Liz Strauss.com

Hi!
I’m Liz Strauss and I’ve been blogging a couple of years across the street from Belmont Harbor. I’m on a quest this year to meet as many Chicago Bloggers as I can.

To that end, I have decided to feature Chicago bloggers, Chicago companies and their stories on my LizStrauss.com blog I’d sure like to make you a part of that. If you’re interested, please comment below.

A Little about Who I Am

My blog, Liz Strauss at Successful Blog
has been called both a destination and an event. According to EatonWeb, “Liz Strauss is perhaps the most influential relational blogger on the Internet.” (I’m not sure who wrote that, but I’m guessing that the writer must be a fan.)

I’m a strategic planner who shows businesses how to focus and organically grow in ways that keep and gain customers. I explain why what they are doing might not be working and how people perceive a blog, a product, and an experience. Basically, I denibstrate the head and heart exchange that builds a thriving brand-loyal community by turning first-time visitors into participating customer-friends.

I’ve worked over 20 years in print, software, and online publishing, and developed strategies with publishers in Europe, Australia, the UK, and Ireland. I had the fun of conceiving and directing the strategy that turned around a $9M and sold it 3 years later for $35M. I also led the vision behind last year’s SOBCon07 — THE Successful and Outstanding Bloggers’ Conference for building relationships that gained the attention of BusinessWeek, the Chicago Sun-Times, and the Innovation Initiative of the Kellogg School of Business.

I sure would like to meet you, get to know you, and feature you on my
LizStrauss.com blog. Please email me at my gmail address if you think you’d enjoy being a part.

Let’s do something successful and outstanding together.

Thanks!
Liz

When a manager finally comes to the conclusion that he or she needs help to finish a project on time, often the timing of that idea is usually 2-3 weeks or more past an ideal time. Instead the decision has waited until the manager is under stress and deadline pressure with many plates to keep spinning and many balls to keep in the air.

The manager looks at the project and sometimes decides that no part of it can be delegated. This conclusion is patently false. In 30 years as a manager, I have not found a project that did not have parts that were appropriate to delegating. The way to find them is in how you look at the project.

Finding Tasks to Delegate

Delegating appropriately requires a flexible mind that moves easily from part to whole and whole to part. In this context, a part is a discrete task that can be completed without reliance on the rest of the project or with minor checking against another part of the project.

On a blog a discrete task might be checking all post titles for the use of key words.

Use this process to identify appropriate tasks to delegate.

1. Identify discrete tasks. Look for small tasks. Look top down, bottom up, and latterally. Mentally think through each step of the process and consider how another you might take part of the work load without interrupting what you are doing.
2. Determine the level of project knowledge required to do each task.Checking page numbers, for example, requires only the ability to make sure numbers are in sequence and all are present. Checking content requires experience in the industry to understand what choices are costly and time consuming. It also requires project knowledge and history of decisions already made about content grary areas.
3. Determine the skill set needed for each task that could be delegated.
4. Find the folks who have that skillset in house or hire them from a temporary agency.
5. Have a short sample of the work prepared to test the candidate’s performance on the task.
6. Determine how you will verify to your own satisfaction that the candidate is strong enough to ask questions when necessary, but to work alone without much direction.

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Once you’ve gone through these steps you are ready to meet with the candidate to present the work. At this point is when you begin to reap the benefits of the time you have invested.

These steps are designed to ensure that the delegation process is successful. Following them will get you to your goal faster. Taking a shorter timeline in delegating, almost always results inthe work being done over — thereby losing more time than appeared to be gained when the proejct was delegated.

Behind every Successful business, there is an Outstanding Manager.

Liz

We expect things from the organizations that employ us. If we interview to work for one, we want to know how well the enterprise supports its people. A strong candidate gets to the matter by learning the answers to questions such as these.

• How are job roles defined?
• What are the functions of each department?
• How do you ensure that employees are fully trained to handle the responsibilities that are theirs?
• What happens in the case of a major skills deficit?
• How are employees kept up with changes in the industry, technology, and business practices?
• Does the organization offer tuition reimbursement or continuing education?

A organization that doesn’t stack up in answering those questions would be considered unfavorably in a job search. Yet as entrepreneurs, we often fail to define our own job roles further than “jack of all trade.” Many of us don’t take time to delineate the functions and roles that we need to fulfill or seek out the training that we need to do them. The pressure of time and lack of funds to invest often make us short-sighted about gaining the skills to keep up with changes in the industry and technology.

From this perspective in many cases, the standards we hold for work-alone businesses are lower than those we hold for an organization that might hire us. This irony is detrimental to success and unnecessary.

Every job function that a small business needs is available for hire. Most can be learned and incorporated into the work plan of an owner. Training is a value that might require a paradigm shift for some, but it’s not unrealistic to think that they’ll soon see it as an investment in their future.

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, over 50% of small businesses fail in the first year and 95% fail within the first five years.

Being unprepared, remaining untrained, and confronting unexpected needs are key reasons these failures occur.

There ia an answer in a thorough and cohesive business plan that includes training A plan doesn’t need to be complicated or overwhelming. Yet, a simplified, but solid, business plan can make the difference between a small business that fails or succeeds.

Behind every Successful small business is an Outstanding Manager. — Perfect Virtual Manager

Liz Strauss

Our approach to anything we do can change the outcome to make it a positive or a negative experience. Blogging is no exception to this rule. Often we do things that seem right, but in reality have a negative impact. With that in mind, I offer these blogging mistakes to avoid.

Blogging Mistakes to Avoid.

• Don’t try to be someone you’re not. A successful blogger has a style and tone that is uniquely the blogger’s.
• Don’t play it too safely. Experiment. Take thoughtful risks, try new things. Add spice and energy.
• Don’t try to trick your audience . A game or a hoax might be tempting and may even be fun. However, you risk not only your credibility, but the trust readers have placed in you.
• Don’t try to be too clever. Write in clear language with a friendly voice to a reader who is as intelligent as you are. Leave the big words for eighth grade teachers, unless your readers have shown a predilection for higher-level vocabulary.
• Don’t use marketing speak, buzz words, or jargon. Use real words that real people use to talk to each other.
• Don’t lie. It’s the ultimate disrespect for your readers.They’ll find out.
• Don’t steal. A thought leader has thought and doesn’t need to take those of others. People want to read your thoughts. If you quote someone else (be sure to attribute and give a link back) and make your own commentary.
• Don’t get upset when you make a mistake. Fix your errors and move on.
• Don’t ignore your readers. Engage readers. Be there to answer their comments.
• Don’t ignore criticism. Answer negative comments with the mindset of the beginner/learner. Listen and learn all you can from the commenter. Place what you learn in context and keep what is valuable.
• Don’t get defensive. When someone points out a mistake, take a step back and look at the situation objectively. If you were wrong, admit that. Readers respect bloggers who own their actions and who stay cool headed in tough situations.
• Don’t write when you’re angry or intoxicated. Wait.

As you can see, all of these fall under the advice, “blog smart,” or to say it another way, “don’t do stupid things.”