AMO Association Management Online

Bloggers and writers are very busy, getting many press releases a day from publicists and others pitching their stories, but there is a way to be able to get a writer to notice you amongst all of the emails. Writers want to be the one that discovers the next big thing as much as you want them to write about you. The trick is to make it easy for them. How to do so? Simple, give them something significant to discover. Not so simple, how to send it them. Here are a few tricks to sending out a press pitch to a blogger.

Research before pitching – If you talk to any blogger, they’ll usually tell you that two of the worst things that you can do when writing an email are 1) send them an email that doesn’t have anything to do with their blog or a story they’ve already covered, and 2) compose a pitch that seems as if you’ve never read their blog.

A lot of press releases and pitches may get lost in a writer’s inbox, so be specific with your story pitch. Also, before approaching a blog, research. Catch up on their latest posts, read their “About” page and any information on what they may require when pitching. It’s also a good idea to mention a post they wrote that you may have liked.

Have a compelling subject line - Before anything, make sure your subject line is compelling. Instead of something such as “Dogs!” or “New Leashes,” try “New leash to change the way you walk your dog.”

Give the writer their story – Bloggers love it when you make their jobs easy. Although it’s okay to include information in a press release, give them their story within the first two sentences. That will keep them wanting to read on.

Allow enough lead time - A lot of people may think that a writer can churn out a piece in a day. That is false. To write something that is well-researched and significant, they need time. Send them your pitch with at least 4 to 6 weeks time before your deadline.

Other tips to keep in mind:

• Be polite and personable. Addressing the writer by name is always helpful.
• Email each writer at a time. Never mass email.
• No pitching via social networks (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
• Be brief. Your goal is to share your story, pitch your product, and engage the writer in 1 to 2 paragraphs.
• Include a link to your website. The less work you make for the writer, the better.
• Include a link to some hi-res photos. Try not to attach files into an email unless it is absolutely necessary or they ask.
• Proofread and spell-check your message before sending.
• Send a follow-up email is you haven’t heard back after a week.
• If the writer features your story, send a follow-up thank you email.

Citation: Photo from courosa

Last post: 5 Steps on How to Stand Out in Business

Consider two doughnut shops. At the beginning, they both sell quality products and are successful. As time passes, Shop A has lines out the door and is selling more than ever, while Shop B switches to a lower quality flour and oil due to low sales. What went wrong? Many things — like chance — can factor into success, but there are many things that business owners can do that can make or break their shop.

1. Understand your customer – What are their particular needs? What is important to them? Do they value price and accessibility over quality and service? Do they regard the story behind the product/service? When you list detail on what you’re selling, make sure to note that what you have to offer may serve all kinds of customers. If this doesn’t serve all customers, be specific in what you do offer.

The more you know about your customer and their needs, the better prepared you will be to connect with them.

2. Research your competition – Who else is offering the same product as you? Are there other products that are similar to yours that also satisfy your customer’s needs? Can you find newer ways to meet their wants and needs?

Keep an eye for spaces in markets or ares where your competition is not able to fill that gap.

3. Determine your value – What do you excel at? Do you have really high standards on your quality of work? Do you constantly churn out new ideas? How are your customer service skills? Do you like to bring out the best in people? Do you have access to quality sources that are essential to your product/service? Do you know how to find the best sources to deliver a quality product?

Leverage what you may have/know and claim a stake on your market.

4. Establish a business strategy – Once you know your customers and your competition, bringing it all together into a business strategy may be the most difficult part. The best thing about finding a business strategy is there’s no limit to the ways to set yourself apart from others, but some of the most common are:

• Product quality – give access to quality, exclusive, or rare products
• Design – Offering a superior design or cutting-edge aesthetic
• Service – Go above and beyond to ensure you exceed your customer’s expectations
• Innovation – Advancing your product by offering new and unexpected variations on existing products
• Authenticity – Have integrity behind your product

Other ways to differentiate yourself is through personal story, variety in your product line, specialized technology or process, how you make your customer feel, and location.

Whichever decision you go with, the general rules to use when building a strategy should be:

• Make it matter to the buyer
• Customers will tie you to only a few of these strategies
• Make your product difficult for your customers to duplicate
• Be consistent

5. Coordinate your business with your business strategy – What you offer in your product/service should mirror the integrity of what you stand for. Do you use only the most authentic materials? Would you buy what you are selling? Make sure you are telling a consistent story with what you say and what you offer.

On a last note, remember that competition need not be a bad word. It can also mean growth. A true professional does not fear amateurs that are looking to offer the same product. True professionals look on this as a way they can make themselves better.

