Golden Practices Blog

Where Have I Been? Have You Found the Lazy Trap?

I'm not gonna lie. I'm embarrassed that I haven't posted to my blog in about 6 weeks. Especially since I'm a huge fan of blogs, someone who loves to write, and a person who recently wrote a book about how effective blogs can be (if'n ya post at least once or twice a week). So, yeah, I feel like a heel.

Where've I been? I was hoping you could tell me. 

I'm doing lots of speaking and consulting. And some innovating with VeraSage Institute.

But I'm still about the online community and I've remained fairly active on twitter (@michellegolden) and LinkedIn, and I have two biz pages on Facebook.

Those are: Golden Practices, my company, on which I share all sorts of practice management stuff for professionals and the other is the living, breathing portion of my book on social media where we continue the conversation about the constantly changing topic. 

I've come to really enjoy the ability to share links to great stories either VERY fast with just a little context on Twitter or LinkedIn, or still pretty quickly on Facebook with 400-ish characters of supplementary text. I've fallen into the "lazy trap."

Where about half my blog posts were inspired by something I've read and felt compelled to build on, disagree with, or just reference for the benefit of the reader (that would be you) - I now find that I can do that much more quickly in Facebook. Or the ultimate lazy: Twitter. Have you found that too?

Now don't get me wrong, I think Twitter is awesome for link-sharing and news or info hunting. In fact, I find useful nuggets every time I check my Twitter feed. I think the key to Twitter, as a user or a reader, is the well-crafted headline. Don't know about you, but I never click a link without a good intro or headline. I never, ever post a link without one. Hope you don't either. But I digress.

Guilt and sincerely "missing my blog" (and you) are bringing me back. I finished my book about 8 months ago and confess that I've been in a writing funk ever since. It's time to shake that off and return. 

So feel free to beat me up and bug me if I appear to be neglecting you. I need any encouragement I can get. Oh, and please see my other social accounts for the brief snippets. Because I know you don't have time to read long musings every day anyway. 

Here's to balance! May we all find it.

Clearing Your Mind and Your Business-Related Indigestion

Received a forwarded article today from pal Rob Nance of AccountingWEB fame. So good, I thought I'd share it with you. 

It's from Amex Open Forum and it's entitled "6 Things to Think About on Your Summer Vacation" by Jane Applegate.

It is somewhat marketing related...

CLIENT SELECTION

#1 on Jane's list is "Stop working with anyone that gives you a headache or stomachache" 

My take: this applies to clients AND employees. Bummer customers suck you dry. Bummer employees suck everyone in your organization dry (one rotten apple spoils the barrel) AND they don't represent you well externally, either.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

#2 is "Admit that everything takes three times as long and costs twice as much."

My take: this pertains to the expectation setting you should do when committing to work, the pricing you give to your customer, and meeting delivery terms.

KNOW YOUR MARKETPLACE

#3 is "Don't operate your business in a vaccuum." 

My take: pay attention to what others (your competitors, yes, but also companies you aspire to emulate from a service and impression standpoint) say and do.

KEEP YOUR QUALITY HIGH

#4 is "Put yourself first at least one hour a day."

My take: you cannot be a "great" thinker and service provider when you are are operating on an empty tank. In order to have the energy to innovate and solve problems for people, you need to recharge.

BE LIKABLE

#5 is "Keep your sense of humor."

My take: if you are too serious, you're probably not that fun to be around. Lighten up by looking at the brighter, or funnier, side of things more often.

DON'T OVER-PROMISE AND UNDER-DELIVER

#6 is "Cut the email and phone tether."

My take: not only do we need a mental break from being constantly accessible, but technology can render us less effective than we otherwise would be because we underestimate the affect of 24/7 intrusion on our time and thinking. The distraction often disrupts our ability to get done what we promise. See #2.

Enjoy the read and wish me luck because I definitely need to apply this advice too!