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Ask People What They’re Thinking

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I Can’t Read Your Mind

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When I was younger, maybe ten or eleven, I used to wonder about what other people were thinking. I’d sit in my desk at school and imagine I was another person, sitting in that person’s desk, thinking what that person was thinking. At times, I’d wonder whether that person ever did the same thing — sat in his or her desk wondering what I was thinking.

As I got older, maybe 15 or 16, I began to ask people what they were thinking. Some people answer that they had been thinking the most amazing things.Some people would say they had been thinking absolutely nothing. Seemed a strange thing that a person could think nothing.

I didn’t realize until I was older still that people often answered that question with something they might have decided I was expecting or something that they devised on the spot because what they were thinking didn’t seem worthy or relevant.

What Are You Thinking?

Over a quiet moment at a romantic first-date dinner, a young man asked “What are you thinking?” and my answer was, “I was thinking about the bread.” Not exactly the most charming response to my date. It was a long complicated set of thoughts that had brought from thoughts of meals shared with people I cared about to how it’s called “breaking bread.”

He was affronted that my thoughts seemed less than romantic and not at all about the moment … with him.

I tried to explain how the bread related. The more I said the more irrelevant my words sounded even to me.

My thoughts had been soft yet suddenly I was feeling small and wrong for moment’s mental connection that happened without intention … the way connections between ideas happen for me.

We never became a couple. We showed no signs of an ability to communicate on the simplest things.

He wanted me to be thinking what he was thinking at that moment and I wasn’t. Had he not asked he might have assumed I was … I expect that eventually would have had equally bad results.

Ask People What They’re Thinking

I’m thinking on that story now because I realized this morning, how often I see people take a wrong turn by deciding what someone else is thinking. Misled by their silence or a nondescript comment we invent their world view by putting our thoughts into their mind. You can only imagine what scenarios we’ve been able to conjure out of what people were nowhere near thinking at all.

Eventually I’ve learned it’s easier, faster, and less worrisome to ask people what they are thinking and then leave room for asking them why. And what my friends are thinking is always interesting, valuable, and worth hearing — much more than I might have imagined — and when I’m listening often the source of new thoughts of my own.

Thank you for all of the thinking that you do. The world needs it and I do too. Want a smarter, higher performing team? Want better relationships?
Keep thinking.
Keep asking people what their thinking.
Keep listening when they tell you.
It’s irresistible when you do.

Be irresistible.
–ME “Liz” Strauss

Thanks to Week 373 SOBs

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Successful and Outstanding Bloggers

Let me introduce the bloggers
who have earned this official badge of achievement,

Purple SOB Button Original SOB Button Red SOB Button Purple and Blue SOB Button
and the right to call themselves
Successful Blog SOBs.

I invite them to take a badge home to display on their blogs.

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They take the conversation to their readers,
contribute great ideas, challenge us, make us better, and make our businesses stronger.

I thank all of our SOBs for thinking what we say is worth passing on.
Good conversation shared can only improve the blogging community.

Should anyone question this SOB button’s validity, send him or her to me. Thie award carries a “Liz said so” guarantee, is endorsed by Kings of the Hemispheres, Martin and Michael, and is backed by my brothers, Angelo and Pasquale.

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Want to become an SOB?

If you’re an SO-Wanna-B, you can see the whole list of SOBs and learn how to be one by visiting the SOB Hall of Fame– A-Z Directory . Click the link or visit the What IS an SOB?! page in the sidebar.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Mobile Payments vs. Credit Card Processing: Which One Will Work You?

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Trip Ochenski

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Accepting and processing credit cards from your customers is much easier today than it was in the past. Having a customer use a credit card within a business often means that a business owner can expect that customer to spend up to twenty percent more in that store than they otherwise would have. Furthermore, many businesses today operate a retail website. Since the vast majority of people prefer to use their credit card when shopping online, being set up for processing credit cards is practically a necessity for any business.

For years, businesses that wanted their customers to use their credit cards inside their business had to purchase a credit card reading terminal. Today, however, businesses have the option to accept credit cards through mobile payment processing. This technology allows a business to accept credit card through a smartphone or tablet computer.

Mobile payment processing offers a way to process customer credit cards no matter where a business sets up its operation. Without mobile payment processing, a business will need to purchase or rent a credit card reading terminal. This terminal will need to be connected to either a landline phone or a high-speed internet connection. Every time a customer uses his or her credit card, it will be swiped through this terminal.

