Becky Robinson's Blog, page 75

Living Our Core Values: Generosity

I feel a bit self conscious writing about generosity as a core value of my company. Part of being generous, in my belief, is humility. Generosity that boasts is self-serving and self-promotional.

I want my giving to be quiet, heart-felt, and behind-the-scenes. I want to be able to delight people with unexpected additions and unsolicited extras.

I want to give because I can, and because it’s the right thing to do.

Our value of generosity stems from an abundance mentality: there is more than enough work, more than enough time, more than enough energy, more than enough of everything we need.

I also want to weave the value of generosity into everything we do as a company, so that as a team we live this value daily, without question.

Here are a few of the ways we express generosity.

We are generous with kindness, encouragement, and love. When we give praise to others or share a thoughtful word, it costs us nothing, and the return on that investment of generosity is inestimable. I want my team to be generous in helping each other grow and develop as people and professionals. I want to personally be generous in expressing my love and gratitude for my team, clients, partners, and collaborators.

We are generous in our support and promotion of others. Whenever possible, my team and I want to thoughtfully promote great content others are creating, both our clients’ content and content of  friends, partners, and others we meet.

We are generous in sharing what we know. We are in the process of making all of the e-book resources I’ve ever written available for free download. We regularly host free webinars. We have a wealth of content available in the archives of this blog. We share creative ideas, insights, and best practices.

We are generous in sharing our network. Whenever possible, I like to make great introductions. If I know someone who can help you, why wouldn’t I be generous with that introduction?

We are generous with our services. Once we have a contract with a client, we look for ways to go above and beyond what we’ve promised, whenever possible. We also serve some non-profit clients with a special pricing structure.

Giving is an upside-down equation that never varies. When I give more, I have more.

What I have found is this: when I give more, I have more.

I give encouragement, I give love, I give time, I give grace, I give hope, I give passion —and  it pours down on me, overflowing, faster than I can give it away, never depleted.

Tell me something! How do you express generosity? How have you experienced generosity from others?

Want to learn more about our value of generosity? Read this amazing reflection highlight the importance of mindful generosity from team member Susan Mazza.

Want to learn more about the core values of my company? Read the post about our value of partnership, here.

If I Could Work My Business Like a Puzzle (Reprise)

Last summer, after my annual working vacation, I wrote this post about what I learned about running my business from completing a jigsaw puzzle.

This year, my mom bought another puzzle and dumped it on the same table. We took extra care with the pieces, not wanting to repeat last year’s disappointment of one lost piece.

Since two of my nieces joined us this year at the lake house, we had a larger pool of potential participants in our project. For some reason, though, the girls seemed more focused on playing together and less focused on the puzzle — until we neared its completion.

We started the puzzle the way most people do, separating the frame pieces from the center pieces. We made quick progress on the frame but felt flummoxed when we couldn’t close the frame. We seemed to be missing key pieces of the frame. We pored over the rest of the pieces, coming up short.

We could have allowed that setback to distract us, but instead we decided to work on other parts of the puzzle.

First Lesson – Don’t allow setbacks in one area to distract you from making progress in other areas. In my business, I face setbacks regularly. I can shut down to only focus on the setbacks, losing valuable time. Or, I can shift focus to another area and create forward momentum.

After working on the center pieces for a while, we discovered that we made mistakes with forcing frame pieces together than were not intended to fit. Once we removed those pieces, we quickly finished the frame.

Second Lesson – Removing pieces that don’t fit can free you to find the right fit for all the pieces. This is an important business lesson. Sometimes, I try to force people to fit into roles in my business. When I do that, everyone is miserable and broken. When I let go of forcing a fit, I am free to help everyone find the right places.

Because the girls wanted to play, and because my mom spent a lot of time feeding and watching after the girls, I found myself working on the puzzle solo many times. I focused on finding one piece at a time, again and again, making significant progress during that alone time.

