All Blogged Out – Getting Your Blog Read Amidst the Noise!

September 30, 2011 by 4 Comments
Clark Stanley's Snake Oil Liniment. Before 1920.

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I was talking with a friend the other day about the way social media was going. I was speaking from the perspective of someone who see social media as an essential and exciting tool for doing business, she from the perspective of someone who is inundated with blog posts and social media sales pitches to the point that she is tired of them all. In this conversation, my friend told me that she was all blogged out!

The truth is that my friend is right! Everyone has a blog these days and businesses with the proper view of blogging and who have taken the right approach are being drowned out by the plaid panted, white shoe wearing, snake oil salesmen who have discovered social media. The influx of these folks has turned many an interested blog reader into an uninterested blog hater. The are simply all blogged out.

So, how does a blogger with the right intentions (producing real and valuable content, asking real questions, and engaging their clients in the processes of innovation and improvement) create and grow the readership of their blog in the midst of all the noise?

Three quick thoughts:

  1. Be true to your business and its purpose. Too many blogs these days build readership with wild claims and crazy ideas that rarely if ever create lasting results. Your blog should be built just like any successful business platform: Satisfied customers who know you, like you, and refer you to their friends!
  2. Build your readership organically. This is simply the best way to guarantee a solid and continual readership. As you gain the respect of your audience with good articles that set you apart as a true thought leader in your field, they will begin to pass your good information and advice on to those who they influence as well. People sharing your content has a far greater effect than if you try to force it down someone’s throat.
  3. Build a level of consistency that people can count on. When you start blogging, the question of when and how often to blog is always a question that you must answer. While the answer is based on many factors, you must determine what is going to work for you and your customers and then stick to it. If you are going to have a blog that has an integral place in your companies overall marketing/sales strategy, you must make time for it and the content you share. A lack of consistency will make your posts part of the noise and not considered worth reading.

 

So, if you are really interested in sharing your knowledge with your current and potential clients through a blog, you have got to be able to cut through the noise and reach people who otherwise are all blogged out. Take this advice, build consistently, and watch your readership and your reputation grow your business!

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Boomers Helping Boomers

September 29, 2011 by Leave a Comment

I promised to keep you up to date on the efforts some Boomers are beginning to help other Boomers find work in these tough economic times. I had a great, albeit very preliminary conversation with a couple of very interesting ladies who have a burden like I do to help as many Boomers as possible.

What we are working toward is a training program designed to train business owners about the value that Boomers can bring to their workplaces. We also need to help Boomers understand the technology and tactics of the current business climate.

Our talks are in the very preliminary stage, so if you have some ideas or thoughts that you would like to share, please leave a comment and/or contact me so that we can talk. I am dedicated to finding something that we can do now and expanding that into an ongoing program that will provide Boomers and employers with all that they need to bring willing workers together with companies who understand the value these willing workers bring to their businesses.

Please join the conversation and let’s become a community of Boomers helping Boomers!

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Stamping Out Mediocrity

September 28, 2011 by 3 Comments

I have the privilege of meeting with an amazing group of business minds on Tuesday mornings every week. This group varies in size from about 3 to 7 depending on everyone’s schedule for the week. When we get together we talk about all things business and work hard to help each other work through business struggles and strengthen business choices.

This morning we had a great conversation about business owners stamping out mediocrity. One of our group recounted her experience in an industry she worked in that was plagued with mediocrity. To set herself apart from her competition, she looked to see where the mediocrity existed and made the kind of changes to her business choices that dealt with those areas of mediocrity. By removing these mediocre issues, her business became much more successful than her competition.

You see (to use an old baseball analogy) the difference between mediocrity and the Hall of Fame can be as little as on hit per 20 at bats. You see, a lifetime 250 hitter doesn’t usually end up in the hall of fame but a lifetime 300 hitter does. The difference between being a lifetime 250 or 300 hitter equates to one additional hit for every twenty times at bat throughout your career.

While this increase seems manageable, the effort to increase to this new level of success in noteworthy. Just like business, if we want to move our business from mediocre to super-stardom, we must find those areas of change that make us stand out and then put in the work necessary to make the changes permanent throughout our careers.

Mediocrity plagues American business today. Let’s choose as business leaders to start a campaign of stamping out mediocrity!

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Filed Under: Entrepreneurialism, Leadership, Success Traits Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Four Seldom Used LinkedIn Features

September 26, 2011 by 4 Comments
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I personally think that LinkedIn is the best B2B and/or job search social media site currently available. It has a set of features that I think bring all that an existing business, someone looking to start a business, or someone looking to for employment needs to find what is right for them.

