Office Bullies

Every office you go to, regardless of where it is, will have it’s share of personalities, and these will, at Times, Inevitably clash. This post is not about avoiding them. It’s about living with them while keeping your dignity intact.

There are a great many different types of personalities in the average office. Today we will speak about only one. If you’d like to speak about other types, drop me a line and i’ll tell you how I feel about best dealing with them.

Bullies. They can be bosses. They can be co-workers. They can be lower in position than you. But they are there and must be dealt with. I have noticed a few things about them. They think “it’s” about them. What “it” am I speaking of?

Everything.

I have a boss and a co-worker who can safely be put in this category.

The co-worker can be dealt with easily. Look him or her in the eye and challenge him or her. Bullies are generally either Not very smart or emotionally immature. If you push back when pushed, it will sink in that you aren’t afraid to stand up to them. Bullies, true bullies want to push people around, They don’t want to be pushed. You push back enough, they’ll stop or at least give you enough room to be able to do your job without having to worry about them. Show them strength and they’ll look to pick on someone else.

The boss is another animal entirely. You have to pick your spots when fighting back here. Here it’s more important to find common ground where you can co-exist, even if they drive you nuts. ESPECIALLY if they drive you nuts. Are they a fan of the same sports team as you? Do they like the same TV shows as you? Talk to them. If you take the Time to find out about them, they just might stop being the Overbearing S.O.B.’S they’ve been and open up to you and try to be your friend. It’s amazing how many times that the Overbearing person in the office is like that because he or she feels left out in some way.

If it’s someone who is Underneath you position wise tries to bully you, you have to ask yourself a question. How did it come to pass that this person thinks he or she can talk to you like that? Here you have to do a full on roll reversal. And this isn’t true Bullying but it has the same effect. what it is is the Person Underneath trying to see how much he or she can push. Here you need to clearly set boundaries.

Make it absolutely clear to the Party in question that YOU are in charge and that kind of action will not be tolerated. You might have been accommodating and they took it as a sign of weakness, maybe he or she is just not a very nice person. You might even be non confrontational and they think you’re a weakling as a consequence.

Make them realize that meekness does NOT imply weakness.

Questions? Comments? Drop me a line and we can talk.
Submitted by: Mike the Rhino

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Perhaps the greatest asset to a company are the employees who work there. Unfortunately, this all important asset is often overlooked and not managed effectively. With a concerted effort, you can change that and when you do, you will discover that your profits will soar. Happy employees make for happy customers, and happy customers will gladly give their money to you and your business.

Here are 8 tips to help you get the most from your employees:

Stay Positive
Let’s face it…you are more willing to do things for someone who is positive and happy than for someone who is grumpy and yelling at you, right? Why should your employees be any different? They are human beings and will respond to positivity much better than negativity.

Now realistically, there will be times when you need to correct behavior in an employee. You will get greater mileage if you start your request with a compliment. When they hear what they are doing right, they will be more willing to listen to what you want to change in their behavior. Don’t forget to also end with a positive note. For example, start your comment with: “I really like how you do XXXX. You do a great job on that. I would appreciate it if you could please work on XXXX. That would be great. I appreciate you. Thank you!”

Practice Good Manners
Always, always, always use the words please and thank you. This helps the employee to feel respected and they will be more willing to do things for someone who they feel values them.

Don’t Be Critical in Public
When we see something that needs to be corrected, it is human nature to jump in and try to change it right away. However, while it is important to change behavior immediately, be sure that you do not criticize your employee in front of their coworkers or even worse, the customer. Nothing will cause dissatisfaction with a job quicker than being criticized in front of someone else. There will not only be dissatisfaction with the employee being criticized, but also by the people who witness it. Do it privately. And remember the principle of staying positive.

Let Them See You Work
One of the most effective things you can do is to let your employees see you work. And I don’t mean behind your desk in the office. Be willing to do the yucky jobs on occasion. And don’t make it seem demeaning. It must be a genuine effort on your part. This is leading by example. Your employees will be more willing to do the yucky jobs if they see that you are willing to do them too.

Set Clear Guidelines
Make sure that your employees really know what is expected of them. When you make sure that they know exactly what they are supposed to be doing, you will both be happier. This also keeps any misunderstandings to a minimum when things are defined. Give them a written, clear and concise list of what you expect.

Be Consistent
This is one of the most important guidelines of good management. You can’t do something one time and expect it to suffice. You must practice what you preach consistently. Don’t be positive one day and then ream that employee the next. When you are consistent, then everyone knows what to expect.

