‘Hi, I’m Claire.’ (Big warm smile.) ‘If you have any questions or if I can help you with anything at all, please let me know. My job is family.’

These were the first words I heard upon entering the waiting area of the Intensive Care Unit earlier this month. I had gone there to visit a family member. As I arrived at the front desk, I was greeted by Claire, the ICU concierge. Claire’s job was to welcome visitors to the ICU, answer their (non-medical) questions and help them feel more comfortable. By all appearances, she didn’t actually do all that much. No matter. Her presence and her genuine desire to help made an otherwise overwhelming experience just a little bit easier to handle.

It doesn’t take much to make a difference. Greeting a colleague as you make your way down the hall. Sending hand written thank you note. Taking a client’s call after hours from time to time. Such small gestures can have a profound impact on your relationships with friends and family, coworkers and clients.

It’s not mere cliche to say that business is all about relationships. It’s a fact. Successful business is built on strong connections between individuals, teams and organizations. Establishing a foundation of mutual respect, trust and generosity is essential if we are to truly add value in our business relationships.

You may be one of the fortunate few who build relationships - whether business or personal - easily and naturally. If so, more power to you. If not, take heart. You’re in very good company. Developing and maintaining strong business relationships takes planning, reflection and practice. Here are a few guidelines to help you stay on track:

- Be honest. Be truthful and straightforward at every turn. Of course, this means you will sometimes have to offer negative feedback. It won’t always be easy. Nevertheless, candor in your business dealings is simply non-negotiable.

- Be flexible. Whether you’re dealing with a direct report, a colleague or a client, find ways to honor reasonable requests for latitude and accommodation.

- Be gracious. Use kindness and compassion in your business dealings even when the stakes are high. It’s not only the right thing to do, it’s also smart business.

- Be interested. Ask your business associates how things are going. Without prying, convey your interest in their lives. Your genuine interest in others will help promote trust, communication and collaboration - all of which are vital for effective working relationships.

- Be generous. Freely offer your time, attention and expertise. Don’t worry that others will take advantage of your munificence. More often than not, you will reap great rewards for your ungrudging generosity.

Liz Bywater, PhD, is a consultant and coach to corporate executives, professionals, and independent business owners. She consults, writes, and speaks on a variety of work-related topics, including workplace performance, outstanding leadership, effective communication skills, and work-life balance.

Dr. Bywater sits on the advisory board for Par Excellence Magazine and is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Society for the Advancement of Consulting, the Cornell Entrepreneur Network, and Women Inventing Next. She is quoted frequently in the media and has been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and USA Today.

To learn more, visit her at http://www.BywaterConsultingGroup.com - To subscribe to her complementary e-newsletter, filled with practical tips for improving performance, send an email to info@BywaterConsultingGroup.com

Create WOW Factor and increase retention of your message and brand with Corporate Cartooning.
Please don’t tell me HRD/Training Managers that you’re still hanging those “Employee of the Month” plaques in your lobby that make even the most professional employee look like a felon– let alone valued and important! Alas, don’t admit that your training manuals would even put a die-hard reader of Popular Mechanics to Sleep! Do your Employee Retirement Parties bring tears to everyone in the room, particularly the retiree, because of a lack of imagination or real thought? Well, perhaps it’s time to get funny (literally) and create WOW! Training Materials and Recognition Programs that engage us and capture our attention. “Corporate Cartooning”

Cartooning and Animation represents a media that engages both a new generation of Gamers as well as the Traditional Comic Book Enthusiasts. Here are 5 ways to put Cartooning to Work to motivate, educate and reward both customers and employees in Training Programs, Annual Meetings and Corporate Recognition Events.

5 Ways to put Corporate Cartooning to Work in Your Company:
1. Bring the WOW Factor to Customer and Employee Appreciation Gifts. Yeah, sure you can have a thumb drive or specialty gift basket imprinted with your logo to give to valued customers and employees, or you can really show your VIPs how special they are by creating a Personal Cartoon Sketch of them in front of the backdrop of your business. Trust me, with the thought that obviously went into the gift selection and creation they won’t throw it away.

