Successful Blog

How's Your Relationship with Yourself?

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The theme of SOBCon09 is the ROI of Relationships. To underscore the importance of relationships in business and to have a chance to make and celebrate a few while we’re doing that, I’ve opened up this series by successful and outstanding bloggers like you.

Communicating with Yourself
by Karl Staib

To get yourself to the next level of your career, the most important development is to be able to communicate with yourself so honestly and effectively that every choice improves your life.

Wow! Every choice?

Yes, every choice can add or subtract to or from your career.

I’ve made many mistakes with my career, but one thing I pride myself on is the fact that I never settled for less than what I really wanted. I wanted a career in teaching and I found it. I wanted a creative career I landed it. I wanted a people interactive career and I got it.

They all built on each other and helped me get to where I wanted.

I’ve found a job that requires teaching, creativity and interactivity. These are the tools that have aided me in my present career. Is this the end?

Probably not.

I’m ok with not knowing whether of not this is my final destination. That’s what honesty does for you. Chances are, you won’t ever see the complete picture. There is no way of seeing the whole picture from just one set of eyes. But you can add to the picture, step back and effectively pick your next direction.

Think of your career as a giant scroll that can never be erased, but the most important part is the last sentence. It’s this sentence that is the present you. Hopefully the happy you. If you aren’t happy then keep improving your story.

Never Stop

You must keep adding to the “story” that is your career. We all have so much potential to change the world. We can do this only through work. What? I can change the world in many other ways. I ask you to name me one way in which you can make change without putting in a little work?

You can’t.

You need to create motion to generate change.

Without action it’s just thoughts.

The number one reason why people are happy at their jobs is because what they produce resonates with their soul. They believe so wholeheartedly that they are doing good that it lifts them to a level of happiness that sets their hearts on fire.

I watched an animal show that highlighted Steve Irwin’s (Crocodile Hunter) pet hospital. One employee sleeps in her office to care for the injured Koala bears. She is so dedicated to saving these animals that she will forgo sleep to feed a Koala every two hours.

Finding this fire is not easy. For 99% of us this takes many years, but that means never settling for second best or third best. We need to keep adding layers that build our career foundation. With each layer we gain more perspective, strength and intelligence, which allows us to communicate with ourselves more honestly and effectively.

So ask yourself: What could I be doing to add to my personal development?

My two favorite methods are:

Meditation/Contemplation

Just sitting in a quiet room and answering the question, “What work am I doing now that I enjoy? And what could I be doing to add to my career?”
There are many methods that can help you build on your present career or switch to a new one. You can try anything, from volunteering at a local organization to creating an event that involves the community.

When you give yourself questions to answer, you can avoid the loop of thoughts that prevent you from fulfilling your vision of your “dream career.”

Asking Friends

Your friends are a treasure chest of information. They have formulated many ideas of who you are and why they like you.

Ask your friends, “What are my best talents?” and “Do you think I’m using them to my advantage?”

Don’t take these answers personally. Some responses might hurt your feelings. You are doing this to grow, so you must accept the idea that the situation might be a wee bit uncomfortable, but a valuable experience.

What other methods have you used to listen to your soul’s career needs?
What jobs have you had that you didn’t like, but later you understood how they helped build your career?

his own blog: Work Happy Now! If you enjoyed this article, you may like to subscribe to his feed, follow him on Twitter or

Karl Staib writes about unlocking and kicking open the door to working happy atWork Happy Now where you can read one of his most popular articles, How Does Google Create a Great Atmosphere?
His twitter name is @workhappynow

Connecting with Fiercely Loyal Customers By Being Helpful in a Hypeful World

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He’s So Sure He’s So Good

relationships button

Just read an email about how much I needed someone’s help. To put it mildly, the person who wrote it doesn’t stand a chance of doing business with me. He’s so sure that what he’s got so good. That he bet his sales on impersonal email blast to people who don’t need what he does.

The email he sent was filled with huge promises, hype of grand results, and a future that would have me set for life. I’m wondering why he needs to work if he has that secret.

