You will probably meet at least one new person every day. If not, start doing it from today.

There has been a lot of discussion about the power of first impressions, but that’s not what I’m not going to cover in this post. Instead, let’s talk about “hype.”
As someone who is very involved in social media, I meet a lot of new people who are using hype words such as “social media marketing,” ‘Facebook marketing,” and “brand marketing” at the start of every conversation. All too often, the purpose of these words is to impress the other person and to show their understanding of the specific topic. I can honestly say that 90% of the people have no idea what they are talking about!

The power of words

Words influence every aspect of our lives. The power of words to deliver our message is even more important at those times when we are introducing ourselves to someone new and pitching our companies. We want to make sure that we use the right words and that we ourselves understand what we are saying. After all, wouldn’t it be ridiculous to hear a singer say “I know how to build an aircraft”?

The wrong way for feedback

Over the years, I have developed a specific method for filtering these people within 2-5 minutes at the start of any conversation. My method for dealing with these types of people is a mixture of experience and questions.
Please note: many people use fashion words to feel better about themselves in the start of every talk. By nodding your head and smiling at these people, you are using the wrong approach!
While some people just smile at these moments, others react in the wrong manner by blaming or accusing the other person for using specific terms without knowing what they really mean.
Accusing people is the worst-case scenario! Don’t do that. Always remember, there is a big difference between people and their words. By asking the right questions, you can dig a bit deeper and find out whether such people actually do know what they are talking about. And remember too, there no connection between how well people express themselves and how smart and nice they are.

The simple approach

A few weeks ago, I met a very nice woman who told me that advertising on Facebook was not working.
What would most people do in this situation? Simply go and repeat to their friends that advertising on Facebook doesn’t worki?
That would be the wrong answer. Advertising on Facebook does work, but only for specific goals. So how can you keep yourself from jumping to the wrong conclusions? First of all, by asking the “why” question.
Once you ask the question, “Why is advertising on Facebook not working?”, you will usually see a different view. That’s a start, but it’s not enough. Asking “why” is easy, but still not the perfect way.
Ask yourself as well, why does this person assume that advertising on Facebook is not working? Maybe the person hates Facebook and prefers Twitter for unknown reasons? Yeah, that could be a better answer. Would you go now and tell your friends that advertising on Facebook is not working? I’m sure not!

See the difference?
More about asking the right questions in the next posts.

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“You can live your life by chance or by choice. It’s really up to you.” - Robin Sharma

The internet is full of information and knowledge. We sometimes find ourself looking for specific video, post, tweet to be inspired from. Here is my list of sites that inspire me every day:

1. Ted Talks
2. Robin Sharma twitter (blog)
3. Freaknomoics
4. entrepreneur.com
5. inc.com

Thanks JD for the hat tip

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You will probably find yourself making dialogues with your colleagues, friends or family members every day and sometimes a few times a day. Have you thought for a moment if you have healthy dialogues? What are healthy dialogues you might ask?

When we discuss with our team members about specific idea or event, we come with specific goals in our mind. The goals vary from getting feedback to choosing the right feature to develop. Goals always exist in our mind but we find ourselves shifting from this goal to some other goal which changes our discussion. One of the common goals is: WIN. In how many dialogues you have been in which the desire to win beats the other goals? You are right. The desire to win built in our very fiber before we are old enough to know what’s going on.

Unfortunately, as we grow older, most of us don’t realize that this unhealthy desire to win is continually driving us away from healthy dialogue. We start the dialogue with the desire to solve a problem but we soon switch purposes in heartbeat. Two of my three words for 2010 have strong connection to the art of dialogue. The best networkers are people who know how to listen and make the best from dialogues.

Think for a moment, do you have healthy dialogues?

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Year 2009 was a fascinating year. If you didn’t read the lessons learned during 2009, take a look now.

A year is 365 days of actions, ideas and dreams. At the end of every year, I always look back and choose the top 5 outcomes of the year. In addition, I also choose  the top 5 fails. Remember, always look to the future, but learn from the past. There is no logic in going 2 steps forward and 2 steps backward. Try always to go 2 steps forward and at worst 1 step back.

It’s funny to see that on the top of my 2009 list, I wrote the word “listen.” Listening has become a key aspect in both our offline and online worlds.

3 words for 2010

After reading Chris Brogan’s post about the 3 words, I always take the time to think deeply about those words. I find that it’s not so easy to come up with only 3 words to describe your efforts for the next year. Nonetheless, I find Chris’s method can be very helpful in setting your mindset about the upcoming year. However, make sure that these words are only the “big dreams,” as you have to make a really stable plan for the whole year.

My Words for 2010

After thinking about it for a while, my words for 2010 are: Venture, Team, Networked.

Networked

Networking for me is a fundamental aspect of every move of my day. I strive to learn from the experts. In 2010 I’m going to spend most of my time with the best networkers from all over the world. I have learned that a good networker is a combination of specific attributes. The art of networking is something I’m going to put my effort into during 2010.

Team

A leader is someone who can lead a team in the best way ever.  Your team is your key factor for the success of the company. As a purely team-oriented person, I’m going to spend the upcoming year learning more about working and building the best teams ever.

Venture

I have so many ideas in my head in every moment. This year I’m going to transform some of my ideas into new ventures. I’m reading a lot about new venture creation and doing the right research before turning my ideas into actions.

I will explain in the next few weeks how I make my one- and three-year plans from these three simple words.

Remember : Networked, Team, Venture.

Photo credit jimpatterson

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