Today, however, there are a number of credit card merchant services that provide small card readers that work over an internet connection. Because they are not required to be tied to a landline phone, these readers can be used anywhere that a staff person can access the internet. Some of these devices plug directly into a smartphone or tablet computer and use the device’s wireless network to transmit credit card data to the service that is processing credit cards.

To get set up to accept mobile payments, a business must first buy one of these card readers. After receiving the reader, the business must then connect it to their mobile device and download the app that goes along with it. This app will store customer data, transmit it to the processing company, and provide both the business and the customer with a receipt of the transaction.

Any business that does work and/or makes sales in multiple locations can benefit from mobile credit card processing. For example, businesses that operate out of traveling craft fairs and farmer’s markets are able to use this technology to accept customer credit cards for the first time.

Other businesses, such as landscapers and plumbers that have a central office but do most of their work away from it are now able to accept customer payment at the time of service. Instead of waiting for a customer to be invoiced before being able to accept payment, then dealing with the possibility of bounced checks, a mobile business can now count on immediate, reliable payments.

Of course, traditional businesses such as restaurants, or brick and mortar retailers may find that they have very little use for this new technology. Businesses that do not work in the field often will probably find that they can continue to rely on their traditional credit card terminals.

The new technology available in the field of credit card processing will open up a lot of possibilities for some businesses. Being able to accept customer payments from practically anywhere will mean that some businesses will be able to rapidly expand their customer base. Other businesses, however, will not see a lot of benefit from using the new technologies.

Author’s Bio:
Trip Ochenski writes about merchant services and mobile payments at Switch Commerce. He is also author of the SwitchTalk Blog. You can find him on Twitter as @SwitchCommerce.

Thank you for adding to the conversation!

The Secret to Progress You Can Start Today

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Rosemary O’Neill

There is one tiny change you can make to your daily life that will have a huge impact on your success. In work, in relationships, and in family life. Lean closer, because I’m going to have to whisper it.

Look back.

The Secret to Progress You Can Start Today

My car has one of those built-in video screens so that I can see what’s behind me when I’m backing up. Skateboards, basketballs, and even the occasional kid have all survived my driveway because of this rear-vision feature.

We’re all told constantly to plan, set goals, look ahead. And in these next few weeks you’ll be barraged with people telling you to sit down and create a roadmap for 2013.

But before you do that, it’s essential to grab a cup of coffee and review 2012. How can we ever savor life, see our progress, and learn from our mistakes and successes if we don’t ever take a moment to look for them?

Daily Gratitude

At the end of every day, as you’re settled in bed and closing your eyes, take a couple of minutes to think back and be grateful for the day just passed. Give yourself a high five for any accomplishments.

Weekly Review

At the end of every week (I do it on Sunday afternoon), sit down and actually write out your successes. Write down lessons you learned during the week. Write down things you meant to do but didn’t and figure out why. Write down things that happened that made you feel awesome.

Monthly Check-in

At the end of the month, glance through your weekly review notes, as a reminder of your progress and things you’ve learned. It will solidify the lessons learned and give you a boost going into the coming month.

Yearly Wrap-up

Almost everyone starts the year with some sort of vision or goals (let’s not say resolutions anymore, ok?). But do you ever sit down at the end of the year and see how you did? So maybe you didn’t finish that novel, but you did publish your blog three times a week. It’s ok to celebrate that. And since you have your weekly reviews in front of you, you can really see and remember everything. Before I started writing these things down, I wouldn’t have remembered some of the minor victories that really stack up.

Do you take time to look back? Do you have any review tips to share?

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for social strata — a top ten company to work for on the Internet . Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

Thank you, Rosemary!

You’re irresistible!

ME “Liz” Strauss

15 Tips to Effectively Use Social Media for Small Business

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Brian Jenkins

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Why Small Businesses Struggle with Social Media and What They Can do about it

A recent survey conducted by Manta, the popular online community for small businesses, showed that 90 percent of small business owners are involved in networking online. Of those, 74 percent believe networking online is just as, if not more, valuable than networking in person. Almost 50 percent of the small business owners surveyed believe that targeting and gaining prospective customers is the most valuable benefit of networking online.

However, the large number of online and social media channels that exist makes it challenging for small business owners to effectively navigate and properly use them.

