Successful Blog

Beach Notes: flipflop

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When Does Flexibility Become Flipfloppiness?
The Business Owner’s Challenge
by Guest Writer Des Walsh

The picture I took recently of an abandoned pair of flip-flops prompted my thoughts today on what I regard as one of the most serious challenges business owners face today.

The challenge of balancing flexibility and openness to change with the need for consistency in what we do and how we present it. 

Because if there is one thing all of us know about doing business in the 21st century it’s that we have to be flexible and adaptable. The business environment, the economy, the global political environment all change rapidly and with developments, twists and turns that leave even the most respected commentators and pundits scrambling to catch up and re-interpret, re-explain what they thought they had nailed just a few months ago.

If you are not flexible and adaptable you can look forward to the kind of future once arranged for themselves by buggy whip makers who saw the new-fangled vehicles we now know as cars going by and said “Won’t last. Give me a good pair of horses any day.”.

Equally, a business owner can overdo flexibility, with constant changes to the business model, the product or service on offer and the marketing message. Although the market can often respond to novelty (and especially in some industries, toys for instance), the market can also punish businesses that don’t know or are unable to communicate coherently what they really want to be, what need they are trying to meet or what they stand for.

But it can be confusing and even unnerving when the external environment is changing very rapidly, massively and unpredictably.

Right now, for instance, what is the small business owner to do when captains of industry, government leaders and seasoned observers give every sign of not knowing which way is up, or even whether indeed there is an up anywhere in the offing?

Well, we probably need to have a Plan B (which assumes we already have a Plan A). We definitely need a risk management strategy.

And we definitely need to be flexible.

As long as we don’t become so flexible that we do not develop or sustain any consistent vision and coherent, persuasive message about who we are and what we offer, to meet specified market needs.

We have to find a balance, in the long term and also on a more immediate basis, between being so consistent that we are too rigid and miss opportunities or threats and being so flexible that we come to be and be seen as master practitioners of flipfloppiness.

If you agree that finding that balance is a challenge, I hope you will share with us what guiding principles or rules you use to be the Philippe Petit of 21st century business.

Des Walsh

Picture “flip-flop flipped” Copyright Des Walsh 2008

Thanks to Week 165 SOBs

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Successful and Outstanding Bloggers

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

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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Expedition Evan

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

What Robert Hruzek Said … About Selfless Givers

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A community isn’t built or befriended,
it’s connected by offering and accepting.
Community is affinity, identity, and kinship
that make room for ideas, thoughts, and solutions.
Wherever a community gathers, we aspire and inspire each other intentionally . . . And our words shine with authenticity.

Giving or Giving Ourselves Away

They say “givers get,” but some just give and give and get taken advantage of. Some never say “no” or “stop.” How do you tell them apart? How do you know which one you are?

Here’s what Robert said . . .

I’d have to say the difference is one’s attitude! One who is giving it all away due to a lack of self-worth would probably have an attitude problem that can be seen a mile away.

It’s sortof like (warning! methaphor alert!) the difference between a sand castle – and a shining city on a hill (which is how I think of you and “Successful-Blog”).

I think the truly selfless people stand out in such a way that anyone can, and will, find their way there.

Robert Hruzek from a comment on June 12, 2007

A successful and outstanding blogger said that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss

SOB Business Cafe 12-18-08

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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

Greg Verdino shows how to get ahead of the curve in 2009.
As one of the contributors, I’ve had the opportunity to read everyone’s predictions and can say for sure that you’ll want to download a copy right away. Lots and lots of good stuff — from a great cross-section of the blogging community, representing a variety of different points of view.

Seth’s Blog shows how mixing the wrong things only gets you a bad and messy dessert.
Do people really want to follow P&G on Twitter so they can learn about the history of the soap operas they sponsored? Why? There are millions of people to friend or follow or interact with… why oh why are you going to spend time with Dunkin Donuts unless there is something in it for you?