That said, I also think that very few people take advantage of all the features available to them and, by not doing so, limit the effectiveness of this wonderful platform. Today I want to talk about four seldom used LinkedIn features and how to make them work for you:

  1. First let’s begin in the “Groups” section. LinkedIn allows you to join 50 groups. This makes it possible for you to get noticed by a lot of people who have similar interests, knowledge, and passion as you. Many people join these groups, but my experience has been that very few take advantage of them. These groups give you a voice, they afford you a way to get your knowledge out, they can open doors if you will spend some time in them regularly. You outta give them a try!
  2. Next, consider the “Companies” section. Here you are able to follow companies in your industry (even your competitors) or even one’s you would love to work for. By following these companies you will know what they are saying, where they are headed, and in some cases what they are planning to do next. You can gain industry insight and, if you are looking to work for one of them, you might even find a solution for a problem or an idea that might move them forward (looks great on a job application).
  3. Have you ever explored the “Answers” section of LinkedIn? There are thousands of people asking questions about every subject under the sun. It is a place where you can let your knowledge and skill set shine. If I were looking for joint venture partners, answers to questions plaguing my business/industry, or an employer looking for answers that I have knowledge of, this is where I would start.
  4. Reading List is my fourth choice for seldom used features. This feature allows you to look at reading lists from people in specific industries. This not only allows you to see what is being read, but it gives you insight into the problems that some may see in that industry and allow you to position yourself as the one with the best solution.

There you have it. My list of four seldom used LinkedIn features that could make LinkedIn not only a compelling platform for you but could also make you a sought out expert in your industry!

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Monday’s Question – What Makes a Guru a Guru?

September 26, 2011 by Leave a Comment

As one who works in the area of business and life coaching, this may not be the best question to ask, but here goes, “What makes a guru a guru?”

I get emails every day from people who promise (for a not so nominal fee) that they will teach me what I don’t know about something that they do. Most of the time they will provide a “free trial” but if you want the really good stuff you have to pay.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am not opposed to paying people for knowledge that I need, that they have (I do that myself), but what I want to know is what makes a guru a guru? What makes their knowledge something worth paying for and how can you find out before you make your first payment?

That, my friend, is the million dollar question, right? I am hoping that the conversation that is question starts will cause people seeking to sell their knowledge and expertise to really understand what is valuable and what is fluff! Hopefully we will stop selling the fluff and only sell the value.

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Filed Under: Boomers Helping Boomers, Leadership, Monday Questions Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Baby Boom Entrepreneur – Saturday Update 4

September 24, 2011 by 4 Comments

I am writing my update this Saturday rather than making a video, because, to be honest, I am not ready to be seen in public (if you know what I mean!)

It’s the first full day of fall and I am sitting in my family room with a cup of coffee and my computer. It is quiet and peaceful. Things are moving in slow motion today and although the pace will pick up soon, I am enjoying the slow for now!

Ok, enough about me! This has been an awesome week. As you recall, I began the week with a plea for ideas about how to help Boomers help Boomers. The result of that plea is a conference call next Wednesday with a couple of great people who want to consider ways to create a effort to do just that. I am honored to have been asked to participate. I will keep you apprised as to the results of that conversation. I am sure this first talk will create more questions than answers and your insight will be needed to answer these new questions.

The other major event of this week was putting together a rough outline of a new training program for Boomers looking to build the business of their dreams. It is my contention that with the way things are in this economic climate Boomers need to consider three things:

  1. Self-reliance is the only guarantee for a successful “retirement.” To believe that the equities market, corporate pensions, or government intervention will “guarantee” a comfortable retirement simply makes no sense any more.
  2. Beginning to consider this 2-5 years before you retire is a must. Developing the kind of business that can both make you happy, fulfill your life’s dream, and provide for you financially requires to not wait till you have to have income from it to survive. This 2-5 year plan gives you time to test and grow a business and then scale it to meet your retirement needs.
  3. Finding the right help in creating such a business is imperative. Unless you are well versed in creating a business from scratch, you will probably need some help along the way. Finding the right help makes all the difference in the world. Remember, just because you have the skills to do something, does not mean that you have the ability to turn that skill set into a profitable business. Getting the right information from the right source is imperative.

With 76 million Boomers in the US alone, to think that we can rely on anyone but ourselves to create a comfortable retirement just makes no sense. There are just too many of us. We need to band together and help each other become a generation of giving, going, and doing people, leaving the world in better shape than when we came in to it!

 

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Twitter – The “Let’s Talk” Tool for Business Success

September 23, 2011 by 2 Comments
Twitter logo initial

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Of all the online tools that are available to small businesses to create a community of clients/customers, Twitter is both the best and the most misused.

