Successful Blog

Here is a good place for a call to action.

Search Results for: questions

Let’s Hang Out! When Does Social Go Too Far?

by

When I think of social media I think of a generally positive environment, where most people are trying to be liked (literally and figuratively). We go about finding like minded ideas, commenting on articles and sharing opinions and thoughts… its fun! However, as more people embrace these channels for communication on a regular basis; I’m finding that more are pushing the boundaries of privacy. Where is too far?

Trying to Hang Out

I have a weird thing about hanging out with Twitter friends, or anybody I know purely from online. If someone takes a proactive approach to try and meet up with me 1 on 1 from purely social channels, (even if it is for business reasons) it feels weird. There is something settling about having a conversation with a stranger over a phone before meeting them in person that settles me down, and I don’t necessarily get that with social media.Now this is different, if I run in to someone at an event or expo that I have had communication with, but never met in person. In that environment I feel comfortable speaking with someone whom I’d conversed with purely online.

Brands Displaying Remorse

If your businesses brand is using social media, are you reaching out to people in need? Answering questions and engaging with your community is a staple for social success. However, in certain instances I question the motives behind some brands because we as users can’t forget that most companies are ultimately, profit driven. Take this scenario in to play:

Guy tweets out “My grandpa is sick and in the hospital, pray for him”

Random brand that sells clothing: “Sorry to hear, our prayers are with you”

Is this scenario why social is cool? Or is this why social is creepy? I think it is a bit of both. I think it definitely depends on the company’s image and positioning. I don’t want to get a remorseful message from my credit card processing vendor, however I might take a message from Toms Shoes a bit more to heart.

This is where PR and social tie together. Your brand’s social strategy must be consistent across all platforms of your business. You don’t want to have an outsourced community manager that doesn’t understand the company culture; you want to have a consistent, targeted strategy from high level PR strategy to lower level, consumer facing social media strategy.
Matt Krautstrunk is a writer and social entrepreneur, touching on topics ranging from social media marketing to time clock software for Resource Nation; and online resource providing purchasing advice for small business owners and entrepreneurs.

How Social Media Is Like Sex Education

by

At First Blush …

The thought struck me as I was leaving an offsite meeting I spoke at not long ago. The presentation was about using social media to share your story. The group was all from the same company, but to a person their experience with social media was varied. Some were avid fans who logged onto Twitter daily. Some were curious and experimenting. Some were living in fear of the stories that if they tried anything horrible, unforgivable things would happen.

As I headed home after a fabulous conversation that got the group thinking, I found myself realizing that sharing information about how social media works is a lot like sex education.

5 Ways Social Media Is Like Sex Education

At first blush, it might seem a reach to you to connect these two topics. But as I look back on my experience in that corporate meeting and other meetings like that and compare them to my experiences as both a student and a teacher of sex education certain compelling similarities stand out. I’d like to share them.

  1. Beginners, experimenters, and the experienced In every group and every meeting, we have those who know nothing, who know some, and who have experience. To make it interesting for all of them, storytelling is still the best way to relate new information or give context to those who might need a refresher.
  2. Definitions and history The simple definitions are necessary, but deep explanations and history of best practices are only fascinating to folks who already know the basics.
  3. Pictures, diagrams, and conversation Powerpoints and pictures might underscore what the presenter is saying, but they’re not the same as hands on experience. No matter the room or the age group, the role of the presenter needs to be like a blog post — a short burst of information followed by comments, and questions. If the meeting becomes a guided conversation the participants ask their questions and follow their curiosity. The whole group learns more from each other than they could ever take from a presentation.
  4. Safety and reputation Frank talk about keeping ourselves safe from “malware” and viruses is crucially important. And in our enthusiasm for these new “fun” interactions, we all need to touch base with our values to decide how we will be appropriately social without being promiscuous or shameless in our relationships.
  5. Revisiting the information If you are, like I am, a student of social media, you know that scaffolding — returning and revisiting the information as we gather experience — is important. After we try a few things, it’s good to explore what we know, what want to learn, and what we didn’t understand the first time we tried what we’re doing.

And the test for success of great social media presentation can be likened to a test for a great talk on sex education …

If you

move the audience from fascination with the tools and the transaction,

steer them clear of harassing behavior and selfishness

show them the marvelous and meaningful relationships

that are enhanced through sincere concern for others,

then your social media class will be better because they knew you.