Reward
Giving an employee accolades for a job well done will do a lot for their continued performance. The best part about this is that it doesn’t need to be expensive. Find out what their favorite things are. Give them their favorite candy bar or soft drink. Pick up a few movie passes and give them out on occasion. Sometimes the greatest thing you can do is to just say thank you and that you appreciate their hard work. But don’t just say thank you all of the time. Make it fun and unexpected. And look for the small things done right instead of just the big ones.

Listen
Become the kind of manager that is known for really listening to what your employees are saying. When you do this, they will be more apt to really listen to you.

What are some other ways to motivate your employees?

Submitted by: Brenda

Good morning! We’re still talking article marketing with our last in a series of three posts on why article marketing is a fabulous way to gain free traffic for your online business. Today we’ll discuss writing that article and the oh-so-important bio box. If you missed the first two, check them out here and here.

Don’t Sound Like an Ad

Yes, we use article marketing for the purpose of advertising our website and getting more visitors to it but under no circumstances should your article sound like an advertisement for your business. or a particular product you sell. Long “article ads” turn off readers and usually get rejected if the directory you send your article to requires approval before you article goes live.

Your best bet is to make your article an informative one, like if you were teaching a friend something new. If someone is searching for the phrase “dog training schools” why not write an article on The Five Things to Look for When Choosing a Dog Training School.

Another article marketing method that is very popular is to write a review of a specific product you’re selling. Say your website sells the new Bark No More dog training collar—write a review on that product showing its pros and cons. The trick to a good review is to make it sound believable. If you choose a boring “middle of the road” stance it’s not likely to generate much buying fervor in your readers. Instead be very passionate about that dog training collar and let your readers know why it’s so popular. Yes, it’s trickier to write this type of article without making it sound like one big ad—that’s why you’ll choose one or two other dog training collars to review and make their reviews sound less stellar that the one for the collar you’re selling!

Writing Your Bio

Now that you have a stellar article written you need to attach a killer bio to that article. This is the only place you’re allowed to sound like a big ‘ol ad—so use it wisely. A boring byline stating “Joe Blow is a dog trainer, visit his site for more info at dog tips.com” isn’t going to grab ‘em and hook ‘em is it? Instead try one of these two tactics:

1. Create a mystery. Get their curiosity up and then force them to click to your website to satisfy it. For example “Do you know the single biggest mistake people make when training their dogs? To find our visit Sue’s dog training” and make the words dog training clickable.

2. The other method is to offer your readers something free like a mini report or more dog training tips via a monthly or weekly newsletter. While this method requires more work (you need to write a free report or write those newsletters) it is the most beneficial one. Not only do people love free things and are more likely to click through to get those free tips, but you make them sign up for your newsletter for either the free report or tips and now you have them on your mailing list. Once you have them there you’re in their inbox at least once a month and can persuade any reluctant buyers that you’re products are the ones to buy.

Well there it is in a nutshell, article marketing to gain free traffic. I hope these tips were helpful and that you’ll use article marketing as a powerful tool to drive free traffic to your online business. Have any questions or tips of your own? Please feel free to share them in the comments section.

Submitted by: CindyM.

Hello all you budding article writers! If you remember yesterday we talked about how effective article marketing is at bring free traffic to your website. Today we’ll continue with our article marketing topic and discuss keyword research and use of those keywords in your articles.

Doing Your Homework

Before you write one single word of your article you need to know what keyword phrases to target in your niche. Not only will this help your rank for that keyword but it also helps you choose a topic for your article based on what information people are looking for.

So say we have a website on dog training and we need to drive traffic to it. We go to our favorite keyword research tool (I use http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com) and type in the words “dog training” without the quotes, of course.

Once you have a list of related terms have a look at them and pick out phrases that you’d like to write articles about. A look at the results shows the following as some of the phrases being searched for:

• Dog training collars
• Dog training leads
• Dog potty training
• Dog training schools
• Dog crate training

The next thing you’ll want to do once you have a list is to enter each phrase into Google’s search engine, this time with quotes around them—like this “dog training collars” and hit enter. When the results come back look in the top right corner for a line that says showing results 1-10 of about xx xxx for “your entered keyword”. The number shown where I’ve typed the xx xxx is how many other web pages in Google are specifically targeting that phrase. If you can find phrases with lots of searches per day that have 30 000 or less other sites using that phrase that means it should be easy for you to rank well with an article containing that phrase.

While ranking in the search engines is the best use of article marketing don’t shy away from really good topics (phrases) if the competition is stiff. Remember, webmasters still need content and if you write an article on a popular topic webmasters will still pick it up and send free traffic to you that way.

Use of Keyword Phrase

When writing your article you need to make the words flow and make it interesting for people to read—that’s your main focus. But your underlying job is to make sure you include your targeting keyword phrase enough times to satisfy the search engines.

