Liz Strauss.com

Attract New Clients Immediately

Liz Strauss — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 14:15:30 +0000

Irresistible Opportunities Are Built Not Discovered

A while back someone — Let’s call her Cindy — asked my advice about when to pursue what had become her business passion. We discussed ways that she could build a client base that would ensure her income to replace what she’s been used to collecting from the job that she would leaving.

Cindy had done a pile of right things to set a concrete foundation.

She had spent a year using every minute of free time being a saturation learning. She got to know the business that is her passion. She watched the key people, read their blogs, and used the tools they recommended.
She went to conferences and built a network that served her a support group for personal development, business advice, and current trends.
She worked with pro bono clients and friends to build experience and to gain powerful personal information about what energized her and what she unique benefits she could bring to projects and problems that needed solving.

By the time I talked with Cindy about establishing her private practice all she needed was coaching in how to immediately attract clients who love her work. We identified, defined, and discussed this set of specifics:

how her offer is a investable client opportunity
how to frame her opportunity in terms of benefits — show how it meets a deep need or urgent desire
the unique and powerful return on investment she offers
how to negotiate from the client side of the table

About a week after our conversation, I got this email.

Liz!

I just landed my first client on retainer!

Sure, I’ve had other clients up until now but it has been a lot of BARTERING…and now I’m making the leap into accepting money.

This is awesome!

Thank you so much for your counseling by phone a couple of weeks ago.

It made my day.

I’ve put together a pilot program that I’m testing in Seattle next week. I want to help get good folks back to work. Click the title to see more information.

Liz Strauss: Authentically Attract Clients Who Love Your Work

If you’d like to bring something like it to your city, please contact me a lizsun2 @ gmail.com I’m not certain how long I can hold the prices quite that low, but I’m committed to doing the best I can.

I want to get more emails like that one.

Liz
Work with Liz

50 Blue Feather Association Tweeters and 12 Associations Who Tweet

Liz Strauss — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 16:21:17 +0000

A few month’s ago Lonnie Hodge wrote about Blue Feather Tweeters.

So, I thought “How about a list of the top 20-30 nicest people to meet and tweet on Twitter?” Here are my first picks for Blue Feather Friends – who actually talk to you….

It inspired me to make a list of my own.

Now we’re working on a project for a new iteration of our conference called SOBCon Hands-on Associations. I’ve been listening to association tweeters who talk about what’s going on in that most interesting space. I thought you might want to know who I’ve found to follow. Certainly these aren’t nearly all of the dedicated people in the association conversation, but these are ones I suspect wouldn’t mind a new person asking a question.