Some folks sell by telling everyone how good they are.
Some folks sell by making claims that are bigger than life.
Some folks sell by pitching every person they can contact.

I feel safe in saying that it’s not the way to make fiercely loyal customers.

Connecting with Fiercely Loyal Customers By Being Helpful in Hypeful World

Great businesses have always been about customers — how to make their lives easier, more free, and more meaningful. Great companies invest in getting to know their customers and showing they value them. That builds fiercely loyal customers. Fiercely loyal customers come back and bring their friends.

Ever watch people who love what they do when they talk about their work? They talk about what they do as fluidly as water. Even when they first explain what they do, they don’t ever seem shameless. They talk about the kind of people they help and the help they give.

When we’re fully-engaged in our work, telling others about an offer is like talking to our friends about what we do. It’s natural, conversational, and about them. If you have something of value, here’s how to have conversations that matter.

  • Do your homework. Find out who’s interested. Research to know the people or businesses who need your product or service. Know their needs before you even say hello.
  • Be curious about their dreams. When you meet with prospective clients, start by asking them about their goals.
  • Be a learner, not a hunter. Look and listen for ways to help them move their goals forward.
  • Then talk about how your goals and theirs work together. Let them know the kind of helping that you do.

Don’t wait for the stars to align. Align your goals with theirs. Sit on the same side of the table with your customers. Business happens when it’s to their benefit to do business with you. Show them how working with you will get them where they want to be.

Great promotion is helpful, not hypeful. How do you talk about your work as helpful?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

BlissDom09: How to Be a Successful Sponsor at a Small Conference

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Great Conference

Last weekend I had the pleasure of being part of BlissDom09. As it says on the Blissdom Conference website:

We came. We saw. We learned. We bonded. We had the most wonderful time!

BlissDom09 brought together outstanding speakers and panelists and new bloggers, blogging professionals, writers — women mostly from all over the country — Michelle Lamar — Buy her book and embrace your inner trailer park. Ghennipher who is grace and intelligence, Lori Falcon who’s brilliant about making money with a blog, Jessica Smith who asks great questions and knows more than I’ve forgotten. Carole Hicks a friend already, Debba Haupert who didn’t bring the coffee!! and especially Beth Rosen, who knew everyone before she left there. And this is only a few of the cool people I met.

BlissDom is the brain child of Alli Worthingdon who runs Blissfully Domestic and Barbara Jones, who masterminds One2OneNetwork. Congratulations to Alli and Barbara who are clearly about making sure that everyone gets even more than what they came for.

One way that they did that was to forge relationships with the best sponsor-partners.

How to Be A Successful and Outstanding Sponsor

Any conference is an investment for conference producers, attendees, and sponsors. I’ve read a lot about how to run a good conference, learned a bit by doing just that. I’ve written about the value of attending a well-run event — how it can change a business. But I’ve not seen much on how a sponsor can add to and make the most of a event — though I’ve seen sponsors do silly things that have really turned attendees off.

If you’re running a conference or about to sponsor one, look to do more than just se

What I saw at BlissDom was a partnership, much the same as that we work for my own event. Successful and outstanding sponsors are the ones we remember because they fit seamlessly into the event.

It’s a week past. These Blissdom09 sponsors are the ones I’m still talking about.

  • Great sponsors come as learners to build relationships, not to hunt buyers.
    AND

    John Andrews from Walmat and Tara Anderson from lijit were panelists, attended the sessions, and participated in event activities. Though their companies are hugely different in size, scale, and offering, they related to people in the same one-to-one fashion. They were building relationships. I had personal conversations with each of them. It was obvious they were both there to learn and connect. I’ll be using them as examples when people as how do to do it right.

    John and Tara were about building relationships with their customers — current and future.

  • If they send a product, it’s the right one.

    I didn’t met a representative from Little Debbie, but I didn’t see any reason that one needed to be there. The product — 100 calorie snacks — fed us during the breaks and movie party. Simply providing it for us to sample was enough for me to see that I liked it. I’ve already bought some. I like the peanut butter ones. More please!!

    Little Debbie let their product speak for them.

  • They give more than they might get.