This is actually easier than it sounds. As a general rule of thumb in article marketing your article should be 350 to 500 words long and broken up into an introduction, three or four short paragraphs in the body and a conclusion. You should include your targeted keyword phrase once in the title of your article, once at the beginning of the introduction and once at the end of the conclusion. You should also use it two to three times in your body paragraphs.

That covers keyword research and use of those phrases in your article. Next time in this article marketing series we’ll discuss the writing portion—writing your article and bio box. Until then feel free to leave any comments or questions you may have. For those of you who have done keyword research before, what is your favorite keyword research tool and why? Please share so those unfamiliar with them can find the best to suit them.

If you have a business website then a large part of your business is trying to get traffic to that website. There are many different methods to funnel visitors to your website with pay per click advertising and search engine optimization being two of the most popular.

While these are both viable methods for gaining website visitors one method has the benefits of free SEO combined with the speed of pay per click. This method is known as article marketing.

Article marketing, simply put, is the act of writing an informative article on a topic related to your business and posting that article to an article directory. Included with your article will be a short bio that tells a bit about yourself and your company along with a link to your website.

These article directories then publish your article and it goes live. The inclusion of your article in an article directory gains exposure for your business in two very beneficial ways:

1. The article becomes indexed in the search engines. Provided you do some keyword research beforehand and target the right phrases you’re article will show up in the organic search results for that keyword phrase. The result is free and sustained organic traffic to your business.

2. Webmasters republish your article and spread the word. Many website owners need fresh content for their websites. Often they turn to article directories for this free content. If your article is related to their website’s topic they’ll republish your article and drive even more traffic to your website for free.

When you use article marketing the traffic can start showing up to your website as soon as the same day it goes live. This traffic is often very targeted as they were either searching for the phrase you targeted in your article or they found it on a related website.

Another added benefit of using article marketing as a form of advertising is the high PR backlinks you obtain from the article directories you submit to. These high caliber backlinks help boost your own website’s ranking in the search engines, bringing you more free organic traffic. Below is a list of various article directories along with their PR rankings

WebReference (PR8) http://www.webreference.com
About.com (PR8) http://sbinformation.about.com
Sales & Marketing world (PR8) http://www.ecomallbiz.com
Web Pro News (PR7) http://www.webpronews.com
Bpubs (PR7) http://www.bpubs.com
Web Articles (PR7) http://www.webarticles.com
iSnare (PR 6) http://www.isnare.com
Business Know How (PR6) http://www.businessknowhow.com
EzineArticles (PR6) http://www.ezinearticles.com
Buzzle (PR6) http://www.buzzle.com
Article Dashboard (PR6) http://www.articledashboard.com

If you’re looking for a free and effective way to increase the traffic to your online business I strongly suggest you give article marketing a try. Next time we’ll discuss tips for writing an effective article marketing article. Until then how about we share our favorite free ways of getting traffic to our websites? Feel free to leave a favorite method or ask questions about article marketing in the comments section.

Submitted by CindyM.

Is it possible that everyone is a good leader? Are all managers good leaders? What does it take to be a good leader? All leaders are created differently but yet all have similar characteristics. Some people are leaders and aren’t aware of it because they don’t have the associated title. So what are the attributes and signs of a good leader?

First of all, let us understand that not all managers are good leaders. In today’s business world, managers tend to have numerous amounts of responsibilities on their plate. From reporting to evaluating employees to providing necessary training, their role is more geared toward organization and development. They have a department that must run well and results must be reported. A leader is the person in between the employees and the manager. Handling employees and the actual work load is often assigned to team leaders. A good manager is only as good as their leader who is only as good as their employees.

When it comes to managers and team leaders, everyone has probably come across the good, the bad and the ugly. But the signs of a good leader are hard to ignore.

1. A good leader will have a good attitude. They like what they are doing and tend to be nurturing to the group.

2. A good leader listens to what each individual has to say. This helps them discover any underlying problems or issues that may surface. They treat each one equally and fairly and they are non-judgmental.

3. They are always helpful without being overbearing. It is not their position to take over but to create an atmosphere of reaching goals. In the event of sudden, unusual happenings, they are ready to join the group and assist them in order to accomplish a task.

4. They provide guidance and understanding to each individual of the group as well as to the group as a whole. They show that they are committed by their words and deeds and how they handle situations.

5. They observe what goes on but they don’t jump to conclusions. They handle situations in a very diplomatic way and never foster resentment.

6. A good leader is one who brainstorms with their group to discover better ways of attaining goals. They encourage participation and learning from one another.

7. They will share their knowledge with the group without fear of losing their position. They also are able to admit that they are not perfect without losing their control of the group.

7. They have fun and laughs with their group. They create a comfortable atmosphere where everyone is eager to do their best and everyone is accepted.

