Keeping employees satisfied with their work is becoming increasingly important. We all have more on our plates today than ever before. Some of us have been through tough financial times, others are wearing two or more hats due to increased job descriptions. Researchers say that growing number of workplaces are filled with rude and uncivil behavior among stressed out fellow employees.

Overworked employees may think they don’t have time for polite interpersonal behavior. However, in the long run, politeness saves time as it increases cooperation and creativity. Civility goes beyond “please and thank you,” but these two words can help if they come with respect and gratitude.

Studies have shown that positive relations with co-workers are a big factor in how people feel from day to day. They are less stressed and more productive, even if they are busy. Positive relationships can be even more crucial while team members have an alternative work arrangement that may be experimental for the organization. It is important to know what makes you or your team members frustrated so that you can have a solution-driven attitude. Focus on the problem, not the other person. Good attitudes spread and make the team environment nicer and more productive for all. Also, people will be more accommodating when they feel their input is valued and they can contribute to the success of the organization. Happy employees are more likely to post positive than negative messages about your company in social media.

* Become an expert at what you do. Study the workflows of people who are very efficient and copy them. You will often find that they are extremely well organized. Learn from experts in your field.

* Prioritize. What is the most important thing on your list? Concentrate on that alone until you are finished.

* Be open to new ideas. Consultant Brian Tracy says some overwhelmed people think they already know all they need to know on a subject. Never stop learning.

* Face up to mistakes. Saying you made a mistake is a sign of maturity and personal strength.

* Become an expert on time management. Then practice every day until you master time management skills.

Read Getting Things Done by David Allen. This book was released in 2001 and remains a best seller as it fuels global demand for Mr. Allen’s workshops and personal coaching. Amazingly, he has established an industry around a simple approach to getting things done.

A few ideas:

* Present your plan to a carefully selected audience. Focus on one industry or one problem.
* Keep it interesting. Don’t let your listeners (and yourself) get bored.
* Be realistic. Oversized income projections will make you less believable. Don’t make promises you can’t keep.
* Recognize your competition. Take into account all forces that may compete with your product or service.
* Avoid repeating the same idea or fact in different forms. Use colorful language and imagery to describe your venture.
* Discuss your ideas and goals in simple, specific terms that almost anyone would understand
* Make certain that every fact about your industry, the market and competitors is accurate. Be sure any chart in your plan is consistent with other material.
* Before presenting the business plan, have an experienced person check it for any mistake or inconsistency.
* Create a plan that expresses your idea and your personality. It should be one that states your case, that you are comfortable with, and that you can discuss.

Useful resources:

The Plan As You Go Business Plan by Tim Berry

The e-Business Primer by J.A. Hoffman

myownbusiness.org

White papers appeal more to me as they provide logic through facts, statistics and quotes from end users or industry experts. They are not flashy, but usually filled with facts.  For me, they are much more informative. I consider writing a good white paper a real art form as the author has to be a good researcher, persuasive essayist and a marketer all at once.  At the same time, a good balance between the right amount of facts, images, quotes and often industry terms has to be achieved.  Case studies tend to focus on customer stories and testimonials whereas white papers add a touch of credibility through unbiased information.

High quality content is becoming increasingly important as people crave useful information and have access to growing number of information channels before making buying decisions.  All marketing materials should educate; therefore, business people, especially marketers, need to become avid readers and dedicated students to continuously improve their skills.  I am planning to master the art of writing effective white papers in 2010 to deliver quality leads for my own business and customers. I encourage you to do the same. Good content leads to good customers.

Good place to start:  White Paper Success Summit 2010, a live online event that will empower participants to attract quality leads and grow their business with educational white papers.  I am planning to attend as the list of instructors is impressive. I would love to win a free ticket or two and you can too (until January 25th, 2010) – read more on the Content Marketing Revolution blog and stop by Michael Stelzner’s website. 

Marketers can’t push products on people. They have to think like journalists and create a dialogue with their audience to earn a prospect’s trust. Free or low-cost applications such as blogs and podcasts, in addition to social networking tools such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, have changed the old rules. In addition, free social networking applications can be used for managing your company’s reputation, conducting market research, monitoring your competitors’ efforts and collaborating with your colleagues. Twitter can also serve as a platform for your company’s customer service.

Ideal clients can now be reached with targeted messages that cost a fraction of the old expensive advertising campaigns. In addition, social media marketing and PR efforts often allow instant feedback and measurable results, so businesses can immediately see which marketing strategies are working for them and which ones are not.  Read more

Business owners may not always realize that they need to re-visit their marketing plan to create and adopt a marketing system to get results.   The same principle can be applied to Social Media – do your research, learn from others  and create a well thought-out Social Media Marketing Plan to implement your Social Media Marketing System and benefit from social networking.

