Put Aside Your Ego to Listen without Prejudice

by Mark Bloom | Dec 9, 2019 | Agency Advice

Listen without Prejudice to Grow in New Ways

Everyone has an ego; put it aside to listen without prejudice

If you’re like most business and web agency owners, you listen to your gut. Your instincts — especially if you’ve devoted yourself to business experience and education — may be honed to a fine edge, an edge that gives you an advantage over your competition. If nothing else, your instincts likely contributed to your success to date.

However, if you can listen without prejudice, you’ll find there are new things to learn. And you may avoid making preventable mistakes that set you and your company back. When you run a business, you must put aside your ego so your company can grow and flourish. Sometimes, you have to admit that maybe — just maybe — you don’t have all the (right) answers. And be aware that your ego tells you that you do.

Gather Information from Trusted Sources

There’s an old saying: “If you want to improve yourself, hang around people who are better or smarter than you are.” Would you rather be around people who started one company, failed and stopped trying? Or would you rather hang out with serial entrepreneurs who kept failing until they finally succeed?

The saying works for business growth as well. Seek counsel from those who’ve been there, done that. Find confidantes who have more experience than you. Enlist the help of a mentor to provide timely advice. Doing so helps you overcome your ego and listen without prejudice to new ideas.

Finding authoritative sources in your research encourages you to put your guard down. Every successful person knows the value of continual learning. They know that when you stop learning, you stop growing.

Even Old Dogs Can Learn New Tricks

While you can learn listening skills, they take time to master. Like learning a new language or a musical instrument, all the advice in the world won’t help you unless you apply it again and again until it becomes second nature. And when it comes to your ego, you can’t expect it to be receptive to being put aside. Your ego more likely will resemble a whining two-year-old who demands attention.

But the rewards are great if you succeed. Consider that most people, including business owners, learn life lessons the hard way: through experience. If you can bypass those painful lessons and adopt new ideas, attitudes and techniques by listening objectively, without the unconscious biases you bring to the table, you’ll grow through wisdom and not through lessons.

How to Listen without Prejudice

Just because you have prejudices doesn’t mean you have to act on them. You can learn to listen without prejudice by taking specific, concrete steps. Listening objectively is a skill that takes time to master. You’ll likely make mistakes. You may even lose some opportunities, but you’ll be headed in the right direction.

The best way to get better at it is to practice. It takes willpower and effort, but it’s worth it in the end. Tips to to improve your listening skills include:

Put yourself in their shoes. While listening, consider the person who’s speaking. You often don’t know what they’ve been through or where they’re coming from, especially if it’s a stranger. Consider their perspective to gain insight into their words.
Be a gracious listener. Don’t interrupt. Wait patiently for your turn to speak. That time will come. Listen carefully and take note of the unspoken cues, such as body language, facial expressions and gestures. The words people say make up only a small percentage of what they’re communicating.
Count to 30. Don’t jump into a conversation with the first thing that pops into your head. Think about what you want to say. Formulate your answer. Your second response is almost always going to be better than your first.
Repeat what you heard. Foster communication by reiterating what the person has said to you — in your own words — which lets them know you’ve heard them. This act also reinforces the idea in your own mind.
Imagine being recorded. Before you say anything in response during a conversation, picture a microphone in your face. Don’t say anything you’ll later regret. Don’t say anything in the heat of the moment from a place of anger. Consider what would happen if your words were recorded for others to hear.
Put your opinions on hold. To listen without prejudice simply means to keep a completely open mind. It’s hard, if not impossible to allow new ideas into a closed mind. When you suspend judgement while listening closely, you may just be surprised at what you hear.

Ray Access is a content marketing firm that delivers targeted words to empower your business to succeed. Contact us about your specific project to receive a quote. We write website copy, blog posts, e-newsletters, and more. Everything we do is thoroughly researched, professionally edited and guaranteed original.

How to Read Between the Business Lines

by Elle Ray | Dec 2, 2019 | Agency Advice

Aid Decision Making with Clear Communication

You well know that people don’t always say what they really mean. Very often, in fact, they’re two different things entirely. In many communication streams, both personal and professional, you have to pay close attention to learn the true meaning of the message.

