No Pain, No Gain

With any new activity, some individuals are fast out of the starting gate, while others prefer to cautiously take their time, with most of us falling somewhere in the middle. Our risk-taking tendencies actually start developing in infancy. Some of us crawl, walk, and even talk, at the encouragement of our parents, much sooner than others of the same age. Even though we are too young to realize it, the seeds of risk-taking have been planted. We soon learn that in order to walk we have to fall down a lot, sometimes hurting ourselves, in order to achieve the benefit of walking. It’s those first few wobbly steps that set us on our journey of recognizing the benefits that come from risk-taking.

Risks come in many shapes and sizes but each person determines the degree of each risk they encounter based on their own life experiences. For instance one individual may view buying a business or running into a burning building as a huge risk while these may be viewed as no-brainers for others. Technology is just one of the many “risks” that we are encouraged by society, the business community or family to try. New things like automobiles, telephones, canned and frozen foods, air travel, radio, and television and of course computers have challenged us for generations with “try it, you’ll like it”. So as new technologies like emails and blogs present themselves we can eagerly embrace them or we can avoid them until we assess our personal risk. What we are doing is determining if the benefits outweigh those risks. Along the way we find that taking risks can be challenging, rewarding, maybe a little dangerous, but also fun.

This blog began as a college business class assignment. Although the writer has owned a small business and accomplished many other things that to some would be risky, this project created many anxious moments for the author. Throughout the last few weeks of writing this blog, the writer has come to recognize that the mere attempt of the “new” is better than no attempt at all. We learn much about ourselves when we stretch the edges of our envelopes and try the things that we perceive as risks for us.

Society assumes that women by nature aren’t risk-takers. Existing research shows that women avoid risk which is financial, health and safety oriented. But according to a new survey by Boston’s Simmons School of Management http://www.businesspundit.com/women-in-business-are-risk-takers/ women business owners are breaking that mold. The new survey finds that when projects have investments of time and money and which require learning-by-doing, women will in fact take big risks. Like many others in this economy, I am involved in a big career change, which has required going back to college, investments of substantial time and money and a hands-on learning-by-doing process of training. It would appear that this author has mimicked the results of this new survey without even being aware it.

By participating in this series of blogs I have come to a personal definition of risk-taker as someone who risks something of value in the knowledge of a greater benefit or outcome. “No pain, no gain” have always been good watchwords and will be ones for me to remember as well as acknowledging that good risk-takers are always able to find that benefits outweigh the risks. Good luck to anyone who is considering the risk of a new business venture or blog. Remember the gain will be much greater than the pain.

Blogging Ethics and Etiquette

This series of blogs has introduced many topics to business bloggers. But the two most critical aspects of both your business and your blog will be following Ethics and Etiquette Rules. Ethics can generally be defined as doing the right things; Etiquette is doing things the right way.

Every child is taught to know the difference between right and wrong. As we grow we encounter situations which give us the opportunity to make decisions based upon that knowledge. But soon we learn that maybe it’s okay to bend the ethic rules just a little, we give ourselves permission by saying, “everyone else does this.” Knowing the rules of ethical behavior and following those rules 24/7 is challenging to say the least. But then again no one ever said it would be easy. What we were taught was that following the rules of right and wrong and doing the right thing would be beneficial to us in the end.

Etiquette is how society guides the things we have been taught. Etiquette rules include how we speak, act, write, dress, behave, and treat others and so on based upon societal norms. For instance if we’re playing outside, we dress casually, but if we’re going out to dinner, work, church or a funeral, the etiquette rules on clothing changes.

Now let’s look at our businesses and business blogs. How we handle a disgruntled customer who wants to see us or decide what information we should include in our blog are prime opportunities to be both ethical and handle the situation using the appropriate etiquette rules. As business owners and writers of business blogs, we are confronted daily on both these types of situations.

Two websites/blogs which discuss ethics and etiquette are http://blogs.suite101.com/article.cfm/blogging_etiquette and http://nafasg.blogspot.com/2007/08/blogging-etiquettes.html
These websites offer points that can be helpful to all of us who choose to blog or comment on a blog. The main points of etiquette are to remember that blogs should be informative, can be viewed globally due to the internet, never steal another’s work, always give credit or cite your sources, and post comments that are relevant to the blog. The Ethical point to remember is simple; always be ethical. Whether you are at your business or on a blog make the right decisions even if they are hard, and your business and your blog will benefit. Don’t think like you did as a child, that you can hide behind your business or your blog and that unethical behavior will never be detected. Remember your professionalism, your reputation, your blog, your business and your success will benefit from making ethical decisions and following the rules of good etiquette. Decide which road you will take and don't let an easy decision ruin all that you have worked for.

Why Do We Blog?

Over the last six weeks, I have discussed what business blogs are, whether businesses and business owners should blog, potential negatives in blogging, and various other topics that businesses could blog about. Today let’s look at why individuals and businesses blog. There are thousands of blogs on the internet, so what’s the big thing about blogging? Why do we blog?

Like any good blogger, I researched this topic and found a wonderful article which lists the reasons we blog. Susan Gunelius on About.com discusses reasons to Start a Blog at: http://weblogs.about.com/od/startingablog/tp/Top-Ten-Reasons-to-Blog.htm
Ms. Gunelius lists Ten Reasons we start a blog, but in reality they are the same reasons why anyone blogs or comments on blogs. Her ten reasons are:

1. To Express Thoughts and Opinions
2. To Market or Promote Something
3. To Help People
4. To Establish Yourself as an Expert
5. To Connect with People Like You
6. To Make a Difference
7. To Stay Active or Knowledgeable in a Field or Topic
8. To Stay connected with Friends and Family
9. To Make Money
10. To Have Fun and Be Creative

But her reasons are surprisingly familiar. It occurs to me that her reasons for blogging are the same reasons we began communicating in the first place.

Human beings are naturally social people. Since the beginning of time, mankind has communicated with others. Before the spoken word, early man used drawings or symbols to communicate with other humans. Then about 200,000 years ago the spoken word became “popular”. But verbal communication was limiting. Just imagine if the only communications we could enjoy were face-to-face?

Once we started talking nothing could stop us. What changed was how we communicated. A look at the history of communication, teaches us only the methods of communication are constantly changing. Whether we used cave drawings, Egyptian burial hieroglyphics, smoke signals, the spoken word, the written word, books, newspapers, magazines, Morse code, the landline telephone, satellite communications, and now the internet, nothing prevents humans from seeking others to talk to, to share ideas, express thoughts, establish ourselves as experts, have fun, and well just check out the list.

Blogging it seems is really just the 21st century’s version of the cave wall, the street market, the church, the fence, the water cooler and …….. Only time will tell what the next method of communication will be. Maybe psychic thought transfer????