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When Twitter Needs to Become a Whole Conversation

Wednesday, October 27th, 2010

Twitter Talk

I’m a fan of Twitter. Nothing beats it for quick, agile, and brief. Twitter is the king of networking at the Internet speed and reach. Want to share something? Want to get a quick problem solved? Twitter lets us tap into our linked networks and pass information along, but you can’t send a Tweet to someone who’s never signed on.

Twitter Talk is great for a fast moving volley around a narrow idea or collecting the opinions of a crowd. But the very speed and compactness keeps the rich and telling details out — the details that explain why and how. If an idea or a problem takes exploring or discussion, Twitter doesn’t measure up.

If I’ve made assumptions about you, the message I get won’t be the one that you sent. If we use language differently our communication can go woefully wrong.

Sometimes whole conversations are important

  • to get something done.
  • to clearly state a position.
  • to define a project and outline expectations.
  • to participate in a negotiation.
  • to coax, cajole, or romance.

and in many other situations.

Twitter doesn’t do whole conversations well. Some interactions require other tools.

Where do you go when Twitter needs to change to a whole conversation?

Liz Strauss

Want a strategy to be irresistible to your core audience? See the Work with Liz.

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Posted in Uniquely Liz, irresistible, social media | View Comments

Enter the Chief Executive Gardener

Wednesday, October 13th, 2010

Any gardener will tell you that gardening takes strategy and tactics.

  • long-term and short-term planning,
  • resources,
  • and daily maintenance.

Enter the Chief Executive Gardener

Here’s what Chief Executive Gardeners do. They

  • check the location, the values of the soil, the sunlight, the weather, the intangibles.
  • find the right plants to match those circumstances.
  • plant the seeds and seedlings in the soil — different plants across the landscape — to match variations in conditions.
  • keep watch on a regular basis.
  • remove weeds and other competitive threats.
  • amend the soil and keep plants cared for — pruned, fed, and strong — so that threats can’t harm them.
  • know that some plants will only live so long; some will die in storms; some will be weak from the start but that those should be rare, if the gardener is good.
  • watch the garden to see soil changes, to know what plants will continue to flourish and to know what new plants to introduce.

Every enterprise should have a Chief Executive Gardener. Without a Chief Executive Gardener, the Chief Executive Bean Counter has only luck to grow the beans to count.

To quote Joseph Jaffe

If you’re not busy growing, you’re busy dying.

He could have been talking about a garden. He wasn’t.

Great gardens grow to fit the world. They don’t try to make the world fit them.

That’s the garden analogy. Apply it where you think it works.

What will grow your business garden today? Would you start with an acre of social media listening and conversation?

Liz Strauss

Want a strategy to be irresistible to your core audience? See the Work with Liz.

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Irresistible Is the Only Option

Tuesday, July 20th, 2010

It Hasn’t Changed

In 2002, Seth Godin defined remarkable as companies who created new ways of being highly successful at traditional businesses. That same year, Malcolm Gladwell’s classic “The Tipping Point” underscored how little things can make a BIG difference, but most everyone missed the huge point on page 98 – which explained why remarkable isn’t enough. In subsequent years, Godin, Gladwell, Joe Calloway, Keith McFarland, Michael Garber have all taken on the idea of what makes an extraordinary business. Tom Peters is re-releasing his wisdom on the subject.

Being irresistible is a decision. Done well, it’s a complete strategy.

Irresistible businesses are those who build great relationships. They constantly

  • Remove what customers don’t want.
  • Enhance what customers love.
  • Add something unexpected customers would die for.

Irresistible is the only option. The opposite of irresistible is irrelevance and invisibility.

What makes you irresistible?

Liz Strauss
Find out about working with Liz.

Buy the Insider’s Guide and Get your best voice in the conversation.

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