Do All Web Designers, Editors,

SEO “Experts,” Digital

Managers, and Webmasters 

Own Stock in Optical and

Eye Surgery Centers?

Speaking of Eyes, here are a few I’s for you — just in case you’re looking for good “I” words to characterize the work performance sections of your resumes (which I hope for your short-term well-being that you have up-to-date!).

Let me not beat around the bush.

Here’s my Top 20 List of Words to describe the efforts(?) of those of you who appear to be part of the vast sea of non-communicative business (and especially BIG -time Corporate) websites:  

Irksome. Irritating. Infuriating. Insulting. Invidious. Inconvenient. Incompetent. Irrational. Insolent. Inapt. Impudent. Immature. Insouciant. Inflammatory. Incorrigible. Implacable. Inconceivable. Idiotic . . . Ignoramus Internet Imbeciles!

And that’s just the I’s.

I dare you to tell me the last website you visited that was physically readable. It’s bad enough you’ve butchered the English language and that you remain out-of-control-convinced that all of humanity speaks only via txtmsg language, now we all read your proudly-designed sites, and need glasses.

Do you really think that:

type this size

. . . is for normal, healthy eyes? And then you have the audacity (we’ll leave the I’s behind for awhile; I like “audacity”) to do the damn type in gray, and Italicized, no less?

like this

What are you all nut cases?

Did you ever consider that site visitors become prospects and prospects become customers and customers’ purchases of the products and services promoted on the site are what pay for your existence?

(Oh, and please don’t start telling me about ways to adjust my screen size to accomodate your lack of customer service and marketing savvy!)

Sometimes, I might expect to see some brand new business attempting –with, obviously, the communication expertise and guidance of one of you– to spout its message with a touch of class that no doubt came from having once visited a high-priced attorney’s office where everything is gray, including the invoices. But I’ve come to expect better from long-established enterprises.

Or, well maybe I’ll give you the benefit of doubt, maybe it’s just that if you use .6 and .7 font sizes, you figure you can get more stuff on a page and jam it into little corners so you can design Internet castles in the air with all that leftover space. And, shoot!, if you make it gray and hard to read, nobody can criticize your attempts at copy content without having to visit their ophthalmologists, right?

What touched off this avalanche? Check around a few corporate giant sites, especially pages with unimportant junk — you know, things that just don’t mean anything, like instructions, or policies, or payment terms. I have.

In fact, I’ll return to the A words for long enough to say that it is beyond ANNOYING to find evidence of work done by people who really should know better (and who are typically commanding huge fees) that fails 100% to communicate. And somewhere up there is a boss who clearly hasn’t a clue about how to be a leader, who has let droves of techie superstars commandeer their own marketing programs.  

So, in case you’re still reading this (and with apologies for catching up the more honorable among you in my wrath), I have this to say to you:

Don’t give up your day job!

~~~~~~~~

www.TheWriterWorks.com  

302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

PULLING TEETH!

BANGING HEADS!

LOCKING HORNS!

Find yourself doing much of that lately?

Maybe it’s the economy?

When times are tight, people get tight.

When people get tight, they can get worried.

When people worry, they can become defensive, aggressive, manipulative, territorial, and often, job-threatened.

Reaching agreement becomes increasingly challenging, and sometimes it feels close to impossible. It can be especially problematic when working with volunteer groups. http://bit.ly/bLAB9s

When your business or key issues come to a grinding halt, you can:

1. Draw Straws
2. Flip a Coin
3. Go Bonkers
4. Call in the Police

5. Work it Out (Recommended)

Working it out, for two people –as those who are married, engaged, courting, living together, or partnered know all too well– means that someone must give up something.

Working it out for three or more might also mean giving stuff up, but more likely –if it’s to be any kind of meaningful reconciliation of divergent thinking– some type of collaborative compromising of interests is generally desirable.

Reaching consensus involves a synergistic process. It means that everyone within the group (team, task force, department, division, company) must agree at least somewhat with the resolve or conclusion or direction reached. Note “somewhat.”

Consensus-seeking can be a very effective leadership/teamwork method of problem solving because it inherently prevents any one person from “winning” a “competition.” Everyone involved must be able to agree that she or he can live with the way things are worked out.

http://bit.ly/c1DUbg

As a device for settling disputes, consensus-seeking flies in the face of traditional American brainwashing to win at all costs. It is (sorry, football fans) not the case that there always needs to be a winner and loser, and that there is no such thing as second place.

For those deep, dark, impulsive, no-constraints,

take-off-the-gloves moments,

go for a referee or umpire.

(You can also always call your Mother-in-law!<) 

For issues that will impact working (or living) together, consensus-seeking leaves all involved parties with some worthy scraps to cling to, allows everyone to save face, and usually prompts a process or procedure or product or production (ah, communicative benefits of alliteration!) to occur that is both measurable and accountable. Because it’s a group-effort pursuit! 

As leader/facilitator, Pfeiffer and Jones suggest in the University Associates Structured Experiences for Human Relations Training, you need to establish consensus-seeking “rules” to help ensure productive results by employing the following guidelines: 

• No averaging,
• No “majority rule” voting.
• No “horse-trading.” 

                            http://bit.ly/bmoP3Z                                       

You need to influence group members to avoid arguing in order to “win” as an individual. Seek instead the best collective judgment of the group as a whole. Conflict on ideas, solutions, predictions, etc. should be viewed as helping rather than hindering the process.

Problems are best solved when individual group members accept responsibility for both hearing and being heard. Tension-reducing behaviors can be useful as long as meaningful conflict is not “smoothed over” prematurely.

The best results flow from a fusion of information, logic, and emotion (feelings). Need a little coaching help? Call me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

www.TheWriterWorks.com  

302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You,

and God Bless all of our U.S. Troops and Veterans.

 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

If your marketing has gone 

online-exclusive, your business

 may very well fold in 24-36 months!

Ah, but there’s still a chance to save yourself from killing yourself.

• FIRST: Get rid of the person who talked you into putting all your marketing eggs in one Internet basket. Even if it’s family, begone with him or her . . . as well as his or her ideas, which are costing you money, wasting your time, and depleting your energy!
• SECOND: Recognize that, in spite of whatever sales spiel you were fed by that person (or agency or group or team) that you listened to, the whole world –and your target market specifically (unless it’s 110% techie products or services)– has not (N~O~T) stopped reading newspapers, magazines, and direct mail!
• THIRD: The whole world –and your target market specifically– has not (N~O~T) stopped watching TV and listening to radio, or shut their eyes down while passing billboards. They have not stopped reading brochures, or responding to special sales and promotions, news releases, and coupons. They have not even (Aaargh!) stopped responding to telemarketing.

If you think for one minute that your entire universe of customers and prospects is maniacally text-messaging and spending every living moment on Twitter and Facebook and YouTube, you are sorely mistaken.  

And anyone who might have bamboozled you into thinking those things is much too short-sighted (and evidently too immature) to take responsibility for moving your business forward.

DO NOT abandon traditional marketing and think that it will be compensated for by a full-commitment plunge into online vehicles and media efforts.

Your website is important. Depending on the nature of your business, your engagement with social media is important. But anyone with even a little marketing savvy and training knows that these are simply ingredients in the total mix.

If you are not using every possible, affordable opportunity to market your business right now, you might as well open your window and throw the money out that you have been spending!

(Ah, and don’t pretend that online stuff is free . . . dig out that old magnifying glass and start discovering those hidden expenses! Prepare to be surprised!)

While most small and medium size businesses appear to have engaged so-called “Web Editors” or “Community Managers” or “Digital Marketing Managers,” fewer than 30% are reported to have a “Marketing Manager.”

