Laura Wolfe Coaching LLC

Supporting the Evolution of Careers, Leaders,

& Climate Consciousness

My Inbound Marketing Experiment

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image of a white passenger planeFor almost as long as I’ve been in business, my techie husband has told me I should post more regularly on my blog. Taking his advice just to see what would happen, I posted daily during the month of September doing #30in30.

Some lessons learned:

1. My overall website could have been in better shape. About a week in, I realized my traffic was increasing but sadly hadn’t managed to make all the tweaks and updates I’d intended. My homepage is good but other pages with info about services I offer not so much. Don’t go look now because they’re still not done. 😉 This leads me to the next lesson.

2. Writing a blog post a day takes a lot of time. If I know what I’m going to write about, I can knock one out in an hour, maybe two. When that’s not clear, hours can pass before I hit publish. I went into this challenge with a list of >25 ideas for posts but of course, a few didn’t pan out. Getting a post done was a real struggle probably five different days. This leads to another lesson.

3. Producing high quality posts on a daily basis is really tough. Reminds me how most Americans rate themselves as above average drivers. That’s just not mathematically possible. I’d like to say all my posts are above average but…

4. My website traffic increased significantly (probably tripled) and other social media following increased as well. Unfortunately, I failed to record exactly where my site traffic was prior but there has been a definite upward trend on my google analytics dashboard. Also, bounce rate is down and time on site is up. If I do this again, I’ll take a screen shot to have baseline data.

5. My twitter followers grew by about 15%. I didn’t have that many twitter followers to start with and still don’t because spending much time on twitter makes me feel like I’ve eaten an entire box of samoas. Come to think of it, much time on most social media channels makes me feel that way. However, I know the importance of a social media presence.

I shared my blog post each day to my fb and linkedin business pages but only shared posts on my personal fb page and linkedin profile a few times. For certain, those two places are where I have real volume of contacts and sharing to those really kicked up my web traffic. Why did I not post there daily? Re: facebook – I try to keep personal and professional separate. May not be the best business decision. Re: linkedin – I guess I hesitate to be so constantly in people’s faces. May not be the best business decision.

6. I wonder now if I should have promoted the business services I offer more specifically when relevant. For instance, including a statement such as Contact me here to find out how I can help you with ______ (leadership development, career development, team building, growing your small business). I did invite people to connect with me or subscribe to my enewsletter. I also linked to previous posts. For example, I’ve written previously about business blogging here.

7. What about new clients? No one has said to me specifically they contacted me because I wrote #30in30 but I consider it more seeds sown.

8. Finally, I learned I have some really loyal friends and family members who supported me fully in this (meaning they read all 30 posts). For them, I am especially grateful.

I’m pleased that I challenged myself and managed a post a day. I am especially happy that today is September 30 and this is the last one! However, my husband has suggested I continue and he’s mentioned multiple posts a day would be even better.

smh

What kind of inbound marketing do you do and how is it working? Share your thoughts in the comment section.

Are we connected? Find me on facebook, linkedin, google+, & twitter if one of those is your preferred network. I also keep in touch through my (usually) twice monthly newsletter – sign-up below.

My goal is to write 30 blog posts in 30 days the month of September.

#30in30

In the Beginning

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noA recent Entrepreneur article boiled down the startup process into five things that must happen before you launch:

  1. ensure it’s a good idea
  2. plan and budget
  3. create the team
  4. have a support system
  5. solicit feedback and refine

Yes, all are critical steps that must be done but here’s one more thing I’ve discovered is just as important – harden yourself for rejection. Not everyone will want what you have to sell. In fact, very few people may want it. The key is finding those that do and not wasting your time and energy on those that don’t.

In an interview on the Jim Engster show, songwiter Don McClean (American Pie) talked about the 72 times his first album Tapestry was rejected by record companies. J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter was rejected by twelve publishing houses before one agreed to give it a go. Chances are good that whatever your new startup is selling will be rejected as well and it may be rejected a lot.

Learn to appreciate the information rejection provides. Adjust your offering or your target market. Holding tight to what you’re sure will work in light of evidence to the contrary wastes valuable resources. Awhile back I wrote about letting go of those things that aren’t working for you. Operate like a scientist. You have a hypothesis; test it; collect data; formulate your next hypothesis based on what the data tell you and start the process again.

