Successful Blog

Solve Communication Breakdowns with Your Blog

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By Brian Milne

Communication Breakdown,
It’s always the same,
Havin’ a nervous breakdown,
Drive me insane!

– Led Zeppelin, “Communication Breakdown”

Is it just me, or is all of this technology that’s “connecting us” actually discouraging real communication.

By definition, communication is an “exchange of information,” but even Webster suggests it should include a “personal rapport.”

But in today’s fast-paced, attention-deficit world, personal phone calls have given way to occasional emails and text messages. And, in many cases today, those one-on-one messages are being replaced by shotgun Facebook and Twitter blasts to a faceless social mediasphere.

So what about those defining moments in life, or business, that warrant more than 140 characters? Babies being born, companies doing actual good in the community and for the environment?

Those are the types of communications blogs were made for. Whether it’s a personal or corporate platform, your blog is your most important communication tool online.

Not only does the blog allow you to let your hair down, and write more freely about topics that will engage users, but it allows you to share that narrative with hundreds, thousands, even millions of readers.

And it allows you to complement your prose with strong images, videos and all of the other assets and plugins we can integrate into our blogs today.

But how do you make sure your blog doesn’t turn into another source of one-sided noise in this overly-saturated blogosphere? Here are six tips to help turn your blog into a two-way communication tool.

Use the Blog Often, and Well

They say quality over quantity. I say quantity AND quality.

For a majority of the blogosphere, blogs are successful because they do both. Their content is solid, so it gets shared. Their content is frequent, so it gets traffic.

A good blog is a two-headed monster, and you have to feed it often if you want your site to become a beast to be reckoned with online.

Don’t have time to blog as often as you’d like? Here are 10 tips for finding more time to blog.

Use the Blog to Keep Connections Updated

Ever have a situation where you’re traveling in a remote place, or are in the middle of an adventure and don’t have time to update all of your friends on your whereabouts? The blog is a great vehicle for updating the masses on your situation.

I used this same approach in 2007 when I paddled nearly 100 miles of California’s coast, and again this past fall with a photo blog from McCovey Cove during the World Series.

Posting updates to your blog will not only keep your friends and family informed, but it also saves you time so you don’t have to reach out to everyone in your social circle to give them a unique update.

Use the Blog to Share and Engage

For corporate blogs, running diaries like the examples above probably aren’t realistic, but taking the same, real-time updates approach will work for major events and conferences when content ideas are coming your way at a furious pace.

Take advantage of these events (which are content gold mines) by posting frequently around the topics and using social media (and the appropriate hashtags) to promote your work, because these types of milestones are often more timely and newsworthy than everyday posts.

Use the Blog to Collaborate

Have you ever thought of your blog as a collaboration tool?

Active online communities and blogs have amazing potential when it comes to collaborating online.

Turn your blog into a collaboration tool by: concluding posts with open-ended questions to drive reader comments, driving interaction through mobile engagement, and embedding polls, surveys and forms to pull user-generated content from the community.

The key is driving at that engagement and making sure your blog isn’t just a one-way communication.

Use the Blog to Motivate

The best part about having a phone conversation with a friend, colleague or mentor that you respect, is that the call is a two-way conversation.

Two-way conversations help resolve issues, breed new ideas and inspire and motivate both sides to strive for more.

Take the same approach on your blog.

The best posts in the blogosphere (think about all of the great content here on Successful-Blog.com) motivate and inspire, and your blog shouldn’t be any different.

Use the Blog to Listen

In conclusion, don’t just treat your blog as a one-way communication tool. Allow for comments on your posts.

Listen to and engage with those in the comments section and continue the conversation beyond the author tagline.

Take the discussion to your social networks to engage more connections in your social circle, and, gulp, even offline in the real world.

Imagine that, actually communicating with folks offline.

Robert Plant would be proud.

Author’s Bio: Brian Milne is the founder of the Hyped Blog Network and Meadows Interactive, an authorized seller of the WorkTraits behavioral assessment and work compatibility program. Share your communication tips and challenges with him on Twitter @BMilneSLO.

Overcoming the three fears of telecommuting

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By Kelly Gregorio

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Is telecommuting right for you?
In today’s digital world telecommuting is becoming more of a common practice. Increased productivity, a “greener” business approach, time and funds saved from a commute are just a few of the benefits. Still, as an employer there are some drawbacks to consider. Below are the top 3 fears of telecommuting and tips on how to overcome them.

Will Everyone Want to Telecommute?

