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How to Beat 80% of the Competition from the Start

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Do Worry, Do Something Anyone Can Do

When I was at WordCamp LasVegas, I met the guys from Voodoo Ventures. That’s a picture of Gerard Ramos, Lorelle VanFossen, me, and Chris Schultz after we spoke — all of us a presenters and in the conversation I’m about to share.

Chris, Gerard, and I sat for a couple of hours talking talking business, strategy, brands, and futures. In the course of that conversation, I was relentlessly asking questions, as I’m prone to do when I’m in that mode.

One series of such relentless questions was this one.
What do you bring that others don’t? Why will I be grateful that I’m working you and no one else? We already know that your work is quality, your people are top professionals, and you solve problems without causing them. What’s your secret ingredient that no one else does like you?

Chris Schultz [please know I’m paraphrasing] said

I’ve got 80% of the competition beat from the start, just because I show up. I answer every email — AFTER I read them to end. I return phone calls. I keep my promises. I do what I say I will. I listen and respond. And I like what I do and the people I do it with.

That’s a difference I’d pay for at most any place I do business with.

What about you? How easy is it to find service like that?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

Story Telling: Building Community for Post-Secondary Students

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As the Holidays drew to a close and people geared up to go back to work and class, I started thinking about classes, (I could have stayed in school forever – loved it!) and how I wish I had of been blogging when I was in university. Turns out there are lots of students out there not just connecting up on Facebook, but blogging, and for different reasons. I don’t have actual numbers but I talked with some post-secondary students to find out just what blogging and being part of that community means to them.

Teresa Wu blogs with a clear love of writing. She agrees with my suggestion that it does help with academic writing in that she learned to think very clearly about what she wants to say and how it will be perceived. Interestingly enough she said, “It gives me a community to bounce stuff off of, whether that’s just… pictures of my new brother’s new puppy or sharing the ways in which I promoted my humor blog.“Again, the value of community.

Writing with a purpose in mind and great enthusiasm is David Spinks. “The purpose of my blog is not only to share my thoughts and ideas on social media in hopes that people will find my writing to be valuable and communicate back, but also to complement my professional career, and establish myself in the field.” He knows what kind of community he wants to build and is doing it! His love of what he’s doing is contagious – you want to be a part of his community.

Blogging builds community. We see and hear that here, on Successful & Outstanding Bloggers. We’ve heard about it from others, and we know it ourselves to be true. We read, share our thoughts, ideas, expertise and good “finds”. We talk about ourselves. We write comments on blogs we read and share our opinions, ask questions and provoke debate. We link out, link up and search for links. We join in, build and grow. Our strategies may vary. Some choose to build community to market for public relations, or as corporate communications. Others may blog for the love of writing, to engage, share and help out. It’s all the same, really: to build a community. Just the intent may differ.

You are part of a blogging community. Thank you for welcoming me here to this one. Please share something that’s happening in your community.

Kathryn aka @northernchick

Photo credit: forever digital

Introducing the SOBCon Affiliate Program

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Happy New Year!
Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

This is the time of year to celebrate new projects, and what project could be more celebratory than getting ready for SOBCon 2009?

How about an affiliate program for SOBCon 2009? That’s right, Terry Starbucker wanted me to let you all know that there is a super new way to promote the conference and save yourself some money!

We have launched the “SOBCon09 Affiliates Program” on Eventbrite.

This provides bloggers the opportunity to earn a referral commission for every registration that results from a click-through from their site.

Of course, this helps SOBCon promote the event too!

The commission will be 5% of the registration amount.

Of course, you all can sign up for this and earn some commissions – please also tell your friends about it as well.

This is what you need to do:

1) Go to the Eventbrite Affiliate link.

2) If you have an Eventbrite account, you will be prompted to log in. If you don’t have an account, you’ll need to provide an e-mail account and a password.

3) Once you do that, you’ll go to another screen that will ask you to join the program.

4) Open a new browser window/tab and grab one of the SOBCon badge/widgets below.

5) Copy/paste the appropriate badge/widget to your blog/website

6) Return to your Eventbrite window, to the “My Account” page that will have the referral link to put on your blog, copy this link code

7) Add this link to the badge/widget on your blog.

8) Publish, go to your blog and check to see that the link works.

9) Return to Eventbrite, you should find that your account has been updated with a least one site visit. You can check your ongoing ticket sales and commissions on the “Account” page, “Event Affiliate Program” tab.

For right now you can use one of these banner for your promotions, we will have some more cool banners soon.

Save the date!

Then use the referral link that you were given to send folks to the Eventbrite registration site.

Good luck! We are looking forward to seeing you in Chicago!

