BusinessCasualBlog.com

Avoid death by PowerPoint

I just sat through another one of those loooonnnggg, droning presentations... you know, PowerPoint, no pictures, LOTS of text, LOTS of bullets, did I say no pictures?

It's in that spirit that I thought to share the online presentation above.  It's from Karl Kapp. Karl is a leading personality in the learning industry. The information in it isn't specific to an industry, rather, it's geared for presenters in general.

Some of the graphics are a little heavy on clipart, but don't take that as evidence of the preferred media.  Rather, they function more as quickly produced placeholders to communicate the features that could make your presentation speak more about concepts you want to convey in favor of showing text that tend to bore.

I'm especially partial to the following slides because they address my personal pet peeves about presentations I've seen:  4 & 5, 6 & 7, 8 & 9, 14-16.

Now, when you're done with the serious stuff above, here's a little levity below. It's still on the topic of how NOT to use PowerPoint in your presentations.  It might even be good as an ice breaker in your next presentation.

Getting famous. One bit at a time.

I'm never going to be famous. My name will never be writ large on the roster of Those Who Do Things. I don't do any thing. Not one single thing. I used to bite my nails, but I don't even do that any more.

~ Dorothy Parker

I have no expectations about becoming famous through blogging.  Or even famous (period).  I think I'm fairly satisfied making a decent living and contributing to society in various ways.  Outside of the few non-profits and/or charities I affiliate with, and the cool online training courses I enjoy creating for the real estate industry, I think blogging is another way I feel I'm able to give back to society in some way.

When conversation turns to blogging (yes folks, be cautious about inviting me to your dinner parties, I'm a conversation killer) I align with those who're pretty positive about it.  In every conversation I've had -- every, no kidding, and without fail -- there's at least one or two who'll say they'd like to blog but are scared or don't know how to start. They believe it could be good for their business by increasing their visibility to clients and customers in the communities they serve.  I believe that too.  But I don't believe everyone who wants to blog should.  At least not right off the bat.

I usually suggest that folks start "light" by first finding a handful of blogs with topics that share their interests.  Then post your own small contributions to the community through the use of comments.  It's a great way to offer your own snippet of enlightened thought. 

You can use Google Blogsearch to conduct keyword searches for blogs that share your interests.   Once you have your handful of "go to blogs," you can set up alerts or RSS feeds to keep apprised of new topics.  In a previous post, I discussed how to set up Google Alerts to set up e-mail notifications whenever certain words you choose show up on blogs (or on the web, video, etc.).

If visibility is one of your objectives, then you might first consider creating an online personal profile either on a website you already own, or, for my real-estate-agent-buddies, an agent site provided by your broker, or through any number of online social networks such as Facebook, Myspace, eCademy, ActiveRain or LinkedIn.  I personally prefer LinkedIn for its business culture and the ability to build a network of trusted contacts.  There's even a new LinkedIn "Services" area where service providers (you?) can have recommendations be displayed. For my friends in the real estate industry, did you know there's a category for Real Estate Agents?

Armed with your thoughtfully crafted online profile, you should then include it as a signature line at the end of your posted comment.  That gives a backlink to your profile that not only helps a bit with internet search engines, but also begins to associate you in the minds of online readers as a helpful and knowledgeable professional.

Just a couple of quick caveats: it's worth just taking a quick pulse of the culture of the blog your commenting on to gauge if it's okay to put a one-liner signature at the end of your comments.  Most blogs don't chafe at this provided you don't light it up with logos, slogans and gaudy marketing pitches.

So, before diving in and committing to the daily publishing responsibilities of a blog site, consider first the small moves you can make.  Comment your way to visibility.

Thinking of your success.
Mel  

"RealTOR"!

"Reel-a-tors" bug me.

I used to just ignore them.  But in recent years I've been known to blurt out an occasional course correction whenever someone does the deed.  They say "Reel-a-tor" when they should be saying it as it's spelled, "Realtor."  Unfortunately, and more often than not, I find the person saying it is a card-carrying member of NAR!

Reminds me of something David Fletcher wrote a couple of years ago.  The gist of which was:

You would think after spending no doubt multimillions of dollars establishing the Realtor brand, that members of the NAR would know how to pronounce it... It is awkward to say the least to be associated with an organization that its members cannot pronounce and the public doesn't understand. What's even worse is to be in front of a very sharp agent, fully competent in every way, who is introducing herself or himself as being a REAL-A-TOR when the consumer knows the agent is mispronouncing the word...

Okay, that's my rant for the day.

Thinking of your success.
Mel

Who's talking about you?

One of my siblings recently launched a training/coaching web site over at goalgettergirls.com.  One of my contributions was to suggest that she also start an automated search with keywords that she thinks are worth tracking.  The name of her web site, for example.  In so doing, she can be alerted whenever those keywords show up on the internet.  As in the opening sentence of this blog post.  (As her annoying brother, I plan on asking her in a couple of days if she was alerted to this blog post... just to see if she followed my advice.)  ;-)

I've recommended the same thing to other friends and colleagues who run their own business.  I mean, it makes sense, right?  If you're out and about and you're visible to your customers and clients -- as you should be -- I imagine you're making some kind of an impression. Depending on the effectiveness of your campaigns, how you network, where you add your voice, or the quality of your customer touch points, I further imagine your hope is that folks will remember you.  And if that impression is strong enough, they'll write about you.  Good or bad, if they write something, wouldn't you want to know?

