Developing A Cat-Like Instinct for Relationships

If you’re a regular reader of the Bennis Inc Blog you’ll surely recall my “personal assistant” Pinot. For those of you who may still be catching up or just stopping by, allow me to explain that this fur ball of personality doubles as my work partner on most days, but most simply (and reasonably) stated she’s our family pet. During the day, Pinot and I do a good job of keeping to our respective tasks at hand so long as what I’m do appears uninteresting and her food dish is full. But as soon as she decides I can offer her anything of benefit – a warm lap, fresh water or source of entertainment – she gives me her undivided attention. This animal-to-human dynamic she and I share is not far removed from the dynamics I share with other people in my life. Whether I’m the cat or human in these particular scenarios is debatable, but I’ve realized that when it comes to relationships, there’s a great deal of similarity to be found between us and our feline friends. I believe this can be best summarized by David Fisher’s quote:

“The golden rule of cats that governs all relationships we have with people: you scratch my back, you scratch my back.”

I would be shocked if you could not think of one instance in which this feline relationship principle held true. Business partnerships, interactions with strangers, close friendships and marriages all require some degree of “back scratching” and let’s be honest, it sure feels better to be on the receiving end. As much as we’d like to convince ourselves that we are always selfless and fair, the truth is that some of our most fulfilling relationships with others are the result of a cat-like instinct to look out for Number One. And surprisingly, that’s OK. In fact it’s this instinct that ultimately protects our business, our happiness and our time.

First thinking about my business, I’m very cat-like in that I want to share mutually beneficial work relationships with any client I take on. Though I’m the one providing them with a service, and they will and should benefit, I too want to benefit. I want this to turn into a satisfied client that turns into a recommendation that turns into potentially more work. I want a client who shares my vision for their business and is as passionate about bringing it to reality as I am. In friendships, I want to invest my time with people who are positive, happy and inspiring because this has such a profound impact on my own mood. And with strangers or new acquaintances, I want an interaction that holds the promise of a future client, friend or both. When all piled together, these seem like quite a greedy request of my relationships. But consider this: the more we work to surround ourselves with beneficial relationships, the more beneficial we also become to those with whom we interact.

So long as we maintain a genuine effort to share the happiness and success we build for ourselves, there is no guilt in seeking out that next “back scratching.“

I don’t anticipate receiving a reciprocal tummy rub from Pinot anytime soon, yet our relationship works because I too am benefiting in my own way. She’s my stress relief, companion and certainly introduces and element of entertainment and surprise into our household. To apply this to the relationships in your life, don’t ever feel guilty for enjoying or benefiting from the interactions you have with people. It’s most likely that you’re also providing enjoyment or a benefit to them as well. So as long as Pinot keeps coming around for her daily back scratches and I keep providing them, I know that we’re mutually happy and that we each feel like we’re getting the better end of this deal.

 

So You’re Different…Just Like Everyone Else

As I continue to define the scope of my Public Relations work – particularly the emerging trends and most effective strategies for my clients, I’ve been confronted with one reoccurring scenario. Every business wants to share the message of why they’re different from all the others. But so often the differences they provide me with read like every other brochure, billboard or tagline I’ve seen time and time again. “We care….We put our customers first…We provide you with the best quality of service.” If you’ve already tuned out while reading that last sentence, you’re not alone. In fact, your reaction is the same reaction such statements receive when they’re placed on any plethora of marketing materials. Either the message is forgotten as soon as something else catches our attention or it’s glazed over altogether, never standing the chance to be absorbed into our subconscious. Neither result is desirable for the businesses who are trying so hard to differentiate themselves.

What makes a business truly different?

Truthfully, at the end of the day…very little. For the most part, products and services can be replicated (even with the best copyright laws and patents in place). There are millions of family-owned businesses with “small town values” representing every size and industry. And words like loyalty, honesty and quality – while all very good things for a business to have – are often read as ambiguous marketing fluff by customers. In very rare cases, a compelling story of how you overcame mountains of adversity to start your business may draw a unique spotlight your way, but inevitably the light will fade and a story of such depth is hard to convey on a billboard or Facebook ad. By focusing your marketing and public relations on answering the question “What makes me different?” you’re missing the question that really matters which is “How can I get remembered?”

Recognize your lack of differences with honesty.

Simply put, people appreciate honesty. The initial and obvious reaction to this fact is to position a company’s honesty and integrity as a “unique value.” But I beg of you to take at least one step outside the box. Customers aren’t easily fooled into thinking that you’re the only honest business on the block. They likely do business with many other people who they would also classify as men or women of integrity. So instead, make yourself memorable by evoking an unexpected emotion or reaction from your audience. With the right communications strategy you can make them laugh, make them think or even make them blush. You may be bold enough to directly say “We’re actually not that different from the other businesses out there,” and catch your audience completely off guard. Being remembered is the end goal and by going against the grain just a little, you’ll have a much better shot at achieving this. So long as you remain honest and genuine with your customer base, the sky’s the limit for creativity!

