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Don't You Feel This Way Too?!

Source: Indexed.com | Post: Do not "make the ask." Just ask.

Resources to Improve Your Writing

I work in the business valuation profession. Many professionals in this profession are finance and accounting majors, which is great for the Excel portion of a business valuation report. However, a good business valuation report is one that is well-written. The client should recognize his or her company from the report and be able to understand the valuation.

This written part of a valuation report is often a challenge for many in my profession. I once had a business valuation/CPA firm owner, who employs CPAs as valuation analysts, tell me that his firm sends his new valuation hires to outside writing training sessions because they are so bad when they begin.

That is an extreme situation (I hope), but it is true that good writing is a skill. As such, see this post "10 Resources to Improve Your Writing" from Lior Levin, guest posting for Lynn Terry at ClickNews!  Lior says:

Writing is not always easy to master and requires dedicated practice and knowledge. The upside is that good writing skills will be a massive advantage in almost any business model, and can even open up exciting new possibilities for you.

So, where does one go to learn the skills and rules that will make anyone a good writer? The Internet has a treasure trove of writing resources. Here are 10 resources that will improve your writing… (emphasis in original)

If you want to become a better writer, read this post and access the resources listed.

Photo Source: _StaR_DusT_ via Flickr

Marketing Info You May Have Missed

I certainly missed this info while I was on vacation. I'm back now. Enjoy!

• How to Promote Your Personal Brand on Google+ - Bill Hartzer (I'm still playing with Google+ but so far I like it)
• How to Get Journalists to Tell Your Story - Mashable (Good tips here)
• 66% of Professional Services Firms Will Increase Spending for Online Marketing in Next 12 Months - Hinge Marketing (These are initial findings)
• A Guide to SEO Ranking Factors (Infographic) - Hubspot (I'll be using this for a fall speech)
• 11 Must-Subscribe Marketing News Blogs and Websites - Hubspot (Most are already in my RSS feed. Are they in yours?)
• Stop Surprising and Delighting Your Customers - Just Solve Their Problems - Marketing Profs (Yes!)
• Tips and Articles about Google+ for Law Firm Marketing - Larry Bodine's Blog (I like these)
• LinkedIn: Customize What Displays on Your Home Page - New Incite 
• Easy to Read Fonts Improve Site Visitors' Experience - Dianna Huff (Don't let design trump readability)

Headline of the Day: "Would You Give Up Sex to Avoid a Powerpoint?"

 

Would you? Survey says ...

 

Marketing Info You May Have Missed – By the Numbers

• 17 Content Creation Ideas to Inspire You [Infodoodle] - MarketingProfs
• 10 Commandments of Social Media for Financial Services - The Social CMO Blog
• 7 Google Tools Every Marketer Ought to Know [New Ebook!] - Hubspot Blog
• 10 Fascinating Facts About Phone Numbers - Mashable (Ok, I love this one. Did you know how New York came to get the 212 area code?)
• 4 Innovative Keyboards - Inc.
• 10 Life Lessons from a Reluctant Runner - Zen Habits
• 5 Easy Tips to Create Video Screencasts Like a Pro - Hubspot Blog
• 15 Keyboard Shortcuts to Enhance Your PC Productivity - Mashable

Good Overview of Google+

I've got to say that I'm pretty interested in Google+. It seems to solve many of the frustrations I have with social network platforms - both personally and professionally. The idea of "circles" is wonderful and sorely needed. 

This short presentation from Ben Gaddes provides a good overview of Google+.  

What Google+ Means for Marketers

View more presentations from Ben Gaddis

More resources on Google+ (from Jay Fleischman at Legal PracticePro):

• Google Launches Google+ To Battle Facebook (Mashable)
• Google Plus Sparks – Staying Up To Date On What Matters To You
• Google: Plus Or Minus? (Geoff Livingston)
• Google Plus: Is This the Social Tool Schools Have Been Waiting For? (ReadWriteWeb)
• Sorry Guys! I Love Google Plus, but it’s Destined to Fail (BuzzOm)
• Google Plus (Google+): The Painful Realization (Social Media Today)
• How to invite friends to join Google Plus
• How To Invite People To Google Plus (Tutkiun!)
• How to mention someone in the Google Plus
• How To Video Podcast Using Google Plus Hangouts (Phandroid)
• How To Blog With Google Plus (Chris Brogan)
• How To Share Google Plus(+) Posts On Facebook And Twitter? (Buzzing Up)
• Google Plus Tips And Shortcuts (Local SEO Guide)

This One is for Pet Lovers

Inc. recently published "11 Pet-Friendly Workplaces" in honor of Take Your Dog to Work Day.

