August 20, 2008

Social Networking: The Garden Analogy

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 12:04 pm

Guest Writer: Todd Jordan

Networking withPurpleConeflowers_by_Liz_Strauss

Do you take your network seriously? How do you keep it and treat it? Is it cared for like a well maintained garden, or is it overrun with half grown connections and weeds? When’s the last time you bothered to nurture and prune it?

Sounds funny at first, but the truth is our social networks are an extension of ourselves. They speak volumes about us and our attitude towards ourselves and others. Like flowers, your contacts can wither and drop off. A once vital connection, bringing you many interesting tidbits or even work, can stop bearing fruit if you don’t pay attention to it.

If the overrun garden sounds like it might be your network, then it’s time to get to work on it. It won’t be pleasant at first, but the work soon pays off.

drop everyone that’s not following you - this is the hardest but most productive of all the steps you can take. Yes, you love following that news anchor but when was the last time he chatted with you? Like removing the undergrowth.
stop following anyone whose stuff you bypass or ignore - this one often feels awkward. Chances are these are folks we actually cared about at one time or another. This one also greatly improves your network. Like removing those trees that never bear fruit.
eliminate the spammers - oh, you think you’ve removed all the weeds? What about Jack, that guy that sends out endless messages about his kids, but has never sent you a reply. Or Joan, the lady from work, who friended you, doesn’t reply, but manages to talk to a hundred other friends. This is the weeds of your garden. They too choke off what you really want in your network.
move contacts and reduce redundancy - huh? this means don’t follow the same person on half a dozen networks where they post the same thing over and over. If you follow Bud on Twitter and FriendFeed, drop him on Twitter. It’s like having two busy gardens next to one another. You’ll only really tend to one. This last one reduces the clutter, freeing up the rest of your network to breathe and be usable again.

Yes, the analogy seems silly but these simple steps are no joke. If you can implement these in your networks, you’ll see things begin to change. With the dead weight gone, the rest of your contacts will begin to stand out. Good growth will begin again. You might even find some old friends you’d forgotten. But once things start blooming, don’t forget to keep the pruning sheers handy. A good garden requires consistent tending.

How’s your garden?

Tags: , garden analogy, social-networking, Todd Jordan, twitter tricks

Share This

Filed under Guest Writer, Marketing, Strategy | 2 Comments »

August 20, 2008

Managing Painful Situations: Writer’s Block, Migraine, and Trolls

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 8:00 am

Get to Know What’s a Pain

Painful situations come in sorts of packages and combinations. Lately I’ve been hearing talk about three in particular — writer’s block, migraine, and trolls. When I think about about that set of pains, I realize that in some ways, they’re the same problem dressed up in different ways.

I know a couple of things about all three. I’ve been a writer since the last century. Been studying migraines since I got the first one when I was 12. And trolls . . . A cyber trolls once invited me to be CEO of his business.

Managing Painful Situations: Writer’s Block, Migraine, and Trolls

Writer’s block, migraine and trolls are a pain. Dealing with them is a management problem. I offer these suggestions that work for me.

Study the problem. Get to know the pain.
Understand when it happens and how it works. Take away all of the personal issues. It’s not “your” writer’s block, “your” migraine, “your” personal attack. Those things outside you are just doing what they do. If you study them, you’ll notice they do the same thing every time.
Stop resources that support the situation.
Your emotional buy in exacerbates the pain. Getting nervous about things, getting mad, insecure, or anxious only adds to the stress and undercuts your ability to move beyond what’s happening. Turn off the negative voices. Don’t feed the trolls.
Leave the war zone.

Get space to gather resources, rest, and perspective. Take a walk. See the sky. Feel the ground beneath your feet again.

Anyone who’s gone past writer’s block knows that moving away from the computer often allows the answers to come more quickly. Anyone who’s had a debilitating migraine knows a dark cool room works far better than a blinding sunrise to quiet the awful physical pain. Anyone who’s argued with trolls — are they really a pain or just irritants? — knows their words are deflated when left without rebuttal.

On some days, we all give importance to things that get in our way. Keep an eye out for them. When you find one, just decide that you aren’t going there.

Have you got a strategy for managing painful and irritating situations?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

Get your best voice in the conversation!

Tags: Ive-been-thinking, managing painful situations, social-media

Share This

Filed under Motivation/Inspiration, Successful Blog | 10 Comments »

August 19, 2008

The Mic is On: And It’s Back to School Night!

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 7:00 pm

It’s Like Open Mic Only Different

Here’s how it works.

It’s like any rambling conversation. Don’t try to read it all. Jump in whenever you get here. Just go to the end and start talking. EVERYONE is WELCOME.
The rules are simple — be nice.

There are always first timers and new things to talk about. It’s sort of half “Cheers” part “Friends” and part video game. You don’t know how much fun it is until you try it.

. . . Remember When Life Was Easy and School Was Hard?

Every year the first days of school bring back the idea of new clothes, new pads of paper, new supplies. Tonight it’s about school days”

remember firsts from school?
what did we take for granted?
what do we wish we could have back from school days now?
what did we think was hard that was really easy?

ahem . . .

And, whatever else comes up, including THE EVER POPULAR, Basil the code-writing donkey . . . and flamenco dancing (because we always get off topic, anyway.)

Oh, and bring example links to share —

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Image: sxc.hu
Related article
What is Tuesday Open Comment Night?

Tags: blog_promotion, discussion, letting_off_steam, living-social-media, Open_Comment_Night

Share This

Filed under Successful Blog | 256 Comments »

August 19, 2008

Open Mic 7pm Chgo Time: It’s Back to School Night!

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 1:40 pm

Remember When Life Was Easy and School Was Hard?

Every year the first days of school bring back the idea of new clothes, new pads of paper, new supplies. Tonight it’s about school days . . . remember firsts from school? what did we take for granted? what do we wish we could have back from school days now? what did we think was hard that was really easy?

Oh, and bring example links to share —

The rules are simple — be nice.

Do be nice. :)

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related article
What is Tuesday Open Comment Night?

Tags: blog_promotion, discussion, letting_off_steam, living-social-media, Open_Comment_Night

Share This

Filed under SOB Business, Successful Blog | 2 Comments »

August 19, 2008

Make Something Good Happen, Make Tuesday an Important Day

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 7:21 am

Tuesdays Aren’t for Staying in One Place

When I worked in an office, Tuesday got to be “a nothing day.” Everyone wanted to hit the ground running on Monday. We’d get our details and thoughts together before we reported back in. So Tuesdays became meeting days when we talked about what we were doing and as a result not much got done.

Now I work online. I visit social sites and I see that the “Tuesday feeling” happening every day of the week. Conversations about what we’re doing are so inviting that we can get swept into talking our day away without doing a thing.

It’s an easy way to get stuck in one place — in that Tuesday feeling — always talking and dreaming, but not doing. We become like talking plants, rather than people.

Plants, and flowers, and trees have roots that keep them stationary. People have feet that can walk, minds that can think, hands that can make new things. It doesn’t take much to move things forward. All it takes is the effort to make one positive move.

Make a comment, start a new conversation, make something happen in a new way.

How will you make Tuesday a positively important day?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!