It is important to remember that telecommuting is not the right fit for every employee. Positions that require constant supervision and collaboration are not ideal. However, independent positions that are results-oriented might make a good candidate for telecommuting. Another thing to consider: equipment. Someone who requires a photocopier, scanner and the latest software might not make for an ideal telecommute worker; however a job that simply requires a laptop and access to the internet could work. When making the decision to offer the telecommute option remember it will not apply to the entire company, decide first which jobs are the right fit.

Is Anybody Out There?

As an employer you might be hesitant to allow employees to work from home because of the potential communication gap. Luckily, instant messaging, emailing and texts can put you in direct contact with your virtual workers during normal business hours. Need the face-to-face? Skype is a great (and free) advancement that will allow you to look your employee in the eye while discussing upcoming and ongoing projects. Finally, weekly, bi-weekly or monthly trips to the office are a great way to reconnect and to allow your employee to still feel like he/she is a part of the office team.

How Can I Make This Work?

Before undergoing any telecommuting option it is most important to draw out expectations with your employee. Requiring your worker to send daily follow-up reports of productivity is a smart way to stay on the same page. Routine scheduled phone calls can keep the lines of communication open and objectives on track. By establishing clearly defined goals and checkpoints, you and your employee will be clear on what is expected to be produced in and outside of the cubicle.

Telecommuting is a viable option for the right company. If you feel like your business might be a candidate consider the benefits. Fewer interruptions make for a more productive employee, employee retention and job attractiveness are bound to increase, and temporary inter-office problems such as sickness or power outages are less of a problem for the at-home worker. By preparing for the possible downsides, employers can assess if telecommuting is a feasible option for their employees, creating a happier work environment both near and far.

Author’s Bio: Kelly Gregorio writes about relevant topics that affect small businesses while working at Merchant Resources International. You can follow her daily blog at http://www.cashprior.com/blog.

Image: Flickr creative commons – mccun934

VoIP Small Business Savings Can Be Music to Your Ears

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In tough economic times, many small business owners look for each and every opportunity to save themselves money.

With the end of 2012 fast approaching, it would behoove those who run small businesses to sit down and take a look at where many of their company expenses went for these last 11 months.

In some cases, saving that money going forward into 2013 is next to impossible, while there are other areas that definitely can be tweaked in order to make the coming year a more profitable one.

If your business phone expenses have left you dialed-in to less savings, have you considered dialing into small business VoIP?

According to a 2011 FCC report, usage of VoIP grew 21 percent, to more than 30 million VoIP subscribers just in the U.S during a one-year period from June 2009 to June 2010.

With VoIP in your office, you can not only save money, but you can provide more efficiency for both your customers and your employees in ways you may never have previously thought of.

In the event small business VoIP may be something for your business to consider going into the New Year, note the following:

* Business VoIP users receive a toll-free or area phone number along with a variety of voice-mail features;
* Among the other features are call forwarding, an auto attendant, automatic phone routing, online faxing, and virtual directories;
* With Internet access, your small business can initiate communication efforts that include emailing to voice calls to video conferences. In the event you have employees on the road handling sales calls or attending networking events, you can still conference with them via VoIP;
* With both remote employees and/or completely remote offices, you can provide IP handsets and IP PBXs (private branch exchange) at each locale, therefore permitting all devices to communicate with one another minus outside provider intervention;
*  Should you go hosted or non-hosted? One of the decisions to be made is to go with a hosted service or non-hosted service. With the hosted service, it is commonplace for providers to oversee major processes offsite, thereby bringing calls to your phones and your customers. Many hosted VoIP solutions will not require added on-site hardware other than phones. With a self-hosted onsite service, your business will require an IP-based PBX to move your calls to your network phones, along with a PSTN (public switched telephone network) getaway. The gateway acts to convert calls to and from digital signals as required. Typically, what you pay for such a service will depend on the necessary features.

Lastly, those small businesses considering VoIP would do well to get a number of provider quotes, along with reviewing both each company’s customer service record and its financial stability. Make sure the technology you are considering for your company makes sense not just now, but over the long term as you look to grow your business.

With the right VoIP solution in place, your small business could ring up significant savings in the months and years to come.

Photo credit: digisecrets.com

About the author: Dave Thomas covers a variety of small business topics for various websites.

Give Your Content Marketing An Emotional Storytelling Touch

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Guest Post by Stacey Acevero

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Stories Stay With Us

Remember as a kid when you listened to stories around the campfire? The ones that gripped you and stayed with you long into the night were the ones that played upon your emotions. They scared you or made you cry or made you laugh. In other words, they moved you.

Do the same for your online audiences. Use storytelling to make your content marketing stick in their heads. When you do, you’ll give your content more mileage because not only will people respond to your message, they’ll remember it longer, too.