25 Traits Of Twitter Folks I Admire and 25 Folks Who Have Them

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Conversation, Relationship, Then Transaction

Those of us who’ve read the Cluetrain Manifesto and experience community working together have no desire to go back to a transaction-based business model ever. We see the value of working with people we know, like, and trust. And as we learn how to use the tools, we don’t lack people to connect with to get our business done.

Certain signs and characteristics seem to show in the folks who live the social media culture. Certain value and actions make people who care about having relationships and conversation before transactions easy to spot. I’ve listed 25 traits of Twitter Folks I admire.

These social media folks …

  1. don’t seek to be the center of any universe.
  2. find great conversations and get to know the people there.
  3. realize that every venue has it’s own culture and rules.
  4. do their own talking and their own listening.
  5. talk mostly about the accomplishments of others.
  6. ask intriguing questions that invite others to join the conversation.
  7. don’t worry when folks don’t respond to something they say.
  8. have time for new friends, talk to them, listen to them, read their sites and bios, ask them questions — avoid assumptions.
  9. have a different conversation with every individual and every business.
  10. take embarrassing or private conversations offline.
  11. are inclusive and encourage folks who exclude people to exclude themselves.
  12. shout out good news, help in emergencies, and celebrate with everyone.
  13. say please, thank you, and you’re welcome, and mean them.
  14. are incredibly curious about what works, what doesn’t work, seek feedback often, and look to improve what they do.
  15. study the industry and trends, watch how things occur, share information about those freely, but never break a trust.
  16. offer advice when people ask. Help whenever they can.
  17. aren’t “shameless.” Ask for help in ways that folks are proud to pitch in.
  18. are constantly connecting people and ideas in business conversations that are helpful, not hypeful.
  19. get paid to strategize business, build tactical plans, but won’t “monetize” relationships.
  20. ignore the trolls.
  21. keep their promises.
  22. can be transparent without being naked … most of us look and behave best in public with our clothes ON.
  23. listen to the hive mind, but think their own thoughts.
  24. send back channel “hellos” to friends when there’s no time to talk.
  25. understand that the Internet is public and has no eraser.

The relationships with people — social in social media — is what is changing things. It makes a business experience worth looking forward to and turns a transaction into a relationship. It’s different online because I can’t see you. When I meet folks who make that distance and darkness disappear, I respect and admire them.

Updated slightly for to replace those who’ve gone.

Of course, I admire @@chrisbrogan, @guykawasaki, @problogger and the others you already have read on every other list. I’d like to add some great social stars that you might not know yet. Here are 25 more great conversationalists I admire and learn from every day.
@LucretiaPruitt
@BethHarte
@MackCollier
@AmberCadabra
@ShannonPaul
@mark_hayward
@zaneology
@Tojosan
@AaronStrout
@nanpalmero
@hdbbstephen
@rainesmaker
@SheilaS
@DanielleSmithTV
@caroljsroth
@remarkablogger
@melissapierce
@BeckyMcCray
@jnswanson
@BawldGuy
@inspiremetoday
@jasonfalls
@northernchick
@ernohannink
@jonathanfields
@joannapaterson

I suspect you’ll enjoy their conversation as much as I do.
Feel free to add your own 25 to the list or make a list of your and link it back to here.
Great folks are worth celebrating.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

Inside the SEARS Wishbook — A $500 Grant a Wish Giveaway!

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This post is a sponsored post on behalf of SEARS via Izea.
The opinions, memories, and words are mine.

Every year when I was a kid, my mom would sit us down with the Wishbook from Sears. She’d have us make list of what we wanted for Christmas…. The tradition came with a solid promise that at least one item on each list would end up under our tree. My list kept me busy for hours — busy dreaming, and wishing, and learning the life skill of filling out order forms.

When I got with this special assignment, Would I be part of the SEARS “Don’t Just Give a Gift, Grant a Wish” program? You can bet that Wishbook was the first thing I thought of — the miles of lists and the piles of wishes all through my childhood.

The request was simple: I would get a $500 gift card to buy whatever I wished. Then I would go to Sears.com to put together three $500 gift packages — so a lucky reader will get to choose the one they wish. Two cool complicated, positive problems to solve. Who wouldn’t go for chance like that?

More about my wishtory in a minute.

Towels, Socks, and Underwear

Ah walking into the the Sears Flagship store at State and Madison in Chicago — It was like walking inside the Wishbook for real. I met @AmyDerby, who brought her camera, at the coffee shop in back. Amy and I fueled up on coffee. (I had a caramel latte.) Then we got a cart, looked around … wandered aimlessly … stopped to look at the “Chipmunks Movies,” and talked about passing lyrics to Chipmunks songs with @Starbucker via Twitter. Not many folks know the words anymore.

Shopping is more fun with someone you like.