Actions (and brands) speak louder than words.

Nike is far from the only company that makes and sells athletic apparel. This is a huge industry and really no advertisement or marketing that I’ve seen has fully convinced me that any certain running shoe or t-shirt is all that different from the rest. Even when a seemingly revolutionary product is launched, it’s only a matter of weeks or months until 10+ other companies release their own version of this product, claiming the same technology and benefits. So what does Nike focus on to position themselves as a leader in the industry? Their brand. It’s the swoosh, the “Just do it” tagline, the distinct style of commercials and the carefully chosen celebrity spokespeople who create this solid brand. Instead of contributing to the white noise of long-winded and confusing advertising jargon, Nike has instead chose to build a brand that is so powerful and well-defined that a big white smudge on an all-black billboard is enough for anyone to recognize that as the Nike brand. While they still strive to be “first” and “different” in many aspects of athletic apparel, they know this will only every last so long until the next big thing hits. So instead, they focus their communications efforts on building up what can’t as easily be knocked down – a timeless brand.

You may not be the only one, but you can still be the best one.

Finally, there is one area where you can truly stand out and that’s at the top. By being the best at something, you leave no room for a competitor to join you on this stage. However, in communications the term “the best” is overused, misconstrued and there’s really no form you need to fill out or ribbon you need to receive to make this claim. At all levels and in all industries, there are certain awards that can help back up your claim to fame and provide a great point of differentiation for your business. But regardless of whether you’re hoping to use this title as a future marketing campaign, you should strive to be the best for no greater reason than to serve your people and your business well. There may be many other businesses out there just like yours, but if your customers truly feel like you are the best based on the quality of your service or product, I promise you that they will be back for more!

Whether you’re trying to differentiate your business or yourself, remember that for no other reason than the sheer volume of competitors, being truly different is not always possible. Instead, focus your communications efforts of getting remembered. And with this thought, I’ll close with a final inspiration:

“People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel. “—Maya Angelou

 

When A “Courteous Follow-Up” Is No Longer A Courtesy

There are some days where I feel like it’s a battlefield of communication where emails and phone calls come whizzing at me with more force and fury than actual bullets. I try and put up a good shield by opting out of junk mail as quickly as I seemed to get signed up for it, but this is far from a fix-all solution. Inevitably, unsolicited emails and phone calls hit me on a daily basis. Though they take merely minutes of my day to digest and dispose of, this time adds up as does my overall feeling of annoyance and agitation. In the last few days I took note as to where most of these communications were coming from and I was surprised to find that they were often the byproduct of a “courteous follow-up” for a recent account I created or order I purchased. Why was my time being wasted and inbox being inundated with so much junk that someone somewhere thought I actually wanted to hear about?

These “courteous follow-ups” I experienced couldn’t have been further from a courtesy. They were providing me with information I already knew, promotions I wasn’t interested in and taking up extra time and energy I didn’t have. Follow-up communication especially with new or potential customers is a tricky balance. You want to appear excited and helpful, but you need to also know when to get out of the way and give the customer some space! I feel like there needs to be some rules of common courtesy for “courteous follow-ups.” Even if they’re just a friendly guideline or a desperate plea from customers all across the globe, businesses should really take note as to how their marketing efforts may actually be turning off their customer base. The following are simply my own “courteous” contributions to this proposed guideline – and with any luck they may just save some businesses a phone call, an email…and a customer.

Offer an “opt-in” for customers to initiate further communication

I don’t like that the norm is for people to have to opt-out of being contacted. Sure, this makes it easier for businesses to build their email list because they bank on people not taking note to that tiny check box, but if it’s happy and engaged customers you’re looking for—this tactic isn’t going to provide that for you anyway. Allow me to opt-in and put your effort into creating a compelling reason why I should. Will this newsletter offer me exclusive discounts or news on something I’m interested in? If so, I’ll likely sign up on my own free will and stay subscribed much longer than if you did it for me.

Allow customers to specify their communication preferences

I’m an email communicator and I make no effort to hide this preference even with my clients and other contractors. Email is the best way to reach me and the way I feel least intruded upon. When I receive a call from a number that’s not in my phone book, my immediate reaction is “this better be an emergency!” And I promise you it rarely is. Never do I find a courteous follow-up call a courtesy – I find it a nuisance. Either I pick up and am forced to talk to someone for at least a minute or two (which takes much more time than deleting an email) or I screen the call and am forced to listen to a voice mail at a later time. The bottom line is I’d like to be given the opportunity to voice my communication preference and only if I already opted-in to be further contacted. That is what I would consider a courtesy.

