Who's Who and the Business of Being Recognized

Yesterday I received a call from a senior editor of Universal Who's Who, informing me that I had been selected to be featured in its upcoming publication.  This is probably the sixth or seventh Who's Who publication that's contacted me and advised me that I have been selected for inclusion in their database and/or print-publication.

While I am honored at the recognition, I have found consistently that, to enjoy more recognition, I need to make some kind of investment in the publication--for materials they offer celebrating this recognition, for print copies of the publication, etc.  As I look at my bookshelf, I see my copies of the 2003 edition of the Marquis Who's Who in America.

Over the years I have learned to offer my input as long as there is no dollar investment.  I've leaned to do that after investing several hundred dollars in various Who's Who publications.  It's nice to be recognized, though, to date, I am not aware of any new business generated by being recognized in these publications.

One of my grandfathers was a minister recognized on a Who's Who publication of his time.  I'm glad I'm carrying on the tradition, though I've now forgotten how many Who's Who publications I'm listed in--or, indeed, if they continue to remember me after my money stops going to them.

Being recognized is nice, though, as a business, it leaves something to be desired by the people being recognized.

Valentine's Day--More than a "Hallmark Moment"

Saint Valentine's Day--the day for intimate companions to acclaim their love for each other in the form of greeting cards and other gifts.  Hallmark loves the date.  There are cards for Mom's, sons, sisters, lovers, and more.

Saying "I love you" and bringing love present in relationships are both essential to bringing and maintaining love and joy in the relationship.

Families develop very different ways of saying "I love you."  In fact, sometimes the words don't come out very often and they need to.  A friend of mine says "I love you" by being a provider in many senses of the word--not just food and shelter (though that way too), also weather, guiding someone to get where they need to be, making sure that their day goes well.

One of my uncles was not used to getting hugs and hearing "I love you."  Because that was natural to me, I shared it with my uncle to his great surprise.  Shortly after that he began reintroducing that habit into his family as well.

"I love you" doesn't go without saying.  We need to feel it and to say it often--in words as well as in actions.  As we do, our own loving is more present and more accessible to us--and to the people we connect with in our daily lives.

Business Improvement Survey--a New Product

I just created a Business Improvement Survey using Adobe Acrobat.  It was a challenge to create, though it seems to have good functionality.  Working from a variety of client experiences dealing with organizational development and change, I developed a six-part survey to focus on core questions that need to be resolved for change to be successful and supported.

I decided to market this survey via an eBay auction to get people to try the survey.  The cost will be small and it can be used as a self-help survey by most organizations needing to deal with change.

Of course DrM-Resources will provide support for those people trying out the survey if they should wish extra support.  The survey will get clients preferred pricing on any of the other services offered by DrM-Resources.

This blog entry is more than a promotion for the survey (though that would be a good use of the entry, anyway).  This marks one of the first times DrM-Resources has partnered with eBay to help consumers get access to affordable tools they can use to help their businesses improve.  Not only can they get the tools on eBay, they will soon get preferred pricing on the other DrM-Resources services soon to be made available on eBay. 

DrM-Resources and Joelmonty.net already use PayPal for invoicing and payments, and Skype for webinars and other interactive events.  It is only natural to add eBay to the mix.

Shared Values and Priorities--Requirements for Successful Relationships, both Business and Personal

Shared values and priorities are critically important for successful relationships in both business and personal life.  When values and priorities clash, the people involved pull in opposing directions and progress toward any goals becomes very hard--like walking through deep mud or molasses.

When values and priorities are shared, especially when perspectives can also be shared, it is much easier for the people involved to work together to achieve the desired goals, often encouraging each other when anyone encounters resistance or difficulties.

In a business setting, when I hear someone speak highly about a value I do not hold, I am immediately alerted to pay attention to how much (energy, money, etc.) I want to invest with the business or people adhering to that value.

In a personal setting, if I find someone speaking highly (or acting on) values I do not hold, I am immediately alerted to pay attention to how much (energy, money, etc.) I want to invest in that relationship or with that person.

While at first glance, this may seem a little harsh, over time I have discovered that these are lessons I need to keep in mind.  Ultimately I will act on these priorities, so I may as well act on them immediately.

My family commitments are currently more important to me than business opportunities.  I frequently hear of business opportunities that would split me away from my family priorities.  Regardless of how good they sound, these business opportunities are not for me--at least in the near term.  If I see a contradiction in values within the opportunities, they are not for me in the long term either.  The good news about that is that I can free up my energy and time to consider or create business opportunities that are aligned with my family commitments, business priorities, and values.