2. Create a Comic Book for Compliance, Safety and Customer Service Training. It’s non-threatening and pretty darn funny when you have a”Dudley Does it Wrong” Character who does everything to irritate customers or violate safety procedures. The visual imagery and demonstration of what not to do is a powerful training technique for getting employees to do what you want them to do.

3. Host a Memorable Employee Retirement Party with your Own Bart Simpson. Present a Storybook and a multi-media that creates a heart felt retirement celebration. As a Facilitator, I have used multi-media presentations incorporating photos and music as well as animated characters to recognize the Guest of Honor. The animated characters are designed in the honorees image as well as other key team players who humor the audience with their banter of favorite corporate memories and upcoming plans for retirement. Traditional Roasting can be tedious in the hands of people who hate to do it and aren’t good at it. Animation combined with a Professional Master of Ceremonies makes it professional, easy and fun and allows for lots of input from the employees in the planning of the Cartoon Sketches. At the end of the retirement party, the honoree is presented with a literal children’s story book as a memorable keepsake.

Positive Workplace Campaign. This is one of my favorite cartooning techniques used to develop and promote a positive and inspired workplace. Battle your Negaholics! Remember the rule of Negative Contagion: Negative Energy Spreads faster than Positive in the Workplace. Try using your own Cartoon Character who presents Positive Workplace Messages that are linked to your team’s mission and values and clearly outline Rules of Team Behavior.

5. Use Corporate Cartooning in Product Launches, Trade Shows, Customer Events and Training Seminars. Note: Not just for fun, but linked to a specific marketing/educational message that creates impact and retention. Cartoon Characters are powerful advertising messengers (Think the Geiko gecko)

At Now to WOW! Training Services and Business Events, we put Cartooning to Work for our clients to motivate, educate and reward both customers and employees. Note: Our contracted animation and instructional storyboard artists can turn your project around often within 48 hours all via Internet/email correspondence.

Do you want to bring your Annual Meetings, Training Sessions, Employee Celebrations from Now to WOW!tm with audiences through powerful and creative presentations? Contact us at www.gowildgogreat.com or write Rosemary@gowildgogreat.com

Rosemary Rein, Ph.D is an International Author/Speaker and Business Facilitator. Contact Rosemary at http://www.gowildgogreat.com for inspired Now to WOW! Employee Training

Are you a professional person living with teens? If so, you need to watch your language.

No, not because you need to be careful what your kids hear. They’ve been hearing from you all their lives, so changing your speech habits now won’t make much difference.

I’m talking about what you pick up from listening to them - words and figures of speech that simply aren’t appropriate in the business world. These are words you wouldn’t intend to use, but when kids pick up slang at school and use it at home, it is very easy for parents to “catch it” and start using it too.

One of the worst habits has been around for quite a while now - it has unfortunately not died out the way some fads do. That one is “like.” It has invaded society to such an extent that you might even hear prominent people using it in televised interviews. And it makes them sound unintelligent every time.

Once several years ago I overheard a Realtor talking with a client on the phone. She was describing a house they should see, and when she got to the living room she said: “It has like a fireplace.”

After she hung up I asked her what that room had that was like a fireplace. She answered that it was a fireplace. I asked why she didn’t say so instead of saying it was something that was like a fireplace. Of course she got mad.

But hey, she was representing my company with that Junior High School language - and that wasn’t the image we needed to project. Thank goodness she hadn’t picked up ALL of her daughter’s language. She didn’t say “I want to like tell you about the like living room because it has this like fireplace.” But some people have picked it up to that degree.

I’ll admit to being paranoid about that one. So much so that if I really mean that something is “like” something else I’ll often change my words to say it “resembles” something else. I’m afraid that with current usage, some people might not understand.

Women especially need to watch out. I don’t know if we pick up our children’s speech habits more easily than men do, but it appears that way. And, since we still have to work a little harder than men do to be respected, we can’t afford to come off sounding like school children.

A second habit that is more common for women than men is sounding unsure. It happens with the voice inflections rather than the words. That is the habit of putting a question mark at the end of a statement. I’ve known several women — and a few men –who do it all the time.

They make a statement such as: “I’ll have that report on your desk in the morning?” or “I’ll expect your decision on Monday?”

The words say one thing, and the voice says another. What should the listener believe?

For women who need to “make it” in the world of business, a very good resource is A Woman’s Guide to the Language of Success, by Phyllis Mindell.