  • 58 percent of small business owners say they have a difficult time finding value in using Facebook for promoting their business. Pinterest and Groupon, two popular consumer websites, have proven to be ineffective for small businesses.
  • Many small business owners struggle with social media because they don’t have the budget to hire a social media marketing expert or they don’t have staff members with enough free time to learn how to effectively use social media.
  • Many of the online articles that provide social media tips for small business owners are not specific enough, and what’s worse, many of the articles contradict each other, making it very difficult for small business owners to confidently create a social media marketing plan.
  • Many small business owners fail to gain an audience through social media platforms and increase sales because they either don’t have a substantial amount of content or enough engaging content to keep folks interested.
  • Unfortunately, many small businesses simply don’t try to engage people at social media sites; they instead annoy prospective customers by bombarding them with promotional messages. Many small businesses fail to nurture social media relationships. Instead, they’re just looking for a quick sale.

15 Tips to Effectively Use Social Media for Small Business

  1. One of the best ways to learn how to use social media is to learn how other small businesses, especially those in your niche, use it successfully. Follow some successful brands on Twitter and see how they engage their audiences.
  2. Work on becoming an authority in your niche at social media websites.
  3. Increase your online popularity with how-to videos. Create a custom channel on YouTube; video thumbnails in search results attract people more than text does. Videos also help you get to the top of search results. Most people spend significantly more time watching video than reading web pages. Provide how-to tips that your competitors don’t provide. Create a collection of short instructional videos about your products or services which include testimonials from happy customers. Make sure your videos are three minutes or less.
  4. Be social with Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites; don’t just announce products and services.
  5. Run competitions on Twitter and Facebook.
  6. Ask bold or interesting questions to provoke a reaction from your Twitter followers.
  7. Encourage people to retweet your content.
  8. Use Facebook to show visitors what you’re passionate about.
  9. Create a custom welcome tab on your Facebook page. Use a call-of-action to encourage non-fans to become fans. After you get the “Like,” offer a valuable free item in exchange for their name and email address.
  10. At your Facebook page or blog, create a list of interesting questions and provide insightful answers to the questions online. Provide new questions and answers every day.
  11. Work to obtain links to your site from authoritative blogs in your niche or a related niche. Offering to write guest posts is one why to do this.
  12. Providing content that solves your visitors’ problems builds trust and the content may get linked to and shared with others.
  13. Start a blog and ask visitors to participate. Effective blogs include bold headings and plenty of images. Provide a call-to-action at the bottom of every blog post. Ask visitors to leave a comment, share the blog post at one of their favorite social media sites, or click on a link for information about a product.
  14. Post funny photographs or humorous short stories that are relevant to your business.
  15. Be responsive to your audience. Business is all about relationships, so be generous to people and take a genuine interest in them.

Small businesses that have had success with social media have found that what works online is much like works offline — offering specific value that’s relevant to their customers, friends, and fans.

What tips might you add for small business success with social media?

Author’s Bio: Brian Jenkins writes about a variety of topics related to careers and education, including careers in marketing, for the Riley Guide.

Thank you, Brian! Great advice!

— ME “Liz” Strauss

Do You Own What You Know?

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2016 GeniusShared Read from Liz StraussIt’s Time to Own What You Know

I’ve been getting more and more chances to talk with you about what you’re doing and I see so much that adds up to so much. It’s hard to miss how many of us are making things happen in huge and outstanding ways. The pile of accomplishment between us is higher than 23 school buses stacked up toward the sky.

One question troubles me … Why do so many of us seem aware of everyone’s accomplishments except their own?
It’s important to own what you know.

Take Ten Minutes to Catch Up With Yourself

When I ask you what you’re doing, do you discount the far road you come?

Everyone of us came to be who we are without a practice session or a lesson plan. We’re learning to build our future as we live each day. What we forget is that our lives aren’t dependent on what the guy next to us does.

Does the guy next to you seem to have more ideas? Does the woman down the street have a more impressive blog or a longer client list? When we concentrate on what we’re not doing, soon enough the world gets out of control and we start feeling less than small.

Would you do me a favor? Take ten minutes to reflect on where you were a few months ago. You know more about yourself, your life, and if you look to your strengths, you also know more about what you can do.

If you never reflect on what you’ve accomplished in the last few months, you could still be walking into a room thinking you’re the person you were in 2010 or maybe even who you were in 2014, rather than the person who’s done all you’ve done since then.

Take 10 minutes to catch up with yourself.
What have you done in the last year that you’ve not owned up to?

Owning your accomplishments is irresistible.

Be irresistible.
–ME “Liz” Strauss

 This post was updated in July 2016 by Jane Boyd & Liz Strauss. It has been listed as a suggested resource in a recent GeniusShared newsletter article by Liz entitled Owning Your Voice.