Successful Blog

Asking For Feedback From Clients: How and Why It’s Vital

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By Jennifer Escalona Dunn

Every business owner likes to think that his or her business is great and is operating at 100% efficiency. If your clients haven’t complained and your bank account is fine it’s easy to pretend that nothing is wrong. However, you could be setting yourself up for huge problems down the line if you maintain this illusion.

Undoubtedly, one or more of your clients has something to say about the services you’re providing. Whether or not they’ve told you personally is irrelevant; sometimes people don’t like to upset the apple cart and won’t tell you what you think…unless you ask!

Why Feedback is Important

This isn’t to say that your business is falling apart at the seams. It’s only natural that a problem might crop up from time to time.

However, one problem that occurs all the time may end up harming your business in the long run. Wouldn’t it be terrible if some little thing you could have easily taken care of irreparably damaged the work you’ve done over the years?

It may seem like you’re tempting fate by bringing these issues up in the first place. After all, if you’re asking about the problems people have, doesn’t this give them a chance to focus on what’s wrong?

This may be true, but you want these problems coming up when you can control them rather than out of the blue. If your problem is being late with assignments, one or two won’t kill you – a whole year of it, though, certainly won’t help your bottom line.

How to Get Feedback

Feedback is pretty important to the long-term health of your business, but how do you go about getting it? Is it as simple as just asking each client or should you use other methods?

Ideally you want as wide a sample as possible. As stated before, some clients may not be very receptive to freely giving out their opinions. Their ideas are still valid, though, so you need to provide an avenue for these people as well.

One idea is to make an anonymous survey on Facebook or a service like SurveyMonkey. This way all clients can provide their opinions without fear of backlash from you. Not that you would yell at them, but some may have trouble getting over their hesitation. Of course you can always email clients individually. In the email you can provide a link to the survey or they can just reply to your message.

One helpful tip is to have specific questions in mind. If you have concerns about your timeliness, for example, ask questions about this. Focusing your efforts can yield better results as it concentrates clients’ energy on that issue rather than fumbling around trying to figure out what might be wrong with your business.

Also remember: not every piece of advice you get is going to make perfect sense. In fact, you may receive flat out terrible advice from clients. Don’t immediately discount it, though. Try to figure out what they’re really saying and get to the root of the problem. It may end up helping you in the long run.

Have you ever received negative feedback from clients? Were you surprised? How did you rectify the situation?

Author’s Bio: Jennifer Escalona Dunn is the owner of Social Street Media where she writes about small business, tech and finance for sites like WePay and Outright. You can find her on Twitter @jennescalona.

How to Write and Get Your Work Published

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By Alisha Webb

Many people feel as though they have a story in them, or simply the innate ability to get an important message out there, but the majority don’t really know how to go about doing this. Here are some tips as to how.

getting published

The yearning

Writing is in your blood, at least it should be if you feel like you have something to say that you would like to get published. If it’s not in you, then it can be the hardest thing in the world to push and so perhaps you shouldn’t even begin to try. If you feel that it is there, however, but you don’t know how to let it out, then this might be the right place for you.

Writing cannot be learned in the same way that you used to read your textbooks at school in order to fill you in on the parts that you weren’t sure of in your English literature exams. It can, of course, be studied, but the dedication and need to get published goes a long way past any kind of formal training.

Routine

From afar, writing might seem like some romantic pastime; a passionate, instinctive practice that soars through the writer and forces itself onto the page. In an ideal world this would be true and it would also be very easy. Unfortunately, this type of gift is a very rare one and the vast majority of all writers really have to force themselves to put the words on the page. The double misfortune is that those words often just do not want to come and instead you are left staring at an empty page.

Once you have accepted that the words do not always, or even often, flow like water, it is essential that you designate a part of your life to writing. You name the time, as this is preferably done daily, and then you eradicate everything else from your life during that time. This is not a magic trick that will unleash your natural powers, there still will be many hours sat alone and wordless, but this 100% commitment to your work on a daily basis is of paramount importance if you really hope to eventually succeed.

Admit your imperfections

A big predicament many writers find themselves in is that they are unable to ever finish the work they have started. It is very easy to fall into the trap of being incapable of letting your work go. You must admit that nothing will ever be perfect and know when is the right time to call it a day on a certain piece of work. If you don’t do this you run the risk of getting stuck in a rut which you can’t move on from. It is much better to have two or three “finished” pieces of work that you are not completely happy with rather than dwelling needlessly over one that will never get finished. Even the great novels that you read at school would be tweaked by their authors if they were able to go back to them now. Accept that yours is not everything you hoped for and move onto the next one that you promise will be better.

