Month: April 2010

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How Powerful are Your Questions?

A fundamental skill in the coach’s toolbox is the ability to ask powerful questions. Powerful questions evoke clarity, introspection, lend to enhanced creativity and help provide solutions. Questions are powerful when they have an impact on the client which causes them to think.

These provocative queries spark “epiphanies” or “ah-ha” moments within the client which can radically shift their course of action or point of view.

Learning to ask powerful questions will help you augment your personal and business communication. The most effective powerful questions begin with “What” or “How”, are short and to the point. When questioning, be genuinely curious about the person you are speaking to.

Here are some powerful questions that can help you be more effective in many situations.

  • What do you want?
  • What will that give you?
  • What is important about that?
  • What is holding you back?
  • What if you do nothing?
  • What is this costing you?
  • How much control do you have in this situation?
  • What do you need to say “no” to?
  • How can you make this easy?
  • What options do you have?
  • What will you do? By when?
  • What support do you need to assure success?
  • How will you know you have been successful?
  • What are you learning from this?

What more do you have to add about Powerful Questions?

For more resources, see the Library topic Personal and Professional Coaching.

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Ultimate “Marketing” Tactics – How to Turn Online Traffic into Money – #4 of 4

How to Turn Online Traffic into Money – #4 of 4

First, have you covered the basics to create a “sticky” site? If not, read up on Search Engine Optimization (SEO). SEO is critical to attract your target traffic. Then, be sure that you have an eye-catching reason for the visitor to read your site within TWO seconds of landing there. Offer engaging and informative content. If you don’t understand what interests your target audience, back up and figure that out. Make your site intuitive – easy to navigate. Emphasize security. And integrate user-friendly interfaces for e-commerce sites.

Website Traffic Conversion

Now that you have traffic, consider using Twitter as a tool for engaging them. TJ McCue, Founder of Sales Rescue Team, offers case studies on web traffic conversion using Twitter. Companies such as Etsy, JetBlue, NakedPizza, Pepsi, and Levi’s are role models for smaller businesses by using Microblogging to actually close sales.

Twitter Case Studies

Many of these companies use coupons to drive customers directly to their website. A few examples:

  • Boloco, (burrito restaurant) almost tripled their business over print coupons.
  • Albion’s Oven (bakery) Twitters about what is FRESH. (Yum!)
  • Timm Ferriss uses Twitter in his educational nonprofit work.
  • Dell finds that their coupons are regularly re-tweeted. They attribute $3 million in sales to their Twitter posts.

For the full story, see “Closing the Sale with Twitter”.

For more social media “Marketing” tips and tactics, search these phrases:

  • Web Traffic Conversion
  • Twitter case study
  • Website Traffic Conversion

Happy “Marketing” hunting!

Do you have case examples of B2B sites converting traffic into sales??

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For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.

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ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman: With offices in Nashville Tennessee, but working virtually with international clients, Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. As a Founder of iBrand Masters, a social media consulting firm, Lisa Chapman assists clients in establishing and enhancing their online brand, attracting their target market, engaging in meaningful social media conversations, and converting online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com

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Do “Just Enough” Feasibility Testing

Team members having a business conversation

Is your great idea actually a great idea? Feasibility testing is how you find out.

Start with your goals. Sure, everybody wants to make a million dollars. But how will you define success? Finish this sentence: I will consider this business successful if after three years, at a minimum, it ______. List just two or three things. Be specific on what your current money goals relate to: sales, margins, profitability, growth rate, market share, or something else? Also list whatever non-money goals you have for this business.

Next, describe the proposed business. Write down its products or services (benefits not just features), target customers, marketing strategies and sales channels, labor and supply channels and costs, pricing, key competitors, breakeven point, and, most importantly, management requirements.

Don’t have all that information? No problem. It’s time to do your feasibility research. Talk to anyone who could help you and read everything you can find about it. Find ways to talk to actual customers, and study your primary competitors online and, if possible, in person. Buy something from them. Remember the competition is anything your target customers would see as an alternative to your product or service.

