How to Build Team Trust

Trust is the belief and confidence in the integrity, reliability and fairness of a person or organization.

Trust is an essential human value and is the grease that keeps teams running smoothly when conflict arises. It is difficult to acquire, and if abused, harder to salvage.

People become nervous and defensive with one another if any of the following occur:

-- Decisions are perceived to be unfair.
-- Behavior is unreliable.
-- Business strategies are unpredictable.
-- People fail to follow through on commitments.
-- People make excuses or lie to cover up mistakes.
-- Work stragegies and systems are unreliable.

People who were raised during the partial eclipse of the industrial age, the baby boomers and their parents, learned to do what they were told and to align with organizations they could trust to make payroll. They were taught to trust their leaders and if necessary lie for them.

For example, the secretary learned to roll off the tongue that the boss was not in, when he was. This little "white" lie was sanctioned if not ordered from the top down. And, similar matters of integrity occur even today, when little white lies serve to cover up mistakes.

Since the rise of the information age, organizations can no longer view their employees the same way as their physical, financial and inventory assets. These assets are owned. People are not. Therefore, the organization's personnel success or failure hinges on relationship quality and longevity of the relationships it forges with employees. And, long term relationships are based on trust.

Trust is so important to group relationships that people worry or become angry and discontented if trust is damaged. Or, they become numb and with the numbness come complacency, apathy and broken loyalty. Work slows down, profits shrink, and the talented, discontented worker moves on to greener pastures when the opportunity arises.

During a recession threats of job loss breed complacency. After a recession, leaving an organization to find another because of irreconcilable values is the mark of a good leader - a badge of honor.

In their article, The Surprising Economics of a People Business, consultants Felix Barber and Rainer Streck argue that trained and contributing employees drive the overall performance of a company. As such different systems and strategies require different performance measures and management practices. These practices involve trust.

As such, trust in self, coworkers and leaders are essential if not mandatory for a group to excel.

Trust also has a dynamic impact on group problem solving. For example, group problem solving tends to break down in low trust environments and becomes creative and productive in high trust environments. That is why it is so important for leaders to purge fear-based, top down practices from the team dynamic.

The rub comes in the shift between Industrial and Information era technologies. The first exposes the employee to narrowly defined tasks and expectations. There are dues to pay because tenured employees or a chain of command dynamic rules advancement and contribution.

The Information age dynamic, on the other hand, embraces emotionally intelligent leadership dynamics, the ability to system think, creatively problem solve, measure results and nurture group process. This is on the people side. On the work side, accomplishing quality work, refining processes and operating lean makes payroll.

A talented new hire with a solid skill set is hard to retain if a pecking order or tenure process gets in the way of learning and contribution. The work and people balance becomes a high wire act because job satisfaction requires balance between getting good work done and the psychological satisfaction of people doing the work.

In the Information age, requiring a new employee to wait his turn for advancement without providing training and a clearly defined horizontal job development path damages morale and is counter-productive.

Therefore, some examples of high trust environments are:

-- Leaders and team members trust one another and freely exchange information.

-- Leaders and team members respectfully express differences of opinion and discuss disappointments without fear of repercussion.

-- Leaders and team members freely explore ideas and share information.

-- Leaders and team members experience high levels of give-and-take, mutual support, respect, and confidence in one another's ability.

Training, mentoring and providing opportunity to serve are anchored in the organizational culture.

Some examples of low trust environments are:

-- Leaders encourage unhealthy competition and scarcity among members.

-- Leaders fear empowerment because of job security.

-- Leaders and team members sabotage or shun people they do not like in order to minipulate them.

-- Leaders and members falsify documents or lie to cover up mistakes.

-- All parties to conflict justify the thought; the end justifies the means.

In a nutshell, trust is very expensive if not impossible to buy in today's workforce and very difficult to salvage if spoiled. People know trust though actions, not words. What people say must line up with what they do for trust to be recognized. When words fail to match actions over time, organizations loose good people or cripple morale and lose dividends.

About the Author: Dianne Crampton is a team and leadership consultant. She founded the TIGERS team model which tracks and measures 6 collaborative team values that form the hub of a team culture

The New Kid in Town": MSN AdCenter

The New Kid in Town": MSN AdCenter
By Merle http://MCPromotionsPress.com

If you use Google Adwords or Yahoo Search Marketing (formerly known as Overture) for your pay per click advertising, you'll want to "listen up". There's a new competitor on the scene "MSN Ad Center". Microsoft's pay per click program is called "MSN Keywords" which is the first of several advertising options they have planned.