8. They encourage instead of putting down. They guide instead of reprimanding. They support instead of turning away.

The signs that someone is a good leader will always be easy to spot. They are the ones surrounded by a supportive group that cannot be broken up easily. Because a good leader is honorable, trustworthy, caring and helpful, they sometimes create a tight-knit group that follow them wherever they go.

Maybe you know a good leader and followed them? Or maybe you have had the experience of a not-so-good leader. Please join us to share your thoughts and ideas and experience.

Submitted by Rosemary

For your viewing pleasure today, watch this video on conducting Market Research, and share your thoughts below. Social Networking is a great market research tool, and that’s what is addressed in this video.

Any new business needs marketing.  Before I get started on telling you how to market your business and giving you some ideas as to what you can do, I want to refer you to this article at entrepreneur.com, that tells you what marketing is not.  Please make sure your pop-up blockers are disabled so that you can open a new window, read that, and come back to this in just a few minutes…

Now, the rest of this blog will assume that you have followed instructions and read that article.  If you haven’t, do it.  If you are not going to, then forget it.  :)  I’ll be addressing what marketing is not in a few weeks, anyway.

As I promised above, I am going to show you some things you can do to market your small business.  What I didn’t tell you is that these are going to be low cost marketing ideas, sure to fit nearly any small business marketing budget.

Podcasts
What’s a podcast?  It’s a recording of information that can be downloaded to MP3 players, so that people like you can take information like this, with them on the go.  It also helps with people who do not want to read, but like to listen.

How do you make a podcast?  Easy!  Grab a mic, and a simple program that will record and edit your sounds, (something like Audacity) and talk away!  Then, you upload the file to your website. Viewers can easily download the podcast and listen at their convenience.

For more information on podcasts, check out these sites: Podcast Alley, Podcasts, and CNN: Podcasting

Blogs
Not much needs to be said here. You are reading a blog! Blogs are a great way to give information, and to keep your site updated with current information for the search engine spiders. You can add a blog to your existing web site, or you can create a blog on its own domain, like this one.

Direct Marketing
This can be done with post cards to addresses that fit your target consumer demographic, or through presentations set up at your business. There are several different avenues you can take with this one, too.

Online Advertising
This is a no brainer. There are several different online avenues you can take to advertise your business. This website/blog, for instance has advertising spots open for a nominal fee! If you are interested, let us know.

Of course these are not the only things you can do to market your business.  As the blog progresses, I will touch on different business marketing techniques you can use both online and off line in the real world to help your business grow.   Do me a favor, and subscribe to this blog, to help the Blog Island Network business!

Share your thoughts on these and other marketing techniques below.  Also, let me know if you have subscribed to my RSS feed.  I’ll be sure to visit your site and do the same! Networking (which will be discussed later on, as well) is what is all about!

So you need a name for your business, but you do not have a clue where to start.  Well, first, you should read Good Business Naming Practices.  When you get finished, come back here so you can get some ideas for names.

Think about the service you are going to offer. What words come to mind? Keep a running list of these words. For example, a computer business offering computer repair may come up with words like: computer repair, computer technicians, computers, computer doctor, etc.

Think about words you would use to describe your business. Keep a running list of these words. If your computer repair business was cheaper than competitors, try words like discount, low cost, etc.

Think about existing businesses, and how to make your business name different from those, so as to avoid confusion.

Combine different words from your lists to come up with a business name you like, and is available.

Check out these resources for help naming your business.

Free Online Naming
Brainstorming Business Name Ideas
Business Name Ideas

Before you do anything else concerning your business, it is a good idea to write a business plan.  So, what the heck is a business plan, and how do you write one?  That’s what I am going to talk about with you today, and by the time you reach the end of this blog, you will know how to write your business plan, and should get started with it right away. If you do not want to read this post, click here for the podcast.

A Business Plan should include:

Executive Summary: This includes information like the mission statement, the date business began, who the founders are and what functions they serve, etc.
Market Analysis: In this section, you include information on the business industry you are in, and what you know about it.
Company Description: You don’t need too much detail here, but you should talk about what your business is, and what about that you believe will make it a success.
Organization and Management:This is where you will include your business structure, and profile the most important members of the company.
Marketing & Sales Management: This is where you outline your marketing and sales strategies, and how you expect them to benefit the company.
Service or Product Line: Detail the services or products your business is to offer.
Funding Request: This is the section where you detail and essentially ask for the funds you need in order to start or expand your business.
Financials: This section is used to detail the current financial information along with the financial outlook of your business.
Appendix: This should be provided on as needed basis, and should include information like photographs of your products, resumes of key management professionals, business and personal credit information, etc.

For sample business plans, please see: BPlans.com

Why do you think Business Plans are good?  Did you use one when you started your business?  Why or why not?  What can you offer to help those who are just starting out?