It is the best tool because (1) It is free for you and your customers/clients; (2) It provides “mobile” access to your customers/clients; (3) It gives you the ability to create “Twitter specials” that you can send out when you need to increase your business traffic; (4) It allows you “real time” feedback to new ideas or innovations; and (5) It gives you the ability to respond quickly to any negative information you see online about you, or your company.

It is the most misused tool because (1) Too many businesses try too hard to sell with Twitter rather than to carry on a conversation with their clients/customers; (2) Too many businesses don’t know what to talk about on Twitter, so they don’t talk about anything important; (3) Too many businesses don’t understand how Twitter allows them to watch their business reputation so they don’t make use of that option.

Twitter, like any tool, is only as good as the one who wields it. If you take time to learn the “tricks of Twitter” you will have a power business success tool at your disposal.

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Boomer Business Success – Keeping it Simple!

September 22, 2011 by 6 Comments

I had the pleasure of sitting in a meeting today with one of my clients. She was doing a presentation to a group of people in the area of her specialty. What she does is unimportant, but what I saw in her inspired me to write this article and challenge we Boomers looking to grow our businesses to keep it simple.

Keeping it simple means:

  1. Don’t over think things. I remember hearing about Occam’s razor. This is a scientific principle that indicates that, “when faced with competing hypotheses that are equal in other respects, selecting the one that makes the fewest new assumptions.” In other words the easiest answer is most often the best answer.
  2. Find a niche and master it. Being an expert in your chosen niche makes you more valuable to your clients/customers than if you are simply good at a lot of things. Most people can be good, but only experts are sought after.
  3. Learn the honestly care for your customers/clients. When you have an honest concern for those who buy your products and services, you will treat them with the utmost respect and they will make you their sole supplier!

There you have it! Boomer business success, by just keeping it simple!

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Make Time to Network

September 21, 2011 by Leave a Comment

I live and work in a very unique place. My local market is a small one, but within three hundred miles of me there are six major US cities. So, I have the benefit of both a small market atmosphere and a large market reach.

The best way take advantage of this situation is to make time to network. Networking in simple terms is reaching out to people who could be possible clients or business associates in your niche/industry. By networking with these people and companies you will have the inside track when they are looking for someone like you to benefit their business.

There are several things that are true in understanding the whole concept of networking:

  1. Networking takes time. You can’t just join a “networking” group or put a profile up on LinkedIn and Facebook and expect that new business will come pouring in the door. You must learn to “make a name for yourself” in these groups and online before people will see you as an asset to their business.
  2. Networking takes effort. If you plan to network with potential clients in your industry, you have to make the effort to know what they need and how your companies products/services can meet their companies needs. If you don’t do your homework, networking becomes nothing more than coffee table chat.
  3. Networking is not the same as sales. This to me is the biggest single truth that we have to overcome. When you are networking, you are not selling. Networking will certainly bring people into the sales cycle, but to make networking about sales will loose you more clients than it will ever gain. Networking allows you to become someone who is known, liked, and trusted. Sales results from that!

 

To make time to network, when done properly, will open the door for opportunities that would have never come about any other way. (Both from those we meet and from those they will introduce us to.) To not make time to network just makes growing your business that much harder.

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Technology Doesn’t Scare Me!

September 20, 2011 by 2 Comments
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In a world surrounded by technology, those in the younger generations still think that older people (Boomers like us) don’t understand the technology and therefore we are not as “smart” as they are. Well, as I sit here this morning typing this post online at one of my favorite coffee shops with my iPhone 4 sitting close by, I can say (like most Boomers these days) “Technology doesn’t scare me!”

This said, there is a perception in the business world that older workers are the less capable when it comes to technology. This perception is one that is difficult to overcome, since it is perpetuated by Madison Avenue throughout all advertising medium. I even heard a former Vice-President of the United States tell a crowd of school children that they were going to have to teach their parents things that the simply don’t understand.

I think its time we older workers (and business owners) stand up for ourselves and let the world know that we are quite capable to keep up in this fast paced technological world. Time to text a little more, time to blog a little more, time to use cloud based CRM’s and work with technology wherever we need to. It is really up to us to change the younger generation’s perception through action, adaptability, and skills. (After all Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are both Boomers!)

Let’s not let these younger generations relegate us to walkers, canes, number 2 pencils, or yellow pads just yet. We Boomers have a lot to offer and much more to get done before we are done! So grab you iPad, tablet computer, smart phone, or laptop and let these “youngers” know that technology doesn’t scare you!

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