Management Craft

Ning Down - Stay Tuned and Try Back Later

In some Murphy's Law kind of way, the Ning sites have been down since I posted the previous post asking you to "Join Management Central Now!" I will update you when the sites are back up or you can try back later. :-(

Twitter Update

In case you are curious, I put up an update on how my exploration into Twittering is going over on Hip and Sage. Check it out. Is Lisa sold? Is Lisa addicted to twittering? Have I mastered the 140 character post?

Fix Meetings - From Seth Godin

Love this short and focused post from Seth Godin called, Getting Serious About Your Meeting Problem. I would like to second Seth's comment about the importance of adding value. He suggests that if we are not adding value, we should leave. I agree! So many people focus on how a meeting is wasting his or her time, but I have not heard as many people wonder whether they are contributing fully enough. You see, only that last thought has the power to change things. As long as we all shrug our shoulders like the poor helpless victims that we aren't, not much will change. Check out all 9 of Seth's recommendations.

And can we add a cell phone signal scrambler into the meeting room remodel budget? Perhaps trap doors under each chair that give way when BP gets too low....

Twitter - Tweet Etiquette

As I mentions in yesterday's post, I started twittering. This has been very strange. It feels like firehose of small messages. Some call it microblogging. There is a lot for me to learn! And there are so many differences with how people use Twitter. And some people - even professionals - seem to twitter all day long....who do they focus on anything?

Here is another guest post by Joel Comm, the co-author of Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time.

Tweet Etiquette
by Joel Comm with Ken Burge,

Every conversation has rules. We know not to interrupt someone when they're talking. We know not to use bad language when we talk. We know not to talk too loudly.

And we know too how and when to break all of the rules.

Exactly the same is true for a Twitter conversation. The site hasn't been around for long, but Twitterers have already tried to figure out something like a Twittering etiquette.

Some of those etiquette rules are smart, sensible, and should always be followed. Others are smart, sensible, and should usually be followed.

While it's important to know the rules, it's just as important then to know when to break them -- and what happens when you do.

1. Don't spam.

This is one rule you can't break. Spammers don't survive long on Twitter. They don't build followers. Any followers they do get don't read their tweets and the number of conversions they can generate will be so tiny that as a marketing method, you'd probably be better off printing a thousand flyers, folding them into paper airplanes and tossing them out of your office window.

There are all sorts of different ways to spam on Twitter.

As we've seen, one way is to follow lots and lots of people in the hope that some of them follow you in return. That's not just ineffective, it also turns up clearly in your bio.

Whenever someone's bio shows that they're following several thousand people but only being followed by a handful, that's a pretty good sign that they're looking to spam. They're trying to build up followers who will follow them out of politeness rather than because they have interesting content.

Twitterers often steer clear of people like that.

The spamming itself though is done by constantly sending out tweets that say things like: "I've just put up a new blog post -- check it out!" or "Sign up for my RSS feed!"

You can send out tweets like this occasionally. But as we'll see later in this section, they have to be mixed in with other tweets too. Otherwise, you're just spamming, and that's annoying.

Worse, it doesn't work.

2. Follow style rules.

Twitter's founders may have had mobile phones in mind when they designed the service, and plenty of users may be typing their updates from their handheld devices, but Twitter isn't exactly the same as SMS messaging.

That means the language needs to look more like real words than the usual SMS-style abbreviations.

It goes without saying that typing in uppercase letters looks like you're shouting, but in addition to avoiding all uppercase, you should spell out words completely and avoid using numbers instead of letters whenever possible. (For example, "late" is not spelled "l8" and "to" is two letters, not one number.)

That might mean more typing, but the reasoning is sensible. "Heading 2 town l8. Dont nowot 4" is hard for the reader to understand. It's only good manners -- and good marketing sense -- for you to put in the work so that your readers don't have to.

There are exceptions, of course. If you're really strapped for space, this is a rule you can break, but understand that you're forcing your followers to make an effort. What is permissible, though, is to use symbols such as @ and=and to skip some of the grammar. The question Twitter asks might be "What are you doing now?" but you don't have to begin your answer by saying "I am . . . "

Sentence fragments such "About to start watching the football. Can't wait." are fine.

3. Give credit for retweets.

One of the things that makes Twitter such a powerful tool is the fact that information placed on the site can quickly go viral. When one person spots a good tweet, they can pass that message on to their own followers, and soon it's spreading right across the Twitterverse and beyond.

For a marketer, that's like hitting the jackpot.

On Twitter, it's done by retweeting.