A Few of My Blue Feather Association Tweeters

@sweet sue Susan Kuhn Frost is the on-the-ground planner of our D.C. event.
@jeff hurt Jeff is helping us with the blog and the content. He’ll be there too.
@JoanEisenstodt A brilliant and generous consultant who has helped us tune our ideas.
@lizstrauss I’m putting myself on this list because I’m studying everyone else who’s here and have been for quite a while.
@kwells2416 Executive Director of an NGO that really cares about partner violence. Fabulous sense of humor and incredibly smart.
@JessicaLHansen Jessica is the real deal in the world of PR for associations.
@ekeating Content specialist with the Software Information Industry Association. — Knows what’s that.
@HansRuinemans Founder of Professional Speakers Association — Cuts Crap. Creates Insights. Inspires Souls. Heals hearts.
@ScottKelby Started the National Association of Photoshop Professionals — gives great tips
@DeirdreReid Seeking exec level position in the association space.
@tcar Todd Carpenter of the National Realtors Association, Chicago.
@tapangarg Chief Catalyst at the CIO Association of India.
@maddiegrant Association/non-profit blogger. Parter at SocialFish.
@lindydreyer Chief social media marketer and association nerd at SocialFish
@Mike Kujawski Marketing and Social Media Strategist for Government, Non-Profits, and Associations.
@DrDavidBallard Head of Corporate Relations and Business Strategy at the American Psychological Association
@saltzberg Association maven
@pinnovation Jeff De Cagna — innovator, thought provoker in the Association space.
@AvenueZ Beth Ziesenis, association groupie, speaker, a cool writer chick.
@Peggy Hoffman Association management is her thing.
@ewengel Elizabeth Engel, CAE, association managment and blogging.
@jamienotter Works with associations to raise their power..
@markbledsoe An association exec and blogger.
@scathcart Stephanie Cathcart is the Public Affairs Professional for the largest Small Biz Association – NFIB
@dswon Darcy Swon Soon to be Pres of the Iowa Chapter of the American Marketing Association.
@JudMod Woman born to partner. Global Alliances, Neighborhood America. President, Association of Strategic Alliances.
@BoardMagic Sheila Martin, Social Entrepreneur w/ biz focus in Association & Nonprofit Management
@MarylandADAKatie Jones twitters for Maryland Automobile Dealers Association (MADA) –the statewide association of new car and truck dealers in Maryland.
@ShelleRoseCharv Shelle Rose Charvet is President of Canadian Association of Professional Speakers
@KarenBrown Consultant and conference planner
@rgbroitman Web Publisher for the National Wildlife Federation.
@Reggie Henry Director of Tech at ASAE and always smiling.
@KnealeMann He makes associations and friends grow by knowing him.
@christytj CAE exec, AAUW, author, blogger
@StephenPeeler Association management consultant.
@PeterHutchins Charming, funny, and graciously good humored.
@ltwhite Leslie White, a risk management specialist who works with associations and nonprofits.
@MichaelMcCurry Creative thinking event planner from my neck of the woods.
@mmcallen His energy is beyond inspiring … It’s contagious!
@ljunker An association writer, editor, and source of information. .
@scottoser Great combination — publishing, associations, and multichannel marketing.
@sgiarde Sandra Giarde – A GenX Association Executive.
@shifted Another Chicagoan, this one is shifting the American Library Association
@krash63 American Heart Association
@renatosogueco Avid technologist for the floral industry and association
@jkhewett Julie does Association management and events services
@AnnikaStensson National Restaurant Association’s media relations director
@iawife Sandy ks the President and Founder of the International Association of Women in Family Enterprises.
@brianjohnriggs Consultant to associations, Director of Business aat AssociationHQ
@siddNullus master of the Xtreme Bowling Association!

And 12 Associations that tweet

@NAPP_News The National Association of Photoshop Professionals
@NAFSA Association of International Educators
@Loyalty360 Loyalty Marketer’s Association
@AAAnews official twitter channel off the American Automobile Association
@AICR The Association for International Cancer Research
@SMEI Worldwide Professional Association for Sales & Marketing
@ChicagoIMA Chicago Interactive Marketing Association
@AAEteachers The Association of American Educators (AAE) is the largest national, non-union, professional teacher association.
@RetailBC British Columbia’s retail trade association
@IABC International Association of Business Communicators —
@AssnMediaPub association publishers, communications professionals and the media they create
@ASHAWeb American Speech and Hearing Association

Of course before we talk, it’s always a good idea to listen first. Then do tell them I said, “hi.”

Feel free to add the Associations and Association Tweeters you know

Liz Strauss
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What Do You Expect I’ll Say When Folks Ask Where To Host Their Blog?

Liz Strauss — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:44:55 +0000

Seven Days without My Blog

It’s been seven days since Successful-Blog.com went down. And it still doesn’t work now.

If you visit you’ll see what appears to be a working blog, but it’s not.

The issue isn’t nearly so much the code or the database as it is that folks reading the messages that explain what’s going on. The system they’re using is based in support tickets meant to keep conversation focused and to a minimum. Unfortunately, some things are not well explained in writing.

The fastservers.net team hosting my blog seems to have decided that because I opted for a managed account that I have minimal credibility. No one listened long enough to find out.