Third Lesson – Sometimes you will feel alone. Sometimes you are alone. As the sole owner of my business, there are times I feel like everything depends upon me; I am moving everything forward on my own. And it is true. Though I have an amazing team, and they provide exceptional support and creativity, there are some parts of the business that I must carry alone. I must courageously continue, when no one is watching, to put the pieces together that will result in progress for my company.

After completing much of the puzzle on my own, I noticed the girls take a renewed interest in finishing the puzzle. We had three small sections left. In a 1000 piece puzzle, making early progress is difficult because there are so many pieces to sift through. At the end, with only 50 pieces or so left, you can make quick progress because trial and error becomes an effective strategy. But 5 girls around the puzzle got too crowded. When I stepped back, the girls completed the puzzle quickly.

Fourth Lesson – Sometimes I have to get out of the way so that work can move ahead faster. To complete the puzzle, I had to step back to let the girls finish; they finished much faster than I would have finished alone. Similarly, there are areas of control I need to give up in my business in order to let others do their work more effectively.

This year, we finished our project and celebrated an absolutely complete puzzle. Although we had a couple of scares with holes in the puzzle, we found and recovered the missing pieces.

Now I need to find the perfect spot on my office wall to hang the framed work as a reminder of this summer’s important lessons.

Tell me something! Do you do jigsaw puzzles? If so, what does working on them teach you about life and business?

 

Featured on Friday: Favorite Finds from the Week

I don’t know about you, but it feels like summer is now in full swing! Our team has travel fever, and we’re all scattering to various parts of the country and the world. This week Becky has been on vacation with her family (with a quick visit to see Chip Bell), while our head PR gal, Megan, and her husband are winging their way to Europe for a final hurrah before their first child arrives. Others are planning for trips to Disney World and Aruba, and my own suitcases are currently waiting for me to pack for our vacation that starts tomorrow.

It’s always fun to go somewhere you haven’t been to before (as I am doing, and hitting my 47th U.S. state in the process), and get to know new people. And while not everyone can escape from their desk or go somewhere tropical, everyone can learn something new (and maybe meet some new people) by clicking on the links below. So take a virtual vacation and visit a new online destination this week!

Bob Thompson (follow him on Twitter @Bob_Thompson) was interviewed in an article on CNBC this week, read Quality service, not low prices, creates loyalty.
Karin Hurt (on Twitter @LetsGrowLeaders) showed up on Fox Business, talking about ways to deal with a difficult boss. Read more.
Speaking of Chip Bell (find him tweeting @ChipRBell), don’t miss his most recent post, The Mentor’s Role as Champion Grower.
School may be out, but Dean Schroeder (@DeanMSchroeder on Twitter) reminds us that it’s important to Begin with a Plan to Learn.
Bob Tiede (on Twitter @BobTiede) shares a guest post from David M. Dye (find him tweeting @davidmdye) asking an important question: Can Your Team Really Trust You?
We think you’ll love this post from Susan Mazza (on Twitter @SusanMazza): Mindless vs. Mindful Generosity .
If you didn’t catch What To Do When There’s Nothing You Can Do from Mark Miller (tweeting @LeadersServe), you have missed out. This one touched our whole team.
You may not know this, but I’m big on gratitude and thankfulness, which is why I think you should read The Untapped Goldmine of Gratitude by Gershon Mader (follow on Twitter @GershonMader).
Deborah Mills-Scofield says we should not let Probable Trump Possible in her new post. (Follow @dscofield).
And if you want to find more links to great business and leadership articles, check out this post by Wally Bock (on Twitter @wallybock), and then spend some time looking around his newly redesigned website!

What great links would you like to share with us? Or just leave a comment to share about  your vacation plans!

5 Ways Browser Push Notifications Will Change Content Marketers’ Lives

Mobile apps have made use of push notifications for a while, teaching developers a thing or two about user engagement. How can content marketers use the same technique? Read on.

Mobile push notifications have made engaging users easy, while also providing deep insights for the companies that created the apps. With such benefits, is it any wonder developers introduced browser push notifications?

