We hear it all the time: Transparency and being genuine (the real you)… two huge keys in building lasting relationships with your clients and patients.
Will the real employer please stand up
But, are you a Dr Jekyll and Mr/Ms Hyde when it comes to your employees? Do they sometime say or think…”Will the REAL (Employer Name) please stand up?
Let me share an incident that happened awhile back with my husband in the office of his ophthalmologist.
Jack had asked his nurse a question and the nurse had relayed the question to the doctor (in another room). The doctor got very belligerent and loud to the nurse stating she wasn’t suppose to be asking him any questions, he was the doctor not her, going on to say she didn’t even need to know the answer, and really proceeded to further reprimand her…in front of another patient AND loud enough Jack and other patients heard him!!
What you see is not always what you get
When the doctor came back in…all smiles and ready to proceed, Jack proceeded to let the doctor know how rude he was to treat and talk to his employee that way. Jack went on to say he was the patient, he had asked the question and had a right to know the answer, and that she had asked him based on his request.
Dr’s attitude it seems was very nice, friendly, and out going to patients, but as it turned out, extremely offensive and even belligerent to his employees. Now we knew why we had seen so much turnover in that office. (Note: Hubby left that doctor/practice right after that)
A friend of mine, who is a social media specialist, recently had a similar issue ( and the reason for this post) with her employer who’s very well know in the social media world and who also preaches the importance of “transparency and being genuine” for building relationships but doesn’t seem to show that side to the employees.
Making an employee look bad to make you look good – doesn’t work
Unfortunately being talked down to and loudly in front of patients and/or other team members is a scene that’s repeated by employers to their employees all to often throughout the day. Yet employers preach “being transparent and genuine” and “building relationships” with the clients and patients.
What about with your employees…your “team” members? Where would you be or how far could you get without them?? Sure over time, they come and they go…but you have to have them, so why aren’t you striving as hard to be as transparent and genuine and to build a LASTING relationship with your team players – who keep your practice running in tip top shape while making you look good – and are also the reason many of your clients/patients return?
You may be their employer, but at lunch, after hours, and especially after they’ve left your employment…they are on their smart phones talking. What are they saying… is it something you’d like to see posted on your Facebook page? Is it something you’d be proud of …that would make a great review? Or is it something you’d be trying to delete or have removed?
Bad or negative talk about a practice/employer from an employee is just as bad if not worse than you receiving a negative review on a social platform from a client/patient.
Fishbowl lives, just like celebrities
In today’s world of social networking online, like celebrities, we’re in a fishbowl…Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram…to name a few have brought us from behind the scenes into full view 24/7.
You can have all types of policies in place, but in today’s social world, negative is as quick as 1, 2, 3! 1) Out the door 2) Type the text/tweet/Facebook post, and 3) Hit send! It’s there for everyone to see…in seconds!!
Negative travels fast and with all the social platforms, it travels faster than the speed of light!
Solution: Remember to treat your employee/team members with as high regard as you would a very valued client/patient. You have a lot riding on it…including your reputation!
Your simple action step: Take the necessary steps to eleminate your “split-personality” This week spend some time paying close attention to yourself: How you react, how you reply, how you represent your team to your clients/patients, the positive and certainly the negative. What steps do you need to take to be at “one” with yourself and to your team?
Have you found this to be true in some practices you’ve worked in and what did you do in response? You can type your answer in below (no names please) I’d love to hear from you!
Symptom: You want to create your Facebook Business page, you’ve uploaded your cover photo and entered most of the information but it’s just n-o-t quite looking the way you want it to look. It needs a little more….
Symptom: You want to start using or expand your social media marketing, You know which platforms you want to use, but you’re just n-o-t quite ready to launch. You need to check on……
Symptom: You’ve decided to start a blog, you have your design template and everything’s in place, but it’s just n-o-t quite ready to publish. There’s one more…..
Diagnosis: ……Paralysis Of Analysis!
Trust me, I know just how this feels. I have so many ideas, some have been very good ideas, but when I got down to the final step and ready to implement….I needed to “do this”, or “add that”, or “tweak it just a little bit more”
In fact, I “tweaked” it until I tweaked it out! It was never quite right. The result was, it never got completed because I was waiting for it to be just right!
A perfect example is I could have been on the Internet in the early ’90′s, but I managed to “analyze” myself right out of it and instead it was the mid ’90′s.
Truth be known, until I “published” my first website, and started my first ezine, I had only completed three things in my life….Sandra, Susan, and Stacey……my three daughters!
Waiting for it to be… perfect
We are of the opinion it has to be “perfect” before we can actually begin whatever it is we are trying to do.
Let me share with you what I’d do. I’d analyze this and analyze that, then….I’d analyze the analysis!! By that time I had contracted…..Paralysis Of Analysis.
What’s the “cure” for Paralysis of Analysis
So what can you do to get the “feeling” back? To coin a phrase…..”Just do it”!….. It doesn’t have to be perfect. In fact, it won’t ever be…perfect.
The term Ready, Aim, Fire comes to mind, however sometimes we need to…. Ready, FIRE, and then Aim.
The point is to move yourself forward. You can always go back and make changes, fine tune it, …..”tweak” it. That comes from gaining knowledge and experience.
Now go finish your Facebook Business page and launch it… complete your social media platforms and start building and connecting with your online community… create that blog and write your blog posts and publish it… then go back and “tweak” it.