Twitterers can simply copy someone else's tweet and tweet it themselves . . . but they must give credit to the original Twitterer. The format for retweets, then, looks like this:

"Retweet @username: original tweet."

So if you wanted to retweet this post from my timeline:

"Spontaneous LIVE broadcast! join me now with special guest! http://tinyurl.com/jclive" then you would tweet:

"Retweet @joelcomm: Spontaneous LIVE broadcast! join me now with special guest! http://tinyurl.com/ jclive"

Any comments you want to add to the retweet can go at the beginning or in brackets at the end:

"Not missing this! Retweet @joelcomm: Spontaneous LIVE broadcast! join me now with special guest! http://tinyurl.com/jclive"

"Retweet @joelcomm: Spontaneous LIVE broadcast! join me now with special guest! http://tinyurl.com/jclive (Not missing this!)"

The etiquette is simple enough. Sharing tweets is easy to understand, too. It might not be original content, but if your followerswould find the original tweet interesting, why shouldn't you share it?

The tricky bit is to get other people to retweet for you. While you can ask specifically for retweets -- and some people do -- it's not really good form.

If your tweets are interesting enough, people will share them with their friends and followers -- and those friends and followers will come to your page to find out who you are.

4. Stick to 140 characters.

You have to stick to 140 characters, right? That's all they give you, and they do it for a good reason. Being starved of space stops you waffling and sparks your creativity. It's what Twitter is all about.

Well, yes and no.

Twitter gives you 140 characters because that's all that can fit through SMS systems. If mobile phone companies could handle messages of 200 characters, then that's probably how long our tweets would be.

Even though the limit is fairly arbitrary, it does make sense to keep to it as much as possible.

The alternative is to show half-complete tweets and offer links for people to continue reading or break messages up so that they're sent over several tweets.

You can see this happening sometimes on Twitter, and it rarely looks good. Readers expect the content on Twitter to be small. They expect to be able to read and absorb it in one bite. These are content snacks, not three-course meals with coffee.

Writing a thought that takes more than 140 characters and spreading it over three or four tweets is giving people more than they want. It also makes you look like you're dominating the conversation.

Chat with a friend, and you'll take turns speaking. You'll speak, your friend will respond, and then you'll continue. Keep talking without giving your friend a chance to offer his response and you'll start to sound rude.

Multiple tweets can have the same effect upon Twitter. Again, this doesn't mean you should never break up a long tweet. And it certainly doesn't mean that you shouldn't post one tweet after another.

What it does mean is that you should be aware of the effect you can create in your time line when you do either.

5. Follow people who follow you.

How many people you should follow on Twitter can always make for a great discussion point. Follow thousands of people and you're not going to be able to read all of their tweets. Inevitably, you'll miss tweets you'd really like to read, and you'll look like someone who has lots of acquaintances but no real friends.

In practice, it doesn't always work this way. I follow more than 1,700 people. That's a lot less than the 4,500 or so who follow me, and while I know I'm missing tweets, I love the fact that when I look at my Twitter page I can see a huge variety of different conversations taking place.

It's a bit like strolling through the lobby during a break at a conference. I can choose which conversations to join and which to walk past. I find it very valuable, but I also don't want to overdo it so I don't follow everyone who follows me.

That makes me a feel a little rude, but I do feel that I have to control the number of tweets that pass across my home page and keep them focused on conversations that relate to Internet marketing.

You might feel different.

You might want -- at least at the beginning -- to reward everyone who follows you by following them in return. There are plenty of top Twitterers who do this.

Similarly, you might prefer only to follow close friends and people you already know. That will make you look antisocial and cliquey, which is not the best image for a marketer, but it's possible.

Ultimately, I think this is one place where eventually you have to skip the etiquette and do what works. As your follower list grows, you'll have to start being a little bit choosier about who you follow in return -- and your followers will just have to understand that you're being selective, not rude.

Spend any time on Twitter and you're going to come across plenty of other rules too. Some purists, for example, argue that your tweets should only describe what you're doing, not what you're thinking or planning to do. I think that's far too restrictive: if it sparks a conversation and entertains your followers, it's a fair topic. If they don't like it, they should read someone else's tweets.

And that's really the ultimate test of tweet etiquette: how other people react and how you would react to the same kind of thing.

If you're building followers and they're responding to what you're writing, you're following the right rules. For more information, please visit http://www.joelcomm.com/twitter_power.html.

Twitter and Business Management? OK, I give in!