Becoming a Trusted Advisor--Independent Consulting for Businesses, Not-for-Profit Organizations, and Schools

Syms, in its advertising, says that "an educated consumer is its best customer."  There is a problem about having educated consumers as customers in the consulting services marketplace.  While there are multiple markets, three serve as practical examples--businesses, not-for-profit organizations, and schools.  When leaders in any of these three markets feel a need for consulting services, they go to trusted providers.  Businesses usually go to consulting firms rather than to individuals.  Not-for-profit organizations look for consulting firms specializing in their kind of organization.  Schools frequently look to universities as their source for trusted advisors.

Regardless of how much education and practical experience consulting professionals may have, there is no "instant" way to become a trusted advisor.  Another challenge is that, once someone becomes a trusted advisor the relationship may be considered more personal than professional--making it more difficult to charge and to collect an hourly fee.

LinkedIn.com encourages members to solicit recommendations from others in the member's network.  Recommendations can help begin to build trust between professionals.  Rather than mastering the "Google Ad Words" promotion, it is challenging to create an electronic footprint that allows for people to discover a new "trusted advisor."  Videos on YouTube may be one source for initial connections.

Finding Quality Professional Connections around the world--LinkedIn Social Networking

I need to find quality professional connections around the world.  Looking to social networking for a solution, LinkedIn.com seems to be a very good solution.  There are millions of people connected via the site.  Many of the discussion groups put me in touch with professionals in the areas I am looking for.  Alumni networks put me in touch with professionals who share a corporate history with me from the global workplace.

LinkedIn offered me the opportunity to start my own discussion groups.  I created three to gather together people interested in three different projects I am currently working on.  I've just dissolved one of these groups due to apparent lack of interest (at the moment) and have sent an announcment to members of the Audio eBooks for Learning to see if people want that group to continue.  My newest group is DrM-Language-Network so that people who choose to work with me on my latest project, making affordable online language learning programs available to learners throughout the world, can join with me to share ideas and to celebrate sucesses.

I've joined several pre-existing LinkedIn discussion groups so that I can invite people to work with me or to refer me to others who may want to be involved in my current project(s).  Some of these people have also joined my "primary" LinkedIn network.

Many of the people who are already in my primary LinkedIn network are the type of professionals I enjoy working with.  LinkedIn is one place to find quality professional connections.  Presently this seems to be the most direct and effective means, though I am open to learning about more.

Online Language Learning and Global Business Opportunities

My research into an online language learning system to review my French language skills has led me to a new global business opportunity.  The online system allows subscribers to learn as many as nine languages during the period of their subscription (normaly six months or one year at a time).  One subscription is for an entire family and all of the course materials are online.  They are even interactive and you can record your voice and match it to native speakers.

The online system has been available for about five years and a different online English program is being released for use in China on November 1, 2009.

For the past six years I have been teaching English language learners (ELLs) in public schools in Illinois.  The English program could be of great benefit for almost 100% of the parents of these students.  While many of my former students did not have computers at home, some did and more purchased computers when it became clear that a computer with Internet access would help the students do better in school.

The even better news about the English language programs are that they can help students move ahead in their English skills and in their other academic subjects while allowing their parents to become more fluent in English to bring in more income for their families.

As you will see on my new website, http://www.drm-language.com, there are even programs to build business English and to prepare for the U.S. Citizenship exam and for college entrance exams.

I was excited about having a year's subscription to build up my French fluency and to review my Spanish grammar.  If I end up working with more people from the other six countries that have language courses in this online system, I can begin picking up even more languages.

I like the idea of having something affordable to share with non-native English speakers who are struggling to learn English.  I use audiobooks and eAudiobooks a lot with them and these online courses can focus on building essential vocabulary and basic grammar.  All of the courses focus on practical communication in the various languages.

What's more, I spoke today with Dr. Ivan Dulik who began with this program almost five years ago and who has spoken to about 1,200 people about the program.  Of the 1,200, about 300 decided to enroll in the program and of the 300, about 80 decided to focus on sharing the program.  The program offers free websites to subscribers.  When someone subscribes to the program by using a website of a subscriber, the subscriber earns a commission for each new subscription.  Of the 80 people who decided to share, 35 became really focused on sharing the business and, over five years, have generated almost one million US dollars for Dr. Dulik--see the link for "Two EN101 Success Stories" and remember that the date on Dr. Dulik's story is from 2007.