After all, the fact you are reading this completed – published – blog post is a step on the road to recovery for overcoming…..The Paralysis of Analysis!
Your Simple Action Step:
Move yourself forward. Right now determine which one project you’ve been putting off that you will complete by the end of this week. Set a completion/finish date and stick to it. Don’t be vague. Make yourself accountable. Create the steps needed to get to your completion date and work on it every day! Don’t put it off….now is the time, you can go back and tweak it. You CAN do this. Reward yourself for a job well done and then say… “What’s next?”!!
Have you ever been stopped by paralysis of analysis? How did you handle it? Share your comment below, I’d love to hear your views!
“Looking for ways to boost your blog traffic? In this Guest Post Terri Seymour of SeymourProducts.com shows you 10 Event Ideas to Boost Your Blog Traffic.”
In the business world, an event is a public gathering for the purpose of networking and/or marketing. Holding events on your blog or website can help give your traffic a substantial boost. By holding different events, you bring more life and interaction to your blog which in turn will bring more traffic.
Contests and giveaways are effective events to stir up some interest and excitement. If you are not sure which type of event to consider, below are ten ideas to help you to get started.
1. Charity Week – Offer to pay a percentage of all orders to charity. Have your visitors post information about their favorite charities and donate to them. Present prizes, discounts, gift cards, etc., for your visitors. Hold auctions with your products to raise money for various charities. Ask people to help you raise money by making others aware of your charity event. NOTE: Please be sincere in your efforts to raise money for charity. Do not just use it as a marketing ploy!
2. Meet & Greet Event – Hold a meet and greet event for other bloggers. Invite bloggers to come to your event to meet, network, and brainstorm with fellow bloggers. You could have a couple of games for prizes such as trivia or other quick and easy games. Have a question and answer forum to offer advice, experience and expertise. Present guest speakers to share their knowledge and expertise as well.
3. Comment Contest – Let your readers know that if they post a comment, (with substance, not just thank you for the info or anything on that order) they will have a chance at winning a prize. You can do a random drawing for the prize or you could have a secret word (which directly relates to your content) and anyone who uses that secret word in their comment gets a shot at the prize. Make it fun and use different tactics each time.
4. Holiday Events – For Halloween, hold a costume contest. Have people post pictures of themselves in their costumes and then have all posters vote for their favorites. The one with the most votes wins. For Christmas, you could have a “Find Santa” contest. Put a pic of Santa somewhere on your site and the first to find it wins. For Easter, you could have an Easter egg hunt. The possibilities are endless!
5. Guess the Location Contest – Post a picture of a semi-famous location (don’t make it too easy) and see who can guess it by vague clues given to them by you. Offer a new clue each day until someone discovers the location in the photo.
6. Photo Contest – Ask your visitors to post a photo they took along with their comment and let everyone vote on which one is best. People love to vote on things and to win prizes so it is a win-win contest!
7. Parade of Blogs – Does your community ever hold a Parade of Homes? You could do something similar with blogs. Contact other blog owners and see if they would be interested in participating. You again could let people vote on the blogs they liked best for certain categories such as products, content, user-friendliness, etc. This would be a great way for blog owners to learn how to make their blogs more successful as well as being a good opportunity for networking.
8. Group Discussions – Hold monthly group discussions similar to a book club only you could discuss ways to increase sales, traffic or build your business in general.
9. Trivia Parties – There aren’t too many people who don’t enjoy a good trivia challenge so why not hold periodical trivia parties.
10. Scavenger Hunt – Have a list of objects for people to find on the internet. Give them clues as to where they can find them. Each person has so much time to see how many of the objects they can find. Have them give you the url from the site where they found the object so you know it is the right one. Just doing a Google search for each object and going to any site is not allowed! Make it a specific object on a specific site.
Proper planning will be a big part of your event, so don’t try to schedule these events on the spur of the moment. Be precise and effective in your planning so all goes well.
I hope these ideas help to inspire you to organize your own successful event. Hold events and contests recurrently to help keep your blog active, alive and profitable!
My next article will highlight different ways you can promote your various events and entice more visitors to your blog.
About the Author:
Don’t be one of the 95% of people who fail at their online business. Terri Seymour can help you make money online.
Find out how to increase your traffic and sales with her popular “How to Build Your Online Business” ebook for FREE at: ==> http://www.SeymourProducts.com
Recently Facebook made some changes and relaxed it’s Cover Photo Rules. Orginally your cover photo could not include a website or email address, telephone number, or coupon offer. They also stipulated no more than 20% text on the cover photo images.
Now most of that has changed:
NOTE: [...]
Recently Facebook made some changes and relaxed it’s Cover Photo Rules. Orginally your cover photo could not include a website or email address, telephone number, or coupon offer. They also stipulated no more than 20% text on the cover photo images.
Now most of that has changed:
NOTE: The “No more than 20% Text” in a cover photo is STILL in effect.
Facebook has put tools in place for checking the text percentage in a cover photo and has stated Facebook will be monotoring how much text your cover photo contains.
Use this tool for checking to see if your text in your cover photo is within Facebook’s limit. Facebook 20% Text Tool
This 20% text rule is one area you want to make sure you are in compliance with Facebook. They are wanting to keep the images in a more visual appearance with images and less text.
What do you think about the new rules? I’d love to hear your opinion. Scroll down to reply and type your views.
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