Tag: effective

10 Tricks to Getting Your Emails Read

November 30, 2011 / / 8 Comments

If you want none of your emails read, read my post HERE. But, since you’re reading this post, my guess is that you would prefer an increasing amount of your virtual letters to be read and acted upon. Am I right?

Whether you like it or not, you’ve got to send emails.

On a daily basis, I’m sending and receiving hundreds of emails. And when I send an email I hope it gets read. I spend time crafting exactly what I want to say. I take out the extraneous. I boil it down to the essentials. And I hit “send.”

If you put time into an email, you expect people to read it too, right?

10 Tricks to getting your Emails Read

Bold the things you want read. Understand that every word won’t be read. By “bolding” the important words, you ensure that they’ll be read.

Start your email with the most important things. Again, assume people won’t read ever word.

Leave an action statement at the bottom. Many times, people will read the first few sentences and the last few. Make sure you catch them before they hit “delete.”

Break your email into two sections: short and long. Be explicit with what you’re doing. In the “short” section, just give bullet points. No explanations, just the facts. In the “long” section, elaborate on each point a little bit, giving people more details if they want to read more.

Include your main point in the subject line. 

Include an action step in the subject line. This may not guarantee that your email will be read, but it will ensure that what you want done because of the email gets done.

Use numbered lists. People are more likely to read your email if they know that there are only __ points in it. Lists are magical.

Less is more. Keep your emails under 250 words. Anything more deserves a phone call. Or a cup of coffee. Or both.

Cc their superior. This is a ninja move. It could get you what you want. But it could get you enemies just as quickly.

Never FWD junk email. Never. It breaks trust rather than building it.

 

What I’ve learned in 3 years of blogging

July 6, 2011 / / 22 Comments

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been blogging for 3 years now. I’ve loved interacting with you guys, building this community of people, and processing my thoughts out loud. Thanks for giving me grace to think and grow all along the way.

I’ve learned lots of lessons over the past 3 years. Many I’ve had to learn the hard way.  Hopefully I can save you some frustrations.

Lessons I’ve learned in 3 years of blogging.

1. The more honest, the better.

People will connect with you more over your honesty and transparency than they ever will over your victories and moral platitudes.  My posts that have gotten the most positive feedback have been the ones where I’m gut-level honest with my thoughts and experiences.

2. The more accessible, the better.

As I make myself accessible (here, on the blog, through comments), I find people appreciate that. To build community, you’ve got to build relationships.

3. Be generous.

The more ideas I share, resources I recommend, connections I make, and in general, the more I can give away, the more I always get in return.

4. It’s as much about ‘rhythm’ as it is ‘discipline.’

I hear lots of guys say that blogging is a discipline. And I get that. But I like to look at blogging and see where it fits in the rhythm of my life. Rather than ‘disciplining’ myself, I’d rather it be a flow of my life.  I’ve found more joy and inspiration having a blogging rhythm than having a blogging discipline.

5. Put in the work now and you can reap the benefits later.

I can look back and snag some great, well thought out ideas. Someday, I just might write a book. You know where I’ll turn first for my good ideas? The archives.  And it’s because I have put lots of work into so many posts.

6. Just publish.

Some days, my thoughts aren’t fully developed or perfect or polished. But I just have to “publish” anyway.  It’s better to float ideas and thoughts out there, and synthesize them as you go, than to every single thought fully planned out before completion.

7. I enjoy writing.

I really do.  I’ve found it a great avenue to flesh out my thoughts.

8. It’s about quality posts more than ‘technique’.

I’ve read articles on blogging technique, SEO, key words, timing, consistency, and focus.  And while those things are important, don’t forget to write quality posts!  If you write good stuff, Google will find you.

9. Mixing up the type of posts I write (video posts, social media, theology, etc.) is as helpful for me as it is enjoyable for readers.

Writing the same kinds of posts every day gets boring.  So I mix up the categories, the style, and the focus to keep things fresh, both for the readers and for my own creativity.

10. I have no idea what it really takes to write a post that’s going to take off.

I have written about this before HERE…and it’s still true.  The posts I feel will take off…fall flat.  The ones I write on a whim go viral.  I default back to #8 and #9 (above)

11. I’m not done.

And neither is blogging.  Blogging is a great tool, and our culture is continuing to turn to blogs for information, ideas, and insights.  I’m definitely not done.

If you’ve read my blog at any point over the past 3 years…thanks.  Keep sharing your thoughts, experiences, and insights.  Keep leading well, changing, and growing.

