Improve My Business

To close out this relationship themed month on our blog I want to talk about online relationship building, and before you ask, no I am not going to talk about online dating sights. By now everyone knows that your business needs a website, and if you are reading this blog chances are you are relatively tech savvy and have a nice website set up. What is the purpose of your website? Does it give information? Is it simply a place to list your phone number where prospective clients can find you? Or is it a community? Are you using your website as simply an informational tool or are you using it to build relationships with clients and prospective clients? This is what I mean when I say I want to talk about online relationship building.

When the internet first came around it was a great source for easily search-able information, and this is still true. Now days most any question can be answered if you know how and where to look on the internet. However, this is not the only use for the internet, like anything else it grows and evolves. Recently we have seen the rise of social networking and what is being called Web 2.o. The importance of these new innovations from a business standpoint is that they are shifting the way our customers use the internet, and therefore we need to shift the way we use the internet.

Web 2.0 is changing the internet from a simple search-able database of information into a forum for creating community and fostering relationships, and as business people who realize the importance of relationships this is great for us. People are no longer content to simply find information posted on your website, they want interaction, both with you and with other customers. We need to  make sure that we are tapping into this new way of building relationships and using it to reach a new customer base that we may have never thought of before.

To me it makes sense to think of the new internet as one big trade-show. At a trade-show you can have your booth and just put on information for people to come by and pick up and look through, or you can stand at your booth and invite people in, engage people in conversation, and start building a relationship with that person. The growth of web 2.0 has given us the opportunity to stand out front of our online booths and interact with the people coming in, not just let them pick up information and leave. As anyone who has worked at trade shows will tell you, it is the interaction more then the information that is valuable, and this is becoming true on the internet as well.

One final point that I think a lot of people forget is that the rules and tips for building personal relationships apply just as much on the internet as they do in person. This means that whatever you do to start building your relationship presence on the internet you need to make sure it is honest and genuine or you won’t get the desired response.

So I encourage all of us to start thinking about how we can increase our presence on the internet not just from an information stand point, but from a relationship standpoint. That is part of what we are trying to do with our blogs at McDCG. We want to use these blogs to not only provide information, but also start growing a community. This is why we always encourage you to leave comments and start discussions. So how is your business using the internet? Leave us some comments so we can all see what you have done and learn together.

Technorati Tags: blogging, Business, Business Relationships, communication, twitter

Those of you who are regular readers of the blog may notice that we have several bloggers who regularly write these posts. This is done for two reasons:

1) I’m willing to share the limelight with other McDonald Consulting employees - that’s just the kind of sharing, selfless person I am.

2) I don’t want to write blog posts twice a week, every week. That feels too much like ‘work’.

OK, so there are really 2.5 reasons:

2.5) I think it’s important for you, or loyal (or occasional) reader, to hear more than one voice, one outlook, one viewpoint on how you can improve your business.

How does this work? Well, any one of us can write a post and upload it to our site. Suzanne, our intrepid Ops Manager, will review quickly for grammar, spelling, but otherwise does not change what’s written (in most cases, unless we’re ragging on Suzanne, in which case I’m guessing she’d edit it prior to posting) and then upload. Oftentimes, the first time I’m reading the blog post is the same time that you are.

This is great for 2.5 reasons:

1) It gives me insight into what others who are working with me closely are thinking (because sometimes our conversation just doesn’t get around to whatever the blog post topic is on);

2) It gives you multiple voices to hear from on ways to improve your business, implement efficiency ideas, or hear what we’re thinking;

and

2.5) I don’t have to write blog posts, twice a week, every week. (at least you know I’m honest!)

So if you like a post, or dislike a post, or want to comment on the post, note who wrote it - and feel free to address us by name!

Thanks to our bloggers Suzanne, Barret, Jenny, and James!

-Mary

Technorati Tags: blogging, communication, working smarter

Mary is on vacation this week so the task of contributing to the blog falls squarely on my shoulders, which is great, but the topic of process improvement is so overwhelming getting started has been a bit of a challenge. At least it was until last night when I decided to change my usual work process…

Normally, I do all my work from my desk in my home office during daytime hours. This usually works great since I can shut the door and work much like anyone would from a conventional office. Every day I get up get dressed and “go” to work. But every once in a while I get up, get dressed and go to work only to find myself stuck, staring at email and not able to generate the enthusiasm I need to tackle the tasks of the day.

So, when I found myself pondering what I would write about while brushing my teeth before bed, and actually coming up with ideas, I decided to change my process. Normally it is against my personal policy to bring work to bed. This policy was decided based upon multiple articles and interviews I’ve seen with doctors and relaxation experts that say over and over again that if you bring your work, bills, and other stressful tasks with you to the bedroom, the bedroom will cease to be a place for relaxation and rest. This theory made sense to me, except I still found myself laying awake and thinking about work. Well, obviously my policy was not having the desired effect.

Instead of trying to forget all the ideas I was having, I gave in, grabbed my laptop and just let them out. Voila! I now have something to share on the blog, and it even has a message that may help others: If you find yourself stuck, try something new! Break your own rules every once in a while to see if they are serving you well or holding you back!

Please share a comment if you’ve had a similar epiphany and let us know how it worked out for you. Did you eventually go back to the old routine, or did you make a change for the better?

Technorati Tags: blogging, change, process improvement, working smarter

Do you know anyone who blogs for blogging’s sake?  They blog b/c they haven’t had a post in a while, not because they have something to say?  I Freudian slipped and typed bogging, but that’s what this is, isn’t it?  Bogging down our servers, our emails, our tweets with useless stuff?

So let’s make a pact - no more bogging, only blogging.

Technorati Tags: blogging, twitter

[reposting after moving my blog... sorry if you didn't see this last week!]

I knew that blogging was one way to get more popular, but WOW! I’m overwhelmed by this…

Technorati Tags: blogging, humor