Learn to read between the lines to get better at decision making

You don’t want to make a decision based on false assumptions, mixed messages or misunderstandings. And when the decision making affects your work, it’s vital that you develop a keen sense of when you not only need to hear the messages being conveyed, but also read between the lines.

Are You Talking to Me?

In a world rife with the communication obstacles of political correctness (PC), many business professionals rely on words that don’t really convey their true intent. This is especially true in larger corporations, where every email and memo carries with it the risk of offending someone. And the last thing any business owner wants is a lawsuit.

Decision making based on veiled comments or misguided attempts to hold the business’s Human Resources PC line can lead to faulty conclusions and bad business deals. Others who may be offended by incorrect word choices and incomplete communications include:

Managers
Employees
Vendors
Customers

What Did You Mean by That?

A few years ago in The Business Journal, writer Terry Brock suggested that engineers and techies would do well to develop a program that allowed you to see what people are actually thinking when they speak or write — kind of like Google does when it asks, “Did you mean…?” The real message could blink on the speaker’s forehead.

However, that may only happen in a science fiction show. In real life, it’s best to learn how to read between the lines, taking into account many more aspects of a communication besides just the words. For example, look for clues in the:

Timing. Are you getting a request from corporate the week before Christmas? Is a client asking for changes to his website the day before it’s supposed to go live? Is your best employee talking about leaving while he’s going through a bitter divorce? Taking into account the timing of the request affects your decision making on many fronts! But between the lines, it’s pretty safe to figure out the request comes fraught with haste, fear or stress.
Body language. Communication is 85 percent tone of voice and body language and only 15 percent words. This makes person-to-person contact so vital in business whenever possible. You’ll glean much more from your communications if you can see the speaker’s fidgetiness, avoidance, excitement or anger attached to the words being spoken. Your decision making then becomes more on-the-money.
Past interactions. If past performance is any indication of future proclivities, then you get a pretty good idea of what’s really going on. When considering various communications, remember what happened last time you got an order from that client, a direct memo from the home office or a standoffish comment from a staff member.
Other factors. People don’t live in a bubble, but instead are complicated, multi-faceted creatures. Sometimes, truly understanding another person means you have to do a little digging. Perhaps social media can give you some clues. Discreetly asking around may give you some insight into the motivations of another.

Decision Making 2.0

Whether you need to decide which project to take on, what deadlines are reasonable, who you need to fire and who just needs a little coaching, or what kind of response is needed, you do your best decision making when you’ve collected as much information as possible. You may never get it right all the time, but you definitely increase your batting average. You may even find that decision making becomes a little less stressful when you’re armed with an amped-up skillset that lets you successfully read between the lines.

A few added tips to hone those skills include:

Sleep on it. Before delving into vital decision making scenarios, wait a while to see if any new insights bubble up.
Read it over. Don’t reply to emails when you have an emotional reaction. And read your reply a few times before hitting Send.
Listen well. This is especially important during phone conversations when tone of voice conveys a lot of meaning to the words being spoken.
Listen to your gut. If something feels “hinky” or not quite straight-up, it probably is. The situation, and your decision, requires further investigation. Trust your instincts and ask questions.
Ask questions. The most straightforward, and very often the most useful, approach to getting at the truth is to just ask. You get nowhere fast when you rely on half-baked instructions or communications. The old adage, “garbage in — garbage out,” applies to even the best-intentioned communications that don’t really tell the whole story.

Do Good, Feel Good

by Elle Ray | Nov 18, 2019 | Agency Advice

Doing Good Deeds Delivers Health Benefits

Every day, you work hard to fulfill your passion — whether it’s successfully building your business, making lots of money or making the next big discovery that changes the world. You may spend hours coding a new website to perfection or rewriting a blog until it sings. Working hard brings significant rewards. If it didn’t, you wouldn’t spend so much energy on it.

Reach out and do something positive for someone to get the health benefits from it.

Most things in life have at their core a selfish nature. If it doesn’t give you some sort of reward, then it’s difficult to muster up the will power to finish … or even start. The same concept applies to doing good deeds. When you do good things for others, you feel good. You receive a ton of benefits that are measurable, from physical health benefits to a greater sense of mental well-being and a sense of purpose.