Never take up any unsolicited amount of someone’s time

I always appreciate a phone call that starts with “Are you available for 5 minutes to talk right now?” It prepares you that someone only wants 5 minutes of your time and is not assuming you have that much time to give them at this very moment. A courteous follow-up email or phone call should not ambush someone and steal any amount of their time. First, it should always be solicited by means of allowing someone to opt-in to future communication. Second, it should be courteous enough to be scheduled at a time that’s most convenient for the potential customer. I can’t convey the depth of my annoyance when I realize I accidentally picked up the phone for a long-winded telemarketer when I’m actually waiting on a very important call.

Be sure the message is meaningful and adding value – not wasting time

This might be the most important guideline to follow out of them all. Whatever type of follow-up communication you’re pushing out to your customers, make sure you’re offering them something new, something of interest to them specifically or something that adds value. For example, when I create a new account on a photo printing web site, I don’t need a welcome email simply thanking me for signing up. If this email was to offer me a coupon or contain important login information for my account that I should save, then that adds value. Any courteous follow-up, whether it’s a phone call or an email, should offer the customer something beyond just wanting to say hi. It goes without saying that a business would be happy a new account was created with them; don’t waste your first communication with a potential customer on stating what can be assumed.

Say it once and let it go!

The example of creating a new account on a photo printing web site can also be applied to this final guideline. Once I create an account and get through the onslaught of “welcome” and “how can we help you” emails, I don’t want to also be bombarded every week with an email reminding me that I have an item left in my shopping cart or an unclaimed promotion. Receiving this reminder once is a courtesy, receiving this reminder weekly is a nuisance.

What are some of your biggest pet peeves regarding courteous follow-up calls and emails? Do you also feel bombarded or ambushed with unsolicited communication? Share what’s the most effective to reach you or what turns you off completely. You might just help to save many other businesses the wasted effort they put into wasting our time.

 

The Most Dangerous Risk of All

Entrepreneurs are often given the credit for being the risk-takers. We are the ones pictured as taking the leap of faith and throwing our careers and concerns for stability aside to begin something all our own. While there is a great reward in store for those who make it to the other side, this comes at the risk of miscalculating our steps, not making ends meet and losing it all for something that adds up to absolutely nothing. This is a large risk no doubt, but I no longer see this as the most dangerous risk we stand to take in life. The most dangerous risk of all is the risk of spending your life not doing what you want on the bet that you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later. It’s the risk most of us take every day in our life and in our careers, not by consciously making risky choices, but by subconsciously burying them deep within. It’s not the risk of losing comfort and stability that we should be most scared of, it’s the risk of never knowing anything else.

I used to be one of these dangerous risk takers. I remember thinking that if I could hang in there so many more years I would be able to ensure a stable retirement package. This would have cost me almost a decade more of my life, yet I was willing to look at it as a worthy investment of my time all for the promise of finally being able to do what I really wanted several more decades down the road. I was only 23 yet I was sitting there, in my windowless cubicle, convincing myself that doubling the years of my life with work I felt no passion toward was the smart and stable investment. In retrospect, the “quarter-life crisis” that came on not too many weeks later and seen by some as reckless and arrogant, truly saved my life.

We all have a life that can be saved. This doesn’t mean we need to be to the point of depression or dark thoughts, this simply means we all have years of our life that we are at the risk of misusing with meaningless work unless some inspiration or motivation should force us to see our future one of two ways. If you’re unhappy with where you are right now, whether this is in your personal life or your career, you can take one type of risk which is to change it. With this, you risk being pushed outside your comfort zone, thrown into entrepreneurial survival mode and challenged to explore who you really are and what you’re made of. This is not comfortable nor is it stable. Or you can take another type of risk which is to do absolutely nothing. It may not feel like you’re making an active decision to take such a risk, which is what makes it the most dangerous risk of all. It’s the risk that slowly creeps into our lives disguised as comfort and stability. Only years later can we look back and see that at the risk of keeping these two crutches, we lost years spent living something much more fulfilling.

With so much emphasis placed on retirement as the time in our lives when we can finally do what we actually want, it becomes engrained in us early on that we must work the majority of our lives to fully enjoy it only when we’re old. But what about fully enjoying life while you’re young? This doesn’t come with the recommendation of quitting your job with no plan or living life as an aimless drifter. Much to the contrast, this comes with the recommendation of having a very specific plan that aligns you with making a passionate living and creating an extraordinary life at every age. It means setting goals and taking the initiative to meet them – something that dangerous risk takers don’t do. And it means creating the type of life that you’re excited to live every day, not just when you’re 55 and ½.

While you may not think you embody a real risk taker, just remember that if you’re not willing to risk it all…you already are.