Sadly for those misinformed business owners who dominate the 70%, these numbers should be the exact opposite!

Those who pretend to be business experts because they have some computer expertise will be the downfall of many well-intentioned but pathetically uninformed business owners.

“Web” and “Digital” people tend to know nothing of (and care less about) traditional marketing media, and so automatically discard traditional marketing management approaches they think are limited, but which are not!

                                                                                            

Even the teeny-bopper market that most uses handheld electronic devices (and most text messages one another), continues to watch TV and go ton the movies and visit arcades and read magazines and newspapers and attend sporting events and concerts, and open mail addressed to them.

It may appear to be all about hi-tech and emails and the like, but –even this market– indulges in traditional media. How can you confirm this? Run some quick and cheap focus group studies.

But, oh, your “Web Editor” might not know about how to do a focus group study because that requires traditional marketing experience. Okay, focus group some txtmsgs and see what you get!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

www.TheWriterWorks.com  

302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You!

 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Location Matters Most

to Doctors, Lawyers,

Retailers and Realtors!

Doctors want to be near the hospital or part of a medical complex, or healthcare campus because it’s good for their egos and reputations, professional camaraderie, and convenience in playing the referral game.

Lawyers want to be near the courthouse and close enough to other lawyers to spy on their practices in walking-distance coffee shops and upscale bar-restaurant gathering spots.

Realtors spout out:

“Location. Location. Location.”

(Yes, in three’s in case you missed the 1st or 2nd part of the mantra)

Why? It’s a nifty little subconscious control device for up-selling prospects on preferred (more expensive) commercial properties. Location emphasis also serves to set the stage for a realtor to paint a prettier picture, justify a bigger-than-planned-for client investment.

Actually, retailers (and certainly not all) are typically the only businesses that truly benefit by intensive location deliberations most of the time.

Online and home-based businesses, or manufacturing and distribution entities (that don’t require centralized supply route locales), most service industry ventures (that may need only to be within reasonable travel distance of prospects), can often function anywhere.

In fact, there’s a certain appealing ambiance and character associated with many off-the-beaten-track businesses. Maybe, since you’re an entrepreneurial thinker, you’re one of them?

I’m talking about out-of-the-mainstream locations in dinky little hamlets where you’d never even think of a security system, or trashy chain-link-fence-enclosed back alleys with double-bolted doors.

Maybe your business is holed up in the mountains of New Hampshire, a warehouse in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, the cornfields of Waterloo, Iowa, a tied-up rented barge in San Diego, a kitchen table in Dallas, or a dilapidated garage in the slums of Memphis.

But regardless of your location, there’s a self-satisfying feeling that the physical space where you do business is your place, and that you make it work.

If these kinds of places even come anywhere near close to your reality (and you’re still somehow managing to survive our catastrophic economy with still rising gas prices and still rising unemployment and a brutally expensive and unwanted healthcare program blocking  business progress), imagine the added burden of some hot-shot commercial realtor’s idea of a prime location you cannot do without.

Who needs the high-rise penthouse office space in mid-town Manhattan or the end unit of that corporate park overlooking the Chesapeake, the New England oceanfront office condo, or those slope-terraced deals with windows facing the Golden Gate Bridge?

Really? Yes, it might be a nice change, but that barn of yours, across two cow pastures, next to the henhouse, works just fine, makes sense, and saves money. Besides, it leaves you still qualifying as a prospect for Extreme Makeover! Hey, y’never know!

Home is where the heart is,

but so too is the office or workspace

of every entrepreneur.

Until this economy turns around (which may yet be another two years), reconsider relocation. Stay where you are. Stick to what you know best and most enjoy doing. Don’t worry about appearances. 

Don’t let outsiders influence you to think you need a bigger, better, more fancy-pants location. It’s not where you work that matters. It’s the passion and purpose you put into what you do each day.   

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

www.TheWriterWorks.com  

302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You,

and God Bless all of our U.S. Troops and Veterans.

 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Adapted from an original archived blog post on this site…

WHY DO YOU THINK U.S. MILITARY

When expectations

breed disappointment

(and they always do!),

expectorate them!

Better yet, when you see planning start to cross that ever-so-thin line into expectations a little too often, you may want to consider working harder to not have any expectations to start with.

They overwhelm and underwhelm at the same time. They are the stuff that emotional upsets, frustrations, and another “ex” word –exasperations– are made of.

Dwelling on the past and worrying about the future are self-imposed, self-destruct avenues (sometimes “erringly” made into missions!). Herein lies the key to big-time sales! 

Most people can see that dwelling and worrying are not healthy pursuits that can lead quickly to far worse consequences than a headache. But few seem to realize that expectations can be just as damaging to one’s well-being.

Expectations can quickly lead us out of the present moment. Anything that takes our minds off of our work when we are at work and “on the job,” can be a genuine (and sometimes permanent, even all-pervasive) threat to productivity.

