David V. Lorenzo's Blog is now: www.careerintensity.com/blog

If You Build it, Will They Come?

During the past few weeks many people have asked me the two questions I have come to dread the most:

• Why are you bloging?
• How much traffic do you get each day?

While I don’t have as visceral a reaction as Jory when people ask me about my traffic numbers, I do have traffic-envy. When I see the amounts of subscribers that other blogs have and I hear how many visitors they get, I want to be just like them.  I must say that the “How many” question is not as tough for me to field as the “Why” question.

Why do I do this?  I provide this blog as a resource for small businesses and individuals who may benefit from my experience.  Every few days someone will make a comment about how much they enjoyed reading something here or they’ll say that something they found here was helpful.  That’s what it’s all about for me.  If this site helps one person today, then it was worth it. 

The numbers question – “How many people read your blog?” – is a little different.  I’m still new enough at this to believe that good content will lead to increased visitor counts.  I would love to have huge traffic numbers.  I’d love for people to tell their friends that I’m a great blogger.  In the end, I feel the same way Rob at Business Pundit feels – that quality should matter more than quantity. The visitor experience should be more important than the amount of visitors.

This leads me to the most important point in starting any new business:   Give 110% effort and put out the best product you can possibly provide, each and every single day.  Don’t ever just “phone it in”. Your customers (even if there are only a few) deserve the best you have to offer. 

The quality must come first.  In a perfect world – one where good business karma exists – the quantity will follow. 

If you build it well, they will come.  We all need to believe that when we start a new business.

Money Matters

Money is a means to an end. It helps us live the type of life we want.

We are guaranteed nothing in life. We are not even guaranteed that we will wake up tomorrow morning. We must work and plan as though we will be around for an indefinite period of time and we must make the most of every waking moment we have. Money helps us do this.

Money is a scoreboard. It helps measure our current success relative to our past successes and our goals. I believe it is dangerous and unproductive to use money as a means of comparison between two people.  I do believe it can be a great motivational tool for an individual to benchmark his or her own success. I think money works well for goal setting, achievement measurement and motivation. I don’t think it makes the world go around and I don’t think it can buy anything that is truly important.

When I think about money and personal belongings, I start by imaging the kind of life I want to live and how I want to live it. What material items are truly necessary and what would be nice to have?  I then plan my financial future by taking steps to acquire those things.

I believe that how I go about acquiring those things is as important as getting the result.  It sounds cliché but it really is about the journey and not the destination.  The path I take to get to the end result is just as important as the actual goal. The means is more important than the end.

There are two qualities that I require in making money (or making a living if you prefer that terminology). The first is that I need to have fun doing it. I must really enjoy going to work everyday. The second is that I have to learn something from the process. Learning is growing and the minute I stop growing I believe I start dying and I don’t want that to happen.

Seth Godin has an interesting post on this in his blog.

Mission Statement Blog

This is an excellent resource for those who need some inspiration or in some cases, a good laugh.

My rule of thumb for Mission Statements - Shorter is Better.

In case you were wondering, my personal mission:

I exist to help my clients set the standard of excellence for their industry.

That's it.  Short and sweet.  It doesn't matter if you are a housekeeper or a CEO, I want to help you dominate your industry. 

Employee Engagement is Local

Tip O’Neill, former Speaker of the US House of Representatives, said; “All Politics is Local”.  He meant that people vote based upon what is important to them.

This is true of employees as well.  Business Pundit asks the question; “How do you lead losers?” - asserting that 80% of employees on some teams are not getting the job done. 

I thought it might be a good idea to look at the root cause for this unproductive state.

At Gallup, we have done some research that shows that 16% of the US Working Population is Actively Disengaged.  This means that on average, 16% of the people in your company are actively working to destroy the culture you are trying to create.  Another 55% are stuck in neutral (not engaged).  They are waiting for someone to give them a push.  Finally, 29% are really into what they are doing (Engaged). 

Our research has told us that there is one major factor that makes all the difference in improving this environment – the workgroup manager.  People join companies but they leave managers.  Tip was right. Everything is local. 

The employee’s immediate supervisor is the largest determining factor in the engagement level of the workforce.

Sure, some people are bad seeds.  Sure some employees are losers.  If you find a large pocket of these “loser employees” and you want to know the cause, the research shows that you need look no farther than their manager.