Improving conflict handling reduces risk of crisis
There is nothing you can do to completely prevent conflict. Like it or not, it’s a fact, and one that’s better faced when you have time to prepare and plan than in the heat of the moment. Conflict resolution training is an asset to crisis management because it reduces risk of workplace violence, keeps lines of communication open, and helps to strengthen relationships, and one of the first things you’ll learn as part of any good program is people have very different approaches to conflict.
Justin Hall, a student at Swathmore college, created the first blog in 1994. In the 21 years since then, blogging has grown in popularity and is now a staple of modern life – and content marketing.
A great blog goes a long way toward creating the modern success story. But how do you know what makes a great blog post? TrackMaven wondered the same thing and recently researched 4,618 blogs to find the answers. So what did they find in the 1,167,426 posts and 1,915,428,305 social shares which those blogs represent?
Here are the five essentials content marketers need to know:
Time is of the essence.
One of the first things the study looked at is when blogs were posted and when posts were receiving the most shares. Surprisingly, the timing didn’t line-up. While the most shares took place during the evening hours or early morning peaking between 10:00-1:00PM, the most posts were being put-up during the workday, peaking between noon and 1 o’clock.
So what does this mean for content marketers? The report suggests remember that people tend to do their reading, even their business reading, in their leisure hours. If you want to engage with your customers, doing it outside the 9-5 window is essential to getting them to click.
Don’t forget the day.
Much like bloggers tend to be posting during the middle of the day, the study found that they are also overwhelmingly posting during the middle of the week, with Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays getting the bulk of posts. Despite this, the study found that the bulk of shares were still taking place on the weekends. The content marketers’ data spoke for itself.
According to the study, “while only 6.3% of posts were published on Saturdays, they received 18% of the total social shares”, meaning; if you want to engage with your customers, Saturday is clearly your best day for posting to your blog.
Shorter is better.
If you find yourself being excessively verbose when creating titles you might suppose you shall also lose customer interest. When it comes to creating titles, the study found what most of us instinctively know: on the internet, shorter is better. The average blog title, the study found, is about 40 characters long. These content marketers’ posts did well for reader engagement but the best titles for social shares came in at around 60 characters.
Anything longer than that length significantly decreased the likelihood of a post getting social shares. The key to titling, it seems, is the same as most writing: write long enough that people understand you, but not any longer. People come to blogs to be entertained and a long title risks losing their attention before you ever get them to click.
DON’T SHOUT AT YOUR AUDIENCE!
As it turns out, the study found that people aren’t really interested in deviation from standard English punctuation or capitalization with one exception—blog posts with 4 exclamation points saw a significantly greater number of shares. Be wary of adopting this as a gimmick, though, unless you have the blog posts to back-up your exciting headline. Otherwise, the study found exclamation points are generally to be avoided.
In the words of an old English professor, “you only get four exclamation points in your lifetime, use them well.” As for all caps or lower caps? The study found that we are better off sticking with the rules we were taught in grade-school for capitalization did the best for engaging readers.
Are you talking to me?
While shouting at your readers might not be the best approach, asking a question can net content marketers double the shares of a blog post without a question in the title. The study suggests this is because a question in the title engages with a reader immediately, peaking their curiosity, encouraging them to not only click but share the post.
Further, titles with the words “Your” and “You” the study found did exceptionally well on social shares. In other words, titles that directed their content straight to the individual was most likely to be received and shared.
Your Goal
As a content marketer, your goal in creating a blog is to get people to engage in the content your posting. If you apply the findings of TrackMaven’s study to your own blog, you should see your own social media shares increase, provided, you have content worth sharing.
The Conclusion
The ultimate conclusion of the study, though the numbers were useful, is that you have to create the kind of content which individuals crave and look for in a blog. Content that is impactful, relatable, and shareable. Content which teaches you something and shares your values.
If you are able to meet your audience where they are by abiding by the five rules of this study as well as provide meaningful content, then you should have no problem finding new customers or readers in the future.
If you finished reading this post and you think it’s valuable, others will too.
So please take 5 seconds (!) to share on Facebook, Twitter or your favorite social scoop. Thanks!
For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Marketing and Social Media.
.. _____ ..