At the time of this writing the only way to participate in this "pilot program" is by invitation only. Rumor has it they should be going public with the launch towards the middle of this year. If you'd like to be considered for participation you can sign up at ... http://advertising.msn.com/searchadv/PilotForm.asp

If you're already a client you can log into your account at http://adcenter.msn.com

The program, which is very similar to Google Adwords allows you to bid on keywords associated with your online business and your ads will be displayed on MSN's search results pages reaching a potential audience of 49 million people every month. Once approved for the program you'll need to create your own "ad center" account. The sign up fee of $5.00 will be charged to your credit card at that time.

The next step is to select the keywords you want your ads to appear for and how much you want to bid for each. The minimum bid is five cents. You're only charged for actual clicks on your ads not for their display. There is no minimum monthly budget. You'll also find a keyword research tool under the research tab to brainstorm new keywords or check on keyword performance.

If you already use "Google Adwords" or "Yahoo Search Marketing" you can easily import your existing ads and keyword lists. If you need assistance you can use what's called "Quick Launch" where a marketing analyst will assist you with your account setup. During beta there is no charge for this assistance.

One of the nicest feature of MSN's pay per click program is the "advanced targeting". You can select the target markets you want to reach (male, female, by age). You also can select locations, specific countries/regions, even select cities where you want your ads to appear. How about choosing the days of the week you want your ads to run, right down to the time? Yes, you can do it all right here. This is possible due to MSN's use of "audience data" to better target your ads to the audience who would be most interested in your offer. They call this "Audience Intelligence" which allows you to make smarter decisions when it comes to your online marketing campaigns.

You can also track conversions with their free conversion tracking.

Setting up your text ads is simple following their guidelines. You have four lines to work with:

Title Line (25 characters max, incl. spaces) 2nd & 3rd Line (70 characters max, incl. spaces) 4th Line (this is for your url, 35 characters) For more specific style guidelines see http://tinyurl.com/cevu4.

For content guidelines
see http://tinyurl.com/7ue53

You'll find a "reports tab" in the ad center so you can keep an eye on how well your campaigns are doing. You can track click through rates, impressions, and more.

If you're already using pay per click marketing in your online marketing efforts, you might want to take MSN for a spin. With their advanced targeting you'll be given the ability to hit your target market with more precision, and expand your reach and online exposure.

For more information visit the learning center http://tinyurl.com/b786r or see the AdCenter Blog for members at http://blogs.msdn.com/adcenter/

7 Keys To Business Networking Growth

7 Keys To Business Networking Growth

Networking is not going away. No matter how high-tech, plugged in, or globalized the world becomes, networking will be around forever. You need networking, and you need it to work for you.

But as consumers, clients, customers, and executives all realize the power and usefulness of networking you are faced with the difficulty of discriminating how, when, why, and how much networking you should be doing.

For example, if you joined every networking web site there was, you could make a full time job of just filling out web forms. Or, if you attended every networking function in your industry, you would do nothing but eat, drink, and mingle.

So, what are you going to do. This article attempts to lay out seven keys to business networking growth.

1. Become the go-to guy for a networking question. As you begin to network, your circle of acquaintances grows. Your rolodex of numbers increases. And you start running out of room to put business cards. In time, you will build a reputation as a pretty good networker.

Now and then someone may come up to you and say, "Hey, do you happen to know a good franchise consultant?" You dig in your drawer, whip out a business card and say, "Give him a call. I met him last March. Nice guy." Bingo. You've scored a point. You've made a connection.

And you've won some trust. Eventually, a few more people will come up to you and say, "Hey, I heard that you may know a good marketing firm..." And so it has begun. By and by, you will receive a certain degree of recognition as someone who is very well connected, knows a lot of people, and can point people in the right direction. But networking is a snowballing adventure.

The more people you know, the more people you can get to know. The more people that come to you with networking questions, the more people you can find out about and get to know. Make it your goal to become the networking guru in your space.

2. Seek opportunities to help others. Helping people is at the core of networking. A networking attempt is so much more than a handshake and an exchange of a name card. It is so much more than accepting a connection on LinkedIn.

The value of your network is not measured by the amount of names that you know, but by the amount of help you can provide. As you survey the networking landscape, don't look at is as a host of names to know. Look at is as a host of people to help. After all, the only truly valuable networking will be from people whom you know personally and whom you have helped.