    I’ve always been a LandsEnd evangelist. I love their jeans. The catalog they included in the swag back introduced their new line with free shipping. I paged through their catalog. I didn’t buy. I kept thinking that a $25 gift would have been a better investment. I was disappointed that LandsEnd didn’t reach out more.

    Free shipping from LandsEnd? Not exactly a sample of their product. UPDATE: My apology to LandsEnd What I was thinking? HOW COULD I OVERLOOK THE LANDSEND TOTES? Thank you, LandsEnd. I must have conference totebag blindness. I sure would have noticed if I had to carry that stuff without them. The inside pockets are particularly cool.

    Crocs added a $50 gift to the package. $50 was enough for me to go to their website to realize that they have more than just plastic shoes with holes in them. I think they might have a new customer. I’ve already told three people about the gift and how Alli showed off her crocs boots the audience.

    Crocs offered an invitation to experience more than shoes with holes.

  • Great sponsors know people remember experiences, not demos and speeches. They invite us to participate in unforgettable ways.

    • Sony showed up in the form of Chris Mann, who talked with BlissDom attendees on Twitter as @iamchrismann long before that weekend. So when he took the stage at BlissDom, he was already a friend. Here’s a clip from the private concert he did. Chris stayed, talked, and shot video.

    Sony let us help launch a career!

    Disney Pearl brought a massive HD plasma screen, 4 small ones, a complete sound system and production team for what might have been the most entertaining break of the the event. They were introducing YANNI VOICES — an event in which the famous musician chose 5 solo voices to put lyrics to his music and developed a performance around them. Who would have thought a DVD of a music show belonged a blogger conference. But the experience was exciting, moving, and entertaining. THEN, to make us feel special, it ended with a chance to meet the vocalists in the show.

    Disney made us part of a huge event.

Granted I’m only one person, and this is only my opinion. BUT … I’m one person with a few Twitter followers, a few blog subscribers. I run a conference, use a telephone, speak and teach about relationships in business, and attend more meetups and tweetups than most. I also like talking about the folks who get it right, but reminding folks who the best of the best are.

It’s great to see sponsors showing that they understand that experience is that way to share their products. They understand how build a fiercely loyal fan base. When they get right, it’s only right that we point it out and give a little of that love back.

How has a sponsor at a conference ever gotten you talk about them?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

SOBCon Comment Conference Recap: Thanks for a Fabulous Day of Q&A!

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An Expert Every Hour and Q&A for 12 Hours

Information was flying and people were moving from blog post to blog post to hear what everyone had to say about the topics being explored last Tuesday when comment box flew open all day. Think theater of the imagination meets speakers and attendees in the comment box for conversation.We purposefully set aside the video and moving technology so that folks could take time to ask a question and answer question at their own leisurely pace and worked as we hoped bringing out some of the best conversation in a while.

Thank you to all who participated!

You’ll find two links below for each speaker
The names take you to each speaker’s blog. The title links take you to each individual conversation that took place.

When and Who:

11:00 – Liz Strauss on How to Build a Personal Development Network
12:00 – Mark Carter on Saving The World With Social Media
1:00 – Lucretia Pruitt on Twittering the Way that Works Best for You
2:00 – Andy Sernovitz on Amazing Word of Mouth for Your Blog
3:00 – Mary-Lynn Foster on Podcast and Blog Interviewing Tips
4:00 – Easton Ellsworth on Visionary Blogging Improvements
5:00 – John Haydon on Social Media and Trust Online
6:00 – VickyHennegan on Writing for the Web
7:00 – Becky McCray on Successful Entrepreneurship
8:00 – Shannon Paul on Internet People and What They Do
9:00 –Angela Maiers on Literacy and Learning in the 21st Century
10:00 –Terry Starbucker on Pitching Social Media to Clients — 5 Key Questions for Potential Clients

Thank you, everyone again! Relationships make things happen!

C’mon Let’s Talk!

— ME “Liz” Strauss

Register Now for SOBCon09 Explode your network!