Do this yourself or hire a consultant with venture feasibility expertise. Be clear that you’re looking for an objective assessment, not confirmation that your great idea really is a great idea.

Keep coming back to your goals, revising them if needed. Do “just enough” feasibility testing to provide the comfort level you need to be reasonably confident the business will meet your goals (or won’t). Finally, write down what you learned, even if it’s only two pages worth, and crank out some projections built on your research. Run the whole thing past half a dozen people with business experience. Ask them for frank and honest feedback. Revise and do more research as needed. Good luck!

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For more resources, see our Library topic Business Planning.

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Trial by Media – Do’s and Don’ts

Phone sowing the different social media platforms for communication.

DON’T make the media your primary means of communicating on pending or current litigation in progress. Journalists are not a reliable means of ensuring that your key audiences receive your messages, nor is it a reporter’s job to make sure everything you think is important gets to the right people.

DO communicate directly with your important audiences, internally and externally, to ensure they have the information you want them to have about matters being tried in the media.

DO consider the option of informing certain key audiences of the probability of media coverage on a legal matter before it appears in the press.

DO remember that employees are a critical audience — all employees are PR representatives for the organization whether you want them to be or not.

DO integrate legal and PR strategy, because you’ll be educating the jury pool while also minimizing damage that could occur to your organization in the short-term, even if you win the legal case in the long-term.

DO explore the use of publicity about generic or related issues relevant to your particular case or client as a legitimate means of bringing attention to issues that might result in pre-trial settlements, or to develop similar examples to illustrate the issues in your case.

DON’T say “no comment” if you haven’t had a chance to review the case. Say “I’d very much like to comment on this as soon as I’ve read what’s been filed.” If appropriate, add: “I still don’t have a copy of it myself, could you fax or email one over?”

DO tell journalists that you want to respect their deadlines, but would appreciate their respecting your need to have the information you need to make an intelligent response.

DON’T attack the media. Ever. Neither directly, nor in communication with other audiences, because it will get back to them. The media can hurt you more than you can hurt them. Most media outlets LOVE being sued or threatened, it sells more papers or air time.

DON’T judge the impact of media coverage by the sensationalism of headlines or length of news coverage. Ask your important audiences, internal and external, how THEY are reacting to the coverage — in some cases, you’ll find they don’t believe it!

DO consider becoming your own publisher, using the Internet to post your perspective on issues of public concern — IF the general public is, in fact, an important audience for you. Or even on a password-protected website for selected audiences that are important to you.

DON’T assume that you know how to talk to reporters about negative news just because you’re skilled at “good news” interviews — get media trained.

DO establish both internal and external rumor control systems to short-circuit rumors early on, before they do too much damage.

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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Crossing Over to The Dark Side:Why Journalists Get into PR – and What Clients Get Out of It

With 15 years in public relations, occasionally it helps to stop and ask, “Why did I get into this profession?” Before answering that, a bit of pre-PR background. I was on the other side of the desk in the world of journalism before making a career change. Specifically, pop culture — music, comedy, the occasional film review, feature or Hollywood junket, and quite a few business stories about various aspects of Show Business. Working for the alternative weekly City Pages and then the Twin Cities Reader (no longer published), I also freelanced for the daily papers, and contributed to Billboard. I floated a few Random Notes for Rolling Stone, penned pieces for Right On! (lots of Prince stories!!), and reported freelance articles for the Washington Post, Boston Globe, Utne Reader and others.

After 10 years, I had my mid-life crisis early and felt that what I once loved doing was no longer fun, or worth doing (even though I had just been offered a sweet position at the Austin-American Statesman in Texas). I needed new challenges and going to work in public relations provided them. I worked at an agency that specialized in custom publishing, marketing communications and public policy and became the utility player in each group. It was great training for what I do now.