(and so will your class on sex education.)

Be irresistible.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

The Book List: #MYBRANDtweet & What Color is Your Parachute

by

The Book List: a weekly series by Teresa Morrow

I’m Teresa Morrow, aka The Author’s Cheerleader and I work with authors & writers to help them with their online book promotion and marketing. As part of my job I read a lot of books (I love to read anyway!). The books in The Book List series will cover a range of topics such as social media, product development, marketing, blogging, business, organization, career building, finance, networking, writing, self development, and inspiration.

‘#MYBRAND tweet’ by Laura Lowell

Here are a couple of tweets on personal branding I enjoyed:

#3 A brand is a promise you make—a promise of value, consistency, and expectations.

#10 You can mess up once or twice, but by the third time what is consistent is that you messed up.

#19 Remember to focus on what you’re good at and what you love to do—chances are you will do it well and enjoy the process.

#29 #MyBrand has a strategy because you can’t afford to create your brand by accident!

#42 Go to the source and learn about what your audience is learning.

#55 #MyBrand needs a value proposition that puts you in context of the competition.

About the Book:
For anyone new to personal branding, or who needs to take their career to the next level, #MyBrand tweet is your first step toward differentiating yourself in a very crowded environment. From defining the idea of personal branding and the mechanics of building yours, to getting your brand out there and keeping it alive, #MyBrand tweet helps readers define their identity and build awareness for their unique value in the marketplace.

The idea behind personal branding has taken on a life of its own. The idea that everyone stands for something isn’t new. But the fact that you have a way to communicate your unique value to millions of people all at once certainly is. Before jumping in and creating your personal brand, it is vital to understand what you mean, what the market thinks you mean, and where the gaps are.

About Laura:
During her 20+ year career, Laura worked for Hewlett-Packard where she was the Director of Worldwide Consumer Marketing Communications with responsibility for planning and implementing integrating marketing campaigns across all HP consumer product lines. Earlier in her career, Laura spent several years at Intel Corporation where she was on the start-up team that developed and implemented the Intel Inside branding program. A degree in International Relations prepared her for work assignments in Hong Kong and London, after which she received her MBA from UC Berkeley, Haas School of Business with an emphasis on marketing and entrepreneurship.

Laura has been featured on Oprah & Friends, ABC, The Huffington Post, and more. Laura is also an active blogger authoring The Rules…According to You about branding and marketing for entrepreneurs. A dynamic speaker, Laura has been a keynote speaker at conferences around the world.

You can pick up your copy of ‘#MYBRAND tweet’ at Happy About.com, the publisher’s site

Another book that is on my Book List is ‘What Color is Your Parachute:A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers’

‘What Color is Your Parachute:A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers’ by Richard Bolles

“Ideally, everyone should read What Color Is Your Parachute? in the tenth grade and again every year thereafter.”
–Anne Fisher, Fortune

“There’s Parachute, and then there’s all the rest. . . . A life-changing book.”
–Career Planning and Adult Development Journal

“Parachute is still a top seller and it remains the go-to guide for everyone from midlife-crisis boomers looking to change their careers to college students looking to start one.”
–New York Post

About the Book*

These are some of the questions at the forefront of the modern job-searcher’s mind. And they are thoroughly and thoughtfully answered with all-new chapters in the 2011 edition of What Color Is Your Parachute?, the best-selling job-hunting book in the world for more than three decades–in good times and bad. A longtime fixture on best-seller lists, What Color Is Your Parachute? features life-saving information that is updated each year to cater to the specific requirements of today’s job market.

Career guru Richard N. Bolles leads job-searchers to find meaningful work. He asks, WHAT skills do you most love to use? WHERE–in what field–would you most love to use them? And HOW do you find such jobs without depending on agencies, ads, and online postings?

This book is not only about finding a job in hard times, it’s also about finding your passion. In the words of Fortune magazine:

“Parachute remains the gold standard of career guides.”

What Color Is Your Parachute? is the world’s most popular job-hunting guide, with 10 million copies sold, in more than 20 languages. Written by career guru Richard N. Bolles–who coined the terms “informational interviewing” and “transferable skills”–this New York Times and BusinessWeek best seller answers such questions as:

“What are the five best–and worst–ways to search for a job?” See chapter 3 (starting on page 31).