So, if you've never googled your name, for example, I'd recommend you try it. It's an interesting experience.  Now, certainly, if you remember to, you can go in and Google yourself every couple of weeks.  But I'd say that if you have any kind of online presence, or, let's say you blog fairly regularly, then it's possible someone may quote you, or comment about your service, or reference something you're affiliated with.  When that happens -- good or bad -- an opportunity opens up. You have an opportunity to reinforce a message or mitigate it. 

Let's say someone posts a blog article and comments about something you've written, something you did or something or someone you're related to.  If favorable, reinforce it with your own comment of a simple "thank you," or an offer of additional information.  If it's unfavorable, you have an opportunity to set the record straight.

As fast as things move today, waiting for two weeks to go by before discovering these things with a "manual" search may be too late to be effective.  So, an alternative to doing a manual search is to set up an "alert" on a search engine such as Google's.  By setting up an alert, you can let the search engine do the work for you.

Simply set it up with keywords you want to look for (hint: include quotes around your name to make sure the engine gets the literal spelling, i.e., "John Smith" or "John Smith Company").  Once the setup is complete, let it run.  When it finds something, it'll e-mail you a headline with a link to the site on which those keywords are found.

I'd love to hear comments about other favorite tools some of you use to manage information overload.  If I get enough of them, I'll be happy to post a summary in a future post.  Or, if you want to blog about this article, go ahead and quote me.  It's okay...I'll know. ;-)

Is it okay to Drip to your LinkedIn contacts?

Recently I was invited to connect on LinkedIn by a real estate agent who was switching tracks as a mortgage broker.  Where I frowned a bit was the pretense I felt about the request to connect and how that “relationship” evolved. 

The initial request came from a mortgage broker who introduced himself as someone who once worked for the same real estate company I worked at.  The reason for connecting:  to stay in touch with past colleagues, share knowledge, share potential opportunities where they might arise, and offer mutual support.  I figured, “great,” all the things I find valuable about networking. 

So, I accepted.  I sent him an e-mail reply thanking him for the invitation.  And, since I noticed his business was in the next county over, I suggested we meet sometime for lunch when he was down in my neck of the woods, or me in his. 

I received no reply -- not even a non-committal “sure, sounds good.”  But, no problem, as these things often go, they remain open invitations. 

But here’s the deal:  Within a week after connecting with this guy, and with no further inquiries about me or what I do, or what I stand for, I started getting e-mails pitching his mortgage services, rate quotes, fee quotes, “mortgage broker for life,” and on an on.  Clearly, I was now in some e-mail database drip campaign.  And though I didn’t much like it, I have to at least concede his e-mail drip was at least consistent.  Every few days, there’d be another one reminding me of his services, new rate quotes, “mortgage broker for life...”  His drip campaign was definitely working as designed... to be in my FACE.  And he was.  Until I removed him.

Now, I have my own thoughts about why/how I participate with my online business connections.  But, I’m curious what your thoughts are and your philosophy of online networking?  Am I too sensitive about e-mail drips from LinkedIn business connections?  Should I be more forgiving?  After all, isn’t networking about getting opportunities for more business leads?

The future of senior fitness is...

... good!

Coming on the heels of my dismal performance at the San Diego Rock-n-Roll marathon a couple of weeks ago (about 45 minutes off from my training pace... and about an hour off from the guys I trained with!), I decided to work on shorter distances for a while. 

(That's me, btw, #9807 at the SD Marathon.)  Anyway, I needed a quick personal success following my 4:53 finish.  So last Sunday I ran a 5K race in Downtown Anaheim. 

The 5K pick-me-up helped.  It took me a bit out of my funk with a personal record, showing up at the finish with a 7:17 per mile pace for a 22:35 finish.  Oh, don't get me wrong, I had no illusions about winning the race for my age group.  I just wanted a personal success.  And I got it.

But here's what's so cool, the guy that won in the 45-49 age group (yes, I am of that age group... WHAT OF IT?!) got it in 17:09.  That's a cool 5:32 per mile pace.  Just to show the range for the gray-templed Top 10:  the guy in 10th place finished in 20:46 for a 6:42 pace. 

Now, I'm not Lance Armstrong, but I consider myself in decent shape for my age.  But here's the coolest part, in the 60-64 age category (Males), the top 5 finishers did so in a time comparable to my finish time.  Look up times for the 75-99 age category and we find the top finishers did it with with per mile paces in the 8:30 range.  That's great even for many folks in the under 20 age set and shows that, for those who put in the work, there's lots more miles ahead and lots of elbow room for personal/physical improvement. 

Getting paid to be interviewed for a job.

I know I'm risking the ire of employers -- especially mine -- by posting this, but hey, this is a water cooler-type blog about business.  And, lest anyone get the wrong impression, I am happy in my current profession and not looking for a change.  (At least, not today.)  ;-)

Having said that little caveat, some of you might be interested that a company called NotchUp, currently in Beta, is offering a service that lets you get paid to be interviewed for a job.  What is this world coming to?  Actually, I think it's kinda slick on their part and creates an interesting little niche.

Don't know what you'd charge to be interviewed?  Find out here.

Until recently, it was a bit of a pain b/c it represented yet another site on which you were asked to fill in a profile, update your professional history, write a summary, yadda, yadda...  But now, they just implemented a new feature that allows you to import your resume from LinkedIn.  You can also upload resumes written in Word, PDF, Text or HTML.  Those upgrades, I think will allow them to hurdle a previous barrier to having complete profiles. 

On the other side, the value proposition NotchUp pitches for companies is that they can actually save on recruiting costs by paying qualified candidates to interview.  The theory is you can save up to 75% by using their service instead of a recruiter and perhaps 66% over the costs of using a job board.  (Click below to zoom in.)