The Obvious?

Back in the early days of blogging, twelve years ago for me, it was a much smaller, much more connected world. It felt like we were living next together rather than separated as we were by, in some cases, thousands of miles. We built up some pretty close friendships that in most cases have lasted to this day. 

I was therefore really sad to hear through that network of the illness of one of our number, Michael O’Connor Clarke, with esophageal cancer cancer. The challenges he and his family now face just serve to remind me of how fragile life is and how important our friends are.

If you want to help, his friends have set up a support page here.

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The Obvious?

Chris Brogan blogged recently about his decision to close his Linkedin account. This got me thinking, yet again, about whether I should do the same. 

I have been in Linked in for nine years, having been user number 1400 or so out of 100 million. It is useful for keeping up to date with the people I know’s changes of circumstance but little more.

I keep trying to get involved in the various Linkedin groups I am a member of but a few things drive me away.

The first is the interface which throws away nearly thirty years of experience with online forums and either doesn’t do, or does badly, most of the basics of online discussions.

The second is the feeling that it is slipping into the Ecademy nightmare of desperate out of work consultants pouncing on corporate folks like piranhas seeing meat. Many otherwise interesting threads end up either spammy or “me too”. 

Ironically the third thing that drives me away is the thing that I suspect makes it appealing to others. It is too safe and too corporate. It feels bland and lifeless. Despite having no great affection for Facebook I spend more time in there because at least the discussions are more free flowing and lively. 

Unlike Chris I am going to keep my account, and make the most of having a self updating address book, but it is a shame it never became more for me.  

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The Obvious?

Looks like Amazon now have my book Organizations Don’t Tweet, People Do on their “shelves”!

Something I hadn’t realised previously was that my publisher John Wiley & Sons is able to do special runs of the book with individualised company inserts such as a frontispiece or introduction. They are also able to publish individual chapters, or selections of chapters bound in special editions. A number of clients are also buying in bulk which is great as the book was primarily written as an influencing tool for those trying to get traction with the social web in big organisations. Do get in touch if you would like to find out more about this by emailing me at euan [at] euansemple [dot] com

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You can learn to speak in public, you can overcome the fear of public speaking. The number one fear in the world is often listed as “speaking in public”. You may be asked to speak at a wedding, a business meeting, a birthday celebration, a funeral, as part of your tertiary education or even just to a group of friends. This program is designed to help you move through your fears and allow you to enjoy more success, more self love, improved relationships, perhaps a new career, more motivation, better health and peace of mind. My objective is to pass on some of my own experiences, education and wisdom that I have accumulated from other people, books, seminars and life. I truly hope this helps you to overcome your fear of public speaking! For more information, links and resources, please refer www.publicspeaking.co.nz

Mark’s Daily Thought – Ideas from Mark Fritz to help you Get Ahead, Stay Ahead and Be Successful

Every successful person has the ability to define and keep a focus on what’s important. Also, the key is how they determine that important too. There’s a great number of people who don’t take control of their lives, and end up just living someone else’s important. Successful people define and live their own important.

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The Obvious?

This time from July 2006 and it’s a goodie even if I say so myself!

The Email Asshole

A friend of mine recently posted a new mail address to a large-ish list of his friends and acquaintances. In his post he wrote something which a number of us found funny and to which we “replied all” in the spirit of a little light hearted humour not doing anyone any real harm.

This then provoked a number of grumpy responses from people telling us how not to use “reply all” and asking to be removed from the list. The tone of these responses was that these people were somehow grown-ups who those of behaving childishly were distracting them from important things and that they held some sort of moral upper hand.

This is an attitude I encounter all of the time in talking to businesses. There are those who even react badly to the “social” in Social Computing. Mucking around is frowned upon and there is an assumption that “business like” behaviour is the most appropriate and the most effective.

However, in direct contrast, I am more convinced that this is one of the more insidious mindsets in the workplace and one that is significantly curtailing the effectiveness of business.

The collusion behind “we don’t do things like that around here” or “that is not the sort of thing we should be talking about in a work context” can be intimidatingly strong. And although it appears on the face of it to be a reasonable position to take when you think about it what are their motivations in saying these things? Is it really effective to curtail your conversations in the workplace to a very limited and closely controlled range of topics with which you are already familiar and comfortable? If you don’t get to find about people through their whimsicality, their passions and even their prejudices then how are you going to be able to establish enough trust to be able to work with them effectively? What are they so afraid of? Chaos? Anarchy?

In so many ways this coercive attempt to control others’ behaviour is more about maintaining power and control than it is to do with organisational effectiveness.

If the nutters with daft ideas, those who are prepared to banter and exchange their views and to “think different” get their way and make the status quo messy then maybe we would have to change and to change we would have to think and we don’t like doing that too much because we have been trained not to do that at work …..