Marte Cliff is a Freelance Copywriter and former real estate broker who specializes in writing for real estate and related industries.

Her e-book, Getting Clients, is a resource for beginning real estate agents as well as seasoned agents who want to know how to make more money in less time. Read all about it at http://www.marte-cliff.com/career.html

Marte offers a weekly ezine for real estate professionals and others with an interest in marketing themselves or their property. Subscribe by sending a blank e-mail to realestatehelp@getresponse.com and you’ll immediately receive a copy of her real estate ad writing report.

Visit her at http://www.marte-cliff.com or contact her at: writer@marte-cliff.com

Marte’s e-book on saving yourself from disaster in a land purchase is now available at http://www.landguidebook.com Go visit - find out what you don’t know about land buying - and how much it can hurt you.

Polar bears are known for fierceness and lack of natural predators, although wolves and walruses can kill them. Feeding primarily on seals, the hungry bear featured in a recent episode of Planet Earth, happened on larger prey. Outweighed by the Atlantic walruses, with tusks that can reach three feet long, the Polar bear sought to nuzzle, push and pry his way past a mother to her calf, despite added protection from the walrus group.

Repeatedly, the bear bit the neck and body of the walrus. But grayish-brown skin, up to two inches thick, protected her from the Polar bear’s honed claws and teeth. In the end, the bear lost more than that battle. Alone, exhausted and unable to kill any of the hundred or more clustered walruses nearby, he ultimately starved.

This interaction of the bear and the walrus reminded me of workplace predators. You know the ones. Coworkers who knock others down for sport, trivializing successes, throwing stones at accomplishments, and ridiculing initiative as brown-nosing.

Coworker predators celebrate your missteps and failures, offering public jabs as a way to ward off contenders. Their caustic teeth of jealously, and jagged claws of success-envy, can painfully hit their mark in a forum fraught with public scrutiny. Their messages can derail projects, reputations and careers. They tear down others as a way of building themselves up, trading potential substance and significance for sarcasm and snide remarks.

I’ve encountered my share of workplace predators, attacking, biting, and clawing others to hinder success. They deliver reasons you won’t, can’t or shouldn’t try something, and their negative predictions cast doubt shadows.

Early in my career, I was cowered by the seeming strength of workplace predators, retreating into more neutral positions or second-guessing my thinking. The thinness of my confidence skin, soft and vulnerable, was an easy target for them. Their attacks made me question my abilities, direction, and contributions, at times feeling like they might even succeed in breaking my spirit or pushing me from the environment.

But I finally realized their attacks came as a result of my competence, success, and achievement. As my confidence grew, so did thicker skin, and it became easier to withstand their attacks.

Workplace predators are not winning at working, since people who are never tear down or attack others, even if their livelihood depends on it. Instead, people who are winning at working are like walruses, developing their protective thick skin in a group oriented approach. They do that through teamwork, results, quality and self-esteem, growing denser skin with each success, achievement, and accomplishment.

Unfortunately, here’s the reality - when you’re winning at working, you’re going to have to deal with workplace predators. So, get yourself ready. Develop behaviors that repel and weaken their antics. Grow the thickest skin possible by your consistent performance, trust, integrity, and achievement. Cement your strength with persistence, determination and passion.

Then, when they strike, practice Thomas Jefferson’s words, “Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain cool and unruffled under all circumstances.” Remember, unruffled walruses starve bears.

(c) 2007 Nan S. Russell. All rights reserved.

Sign up to receive Nan’s complimentary biweekly eColumn at http://www.winningatworking.com Nan Russell has spent over twenty years in management, most recently with QVC as a Vice President. She has held leadership positions in Human Resource Development, Communication, Marketing and line Management. Nan has a B.A. from Stanford and M.A. from the University of Michigan. Currently working on her new book, Hitting Your Stride: Your Work, Your Way (Capital Books; January 2008). Visit http://www.nanrussell.com

People respond to certain qualities in others, and to positive statements. When you need to evoke a favorable response from anyone-family, colleague, business transaction or acquaintance these tips will set the stage for each step of the process.

