3 Ways to Connect with Your Readers on Your Blog
Writing your blog is an excellent way to connect with people. It can help to build your credibility as an expert in your field, generate a loyal following in Social Media, and share value and insights with others. You may find it’s much easier to connect and engage with people in person or with short Tweets on Twitter. Writing can be a challenge.
I’ve been writing for 25 years. Here are a 3 quick tips to engage people with your blog posts.
1. Be yourself. Write the way that you speak and avoid “talking down to your reader.” People enjoy authenticity more than a stage show.
2. Bring your reader into the post. Ask questions like: “What do you think?” or “What about you?” Connect them to the point of your message. Bring it full circle to get them engaged: thinking, feeling, reacting and involved.
3. Reveal something. While being professional, it’s perfectly fine and recommended to give readers a peak into your personality. Show a brief example of a situation that brings your message home. It can be a quote from your favorite grandparent, a holiday ritual that ties into your theme or a lesson you’ve learned on your journey.
Blogs are your personal podium and microphone that allow you to offer your unique views, expressions and insights. The words will come easier when you write from the heart. Can you do it? Can you be yourself? Remember, when you are genuine, you’ll never make a mistake!
Attitude Adjustment 101: 7 Tips for Success
“Work on your career and you’ll make a living. Work on yourself and you’ll make a fortune.” - Jim Rohn
Regardless of the number of college credits or degrees you have, the truth is that much of your success is determined by your attitude. Education is worthwhile but a good attitude is priceless. If you search for a college that has a concentration of study entitled “Attitude,” you will likely come up empty-handed. Yet, the world would be a better place if we could major in “Attitude.”
If attitude is not taught in school, then why do some people have great attitudes and others seem poisonous? More importantly, how can you shift your attitude from mediocre to magnificent?
Here are seven tips for Attitude Adjustment 101.
1- Take responsibility for your attitude. Be brutally honest with yourself about who you are and how you behave.
2- Recognize warning signs. Your mind is like a computer—garbage in; garbage out. If you tell yourself that you are “just okay,” you will be “just okay.” What you think about, you bring about. Plant seeds of optimism and hope; not weeds of pessimism and doubt.
3- Use positive affirmations. Tell yourself every day that you are an outstanding person.Your self-talk is critical to your success.
4- Make mental movies. Your subconscious mind operates on images and pictures. Learn and apply creative visualization and see your ideal life in absolute detail. Envision your ideal day and your mind will begin to make it happen. You are the director, producer, writer and star. Make it a winner!
5- Write down your goals. The subconscious mind kicks into action when you put your goals in writing. List three short-term and three long-term goals. Be sure to include a target date of accomplishment. Outline the steps you will take every day to achieve your goals.
6- Put your head down and focus. Successful people do not focus on negative water cooler gossip, complainers and time wasters. Set your goals and get to work.
7- Surround yourself with successful people. Think about the people you admire and what kinds of characteristics, traits, habits and values they have. Success leaves clues.
It takes 21 days to form a new habit. If you practice these ways to adjust your attitude for at least 21 days, you will begin to see changes.
President John F. Kennedy said, “The human mind is our most fundamental resource.” Your mind is a fertile garden that will grow whatever you plant in it. Life is better when you have a good attitude.
Lessons Learned
I wanted to share some random life lessons and insights I have picked up during my 46 years on this planet. They are in no particular order. Your thoughts?
1- Use an electrical outlet when one is available. Battery power should be Option #2.
2- Observe others around you before you speak.
3- Keep something to read with you at all times (in your car, briefcase & travel bag)
4- Keep your car clean.
5- Express gratitude on a daily basis.
6-When in doubt, dress “up”, not down.
7- Walk into a room Tall, Strong and Proud.
8- Develop the fine art of Charisma.
9- Be able to laugh at yourself.
10-Don’t blame anyone, and don’t ever blame yourself.
11- Think you can.
12- Respect everyone, especially those older than you, and children.
13- Remember where you came from.
14- Understand that the people who seem to need the least amount of love, usually need the most.
15- Know a good clean joke.
16- Expect good things to happen.
17- Know how to quiet your mind, especially in stressful times.
18- Keep a journal.
19-Know that there are no accidents or coincidences. The world is unfolding exactly as it’s supposed to be.
20- Always leave a tip.
21- Never say never.
22- Read, read, read.
23- Eat chocolate occasionally.
24- Surround yourself with successful people.