Be prepared for rejection and don’t let it phase you. In fact, turn it around and be grateful for it because it is guiding you to success.

And go for it!!! Entrepreneurship is great!

What lessons has rejection taught you? Share your thoughts in the comment section.

Are we connected? Find me on facebook, linkedin, google+, & twitter if one of those is your preferred network. I also keep in touch through my (usually) twice monthly newsletter – sign-up below.

My goal is to write 30 blog posts in 30 days the month of September.

#30in30

Inquiring Companies Want to Know

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Closeup of male hand showing thumbs up signAre you familiar with Appreciative Inquiry? If not, read on because here’s a quick overview.

Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is a method for organization development and change management that focuses on strengths and their power at both the organization and individual level.

From a great book on the topic, Appreciative Inquiry – A Positive Revolution in Change by David L. Cooperrider and Diana Whitney – “Organizations are not, at their core, problems to be solved. Each was created as a solution designed in its own time to meet a challenge or satisfy a need of society. Each is full of vital connections and life giving potential: relationships, partnerships, alliances and growing webs of knowledge, skill and ability that can harness the power of combined strengths.”

The Appreciative Inquiry process engages the powerful positive potential of all organization members and by identifying and aligning strengths makes weaknesses less relevant. It happens via four steps aka the 4-D Cycle:

  • Discovery – identifying the best in the status quo
  • Dream – creating a vision of what could be
  • Design – determining what should be
  • Destiny – realizing the dream

Appreciative Inquiry is a great addition to the toolkit of today’s managers and other organizational practitioners such as training & development folks. Using AI and emphasizing the positive can result in many desirable outcomes as reported by Cooperrider and Whitney including employees feeling safe, confident, and committed to the organization as well as increased employee participation.

Note: I am not suggesting companies completely ignore weaknesses and I do believe identifying, understanding, and addressing them is a necessary piece of the development process.

AI is a departure from the traditional command and control, employees must be policed school of management and therefore a hard sell to people and companies still operating with a 20th century mentality. Baby steps are required when introducing AI techniques in those organizations.

How are you harnessing the strength in your organization? Share your thoughts in the comment section.

Are we connected? Find me on facebook, linkedin, google+, & twitter if one of those is your preferred network. I also keep in touch through my (usually) twice monthly newsletter – sign-up below.

My goal is to write 30 blog posts in 30 days the month of September.

#30in30

Make It Reverberate

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Cymbal and drumsticks

The words resonate and resonant seem to be everywhere these days – kind of like authenticity which I wrote about awhile back. The books Resonate by Nancy Duarte and Resonant Leadership by Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee were where I first encountered the words and their meaning. Although both have been out awhile, seems to have taken time for the terms to become widely used.

Merriam Webster defines resonate as to have particular meaning or importance for someone : to affect or appeal to someone in a personal or emotional way and resonant as strongly affecting someone especially with a particular quality; capable of inducing. Both come from the acoustics’ concept of sound being prolonged by reverberation. If you enjoy live music you know that feeling when the sound stays with you and can even be felt in your chest.

And that same quality is necessary for truly effective communication and leadership.

Duarte’s book teaches how to create presentations that really connect with the audience and not only inform but move the audience to take transformative action. Analysis of some of history’s greatest speeches and presentations underlies the recommendations and how-to’s.

Boyatzis and McKee’s book focuses on how leaders can be resonant and by that they mean able to consistently and successfully manage their own emotions and the emotions of others. The book addresses handling and overcoming the stress that leaders experience through three simple but powerful practices – mindfulness, hope, and compassion. It is through these that leadership becomes resonant. To learn more about this idea, sign up for the next offering of Boyatzis’ Inspiring Leadership Through Emotional Intelligence MOOC on Coursera. I am currently enrolled and it is excellent.

Resonate and resonant suggest prolonged connection that reverberates. And in this fast paced world, isn’t that the kind of real connection most people want and need?

What resonates with you? Share your thoughts in the comment section.

Are we connected? Find me on facebook, linkedin, google+, & twitter if one of those is your preferred network. I also keep in touch through my (usually) twice monthly newsletter – sign-up below.

My goal is to write 30 blog posts in 30 days the month of September.

#30in30