 

Moment versus Momentum: Learning to Harness Fleeting Inspiration

While pursuing a career in the uncharted territory of entrepreneurship, I frequently encounter other entrepreneurs along my journey. Some are decades ahead of where I am (and hope to be) and others are merely minutes into their decision to take the leap. Among this group of individuals, the veteran entrepreneurs always seem to have at least one quality in common regardless of industry or age—they have momentum. For the greener entrepreneurs, I struggle to access whether they possess this same momentum or whether their inspiration is merely a fleeting moment. The difference in the meaning of these two words – and the affect they have on the success or failure of a dream – is far more profound than two little letters. Rather this “um” holds the inspiration, the drive and the courage to turn a single moment into a momentous career.

Is your dream a mere moment or does it carry momentum?

Among your friends and acquaintances, think about those who you would consider a dreamer or an entrepreneurial spirit. Chances are you have a variety. These people are likely different, each with their own qualities that earn them a spot in this category. Now think about those in this group who have taken a goal or idea and are in the active process of taking it to the next level. Chances are this no longer applies to everyone you originally thought of. Maybe those that don’t fit this description more accurately fit the description of coming up with brilliant and creative ideas one day, but then you never hear or see anything more about it. This is the truest differentiation I can illustrate for you between moment and momentum. I, too, have contacts that I would consider entrepreneurs at heart, but this doesn’t mean every one of them has become a real life entrepreneur. Instead, there are those who think of innovative ideas all the time, but I’ve learned to not get too excited for they’re just having “a moment.” By the next month or even the next day, the big plan for a life change has already been forgotten as quickly as it was conceived.

How do we harness this moment of inspiration and turn it into momentum?

At the root of this problem are the differing qualities of each individual. Not everyone is meant to be an entrepreneur, just like not everyone is meant to be a doctor or a rocket scientist. We all have different strengths and for some, this is taking an idea from conception to completion. For others – this is a weakness. But just like how you were told when you were little that, “you can be anything you want when you grow up,” you CAN become an entrepreneur and find your inner momentum regardless of prior failed attempts. You have at least two options to better harness your moments of inspiration and turn them into something more substantial.

First, you can commit to making a personal effort to stop the bad habits that have led to loss of momentum in the past. This includes procrastination, lack of confidence, fear of hard work or fear of failure. Just as you would commit to quit smoking or lose weight, changing any existing habit takes energy and effort. Pick a single, well-defined goal and create a timeline of specific actions. When I knew I wanted to begin my own business, I defined all the steps I had to take to reach the point of leaving my former job. I knew I needed a functional web site, enough clients to pay the bills and to register myself as an official business with the government. And so I added these to my timeline and was specific in the actions I had to take to achieve them. Every day I would assign myself one immediate thing I could do to further this timeline, whether it was sending an email to a prospective client or creating a blog. These immediate action items prevented me from falling victim to procrastination or overwhelm because they kept me on track and made me feel accomplished each and every day. Over the course of a week and then a month, these actions ultimately came together to achieve my bigger goal. I still use this tactic when I’m in a phase of business growth.

If you’ve tried or are trying to change your habits to become a person of momentum, but it just isn’t picking up as quickly as you’d like – it might be time to consider the second option. You can team up with another person or group of people who will provide complimentary skills to help turn an idea into reality. Not every business is a sole proprietorship and that’s because sometimes working together is the only way to achieve a goal of a certain scope or size.  If you have an idea for a product, but have no knowledge or direction on where to start with manufacturing it; find a partner who can provide expertise and connections in this area. A partner or team will also keep you accountable to your ideas and actions. It’s not so easy to let a dream fade if the dream is shared by many different people.

In talking with even the most successful entrepreneur, I would be shocked to hear that they never once had a failed idea or fleeting inspiration prior to their current business. To find our true calling, we must allow our mind to wander as creatively as it chooses without feeling pressured to turn every idea into reality. But when you do dream up an idea that you can envision changing your world, or the world of many others, you must find a way to harness this inspiration and keep it moving. Sometimes all it takes to turn a moment into momentum is the willingness to change yourself or team up with others…and of course a little “um!”

 

The Work-Life Imbalance

Often I come across an article or a quiz asking me to examine my “work-life balance.” It’s a term we should have all encountered by now – whether in a magazine, an HR seminar, even in a casual dinner conversation. To nod your head and affirm, “Of course, I have a great work-life balance,” carries a sense of pride as if you’re really saying “Yeah, I’ve got it all together.” But what defines a work-life balance? Must the parts always be equal to keep the scales from tipping too far in one direction?

We spend the majority of our waking hours working in some capacity. In the best case scenario, only 40 hours of our week is spent in a formal work environment, but what about all of those evening and weekend emails, phone calls and “emergency projects” that cut into the little time we’re already given for “life?” Such tasks sneak extra weight onto the “work” side of the scale and can lead to an imbalance we don’t even know exists.

