Welcome back! It's good to see you again. Please note that I am now publishing all new material at my hub site: In Context Blog
This post is not about Productivity per se, but about creating a web-presence for your online business.
Last month I was contacted by the kind folks at TNX.NET, an internet advertising company with a terrific marketing concept. I had been seeing the links for their services all over, so I was happy to give it a test drive. The following is my review of the service.
How does it work?
For those looking to monetize their website or blog, there are some very simple and manageable steps to put the ads on your site:
You’ll be able to sell links on every page of your website, instead of just the main page.
Automatically sell links to thousands of advertisers.
Receive payouts every month in advance, via PayPal, Check, Wire, or any other applicable payment method.
Easy code installation using “copy-paste” method.
The price for each link is calculated automatically.
It mostly depends on:
Google PageRank (PR) of each page,
website category,
link popularity,
and number of outbound links.
Finally, (and this is the best part!) all sales are automated.
How do you put this code into your page?
This part is easier than you might think. BONTB has a post on easy-to-follow instructions for installing the code as a page in a WordPress blog. I installed the code and have had a rotating set of text link ads running in the sidebar. Feedburner says that the links have seen some action, and my points balance shows that it’s working.
What are the points?
Advertisers use the system by purchasing points that you use to select the quality of the sites where your ads are placed. As mentioned above, there are 4 categories that affect the number of points for each campaign that you run.
Your links will be placed on relevant pages (You’ll be able to choose it’s quantity and quality).
Receive well-targeted traffic from relevant sites.
Prices of links are the lowest on the market.
For as low as $11 a month you may get up to 10,000 static links to your website.
Convenient interface which will help you promote thousands of your keywords and pages without a hassle.
As I am not even close to being an SEO expert, I was gratified that the link-placement system is simple and intuitive. The three-step process includes 17 categories of websites, geo-targeting information, and Page Rank status.
TNX.NET also provides some handy and educational resources such as a guide to paid link construction and using competitive keywords. There is even an offer for free points at the Digital Point forums! Overall, this is a service with some serious potential. I am learning a lot about SEO and marketing, for a minimal investment. If you’d like to give it a shot for yourself, click on the graphic.
If anyone else has had experience with TNX.NET, share your thoughts in the Comments.
The Cluetrain Manifesto is 10 years old, and I am sure that many of you reading this can vouch for the fact that many companies and marketers still don’t get it. Earlier this year, Gavin Heaton and Drew McLellan announced that they were preparing a collaborative sequel to the amazing book, The Age of Conversation. I found out about the project after it was released, and was very disappointed that I did not get a chance to take part. The original book is depicted at the left, in it’s Amazon link. If you have not read this book, take the time to order it nowSaturday 29 March.
Gavin & Drewput out an author call and in true Cluetrain fashion, asked readers and writers to vote on the major topic of the sequel.
The winning topic is “Why don’t they get it?” and next, each author was invited to select a category under the main heading. My choice and contribution is “Moving from Conversation to Action“, and we will explore how, well, I’m not going to give it away. Let’s just say that it’s going to be controversial. And up in the clouds.
The following is the massive list of contributors to this fantastic project:
Welcome to part seven of the series on how to implement the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People in a Getting Things Done-style system. This series of posts will guide you through the stages of personal implementation over several weeks. This will give you a chance to focus on each new habit in your life for one full week before beginning the next one.
For new readers, here are all of the posts in the series:
Some of you may not have read Stephen Covey’s landmark book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, therefore here is a brief synopsis of the fifth habit:
Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood Covey warns that giving out advice before having empathetically understood a person and their situation will likely result in rejection of that advice. In order to participate in communication fully, one should be sure to understand the speaker by asking questions and then replying in a way that lets the listener know that you understand the situation.
Habit V - Seek First to Understand, then to Be Understood
Stephen Covey’s description of the Fifth Habit of Highly Effective People is based on two important concepts:
The first three Habits are “Private Victories”, the building blocks of personal growth and development. Being proactive in your environment, practicing the skill of visualizing results, and focusing on the things that are truly important are the core goals of self-mastery. The fifth Habit is second in the list of “Public Victories”, a set of interpersonal skills that enhance communication and interdependence. It is absolutely imperative that you have established your own personal principles before you begin to listen with empathy and take on the deep understanding of those that you communicate with.
