Gotta Hitch in Yer Gittalong?

The business of a one-way communicator fades as 

quickly from view as yesterday’s prices at the pump.

When your spoken or written communications cease to be communicating communicatively, and you can feel the bumps but aren’t sure why messages aren’t transmitting to others as smoothly as you think you’re delivering them, check yer gittalong! You gotta hitch there, Pardner.

You don’t need no PhD. You don’t need to give up hours of your time.

It won’t cost you a penny.

All you need to do is ask yourself some questions, then answer yourself.

Quick.

Simple.

Free.

Start with the amount of information you’re putting into your message. Is it too much or too little for the individual or group you’re speaking or writing to, to be able to respond appropriately? Or is it  j~u~s~t  enough? Are you addressing the right individual or group to start with?

Don’t laugh at this last question if you have ever spent more than a wasted minute in a meeting that you should not have been asked to participate in to begin with. Bosses do it every day. They send out an email and Cc the whole world. They call one guy asking to meet with the whole department when only two people should be involved.

But, no. I wouldn’t imagine you’d do a thing like that.

You may, however, not be asking for answers to your questions in ways that encourage promptness, Truth, Justice, and the American Way.

Oh, wait a minute, that’s Superman.

But, hey, no reason you can’t be as efficient to make your point as changing your clothes in a phone booth, right?  

Would I take you this far into a blog post just to urge you to be like Superman? Surely not. The point is that one-way communications are like the radio and TV . . . other than those of us who may be drunk, on drugs, or confined to straight-jackets, most of us don’t talk back to these messages.

When you put out information or requests to others, you want feedback, responses, and answers. That’s two-way communication. Don’t talk like a dictator if you’re trying to cultivate a democracy . . . or an interactive, innovative organization! 

The “Can you hear me now?” TV commercial is a great example of a line that is worthy of using in meetings and phone calls –and even emails– because it solicits feedback. It gives you a checkpoint. It’s a straight out request to make sure that your message is being received and understood. Where are you without that? Where?

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www.TheWriterWorks.com or 302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

30 MILLION STORIES.

Does that sound like

the stairway to heaven?

No, the other kind of 

stories, as in tell me a…

It’s been widely reported that there are an estimated 30 million small businesses in the United States. This number includes sole proprietorships (which the government refuses to acknowledge as small businesses, and which therefore account for a smaller small business total in Washington’s eyes, though interestingly, not out of IRS sight!).

Why should this matter to you?

There’s barely an entrepreneur alive who doesn’t know that new small businesses create virtually ALL of the new jobs in this country –and always have– and that job creation is the ONLY solution to reversing this still plummeting economy (which, all the great funeral service and State of the Union campaign-style oratory cannot cover up with political blankets).

Just look at skyrocketing gas prices,

unemployment, and boarded up storefronts 

for proof of the still plummeting economy.

Every business that’s alive and breathing today has avoided shutdown and rollover by owner, manager, and employee guts and gumption.

Discovering and pounding away at a unique product or service differential; consistently thinking and acting beyond creativity into the gravitational pull of innovative orbits; delivering value, integrity, and overkill customer service is what spells s~u~c~c~e~s~s!

This means, among other things, that your business has a story. With 29,999,999 other stories floating around out there (not counting government and corporate media dominance and control), your business story may seem small and insignificant. But it is not. Your small business story is that you are here . . . and how you got here, and where you’re going. And that story is real and valuable.

YOUR story needs to be told. Do it yourself, or get someone to do it for you, but don’t shovel it into obscurity. Part of your value on this planet is to inspire and motivate others by sharing what you’ve learned along the way. If you don’t believe this, you shouldn’t be wasting your time on this site. You need not be Bill Gates or Oprah before giving something back. Teach by telling your story.

In the process of growing your business, what is it that you’ve learned the hard way . . . what do you wish someone had clued you in on before the eve of destruction?

What would have made a difference for you to hear when the going got tough?

How hard is it for you to choose to reach out to others in your family, your company, your industry, your community, and share some of your ups and downs in a way that might help someone else? Have you offered to teach a local high school or college or adult education course? How about initiating a business round-table group or discussion series at your church or community center?

(Practicing such enlightened self-interest, by the way, can only enhance your own business reputation in the process.)

Have you called a local school (or trade or professional show program director) and asked if you could arrange a guest talk, or guest lecture, or guest workshop, or seminar participation? (Some of the world’s best employees are also recruited at such sessions.)

What’s holding up your call? Are you thinking you have nothing important to say? If you are where you are, you have important things to say about the process that got you there. OR that didn’t get you there — What are some NO-NO’s you’ve learned? People DO want to know these things. You did yourself at one time. Remember?

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Hal@BusinessWorks.US

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!”   [Thomas Jefferson]

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!