“What are the most helpful job sites on the Internet, out of the thousands that are out there?” See pages 53-54.

“What interview questions can I expect to be asked, and how do I answer them?” See chapter 6 (starting on page 93).

“I want to use a resume. What should I include?” See chapter 5 (starting on page 71).

“I haven’t a clue how to do salary negotiation. Help!” See chapter 7 (starting on page 121)

About Richard*:
RICHARD N. BOLLES has been a leader in the career development field for more than thirty-five years. He was trained in chemical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and holds a bachelor’s degree cum laude in physics from Harvard University and a master’s in sacred theology from General Theological (Episcopal) Seminary in New York City. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, Marci.

You can pick up your copy of ‘What Color is Your Parachute’ at Amazon.com.

*Information and picture provided by and/or located on Amazon.com

Why You Aren’t “You Living the Dream”

by

What is between you and your dreams? Probably one of the toughest questions to ask yourself is, “why am I not living the dream?” Do you foresee yourself starting a business or living a harmonious life in a dream city, what is stopping you? Is it lack of money? Are you waiting for next big break? I have heard every excuse in the book from people who complain about life and out of every 100 complaints, about only 1 of them was valid enough for me to not argue with them.

Nike says it, all successful entrepreneurs live it, and you are avoiding it. Stop hiding from the future and “just do it.” Stop waiting for the moment for everything to be perfect, drop your books and set up an action plan to live your dream. It may take a bit of luck along the way, but hey, the journey is what makes the goal in mind worthwhile. If things came easily, we wouldn’t appreciate anything.

Ask any entrepreneur if they waited for the opportunity to start a business or if they created the opportunity. I bet 99% of them created an opportunity from something they loved. Getting on the bike is the hardest part. Dick Costolo, founder of Feed Buner says, “the key is to just get on the bike, and the key to getting on the bike… is to stop thinking about ‘there are a bunch of reasons I might fall off’ and just hop on and peddle the thing.”

Fear of Sacrifice
We all have to give up something to get to where we want. My entrepreneurial endeavors have taken a major toll on my personal life. Instead of working 8-5 and being able to spend time with friends, I work 8am-1am on my startup. Are you afraid of working hard? I don’t believe in failures, I do believe there are people who aren’t motivated because they haven’t found their calling in life. Putting everything into something we love is worth it… if we truly love it.

Fear of Failure
Are you scared of your dream project failing? If you don’t get behind the wheel you will never give yourself a chance to fail. Michael Jordan was once quoted saying, “I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.” Putting yourself out there is the sauce to the stew.

Waiting For Everything to be Perfect?
The worst excuses I’ve ever heard are “the time isn’t right.” I hate to break it to you all, but the time will never be 100% perfect. There will not be a solar eclipse moment in time where the planets align, and set your business rolling. To get a successful dream accomplished, takes grind out work in inopportune times.

Keep the dream alive. Whether you are a 40 year-old mother wanting to blog or a an 18 year old college kid with hopes for Mars, the barriers to achieving our dreams are often high, but learning how to overcome barriers, truly changes the world. Our time is precious, so you shouldn’t wait. Draft up an action plan today highlighting what you are doing to live the dream.

Image Credit: Armenian Now

Matt Krautstrunk is a writer and social entrepreneur, touching on topics ranging from social media marketing to postage meters for Resource Nation; and online resource providing purchasing advice for small business owners and entrepreneurs.

How to Speak or Write for Beginners, Experts and Forgetters Alike

by

An airplane traveling from New York to Chicago is off course 98% of the time. Still it gets there. Why? The pilot is always adjusting with the destination in mind.

For a writer, a speaker, a teacher, or a presenter, the audience is the destination. Connect with your readers and you’ll be home free. It may sound obvious, but it’s worth stating — if you don’t know where you’re going, you’re not going to get there.

How to Speak or Write for Beginners, Experts and Forgetters Alike

Ever loved a blog one day and didn’t know why you went there the next? That’s a blogger who hasn’t picked an audience? Ever sit through a presentation in which the speaker brought a canned speech written widely and given to every group? That’s a speaker who doesn’t realize that different groups come to listen for different reasons.