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve taken more notice to how I’ve been chipping away at my free time by choosing to do a several minutes of work-related tasks here and there. Even just a few minutes can turn into hours over the course of a week. For example, I try to finish up my last work project of the day no later than 6pm. But while I enjoy dinner and a little bit of television, my mind is still very much on work. If I hear the chirp of an email – I answer it. And so this persists throughout the evenings and into the weekends. My best estimate is that on average, I burden myself with an additional 7-10 hours of work each week beyond what’s expected or demanded. When all added up, that’s a full day! A day in which I could have taken a road trip, enjoyed the beautiful fall weather or simply decompressed. And while these off-hour emails may help progress work, they put a major halt on life.

Back when I wrote about The Two-Day Truce, I urged everyone to resist the urge to do unnecessary work on the weekends because it only causes the recipients of the emails to feel the pressure to respond. Essentially it takes away from everyone’s weekend. I have gotten better about not being a weekend warrior with work, but I realized an even bigger problem. We’re so trained to work, we do it without even knowing it. Consciously we may feel like we’re living a pretty balanced life, but really our scales are so off kilter they’re nearly falling over altogether.

I couldn’t tell you how many times a day I check my phone for new emails, especially after “work hours.” I’m not sure I would want to know. By proactively checking for emails and refreshing my inbox, I’m looking for work to do instead of enjoying that other component that should fill our time – life. A true Work-Life Balance is so much more than saying you leave your office or close your laptop at 6pm. Chances are we’re very accessible to work during any of the hours in between. But when we’re at work are we this accessible to life? Every week’s schedule is different and there’s no doubt that there will be some weeks that demand an imbalanced share of our time for work. The key is to find the balance not every day or every week, but over the long run.

The Work-Life Balance may not be so much about balance after all. Maybe it’s more about flexibility and our openness to work more when we absolutely have to, but to also seize extra moments of “life” when the opportunity should arise. If you can’t close down by 6pm tonight, don’t sweat it, but plan for some extra relaxing time in your schedule later this weekend to make up for the difference and realign the balance!

What about you. Is your work-life balanced…flexible…or somewhat of both?

 

WordPress, Why’d You Go And Change?

This past spring, WordPress.com made some critical changes to the organization of its website and I’m certain I can’t be the only one who has caught on. The changes most noticeable to us, the bloggers, are the ones which impact the content non-subscribers are able to view as well as how easily our blog can be found when browsing the site. Ultimately these changes have altered the interaction of the community WordPress.com is built upon and your comments and page views have likely taken a hit as a result. If you’re like me, you may have been wondering why you blog has been receiving substantially fewer visitors even with the same frequency of posts and quality of content. Well, it’s not you – It’s WordPress.

As a creature of habit, I’m slow to warm to unsolicited change and so I didn’t want to form an opinion without first giving myself some time to adjust. I didn’t know if the changes would be permanent or if their impact would be decidedly negative. Now, nearly 6 months later, I’m concluding both to be true.

If you’ve joined WordPress in the last 6 months – feel lucky, you’ll never know the difference. If you’re a veteran WordPress user and haven’t noticed these changes, your personal impact may have been too subtle to notice (Warning: You may become acutely aware of these changes after reading the rest of this post). But if you’re a fellow blogger working hard for every new subscriber you earn, you may feel just as confused and agitated as I do with the blogging platform you’ve loved and supported above any other. So what happened, WordPress – Why’d you go and change?

Isolation of Non-Subscribers – Before I was ever a blogger or even a registered user of WordPress, I enjoyed visiting WordPress.com to browse through the day’s blogs. I was in awe of the chosen few who were featured on the “Freshly Pressed” section of the homepage that immediately greeted you with big pictures and intriguing article titles. As a loyal WordPress blogger for more than a year and half, I only recently noticed the different welcome page non-subscribers are now being greeted with when my computer decided to log me out one morning. Without logging in I could only access limited pages that resembled more of a commercial for WordPress than a blogging community. I get it, WordPress – you want new subscribers just as much as I do! But you have to give people a preview of the incredible content this community shares everyday to make someone want to join in. What first brought me, and as a result many of my clients, to WordPress (over other blogging platforms) was the way it openly shared blogs, allowed for easy browsing and even showcased a select few with the honor of being “Freshly Pressed” adding incentive for quality content. Now a wall has been built around the outside world and though the entrance inside only comes at the cost of an email address, this is enough to deter those who aren’t yet ready for their own blog or who want to remain an anonymous (though loyal) blog browser for right now.

For logged-out users, the OLD WordPress.com homepage used to greet you with its Freshly Pressed articles of the day and the option to browse more blogs under those topics. Note: this is without needing to sign in.

Now logged-out users are only able to get as far as “Get Started.” They’re denied any interaction with the community until they agree to create an account.