Once you help people, especially in a sacrificial or altruistic way, you've won their trust. They have a degree of confidence in you. That confidence will translate into them recommending you. That is exactly what you want. That is the way to grow your network, and that is a crucial key to business networking growth.

3. Seek opportunities for others to help you. But it works both ways. Not only should you be helping others, but others can be helping you. If you need help, ask for it.

Gaining help from others creates a human connection that can't be gained any other way. Besides, you get to see the skills of another from a unique angle. You get to see how the person works. You get to experience their product.

And you get to establish a mutual relationship of trust. That goes miles in the networking world. People willl remember those whom they help, and it is the perfect way to build a strong, lasting network.

4. Be everywhere often. Though it sounds daunting, it is possible to carve out a significant presence for yourself. The key word here is "strategic." As I mentioned, it is an incredible waste of time to join every networking site out there.

Though you will receive a plethora of invitations, be selective. Join only the ones that will best accomplish your purposes. It should be standard, however, to at least have a presence on LinkedIn, the current networking site leader.

Other industry-specific websites should be consulted as well. In addition, attend several strategic functions as often as you can. Again, too much is too much, but make it your practice to be at the important ones as often as possible.

5. Know people well. When you meet people, remember their names and some specifics about them. Don't be ashamed to write names down. You need to remember them. Carry around a pen and pad of paper, and jot down notes.

Not just for names, but facts, too. When you pick up the phone to call that potential customer, it will go a long way to say, "By the way, how's your mother-in-law? I remember you mentioned she had surgery last week."

6. Host something. Be a networking leader and go ahead and host something. It can be as simple as a backyard barbecue for all the CFOs in your town. Or it can be as big as a golf outing for all the engineering firms.

Either way, you can quickly become a networking mogul, just by organizing events. After all, once the event is over, you have a list of everyone who signed up--complete with numbers and all.

7. Finally, make it fun. Networking can be a fulfilling hobby. After all, you're interacting with people. People can be a lot of fun. Face the challenge of being a networking guru, but make it an enjoyable and refreshing hobby.

About the AuthorAdam Price is a master at the art of online networking and internet marketing in business. He challenges business owners to grow their offline business by harnessing the power of the internet. He's also the co-founder of SynergyBizNet, find out more at: www.Synergy-Biz-Net.com

Don't Let Social Media Marketing Work Against You

Don't Let Social Media Marketing Work Against You

By Chris Crum - Mon, 01/28/2008 - 4:30pm.

Steps you can take for an effective campaign

Social media marketing can be a great boost to your business, but just the same it can be a nail in your coffin. If you are going to travel down its path, you're going to have to put some time and effort into it.

If you are serious about earning business from the social networks, there are several factors that need to be taken into consideration.

Consistency

One of the most important aspects of social media marketing is staying consistent among social networks.

"Branding is important when it comes to social media marketing. If you are trying to use social media sites for exposure and traffic not only is it important to brand your domain name, but it is also important to brand your user name by keeping it consistent throughout all social sites", says popular marketing consultant Neil Patel.

Many social media users use several sites like MySpace, Facebook, Digg, StumbleUpon, YouTube, etc. Staying consistent will burn your brand into their memories. This brings me to the next point.

Quantity

There are quite a few social sites out there. It seems like more every day. It is a good idea to have a presence on as many of these as possible, but don't overwhelm yourself. Be sure to keep up with all of the ones you have an account with.

If necessary, assign one or more of your employees to keep up with each account on a daily basis. You don't want to leave untouched pages out there, because potential customers may come across them and you may appear that you don't care about their demographic or that you are lazy. You never want your brand to be reflected in a negative light. Reputation

Just as you wouldn't want untouched pages out there, you wouldn't want to have the "wrong crowd" in your network of friends. This can also reflect poorly on your brand. I have discussed this in a previous article.

Participation

Not only do you want to make sure your pages are kept up, you need to actually get involved in the community, otherwise you're just going to come off as an advertisement.

"Users in these communities are looking for participation and contribution," says SiteLogic founder Matt Bailey. "And no – advertising your product and dropping links are not considered participation. Contribution is in the form of thoughts, opinions, and discussion."

This will show potential customers that you are more than just a business. You are a human being that can relate to them. Basically, you are building trust for your brand.

As social networks continue to gain popularity, the potential for new business is seemingly endless. Just go about it properly to ensure that it works for you rather than against you.