If you get an e-mail from me that is pointless, unfunny or plain daft then rather than waste the time and energy it would take to try to change me why not just delete it and move on to the really, really important things I am sure you have to do!

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The Obvious?

As I woke this morning I found myself wondering what it would be like if, rather than this being Saturday, I was waking up to “just another day” What if instead of having the definition and shape of weeks months and years we had “just another day”. What if we started at number one and counted? How would I feel if I was waking up to number 18240? (I tried to work out leap years and gave up!) Would I behave any differently?

Just a thought ….

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Connecting People

 This article originally appeared in The National Networker

In last month’s first five tips we looked at the importance of knowing exactly the help you need when asking your network for referrals, and how to make specific requests that people respond to.

The type of information you share, the language you use and your consistency are also key, as we now go on to explore.

Tip Number Six – Keep it simple

People so often succumb to the temptation to load their champions with information to help them refer us. We want them to recognise every possible opportunity and answer every objection we can see coming.

Remember two things. First of all, they are simply our gatekeepers, making the introduction. They are not there to sell for us. Secondly, the more you give people to remember, the more they have to forget

Try using ‘The Twitter Measure’. Put your message into 140 characters. Edit, edit and edit some more. Does it still make sense? Could someone understand who you want to talk to and why?

Be brutal with your information. What do people NEED to know? Ensure you give them just enough to initiate the connection and then pass the rest to you.

Also consider their own background. Champions from your own industry or related areas may well need or be able to deal with more information than a friend who has the right connections but who doesn’t necessarily understand what’s involved.

Tip Number Seven – People love a story

Once you have worked out what your message is and the key information people need to understand, make it easier for them to do so by wrapping it up in a story. Case studies bring ideas to life and also add credibility to your request, proving you’ve solved similar problems successfully in the past and it’s not just an idea or concept.

Case studies also help people understand how to recognise a prospect and how you work with them to overcome their challenges and put the theory into context. Not only that but they are memorable and more easily recalled and repeated.

Tip Number Eight – Avoid Jargon

This is the trap that we can all easily fall into. It’s all so easy to lapse into words, phrases and references that we understand as part of our everyday language but which make no sense to people from outside our industry.

Do you know what terms you use that are jargon for someone else? Take the ‘Ten Year Old Test’. Tell a ten year old child what you do and then ask them to explain it back to you. Finding out how much they have been able to understand and relate back will give you a good indication of how well you are getting your message across.

The difference between a child and an adult is that the child will ask you if they don’t understand something. Adults are frightened of looking foolish and are more likely to nod politely and then take no action because they’ve missed the point than ask you to explain terms they’ve not understood.

Tailor your message to the person’s experience. If it’s someone from your industry you can be far more complex in your explanations than someone who doesn’t have the relevant experience.

Tip Number Nine – Help people learn over time

As we’ve already discussed in a couple of these tips, you don’t have to get everything across in one go. If you have someone who wants to refer you and has ample opportunity to do so, you’ll have plenty of time to educate them and help them to see a host of possibilities.

The fear of missing out on opportunities can lead to us trying to get across all of our products, services and prospects at the same time. However, focus on one request at a time and let people build up their understanding of how to help you gradually. Each individual request you make and referral they pass will build their knowledge.

Tip Number Ten – Manage how you are perceived

Help people to refer you by managing your reputation effectively. We often talk about ‘it’s not what you know but who you know.’ But I would argue that it’s far more important to be aware of who knows you and what they say about you.

What do you want people to say about you? We started off by looking at knowing who you would most like to be introduced to. It’s also vital that you understand what your general message and image should be. Focus on who you want people to be talking to about you, what you want them to be saying and how you can build the right public image.

Consistency is the key to ensuring that the right message is repeated. Whether that’s ensuring that your message and conversations are consistent with each other or your appearance and actions are consistent with the image and reputation you crave, you need to make sure everything fits.

Look at how you are getting your message out there at present and consider changes you could make using the ideas outlined above. If you’re not getting sufficient referrals at the moment, find two or three things you can change immediately and put them into place.

Approach people and ask for referrals. Be specific in your requests and keep the information simple and easy to understand. Put these ideas into practice and watch your flow of referrals increase with ease.

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Connecting People

This article was originally published in The National Networker

Building a strong network to help you generate more business is just the first step in an effective referral strategy. Once you have established and developed relationships with those people in your network, you then need to build their understanding of how they can help you so that they can become effective champions for your business.

This is where so many people fall down. They network relentlessly trying to find the referrals they need when they already have all the necessary connections. They’re just not getting their message across well enough to help their network help them.

If you struggle to get the connections you need from your network, read on. Hopefully the following tips will give you some ideas about how you can change your approach and get your message across in a way that will make it easy for others to refer you.