Freshly UnimPressed – I still believe being chosen as Freshly Pressed by WordPress is one of the most exciting honors for a new blogger. I was chosen two months after starting my blog and received nearly 3,000 blog hits in a single day and a large residual of hits and subscribers for months after. Truly this experience alone can launch a blog to stardom! Since the changes, I’m no longer as impressed with the publicity of Freshly Pressed – and it breaks my heart to say this. This stems from two main reasons. First, Freshly Pressed articles used to be featured on the homepage of WordPress.com and this produced far greater traffic for the featured blogs. Now that it’s no longer the default landing, users have to actively select the Freshly Pressed tab to view the blogs. Though even a minor additional step, this still creates a substantial roadblock that users won’t take the effort to do. I know I’m guilty of not visiting the Freshly Pressed page every day, whereas it used to be my starting point when visiting WordPress.com. Second, only registered users/subscribers can view Freshly Pressed blogs. This option no longer appears on the homepage for users who aren’t logged in. This change alone blocks out a substantial portion of potential web traffic to these blogs.

Not-So-Hot Topics – Do you remember when there used to be an option to browse by “tags” from the WordPress.com homepage? I do and it drove a great deal of new and random visitors to my blog (the best kind!). You can track how people find your blog  by checking your stats under “referrers.” Don’t be surprised if you can’t find a recent referral from a tag used in your blog, because the new organization of the site has all but brought this perk to a halt. Again the culprit is that to browse by topics (aka tags) you must go through several different steps to get there. Each additional step decreases the number of people who actually make the effort to do so. Take a look here:

This is currently the homepage I’m greeted with when I’m logged into WordPress.com. I see a blog feed of only the blogs to which I am subscribed. While there’s a column of topics/tags on the left-hand side, I have to choose to see these topics and again they only appear as a slow-loading and single-listed news feed.

Furthermore, WordPress.com seems to randomly generate the topics listed in the left-hand column by pulling from topics/tags I’ve used in my own posts. But what if I want to browse blogs on a new subject? I tried once to clean-up and customize my topic list only to have it reset the next time I logged in. I’ll still hoping to get that half-hour of my life back somehow…

Remeber when browsing by tags/topics was easy and attractive like this:

Now the only way I can figure out how to achieve this browsing capability on the new WordPress is to click “Explore Topics” and type in the topic I want to sift through. But instead of the attractively laid out format as above, the topics read more like a newsfeed and load at a terribly slow rate. Instead of simply clicking Homepage–>Tags, I now have to go to Homepage–>Reader–>Explore Topics–>Type in and Search Topic–>Wait for page to load and scroll through single-listed blog feed. To any less-motivated of a blogger, this process isn’t happening and it’s likely your blog hits from new or random visitors have declined as a result.

Segmenting a Community – The ostracizing of non-subscribers, devaluing the honor of being Freshly Pressed and creating yet one more roadblock for new visitors to reach your blog are all unfortunate results of the changes made to the new organization of WordPress.com over the past several months. But my biggest concern isn’t with any of these individually. Rather, it’s the concern that the WordPress community which I have blogged and bragged very openly about is at risk for disengagement. Together these changes produce a WordPress in which it’s harder for fellow bloggers and visitors to find your blog and for you to find theirs. If an interactive blogging community is indeed one of the major points of differentiation for WordPress.com – and I’ve always thought it to be – then it should be made a priority above all else (i.e. more subscribers and up-selling bloggers on customized domains and blog templates). I’m disheartened by what appears to be permanent changes, but it’s not just because of the decrease in blog hits, comments or subscribers. It’s because of the time and effort I put into learning and adapting to the WordPress community and interacting with new blogs daily. If future changes continue in this direction, I’m worried my single efforts to encourage engagement won’t be enough to preserve the WordPress community for what it once was.

If anyone has had a similar or different experience with the impact of WordPress.com’s recent changes, please share! I’m very aware it’s possible I could have overlooked a benefit of these changes and would gladly welcome knowing if they exist.

 

Protecting Your Pitch: How to sell the value of your expertise

In the line of consulting work, the pitching process is arguably the most important. Love it or hate it, for a business to survive, you must be good at pitching, pricing and packaging your ideas into an attractive bundle. But even after you spend hours crafting a proposal and researching the most innovative ideas to prove your value to potential clients – this is only half the battle. They could absolutely love you and your ideas, but what prevents them from simply taking your proposal and implementing it themselves? It’s an unfortunate scenario that happens time and time again in the consulting world. Some consultants have accepted this as a risk of this line of business. Others feel as though the clients who don’t do this outweigh and offset the ones who do. While I find both of these to be true, I do believe there are tactics consultants can incorporate to protect their pitch.

