Instigator Blog

Technorati continues to ignore me.

Last week I aired my frustration with Technorati — Instigator Blog is still not showing any updates on their site. That’s not quite true. It’s recording most of the links coming to Instigator Blog, but the blog’s ranking isn’t changing.

I’ve emailed Technorati three times but I haven’t received any response.

I’ve already put in all my caveats of understanding: Technorati services millions of blogs, they’re swamped, it’s a free service, etc. etc. I know I’m not Technorati’s most pressing concern…

But now I’m really starting to feel the lack of love. Where is the love Technorati?

Am I to stay ranked beyond 1,000,000 at Technorati forever? Woe is me!

I’ll try emailing Technorati tomorrow, for the fourth time, and we’ll see what happens. In the meantime, I’ll use Instigator Blog as a place where I can keep calling out Technorati and others like MarketingSherpa. I’m not being rude, or even ranting…but blogging does give me a voice that I intend to use.

Note: If anyone knows anyone at Technorati that I can speak to, even if it’s just “little old me” I’d appreciate it! Who’s got the contacts?

Treat them like people.

• Don’t think of a customer as a disconnected voice on the phone.
• Don’t think of a customer as a waste of time.
• Don’t think of a customer as a pain in the ass.
• Don’t think of a customer as an open checkbook.

You will always have difficult, frustrating, stressful and downright rude clients. They’re people remember? And some people are just like that. But…

The quicker you can turn the relationship from client to vendor into person to person the quicker you’ll be successful with that client and future ones.

Find ways to open the lines of communication, meet on common ground and share interests.

Always react professionally, calmly and respectfully. Feel free to say what you think is best, what you think is right, but always maintain a tone of professionalism.

Get to know them, and the environment in which they work. Understand the motives behind their behaviors.

Losing sight of a customer as a person is going to lose you that customer. And, get jaded from bad experiences with customers, and you could lose more than just a customer or two…your business could be in peril.

Customers are people. Find out who they really are.

[tags]customer service, customer relationships, communication, small business, business[/tags]

You could try my old favorite — “Attila the Hun Management” — but I doubt you’ll get very far. Fear of torture and death typically don’t work well in an office setting. Not that I haven’t wanted to slap a couple of people in an iron maiden before, but it’s probably not the best approach.

(I once had a pitchfork leaning against a wall behind my desk. It was a plastic Halloween prop, but it sent a message!) Anyway, jail doesn’t appeal to me. Plus, imagine the turnover in staff!

So, torture is out. Hhhm…what next?

One of the key ways to be an effective leader is to listen and make decisions.

Listen to Your People

Think of your employees as advisors. Not necessarily all the time; there will be occasions where you don’t need input or don’t want input, and you need to direct what has to be done. But in other cases, there can be a lot of value in asking people, “What do you think?”

This is NOT a committee-system. Committees are the downfall of progress. So let’s not go there.

This is NOT a system where everyone gets an equal vote. Equal voting can work, under some circumstances, but most people need leaders, and you’re the boss, so you’re the leader.

Really listening is key. Not just pretending. If what your people tell you goes in one ear and out the other, everyone is harmed by that; employees will see that and get demoralized and frustrated, and you’ll lose valuable insight and advice.

But listening isn’t enough.

Make Decisions

Effective leaders make decisions. That’s what we have to do. Someone has to make the decisions right?

Making clear, definitive decisions is crucial. Wishy washy decisions aren’t decisions, they’re copouts.

Every decision made won’t be the right one or the best one, but they have to be made nonetheless. And if a mistake is made, admit it, adjust to it and move on. Before we can learn from our mistakes and our successes, we have to stand up and say, “Ok, this is what we’re going to do.”

And if a decision is made that goes against the advice/suggestions/ideas of an employee, tell them why. Decisions made in a vacuum with no context or explanation come across as too authoritative.

Really Listen. Then Make a Decision.

Employees will appreciate this model. They get to have their say; have their voices heard and be a part of something bigger than just their own work. If employees feel like you’re really listening, they’ll appreciate the communication and comraderie being created. Then, make a choice. Decide what has to be done based on the input from your employees and then guide them towards executing on your decisions. Employees will appreciate the fortitude with which decisions are made, believing in their leaders ability to move on things, and orchestrate with a steady but not overly firm hand.

And, if the need arises, you can always try using a Spanish Donkey, Pear of Anguish or Ducking Stool.

Blogs live and die by the number of great inbound links they have. An inbound link is very simply a link from another website or blog coming to your blog.

Not all links are created equal. Some will be from junk sites, sblogs (spam blogs) or sites that have little to no relevance to your blog’s content. These links may still help with things like your Technorati rating, but generally speaking they won’t do much to increase traffic or awareness of your blog.

The best links are those from high-trafficked, relevant sites. But don’t be too concerned about getting links from A-listers (those with big-name / high-trafficked blogs) … what’s really important is the relevancy.

One way of generating great inbound links is through Blog Carnivals.

What is a blog carnival?

Surprisingly, it’s hard to explain in 1-sentence. The Blog Carnival site tries this way, “…where someone takes the time to find really good blog posts on a given topic, and then puts all those posts together in a blog post called a ‘carnival’.”

There are blog carnivals on almost every imaginable topic, from business and marketing to asian history and biotechnology.

So how do you participate in a blog carnival?