Seeking understanding is a two-way street that relies on the ability of each listener to ‘actively listen’ and get into the need behind the need in the conversation.
Generally speaking, our first impulse in communicationis to make sure that we have been understood. Especially as managers and leaders and parents, we often give instruction to others. While this sort of directed communication is important, it is not the only way that we communicate. There are many times that others will come to us with problems, with needs, or with conversation.
It is in those times that we practice listening with empathy. This means turning our communication practice around and seeking first to understand, rather than first to be understood. This puts the power in the hands of the other person, the power to communicate their feelings. The responsibility then lies with us to accept, and understand the source of, these feelings.
Feelings (and perceptions) are interesting things - they are never “wrong”. Even though you may not agree with someone’s feelings or perceptions of an issue, their feelings are correct for them. As an empathic listener you must create for yourself the ability to understand the position that this person holds, in order to effectively communicate your own position.
The Negative Power of the Autobiographical Response
Empathic listening is powerful because it gives you a look at the autobiography of the person speaking. Unfortunately, our own first response is often to project our own feelings, motivations, and interpretations of the situation onto the other person. News flash: Other people do not think like you do! In fact, many of the people that you will come in contact with over the course of your life and work will think and feel and respond to stimuli as if they are creatures from another planet.
Your own story, your autobiography, provides you with a frame of reference for interpreting the world. It is important to remember that the person you are communicating with likely has not shared that story, shared your experiences. Empathic listening requires that you understand how the situation affects the other person in the framework of their own experiences. When you do this, regularly and sincerely, you create a deposit in their emotional bank account and allow the other person to truly open up and express the fundamental issue.
This deposit creates credibility and trust, a safe environment for this other person to express the real need, the real feelings that they have. Rather than speaking in code because they are afraid to expose themselves, they will speak more plainly because you have accepted an understanding of the situation based upon their needs and experiences instead of yours.
In the book, Covey uses the example of a Father talking to his Son about school. How many of you recall a conversation with your own parents that went something like this:
Child, “I don’t understand why I have to go to school. I hate it.”
Parent, “I walked to school, 3 miles each way, and up-hill both ways. If I can do it you can too.”
We have heard this type of example before but, silliness aside, it is an example of projecting one’s own autobiography onto another. This conversation is going to go nowhere fast, because the parent is not listening with empathy.
Practical Applications
In order to develop this habit, ask questions that promote your own understanding of the situation - questions that probe into the feelings and motivations of the other person. This can be difficult, for you as the questioner as well as for the person answering. Until you make that deposit in their emotional bank account they may not trust you enough to be open.
Ask questions like these of yourself, if the answer is no, ask the speaker to elaborate:
Do I feel that this is the deeper problem?
Do I believe that this person really trusts me to answer honestly?
Do I know for certain the emotion behind this problem?
Have I been in this situation? If so, does this person have the same experience that I do?
Can I give an honest response based on my understanding of this person’s feelings?
Do I understand the basis for this person’s perception of the situation?
These are just some sample questions to ask yourself, you may think of others. I recommend that until you have incorporated this habit into your routine you carry a note card with the questions written down as a memory aid.
Assumptions to Avoid
Your first response when listening to another person may be to frame their problem in terms that you recognize. This sort of interpretation does not foster empathic communication. Remember that this other person does not necessarily have the same experience that you do. To become an empathic listener and communicator it is important to work toward helping the asker find the answer, in terms of their own experience.
Stay away from a responding “I do it this way because”. This projection will cut you off from the trust of the other person. Once you understand where they are coming from, then you may offer a response that is based on your experience, but expressed in terms of the other’s point of view.
Avoid being judgmental. Your own experiences and biases may affect your response. There may be cases of conflict where these very biases are the basis of the discussion. Keep in mind that part of your responsibility is to assist the other person to become an empathic listener as well.