–People respond more favorably to a positive statement than to a negative one. Advertising has this concept well honed in their messages to consumers. “_____is the pause that refreshes.” The majority of those over 30 will remember this is a Coca Cola tag line. Remember this one-”Bet you can’t eat just one.” Right! Frito Lay.

–People respond more favorably if you focus on the other’s needs/wants.

–People will forget what you say, but not how you say it. Be aware of your tone of voice. A demanding, impatient, condescending, or whiney voice will be perceived as manipulative.

–People respond more quickly to well-known brands or familiar names than to unknowns. Developing your branding and relationships are critically important. If you have a lukewarm relationship with a family member, it will not bode well if you ask for something-even if it is minor.

–People respond more readily if you give them choices than if you make demands or make a decision and thrust it onto them. This applies to children as well. When you ask your child to do something give them a choice of time or how. Children are quick to resist if they are asked to do something immediately. Many parents have learned this concept well. “You can play for ten more minutes and then we need to go.” Using this technique does not totally elicit compliance without pleadings to stay longer, but it minimizes a power struggle if you give your child time to make a transition.

–People respond more readily and favorably when they feel a sense of fair treatment.

–People respond to someone who is friendly, courteous, and who expresses the utmost integrity in their manner and actions.

–People respond more quickly and favorably if you make a good impression at the beginning of your communication. People like to do business or cooperate with friendly people. Friendliness is one of the most important personality traits anyone can possess.

–People respond more quickly and favorably if they know what is in it for them [WIIFM]- win/win.

It is understood that in business situations, these tips require more in depth analysis and honing.
Strategies for business situations include:

–Focusing on the other person’s needs/wants
–Earning the right to go to the next step
–Persuading through involvement
–Developing a win/win conclusion

Dorothy M. Neddermeyer, PhD, Life Coach, Hypnotherapist, Author, “101 Great Ways To Improve Your Life.” Mind, Body, Spirit healing and Physical/Sexual Abuse Prevention and Recovery. As an inspirational leader, Dr. Neddermeyer empowers people to view life’s challenges as an opportunity for Personal/Professional Growth and Spiritual Awakening. http://www.drdorothy.net

Why Instant Messaging is a great way to communicate
Here’s the scene: A couple dozen professionals at a big advertising agency quietly type away at computer screens near each other, in an open room devoid of office walls and partitions.

An occasional laugh punctuates the silence. But no one is talking. They are communicating with one another almost exclusively through instant messaging (IM).

“When I’m visiting this firm, I can’t help but notice this [lack of people talking]. Seems odd to an outsider, but this is now pretty much their corporate culture,” says Helen Chan, analyst for The Yankee Group, a US-based technology research group, who has friends at the agency.

A technology designed initially for one-on-one personal chats has reached the workplace. Many business people are choosing text-based Instant Messaging over phone calls and email. They prefer its immediacy and efficiency in getting real-time information from partners, suppliers and colleagues working remotely.

Instant messaging is essentially the text version of a phone call. At businesses large and small, more and more people are using it to communicate. For many, it serves as a backstop for e-mail problems and other emergencies - witness the spikes in usage after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The Wall Street Journal notes that more than 100 million people are now sending instant messages. In a report, “IM: The Sleeping Giant,” technology consultant Gartner Group predicts that by 2005, instant messaging will surpass email as the primary online communications tool.

That said, IM will benefit businesses that work in teams or on projects more than it will many retailers, independent professionals and others. That’s because IM enhances collaboration, but does not lend itself to opening new relationships. However, aside from the opportunities for time and cost savings, there are risks and downsides to its use.

Whether you’re a business owner or an avid IM user, or both, here are 10 instant messaging do’s and don’ts.

1.

Do adopt a user policy for instant messaging. If you’re an owner, your employees need to know whether you view instant messaging as an appropriate vehicle to communicate with, say, customers or business partners. Any policy should contain at least general guidelines for its use. You may not think this is important - unless you know the story about the hedge fund manager who caused a major commotion by allegedly using IM to spread inaccurate rumours about a publicly traded software company. (Word got out, the software company’s stock plunged, and the hedge fund manager and his company got into some serious trouble.)

2.

Don’t use instant messaging to communicate confidential or sensitive information. Take a lesson from the above example. If your company is in the business of providing professional advice regarding stocks, finances, medicine or law, chances are it’s not smart to do so through instant messaging. IM is better suited to quick information about project status, meeting times, or a person’s whereabouts.