Citation: wallyg

Last post: 7 Tips to Help Adapt to Change

Austrian neurologist and Holocaust survivor, Viktor E. Frankl once said, “When we are no longer able to change the situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” Change is one of the most difficult things in life to accept, but it is certainly inevitable. This is easy for those that embrace this concept and are easily adaptable, but what about the rest of us that break out into a cold sweat when we hear the words “rolling out a new program” at work? If this is you, here is a list of tips to help you ease into change that may difficult.

To understand how to adapt, first here is a list of the different stages of change that people go through:

• Denial
• Anger
• Dejection
• Acceptance
• Learning and Development

How to grow through these steps:

• Be aware of change – Make yourself aware of the change. Don’t live in the past, because dwelling there is not healthy for any growth.
• Stay alert – Stay observant of change that is on the way. If something is not going well and needs an overhaul, or the status quo has been around for a while, be aware that the winds of change are coming around the corner.
• Recognize change – Become familiar with the different stages of change (see above). The more readily you accept change, the easier the transition.
• Communication – Communication is key with change. Get acquainted with the new changes by seeking more details from management and fellow coworkers to understand what is happening. Be honest and aware of your concerns and fears. Be as transparent — but as professional — as you can about these fears.
• Appraise yourself – Change can shake your confidence about your skills and capabilities, but assessing who you are means remembering your strengths and what you bring to the table. While assessing these things, also be aware of the areas that you need to improve on.
• Be flexible – In keeping with appraising yourself, use your knowledge to look at different sides of the new direction and apply your skills and knowledge. Also, be ready to go with the flow. New things have kins to work out, and having an open mind makes things easier.

and last, but not least:

• Stay positive – Keep an optimistic attitude, and don’t let yourself drown in self-doubt. Stay involved in the new process, take a deep breath, and adjust.

Citiation: marsmet546

Last post: Find the Right Smart Phone Credit Card Reader For You

When you say “cash only” at your events, you set yourself up to lose potential customers. With the rise of smart phones over the last few years, many new companies have jumped on the opportunity to access sales via credit cards with mobile devices. Thus, there is no longer an excuse to not being lose out on a sale.

Here are some apps along with their rates that you can try out:

***Please note that some retail stores sell readers for as much as $15. If you download the application for these sites, they will send you a free reader.

Citation: 401(K) 2013

Last post: Self-discipline: Tips to find that motivation from within

A great musician once said, “Success is 100% hard work and 0% talent.” While this may not ring true for everyone, self-discipline can, to some extent, make up for lack of natural talent. The truth is self-discipline is not a trait, it’s a skill, something that can be developed and honed to where you want it to be. A lot about this trait is that, while it takes a while to build, it paves the way for bigger things in the future. For those that may have trouble with holding themselves accountable at listening to that inner voice, here are some tips to help you find that motivation from within.

• Just start – While it may seem obvious, starting is the most difficult step of self-discipline. You may not have anyone there for support, you may have many doubts, but the trick is just to do  something, even if it means failing to learn from that. Don’t wait for the “right time,” because there never will be one.
• Work at it – …even if you hate it. With quick-fix diet pills, high-speed internet, and instant oatmeal, instant gratification is more rampant than ever, and that makes it difficult to stick with something that may take years before you see any results. People who have a lot of self-discipline will work on things, knowing that results will eventually come out of it.
• Finish what you start – The work you put into a project is important, but being able to finish what you begin makes a greater impact. By doing so, you gain a reputation of someone who gets results, rather than someone who makes promises that go nowhere.
• Don’t make excuses – …especially to yourself. It’s easy to make excuses to other people if something doesn’t get done, but if you’re lying to yourself about not hitting the gym or why you didn’t write that paper, the person that has to live with it is you. If you dropped the ball on something, admit it to yourself and figure out why it happened rather than dismissing it. This analysis will help you find a reason to why you didn’t go to the gym (You were tired.) or why you didn’t write the paper (You procrastinated on your other projects, and it fell by the wayside.)
• Create a to-do list – This could mean a list for a two year goal or even a list for today. Details can slip through the cracks, but if you write down what you need to do, it makes it easier to hold yourself accountable.
• Ignore negativity – Listening to people who don’t believe in you can seriously affect your attitude. It’s perfectly fine to seek advice and a listening ear from others, but do not accept the negativity from people who have not themselves achieved what it is what you are set out to do.
• Focus – Don’t be sidetracked by things that don’t fuel you — be it emotionally, physically, or mentally. It’s okay to play video games, but don’t let it consume you. Cut back on your consumption of distracting things each day, and you will find more time to focus on what you want to achieve. Remember your goals.

Citations: aaipodpics

Last post: How to Engage the Millennial in the Workplace

See also: Personal Accountability and Leading By Example for your Association

Generation gaps are often something to joke about in a group of friends, but in the workplace, it can be a source of frustration. Outside of our work ethics and habits, we all have the same goal: to be able to do something that is fulfilling and worthwhile in our careers. With many baby boomers retiring, millennials are the biggest group entering the work market right now. Finding a new way to reach this generation seems foreign and may be difficult without some perspective, but to be a good leader, you need to be able to find a way. A person’s age need not matter in these circumstances. The important questions are: Is the person performing to their best capabilities? As a leader, what are you doing to ensure that they are at their full potential?