While there are critical differences between journalism and public relations, what joins them intellectually is understanding what constitutes a good story and communicating it effectively. You may (or may not) be surprised that many former journalists go to work in PR (and it is truer today than at any time, given the demise of the publishing business model, mostly because of the internet). Editor and Publisher, a trade publication for the publishing world, once surveyed how many PR people were former journalists. The percentages were surprisingly high if I recall, someplace between 68-72%).

Journalists-turned-publicists generally have a leg up on those who simply came out of college with a communications degree in PR or related areas. And their clients benefit from their experience and skill sets, especially their ability to ferret out what the story really is. They’re trained to be good listeners and know how to corroborate the details that make up a good story. They also still heavily follow the news cycle. The best ones have super-charged BS detectors. And they usually know what reporters are going to ask.

Many retain strong relationships with their “ink-stained” colleagues, which never hurts when pitching a client’s story. That’s one “valued-added” advantage, especially if working at just the local level. Still, there are some journalists who would never become PR people because they see it as a stain on what they do and who they are professionally. They are not straying from their beat no matter how beat-up the fourth estate gets. That’s to be admired and respected.

But so are the people who “cross to the dark side” (a standing expression/joke in the PR and journalism businesses). These people bring a wealth of knowledge, solid contacts who return their calls, and genuine insight into communicating the stories you read in your favorite newspaper or magazine, or a report or interview you might have seen or heard on TV or radio. And that, as one legendary diehard broadcaster used to remind us, is the rest of the story.

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Ten reasons why meetings fail

A-group-of-people-meeting-in-a-conference-room

Meetings can take up a large portion of anyone’s working day and for many of us, demands on time in the office are already high. So in an ideal world every meeting should count, with specific objectives and results making the time invested worthwhile.

Allowing conflict to get out of control = chaos
Allowing conflict to get out of control = chaos

All too often though, meetings – even during and afterwards – are perceived as a waste of time by those invited. This can usually be attributed to a lack of understanding about what the meeting was for. To avoid the sense that it was all worthless, here is a list of ten reasons why meetings can fail for you to use as a checklist when planning your next meeting: Continue reading “Ten reasons why meetings fail”

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“Development” is NOT a synonym for “Fundraising”

Development is, by definition, the process of creating and enhancing relationships with (potential) donors.

It is the introduction of (prospective) donors to a non-profit organization, building their interest in the organization’s mission/services, developing in them a passion for the mission and a commitment to the organization’s future, getting them to make-the-gift, and maintaining the relationship so that they will continue to support the mission … and continue to give.

“Development” directly implies that the donor is supporting the organization, its mission and services.

“Fundraising” only addresses the “giving” aspect of the process, and people don’t always give to a NPO to support the organization, its mission and/or its services.

As noted previously, people give to satisfy their own needs. If the process results in having an individual want to give … feeling good about giving because s/he wants to advance the mission and services, that’s a desired result of the development process.

Very often, however, a donor’s reason for giving may have nothing to do with the NPO’s mission. They may give because they want to please the person who is “asking,” because they want to see their name alongside the names of recognizable personalities, or if they want to see their name on (a floor, a wing, or on the outside of) a building. That is fundraising, but not necessarily “development.”

When I’m working with a client, I de-emphasize the terminology, and stress the importance of getting to know the (prospective) donors well enough to know what his/her needs are and how those needs can be satisfied by making a gift to their NPO.

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Who Will Choose To Lead?

A group of potential leaders

I live in the Kansas Flint Hills. It’s ranch land, no more than 4 people per square mile. (No surprise, then, that I do most of my coaching by telephone.) But we are a community. And we have no shortage of issues requiring leadership.

Leadership is not the same as Authority.

As we blog about definitions of leadership, I urge you to remember that “Leadership” is NOT the same as “Authority.” Let’s toss the word “leader” out of the lexicon. It doesn’t mean anything. The current habit of talking about “leadership positions” confuses things. Authority is a position. You must CHOOSE to lead.

Leadership is an action.

Leadership is an action. Acts of leadership are exceedingly rare.