I hope I’ve helped you on your journey in some small way.

 

 

 

 

Social media as Amuse Bouche

April 12, 2011 / / 2 Comments

Recently, my wife and I ate at a 5-star restaurant.  It was a fantastic experience.  you can read about it HERE.

For the first time, I started the meal off with an amuse bouche.

I had to Google it.

Amuse bouche is, according to Wikipedia HERE, a small, bite-sized hors d’oeuvres.  Sounds pretty…un-filling, right?

It was.

But that wasn’t the point.

The point was for the chef to show his artistry and skill in combining flavors, textures, and temperature.  It was for him to put his heart and soul into one bite, so that you take that bite and instantly see his skill, care, precision, and love of food.

And I’m pretty sure that social media is quite similar.

Social media as amuse bouche

Communicate more through communicating less. With Twitter, you have 140 characters.  On my blog, I try to keep it less than 500 words.  And that doesn’t mean that you can’t communicate much…it means that you’re required to craft your message to be consumed in one bite.  So that, in one pass, a reader comprehends your message and knows what you’re calling them to.

It’s not intended to be a full meal. Don’t think that you have to flesh out a thesis in social media.  Communicate one message clearly, and be okay with the fact that you’re not going to be able to dispel all arguments in 140 characters.  That can’t be your goal…you don’t buffet-style an amuse bouche.  If the thought takes more time and words to develop, consider spreading the post(s) out over the course of a few weeks.  Think: bite-sized.

Pour your heart and soul into the effort. You only get one shot.  One bite.  One read.  If you don’t capture their attention quickly, they’re gone, moving on to someone who has perfected the craft better than you.  Highlight your artistry and creativity.

Use multiple ingredients that don’t apparently go together. In an amuse bouche, artistry is highlighted when the chef pairs flavors and textures that one wouldn’t naturally pair.  Social media is strong when you challenge people to think differently about each aspect of life, drawing truth from environments and situations that others may overlook.

Do you tend to ingest social media in broad, quick passes?

Do you create social media knowing that this is how it’s consumed?

 

 

Leadership Lessons from an iPhone game

April 7, 2011 / / 14 Comments

 

I don’t play iPhone games often, but one that I’ve found incredibly addictive is Flight Control.

 

Never played it?  Just don’t.  It’ll suck you in, and you’ll be so concerned about landing those silly little planes that your eyes will start to twitch.

But there are a few lessons about leadership you can learn from Flight Control.

Leadership lessons from an iPhone game

1. Things gets progressively busier, and there’s nothing you can do about that.

Life never slows down, does it?  Don’t expect that, once you hit “that spot,” or “that season,” things will slow down.  Learning to manage your commitments is key, because those commitments will only increase in number and responsibility.

2. It’s okay to hit the pause button.

In fact, you need to do that.  Take a vacation.  Get away.  Put the phone down.  Disengage from social media.  I did recently. And it was incredibly refreshing.

3. You can set something in motion, but in order for it to reach its destination, you’ve got to check back in and help change things around.

In leadership, you can’t always expect that everything you start, every other leader you empower, will never need you to check in.  Managing is an important aspect of leadership.

4. It’s okay to quit and start over.

An idea you’ve been trying quit working?  Not as effective as you’d like?  Then quit trying to make it work.  Scrap it and start from scratch.  If you’re not willing to scrap your program for the health of the organization, you may be too closely connected to your idea.

5. Looking towards the future keeps you motivated to do better each time.

You’re not going to perfectly execute everything you start.  If you did, you’d be un-human.  Failure is an important component to success.

So…you ready to buy this game?

* for more ‘lessons from an iPhone game’, see my friend Jonathan Pearson’s post HERE

 

Maybe it’s not worth it

January 25, 2011 / / 4 Comments

The more I delve into social media, the more questions I have.

Here’s what I’m wrestling with today:

Are all of my readers and commenters the same as yours?

If everybody’s drawing water from the same pool, and the pool’s not getting bigger, then we’ll eventually dry the thing up, won’t we?

If everybody is adding water to the same pool, but nobody is coming to take that water away, the pool becomes a cesspool.  Nasty.

Are bloggers creating a cesspool of mind-dump…or a refreshing well of idea swap?