My Favorite Networking Sites

Twitter
Linkedin
Facebook
MySpace
Ecademy
Squidoo Lens # 1
Squidoo Lens # 2
My Wordpress Blog
My Forum
RY Forum
Live VOIP Conference Room

Vereconference offers an easy to use online Live VOIP Conference Room that is reliable, no nonsense, 100% web based and you can use it right NOW... without spending a penny! Vereconference is scalable from 3 to 2000+ seat capacity.

Anyone can now afford a conference room and there are no contracts or commitments beyond month-to-month. Vereconference web conference rooms have presentation features including one-click audio and video recording, and a whiteboard. The synchronized browsing permits websites, files, graphics, photos and slide shows to be easily displayed by the participants for sales presentations, training, or support purposes. The quality of voice, the enhanced video camera system and recording capabilities make this system one of the best available anywhere. Anyone can get a 3 person live VOIP conference room without spending a penny.

Consider the extensive possibilities of this no-cost tool for training your associates. The Vereconference room is so easy to use that most people can use it without training, but fear not, live training is also available. These rooms have a browser with whiteboard, and are set up for synchronized browsing, so those in the room can easily follow your presentation.

The whiteboard feature allows you to take a screen shot of any page and upload it to the whiteboard. You just copy a browser page that you are showing onto the whiteboard, then you can highlight text, use the laser pointer to show just what you are explaining, or type in your own text. Giving presentations to potential customers just got so much easier. Do your own live training or meetings for your downline, or customers. Your room is customizable from the back office. You can design the color scheme and even add your company logo. Presentations can be recorded for both audio and chat.

No one else offers a room this advanced for free. Vereconference even has an affiliate program. Give away rooms yourself and earn commissions on paid rooms.

Nofollow vs Dofollow Backlinks

A substantial part of promoting any website involves building backlinks.

Backlinks

Quality backlinks come from websites with a significant presence (i.e. page rank) and/or have highly sought authoritative content. These links are very benificial to your site's Internet presence but are difficult, not impossible to obtain. Backlinks from sites with unrelated content, purchased links and even spammy links such as those from link farms, FFAs and forum signature links add little value and could have a negative effect on your search engine rankings.

Nofollow

Dofollow

Question:

Answer:

DoFollow: Increase Your Backlinks with DoFollow Sites Importance of Original Blogfather Content

Are you posting fresh content to your Blogfather Blog daily?

I know it is tempting to take shortcuts and copy/paste existing content that can be found on the Net. Today I want to help you see why it is so important to keep your posts original. Here are Google's guidelines. Please read and digest them carefully as your success or failure with marketing could hinge in the balance.

Affiliate programs

Our Webmaster Guidelines advise you to create websites with original content that adds value for users. This is particularly important for sites that participate in affiliate programs. Typically, affiliate websites feature product descriptions that appear on sites across that affiliate network. As a result, sites featuring mainly content from affiliate networks can suffer in Google's search rankings, because they do not have unique content that differentiates them from other sites on the web.

Google believes that pure affiliate websites do not provide additional value for web users, especially if they are part of a program that distributes its content to several hundred affiliates. Because a search result could return multiple sites, all with the same content, they create a frustrating user experience.

If you participate in an affiliate program, there are a number of steps you can take to help your site stand out and to help improve your rankings.

Affiliate program content should form only a small part of the content of your site.

When selecting an affiliate program, choose a product category appropriate for your intended audience. The more targeted the affiliate program is to your site's content, the more value it will add and the more likely you will be to rank better in Google's search results and make money from the program. For example, a well-maintained site about hiking in the Alps could consider an affiliate partnership with a supplier who sells hiking books rather than office supplies.

Use your website to build community among your users. This will help build a loyal readership, and can also create a source of information on the subject you are writing about. For example, discussion forums, user reviews, and blogs all offer unique content and provide value to users.

Keep your content updated and relevant. Fresh, on-topic information increases the likelihood that your content will be crawled by Googlebot and clicked on by users.

Pure affiliate sites consisting of content that appears in many other places on the web is unlikely to perform well in Google search results and can cause your site to be negatively perceived by search engines.

Unique, relevant content provides value to users and distinguishes your site from other affiliates, making it more likely to rank well in Google search result pages.

There you have it straight from the largest search engine itself. Marketers often remark that "Content is King". understand that it is far better to post an original entry once a week than to post duplicate content daily.

Don Jeffre
Platinum Control Panel Owner
1-501-796-2525
Skype: revenue4u

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