3.

Do organise your contact lists to separate business contacts from family and friends. Make sure your employees do the same. Eliminate even the remote possibility that a social contact could be included in a business chat with a partner or customer - or vice versa. MSN Messenger[link] lets you organise your contacts carefully.

4.

Don’t allow excessive personal messaging at work. Yes, you make personal phone calls at work, send personal emails, and allow your employees to do the same. But you encourage them to keep it to a minimum and (hopefully) do the same yourself. For instant messaging go even further. Urge that personal chats be done during breaks or the lunch hour - or that the chats generate new customers or revenue to the business.

5.

Do be aware that instant messages can be saved. You may think IM is great because you can let your guard down, make bold statements, chastise a boss, employee or co-worker, and have it all wiped away from the record when you are done. What you aren’t realising is that one of the parties to your conversation can copy and paste the entire chat onto a notepad or Word document. Some IM services allow you to archive entire messages. Be careful what you say, just like you would in an email.

6.

Don’t compromise your company’s liability, or your own reputation. The courts may still be figuring out where instant messages stand in terms of libel, defamation and other legal considerations. It’s likely that any statements you make about other people, your company or other companies probably aren’t going to land you in court. But they could damage your reputation or credibility. Be careful what you say.

7.

Do be aware of virus infections and related security risks. Most IM services allow you to transfer files with your messages. Alexis D. Gutzman, an author and eBusiness consultant, says her recent research for a book found that IM file attachments carrying viruses penetrate firewalls more easily than email attachments. “Instant messages [carrying viruses] will run and dip into a firewall until they find an opening,” she says. You’d be wise to learn more about the quality of your own firewall protection, to decide whether or not to restrict transferring files through IM.

8.

Don’t share personal data or information through IM. Even if you have the utmost trust in the person or people you are messaging, including personal information you’d rather keep confidential (like a phone number) is not a good idea. That’s because the text of your chat is relayed through a server en route to your contact. “If anyone is on the connection and can see that traffic, they can see the personal information,” says Chris Mitchell, lead program manager with MSN Messenger. Not likely, perhaps. But it’s better to send such info through an encrypted email, or not at all.

9.

Do keep your instant messages simple and to the point, and know when to say goodbye. How you should use IM is hard to stipulate. Kneko Burney, director of eBusiness research at Cahners In-Stat Group, prefers it simply for seeing if a colleague is at his or her desk, available for an in-person or telephone call. “It’s like peeking into someone’s office.” Gutzman, on the other hand, sees IM as a way to do quick research and get fast information from consultants and even lawyers. She recently used IM in researching a book, saving entire messages in her personal archives. Both agree, however, that you must limit your inquiry, get to the point right away, and avoid unnecessary blather. “With instant messaging, you don’t need a lot of pleasantries,” Gutzman says. “I pretty much can say, ‘How’s it going?’ and then get on with my question.”

10.

Don’t confuse your contacts with a misleading user name or status. IM user names, like email user names, should be consistent throughout your company. And users should do the courtesy of updating their status throughout the day, so contacts know whether they are available for messages.

MSN Messenger offers instant messaging with voice and video, as well loads of other useful features.

There are various communication channels used by online businesses and these channels are of vital importance in creating and sustaining the business. For an online business, due to the lack of physical presence, it is all the more essential to present a friendly, contactable, open face interaction so that the customer feels comfortable. To gain the trust of your customer, you will need to provide plenty of channels of communication that will replace the feeling of distance caused by doing business online. Remember that you must provide a substitute for face-to-face interaction with your client. The most common channels are listed below.

Email:-

This is the first point of contact for a customer of an online business. It is the most common and easiest way to communicate with your client. When a potential customer is surfing your site and is interested in your product, their first instinct is to email a query. It is of paramount importance that your email is displayed prominently for the least net savvy customer to be able to find it.

Newsletters:-

This is a great way to interact, provide free information and encourage your customer to buy. It works as a great customer service and retention tool, giving the customer the satisfaction of having got that little bit extra from your site. You can include new improvements to your site or product and intelligent content to pull in the customers.