Don’t charge for a proposal. This may sound counter-intuitive when trying to protect your pitch, but I don’t believe in charging a potential client a fee just for you to create a proposal. If they choose not to work with you, this results in no tangible benefit for which they paid. Moreover, I think it immediately sets the tone that you’re likely to charge them for every itemized task and are stringent with your fees. Sure, there is always the risk that the time you put in to creating a proposal may never be recouped, but (good) business is about risk taking after all. It is foremost important to position yourself as a valuable asset they want as part of the team rather than an insecure and rigid score keeper. I truly believe that a pleasant and professional pitching process goes a long way in ultimately sealing a client. If they feel you’re taking advantage of them by imposing a fee for a proposal, they’re more likely to take advantage of you by incorporating your ideas themselves. Furthermore, they may feel that by paying for these ideas, they’ve gained ownership over them. EXTRA TIP: Place a larger emphasis on pre-qualifying your clients before you reach the step of creating a proposal.Try an initial meet and greet to get to know them and their business before assuming a proposal is something either of you are interested in. This step alone will save you hours of pitching to clients who don’t align with what you offer.

Make your expertise part of the package. When crafting a quality proposal, don’t undersell the value of your expertise as part of the packaged deal. Goals – and the tactics to reach these goals should comprise a large portion of the proposal, but don’t forget that your expertise in performing these tasks is ultimately what you’re being paid for. If you have a personal contact or connection that can make your strategy more effective, which is common in Public Relations, include this in the proposal. All of this helps to protect your pitch in that it sells you as part of the package. As much as tactics can be taken and implemented by someone else, your expertise cannot.

Focus on “Value Added.” Along with your expertise as a unique selling point to your pitch, your proposal should also communicate the important concept of “value added” to your potential client. The value of you implementing the proposed tactics is that it allows your client and his or her employees to continue focusing their time on doing what they do best. If their expertise is not in communications or business consulting, and it likely is not, their time is not best spent completing these tasks. There is a level of efficiency and quality that goes along with someone doing something they’re trained to do. If you can communicate this concept clearly with your client, you will show them that personally taking on the additional workload outlined in the proposal is not in their or their business’s best interest.

Provide goals and tactics, not a blueprint. You provide a proposal to give a client an outline of the work you can complete for them – not to provide them with a how-to guide to implement themselves. In your pitch you should list your work in such a way that they clearly understand the expected benefits of a given task, but not enough to cut you out of the process. Think of a list of ingredients on any food label. You know everything that went in to making the product good, but you don’t know in what amount or order each ingredient was used to achieve the desired results. This is not with the intention to be sneaky or unfair. Truly most clients would appreciate not having to read a 20+ page proposal with a painstaking step-by-step strategy. They want the big picture, the tangible benefits and to know you’re capable of getting this done. Sticking to this format will also shave hours off of your pitch writing time.

If you take nothing else from this advice, remember this key thought – Pitching to a potential client is your opportunity to prove that the value of your expertise in implementing your ideas is what they’re really paying for.

Know someone who is a consultant? I highly encourage you share this with them. Given my own failures and triumphs with the pitch writing process, I would have been ever grateful to have learned these tips in some way other than through trial and error. Cheers!

 

My Entrepreneurial Milestone: One Year Later, One Year Happier

Sunday, July 15, 2012 was the official 1 year mark of my transition into entrepreneurship. I thought this day would hold more emotion for me like Christmas morning or my birthday, but oddly enough it felt just like any other day I’ve experienced this past year. But this is a great thing! I can say with conviction that I have felt content, fulfilled and passionate every day for the past 12 months and so waking up to one more day in this life was the only gift I could have ever wanted on the 1 year anniversary of starting Bennis Public Relations.

It’s hard to believe I’ve doubled the age of my business since my “Life As My Own Boss” blog post in January. At this point in my business, the measure of my success was more based upon my number of clients and percentage increase in revenue. But my 1 year entrepreneurial anniversary is much more personal. This milestone is more about me proving to myself that I can, and did, do it. I took the leap –and I landed. It’s like jumping off the bank of a river and landing on a moving raft. It takes a while to get your balance and those first critical moments determine whether you sink or float. Well at my one year mark, I know I’ve gained both balance and confidence in my business. From this point forward I’m ready to do more than just float; I’m ready to take control and steer.

When I say that this 1 year milestone is very personal, it’s because for so long my life has been sectioned into 1 year increments. My years throughout college were very well encapsulated into one year and my first job out of college, working on a statewide campaign, also had a definitive ending on Election Day which fell about 1 year after my start. The only job I had that did not have a predefined ending was the same job that propelled me into start my own business because I knew that if I was working there one year later, I would be disappointed, stifled and question my own self worth. So this one year mark brings with it quite a new feeling. If I were to repeat the last year for the next 40+ years of my life, I will be completely content and challenged all at the same time. And for me that is a wildly new feeling.

Yet this year held much more than just business milestones. I also made some of the biggest life changes I’ll ever make including moving to a new city, traveling to and working in more than 8 different states, saying “Yes” to the man of my dreams and planning our wedding in less than 7 months from the proposal. I do believe that when it rains it pours and this year I’ve been fortunate to have been showered with some of the most memorable moments and an open mentality that has allowed me to appreciate every single one of them.

