Category: humanizing business

What Would You Do with an Extra Half Day a Week?

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

Our clients save, on average, half a day a week by handing off the repetitive social media tasks to Ausoma.

What could you do with an extra half a day a week?

You could spend more time on other tasks you feel aren’t getting your full attention now.

You could spend time on Quadrant 2 activities, those tasks which are important, but not urgent, and therefore fall to the bottom of every tasklist ever written.

Would you have time to take on another client?

Maybe you’d spend more time with family. I know I would.

You could write a book. If you write at my pace, you’d have a 60,000-word book done in two years without taking time from anything else.

Save up the half days until you have a couple and take a long weekend, a short vacation.

Or perhaps take a continuing education course and your local community college, or online.

Time it right and attend a conference.

Spend the time broadening your horizons by learning a language.

Broaden your horizons in a different way and take art classes or learn to play a musical instrument.

Your budget may not allow you to hire someone to manage your social media for you. We get that. If it does, though, what would you do with an extra half day a week?

What Has Your Social Media Consultant Done for You Today?

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

At a recent meetup for local authors we met Ernest Sears Jr. who had written a book about the benefits of culling destructive relationships from our lives.

Ernest wasn’t happy with his book’s cover. The book was ready, Ernest was ready, but the cover wasn’t what he wanted: it looked like a book about juicing, which it’s not. (That’s it on the right.)

We no longer provide cover design services, but we know people who do. After referring Ernest to Lewis Agrell, they worked together to give the book a new cover. It’s more dynamic, and does a better job of conveying the book’s self-help content.

Ernest Was Not a Client

This wasn’t a business transaction, it was a gift. We met someone who had a need, and we knew someone who could fill it.

Business isn’t only about transactions, it’s about people, generosity, fulfillment, even joy. We love what we do, we really like authors and the publishing world, and we’re always glad to help any way we can—even if someone isn’t paying us money.

What has your social media consultant done for you today?

Help Us Make More Connections

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

After a challenging first half of the year we’re keeping ourselves alert to the connections we’re making in the industry. The more people we help, the better our own business does.

Sue wants to do more of her Getting to Know You calls. While these calls never include a sales pitch of any kind, the honest personal connections that result have been consistently helpful—on both sides.

Who do you know in the publishing industry? Could be an agent, a publisher, a designer: if they’re in publishing, point them to this post and let them know two things:

  1. We’d love to connect to learn about them.
  2. We abhor pushy sales pitches disguised as ‘friendly chats’ so when they talk to Sue, they’re safe.

Taking 80/20 to the Next Level: Engagement Content

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

We’ve discussed that about 80% of your online posts and comments should be generous, giving useful and interesting information, with self-promotion only making up the other 20% or so.

Let’s take that to the next level: engagement content.

What is Engagement Content?

As nonfiction authors our impulse is to teach, to share practical and actionable content.

Guess what—the 80/20 principle can help here.

Yes, make 80% of your ‘giving’ posts usable tips, educational content.

The other 20%? Engagement content.

In other words, personal, friendly, sharing, about-you-but-not-self-centered content.

Your day at the beach. A great movie or band you saw or plan to see. A beautiful sunset. A kind act someone did for you.

Why?

Because your goal is to be social and get noticed.

Even at a business mixer or a client meeting, don’t you discuss Pat’s new puppy or Sawyer’s trip to wherever? Of course you do. We’re people, and we engage most with people we like.

Give your followers, not just something to learn, but something to like.

Math geek alert: this would make “engagement content” 20% of 80% or about 16% of your overall content. Don’t sweat the precision.

Expanding Your Network 15 Minutes at a Time

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

This year Sue has been using an old-fashioned method to expand her social network. Because she’s doing it right, it has not only delivered results but it’s been fun.

Any time she comes across the social media profile of someone interesting (from a professional perspective) she spends a little time learning more about them, then invites them to have a 15-minute phone call to get to know each other. She calls them Getting to Know You calls. (I’m the writer in the family but since she pays my bills I’ll stay out of her business.)

Yes, that’s right, it’s the old “Can I buy you a cup of coffee?” ploy, ruined by professional networkers a decade ago.

Here’s how Sue does it right:

  1. She spent the time to develop a reputation for sincerity and generosity.
  2. She takes the time to get to know something about the other person, even interacting at their blog or other social media accounts, before she raises the idea of chatting on the phone.
  3. When she approaches them, she expresses a specific interest in something they do or offer.
  4. Wait, before that, she actually feels a genuine interest in something they do or offer. That’s the whole point: they’re professionally interesting.
  5. She uses a simple free tool called Calendly to allow them to schedule their call anytime she’s free and which is convenient for them. No phone tag or endless scheduling emails.
  6. During the conversation, she actually listens to them, treats them with dignity and respect, and only shares what Ausoma does as something that might support their business. No sales pitch. Ever. (Did we get that part? That’s what killed the “cup of coffee” gag, remember?)
  7. She keeps in touch, and when she finds something of value to them she shares it.

The theme there is generosity. People can tell when you’re “having a chat” but it’s all about you.

They can also tell, from a mile away, when you’re a sincere and generous person who believes that the more you help others, the better your own business and life are.