Lost productivity = Lost revenues = Lost profits.

. . . an increasingly difficult path to reverse

in an increasingly difficult economy.

Staying tuned-in to each passing “Here and Now” moment as it occurs may not always be easy, but it is always a choice. So why choose misery?

It’s been said that Einstein only used 10% of his brain. Where does that leave the restof us? Scientists further make a strong case for humans who could use 100% of their brains being able to separate molecules and walk through walls.

Hmmm, that conjures up a thought or two. Presumably, if we could live in the present moment every moment, we would never have illness or accidents.

Well, that sounds great, and knowing it’s a choice thing really rubs our noses in it, doesn’t it? But as truth will out, consider that being in the here-and-now as much as we possibly can, offers us greater protection from accidents and illness.

Imagine the implications and possibilities for business. For leadership. For teamwork. For building long-term business relationships?

I don’t know about you, but it seems (and, personally, has proven time and again) worth the effort to minimize expectations by increasing focus on the present moment. The potential rewards far outweigh the expenditure of effort.

Where to start? Try some of the direct links noted throughout this post, and punch words into the search window! Because they are generally more diligent and and constantly active than other senses, be aware that staying tuned-in has more to do with what you take in through your eyes and ears than anything else — except, most assuredly, your breathing. take some deep breaths.

Of course, suddenly smelling a dead skunk, or touching something hot or cold or sharp, or experiencing a great or foul taste can all have a jarring effect. But touch, smell, and taste generally need to be triggered for us to start paying attention. Bottom line: work at sharpening all of your senses.

Realize that you can stay alert without having expectations. You can anticipate without having expectations. You can be prepared without having expectations. And, get this: you can even expect something without having expectations! Give that one a little thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

931.854.0474 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

From chewbones

to getting fixed,

puppies and entrepreneurs

have a lot in common.

Having spent most of my business coaching, consulting and writing career with a dog under my desk, and most recently my beloved golden retriever who hung out there for 13 years before heading off to be with the others ahead of Barnegat, it’s been a very long time since Kathy and I have been confronted with raising a baby puppy. And this one (“Breezy”) is an entrepreneur! 

What makes me say that? He (“Breezy”) is independent, takes reasonable risks, resists authority, has a burning desire to achieve, and is constantly thinking about ways to make his ideas work! 

For us, Breezy made the reality hit home that raising a puppy is a whole lot like starting a new business. There are ups and downs and sideways movements. And adjustment stages. Both (entrepreneurs AND new puppies) need constant attenti0n, need having fresh water accessible, proper nutritional balance, minimal government interference, and need initially to be kept on a leash.

And as for leadership? Check this leadership thinking!

Still need more convincing?

They both play hard and sleep hard.

And what’s the equivalent of a: Breeder? Groomer:? Trainer? Vet? Getting all the necessary “shots”? Being a loner or part of a pack?

Aren’t new business owners as quick as puppies to commandeer squeaky toys, and earn treats?

Ah, yes, and the famous “Dog Whisperer”! Is there a “People Whisperer”? or “Entrepreneur Whisperer”?

Maybe there should be! I can think of a great many entrepreneurs who would have loved to have an authority whispering guidance in their ears. The entire experience –starting a business, raising a puppy– is like getting back to basics. Too often, both puppies and new business owners get ahead of themselves.

They whack out schedules and get too crazed to function productively. Someone needs to rein them in. It’s worth noting here that this is not generally considered much of a relationship-solidifying role for most entrepreneur spouses. Either don’t marry one, join ’em if you can’t lick ’em, or stay out of the way and get used to keeping yourself busy.

With puppies, cuteness makes up for lots of unproductive and disruptive behaviors. Cuteness may also carry some entrepreneurs great distances, but quick paper-training and house-breaking will take both puppies and entrepreneurs a great deal further in both family and public acceptance as well as in goal pursuits. It is generally true that people appreciate regularity over cuteness.    

# # #

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Hal@Businessworks.US   302.933.0116

Open  Minds  Open  Doors

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

A good boss never needs 

 to thrive on emergencies.

Being prepared to respond to instead of react to emergency situations is the mark of a true leader. Just because you know CPR doesn’t entitle you to run around trying to stir up heart attacks. There is much to be said for running a business on passion. The mark of business greatness has more than once sprung forth from enthusiasm and commitment and high energy levels.

Henry Ford. Thomas Edison. Bill Gates. Steven Jobs. Andrew Carnegie. Mary Kay Ash. Frank Perdue. Oprah Winfrey. Walt Disney. Charles Schwab. Meg Whitman. Jeff Bezos. Add your own ___________.  

How many are or were full-time firefighters? Zero. How many could mobilize an effective strike force to handle sudden major upsets? All of them. While I believe it helps, one need not have been a Boy Scout to “Be Prepared.” One simply needs to be able to quickly sort through and prioritize options, mobilize and motivate others, and be willing to step up and take action.

Sometimes, of course, real life physical emergencies require taking action first.