Read

You cannot operate in a vacuum. If you want to get published you need to be aware of the places where your finished work could find a home. Being aware of what is out there and sending these people your work often helps you make initial connections that will prove more fruitful in the future. This is an essential part of the process. Reading other people’s work can give you the confidence to see that there is a market for the material you yourself are looking to write.

Do not fear rejection

Sending out your first piece of work to an editor can be the most nerve wracking thing in the world. You have laboured over this piece of material for hours and now you have to let somebody tell you that it isn’t any good. You have to be ready for rejection. It is likely that you will be knocked back many more times than you are accepted, but this is all a part of the real learning process. Never take praise or criticism personally and be thankful for all and any of the comments that you get. The flutter you feel in your stomach when you see an email or a letter come back to you from an editor is one of the best feelings in the world. Remember that this feeling comes before you know whether the answer is a positive or negative. It really doesn’t matter all that much. If you are a true writer, you will carry on regardless, and one fine day they will be writing English literature textbooks that include your own work.

Good luck.

Author’s Bio: Alisha is a British writer working out of Barcelona and a content developer at York Notes; you can connect with her on Twitter.

Spring Cleaning for the Mind

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By Tiffany Matthews

There will come a time when you find yourself unable to write, not just for hours at end, but days and weeks. The worst is when those weeks stretch into months. By then, the screen’s cursor constant blinking would become a taunting reminder that you have yet to type words, not even one word. If you’re suffering from a serious case of writer’s block, simple tips to beat blank page syndrome will no longer suffice. Badly burned out and drained of every last drop of creative juice? It’s time to call in the big guns.

The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

When a writer friend suddenly announced on Facebook that she was going to unplug and go away for awhile, I was concerned. I wondered what she could possibly be going through. I had my answer when she resurfaced online three long months later. Apparently, she had been dutifully following a 12-week program based on Julia Cameron’s book, The Artist’s Way. Judging from her relaxed and happier mood, the long break has been helpful in restoring her creativity as well as productivity. The program also helped her get over her major case of writer’s block and gave her more insight on the artistic process.

Some people will not like everything about The Artist’s Way. The long period required to complete the program will not appeal to active writers–who are trying to survive daily life and–who can’t afford to break off from work just for the sake of creativity. There are a couple of things in this book, however, that they can can still do–morning pages and artist dates.

Morning Pages

Every day for the next 12 weeks, you have to pen three handwritten pages, all done first thing in the morning during a stream of consciousness, which means you can’t look back at the previous pages you have written. If you’re not a morning person, you might think twice about waking up early for this exercise. You’ll probably wonder how you can write when you’re still drowsy. Once you get started, however, you’ll be surprised to discover clarity and how easily you can fill up 3 pages. When you write, don’t think, just let the words flow. Ramble if you must. When you read the sheets, you’ll find out that your true thoughts–some repressed–and find a way to resolve some of the issues that have been in your mind for a long time. This practice of morning pages also helps transform writing into more of a daily habit and makes the words flow easier.

Artist Dates

“Artist Dates are assigned play.” Once a week, you must embark on an expedition alone in order to explore what is of interest to you. It doesn’t have to be overly artistic, but it should fire up your imagination. An artist date should be fun and whimsical, something that encourages play. Art is all about the play of ideas, so open yourself to fun things that you want to try. When we experience something new or something that we enjoy, it helps fuel our creativity and build up another reservoir of inspiration that we can draw from. Artist dates replenish our creative juices, adding new ideas and images that bring us closer to our inner artist and craft new masterpieces.

General Cleaning

Sometimes people dread spring, not because they are not looking forward to warmer weather but because it’s time for spring cleaning. Cleaning your house from top to bottom until you drop can be therapeutic for writers and artists, not to mention productive. Just remember to invest in a good vacuum cleaner. The no-handles type can help you get rid of every speck of dust, even in those hidden corners under beds and furniture that you can’t reach. Who knows, you just might get some great ideas while you’re cleaning. Having a sparkly clean house also feels very rewarding especially after all the hard work you’ve put in. The actual spring cleaning helps relax your mental state and makes you feel refreshed. The more relaxed you are, the more your ideas will flow so you can now get back to work.

Spring cleaning isn’t just for the house. Sometimes, we need to apply it to ourselves so we can recharge and welcome new changes that will help us grow as writers and artists.

Author’s Bio: Based in San Diego, California, Tiffany Matthews writes about travel, fashion and anything under sun at wordbaristas.com. You can find her on Twitter as
@TiffyCat87.

Why does @LeslieMcLellan Love #SOBCon?

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Note from Phil: In my never ending quest to find out why people keep coming back to SOBCon, today I’m honored to share Leslie McLellan’s interview with you. From the moment I met Leslie, I knew she would be a perfect fit in the family – and wow – she did NOT disappoint. Heck, she works with Becky McCray and Sheila Scarborough in Tourism Currents – and they are wonderful alums, so she’s a natural to fit in with this conference. Of course, she brings her own brand of awesome to the table, and has her own reasons for attending SOBCon more than once. If you’re on the fence, read on and learn why Leslie McLellan loves SOBCon.