And so one year later, with a business growing stronger every day and a wedding right around the corner, I know I have so much for which I can be thankful. Reflecting on this very rewarding moment, I realize that for all that has changed in 12 months, today I’m still working from home in my usual chair with that same little gray cat by my side as one year ago – and I’m utterly content. This gives me confidence that throughout the inevitable changes that will continue to come my way, life’s most simple joys are the constants that will always be there to help keep me afloat.

 

5 Public Relations Tips For A Healthier Business

Often I talk with local business owners, friends and fellow entrepreneurs, who when they find out my line of business, ask for basic Public Relations tips that they can immediately put into action. I never mind offering such advice because they’re usually the starting fixes I would ask any client to make before we dive deeper into an all-encompassing PR strategy. Just like a doctor might first recommend some lifestyle changes before prescribing you medication, I too recommend these 5 Public Relations tips before prescribing we do something more “invasive.”

1. Update you web site content. Whether you created your web site or you outsourced this to a firm, you should have the working knowledge to make basic changes to your content as needed. This is crucial in ensuring your visitors and potential clients are always given the most up to date information about your business and services. If you want someone to view you as competent, professional and organized, your web site should reflect this same image. My best suggestion is to initially create web site content that is simple, direct and avoids using dates or specifics. This will help to give the content longevity and prevent you from having to update it on a weekly basis. Featuring upcoming events and your most recent blog post on your homepage are great ideas and can usually be automated through Google Calendars or WordPress. If you don’t choose to automate these features, just remember to set a calendar alert to remind you to update it when appropriate. I suggest never letting more than a week go by with obviously outdated content left visible on your web site.

2. Social media profiles – use it or lose it. Rarely would I suggest for a client to not utilize social media; however in most of these instances, I am the person who is managing their social media so I can ensure it is staying updated and on target. When simply offering outside Public Relations advice, I strongly advocate that your social media should be a positive representation of your business. If your Twitter profile is stagnant and your Facebook group has just 7 fans, then is social media really helping your business’s image or has it become a hindrance? If you don’t currently have the time to manage your social media nor do you have the means to outsource this, it is better to close down the account than push your potential customers to a page that negatively represents your organization and consistency. Just as you wouldn’t open a new store front and not put an employee at the front counter, opening a social media account and letting it sit vacant provides the same unprofessional, unwelcoming impression to visitors.

3. Communicate consistently. Similar to what I have talked about in my tips for blogging, consistent communication is paramount. Firing off three emails or three blog posts in one week and then going silent for 4 months is not effective in furthering your business’ message. I highly recommend not missing out on the opportunity to communicate with your publics, but I do suggest you choose a regular schedule for communication and stick with it. There are various low-cost ways in which you can establish regular communication. One would be creating a monthly e-newsletter through MailChimp and for fewer than 2,000 subscribers, this is completely free. I don’t recommend a personal e-blast sent directly from your email, because customers appreciate the opportunity to “opt-out” if they so desire and a professional email template goes a long way in also establishing you as a professional business.

4. Become a resource. All of the Public Relations tips I’ve mentioned also provide the opportunity for you to establish yourself and your business as a resource in your industry. Your web site content, social media updates and monthly e-newsletters or blogs should all work together to achieve this. Looking at Bennis Inc as an example, my web site content uses various locations to communicate that my services are focus on creating customized Public Relations strategies at competitive and flexible rates. My blog, also linked from my homepage slider, provides tips and advice on entrepreneurship, social media, blogging and Public Relations (like today’s). Finally, on my social media profiles like Facebook and Linkedin, I share these same blog posts (to reach my contacts that aren’t yet subscribers) and I often share articles, quotes and web sites that keep the pulse on emerging Public Relations trends. When you make yourself a resource, you build a relationship of trust and confidence with your networks. Regardless of whether they’re a client now, when the time comes when they do need a service your business offers, they will remember the confidence they have in your expertise and come to your first.

5. Evaluate your business’s message regularly. People are constantly growing and changing. And because businesses are run by people, they too are constantly growing and changing. The mission of your business that you started with years ago may no longer reflect what it has since developed into. One of the most basic and most important Public Relations tips I can provide is to regularly evaluate, and as needed update, the message your business communicates with its publics. Think about where your business gains most of its income, where you’ve developed a level of expertise and what sets you apart. All of these should be mentioned in your concise mission statement. If it changes regularly as your business grows, that’s very normal. As you learn more about your business and the direction in which it is headed, you will need to adjust your mission. Be sure to use the four other Public Relations tips I’ve provided as opportunities to weave this message into everything else you do.

I hope this “PR Prescription” has provided you with some healthy tips for your business’s communication strategy. What I enjoy so much about giving this advice is that people can immediately put it into action and see results. Whether you’re a business owner or in a position to suggest these changes to the company for which you work, I look forward to hearing about how you choose to implement them and the results it brings about. Please share!