one lesson that you keep bumping into and learning over and over again?

I’ll answer first to get things started.

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

Related
Branding: 5 Ways to Help You Find Out Who You Are

Questions to Get Closer to You: Question 12
Questions to Get Closer to You: Question 11
Questions to Get Closer to You: Question 10
Questions to Get Closer to Your Brand: Question 1
You’ll find the entire series of Questions to Get Closer to you on the Successful Series page.