Building the Habit
I ask you to take on three simple activities that will help you administer and adjust to your new habit. These activities are:
1. Create a Weekly Plan
Take some time at the end of your Weekly Review to plan your activities for the coming week. If you are not familiar with the Weekly Review, click here for more information. One of the basic principles that Covey teaches is that of the Big Rocks. These are the vital commitments that you need to put into your agenda first. Then you have room for the smaller stuff, the “pebbles and sand”. Your Big Rocks for this week include practicing one of the Practical Applications listed below:
The next time that you see people in a discussion about a problem or conflict, cover your ears and watch the emotions that are displayed. Picking up on non-verbal communication is a powerful part of the empathic listening process.
Make a conscious effort to have an empathic conversation with someone that you are close to (this makes the development of trust easier). Assist them with a problem that they may have, paying close attention to their point of view.
Listen to someone that you look up to as a good communicator. Where do they use probing questions to get at the need behind the need?
2. Make a Personal Commitment
Commit yourself to adding one of the above activities to your weekly schedule in order to learn the new habit. Because most new learning is lost the first week, guard against this by sharing. If you have trouble keeping appointments with yourself, get a friend, partner or co-worker to hold you accountable.
3. Teach to Learn
One of the best ways to establish your own understanding of a new topic is to explain it to another person. Pick someone that you can teach the concept of Empathic Listening to, it can be your accountability partner or someone else. This can be a very powerful way for you to improve your listening skills and your ability to communicate clearly.
Please let me know if you have any questions or need some help. There is no worksheet this week, so do not worry that you missed the download link. For new readers, here are all of the posts in the series:
For two weeks in a row now I have been able to maintain my commitment to my Weekly Review on Friday morning, and here are the results for Week 11:
GTD Scoring in the Book of Days for the month of March to continues, increasing my progress towards GTD Mastery. I managed 100% again this week. The Sparkline shows a decline as the week progressed - . There were some scheduling conflicts that led to a decrease in activity and productive action.
Write next e-book and training course. Aargh! This received no attention this week, we are still at the 30% mark, as a guess.
I was only able to clear my in-box to empty 6 days out of 7. Acceptable.
Average subscriber count was 689 (-21 from last week?), with a high of 726 on Monday! This may have been the result of decreased posting due to more time on the road for my job.
Save $$$ toward some personal financial goals - in progress- 81% and 36%.
The new productivity tools for the HD BizBlog Shop have been tentatively scheduled for this month. In progress.
I am going to be planning my goals for April this weekend, and preparing for a 3-week “burn” in order to kick-start a couple of new projects and take my productivity practice to the next level. I will post these goals and my strategy for getting fired up next week.
Be sure to tune in on Monday for another big post on the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. This will be part seven in the series (I know, it’s become a little bigger than I planned!), where we will discuss Public Victories and how Habit 5 - Seek First to Understand, then Be Understood - affects written and verbal communication. Don’t miss it!
Finally, I would love to hear from you about how you are progressing toward the incorporation of the 7 Habits into your own daily routine. Please let me know if you have any questions or need some help. Here are all of the posts in the series:
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March 26th, 2008 by Stephen
Last month I was contacted by the kind folks at TNX.NET, an internet advertising company with a terrific marketing concept. I had been seeing the links for their services all over, so I was happy to give it a test drive. The following is my review of the service.
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Get involved with the 
Welcome to part seven of the series on how to implement the 
, therefore here is a brief synopsis of the fifth habit:
Generally speaking, our first impulse in communicationis to make sure that we have been understood. Especially as managers and leaders and parents, we often give instruction to others. While this sort of directed communication is important, it is not the only way that we communicate. There are many times that others will come to us with problems, with needs, or with conversation.
In order to develop this habit, ask questions that promote your own understanding of the situation - questions that probe into the feelings and motivations of the other person. This can be difficult, for you as the questioner as well as for the person answering. Until you make that deposit in their emotional bank account they may not trust you enough to be open.
I am going to be planning my goals for April this weekend, and preparing for a 3-week “burn” in order to kick-start a couple of new projects and take my productivity practice to the next level. I will post these goals and my strategy for getting fired up next week.