The traits of millennials differs from the generations that precede them.

Their strengths:

• Capability of multi-tasking
• Technologically savvy
• A broader world view
• Achievement and goal oriented
• Optimistic
• Strong beliefs in serving communities and volunteering

Areas for improvement:

• Inexperience with handling challenging issues in the workplace
• Lacking in structure and needs supervision
• Requires a sense of play and fun in work atmosphere

So now that you have a little bit of insight of what drives a millennial, here is a simple list with advice on how to engage these employees in the workplace.

• Find their strengths – Listening to your team to find out what they like to do helps you to find their strengths. Listening to your team to find out what they like to do helps you to find their strengths. We all have to do things we don’t like, but the light at the end of the tunnel is being able to eventually do what we want. The things we are passionate about are what drive us. The best term to describe this is: “Aces in their places.”
• Seek feedback – Figure out what you can do better from your staff. No one knows the happenings of a company better than its employees. Find new perspective about what you can do better by asking your staff the right questions.
• Communicate successes and areas for improvement – The flip-side to feedback from your staff is communicating successes and being able to face areas of improvement head-on. Leading a successful team means collaboration. Recognition does not always have to come in monetary form, but it does have to happen. It is also important to address issues that come up if someone is not working to their full expectations, rather than let it fester and get to an unmanageable level.

Integrating millennials is not an option, but rather an essential part of the new work industry. Rather that shutting out this generation, it is to everyone’s benefit to accept and engage this younger work force.

Citation: Mezzaphonically Speaking

See also: Tips to Developing Leadership Skills

Last post: How to be a Better Listener

Listening is a skill. Do you believe that? It’s true, being able to listen — not just hearing to what they say — to someone, process what they are saying, and empathize with them is something that some people are better at than others. Some people are born listeners, ready with open ears, but for the rest of us, here is a list of ways to help us hone this skill.

• Put away distractions – When someone is talking, it’s easy to get distracted by a cell phone, laptop, work, etc. It may be second-nature to have these things in front of you when others come to you with issues, but it’s very important to stop what you are doing and give them your full attention. Putting the distractions away shows the speaker that you respect them.
• Be in the moment – Ask yourself these questions: Do you live in the moment? Or are you often lost in your own thoughts? Clear your mind of mental distractions and focus on what the other person is saying. Stop thinking about the guy that cut you off on the freeway this morning, the report you still have to finish, your grocery list, and pay attention to the person in front of you now.
• Let them speak – The most important part of being a good listener is letting that person speak. Seems simple enough, right? Most people, when listening to others, are waiting for their chance to add their two cents to the conversation, even if they have no clue what they are talking about. This shows insecurity, for they need to show everyone how important they are. Hold off on sharing what you have to say, either by reading signals in body language or voice tone. More often than not, people always have more to add to their story.
• Body Language/Tone of Voice – In keeping with the last note, how someone says something is just as — if not more — important as what they have to say. The way someone is sitting, standing says a lot about how they feel about a certain subject. If they raise their voice, or if they say something with a joking quality tells how important they view something.
• Never assume – Don’t assume you know what someone is saying to you. If you are not clear, ask them to explain it to you again, or paraphrase it back to them.
• Ask questions – A great part about listening is that you get to learn things about people. Questions are an integral part of any conversation. Sometimes people only share certain information, but if you are an avid listener, they are willing to share more if you ask the right questions.
• Empathize – The most important part of being a good listener is to be able to process and understand what the other person is saying. This doesn’t mean that you have to take on everyone’s problems as your own (this is not healthy, nor is it beneficial), rather show that you support them by listening. In most cases, people need an ear to voice their thoughts.

Keep in mind that listening is one part of what it takes to build connections with others. Trust is key, and the more people feel they can trust you, the better the listener you learn to be.

Citation: niclindh

Last post: Perception is Reality

This was an article that was passed along from my District Manager years ago when I was working in retail. I believe it still rings true today.

Perception Is Reality

Dr. William Glasser wrote that “perception is reality.” This is particularly true in business. Perception is reality, and whether the perception is right or wrong is irrelevant. If my perception is that you are an idiot, how am I going to treat you? Like an idiot. If your perception of me is that I don’t care or that I am self-centered, that is the way that you will treat me. It is vitally important that you are aware of the messages that you send to people verbally and non-verbally, because they create perceptions that affect relationships.