About the Author:
Lisa Chapman helps company leaders define, plan and achieve their goals, both online and offline. After 25+ years as an entrepreneur, she is now a business and marketing consultant, business planning consultant and social media consultant. Online, she works with clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa (at) LisaChapman (dot) com. Her book, The WebPowered Entrepreneur – A Step-by-Step Guide is available at:
A look at how your peers are using social media data to improve PR
It’s likely by now your organization is using social media wholeheartedly, and you’re probably even collecting data on things like stakeholder demographics, optimal posting times, and many other common factors. The question is, what the heck are you doing with it? If you’re sitting on a pile of data and don’t know what to do with it you’re likely to find some good suggestions in the infographic below, created by PR News and BusinessWire using polling data from PR pros around the country:
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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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– See more at: https://staging.management.org/blogs/crisis-management/2015/06/25/government-credentials-found-pasted-around-the-web/#sthash.KxYYHu3o.dpuf
Another in the constant stream of reminders to stay vigilant about data security
Research from CIA-backed social media data mining firm company Recorded Future uncovered the fact that login credentials for nearly every federal agency have been posted in plan sight on paste dump pages like Pastebin.
According to Recorded Future analyst Scott Donnelly, these findings are bad for a few reasons. For one, it means that government employees are using their work email address on insecure sites — leaving them wide open to hackers if any of those websites is compromised. Worse, many government agencies don’t employ proper login safeguards like two-step authentication, which can require employees to verify any new login attempts with the goal of preventing hacking attempts.
In fact, 12 of the 47 agencies tied to these credential dumps do not use two-step authentication standards, which has become a security must-do.
In other words, it doesn’t appear to be a sophisticated invasion or a piece of custom software that led to this info being made public, but rather simple lapses in security.
If this is what’s going on with government agencies that (presumably) have some sort of guidelines in place to help prevent such issues, how careful do you think the folks in your organization are? Educate your team on data security as often as possible, preferably with real-world examples to keep the lessons from becoming too abstract. It really is the most effective way to keep your data secure.
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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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As Technical Writers and Communicators, we have to communicate and collaborate effectively. If we follow some basic rules about interpersonal skills, then we can be sure that communicating verbally and in writing to individuals will be successful. How do we begin to do this?
Build your relationships. Make sure that you are paying attention to others when they speak.
Pay attention and face them when speaking and listening.
Show them that you genuinely care about what they are saying by nodding or smiling.
Repeat what you heard to make sure that what was said is understood and verified.
Avoid miscommunications by taking good notes. But try not to look away from the speaker too often when writing down notes.
Build a rapport in order to exchange information more easily.
Pay close attention to what is being said and listen to what they want and what they know.
Be honest and open when speaking about any information that is shared or needed.
When sharing information you have, be open and trustworthy.
There is no need to hide nor hold anything back if all the information is factual.
Answer questions truthfully to form a trust.
Make the conversation data driven.
Have your data ready for a presentation or to make a convincing argument.
Use it to help display points. Data is factual and real. Once shown and explained, information will be more easily understood and retained.
In addition, provide visual images to represent data facts. This helps others to digest information more easily.
Engage others to join the conversation.
Taking advantage of relaxed encounters can cause people to open up more and hence reveal even more information or details.
Opening up communication within a group can provide more ideas and questions that need to be answered.
Having others give their opinions and thoughts can open up new topics from rethinking and ironically, open up more challenges. This latter item is a good thing not a bad thing as it motivates others to delve into other areas. Innovations, improvements, and increased productivity can surprisingly, result.
Engaging others can also provide new designs, concepts, and views.
When having a conversation involving more than two people, there are precautions that have to be taken. This is the case when one person dominates the conversation – do not let this happen. You always have to be in control if you are the originator of the conversation (and/or meeting). People can diverge from the main focus of a topic, causing the reason behind the conversation to be lost. Try to keep conversations (and/or meetings) on task.
In the end, workers and coworkers function better when working with people they are comfortable with. So it is best to be interested in the people you are communicating with. Information will then flow easier as well, i.e., a relaxed interaction allows better collaboration and more information to be shared. Building personal relationships is important for helping to get your tasks and hence your writings completed.
The results are in – Execution trumps strategy. Your business plan may have great strategies, but it will be a great failure if executed poorly. So just hire the right people, right? Turns out the answer is not what you think. At least according to a recent Harvard Business Review Article.
Five Myths About Effective Execution
Myth 1: Execution Equals Alignment
The typical approach to execution is to translate strategies into specific objectives, assign them to employees, use tools such as management by objectives and balanced scorecards to measure results, then hand out rewards based on performance. To fix implementation problems, adjust the processes that link strategy to action throughout the organization, leading to greater alignment and thus better results.
Unfortunately, in most companies, the problem isn’t alignment. It isn’t even having the right people on the bus. The problem is silo thinking. Their research found that 84% of managers say they can rely on their boss and their direct reports all or most of the time, while only 9% can rely on colleagues in other functions. Two out of three times, those colleagues screw things up.