I started twittering today. You can sign up to follow me here: http://twitter.com/LisaHaneberg.I know that I am late to this party, and I have admittedly held out because I was not sure whether twittering (sending tweets and following people) would be a good use of my time.

Heck, I am still not sure.

But - a lot of talented people that I respect are twittering and so I am giving it a go.

To help folks like me and other folks curious about how Twitter works, there is a new book out called, Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time by Joel Comm and Ken Burge. Here is a guest blog post from the book on what Twitter is:

What are you doing?
by Joel Comm,

You may be thinking, "What an odd way to start an article." But your answer to that question is a great way to begin building and expanding your influence and reach if you connect to Twitter.com and sign up for a free account. With thousands upon thousands of members, Twitter is an Internet phenomenon, which has taken social networking to its lowest common denominator by connecting people who share their everyday lives. Log in to Twitter and you are allocated 140 characters in which to tell the people in your circle what you are doing right now. You may be reading a book, playing Frisbee with your kids, exploring a new website or getting ready for bed. On Twitter, it's all good. In fact, the more you are willing to reveal your true self through your "tweets," the more likely you are to engage others and broaden your circle of influence.

Initially, no one will see your tweets. That is, until you begin "following" other people's tweets. This is accomplished quite simply by clicking a user name and then clicking the "follow" button that appears under the name. If you follow another member because you find their content interesting, they are more likely to follow you. If you reply to a member's tweet personally, the reciprocal follow becomes even more likely.

For example, I may write "Just fnished watchin' the 'Lost' season finale. Loved it! When will they return for the survivors?" Being a "Lost" fan, you may tweet back in this format . . . "@joelcomm wasn't it a great ending? I think the survivors never get off the island!" Because you have placed an "@" symbol before my username, I will see your reply and am more likely to follow you and engage in conversation. And so your circle grows. The more active you are and more you are willing to interact with others, the more followers you will acquire. The more interesting your tweets, the better!

This is why I call Twitter the water cooler of the 21st century. This is where people are going to meet and have ongoing discussions on the topics that interest them. Spend a few minutes watching the interactions that take place on Twitter and you will soon "get it."

As the owner of an online business, imagine the possibilities that exist for you to promote your products or services once you have people following you on Twitter! Once you have established relationships and people want to hear what you have to say, you have earned the right to occasionally share your business with them. On one day, my tweets might consist of "Upgrading to iPhone 2.0! Hope all goes well..." But the next day I might tweet "Heading to LA to speak at a Chris Howard event. Come see me for free on Sunday! http:// tinyurl.com/59necj" Yes, you can embed websites in your tweet, and your followers can instantly click to check them out! It's powerful stuff. You definitely want to leverage this tool to the fullest. I've written a 30-page report on Twitter and placed it in the member's site at the Top One Network. I invite you to log in now and download this report for free to expand your Twitter education. You'll discover software tools and websites that will make your Twitter experience even better. Be sure to follow me on Twitter. Simply go to  http://www.twitter.com/joelcomm

See you at the water cooler!

OK, so that's a wee bit about Twitter. Tomorrow, I will share another guest post with some basic etiquette. This is all so new, but I am interested in how Twitter can be used for team connections, training and development and business development. And I am interested to see how this tool helps me stay in touch with people. I mean, how deep can a conversation get when you are limited to 140 words? We shall see! Join me.

Do you "have it together?" - The Importance of organization during tough times.

Here is a guest post from Regina Leeds, author of One Year to an Organized Life: From Your Desk to Your Deadlines, the Week-by-Week Guide to Eliminating Office Stress for Good. I think her point that being organized is even more important now is very true. For both our mental confidence and our practical productivity. If getting and staying organized is a challenge for you, check out her work and book.

It's always important to have an organized work space.  But now with downsizing and job loss spreading throughout the work sector like a fever, being organized is a great insurance policy.  You can use your organizing skills to demonstrate to your employer how invaluable you are to the day to day operation of the business.  And, if you are the owner of the establishment, you can just as easily show your employees by example the kind of office space and productivity you hope to find throughout the organization. Are you looking for a job?  Being organized will not only help you organize your job search, it will be a skill you can present to your employer.  You see?  There isn’t a single down side to being organized!
 
If the world of organization has been an area of challenge for you, consider this: getting organized is just a skill.  If you wanted to play a musical instrument like the piano, master a sport like tennis or learn how to dance, what would you do?  You’d read some good books, find a qualified teacher, practice and hope to reach your individual potential.  Getting organized requires the same steps.  It isn’t solely for those who seem to have been born with a natural proclivity for order.  Learning a new skill is one of the best ways to keep our brains active and stay youthful.  There’s no time like the present to begin the journey. And "One Year to an Organized Work Life" is the ideal companion.