During last couple of months I have been helping my clients research social networking opportunities for their organizations.  They have been using Twitter and Facebook to listen and learn before they plan and create their own Social Media Marketing Systems.  This is what we’ve learned:

1. Make Twitter a part of your marketing strategy – Social Media Marketing System. Do your research and determine whether your business could use free social networking tools such as Twitter and Facebook for market research, customer service and/or for reaching your target market.
2. Improve your professional skills, products and services by paying attention to what your competitors, potential clients  and current customers are raving or complaining about.
3. Learn how to educate and inform your target audience,  share information about the articles, products and opportunities that your followers/fans may find useful.
4. Person handling tweets/posts/fan pages for your organization should be familiar with the web and web-based tools.
5. Make it your goal to become an “informer” who has the potential to be a “trust agent” – someone who is an expert and has an ability to influence other people.
6. You only have 140 characters for one tweet, use them wisely.
7. Avoid words and phrases that may attract unwanted followers/fans.
8. 100 loyal followers/fans/subscribers who look forward to reading your tweets/posts may be worth more than 1,000 random followers.
9. Learn to use Twitter/Facebook/Blogs as your company’s online reputation management tool.
10. Don’t waste your time if you don’t have a social networking strategy.

He points out that leaders have the ability to draw together a fragmented public, be it on the radio, television or in person.

Bennis quotes Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night as he says, “Some men are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” He cautions the reader not to assume these three paths get equal traffic.

Most leaders, he says, achieve greatness when a role requiring it is thrust upon them.  Bennis compares leadership with show business again when he says actors and directors may feel a role is too big for them. It is a feeling many leaders are familiar with. But the leader’s leap into the unknown and accepting the risk of failure, is the first step in becoming great.

Like great actors, great leaders create and sell an alternative vision of the world, a better one in which we are an essential part.  He says leadership may be “the greatest performing art of all, the only one that creates institutions of lasting value that can endure long after the stars who envisioned them have left the theater.”

The Essential Bennis by Warren Bennis and Patricia Ware Biederman, Jossey-Bass, 480 pages, April 2009.

Email has given us a way to quickly conduct business or send silly stuff to co-workers and friends.

So now we have IM, text messaging, friends on Facebook, and constant communication by 140 characters or less on Twitter.

All of this messaging is great as it is supposed to bring us closer to our friends and find new ones, but if we aren’t careful, these interactions can harm our real-life relationships. Columnist Elizabeth Bernstein quite recently said that she is experiencing Facebook fatigue because loved ones are sending so many photos of their children or parties, forwarding funky quizzes, and posting dozens of jokes. And they are tweeting about their whereabouts and what they are doing at the present moment.

To improve our daily interactions, Bernstein says: Before posting an item, ask yourself if it’s something you would want one of your contacts to send to you. Reward people by responding to interesting messages.

While private blogs can be platforms for political ranting, it can be considered poor form on Facebook to constantly post your political opinions.

Educate and Nurture Your Current Customers

Don’t put all emphasis on new customer acquisition, but affirm your current customers,
find ways to develop loyalty programs that increase the lifetime value of your customers. Reward
clients with your time, attention and little extras – they will become enthusiastic promoters for your products and services.

Get Known as an Expert in a Niche Community

Are you creating compelling stories (ideas, articles, informative presentations or videos) that are picked up and shared person-to-person via social networking sites or within niche communities? If not, observe successful entrepreneurs in your niche and find out how they have become experts and what has contributed to their success. Participate in discussions, create conversations and relationships that help you become an expert and share your ideas.

Offer Pleasant Surprises to Create Viral Marketing

Surprising your clients is worth your time, since it gives you an opportunity to exceed their expectations and satisfied customers will be back. It is not hard to come up with a special offer or free complimentary service, you can always add something remarkable to your product. The level of expectations changes fast these days, you have to be creative and continuously find new ways to “over deliver” so that your customers keep having new reasons to talk about you. Get to know your customers, their habits and buying patterns, develop a system to pleasantly surprise them.

Become and Stay Referable

Never stop learning how to be better and more efficient at what you do. Give your customers every reason to drum up more business for you and find out why or why not people refer you. Always welcome opportunities to meet and help other small business owners. Be interested in their business and volunteer activities. You will learn from them, also share your expertise and they will refer you as they get to know, like and trust you. You and your business will be on their mind as people in their network need products or services that you offer. Find time in your busy day to send thank you cards and notes to people who have made a difference in your life. Make it effortless for your loyal clients to provide information about you, your products and services (make sure they have your business cards and promotional materials, etc.) If you become and stay referable, you don’t have to try to sell your business to others, it will come to you.

Warning for Tourists

I have been traveling quite a bit lately. I embrace these opportunities as there is always so much to  learn from people who live in different parts of the world – frugality and resourcefulness from citizens of countries that have to get by with much less than people in the U.S,  relaxed and easygoing attitude from a young man who lives in Brazil, efficient time management from German professionals and eloquence from British gentlemen.

I have witnessed different approaches to marketing and politics as well – pre-election Germany had a different feel than pre-election Estonia.  Overall, it looked like Europeans had taken a low key approach,
people and governments are tightening their belts.

Just like people in different countries have different needs, so do small businesses. Product and service customization as well as getting to know your customer are both equally important, or you’ll miss the mark.  We have so much to learn from each encounter with potential and current customers.