Sometimes, I wonder if the people that ReTweet my updates are the same ones that ReTweet yours.  And whether the folks that comment on my blog are the same ones that comment on yours.  If there are a few thousand people that read blogs, and promote them among themselves, but they never really get outside of that circle, then isn’t it like we’re just scratching each others’ backs?  Spinning our wheels?  Puffing up our own numbers so that we look good…to each other?

Maybe this is a form of effectiveness.  Maybe we’re making an impact in the lives of this pool of social media-ites, and they’re impacting the lives of those they come in contact with on a regular basis.  Maybe.

But maybe we’re ReTweeting and commenting so that somebody will ReTweet and comment on our stuff…so that our numbers will increase, so that we can draw a little more ‘water’ from the pool of bloggers.  So maybe ReTweeting and commenting are just a form of self-service.

I love social media.  I just want to continue to strive for effectiveness, reaching new readers, sharing ideas with folks who are putting them into action, and propelling people to take steps of faith.

Are blogs really making a difference in the world?

Is social media worth the effort?


 

Why? Why? Why?

January 4, 2011 / / 5 Comments

I’m going to start posting more consistently on the topic of social media.  Because I use it.  And so do you.

How do I know?

You’re reading this blog right now.

You also likely use other forms of social media (platforms thriving on interaction around user-generated content), like

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Vimeo
  • Ping.fm
  • MySpace
  • Wikipedia
  • Yahoo!Answers
  • FourSquare
  • Gowalla
  • LinkedIn
  • Spoke
  • Google Reader
  • Reddit
  • Digg
  • Flickr
  • StumbleUpon
  • Posterous
  • PostRank

I wish I had all of the answers, but I often find myself with more and more questions when it comes to success in social media:

  • Why do some blog posts take off, and get thousands of hits?
  • Why do others, some of my favorites, fall flat on their face?
  • Why do the seemingly meaningless status updates get the most comments?
  • Why do the posts I take the most time crafting sometimes get no traction, and the ones I put together on a whim go viral?
  • Why do I sometimes get loads of comments and no retweets?
  • Why do I sometimes get loads of retweets and no comments?
  • Why do I think it’s cool to check-in using FourSquare…but nobody else seems to think so?
  • Why do some people I know and connect with off-line quit following me on-line?
  • What’s the next social media trend?
  • What’s next for my blog?

It’s questions like these that I wrestle with.  They keep me moving forward, pursuing continued effectiveness online, and with my local ministry here in Clarksville.  If I’m not moving towards an increasing effectiveness, it’s time for me to quit.

What social media questions are you wrestling with?

How do you measure effectiveness on your social media platforms?

 

How to write a good blog post

May 12, 2010 / / 4 Comments

I’ve written quite a few blog posts.  On my blog alone, it’s over 250.  And though that doesn’t make me an expert, I can say that I now know quite a bit more about the art of blogging than when I started.

So how do you write a successful blog post? While I could delve into SEO, social media marketing, and strategic timing of information, and while those things are important, I’ll talk more in this post about the actual nuts and bolts of writing a successful post.

What goes into writing a successful blog post?

1. Get creative with your title. If your title is lame, you’ll lose most readers.

2. Grab people with the first paragraph, at the very latest. If possible, grab them with your first sentence.  If you don’t, people will never read your content.

3. Be provocative. Your momma (and Thumper from Bambi) may have told you, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all,” but I’m telling you, “If you don’t have something interesting to say, don’t say anything at all.”

4.  Leave people thinking about what you wrote all day long. Try ending with a memorable, original statement.  Think, “How can I say this in a catchy, repeatable way?”  If your ideas are provocative and easy to remember, you give people the chance to marinate on them.

5.  Don’t be afraid to offer your opinion. That’s why people are reading…they want to hear what you think.

6. Reread and reword any extraneous material. I don’t mean for you to take out illustrations.  But think how you could word them more succinctly.

7. Provide lots of links. Go crazy with the links.  Making your posts interactive allows your readers to crawl from your posts to other related info.

8. If your post has to be more than 250 words long, make sure it’s scannable. In other words, make use of bullet points and numbered lists.  Bold and italicize words so that somebody could quickly scan and get what you’re talking about.  If they want more info, they’ll read more carefully and click the links that you provide.  If there’s no way to get your idea across in less words, and no real way to make it scannable, you’ll need to offer the info in multiple posts.

9. Invite conversation. If you always end with a conclusion that’s definitive, and leave no room for discussion, readers will check out.  Make sure you give the freedom for differences of opinion.

10.  Consistently post quality information.

 

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