25- Live with integrity. Put your head down on your pillow each night knowing you did your best.
Amen.
5 Tips to Successfully Coping with Change
It’s no secret that people don’t like change. Change is linked to the basic theory behind Economics 101. If it’s not changing, its not growing. If it’s not growing, it’s dying. Change is constant and it’s all around us. If I dip my foot in the Atlantic Ocean in Belmar, NJ, 30 seconds later I can dip my foot in the same spot but things have naturally shifted. The waves have rolled in and the waves have pulled back. Things are different.
Change is a process, not an event. It takes time.
Consider that you have changed from two hours ago. You have experienced things, interacted with people and have learned. You’re not the same person you were yesterday and you’re not the same person you were five years ago. Your skin and cells have literally regenerated, so your physical body has changed as well as your emotions and mental capacity.
Your ability and willingness to adapt to change plays a critical role in your attitude, success and life. Here are 5 tips to coping with change:
1- Embrace change as something that’s new and exciting with an opportunity to grow. Fear paralyzes people. If nothing changes, nothing changes. This is where people get stuck.
2- Understand that change moves us from competence (our comfort zone) to incompetence. This is natural. It’s called learning.
3- Remember that many people don’t mind change. The problem comes when people believe they are “being changed” without their consent. That’s a huge difference.
4-Create a mindset of learning. “Good change” comes from inside and sparks creativity within us. Be open.
5- Motivate yourself by looking at the Status Quo. Is your Status Quo a positive or negative element? Is it intolerable or is it a catalyst for a new opportunity?
“Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely.” — Karen Kaiser Clark
Business Growth Strategy for the Summer: Go Outside
In 2006, 60 billion e-mails were sent worldwide every single day. That’s according to the School of Information Management and Systems at the University of California at Berkeley.
In our busy worlds, networking and face time are rare commodities. Regardless of your industry, you probably find yourself using more gadgets and technology that saves precious time and helps you to operate more efficiently. That may be true, but nothing a can replace a handshake, smile or our human communication. Are you hiding behind technology instead of connecting face-to-face with your fellow humans?
As the summer unfolds and our frenetic paces slow down, try this exercise.
Look through your database or Rolodex and call several former clients, colleagues, networking acquaintances and others that you have not heard from in at least six months. Spend a few days meeting with each one for an early cup of coffee or breakfast at 7:30 or 8:00 a.m. This helps you to make sure your face time doesn’t interfere with normal business hours and it allows you to catch up.
Here are 3 tips:
1- Go to the meeting with the sole intention of reconnecting and nurturing relationships.
2- Use your good listening skills to truly hear what the other person has been doing.
3- Fill them in on your latest projects and accomplishments as they may be able to connect you with new opportunities.
Together you can help one another to cultivate new business and enrich each other’s lives. Take the time to build rapport and invest in human communication. Repeat this exercise once or twice a quarter.
A cold computer keyboard will never replace a warm handshake. Happy networking!
Grow Your Sales Based on Value
If you have business cards, it’s likely that you have your job title emblazoned in a very prominent place. When you meet people and network, you probably mention your title in the first few minutes of the conversation. Titles offer people validation of our self-worth. Titles may reflect our achievements. But they do little to show prospects and clients the value we offer them so they can achieve and be successful.
In order to grow your business, you must be able to communicate the return on investment and value you offer to people. Why should someone take their hard-earned money and give it to you? How will you and your business/expertise make their lives easier and help them reach their goals?
The bottom line and harsh reality: no one cares about you. They care about themselves. They have no regard for your job title.
That is why you must position yourself by concept and not title.
This is a very powerful approach to business and sales. I learned it from a small, 75-page gem-of-a-book by Mark LeBlanc. It’s titled “Growing Your Business!” LeBlanc writes, “Titles are hard-earned…but focus on the outcomes of your work and what happens when customers use your products and services. That should be your primary strategy for differentiation in the marketplace.”
Every time I write a marketing piece for my public relations and communications training company, I flip the switch. Shift the focus off of yourself and onto the customer. Show them value.
Position yourself by concept, not title.
Quality Questions Reveal Quality Information
In 1970, Barbara Walters wrote a book titled “How to Talk to Practically Anyone about Practically Anything.” She says it was intended to help people start conversations and break the ice. These days, the questions can apply to networking, sales and casual conversations.
The book ended with a chapter titled “When All Else Fails-Twenty Sure-Fire Conversation Starters.” Walters, a pioneering woman in broadcast news, knows plenty about asking quality and thought-provoking questions. She says she still uses the following timeless questions in her interviews today. Consider your own responses.