Browser push was introduced by Apple with Mavericks OS and was slow to gain the attention of content marketers because of difficulty of implementation. But now a turnkey browser push notification solution called Roost is available to content marketers, and its emerging as an indispensable distribution channel.

Here are 5 ways browser push notifications will change your life.

1. Branding and Recognition

Even when a user’s browser is closed, Roost notifications will appear in the top right corner of the screen. Websites that offer push notifications also take advantage of brand recognition, even when the user is focused on other things. Website logos identify the notification, which keeps that logo, company, and brand–rather than the service provider–at the forefront of buyers’ minds.

2. User Customization

Some brands, like SpoilerTV, are allowing their audience to personalize their push experience. Users can choose the content for which they want to receive push notifications and avoid superfluous messaging.  For example, you may only want to receive updates about content marketing but not paid search.

Relatedly, users always control their push subscriptions. Opt-ing in and out of a brand’s push channel is a one click process either way. Compare this to something like email, where it often takes multiple clicks to unsubscribe. Push is light touch messaging that can be turned off with the click of a radio dial.

3. Higher Opt-in Rates

One of the most problematic things about building a brand is the time it takes to build an audience across various messaging channels. According to econsultancy, a typical email opt-in rate is roughly .05% of your web traffic. Twitter is powerful, but acquiring quality followers takes time, sometimes years. Browser push notification tend to attract an audience at a much faster rate. Tim Varner of Roost tells me that some of their publishers have an opt-in rate over 30%.

 

4. Track and Optimize Engagement

RSS feeds have served a similar purpose for some time, but without many of the benefits browser push notifications can provide. For instance, RSS subscriptions tell you how many might read your content, but push notification clients can provide you with metrics that show how many people actually engage. With just a little testing, you can determine the best time to deliver notifications, what wording reaches more people, and which notification types engage more users.

5. Directing Traffic

Your push notifications can direct users to any page on your website–actually, any webpage at all, which positions push as a content cross-promotion tool.

While most would probably prefer to land on the page referred by the notification, you can most certainly direct your audience to the front page, a landing page, or a particular blog post. Perhaps you direct your base to a flash sale page of one of your sponsors. As a re-engagement channel, browser push is far more versatile than RSS.

Because browser push notifications are still relatively new, the possibilities are still being discovered.

How would you make push notifications work for you? Let us know in the comments.

 

Learn more about Roost on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.

Written by Jennifer Barry.

 

Featured on Friday: Meet Team Member Max Sopher

I’ve been working with Max off and on since last fall, and I can say for a fact that he is one in a million. Ask anyone on our team to describe Max in one word and I guarantee the one word that would come to everyone’s mind is: AWESOME. Whether he’s promoting blog posts or learning something new or simply sharing a meme to make the team laugh, Max does life full throttle. If you’re lucky enough to have him as a manager on your project, you’ll soon see why we are so pleased about him joining the team full time.

I recently sent Max some questions to answer to help me introduce him to you. As it turns out, I learned a lot about him in the process (and now have the Ghostbusters theme song stuck in my head…).

Meet Max Sopher

Hey Max, thanks for doing this on such short notice. Can you tell me a little bit about your personal life?

I was born, raised, currently reside in Beckley, West Virginia. I’ve been married to my wonderful wife for 10-years this summer and we have an awesome toddler girl who does her best to keep us firmly on our toes. We all like hanging out with our cat and our dog, but the cat is antisocial and the dog just wants to be outside all day.

Tell me something unusual about yourself.

I am obsessed with the movie Ghostbusters. I apply quotes and situations from that movie to my life on a daily basis. It was the first movie I saw in a theater when I was a kid and it has managed to stick with me for the 30-years that have passed since then. I still watch it at least once a week, all this time later.

What’s your favorite pastime?

This is a solid 3-way tie. Drinking coffee (the coffee pot is always on), watching/studying baseball (I’m a total stat nerd), and reading comic books (I know I’m a grown man, but I don’t care. I like them!).

Tell me your favorite part of the job with Weaving Influence…

The group of professionals that Becky has surrounded herself with and the high level of camaraderie and communication has astounded me from day one. The fact that everyone works so well without a central location is a testament to the team that is in place.