Instead they told me:

fill out a support ticket (I already had)
you can’t have access
we don’t service applications

As a result, attempts to locate and fix the issue have been more difficult because the support team draws lines around their job.

SEVEN DAYS and No action that says they want to be sure they’re not part of the reason my blog is still down.

Some folks go ballistic when a site is down for 7 minutes.
I’ve remained calm. Perhaps they’ve misinterpreted that to mean I don’t care. Hopefully this might correct that wrong assumption.

What do you expect I’ll say when folks ask me where they should host their blog?

Liz Strauss

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Experts and Gurus Aren’t Necessarily the Best Social Media Teachers

Liz Strauss — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 13:17:42 +0000

The People to People Connection

Social media attracts literate, intelligent, curious people — people who like to explore new ideas. Though some brand themselves as experts or gurus. In a industry barely defined, we’re all Social Media Explorers still learning the whys, hows, and ROIs. Folks new to the territory might find that the traits of the most qualified teachers aren’t what they would be in an older, more concrete type of enterprise.

Here’s what to look for in a social media teacher or guide.

Count Internet years. 3 years experience is entry level in the concrete world. It can be extensive experience within Internet time.
Check for depth. A deep understanding will show itself in the ways a person can describe the culture of the Internet, how it shifts, and how the values of social media worth within and against the values of ecommerce. Look for understanding how how social media as a piece of a comprehensive marketing / customer plan.
Check for skill set. Even though the teacher may not be the person who’ll be executing the plan, he or she should be well versed in using the tools.
Check the breadth, particularly the individual’s networks. Social media is business based in influence, relationships, and connections. Discuss how the networks match up to your business and its goals.
Get the facts. Ask for cases and social media initiatives this person actively led.

The field, the metrics, and the best practices are still forming. Some folks have worked with the tools, but never applied them in actual P&L situations. Some have studied the theory. Some have built a narrow niche of expertise. While others understand how to move people all over the web, but can’t articulate it yet.

Many great minds and great practitioners are available to help. Know your goals and listen actively, the best match won’t be hard to find.

Let me know if I can help.

Liz Strauss

Want an hour of Liz’s personal consulting time? See the About Liz page.

Liz Strauss

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Social Media: It’s about People

Liz Strauss — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:02:01 +0000

Connecting on a Human Level

When I meet with a new clients, it’s becoming easier to determine who’s going to be successful by the questions they ask and their approach to moving onto the web. People who understand the new social climate realize that it’s no longer about finding customers for their products, but about using their products to connect people to other people.

A great example is I Can Localize, a human and technology translation service for online businesses. Amir Helzer has built his business with people connections in mind. He understands that the single act of putting together a web presence in another language isn’t much more than a billboard. So, he offers personal translators — native speakers who know the culture — they translate any website incremental updates and provide time-sensitive responses to comments and contacts from customers. That allows his clients to stay connected to the people they serve in ways that are both time and cost efficient.

People talking to people . . . that’s real connection.

Social media is meant to be social. Are you connecting people to people?

Liz Strauss

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Social Media: Google’s Global Listening Machine

Liz Strauss — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 12:47:50 +0000

Pairing Sentences

When we learn to speak, it starts by listening. Google has started a global listening machine.

Google has announced it’s building a Translation Center to connect people who need text and documents translated with people who can do that. Such a central location for language conversation has fabulous implications for the Internet and the translation industry.

Amir Helzer, of I Can Localize a translation service that combines human and technological solutions, and I spoke about the Google Translation Center on Friday. Amir suggested that, looking at Google’s core business, it’s likely that this new center will function similar to Google AdWords — connecting buyers to seller without intervention. He and I discussed the nuances of accurate cultural translations. Amir pointed out that, “Now that Google has made this move, people are talking about the translation industry. It opens the door to a discussion of quality and standards and the value of providing a local feel to a global web business.”

Google will be collecting words in context to build what Brian McConnell has called a free global translation memory.