You may wonder where storytelling fits into your content marketing. After all, you’re just trying to get the word out on your brand, right? Wrong. Just getting the word out isn’t enough to create a following. You’ve got to make a connection with people and there’s no better way than drawing them in with stories that tap into their emotions.

To give your content marketing an emotional touch, follow these 3 storytelling tips:

1. Find The Stories Around You

When we meet new people, we establish connection through sharing stories — where we went to school and why, what kind of work we do, what things in our lives define us. Imagine your reader is a new acquaintance. What kind of story can you tell to get them engaged quickly?

Think about the things that set your company apart – those details that you’d share first to give people a sense of you and your brand. For example, at the heart of every company is the story of the person who had a big idea. Think about your company, what is the inspiration behind its inception? You’ve got a story right there.

2. Build Your Story Around A Character

A strong story has a character audiences can connect with and a plot that keeps them engaged. Find the human factor in your brand and make it your central character. Introduce employees who are making a difference in their communities or share compelling profiles of the people who have benefitted from your products.

Then offer readers a glimpse into how these people changed, i.e., through the volunteer work for an important cause or because of the positive impact your products made in their lives. The journey of a character through circumstances carries more clout when readers see how those events shaped that character.

3. Use Emotion To Make An Impact

People are drawn to emotional images and language, so use those powerful tools in your content marketing.

Photographs and video can immediately boost your content curb appeal. They can also provide inspiration to your content creation. For example, a humorous video can not only grab audience interest, it may just have the emotional impact to go viral.

Give your written content more life and emotional connection, as well. Use active language and sentence structures to make reading easier and more interesting.

Try this simple way to start – change all your verb forms of “to be” into active words. For example, instead of “Our company was looking for a way to be a better supplier for our customers”, try “XYZ felt our customers needed better service. These new changes do just that”.

The best way to keep your content marketing fresh is to play with it. Experiment with new perspectives and integrate the things you find interesting.

Keep in mind that your message should always compel your audiences to act. Use your story to motivate people to visit your website, check out your product or download your latest whitepaper.

Have you had success integrating emotional storytelling into your content marketing? We’d like to hear your best campfire story here.

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Author’s Bio:
Stacy Acevero writes about PR and social media at PRWeb.com. You can find her on Twitter as @sacevero.

Stacey, you and your stories are irresistible! 🙂

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

Good, Great, and Irresistible Marketing Businesses

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When I pay attention to your message… when I watch your commercial, read your ad, listen to your presentation, can you assume that you’ve reached me?

Only if you define reach in the most literal sense.

And trust me, you’re reaching to believe if you believe that attention is synonymous with trust.

Trust isn’t a numbers game. Trust takes time to be established — it always did.

Good, Great, and Irresistible Marketing Businesses

We talk with thousands of people throughout our lives. Now that the social web has amplified the speed and reach of communication, it could be argued that some social folks online “talk with” thousands of people in a week. Certainly many businesses talk with thousands of people in a day. Some corporations easily talk with millions in a day. Still the fact remains that the ability to reach millions with our message means hardly anything if those millions don’t trust the people or place the message is coming from. Communication only helps a business when people trust what we’re saying.

  • Good marketing businesses know how to reach customers. The marketer shows how the product offers will solve a customer’s problems, how the offers will take care of the customer needs and desires at the right price in satisfying ways. Satisfying solutions at a good price will get people to buy in. Price is an important part of this mix.
  • Great marketing businesses know how to reach ideal customers and build values-based relationships. They find the people who share the marketers’ values and never make an offer larger than the trust they’ve built. The shared values make it easy for new customers to trust what the marketer says, to see the value in what the business makes, to value products and services that incorporate those values in everything. What we value is always worth more than the price.
  • Irresistible marketing businesses know how to reach ideal customers, build a values-based relationships and show customers that it is always easy and safe to work with that business. They invite ideal customers into a relationship bigger and better than simply a customer-fan. The business trusts and values customers by involving them in future plans — customers participate in having ideas, building content, sharing products, access to feedback loops that value bad news — and and holding customers in the highest esteem because they help the business thrive. That’s where the deep trust and irresistible attraction comes in.

The best form of attraction is built on trust — consistently proving that your business does business even better than any customer might think business would be! Business moves faster and with fewer micro-decisions when we can depend on people we trust. With trust like that customers tell your best true story for you.

Reach out to meet needs is not nearly as powerful building values-based relationships. Values-based relationships aren’t nearly as irresistible as the attraction of being a first trusted resource who consistently surpasses the standard.

Have you found your irresistible offer yet?

Be irresistible.

–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