What messages are you sending and what perceptions are you creating by having an office door that is always closed, by taking calls during meetings, by not listening when you disagree, by your body language, by your failure to follow through on projects, etc.? What you are speaks so loud, no one can hear what you say. Focus instead on sending positive messages that create positive perceptions of you, your attitude, and your ability to get things done. Remember that perception is reality.

And it’s not for major decisions that this quality is needed. Complete integrity in little things is no little thing at all. It’s been said many times, “The devil is in the details.” One day, inevitably, little details will be noticed and the piper will have to be paid.

Citations: Marco Crupi Visual Artist

A new year to many may mean wiping the slate clean for a new future, but it can also mean new habits to integrate into the workplace. The hardest part about a resolution is not making it, but keeping it. No matter if you made one or ten resolutions, here are some pointers in helping you keep those resolutions in the long term.

• Be realistic – A way to make that goal out of reach is to make it so unattainable that it is impossible to ever reach it. If your regular weekly sales calls equals twenty, don’t overreach by upping it to fifty per week. Setting a goal that completely changes your work schedule defeats the purpose and makes it too general. Keep your goals small and simple.
• Define your goals – Now that you’ve figured out your resolutions, define the steps to achieving your goals. Let’s say you want to direct more traffic to your website; perhaps the first step is to optimize it for better SEO. Research how to do so or hire on a company to help you with this process. Either way, the idea is put down the specific necessary steps to reaching the end goal.
• Share your goals – Don’t keep your resolutions a secret because you’re afraid to fail. Coworkers would want to know what your knew goals are and will want to be there to support your resolve to new changes. The best-case-scenario is to find a fellow employee looking to make some changes of their own to help motivate you.
• Don’t be upset by setbacks – Obsessing about the occasional oversight won’t help you reach your goal. Take each day at a time, and do the best you can each day.
• Reward yourself – Once you see a significant improvement towards your goal, make sure to reward yourself. This doesn’t mean spending a whole paycheck on a new wardrobe, but it can mean treating yourself to a lunch at your favorite restaurant.

Keep in mind…

Not every New Year’s resolution is meant to be kept. It often helps to have a few fun goals that help in motivation. By keeping these tips in mind when following through on your resolutions, you are one step closer to success. Remember that the new year is not only a time to make new changes in life, but also a time to reflect and appreciate being alive and well.

Citations: Sourcefabric

Dwight D. Eisenhower once said, “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.”  To be a manager is one thing, but to be a great leader is another. A leader is someone who inspires passion and enthusiasm in others. There are some people who are born leaders, and there are those finding themselves in a new leadership position. Here are some tips on how to become a better leader, no matter your experience level.

• Have passion for what you do. – Enthusiasm is infectious. No matter what your job may be, show passion for your work. People are drawn to individuals that have dive into everything they do with conviction and will often look to those same individuals when finding people for their team.
• Be open to change. – It’s difficult to move forward in today’s business world by resisting change. Opt to take charge of an assignment that is outside of your realm. This kind of mentality helps you grow in your work, as well as your life.
• Get rid of negativity. – Allow yourself room to vent, but do not let negativity enter the scene. Just like positivity, negativity can spread very easily. Instead of pointing out the faults of someone’s project, have some input on how it can be made better.
• Use creativity in your work. – Any fashion designer can make a plain t-shirt, but a creative designer will put their spin on it by using better fabrics or come up with a better, more flattering cut. The minimum is standard, but it doesn’t make you stand out.
• Delegate work. – The best gift anyone can give their employees is the gift of empowerment. Because you excel at your job does not mean that you have to do everything yourself. Don’t begrudge anyone trying to learn a new skill; teach them what you know to help them grow.
• Surround yourself with great people. – Your employees that work for you reflect the kind of business you run. If you have a dedicated staff who have a love for their careers, it will show through in the final product. It’s also important that you remember to surround yourself with people who complement yours skills. Find people who can do things that you can’t to make your business excel.
• Consult your peers for advice. – Nobody knows everything — it’s impossible. It’s okay to try to tackle something by yourself, but when you don’t know something works, it’s also okay to ask someone else for help. You will find that your peers are not only willing to help, but grateful to be able to help.
• Share your successes with your employees. – By showing others that you are appreciative of their input in achieving a goal, you will inspire them to continue to do a good job.
• Integrate integrity into your everyday life. – Words are cheap, especially in this throw-away society that we live in. Say what you mean, and mean what you say. Don’t make promises to someone if you don’t plan on following through merely to placate them. On the flip side, if you meant something but can’t deliver, own up to your mistakes.
• Humility. – This one is more of a trait than a tip, but don’t toot your own horn. If you are a good leader, others will be talking enough about you to make this unnecessary. Appreciate the praise, but stay humble.

A good leader is someone who others want to see succeed. When you bring these thoughts of being a great leader into the work place, it will overflow into your life also.

Citations: LSE Library