Live Chat:-

This is a novel and effective way to make a sale on your website. It encourages your customers with the idea of being able to communicate immediately and get a response to their queries. It presents your business as one that is proactive and technology savvy. Additionally, it will convert a casual web window shopper into a serious buyer more quickly due to the time he or she will spend on the site. However, be careful with this channel because it implies that someone has to constantly be available at the other end of the wire. If you are only available at certain times, put that time on the site so people know when to come back and do not feel frustrated if they try to chat and find no one there.

Notice boards:-

This is a great one-way channel of communication with your customer. It communicates the important information, such as a change in time or any other message that has to be sent out. It is useful to keep your customers and visitors informed of new developments.

Phone numbers:-

Obviously, there are the good old fashioned communication channels that need to be addressed. A legitimate business, online or otherwise, is expected to have business phone numbers that are listed and contactable. Many of your customers may not be as technology savvy as others, so you need to supply everyone with plenty of alternatives, especially traditional ones, of contacting your business. Since web customers are global, make sure that you specify what time format you follow and indicate the country you are located in.

William King is the director of UK Wholesale & Drop Shipping Suppliers Directory, Wholesale Suppliers & Wholesalers Dropshippers Products, and Australia Wholesalers & Australian Dropshipping Suppliers Directory. He has 18 years of experience in the marketing and trading industries and has been helping retailers and startups with their product sourcing, promotion, marketing and supply chain requirements.

Saving the company money, managing employees correctly and increasing their productivity is always a concern of any good business team. With higher productivity, employee’s are obviously happier which leads to happier employers who have formed a hard working and highly productive workforce. And saving money in business is not one point needing to be explained, what business wouldn’t want more working capital in the bank?

Workplace injuries are causing a huge strain from the major corporations all the way to the smallest family business as ergonomics can be applied in most job situations but are not. Currently most businesses do not have the ergonomics training for employees that is needed. One of the objectives for most business situations should be to lower the incidences of Repetitive Stress Syndrome (RSI) and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

These two injuries are becoming commonplace with employees sitting in front of a computer for such long hours of the day. Even people who do not spend long hours are at risk for these injuries if not properly positioned ergonomically while they work.

As our reliance on computers increases, these injuries seem to be hitting epidemic proportions. It is estimated that more than 28 million Americans use computers each day. According to the people at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), many of these people are at risk of coming down with carpal tunnel syndrome or RSI injuries.

Today, the number one debilitating condition that is a disability reported by insurance Companies is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Yet many still plug away at their computer, fully unaware of the risk they are taking with their health. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome comes in many stages and forms but none are pretty.

Most sufferers, once Carpal Tunnel has set in find that they are unable to even use their hands without braces or surgery. Employers need to recognize the risk they are taking with their money when it comes to insurance claims.

The average Carpal Tunnel surgery can cost thousands of dollars and it is not the employee who will be paying if proper ergonomics were not applied. Instead of businesses shelling out their hard earned money to Insurance companies because of high premiums due to the number of workplace injuries, why not try prevention and make sure your employees are healthy and of course more productive.

Not only do the employers have to worry about injuries caused by workplace conditions, they also need to constantly worry about productivity. When employees are comfortable in their workstation and do not feel any extra tension or stress on their muscles, they are more likely to keep working and work better. Someone who is not feeling their best, is definitely not working at their best.

Businesses need people to perform at their top level when they are the ones doling out the paychecks. Having a team that is comfortable and has the proper body health can absolutely do wonders for the productivity of the team. OSHA reports that claims stemming from Repetitive Musculoskeletal injuries result in $15-20 billion in lost work time and Worker’s Compensation claims each year. Does your company want to be one of the ones shelling out the cash to these insurance behemoths? I would rather have my employees plugging away happily in front of their ergonomic desk, in their ergonomic office chair than worrying about filling in the endless insurance claim forms.

Ergonomics can save your business both time and money and should not be put aside to worry about later. Positioning your workstation correctly and educated yourself on how to sit and work ergonomically can help any person or business to better body health, more money and of course higher productivity.

Author, Amy Pedersen is penned as Sit On This Ergonomics featured Ergonomic Insider. Having worked in the ergonomics and office industry for over 10 years now, she is currently co-founder of Sit On This Ergonomics, operating a number of Ergonomic Sites dedicated to office chairs and the practice of good workplace ergonomics for better seating and productivity.