Tip Number One: Know what your message is

It sounds a bit obvious, doesn’t it? Yet I consistently ask audiences at my talks and delegates on my workshops who their ideal referral is and so few actually have a clear idea. But if you don’t know, how can anyone else be expected to understand?

Spend some time working out who your ideal referral is and who you’d like to be introduced to. Your thoughts would naturally turn to prospective clients, yet it may be far more valuable to be introduced to someone who can provide links to numbers of prospects, or add other value to your business. Where do you most need support at the moment for example?

Most businesses have a range of products and services they offer. If this describes you, who are the key connections you need for each revenue stream? Develop a ‘referral mix’, and have a clear picture in your mind of each one, in case the opportunity arises to ask for the connection.

Tip Number Two – Ask the right question of the right person

Once you understand your referral mix, you need to ask people for the referrals they are best placed to offer. After all, different people have different networks.

A few years ago I started writing for The Sun newspaper as a result of a referral from a former top newspaper editor. When he asked how he could help me, I targeted my response to an area I knew he was familiar with and where he was well-placed to help. A little bit of thought can make a huge amount of difference if you then know you are asking the right questions.

You can also do your research in advance in some cases, where appropriate. If you are meeting with a prospective champion and you know referrals may be on the agenda, why not look at their LinkedIn network in advance to see who they know and how they might be able to connect you?

Tip Number Three – Be Specific

If you are struggling to get referrals from people who want to help you, it may be that they simply don’t understand who you want to talk to. That may seem strange to you, but you know your business better than anyone else.

Paint a picture in people’s minds of the people you want to meet, companies you want to talk to. The clearer the picture in their mind, the fewer the number of people they know (but above zero!), the more chance there is that they will be able to connect you.

We tend to assume that the more examples of potential referrals we give our champions, the more chance that they will know someone and refer us. However, the reverse is true. The greater the number of potential referrals they can pass, the more filtering they have to do. You have to do the filtering for them

For example, if you sell least cost telephone routing you could ask people for connections to anyone who has a telephone. I’ve heard that request made several times! Yet how much time do you think people would take to make those referrals? Will they speak to everyone they know who has a phone?

It’s unlikely that they would, so they’d have to decide who to talk to. It’s more likely that they’d simply pass on the opportunity to help.

Make it easy for people to follow through and make your request specific and focused. If they know one person and can easily have the conversation, it’s much harder to say no.

Tip Number Four – Ask Directly

I would venture that the most common reason people don’t get referrals from their network is quite simple….they don’t ask for them! It’s often said that if you don’t ask you don’t get, yet we just sit back and expect our network to refer us.

Many businesses will admit that their best source of new business is word of mouth and recommendations, yet their strategy is a passive one, waiting for customers to refer them rather than asking. However, we are far more likely to talk about negative experiences than positive ones. You need to substantially exceed people’s expectations if you want people to refer you on their own initiative.

Don’t assume people know how to help you, or even think about doing so. Look at your closest network and best clients and ask yourself who would be happy to help you but who you’ve never asked. Sit down with them and explain the connections you are looking for and ask for their help. If you’ve selected wisely you should be delighted with the results.

Tip Number Five – Put yourself in others’ shoes

The very nature of referrals dictates that, more often than not, you won’t be present when the referral takes place. It’s important for you to anticipate the conversation between your champion and prospect and prepare your champion with the information they’ll need.

After all, you can’t simply expect your champion to ask the other person if they’d like to meet you without the prospect asking why!

A common mistake is for people seeking referrals to explain why they want to meet or work with a prospect. They are only seeing things from their own perspective. The hard truth is that your prospect doesn’t care about what you want. They are interested in their own needs and self-interest.

More specifically, if they are going to want to speak to you, they need to perceive that they have a problem you can solve. After all, we are in business to solve people’s problems.

Help your champion understand how to communicate the problem your prospect is facing, the solution you offer and how they will then benefit from the eradication of that problem. If you can get that right, you won’t need to be there to make the sale.

Next month, in the next five tips, we’ll look at the importance of keeping things simple, telling stories patience and managing your reputation.

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The Obvious?

Forgive the forthrightness of this post’s title but I was nudged into writing it by the coming together of a number of things:

A Skype IM chat about antler-clashing amongst social media mavens and how much “blokishness” there is.

A recollection of just how intimidated I used to get being around BBC executives and how deliberate this was on their part.

Reading the following in the wonderful If You Want To Write, by Brenda Ueland:

I hate [criticism] because of the potentially shining, gentle, gifted people of all ages,that it snuffs out every year. It is a murderer of talent. And because the most modest and sensitive people are the most talented, having the most imagination and sympathy, these are the very first ones to get killed off. It is the brutal egotists that survive.

Social media relies on people having the temerity to say what they think and others having the decency to listen.

Forget Enterprise 2.0. The promise of social media will not become reality until you do something to reduce the power of the bullies.

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