And even for companies that have systems in place to manage commitments across silos, only 20% of managers believe they do enough good. Most want more structure to coordinate activities across units; more bridges across those silos.
Myth 2: Execution Means Sticking to the Plan
Many companies treat plans as sacred objects. That’s great if obedience is your strongest priority, but it doesn’t encourage agility. Effective implementation requires managers that adapt to changing opportunities and threats quickly, but that’s not going to happen if adherence to the plan trumps all other considerations.
And it’s also not going to happen if capital resources and staffing are tied up in less productive uses, rather than reallocated to support strategic priorities. Most companies, for profit and nonprofit, tend to be very slow to discontinue declining activities, denying resources to growing areas.
Myth 3: Communication Equals Understanding
Communication is good, so more communication is better, right? Not necessarily. Many organizations push out so much internal communication that the important stuff gets lost in the shuffle. Keep it simple and reinforce the central points.
Myth 4: A Performance Culture Drives Execution
What matters is what you do, not what you say. While many organizations offer a compelling official culture, reflected often in core values listed on the web site, but in practice what tends to get rewarded is individual or team performance (certainly a good thing), while collaboration across units, ability to adapt, agility and risk-taking, those attributes are rarely rewarded.
Too much focus on a performance culture leads to an unwillingness to experiment, to be open about challenges, to take risks that might lead to set backs. In other words, keep it safe, hit your numbers, that’s the real internal culture at most companies. And that doesn’t encourage the kind of openness and risk taking that’s essential for long term success.
Myth 5: Execution Should Be Driven from the Top
While leadership from the top is essential, an execution-driven organization needs to encourage middle managers to have the authority to make execution decisions on their own, taking initiative and ownership of the results rather than expecting all of that to come from the top. Get clarity on the objectives, then managers figure out the best ways to get there.
Hope you deal with conflict defines its impact on your organization
The most successful workforces are often made up of people with very different opinions and points of view, not to mention their own set of outside stressors and ways of coping, making conflict inevitable. Handled quickly and correctly, you can come out on the other side of conflicts stronger than you began. Neglect to plan for and deal with it when things heat up, however, and you’re setting yourself up for crisis.
There is an undeniable connection between customer service and avoiding crisis
Customer service is your first line of defense against crisis, yet all-too-often we see it ignored, farmed out, left to unqualified, untrained staff, or otherwise neglected. As this infographic from Groovy makes clear, the way the people communicating for your organization interact with your stakeholders has a direct correlation to the quality of your reputation:
How Customer Service is Impacting Your Bottom Line and Online Reputation – An infographic by the team at Groovv
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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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The key ingredient of an in-house telephone solicitation program is the person making the phone call. [And, btw, with all the (misplaced) emphasis on the use of social media to raise money, keep in mind that the telephone is a “social medium.”]
Last week I noted that pre-call mail (snail mail or email) discusses the case and asks prospects to consider a specific dollar commitment. With that done, the caller has minimal need to do that, and s/he can focus on the reason for the call — getting that commitment.
The caller should be able to refer to the letter and how it was that person who asked that s/he consider the specific amount — it was the important person making the ask, and the caller is merely following up on behalf of that person.
To identify the people who are more likely to be effective callers, select those who exhibit (one-or-more) specific traits/skills/background factors: acting ability; gift of gab; work experience going back before high school; commission sales; greed; assertiveness; good speaking voice with speech patterns that will be comfortable to your prospects; and ability and willingness to follow directions.
One important thought: Callers are likely to be asked if they are telemarketers. The correct, truthful and appropriate answer is that they are staff members of the nonprofit organization … or students of the institution. (More about this issue when we discuss the calling environment.)
Caller recruitment is a serious business.
Placing ads and waiting for responses just won’t get you the people you need.
• Contact local theaters and theater companies, and make it known that you’ve got some part-time work for actors.
• Talk to people you know, ask them if they know anyone who fits the requirements.
• If you currently have people who spend a good bit of their time on the phone with constituents, see if any of them meet the criteria.
• See if any of them can recommend anyone who meets the criteria.
• Offer to pay staff a bounty for suggesting callers who end up working at least xx full-sessions.
• Offer a decent hourly wage, with increases based on performance (( but no compensation based on a percentage of money raised !! ))
• Try to identify from among the people you serve those who might meet the criteria, and call them. Tell them you are considering the creation/expansion of a phone program and are looking to create a list of potential participants. Do not promise them employment. If, during the call you determine that they are not potential callers, ask them if they can recommend people who meet the requirements.