How long have you been working with Weaving Influence?

I started small in September 2013 and gained more and more responsibilities until I am where I am now, as a full time member of the team.

What’s your official title?

I am the Weaving Influence Community Manager and a Project Manager.

Okay, show us why you’re doing this professionally… what’s the best social media tip you can offer?

Don’t forget to have fun! Social Media has become a norm now, so it’s easy to forget how much fun it used to be. As a business or thought leader that can be dangerous, because if you forget that this is fun, it will show in your message. At that point it becomes stale and people stop engaging and listening.

Connect with Max Online

Find him on Twitter @enjoythemouse, and make a connection with him on LinkedIn.

Want to meet more of the team? You can find us HERE. And don’t forget to follow our Weaving Influence accounts on Twitter @weaveinfluence, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, and Pinterest.

Bonus: now you know that if you’re engaging with us online, you’re actually engaging with Max (the WI Community Manager), so be social and say hello!

What to Tweet and Where to Find It

If you have been following my tweets lately, you may have noticed an interesting shift.

Over the past few weeks, I have become more disciplined and consistent in sharing valuable content with my communities, thanks, in large part, to a new tool I’ve discovered called the Aha Amplifier.

One of the common questions I get from clients, especially ones who are new to Twitter is: What should I tweet?

I have written many posts over the years about Twitter, including an answer to the question of what to tweet, the importance of gathering “tweetables” from your book, the right length for a tweet, and the importance of using a 3rd party application (my favorite: Tweetdeck). I’ve also shared that my favorite tool for scheduling tweets is Buffer and that I believe automating some content on Twitter is important because it frees you up so you can show up in powerful ways online.

I also gathered many of my best tips in an e-book, 31 Days of Twitter Tips, available on Kindle. Because I always want to add more value and learning for you, I am happy to let you in on the powerful secret tool I’ve found to help me become more successful on Twitter, the Aha Amplifier.

The Aha Amplifier + Buffer = Greater Leverage and Influence for ANYONE who wants to add value on Twitter. 

The Aha Amplifier contains more than 13 thousand powerful tweets, contained in 92 Aha Amplifier books (with new titles added daily — priced from free to $1.99), ready and seamless to share across your favorite social media channels. You can easily scan/read Aha Amplifier books and choose quotes that resonate with you to share on Twitter, instantly. Or, you can add more impact by feeding messages into your Buffer.

My experience so far is that, without question, the tweets I send through the Aha Amplifier are retweeted and favorited at a much higher frequency than other content I share. (If you want hard data on this, Buffer provides amazing analytics when you upgrade to a paid account.)

Why? Because Mitchell Levy is doing a phenomenal job of attracting powerful thought leaders with relevant messages to the Aha Amplifier.

Though still in beta, the Aha Amplifier is the most important new tool you can add to your influence building toolkit.

Ready to try it out? Create your free profile and download one of my two books on the platform: Becky Robinson with Insights from the Top Leadership Authors and Becky Robinson on #WINfluence. (Both are free!)

Featured on Friday: Favorite Links

Happy Friday, everyone! We’re back after a two week Featured on Friday hiatus, and I’m excited about what we’ve got in store for you today. Get ready to click through a lot of links because we’re sharing some of the book reviews, interviews, and more that we have been collecting. This isn’t a one-way conversation though, and I’d love to know what you’ve been reading, writing, and sharing, so leave your links in the comments, okay?

If you follow our social media channels, you’ll have noticed some extra promotion over the last two weeks for Raise Your Voice by Brian Sooy, and Hooked on Customers by Bob Thompson. I’ve included some of my favorite links for them below…

Brian Sooy

You know we think Deb Mills-Scofield is pretty swell, and this guest post from Brian Sooy was just awesome. The title alone is enough to make you smile. Two great people, one fantastic blog post. Read This Seems Like a Lot of Work for a Free Banana .
If you’ve been a part of any of our launches, you’ll recognize the name John Smith – or you might know him better as The Strategic Learner. Either way, you’ll want to read his honest (and enthusiastic) review of Raise Your Voice: Getting Your Nonprofit Act Together .
And if you’re the kind of person who prefers to hear directly from the author, I would recommend bookmarking this Lead With Giants hangout with Brian Sooy, Tal Shnall, Dan Forbes, Elizabeth Stincelli, and Ande Lyons. Watch it now !