SOB Business Cafe 02-13-09

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SB Cafe

Welcome to the SOB Cafe

We offer the best in thinking — articles, books, podcasts, and videos about business online written by the Successful and Outstanding Bloggers of Successful Blog. Click on the titles to enjoy each selection.

The Specials this Week are

PR 2.0 sets the Twitter Bar on quality of relationships.
The surmounting ploys, friending races, theatrics, and contests to tempt those into following individuals can be fun, but short-sighted, when in fact the true technique for building relationships, regardless of volume, is the genuine act of earning and investing in them. It’s rooted in selflessness and rewarded with a rich stream of relevance and a network of valuable contacts that can also help you in the real world.

the paisano sets out useful social healthcare sites.
We’re not just talking about the traditional WebMD type of service either. This new breed of health service has incorporated many of the cool and useful social media tools we’ve come to expect from web 2.0 startups and social networks. Here’s a roundup of some of the best.

All Things Workplace sets up a series on Influence within and into an organization.
When you want to influence into or within an organization, it’s almost mandatory to find out what style it has and adjust your approach accordingly. If you are an employee or part of the organization, this may help you understand why you feel totally at home or out of place.

Patricia Martin sets out research on colorful thoughts.
What color most improves brain performance and receptivity to advertising, red or blue? Both can, it just depends on the nature of the task or message. According to a new study undertaken at the University of British Columbia, red is the most effective at enhancing our attention to detail, while blue is best at boosting our ability to think creatively.

SEOmoz sets out the 500 Most Linked-To
First off, we’re launching a free Linkscape API to access two of Linkscape’s most popular metrics – mozRank of a URL and the number of external links to a URL. Second, we’ve launched a list of the top 500 sites & pages on the web, ordered by the number of unique root domains linking to them (alongside other interesting SEO metrics).

Related ala carte selections include

@ColderIce recommended that we read this and I agree.

@dubster2k recommended this. It’s just plain fun!

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

Creative Batteries: How Far Can You Go on a Single Charge?

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by Seth Simonds

How long can you work on a creative task before you need to recharge?

I like to think of my creative energy in terms of a little electric car. Not a beautiful and fast electric supercar (who am I kidding?) but a little bee-bop two-seater with an 8-inch steering wheel. If I had a picture of my creative energy, it’d look a lot like the one in the photo, only blue.

Thinking in terms of a small electric car allows me to plan for my projects based on three factors:

  1. My Range: I’m good for about 150 miles of projects before low-battery warnings start to sound. Sure, I can push a bit more, but if I do, I’ll need to take an extended break before I can get back to work in top form. There’s a time to push ahead through blinding exhaustion in order to get a task done but I try to avoid it.
  2. My Itinerary: Having a plan means I’ll know when to stop  for breaks so that I keep myself charged and can bring a project to completion. Planning can seem like a dreadfully dull portion of a project but the resulting energy makes every moment of planning worth the effort.
  3. My Destination: If you’ve ever driven a car the size of my creative energy, you know that it can be hard to see over and around the larger vehicles involved in a project. Financial restriction trucks block intersections and deadline buses will try to run you off the road. Having a clear idea of what my end product allows me to stay focused no matter what short term distraction comes up.

I’m not a tireless machine that can happily trudge around social media stapling smiles to telephone polls and posting stump speeches on my blog without ever needing a break. I’m more like that little electric car, using power at a discernible rate. I get worn out during projects and find myself growing frustrated with people over things I’d never notice if I were getting enough sleep. I get dismayed by human nature and sometimes catch myself saying things like “I hate people” even though I don’t really mean it.

That all changes when I’ve planned out a project and know what my destination is and how I plan on reaching it. When I take time to recharge by quietly reading a novel, talking on the phone with a friend, or going for a walk, I find that my energy level stays high and projects are completed with a flourish. Bringing a friend along for the ride can add a lot to a project as well. The picture of the car shows only two seats but there’s room for a lot more people than you’d imagine!

What do you do to keep your battery charged?

Seth Simonds is about writing, networking, sharing in crazy conversations with brilliant people. He writes at Seth Simonds.com
Follow him on Twitter: @sethsimonds
photo credit: Flickr: frankh

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