Google has been investing significant resources in a multi-year effort to develop its statistical machine translation technology. Statistical MT works by comparing large numbers of parallel texts that have been translated between languages and from these learns which words and phrases usually map to others — similar to the way humans acquire language. The problem with statistical MT is that it requires a large number of directly translated sentences.

Before we speak, we listen. Are you ready to start speaking and listening?

Global is the new local. Communication is relationship.

Liz Strauss
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Social Media: Lurkers Might Ruin My Business

Liz Strauss — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 12:23:47 +0000

The Larger Audience

The overwhelming difference about online communication seems to be that folks worry about who might be listening in the shadows — the readers we affectionately call lurkers. It’s easy to endow that unseen audience with power and mystery that they may not seek or want.

The point we miss that most all of our communication is subject to “lurkers” in some form or another, and because we’ve learned to manage for them, we no longer think about the threat they also pose.
Examples include conversations and secrets that get repeated after we’re gone, emails that get passed on, and industry gossip in which people talk about us and at times, even claim to represent our view.

In any business communication, the point has always been to be sure that what we share is appropriate and useful — and offered with care. Online communication works the same way.

Liz Strauss
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Social Media: Interacting at a Trade Show

Liz Strauss — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 12:36:15 +0000

Every Time We Positively Interact . . .

It seems that every industry has that one trade show. It’s the venue at which all companies seem to gather with their most important vendors and customers. All parts of an individual enterprise prepare for the short time they can interact and think with so many that affect their business. Sales often happen, but so much more goes on in the background.

Product people talk to and learn from customers.
People talk about their problems and look to each other for solutions.
New ideas are explored while new products get mentioned.
Buyers meet with vendors and work though process — solving problems and planning projects.
Deals are discussed, imagined, proposed, and entered into.
Relationships begin by way of casual conversation.

None of the above would happen if the people involved went unprepared or didn’t attend.

A blog, any social media tool that connects a company with customers, can perform the same or similar functions. Without waiting a year, investing in travel, and gathering thousands of people in the same city. The Internet has opened our ability to access each other for purposes of doing business — relationships in which people are solving problems and planning projects.

Start a conversation and see who answers.

Liz Strauss
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Social Media: I Don’t Want to My Information on the Web!!

Liz Strauss — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 12:33:13 +0000

Bad Things Could Happen

When clients raise the issue of possible dangers of putting information in public, I’m right with them. I listen in actively to see where their concerns lie.

Some worry about danger to their reputation — people who might want tosay bad things about them — unhappy customers, unethical competitors

Some worry about danger to themselves — saying something they might regret later.

I’d never deny the possibilities. Instead I listen to understand the core issues.

Then I often find myself outlining that arrive every day to protect us online — comment moderation, blind contact forms, the ability to respond quickly online to damaging information — and quoting the simple rule Microsoft uses to guide their bloggers, “Don’t be stupid,” as I put the listed dangers in context.

It’s true that those situations listed are serious concerns. We deal with them daily in our interactions in the concrete world, the in world of email, at conventions and in sales presentations, and even on the telephone. We know how to handle information to an audience larger than one person.

We don’t need to leave behind the interaction skills we already know when we move to the Internet.

Liz Strauss
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Social Media: Can’t Do That! I Don’t Have Time!

Liz Strauss — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:03:20 +0000

No Time Like the Present

Time.
Who’s got any extra? Could you send some over?
I haven’t had any since 1990-something.
Most folks I know are feeling the same way.
Yet, somehow, we all manage to get things done in the time we have allotted. We even pick up a few new things as move forward in our careers.

Time.
“I can’t do that! I don’t have time for it!”
Truth is, I have time for things I find important, useful, and better not to avoid.
What that response means is “I don’t want to — learn something new.”

The minute I see value or realize that people are getting ahead of me.
I have the time I need to learn what I thought I didn’t need to know.

Start by learning the vocabulary. . . . you have time for a few words.

Liz Strauss