Featuring a wide variety of executive, leather, mesh and task office chairs with an online sales catalog, their website also provides detailed ergonomic information on proper work chair positioning.

Office Chairs and Furniture:
Office Chair Catalog

Ergonomics Detailed:
More Ergonomic Info

I was unfortunate enough today to be at the receiving end of a vicious verbal attack for registering a Top Level Domain (TLD) name.

“How dare you”, I think was one of the comments made.

This vitriolic tirade came over the telephone line from someone that I had classed as a “friend”. Certainly, if friendship is involved, this person has made very little effort to understand anything about me. Because I had spent considerable time and effort, as well as a financial cost with the aim of providing this person, her husband, and their business, with a tool which I thought may have been useful for them. But, I shall come back to this point later.

This scenario highlights the importance for anyone in business to not only have a web site, but to register multiple domains.

Food is one of my passions in life, so lets take it as an example. I am an Aussie, and the meat pie is about as Australian as a pavlova or a lamington. Lets also suppose that your name is Joe, and you have sent up a business making and distributing meat pies. You have done a search and have found that the name “JoesPies” is available to you. You are an Aussie with an Australian business, so you are entitled to add the extension “.com.au” after the “JoesPies” part.

You have your web site designed and published, and over a period of time you are getting increased traffic to your web site resulting in sales of Joe’s Pies. Life is good!

However, some time down the track there happens to be another Joe who wants a web site or sites. Or, it may even be a Fred or a Mary. They do a search and find that “JoesPies” with each of the extensions .com, .net, .name, . biz, .info, are available. A dilemma for Joe, Fred or Mary is which one to choose? Well, my advise for what it is worth would be to register the lot. It is exactly the same advise I would have given the first Joe if he had asked me to protect his business.

The cost of registering them all, (with a competitively priced Registrant), is less than a hundred dollars for a couple of years protection.

I would strongly suggest that you do exactly the same, regardless of the type of business in which you are involved. Because you have registered one domain name only, it does not give you proprietary rights over all of the other extensions. You may not want six or more web sites, perhaps you want one only. That’s OK, you can park the others free of charge with reputable Domain name registrants, or even better still you could arrange to have all the Domain names apart from your web site domain name forwarded to your web site URL. Once again, there should not be any extra cost involved in this process.

There is another alternative that is available to you to protect your trading
name. You could arrange to have International Trade Marks patented. However, my understanding is that this process takes quite some time and costs are in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. So, it is hardly an option for a relatively small firm like “Joe’s Pies”.

Surely spending fifty or so dollars is a far better alternative.
Now, I have absolutely no idea whatsoever, if a firm called “Joe’s Pies” exists anywhere. Nor, do I know if Joe has any web sites with any of the extensions I have mentioned above. If there is, then rest assured Joe, I have used the name “Joe’s Pies” here for exemplification purposes only.

But, back to my opening three paragraphs, and my reason for writing and publishing this article.

For most of my work history I have been involved in education, training and professional development. I do have Post-Graduate qualifications in this area, as well as my practical experience. I know that we as adults learn best working from concrete examples, we learn best by doing, not being told what to do. But how adults learn is probably the subject of another article which I should write.

I have been enjoying dance classes and social dancing at several venues, but at one particular venue in the area where I live, for the last year or so. The proprietors and operators of this venue do have a web site. But I thought a blog site would also be a useful tool for them in their marketing efforts. As a facilitator of learning, and based on what I have said in the paragraph above, I decided to set up a blog site for them, and then explain to them how it operated. If they didn’t want it, I could easily take it down again. My company covered the cost of registering the domain name and hosting the blog site and the TLD web site associated with it. I had classed these people as my friends and was happy to spend the six or so hours it took me to build the sites to help them out.

I certainly was not trying to interfere in the running of their business, as I was accused. I was merely offering a “tool” that I thought may have been of assistance to them, for them to choose whether they wanted to use it or not.

The web site, by the way, was highly supportive of their dance business, and of the husband and wife team as teachers. It could have been registered by someone else and not be anywhere near as supportive. Other TLD’s for this particular business were still available by the way at the time of writing.