I don't expect to generate one million dollars anytime soon--though I wouldn't turn it down.  What I do see is that it is a worthwhile, affordable program that lots of people I know in the USA and outside the USA can benefit from.  As they learn, they can also help their families by sharing the program and earning commissions from the people who also decide to learn English.

English language learning is a major global market at this point and I don't know of any program that includes all the values and benefits of this new one at a very affordable price.

English Language Learning and Second Language Learning

English language learning and second language learning are big business.  The demand for English world-wide continues to grow.  Unfortunately, many of the people learning English around the world do not have the practice-time with native English speakers and either are too embarassed to communicate orally in English or literally do not have enough knowledge of spoken English to engage effectively in conversations in English.

Second language learners in the USA frequently have similar challenges when attempting to communicate in another language--Spanish, Italian, French, and many others.

Business-to-Business (B2B), Business-to-Consumer (B2C), Business-to-Government (B2G)

Businesses and non-profit organizations have very different roles, each with separate careers and separate jobs.  Research for today's college graduate indicates that each person can expect to have 12 separate careers (and even more jobs).  I have been working for 40 years.  My first ten years were in the U.S. Army.  Since then, my career has largely been in the business-to-business (B2B) and the business-to-government (B2G) arenas.  My teaching experience might be considered business-to-consumer (B2C).

As I became aware of my personal background in each of these three areas, I discovered that I enjoy B2B and B2G more than I do B2C (with the exception of teaching).  My consulting work is largely B2B or B2G.  This also explains, to some extent, while selling things like insurance, securities, or household products has not been something I readily engage in.

Each of these three areas is needed by our society.  Each of us may feel more comfortable in one arena than in another.

Creating Conditions for Quality and Value

There have been years of debates about “nature vs. nurture” with numerous points of view. To put this age-old debate into modern terms, each of us has gifts and talents which can come forward to be shared to benefit others with environmental conditions are right for the sharing of those gifts. Most of us have experienced frustration when we had something we thought was valuable to be shared and the environmental conditions either made the sharing less than effective or stopped it completely.

Teachers often have great lesson plans that never seem to be fulfilled because of the environmental influences of the school and the students and the teacher when he or she attempts to implement these lesson plans.
In business, a thought leader will have a wonderful idea for the organization—only to find that the environmental factors influencing the organization diminish or negate the value of the idea.

The phrase “an idea whose time has come” evokes a sense of enthusiasm and excitement over something new that is about to unfold. Often ideas come at times when they cannot be effectively implemented. When times change and become more favorable, those ideas are frequently no longer available.

Leaders need to be aware of this challenge and to go about creating conditions for quality and value--finding the talents and valuable contributions that can come from others and molding the environment to be supportive of the sharing.

We also need to look for environments where we can bring forward these same talents and valuable contributions. It is a rare organization that creates this type of environment on an ongoing basis that can accommodate the range of diverse talents and values of the people working with it.

"What's in it for me (WIIFM)?"--Theme song of education and business

"What's in it for me (WIIFM)?" is a theme of adult learning that also permeates K-12 education, business-to-business relationships, and business-to-consumer (and consumer-to-business) relationships.

Educators need to address the WIIFM concerns to get students ready to learn.  Business-to-business (B2B) sales must address those concerns as must business-to-consumer (B2C) sales.  President Obama faces these concerns in issues over health care (and everything else he is proposing.)  Members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives must address those issues for themselves and for their constituents (voters) in the votes they take "on the hill."

Is that so bad?  Abraham Maslow documented his "hierarchy of needs" (see slide 5) and talked about moving from survival to belonging to recognition to self-esteem to self-actualization.  WIIFM deals with levels one through four on this hierarchy.  Self-actualized people are seen as more altruistic--looking to add value to others.  We certainly need more people operating at these higher levels when the lower levels are met.

At the same time, when we want others to to connect with us or to become involved with us, we need to address the WIIFM concerns so that our target audience will find reasons to engage with us.  Our messages need to take these concerns into account.

"Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow"

"Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow"  Following this link on http://www.amazon.com/ will lead to a list of books related to the idea of passion and Spirit as a focus of life.  When I am engaging in something I find to be worthwhile, I am aware of a sense of joy that I share with the people around me--family, clients, friends, coworkers.

This sense of joy is more important to me that the monetary reward I receive for my efforts--not that I have anything against money.  I have found joy in doing work that I was highly rewarded for and joy in work that had little or no money connected to it.

I'm looking for more joy in my life--and if there's good money involved as well . . ., so much the better. :-)