1. First, fine one that suits the topic of your blog. Here’s a laundry list. (You may find more than one carnival too, even better!)
2. Make sure it’s still running. (One of the tricky things is that many of the carnivals die out after some time; the original creator of the carnival loses interest, or they can’t find enough hosts, etc.)
3. Note the submission deadline. Each carnival has its own, so make sure you submit your content on-time and take note of when and where the carnival is going live.
4. Submit a relevant blog post to the carnival. Try and submit your best content! Some carnivals only pick a handful of posts, others will list all submissions. Regardless, you want to put your best foot forward. Submitting a blog post is extremely easy — it takes a couple of minutes and that’s it. You’ll get an email notification confirming the submission.
5. Wait for the carnival to launch and check to see if your post made it. If it did that’s one more valuable, relevant link going back to your blog.In some cases, the person hosting the carnival will email you to thank you for the post, and let you know if it was published. Whether they do or not, email the host directly to thank them for considering your post (especially if they posted it) and start to build a positive relationship.

Blog carnivals are an excellent way to generate great inbound links. But blogging isn’t just about amassing links. It’s about community and building relationships.

Contacting the hosts of blog carnivals is a good way of extending your network in the blogosphere. Commenting on carnival posts (particularly when your post has been published) is a great way of saying, “I’m here and paying attention. Thank you.”

And don’t forget to check out the other blogs highlighted. They’re most likely relevant to your interests, and that means instantly expanding your body of knowledge and networking opportunities. Blog carnivals shouldn’t care about a blog’s popularity, so you’re likely to find resources and people you never knew before … and that’s what building a community is all about. Very often it’s the “little guy” that will become your best contact.

Ideas are not worthless. Some will argue that an idea is worthless unless acted upon. That’s silly, because ideas do a lot for us in terms of creativity, communication and spawning new ideas.

Having said that, when we hit upon an idea that we think is absolutely golden, we want to see it come to a reality. We’ve got the greatest idea since sliced bread…now what?!?!

1. Write it down. For the love of everything that is holy, when an idea hits you like a lightning bolt, write it down. Lightning never lingers (and some say it never strikes twice). Don’t let your idea disappear. And it very well might. Your brain is full of craziness, dealing with day-to-day life, managing a million things…Don’t lose that initial kernel of explosive genius.
2. Simmer and chew. Let the idea simmer for awhile. It might be a few days, it might be a few weeks. It might be longer. The timeframe isn’t important. What’s important is that you let the idea simmer in your brain, cook it gently but hotly, don’t let it cool, but don’t burn it either. Allowing the idea to simmer will let you think about it from different angles, consider it more carefully…chew on it.

   Chewing on an idea means starting to think about the nitty gritty, the implementation and operations of the idea. How will it work? Who might be needed? What are the steps to building this idea? We don’t need to swallow the idea just yet…we’re just chewing on it.

3. Research. This should be done in parallel with the chewing. It’s time to start researching the idea more thoroughly. You may already have answers to some of these questions, but let’s ask them anyway:
• Who wants this? Why?
• Who is the competition?
• What makes this unique?
• How long will it take to turn the idea into a business?
• What’s the revenue model?
• How will I market this thing? How will I sell it?

This isn’t every question you need to ask, but they’ll get you started.

4. Tell Others About Your Idea. This might be a tough one for people to follow, but it’s important. Keeping an idea to yourself is a mistake. You won’t be able to get other people’s perspectives, and sometimes we can’t see the forest from the trees. Tell others about your idea; explain it to them, pitch them, brainstorm with them. Seek the advice of trusted sources (but be wary of the “yes man” who just agrees with everything to be nice — family often does this!), and seek advice from unknown or lesser-known sources (experts in whatever industry you’re entering, clients, etc.)

   Your accountant or lawyer (if you have either - personal or for an existing business) are often good sounding boards, and well connected with others that might be able to help.

   There will be naysayers. Don’t disregard them completely but don’t ignore them either.

5. Introspection. Every entrepreneur needs to ask some pointed questions about him/herself before turning an idea into reality.
• Do I have the resources to make it happen? (Money, contacts, etc.)
• Do I have the time to make it happen?
• Do I want to make it happen?
• What am I willing to sacrifice in order to make it happen?

Don’t diminish the importance of these questions. And don’t think for one second that your new business won’t take up time, require sacrifice in other areas of your life and be an emotional, physical and mental drain. I hope it also leads to infinite happiness, but the road there isn’t paved in gold!

6. Go/No-Go. At this point, you can make a decision — are you doing this or not? And a decision should be made. This doesn’t mean you spend all our time on this new project, invest our life savings, abandon our families to 24 hour workdays and stop eating. It just means you make the decision to move forward. If the answer is “no” then put the idea aside and move on. Don’t throw it out; just put it away for now. If “yes” let’s keep going.
7. Plan. Put a plan of attack together. It doesn’t need to be a 50-page business plan, but you want something on paper. You want something that answers the key questions listed above about competition, uniqueness, etc. Without a plan you’re like dust in the wind, floating around at the whims of an uncontrollable force. Better to have a plan, even an ultra-simple one, and start executing.
8. Execute. All the thinking, simmering, chewing, planning and talking won’t actually get your business launched, so now it’s time to take the plan and execute. Start small, move nimbly and put the initial pieces together.

   Be prepared to invest some money (incorporating, initial business preparation, etc.) but keep the budget as tight as possible.

   Be prepared for setbacks. But, look at them as opportunities instead of failures and keep plowing ahead!

9. Review. Revise. Repeat. Are you successful yet? Maybe, but probably not. Starting a business isn’t a totally linear exercise. You need to review everything in your plan, revise what’s not working and repeat every step listed above, right from the get-go. No idea or plan should ever be set in stone; they’re malleable, living things…treat them that way and even if you seem to be repeating steps you’ll actually be taking steps forward, not backward.

And now, you’ve just turned the greatest idea ever into reality!

Good luck!

[tags]entrepreneurship, starting a business, ideas, creativity, startups[/tags]