1. If you were not doing the work you are doing now, what would you most like to be doing?
2. If you could live in any time in history, when would you have wished to live?
3. If you could be any person in history, who would it be?
4. If you were suddenly given a million dollars and told you had to spend it just on yourself, what is the first thing you would buy?
5. If you were hospitalized for three months but not really too sick—whom-and it can’t be a relative- would you want in the next bed?
You can gain insight into people’s personalities, interests, values and challenges by asking quality questions. On the list above, I thought my answers were pretty good, until I heard my husband’s responses.
10 Do’s & Don’ts of Working At Home
Setting up your home office and developing boundaries for productive days are important for entrepreneurs. Working from home demands a strong discipline and mindset. Paying attention to the small details can help you to better manage your time and be more successful.
My public relations and communications training company, Get in Front Communications, is now nine years old. I’ve worked from home with virtual support/assistants and I had an office suite with several employees. I’m offering you some tips to spare you from the frustration I have encountered. Lessons learned:
1- Do have a separate area (preferrably a room with a door) that’s dedicated solely to your work.
2- Do have your own computer so when you log on, “Dora the Explorer” or “Sports Illustrated” don’t pop up.
3- Do guard your time carefully. Avoid taking personal calls or visits from friends or neighbors during work hours.
4- Do have a website and business cards that are professionally designed. Top notch marketing is critical to your success.
5- Do set your work hours and adhere to your schedule. You probably don’t have to be available 24/7. It’s called voicemail.
6- Don’t use your home address. For safety reasons and a professional touch, rent a PO Box or office address.
7- Don’t answer the phone with barking dogs, noisy children in the background and chiming clocks.
8- Don’t invite clients or prospects into your home. Meet at a local coffee shop or restaurant.
9- Don’t create professional video’s with “homey” backgrounds that may be cluttered with family pictures, toys and papers.
10- Don’t schedule repair men or personal appointments in your home while on conference calls or on a client’s watch.
11- BONUS! Don’t turn on the TV for background noise.
These tips can apply to new entrepreneurs as well as seasoned professionals. Look, after nine years, I often have to remind myself of a few of these too, especially #5. Good luck!
In An Emergency, It’s Attitude, Survival…& Twitter
You may have heard today that a 26-year-old New York woman was caught in the midst of a bank robbery near Penn Station in Manhattan. Annemarie Dooling used her Blackberry and Twitter to send a string of 140-character messages. She’s now making news around the world. How is it that some people can remain calm during emergencies and others simply fall apart? It has to do with attitude.
Author Laurence Gonzales who wrote the book “Deep Survival” studied disasters like earthquakes, Tsunami’s, climbing accidents, and cyclones to learn about the survivors. Gonzalez dissects the psychological and spiritual transformations of people who seem to beat the odds. He has found that the survivors have several common traits.
They tend to:
• View themselves as survivors, not victims (they aren’t whiners)
• Get through the denial stage quickly and accept the situation
• Show humility and know what they are capable of
• Have strong family bonds and want to be reunited w/loved ones
• Ignore the rules and think independently
When two hijacked planes hit the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001, hundreds of workers were trapped in the towers. Gonzales says security told many of them to stay put and wait to be rescued. Most of the people who listened lost their lives. Those who ignored the announcements and didn’t wait were able to escape.
You don’t have to be buried in the rubble of an earthquake for three days to develop the traits of a survivor. Annemarie Dooling has the traits listed above. She said she was simply concerned about letting her family and friends know she was ok, so she Tweeted.
Can you imagine if Twitter was around when Jessie James and Bonnie & Clyde were alive?
The 10 Commandments of Effective Communication
I’ve spent these past 25 years as “Life’s Little Observer.” In my years in news, government and public relations, I’ve learned and obeyed the following Commandments. They weren’t handed to me from a mountaintop on stone tablets. They are lessons learned from the road.
1- Always listen more than you speak.
2- Compromise whenever possible.
3- Ask good questions.
4- Look for similarities to bring people together and avoid differences.
5- Develop charisma.
6- Know when to speak up and know when to shut up.
7- Understand and apply empathy and compassion with everyone you encounter; even strangers.
8- Choose your words and silence carefully.
9- Give all of your attention to the other person.
10- Be able to tell a good story.
What do you think? Do you obey any or all of these Commandments?