Copyblogger shows how negativity bias runs through us.
Think about it, which post would you be more inclined to open?
“A-List Blogger Taken Down By Vicious Allegations Of Slander”
“Five Things Bloggers Should Know About Slander”

Remarkablogger shows how a great question starts a great conversation.
… And while for some people this may be true, that is a patronizing oversimplification. It’s not a matter of “getting it” or not.

SuccessCreeations shows the results of the Law of Unintended Consequences.
At their worst, shortcuts can be manipulative, destructive and downright counter productive. Especially when it comes to influencing others to take an action that benefits you.

Related ala carte selections include

Ari Herzog shows the power of rocking the status quo.
Imagine the potential if you ripped apart the status quo and challenged everything you knew. Your mind was blown away by that video above, right? And this ad campaign blew you away some more.

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 Can We Keep the Passionate Community Without the Risk?

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I've been thinking . . .

about how we use social media tools.

Social media tools make it easy for experts to share experience and give an opinions. That leads to great discussions and becomes best practices of more than one industry. When social media tools connect thoughts and ideas of people innovating and building, they’re elegant and powerful things.

But when we about the social media behavior of a single company or individual, as we use the tools in passionate dialogue we can lose sight of how social media tools work. People say things they’d never say in person. We forget that our conversations are public and searchable — talking for our future children, future clients, and future selves. Our tweets are disoverable in a court of law. Words and questions that should move offline … often don’t. It’s dangerous.

The minute Twitter became a business tool, the game changed. A new personal / business balance was introduced.

If people who use the tools daily can lose sight of the lurkers and the asynchronous conversation, maybe companies who are slow to adopt “get” social media more than we think.

How can we keep the passionate community without the risk?

Liz's Signature

STORY TELLING

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Usually I’m the one telling stories here, but when I find someone who’s better than I am, I stand aside. Today is one of those days. I’m pleased and delighted to announce that a woman I admire has agreed to write with me on Successful-Blog. I won’t say more. Her words introduce her better than I ever could, which you know is saying something … meet Kathryn Jennex, who’ll be writing a column called, Practical Communication, every week (and more when I convince her she must.) — Liz Strauss

Story Telling

by Kathryn Jennex

There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories.” ~ Ursula Le Guin

We are all storytellers, each and every one of us. Studying public relations and sociology led me to an understanding of how to tell stories for business and to study people and gain an insight and understanding of the human story itself. I have been a closet writer for years telling fictional stories and in the last few years a very part-time filmmaker creating visual stories. My work as a project manager for an online web space provides me the opportunity to gather stories and share them, inviting people to participate.  

 

Whether we’re talking among our friends, writing a social media strategy for a non-profit, taking a photo, or designing a marketing strategy we’re all telling stories. The best stories are the ones you can relate to, that remind you of something similar in your experience and cause you to engage and hopefully, take part. Good storytellers rely on audience participation and make the experience shared.  

When I hear your story, I want to be able to tell you are PASSIONATE about it. I want to sense and feel you believe in what you’re saying. Beth Kanter does this so well. When I read what she writes I believe her, I hear passion, concern, and I hear her knowledge about the story she is telling. How to do this?

  • be clear and direct in what you are saying
  • say what you mean and mean what you say
  • provide value – be it information, facts on a topic, points of interest that encourage others to look further
  • share – offer tips on technology, services, and resources; offer help
  • engage, don’t state – provide, ask if the information was helpful? (use a survey or just a question) and ask if there is something you could provide what would be meaningful

By all means be real. If you’re going to take the time to tell the story, make sure you do it honestly and be prepared to engage in the response.

I listen now to lots and lots of stories every day and I love it. My work in social media fits in perfectly with all this and gives me exposure to many, many stories. The best stories, make me want to reach out and somehow respond or comment back, whether that is a post on SEO, a really cool product or service. ROI, or mentoring.

Are you telling good stories? Please share one way you tell your story.

Kathryn aka @northernchick