Yeah, But…

As an internet entrepreneur or a website developer, you’re under an enormous amount of pressure to beat the competition, stay on top of pressing projects and keep up with all the changes that come to the industry at lightning speed. All that takes time.
So … when you’re presented with the opportunity to do a little good for someone else, it’s easy to agree with the concept, but even easier to slough it off with excuses, such as:

I’m too busy.
There aren’t enough hours in the day.
I’ve done enough already.
I need more me-time.
No one gave me anything.

The “yeah, but” tendency grows and multiplies until you find yourself not only missing out on the health benefits that altruism affords, but actually creating more stress in your life. Guilt builds, leading to a lack of empathy and compassion. The next thing you know, you’re dealing with hoarding and isolation in a lifestyle of greed.

Selfish and Good

In actuality, you can be selfish and still do plenty of good in the world. Researchers hold that being selfish may be one of the most important ingredients in a life filled with random acts of kindness. Being selfish and doing good are not exclusive. When you start reaping all the health benefits of being a giving, altruistic human being, you want more of that good stuff — and the cycle continues.

Consider some of the proven health benefits of living with an intention to do good deeds and treat others with kindness every day:

Physiological health benefits occur when your brain senses that you’re happy. Witnessing a smile on another’s face or receiving gratitude for a small kindness makes your brain pop with happiness — guaranteed.
Stress is greatly reduced when you put things into perspective. Helping someone less fortunate than yourself fills you with a sense of gratitude, and you get no greater health benefits than when you reduce stress, a major cause of most diseases.
Work flows much better when you aren’t caught up in the stress caused by focusing on the negative aspects of your day. A positive state of mind begets positive outcomes. This is yet another selfish motive for going good.
Happiness and optimism are contagious. So if you have any influence over employees or clients, you can expect to receive a whole lot more cooperation when you’re all feeling good.
Live longer. Health benefits extend far beyond today. A life spent doing good for others means that you can continue doing those things that you love to do for much longer.

Leave it to Oprah to sum it up:

“If you want to feel good, you have to go out and do some good.

Ray Access is a content marketing firm that delivers targeted words that empower your business to succeed. Contact us about your specific project to receive a quote. We write website copy, blog posts, e-newsletters, and more, with cross-links and thorough internet research.

The Power of the Compliment

by Elle Ray | Nov 11, 2019 | Agency Advice

Reap Rewards with a Sincere Compliment

Receive thumbs up as part of your personal and professional rewards of complimenting people.

The fifth principle for successful website creators is:

Give compliments freely and often.

It’s one of the least expensive and most effective tools you can employ to:

Create loyalty among your employees and clients
Build goodwill
Feel good about your work and your place in the industry
Motivate your staff
Receive personal and professional rewards in return
Increase sales
Make friends and influence people

The personal and professional rewards of freely handing out compliments on a regular basis can’t even be measured — that’s how enormous their impact can be. Leo Buscaglia infers how huge it is, though:

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”

Good as Gold

A compliment can have an effect on people that’s similar to how they respond to receiving cash. In fact, a study cited by The Scripps Research Institute calls praise a “social reward” that actually boosts productivity and enhances motivation, just like any other treasured prize. While some may argue that those personal and professional rewards are just manipulation techniques, when a compliment is sincere, it’s taken as genuine.

And isn’t all marketing and employee motivation tactics just various forms of manipulation? Getting others to feel good about themselves, about you and your work, and about the world in general is never a bad thing. Two intentions can co-exist: buy from me and feel good about me are two seemingly different ideas, yet they go together as seamlessly as checking and savings. You can take that to the bank!

Keep It Real — And Positive

For those involved in website creation, from designers and coders to content writers and graphic artists, the notion that “it’s all good” doesn’t always fly. But if you get in the practice of seeking personal and professional rewards by handing out genuine compliments, you just may find that some of it is good. Look hard enough — and granted, sometimes it takes effort — and you can find something in everyone to praise.