We walked on overwhelmed by the clothes, jewelry, and beauty products. They’re nice, but not what I’m after. We didn’t really know where to look first. How do you wish when you’re surrounded by so many things and your holdiay shopping is already done?

Don’t you just love the towel all lined up that way? I never buy any because it makes me want all of the colors. Where would I put them?

Luckily I had asked Grandma whether she had one more holiday wish I might grant. She said, “Do something for yourself, but remember — get socks and underwear.” So we over to the socks. We played a bit with the multi-toed muppet socks. Then I picked out three pairs of dress socks for meetings … 3 pairs of socks for $10 …

Time for a new plan, this rate we’d be there until 2020. Underwear was out.

Wishing for a Good Night’s Sleep — Pillows and More!

My wish was a good night’s sleep. Nights are short in my life. Sleep is precious.

Down the elevator, past the luggage, through the rug aisle, straight for the pillows we went. Big, beautiful, fluffy pillows. The best white down pillows were what I was after. My husband and I hadn’t bought new pillows this century. Now we were talking wishes happening — four of them.

For better sleeping, my husband wished for an electrostatic air filter — fresh air in a high rise building is a wish worth having. On the way to the that filter, we stopped and got him a hair trimmer he’d been looking at the night before. It took two seconds. When we said we wanted, Iza, the woman who helped us with the pillows, knew exactly where to find it.

We’d got those wishes, but one wish was still whispering in my head. We were off to electronics.

That’s When We Met Dick Tracy

We saw iPod accessories, brand name computers, and a display of Flip Video cameras (already have one and love it). I was in blogger heaven.

I was headed to a real camera to replace the grainy iPhone photographs on my blog. Problem is, I didn’t know what I wanted. I called @BeckyMcCray who advised in a flash — pun intended. Now I could talk to the man — and he was the man — Richard Tracy. He answered every question I asked — and a few that I didn’t — about my new Olympus FE-360 camera. Amy took our picture while we talked. That’s it up there.

Boom! I had a camera I knew would make my pictures look good.

That afternoon Amy and I had a meeting planned. So we took a few more pictures and I talked to the guy who would be holding my stuff until the next day. Amy took care to see that details were looked after in fear that I’d get back and my packages wouldn’t be there.

We took light stuff with us. Well, we got the camera at merchandise pickup in 1 minute and 40 seconds. Gosh, they were nice. One person brought the camera to us, but three people found reasons to smile.

The whole shopping adventure cost $558.81 — and $57.32 of that was taxes.

One Hitch, But a Happy Ending

The next day, I returned with my husband to pick up the huge pillows and air filter. A manager on the elevator recognized me and said “Hi!” My husband was impressed. Unfortunately, the guy who said he’d be working when I returned wasn’t there and my stuff wasn’t either. No one seemed to know where to find what I’d bought and I had a meeting in an hour.

Special Thanks to Jessica, the third floor manager, who came to the rescue. She problem solved by thinking through who might have moved it and where. She realized that my stuff was placed in layaway overnight. Jessica turned around an almost unhappy ending to what might have been a perfect experience. Her thinking got me to my afternoon meeting just in time with everything. No harm, no foul.

Granting a Wish for You!!

The second part of this cool assignment was to put together three Grant Wish Packages that I thought a reader here might enjoy. That was pressure …

ENTER TO WIN!! A $500 WISH PACKAGE Giveaway!

The second part of this sponsored assignment is where I hope your own wish comes true. I’ve put together three Grant a Wish packages. (Well, @Tojosan and my husband helped me with them.) The winner will receive the package he or she selects. You’ll find the official rules here.

The Three Wishes I Designed To Choose From Include

Chicago DVDs Wish

Toshiba 10.2″ WIDESCREEN PORTABLE DVD PLAYER
Sears item# 05799414000 Mfr. model# SDP101S $349
And 11 DVD Movies all Made in Chicago

  • The Dark Knight DVD
    (Widescreen, Special Edition, 2PC) $22.99
  • Wanted
    (Widescreen) $20.99
  • I Robot DVD
    (Widescreen, Special Edition, 2PC) $14.99
  • The Blues Brothers
    (Widescreen, Anniversary Edition, 2PC) $14.99
  • Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
    (Widescreen, Special Edition, 2PC) $9.99
  • Road to Perdition
    (Widescreen) $7.99
  • Risky Business
    (Widescreen, Anniversary Edition, Deluxe Edition) $14.99
  • The Untouchables
    (Widescreen, Special Edition, Collector’s Edition) $9.99
  • Proof
    (Widescreen) $14.99
  • Chicago
    (Widescreen) $9.99
  • Wayne’s World
    (Widescreen) $7.99

Cool Tools Wish

Images, Music, and Words

How to Enter to Win a Wish!!