Regina Leeds, author One Year to an Organized Life
'The Zen Organizer'

How to Encourage Viral

I like this post from Guy Kawasaki called, The Inside Word on Word-of-Mouth Marketing. He offers we novices lots of things to think about regarding how we are marketing our businesses. And I think these tips - or many of them - would apply to how we build our internal brand, too.

The Zen of Online Life?

I like this post from ZenHabits called, The Zen of Tech: 12 Powerful Ways to Keep Your Online Life Simple and Peaceful. So go check it out. Here is a snippet:

3. Have periods of disconnectedness. While I do most of my work online, I find it extremely useful (and calming) to close my browser and just work offline for awhile. This post, for example, is being written in a text program, and when I’m done writing I’ll go and post it in WordPress. This really allows you to get much more done, because there’s no temptation to go check something just for a sec.

I would like to take this concept one step further. I think periods of disconnectedness, even if short, are very important and would add the cell phone, Blackberry, and iPhone to the list of things to turn off.

Can we truly be present with any task, and work, any pleasure, if our minds are minding eight things at once?

I left my Blackberry somewhere on a Friday afternoon and I did not get it again until Tuesday. It was nice. And nothing bad happened.

Make this a week of being present. Being focused. One purposeful things at a time.

Cool Tool to Focus

I was at a networking gathering - well, it was four women chatting about business, books, and the merits of cheap Trader Joe's champagne, but I digress - when I met an entrepreneur with a cool business called Ninth Moon. Her name is Laron Glover.

Ninth Moon is an online store that specializes in gifts and tools for writers. But many of her products have lots of potential uses. One product in particular caught my attention - it is called the focus frame and it is a very cool thing indeed. Here's a pic from her website:

Here's how Laron describes it: "

It’s a combination tool that embraces time-management (priority setting) and empowerment (you can do this!). It’s simple, and it works.  Julia Childs claimed “anything is edible if chopped small enough.”   Anne Lamott called it a one-inch frame (ours is a little bigger)--but in either case, the principle is the same:   break whatever you need to do into manageable tasks and make a commitment to get it done.  For writers (especially writers!) we’re often faced with huge projects with no end in sight.   List one task, one scene, one whatever in the frame--and that’s your job for today.  It provides focus, but also a sense of balance--you know when you’ve completed your task, you can move forward without guilt hanging over you.  The bottom line is YOU CAN DO ANYTHING, JUST FOR TODAY.

Uses I’ve heard about:

• planning entire books (to keep on target)
• jotting notes for the next scene/character sketch
• cure for writer’s block
• storyboarding/sketching
• marketing (write one query letter; list ten possible agents)
• weight loss (drink 8 glasses of water!  take my vitamin!).   
• studying (college entrance exams)
• other “life” goals (child adoption, going back to college, planning weddings, keeping a house clean, etc).

I love this thing! And I love it because it is functional, but it is also a high-quality piece. And I like that it is low tech. I have no more plugs for battery chargers!

I think the focus frame would be a great tool to help you accomplish one great thing each day (something I recommend trying in Focus Like a Laser Beam). I think it is a cool frame and you can put anything in it to help you focus better. Brilliant! Check out the Focus Frame - a great gift for a friend or for you. hen you buy the focus frame it comes with a supply of cards so you will be all see to focus!

Organization tools for your organization tools?

I have to laugh at myself sometimes. I am a bit behind on a few things and need to get organized so I know just what's what. My first reaction was to head down to my local Staples to pick up a couple organization tools. But if I look at my desks, I can see that they (I have two desks) are packed with organization tools. Folder holders, wire shelve thingys, and three tiered in-boxes are crammed full of stuff. Plastic stacking drawers are my favorite because they hold a lot.

I don't need more organization tools, I need more organization and perhaps a wee cleaning session.

I have stamps in a dozen weird denominations from 1 cent to 80 cents.
Pictures.
Cards.
Receipts I will need come January tax time.
Fliers for this and that.
File folders that ought to be filed.
At least 10 different kinds of paper - from filler paper to lovingly bound journals.
Magazines I keep thinking I will look at - one is from January 2007, probably not getting to that one.
One page models that don't have a folder - I hate to make a folder for one piece of paper.
Assorted gadget pieces.
Expired coupons.

An on and on. Take a look at your bins of organization - are they too full to do their jobs?