In the 21st century, you need to be careful about how you sling your brand of praise. For example, men and women must be careful about complimenting the opposite sex on how they look, lest you be charged with harassment. And put-downs disguised as compliments, like “you look good for your age” are non-starters. But that still leaves a whole lot of room for handing out personal and professional rewards like swag at a tech conference.

Consider, for example, a few well-placed compliments that easily apply to many of the people you encounter in business:

“Good job on that recent project.”
“You have a great sense of humor.”
“That was really effective the way you handled that disgruntled client.”
“You pick out the best gifts.”
“I really appreciate the way you stepped up.”
“Your directions were really clear.”
“Your business model translates really well online.”
“Your enthusiasm is infectious.”
“We appreciate the trust you’ve placed in us.”
“I like your confidence.”
“You’re so responsive.”
“Great shoes!”

The list truly can go on and on, but you get the idea. You can be personal without tripping over those sensitive topics that make people uncomfortable.

Feed the Hungry

In the stressed-out world of high-tech, where competition is fiercer than ever and new challenges appear daily, people are starving for honest appreciation. A commendation for a job well done, recognition for effective communication and business ethics, admiration for well-honed skills, regard for a specific task well done, appreciation for style and substance — all are signs of respect that go a long way toward changing the world, or at least easing the pressures of the day.

And it costs you nothing. Paradoxically, when you give a compliment, you reap your own set of personal and professional rewards. In addition to boosting productivity at your agency, you give your clients a reason to come back and tell their friends about you.

It feels good to do good, to be nice and to add a little sugar to the recipe of the day. You feed your own soul when you take just a tiny bit of effort to look for the good in everyone and tell them so. Mark Twain may have said it best:

“I can live for two months on a good compliment.”

How Important Web Development Is to the World

by Mark Bloom | Nov 5, 2019 | Agency Advice

We Rely on the Importance of Web Work

The importance of web work will influence the world

Everything is moving online. Some countries, like Estonia, have made governmental responsibilities and interactions easier and more convenient by moving them to web-based programs. As a result, normally treacherous government agencies and services, such as the Department of Motor Vehicles, are now streamlined and headache-free.

But this transition — which is expected to gain more momentum in the years ahead — is only possible with consistent, stable and fast internet connections. The shift to the online platform also highlights the importance of web work: development, design, content and speed. If there’s one thing that the initial rollout of the Affordable Care Act taught Americans, it’s that any platform and website better be ready to handle the load.

Change Relies on Expertise

In a changing world, the ones who do it right are usually the ones who come out ahead. In other words, web development requires more than just a good coder. Creating an online platform for goods and services is akin to making a motion picture. You need more than actors and a director. The list of credits shown at the end of every movie shows how much of a team effort the movie required.

Similarly, the importance of web work counts on the knowledge and abilities of many, not just a few. Including:

Web developers
User experience (UX) designers
Graphic designers
Content writers
Photographers
Project managers

Without any of this principle talent, the project may not succeed. Each brings special abilities to the project. As a team working together, the project becomes greater than any individual’s input … just as a good movie does.

The Importance of Web Work to the Internet

As more and more people browse the web for information, research and entertainment, it’s going to become more and more vital that the websites they find are clear, easy-to-use and responsive. Regardless where technology takes us all, websites must keep up. Otherwise, they’ll be left behind. Review your own website to make sure it doesn’t look like it was built in 1999 and not touched since.

Just as broadband has increased everyone’s expectations of instant downloads, every website needs to load quickly, present information accurately and give visitors clear choices. Web developers today can build nearly any design they’re given. Therefore, it’s up to:

UX designers, graphical designers and photographers to work out the best designs possible
Content writers to produce engaging, understandable and compelling copy that enables visitors to complete their task at hand
Project managers to bring everyone to the table — including clients — to create the best websites to serve a purpose, even if that purpose is just to entertain

If You Build It, Will They Come?

Every website must now consider search engine optimization (SEO) so that it can compete or even be seen in an increasingly competitive online marketplace. But once visitors click through to your website, make sure it’s up to the task of giving them what they want. To improve the online world, put effort into every website you design or build.