Bob Thompson

Bob got his book buzz week started off a little early with this post on Entrepreneur. It’s been spread far and wide through various social media channels (way to go, Bob!), and I think you’ll find lessons to take away and mull over. Read Take a Tip from Bezos .
One of our loyal buzz builders, Andy Uskavitch, shared his thoughts about Hooked on Customers this week (thanks, Andy!). Click through to read his Book Review , and I bet when you’re done you’ll want to hop over to Amazon and order a copy!
Tom Schulte (you might recognize his name from Linked2Leadership) shared his online space with Bob this week, hosting a guest post in honor of the book launch. Read On Leadership, Customer Experience, and Analytics .

Bonus Links

Didn’t get an opportunity to attend the free webinar with Kathryn Heath of Flynn Heath Holt Leadership? Bookmark this link and set aside an hour to watch   #MeetingsMatter (hosted by Becky Robinson).
Have you signed up for any of the FREE BOOKS we’re giving away? Yeah, I thought that might get your attention. To celebrate 2 years as a company, Becky Robinson has teamed up with a host of authors to give away one signed book (typically in the leadership or business category) every week for the next 30+ weeks. We know how to throw a party around here! Read Celebrating X 3 to learn more, and Sign Up Now.
Last, but certainly not least, this week one of our authors was featured on a nationally syndicated television program, all thanks to the hard work of our public relations team. If you’re interested in how our publicity department could help you, you can start by reading about  our PR Team  or email Becky and set up a time to discuss your PR dreams. Want to watch Linda Pulley Freeman‘s interview? Find it on YouTube .

You Tell Me! What are you reading? What are you writing? What are you watching?

What Happens When You Stop Blogging

I give my clients the advice to blog a minimum of once a week.

Why once a week?

When you blog once a week, you establish a rhythm of content creation, offering  valuable content consistently. Consistent posting fuels a successful online presence.

When you blog regularly, you give people a reason to come back to your website. They begin to look to you as an expert, a resource providing helpful advice.

Through your writing, you can build connections with your online community. As you increasingly connect with your readers, you will become memorable and build relationships.

I often get push back from my clients on this best practice, and though I understand the push back, and respect my clients’ professional commitments, I maintain that blogging regularly is important.

Why?

It’s not because I want my clients to aspire to be popular bloggers.

It’s not because I want to create unnecessary work for them.

It’s because blogging is one way to create fresh, new content for websites that cements thought-leadership and add value for fans, followers, and customers.

If your customers (or potential customers) come to your website once or twice and see that it is a static site, they will have little reason to return.

If, however, you are regularly creating new content that addresses core questions or felt needs, your customers will return regularly, waiting and looking for the new ideas and insights you can share.

Or, if your content connects on a personal level, people will come back because they want to hear from you, see what you’re doing, and stay in touch with you.

What happens when you stop blogging?

People may stop coming (directly) to your site. Once I click to a blog a few times and it has not been recently updated, I quickly decide that there is not a good reason to go back. When you stop blogging, you will see a decrease in direct traffic to your site. People who bookmarked your site for repeat visits may remove bookmarks to a site that lacks fresh interest.

Your site may not rank well on search. Search engines love fresh content. If your site is stale, you may see a decrease in search-driven traffic.

Fewer people will share your content. Fresh content drives social sharing. When you write something great, people will want to share it. Not so much on the post you wrote 8 weeks ago.

You may miss the opportunity to capture and share your best ideas. The weekly discipline of blogging will help you in articulating your stickiest thoughts and ideas. You can write out answers to questions that clients ask you frequently, or you can use your writing to explore new thoughts.