You can enter via blog comment, tweet, or blog post.

To Enter by Comment: Leave a comment here with the name of the wish package you would like to win.

To Enter by Twitter: Tweet out the following message: “RT @lizstrauss please grant my wish to win the #Sears (package name) – tweet to win your own wish http://urlbrief.com/1aba4d”

To Enter by Blog Post: Write a post about the contest and linking back to your post. Be sure to leave a trackback or a comment linking to your post.

Good luck with the contest, and I want you to win a wish too. I got a chance to meet some wonderful people, to remember what wishes are about, and how fun they can be.

Don’t Just Give a Gift, Grant a Wish — and if you get a chance, tell a wishtory of how someone made a wish come true for you.

And remember there’s only one rule: BE NICE!

My Wishtory

Some cool kids — real celebrities — are telling their wishtories over at Sears.com
Mine is simple. You’re looking at it — my blog.

My Dad didn’t give me a chance to visit his saloon … he showed me the meaning of community.

Every holiday card I write brings back thought of those wishbooks, and I sign most with hope that all of our wishes come true. This year SEARS didn’t just give me a gift, SEARS granted me a wish of my childhood … one that I’d never, ever that would come true. That’s me, sitting with the lighted reindeer, thinking I’m probably not the right age for next year’s Wishbook cover, but knowing I have the feeling they’re going for.

Thank you, Amy, for coming with and getting these pictures for me.

If you want to know more about Sears Gift Cards, that’s here.

The preceding was a sponsored post. For more information about the sponsor SEARS or the contest see Izea.
It’s the spirit of the season!! Thank you.

It’s Time to Reach Our Best Hand Out to the Folks Coming In

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Did You See the Discussion?

Yesterday’s discussion about playing for keeps was a peek at a the idea it’s important to our best selves to what we do. The best people connections in life and business happen when our inside values are visible on the outside. Or as John Haydon said in the comments:

… whenever I am being honest with myself and authentic with others, I don’t even have to ask if I’m walking the walk.

Why Here? Why Now?

Each wave of new bloggers and social media practioners finds a different socialsphere. They arrive a little further from where it all began. The information, tools, and practices change and move from hands to hands. People find new uses for the tools. People use the tools and application in unintended ways.

The socialsphere changes a little with the integration of each new group.

It’s getting harder to tell the authentic practioners from the frauds. One cause could be that not enough of us are clear about the expertise we offer or how competent we are.

Soon the waves will be larger — more in the form of companies. The companies will come with goals / plans, money, and their own traditions and histories. Some wlll learn the tools, join communities, and understand the cultural shift the tools were made to facilitate. Some will learn the tools, but succeed by applying them in old culture ways. It’s likely some will try the tools and fail miserably.

And a new generation is arriving who’ve been using and testing the tools while they get their degrees. What changes will they bring?

We want mainstream arrivals to succeed and to grow what we started rather than accidently knock it down. Yet, it’s almost as if we’re the company and they’re the customers now. Like customers responding to a product, they’ll decide whether social media works for them.

Mainstream definition of social media and its success or failure will define the culture of the Internet.

In an apprentice environment such as this, new arrivals are only as good as the one who teaches them. It’s natural for people to study the folks they connect with most quickly and trust the most. That would be the first people who look competent, who talk with intelligence and confidence, and if at all possible, who already know their friends.

Right here. Right now.
It’s time to reach our best hand out to the folks coming in.

4 Steps to Raise a Barn and Build a Bridge

The plan that is unfolding begins with this model project. It’s planned to be the first of many projects for many people on the Internet. If you have a dream project on the shelf, you might start yours and track it alongside this one of mine.

This project that I’ve named “Don’t Tell ’em, Show ’em” involves bringing out the best of this blog, of myself, of the SOB list, and in a second part, help for others to do the same. It’s a barnraising and a bridge building endeavor that has these four traits.

  • The project is a business and community idea.
  • It’s a barnraising in that the community is invited to participate in building the space made for them.
  • It’s a bridge building in that businesses and individuals offline and outside the community are invited to participate. It’s a natural way for new arrivals to learn culture of the social web.
  • The project will have a date upon which it will be complete so that everyone gets the payoff of feeling and seeing success.

Then the folks who can will raise more barns and build more bridges on the next projects.

The process will be open. I’ll keep you in the plan as it unfolds. I’ll tell you what’s happening. I’ll ask for help when I get stuck. I plan to get attention, raise the bar, and show the value of what we’re about. If you have ideas how to do that better, faster, louder, or more efficiently — where to go what to start — if you have skills to volunteer, or if you want to track a project of your own, I’ve a comment box below. C’mon let’s talk.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

Related:
Why Play the Game, If We Aren’t Playing for Keeps?