Within five minutes of the abusive phone call I received, I changed the Domain Name Servers for the web site, so it and the blog site were no longer “on air”. I would have done exactly the same , if instead I had been told something like, “thanks, but no thanks”!

So, if you are planning to register a Domain Name for a business, please consider multiple registrations. It may prevent angst from many points of view.

Ian McKenzie is Director of Ian McKenzie’s Domains, and Professional Performance Australia. Multiple and inexpensive domain names can be purchased from http://www.ianmckenziesdomains.biz The web site http://www.ianmckenzieslinks.com has links to his various company sites.

Perhaps your work colleagues are causing you to experience stress through their methods of communication with you. When we practice a new technique we may become tongue-tied or frustrated at the technical details and lose the ability to deliver meaning into the message.
Don’t despair, like all new skills, practice makes perfect and if you can hang in long enough to practice a new model, it will soon become automatic and more easily exercised. Coaching or counseling can help you overcome this resistance and help you to increase your confidence as you get better and better through roleplay and practice.

Effective communication does not only decrease interpersonal conflict but it also increases your self esteem, your sense of mastery and control, and your confidence - all positive benefits from simply learning one new strategy.

Here are a few of my favourite models to practice when you are feeling conflicted, frustrated, unheard, or unvalidated. Remember in times of stress or anger, don’t communicate - rather than start expressing yourself and regretting what you have said, practice the ability of giving yourself time out to calm yourself down by distracting yourself through exercise, relaxation, meditation, or any form of activity that will keep your mind off the conflict. It takes a good half hour to physiologically calm down and for some, even up to a few days to get calm enough to be able to process the problem with rationale, not emotional thought. So giving yourself the gift of time-out is half the battle to helping you not hit below the belt where insults and criticism will destroy a relationship.

When you and your partner, co-worker, or boss disagree, try some of these simple communication models:
–DEAR MAN MODEL
–DEEF MODEL

1.-D - Describe the situation (I see you left your dishes in the sink)

E - Express how you feel about it (I feel frustrated when this happens)
A - Assert your request (Please will you remember to clear them)
R - Reinforce the other person for giving you what you want (I’d really appreciate your cooperation)
M - Mindful - be a broken record until you get cooperation and ignore attacks
A - Appear confident
N - Negotiate if needed

2. -D - Disarm the other person by agreeing with something (not everything) about

the conflict.

E - Use Empathy to get into their shoes to see the problem from their perspective

Use thought empathy and feeling empathy

E - Enquiry - ask the other person if you had heard them and understood the

problem correctly.

F - Use “I feel” statements rather than YOU, YOU, YOU…

Your Turn: Practice, Practice, Practice…

Find a partner and practice the DEEF model above. You may choose to discuss:

1.-A problem/difficulty/conflict you have with a domestic chore.
2.-A problem/difficulty/conflict you have with your work schedule that affects the partnership
3.-A problem/difficulty/conflict that your experience with parenting.
4.-A problem/difficulty/conflict you are experiencing with a colleague

DEAR MAN MODEL:

D______________________________________________________________________
E______________________________________________________________________
A______________________________________________________________________
R______________________________________________________________________

M______________________________________________________________________
A______________________________________________________________________
N______________________________________________________________________

DEEF MODEL:

D______________________________________________________________________
E______________________________________________________________________
E______________________________________________________________________
F______________________________________________________________________

Need Help? Contact Julia Sorensen to learn more about these models, request free resources, or book a consultation. Julia is studying for a Doctorate in Psychology and holds specialty certificates in Cognitive Therapy. Julia is the author of “Helping Young Children Transform Loss” to be released 2007.

Julia can be reached at www.thecbtcoach.com
Exercises adapted from: Skills Training Manual for Treating Borderline Personality Disorder by Marsha M. Linehan/ Feeling Good Handbook by D.Burns MD

Need Help? Contact Julia Sorensen to learn more about these models, request free resources, or book a consultation. Julia is studying for a Doctorate in Psychology and holds specialty certificates in Cognitive Therapy. Julia is the author of “Helping Young Children Transform Loss” to be released 2007.
Julia can be reached at http://www.thecbtcoach.com
http://www.healingyourchild.atomicshops.com/BuyBook.html