The best thing to do when you realize you’ve let your site become stale is to write something new.

I did that, now, when I realized that a week had past since my last post.

Because even though I give good advice, I do not always follow it consistently.

Tell me something! What motivates you to continue blogging regularly? Or, if you do not blog regularly, what is holding you back?

This week my team and I are supporting the book launch of Hooked on Customers by Bob Thompson. Bob writes about the importance of creating value for customers. While he does not specifically reference information and insights and value, I think he would agree with my assertion that we add value for our customers when we regularly share information they need. Bob’s book would be a great addition to your reading stack. I encourage you to pick up a copy, today! 

photo credit: KatieKrueger

Celebrating X 3

Our website is sporting a new logo as we spend the next few months celebrating the two year anniversary of Weaving Influence. I have been serving clients through this company since January 2012, and added my first subcontractor the next month, but I mark the official company anniversary as June 1, 2012 because that is the first day of my working full-time in the business.

I spent June 1, the anniversary of my diving into this business, running a half marathon with Sharon Pilaske, one of our newest team members. Sharon and I have run together before, and I always enjoy it, but this was by far the most challenging half marathon I’ve ever run. Rolling hills and more heat than I’m used to resulted in me getting sick after the race = not the day I envisioned. Nonetheless, I now have another half marathon on the books and the biggest, heaviest race medal I’ve ever received.

I know how to celebrate, apparently!

If you haven’t seen the promotion, you’ll want to check this out: we are giving away a signed book from our author community EVERY WEEK for the next 30 or so weeks. Signed books have been arriving in my office daily, many with small notes inside, all inscribed by the authors. It’s going to hurt to send these treasures back out into the world, but I am doing it as a way to celebrate with you.

Happy Anniversary to us!

We are also celebrating two special books this week: this week marks the launch of Brian Sooy’s wonderful book, Raise Your Voice, as well as the one year anniversary since we launched the 3rd edition of Chip Bell and Marshall Goldsmith’s seminal work, Managers as Mentors.

If you’d like to win a signed copy of Managers as Mentors, be sure to sign up for our anniversary giveaway. Yes, your copy of Managers as Mentors, signed by both authors! Tweet now to be entered to win, but also be sure to sign up for weekly emails about future giveaways.

And, if you haven’t already, I encourage you to learn more about Brian Sooy’s book, Raise Your Voice, and buy your copy today!

What To Do When You’re In the Weeds

A lovely creek runs through the ravine behind my home.

As spring turns to summer, the paths my husband works hard to clear through the woods can easily become overgrown; keeping the paths open requires regular attention.

If we venture off his carefully cleared paths, we get stuck. With every step, we get even more entangled, and briers and thorns cut into our skin.

When I get stuck, my instinct is to get out — move through —as fast as I can.

I don’t like getting stuck… and I bet you don’t either.

As an owner of a growing business, I get stuck a lot. The weeds I get stuck in can easily drag me down, off my desired path.

How did I end up in the weeds? Sometimes it’s not clear. The only thing that is clear is my desire to get out — as soon as possible.

But how?

A couple of my team members recently shared this observation: when I get in the weeds, they see me becoming more creative and strategic, thinking about new initiatives, next steps, and big ideas.

To tell you the truth, it drives them a little crazy.

They are wondering how to get through the day, and I’m dreaming far into the future.

They have their heads down, working hard to extricate themselves from the vines around their feet, and I’m standing there with my head tilted upwards, observing how beautiful the far away leaves are, how blue the clouds are, and how nice it is up there in the sky. (When I sit in the woods behind my house, the uppermost leaves look silver).

Here’s what to do when you get in the weeds: stop looking at the weeds.

Instead, look at where you’d rather be, in that nice flower-filled clearing just ahead.

Stop looking down. Stop looking back.

Instead, look up. Look out. Look at where you’d rather be.

When you do, you will unleash creativity and energy. As you persevere to the good things ahead, you’ll be out of the weeds and back on your desired path faster.