Another Productivity Post: The Best From the Web

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I know it probably seems like I obsess over time management and productivity, but it’s because they are two very important components for a successful small business.  At least they are very important in my eyes.  I feel the more productive you can be in the shortest amount of time, will allow you to have more time to enjoy life.  So, I try to maximize every minute I can during the work day, because I attempt to shut it all off and live when the work day is done.

I thought today instead of writing another post on ways I try to stay productive, I would share posts from other people with their tips on productivity.  I present productivity tips from around the web:

  1. “5 Benefits of Scheduling Every Hour” by Steve Garofalo, The Brevado Blog.
  2. “4-Step Battle Plan to Destroy Productivity Terrorists & Work Distractions” by Annie Sis, The Social Solutions Collective Blog.
  3. “12 Productivity Tips from Incredibly Busy People” by Bruna Martinuzzi, American Express Open Forum Blog.
  4. “Jerry Seinfeld’s 6 Best Productivity Tips” by Joshua Rivera, LifeHacker Blog.
  5. “The Importance of Taking a ‘Time Out’” by Marc Ensign, 500 Words of Less Blog.
  6. “Healthy Habits for Increased Productivity” by Sarah Brooks, Under30CEO Blog.
  7. “4 Apps for More Productive Professional Networking Events” by Jade Hammond, eZanga Blog.

Are there any stellar articles you recommend for productivity tips?  Share them in the comments below!

Lack of Engagement is like Giving a Customer the Cold Shoulder

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I feel that it is very important for businesses that market in the digital arena to be engaging with their audience.  If you use social media, respond and interact with your audience as opposed to just posting.  If you use your blog as a marketing vehicle, respond to comments and shares of your posts.  If you are listed on review sites like Angie’s List, Yelp or Kudzu and you receive a bad review, try to reach out to that consumer to see how you can make things better.

Sometimes people see digital marketing methods or business practices as a bit impersonal and cold, but it does not have to be.  I truly believe that it is possible to show a human side, engage, interact and really connect with people without physical contact.  Maybe I feel this way because I am an introvert and consider myself to be pretty good at forming strong bonds digitally.  Too me, the digital sphere is no different than the physical one.  If someone said “hi, I like your blouse” to me in real life, in the physical world; I would respond kindly with a “thank you” and probably a bunch of gibberish about how I found it at a thrift store, which one, on which sale day…I digress.  The point is that I would engage with them.  They took a moment of their time to reach out and pay me a compliment, to let me know that they noticed something about me and they liked it.  They did not have to do this.

If I had ignored them, I would have been giving them the cold shoulder and probably a negative impression as to who I am as a person.  This is the same for businesses and anyone that markets in the digital spectrum.  Respond, comment, connect and engage.  My (digital) friend Tracy over at Tracyville, wrote a post on responding to blog comments here that I thought was pretty good (check her out!).  She hit the nail on the head when she mentioned how it makes people feel to be responded to or not responded to.  We as marketers, have to be mindful to stay “human” and practice the same principles of physical interactions with our digital ones.

Mind Your Own Business: Unsolicited Advice

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This post is a vent.  Well, sort of because I am actually in a good mood, but I wanted to write about something that grinds my gears – unsolicited advice.  Before I was an entrepreneur full-time, I hated when people would give me unsolicited advice about my life.  I especially hated receiving it from people that did not know me very well, or at all.  I bit my tongue a lot, because after politely listening, I always wanted to ask; what qualifications they had that warranted me actually listening and implementing this advice.  As a business owner, I have encountered even more unsolicited advice…and I usually have that same question floating in my head.

My answer to that question is a snap judgment of “nothing.”  They are in no way qualified to give me the advice they are giving.  This is a snap judgment based only on the information about themselves that they have presented to me.  I find that in most cases, unsolicited advice comes from people that do not seem to have a firm grasp of the advice they are giving.  For example, a non-business owner giving advice on how to run a small business when they’ve never done so, or theirs failed miserably.  A non-marketing person giving advice on how I should be marketing.  A non-creative telling me what services I really should be offering.  The biggest gripe for me is that a) I didn’t ask, I was just having a friendly conversation; and b) you don’t know me, my business, my objectives and goals well enough to make an accurate assessment of what I should do.

That really grinds my gears!  I guess because for what I do, I have to gather information about the project before I can do the work; I feel the same should apply to advice that is doled out, but only if asked.  Even when someone is venting to me, I try very hard not to give my opinion and advice unsolicited.  Sometimes someone just wants to vent.  If they ask, then I tell.  If someone contacts me and wants to pick my brain, I tell, but I let them know that it is based off of my own experiences and may not be applicable to them.

I wish more people would try to do the same.  If you like to give people advice without them asking, please stop.  If you hate receiving unsolicited advice, tell me about it in the comments below.  Let’s chat…I am soliciting your comments. 🙂

One Size Does Not Always Fit All

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I’m tired of the one size fits all approach…to everything; marketing, life, relationships, business, networking, etc.  Maybe it is because I always seem to be that 1% that it does not fit or work for.  For instance, I apparently have a watermelon-sized head.  No one size fits all hat or adjustable ball cap ever fits me.  At least not without an accompanying headache from it being too small.  As it relates to business, I have fallen prey plenty of times to messages and strategies from marketing gurus that just did not work for me.

I was gullible.

I can admit that it was gullible of me to believe that there truly are universal blanket approaches that will work for everyone, including me.  Can you blame me?  We are bombarded with advertisements, blog posts, books and messages that tout ways to get more followers, traffic, brand recognition, business, customers, etc, everyday.  We see them online through social media and offline in television commercials.  For the brand or individual that originated the messaging, it works.  People like me say, “Yes, I want that and need to know that!”  Then, I am disappointed when I realize that while it was a great strategy, it was not a great strategy for me.

Moving forward.

I cannot knock the methods for not working for me because they will work for someone else and perhaps a whole bunch of someone else’s.  What I can do is try not to fall prey again.  When I feel myself getting excited about a new marketing strategy, I evaluate the why and how of it’s effectiveness.  Then, I check to see if I have the why’s and how’s within my business and self to apply that same principle.  If I don’t, I keep moving.  If I do, I will implement the strategy for a three-month period of time and then measure the results against what I was previously doing.  If the results are good, I continue; if the results are bad, I discontinue the approach.

While it is hard (for me) to resist trying a strategy when it is coming from someone that is a credible and authoritative individual on the subject, I have to remember that I too am an individual.  Evaluating the effectiveness and validity of the strategy as it relates to me and my brand keeps me from banging my head against the wall for falling prey, again.

Don’t Think Like You; Think Like Them

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You are not the customer.  The customer is the customer.  Even if you would be a user of your product or service, you are biased.  You think it is great, awesome, stupendous and the best thing since the invention of sliced bread.  The customer might like it and even love it, but maybe not with the same enthusiasm that you have.

When you market, where you market, and how you brand should not be based on what you think would be nice, look good or a good place and way to do so.  It should be what the customer would like, where they would be and how they would like for you to do so.