It’s always important first to know what we want to say.
Without that, our ideas will be unfocused — like an airplane off its flight plan.

Equally important, we need to know who is tuning in what we’re saying.
Without that, the message sent may not be the message they receive.

So before you write, speak, teach, pr present, take time to reflect on the people who’ll be listening to what you have to say. Here are some questions to help with that. Take a shot at answering them all in a single sentence.

  • Who am I writing for?
  • What do they want to know?
  • Why are they tuning into what I have to say?

Write down your audience profile. Revisit it every now and then as you write. Revisit every time you speak to a group. Adjust it as your readership grows or as the group you’re speaking to grows and changes. Use it as a guide to choose your ideas, your presentation style, and the stories and examples you use.

See if you can describe your audience in one sentence every time. Fine tune the sentence by considering the group and how they’re like you.

Most audiences are mixed with beginners and experts. Most of us are beginners on some things and experts on others. And we have forgotten some of what we once knew.

Our audience is likely to be a lot like we are — people tend to be attracted to people whose minds work alike. (We think people who think as we do are intelligent and and to think of those who don’t ,as not so intelligent or being difficult.) So as think about your text or live audience — beginners, experts, and forgetters alike — see them as intelligent people who simply need a refresher on what you are sharing.

With a clear destination — a message and an audience in mind — the minor decisions of communicating get a whole lot easier. It’s a matter of adjusting direction and timing to land it safely where you want it to be.

How do you know when you write or speak that you’ve chosen right for the audience you’re trying to reach?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

How To Hack Knowledge Through Online Resources

by

A Guest Post by Lior Levin

The aim of going to college is to learn new things to further your education. Whichever class you take, it is supposed to help you to get further towards the career that you choose. Unfortunately there are some instances where the tutor isn’t as great at explaining things as they should be. If you end up stuck in a class that doesn’t seem to be teaching you anything then there are some options available to you. Maybe you are learning things but you would like to increase your knowledge even more quickly? If so then you should consider using online resources.

What Are Online Resources?

With the Internet you need to be careful which information you study. There is a lot of conflicting information online. Not all sources are credible. This means that you will need to really search the Internet until you find reliable sources.

Online resources basically comprise of websites, blogs and forums. There are several blogs for example, which are run by students just like you and by university professors. Some are even run by scientists. These types of online resources can be extremely useful and you could learn some really fascinating things.

The Benefits of Online Resources

There are numerous benefits of online resources. The main one is that you get to learn things at your own pace. Perhaps you struggle to ask questions about your course in the seminar? Maybe you find your lecturer too hard to understand? If so then online resources can help you to learn everything that you need to know, but in an easier to understand way. Many of these sites also have a community section where you can meet new college students.
The Best Online Resources

If you are struggling to find decent resources then a good site to try out would be Ted.com. There you are able to view talks on various subjects. If you are studying science then you could listen to Paul Root Wolpe talking about why it’s time to question bio-engineering. Or you could view demos about human exoskeletons. There are so many interesting and educational talks on the site. From science to technology and entertainment to business – no matter what you are studying you should find this resource really useful.

If you have any science related query then a good online resource to visit is Refdesk.com. It provides a large number of links to websites that will give you the answer to practically every science related question that you could have.

Another great online resource that you should check out is the Khan Academy site. It provides information on maths, chemistry, economics and history. The site is designed to try to change education. You will find more than 100 different self paced exercises that you can complete. From algebra to biology and brain teasers to currency – there is so much to learn in the form of videos and blogs on this site.

BetterGrads is helping current students connect with older ones to expand their knowledge base. You could take part in eMentoring and there are great college question and answer resources. It is actually a program that you join, and it is run by a non-profit organization.

Overall the above are just a few of the online resources that can help you with your education. Don’t forget to double check the credibility of each resource that you use. There is a lot of misguided information out there. If you do find a resource that you aren’t sure about then you can always ask your lecturer after class.

—–
This was a post by Lior Levin who works for a psd to css company that does psd conversions. Lior also advises to the MA in security program at the Tel Aviv university. You can find Lior on Twitter as Liors

Thank you, Lior. I love the way you approach ideas!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!