It’s that little extra dose of instinct and clear-minded judgement that frequently makes the difference between –both literally and figuratively speaking– a saved life, a recovered fumble, a thwarted robbery, a prevented assault, or a ducked knockout punch.

Okay, you shrewdly suggest, then let me just work at developing my instincts and ability to judge people and situations clearly. Then I can go smooth sailing, downhill, in cruise control. (Oh, that it should be that simple!) Yes, that is indeed an admirable direction to pursue. And even partly attaining those qualities will take you far in most leadership circles.

But YOU are the key to YOUR success. For you to grow your sense of composure and self-control, which open the doors to instinct and judgement development, you need to become the world’s greatest student of your SELF! You can’t even begin to think in leadership terms –emergencies or otherwise– without first knowing yourself and understanding what makes you tick.

It might help to make a list for yourself of 

all the ways you can learn more about you

. . . and start tackling one item at a time.

From experience with many business and professional practice owners and managers, I can tell you with great certainty that just three weeks of solid commitment to do one thing each day to learn more about yourself will make you a stronger, happier, more effective leader.

Why wouldn’t it? After all, the more you know about you, the easier it is to figure out others. The easier it is to figure out other people, the easier it is to motivate and inspire them. The more you can motivate and inspire others, the greater the leader you become. Over-simplified? Nope. But it’s not easy either, unless you choose for it to be. Leadership is in fact, a choice!

And handling emergencies is a routine function for a strong leader… but it’s always a good idea to keep a fire extinguisher handy, just in case.   

~ ~ ~

 302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

 If your business return policy

is this UNfriendly, you

may want to rethink it!

Now you KNOW that while I frequently beat up on government incompetence (being as how it’s so-well earned), that I hardly ever jump on any business.

But this email came to me today, forwarded a few hundred times. That fact alone made me immediately skeptical, so I checked out the policy link at the bottom, and came away awestruck.

Customer insensitivity is one thing, but the kind of top management stupidity that fostered this ridiculous policy (in this kind of economy no less) deserves to be heavily publicized.

The boxed text speaks for itself. It’s too bad that some businesses, like BEST BUY, see the need to run roughshod over the consumer public like this.   

EVEN if this customer was “wrong,” he was right!

If your business can’t afford bad word-of-mouth, make sure all your policies are user-friendly and easily explained and supported, and that your people know how to handle situations like this better than this.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

www.TheWriterWorks.com or 302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Is it really WHO you know?

“I collected over two hundred business cards at the trade show!” the energetic young salesman proclaimed. “So what!” said his sales manager  …”I’ve probably collected twenty thousand business cards over the years, and they don’t mean squat unless you DO something with them.” http://bit.ly/cusoV9

“Efforting” one or two sales messages after meeting someone rarely produces more than a smile and a polite no thanks! And it is at this precise point that most small business and professional practice owners and managers (and altogether too many sales professionals) tend to simply give up and walk away.

This dig-in-your-heels moment is the very moment that sales are lost.

First off, since research shows that it takes an average of five attempts of some kind to close a sale in order to make a sale (and it’s not likely that a quick trade show card exchange includes an attempt to close a sale), the odds are pretty good that five more encounters are going to have to happen before agreement to buy something is reached (or dismissed).

Sound like a Poster?

Try “DETERMINATION NEEDED HERE“

…Or what about “PERSISTANCE PAYS!“? 

Though it represents only the first step in the networking process (especially at trade and professional shows or BBB or C of C -type gatherings), the value of business card collecting can be enormously enhanced by making a memory-jogging note on the back of EVERY card: “Big hair and gaudy glasses” or “Bone-crunch handshake/blue eyes” or “Plaid shirt/Yankees hat” or “Moonlights for cousin Bill.” 

Why should this matter? Because it always helps to have a mental image of someone you email or call or txtmsg or visit ahead of time. The note you make will often also remind you of the brief conversation you had, which often holds clues about the person’s purchase intentions, interests, and/or timeline. Remember: Five attempts to close a sale. http://bit.ly/bS99Wo

In direct mail, the axiom is that the more you tell, the more you sell.

In personal selling, the more you listen and learn about the customer, and about what the customer wants, the more you sell.

Let your website stand as the source for addressing prospective customer objections and product/service features, so you can be more focused on benefits and emotional buying motives.

The truth then, the answer to the “Is it really WHO you know?” question is: yes, WHO you know helps get your foot in the door, but –in the end– it’s what you do with who you know (and what you do with your foot as well — like keeping it out of your mouth?) that will make the difference between a sale and no sale! Isn’t every success based on how effectively you cultivate what you already have?

Networking is simply a tool for identifying and sorting out prospects in a concentrated setting or channel of connections. It’s a great tool if you’re willing to go the extra mile . . . and work to make it work! http://bit.ly/cmyg2Z 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

www.TWWsells.com or 302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Make today a GREAT day for someone!