If the program is for an institution of higher learning:
• First Stop, the Theater Arts Department.
• Have flyers put into every campus resident’s mailbox.
• Mail to all commuters, including those in the adult school and continuing education — you might get lucky and find some experienced salespeople.
One caution, do not use volunteers as callers, especially those from any of your constituent groups. In addition to salary as incentive for callers to stay with a program, paying callers gives you the option to “fire” those who cannot perform adequately. And you can’t “fire” a volunteer, especially a constituent-volunteer.
All prospective callers should be interviewed by telephone — and the interviewer should have a script/list of questions for the interview process that address the desired skills/traits/background, and whether the caller will be comfortable asking people for specific dollar amounts.
A program must have the option to replace a caller that cannot perform as required. A large group should be recruited, and each of those who appear to have the qualifications should be given up to three opportunities, during three separate calling sessions, to demonstrate their abilities on the telephone; and, those who have what it takes are given priority/preference in the caller scheduling.
It turns out that there wasn’t space/time to address caller training this week, so we’ll do that Next Wednesday
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Although it’s admittedly out of context, I quote what I see as the controversial parts of her post:
“A friend with a successful marketing firm recently ventilated to me about an experience she had with a client that was driving her to drink. It seems he bought a logo on the website Fiverr.com for $5 and then didn’t like it …I think I’ll stick to my original model. After all, you get what you pay for.”
Note: To read the post in its entirety, see the above link: “blog post about Fiverr.com”.
My Excellent Experiences with Fiverr.com
I certainly understand her point of view regarding this man who spent $5 for his logo on Fiverr.com, and then wasn’t satisfied with the result. Like many consumers of services, he had a bad experience. So in response, I’d love to share a different perspective – my excellent experiences with Fiverr and how our readers can have them, too!
Manage Fiverr Like any Outsourced Vendor
Fiverr.com offers a number of ways for the “Buyer” to screen “Sellers” and have a high degree of confidence that their experience and outcome will be great. That’s their business mission – great experiences!
Point #1: It appears that the man in your example did not choose a Seller” who offered unlimited revisions until the Buyer is satisfied.
Point #2: Each Seller has a section at the bottom of their page where you can read customer reviews. Read ALL of them. How were they rated? Any problems and how were they resolved?
Point #3: How many customers has this Seller serviced? Their page also shows total # of customers. Choose a seller with a LOT of satisfied customers.
Point #4: The Seller page offers actual examples of the Seller’s work. Don’t expect a logo designer who shows samples of cartoon-ish, caricature-ish logos to produce something sleek and minimalistic. Not in their DNA.
Point #5: Do they speak and understand English well? You may laugh, but I have had this experience. The Seller may be talented, but if he/she doesn’t understand nuances enough to satisfy your needs, you may not be satisfied.Read what they’ve written on their page with this in mind. Send them a message before you engage them and test their communication skills.
Point #6: YOU need to send the Seller as much detailed info as possible in order to get as close to your desired outcome as possible. Just like ANY offline seller.
My Actual Savings by Using Fiverr
So that’s the process I’ve used – and I’ve saved at least $1,500 in the last year by using Fiverr Sellers for a number of marketing and graphic design services. My logo was a Fiverr design: www.lisachapman.com (it’s what I wanted) and the banners on my social media profiles were also Fiverr products (I got FOUR banners for $5!).
How can Fiverr Sellers Charge so Little?
BTW, the Sellers on Fiverr can charge this little primarily for two reasons: 1.) Many work in countries where $5 goes a lot farther than in the U.S. and 2.) they are very specific about what you get for $5, with more extensive add-ons costing “extra gigs”. Example: Many logo designers will deliver jpg and png files for $5, but if you want a full suite of editable file formats, they cost additional gigs – anywhere from $5 – $40. Just read their gig description.
As you can tell, I’m a big fan of Fiverr.com and with savings of $1500 (or more), it’s worth it to me to spend a little extra time to screen the Sellers as described above! Hope this helps someone else! Lisa
If you finished reading this post, others will too, so please take 5 seconds (!) to share on Facebook, Twitter or your favorite social scoop. Thanks!
For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Marketing and Social Media.
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ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman:
Lisa Chapman helps company leaders define, plan and achieve their goals – both online and offline. After 25+ years as an entrepreneur, she is now a business and marketing consultant, business planning consultant and social media consultant. Online, she works with clients to establish and enhance their brand, attract their Target Audience, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert them into Buyers. You can reach her via email: Lisa (at) LisaChapman (dot) com. Her book, The WebPowered Entrepreneur – A Step-by-Step Guide is available at:
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