The importance of web work will become more and more obvious as the well-designed sites grow and the poorly designed sites fade away. Every functionally effective website you create makes the internet a better and safer place to visit. Every positive experience from your own website increases the likelihood of a return visit.

If you build or design websites, make each one the best. If you write website content, please your audience. If you’re a project manager, bring out the best from everyone on your team. And if you do none of these things, hire the best to get it done right.

The Mind-Blowing Stress of Disorganization

by Mark Bloom | Oct 29, 2019 | Agency Advice

Why Being Disorganized Causes Stress

The stress of disorganization starts with a messy desk

There have been studies that suggest that a clear desk indicates a clear mind. If you have a clear mind, so the theory goes, you’re more productive because you spend more time working and less time looking for necessary notes, papers or data. A clear desk eliminates the stress of disorganization, which is true for business owners, web developers, project managers and content creators.

Disorganization can take many forms, in addition to a cluttered desk. In fact, the number one reason for being or feeling disorganized pertains to time management. If you’re wasting time, you’re not productive. If you’re not focused, you’re potentially doing things that aren’t the best use of your time. Other ways of adding to the stress of disorganization, even if you don’t realize it, include:

Procrastinating
Putting too many tasks on your to-do list
Doing other things until your deadline looms
Not prioritizing your time and your to-do list
Waiting for the perfect moment or the right mood to strike
Getting caught up in less important tasks
Waiting for others to complete their tasks before you start yours
Not planning ahead, so if an emergency hits, you’re unprepared
Using too many scraps of paper for your notes that are always in danger of being misplaced
Mixing up project-related notes with personal notes
Being distracted by your phone, the birds outside your window, anything
Allowing yourself to be interrupted while you’re working

How the Stress of Disorganization Emerges

Whether you’re a web developer or a project manager, clutter on your desk and clutter in your mind create stress because you always feel like you’re on uneven footing. When you know exactly what you need to do, you’re likely to stay focused and engaged. According to Psychology Today, disorganization causes stress because:

Visual clutter overloads your senses and distracts you from your task at hand.
Your brain needs “white space” or blank areas to help it focus and solve problems. Too much disorganization, and you can’t cogitate properly.
A messy desk makes it seem that you have more things to do than you actually have.
A disorganized area creates a sense of anxiety in your mind.
You may feel guilty about not have a cleaner space.

A messy area promotes the stress of disorganization

The best way to become more productive is to organize your desk, your mind and your time. When you know where everything is, it’s a good sign that you know what you need to do. When your mind is calm and relaxed, you’re more likely to be quicker to solve problems and think creatively. You can’t do that when you’re confronted by the mind-blowing stress of disorganization.

Overcoming Disorganization

But there are things you can do as a web developer or business owner to get organized and allow your mind to become sharper. Avoiding clutter helps clear your mind and changes the way you approach your job. If you want to succeed — in your project and your peace of mind — these steps are worth the conscious investment of your time and energy.

To defuse the mind-blowing stress of disorganization, you must take steps to organize your workspace and your work habits. Some tips include:

Get a smaller desk. You won’t be able to put as many things on it, forcing yourself to reorganize your mess.
Put aside time at the end of each day to organize your desk. Make sure everything is in its place. The time you spend each evening is way less than you’d spend doing a major cleanup.
Either keep a central notebook with all your notes or go completely electronic. Either way, you’re more likely to know where important information is and how to get to it when you need it.
Ask for help when you need it. Chances are, you’re not alone in your office or in your business. Make it a team effort to be more organized.
Always put things back where they belong after you’re finished with them. Once you’ve cleaned up your space, keep it clean and well organized.
Create project files to keep related documents, designs and notes all together.
Use neurolinguistic programming (NLP) to de-stress.
Regardless what else you do, give your brain some space to decompress. Close your eyes for a minute or two before starting work. Take frequent breaks to keep it fresh and give your mind a breather.

Remember that stress is the enemy of productivity. Fight back against the mind-blowing stress of disorganization to reach your highest potential. The online world of business is often stressful enough; don’t add to it with a disorganized desk or office. When web developers, project managers and business owners want to succeed, they clear their desks and their minds. Prepare to engage!

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