Phil Gerbyshak: Who are you – and what is your business focus?

Leslie McLellanLeslie McLellan: I’m Leslie McLellan and am thrilled you asked me about SOBCon! I have been in rural destination marketing my entire career (which is more than 20 years mind you) and along the way have worked a lot with small businesses too. I was a “traditional” marketer until late 2008 when my marketing budget for the resort town of Lake Arrowhead, CA was slashed to ZERO. That forced me into the world of social media and the destination had wonderful success because of it. One of the first people I met online was Becky McCray and it was from her postings that I learned of Liz Strauss and started following her. One year ago, I joined Becky and Sheila Scarborough (another SOBCon alum) in their business – Tourism Currents. In addition to being part of the Tourism Currents team, I am currently building a multicultural tourism marketing program for the city of San Jacinto, CA.

PG: When did you attend your first SOBCon – why did you sign up – and what
did you expect to get out of it?

LM: My first SOBCon, in real life, was last year in Chicago. However, I had followed tweets from earlier SOBCon’s for a couple of years. Since I joined Tourism Currents a few weeks before last year’s event, Becky and Sheila suggested I attend and we use SOBCon as a planning conference for our business. When they suggested that I was so excited, yet I was also very intimidated. SOBCon is for thought leaders and I wasn’t sure I was worthy to attend. I also thought it might be a bit “over my head” as I’m not a terribly techie person. BUT, I knew I would learn from the best so while nervous, my adrenaline was pumping!!

PG: Did you get what you expected (or more or less or just different) from
your first SOBCon?

LM: SOBCon passed my expectations in every way. It wasn’t over my head at all, I was able to contribute just as much as anyone. The sharing of ideas, the openness, was simply incredible. When you’re at SOBCon, everyone cares about your business just as much as you do and you respond in kind. It’s nothing short of an amazing experience.

PG: How many additional SOBCon events have you been to?

LM: None yet, but I CAN’T WAIT for my second SOBCon this May in Chicago.

PG: What keeps you coming back for more SOBCon?

Two things:

1. The “ideas” that everyone provides for each other. Last year I was surprised by how the smallest, seemingly insignificant comment that someone would make would provide someone else with a huge idea that they could run with. SOBCon is filled with “cream of the crop” thought leaders and for the duration of the conference, that’s what you get and what you give – tons, let me repeat that, tons of wonderful thoughts and ideas that can move your business forward immediately. Everyone there has some expertise/insight to share and the sharing doesn’t quit with the end of the conference. That leads to my second reason for coming back…

2. The people. It’s crazy, I’ve never felt so much a part of any group from the get-go. There were no awkward “feeling out of place” moments. I was part of the group right away. SOBCon attendees have a bond that continues throughout the year. I talk regularly with many of the SOBCon “family” so anyone who is thinking about attending should look at the cost of the conference and truly spread that out over the entire year as the SOBCon community continues to share all year long. SOBCon is not a once and done conference, it lives on 365 days a year.

PG: What has been the biggest impact on your business because of SOBCon?

LM: Since I was new to Tourism Currents, SOBCon allowed us to lay out our goals and plan our business direction. What we accomplished at SOBCon has driven Tourism Currents all year long.

PG: What advice would you give someone thinking of attending SOBCon for
the first time?

LM: Be ready to rock and roll! You hit the ground running and your brain doesn’t turn off until you get home. The ideas flow continually, so be prepared to take the most comprehensive notes you’ve ever taken and be ready to implement what you learn as soon as you get home. This is the very best conference you can attend if you want to take your business to the next level. End of story.

PG: What advice would you give someone thinking of attending SOBCon for a
second (or more) time?

LM: Since this is going to be my second time I’ll share what I plan on doing and that is stretch beyond my initial SOBCon comfort zone and mix and mingle with people I don’t know as well (which is what we all need to do at anything we attend). But at SOBCon, there are so many interesting people that it’s very hard to break away and continue meeting new people. The group is so high caliber that it’s to each of our benefits to get to know as many attendees as possible.

PG: Anything else you’d like to share about the event or anything else?

LM: I’d like to reiterate what most people say about SOBCon and it’s the absolute truth….This event is “one of a kind.” There’s nothing else like it, nothing else goes as in-depth into your business as SOBCon, and if you’re ready to be successful, really successful, this is the one thing you should attend each and every year.

What are you waiting for?

Tickets to the 10th SOBCon are still available – but just a few. Sign up NOW and get connected to folks like Leslie and more!