Here in Chase County, Kansas, as elsewhere in the country, citizens regularly and dutifully step up to fill positions of authority. We have our Mayors, County Commissioners, Chairs of this and Presidents of that. There’s a Fire Chief and a Sheriff. Each church has its Pastor, each school its Principal.

But tonight I’m reminded of our need for leadership. It’s a beautiful spring night, the wind is calm, and bright orange flames slice across the hills outside my kitchen window. It’s FIRE SEASON in the Flint Hills. Tonight, ranching families are doing what they’ve done for so long that most of them would say, “We’ve always done it.”

But this custom of burning every pasture every year (begun in earnest only 30 years ago) is polluting the air as far away as Louisville, Kentucky. It’s destroying habitat for prairie chickens and other native species. The EPA is cracking down and ranchers are hanging on tight to the culture they’ve been raised in.

There is no Prairie Fire Czar with authority enough to dampen the conflict. We don’t need to create another position. No one need be elected or promoted. Finding a solution that the community can live with will require countless, individual acts of leadership.

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It’s All About Listening

A lady actively listening to a man talking

Everything in coaching hinges on listening – it is the key to the coaching session. Listening is also essential for personal and professional success. Even though we know listening is important – active listening is not always a common practice. Active listening shows respect and that you desire to learn and understand the speaker. Here are some active listening skills:

Summarize or paraphrase – occasionally, repeat back what you heard the speaker say such as, “So I heard what you are saying is…” or “It sounds like…” This will increase your ability to concentrate on what is being said and assure you understand the message.

Use the pause button – let the speaker finish what they are saying. Avoid talking over them or jumping in to finish their sentence. Listen – pause – then express your own points.

Observe for non verbal cues – gestures, body language, emotions, eye movements, tone of voice and inflection offer more than just the words. If on the phone, listen for energy shifts, pace and what is not being said.

Ask questions to get a better understanding – “can you say more about that?” or “help me understand what you mean”.

Focus on the speaker – minimize external distractions and multitasking to capture the full essence of what is being said. For internal distractions, practice re-focusing your attention on the speaker when your mind wanders.

What additional active listening skills work well for you?

For more resources, see the Library topic Personal and Professional Coaching.

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The Paper Trail

An-organization-manager-meeting-with-the-HR-manager

A common misconception with employees and managers is that of the “paper trail.” It is believed that in order to make a termination decision, a manager must create this “paper trail” of documentations until they have enough evidence to satisfy the Human Resource (HR) Department. Unfortunately, this very notion typically brings great frustration to everyone involved including the employee. However, behaviors of both managers and HR professionals can continue to reinforce the thought process that leads to this fallacy. For example, let’s look at the following fictitious dialogue.

Manager – Hey HR person, I need to speak to you about an employee issue. I think it is time to let Bob go.

HR Manager- Okay Manager, what is the issue?

Manager-Well, Bob just can’t seem to meet the department goals.

HR Manager- What type of documentation do you have?

Manager-I’ve talked to him a hundred times and no matter what I try, it doesn’t help. Bob just can’t grasp the concept. He’s bringing down the whole team’s numbers, and now I am getting in trouble.

HR Manager-Ok. What type of documentation do you have?

Manager-I haven’t written up anything yet.

After this dialogue the HR manager thinks, “How many times do I have to tell them ….”

The manager thinks, “HR always gets in the way of me doing my job. They just don’t understand…”

And the cycle continues…

The cycle is able to continue in many organizations because there has been a failure to create a performance culture where there is a constant flow of feedback to employees at every level on performance.

What ideas do you have to create this culture? What has worked in your organizations? I look forward to hearing your thoughts as we continue to explore this topic in future posts.

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For more resources, See the Human Resources library.

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Sheri Mazurek is a training and human resource professional with over 16 years of management experience, and is skilled in all areas of employee management and human resource functions, with a specialty in learning and development. She is currently employed as the Human Resource Manager at EmployeeScreenIQ, a global leader in pre-employment background screening.