A wonderful resource for pet lovers that want to travel with their pets is Go Pet Friendly. I can personally vouch for the service and the owners since I know them. Amy and Rod Burkert started Go Pet Friendly along with their dogs, Ty and Buster. Per Amy and Rod:

We're on a mission to make it easy for you to enjoy fantastic travel experiences with your pets! It all started when we decided to take a road trip to Canada. We experienced pure frustration - and spent more than two days - planning the trip. It was a hassle finding pet friendly hotels, tracking down their policies, and locating restaurants and activites that we could all enjoy together. That's when we had our "aha" moment. 

If you want to travel with your pets, check out Go Pet Friendly. 

The "Dark Side" of LinkedIn

This post is courtesy of Richard Warner, ASA, AVA. Rick is a business appraiser and the editor of the American Society of Appraiser's Business Valuation E-Letter (to which I contribute 3 - 5 columns a year).

As editor, Rick also contributes content. I thought his June 29, 2011 piece was both interesting and educational and I repost it here with his permission.

The "Dark Side" of LinkedIn

So I’m a pretty frequent user of LinkedIn.  More than a “casual” user, but not so much of a user that I’ve felt compelled to “upgrade” my membership.  I’ve added a fair number of contacts (more on that later) and I’ve joined a few of the discussion groups.

If you’ve ever followed some of the threads on the discussion groups they run the gamut from being focused and on point to taking a discussion of the cost of capital and turning it into a discussion of Mom’s apple pie at Thanksgiving.

Recently on one of the valuation related discussion groups there was a nice little discussion going on regarding some legitimate topic.  People are contributing solid comments, opinions, tidbits, and the like.  From somewhere out on “la rive gauche” comes, let’s call it a dissenting opinion, that pretty much says, “you’re all idiots, and I don’t think that much of your mother either…”.

Well, that was pretty interesting.  I’m not sure who polices these groups if anyone, but the response from the other contributors to the group was pretty good.  Enlightened even.  Who knows if the alleged “fire bomber” was even a legitimate person – there’s really no way to know, but the point is the group self-policed itself and kept on truckin’.  I liked that.

I’ve seen other comments from individuals (that I know are real) who may have stepped over the line of decorum in some fashion.  Other members stepped in, gave some advice (which I can tell has been taken to heart by the alleged offender) and again, life as we know it on LinkedIn continued.

So why should we care about what is said on a LinkedIn discussion group?  Well, we should keep in mind these are public groups, and our comments are recorded in some fashion, and maybe we want to consider what our comments would look like if replayed to us in open court.  Ouch.  I suspect that there are some clever attorneys out there who now include a review of LinkedIn discussion groups as part of their due diligence prepping for a cross examination of an expert witness.

I can see it now.  “Mr. Warner, did you really ask/answer this question on LinkedIn as follows….?”

What about how we manage our LinkedIn contacts?  When I first started using LinkedIn it was all about quantity.  Can I get to 100 contacts?  How about 250?  Can I reach the hallowed land of 500+ contacts?  But should these “contacts” be more than an electronic rolodex stored in the cloud somewhere?  I think so.  Just as a relationship is more than keeping a person’s business card on file, I think (and this is strictly a personal opinion) that contacts on LinkedIn should be more than just the result of “accepting an invitation” to Link In.  I should be able to send a message to each of my contacts, with a legitimate question, and in a reasonable amount of time expect an answer.  In other words, my LinkedIn contacts should be part of an “active” network, or they should not be part of it at all.

Well, enough said on LinkedIn.  By the way, I don’t “tweet” and all my friends on Facebook are family.