Over-50

Let's All Stop Talking Like Lawyers - At Least, Those of Us Who Aren't Lawyers

Dating back to the heyday of consumer advocate Ralph Nader, filing lawsuits was sexy. In fact, it was the signature of people alert to their rights and putting themselves through the ordeal of litigation for justice.

That was then.

Sure, folks are still suing. But the cool has been sucked out of it.

The influence game is more fun. It's faster. And for those who have down cold its dynamics, it's could even be free. Just invest some time and creativity.

The ways of influence are almost infinite.

There are:

Podcasts

Social networks ranging from LinkedIn to Instagram

Old-line blogging

YouTube

In-person theatre in the streets (protesting as during the counterculture)

Email/texting campaigns

Connecting with government officials

Paid newsletters such as Substack and Ghost

And, more to be developed.

Along with the shift away from litigation as a form of personal branding there is this: a recognition that maybe talking like a lawyer isn't all that effective. Better to first use soft skills or Emotional Intelligence. During the past five years of Perfect Storms, I have used both for everything from shaking loose payments from clients to getting out of leases with bad-actor landlords.

The common response when the talking like a lawyer card is played is that those at the other end simply shut down the game. They refuse to continue the conversation. That usually means we really will have to follow through and use legal means. Those can be expensive and slow-moving. In addition there is no guarantee of success.

On the other hand, when we do a Dale Carnegie - "How to Win Friends and Influence People" - the conversation can continue. Eventually both parties will wear out. We are ready for compromise. Likely we both get more of what we wanted than we had anticipated. In contrast, litigation is highly uncertain as to outcomes.

Applications to law schools are way up. But that has nothing to do with how we non-lawyers navigate our little lives, our obsessive feuds and our big causes. It might be downright smart to leave all the lawyer rhetoric to the lawyers. 

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Some Things Just Don't Pan Out - Bob Dilenschneider's book "Decisions" Ranks 1,251,308 on Amazon

The toughest professional guidance I provide those I coach is the reality that many initiatives won't succeed.

An obvious example of that is Bob Dilenschneider's book "Decisions." It was published on December 31, 2019. Less than 11 months later it has plunged in Amazon's rankings to 1,251,308.

Dilenschneider operates a public affairs boutique in Manhattan. He had been the late Roger Ailes' personal public relations representative. Last month, he turned age 77.

Had Dilenschneider come to me for professional coaching, here are the five recommendations I would have put out there:

• Pivot from marketing through books. That succeeds only if the book will be a brisk seller. If it doesn't sell, in this era of Amazon rankings, it will put you in the corridor of public shame. Any book which doesn't catch fire can play out to be a liability.

 

• Ask all his constituencies what they need to learn as well as reflect on. Every major holiday Dilenschneider publishes in third party media what he considers an inspirational thought leadership piece. For me, most seem to have the wrong tone and content for our disruptive times. 

 

• Be committed to market differently - and keep changing.

 

• Experiment with other marketing strategies and tactics. Among them can be podcasting and paid newsletters such as Substack. 

 

• Update his website. The leading article on the homepage is dated September 2019.

It was as he aged, actor/director Clint Eastwood made the shift from B-Grade action films to artistic creations. "Unforgiven" is a classic. He had made his money. He was free to experiment.

Dilenschneider could also parachute into a transformation. (He's invited to a half-hour free coaching session. He can make an appointment at janegenova374@gmail.com.)

The Future of Work is now. Ghostwriting on those issues and coaching for job search, transition, personal branding, re-entry after recovery and reputation restoration. Sliding scale fees. Complimentary consultation (janegenova374@gmail.com)

Make Your Past Work for You

The past is a known - unlike these very uncertain current times. 

Also, the mind tends to sort through that memory bank and select out happy moments. An example might be trying out Coca-Cola's new product introduction - Tab. It might have been with young friends. Ah, youth.

No surprise, across Americana, there is mourning for the disappearance of Tab from our lives. BusinessInsider reports that announcement from Coca-Cola triggered widespread nostalgia.

That collective feeling reflects the nation's current return to heavy-duty nostalgia. 

Yes, the market for reaching back to what seemed a golden age (or at least lots better than 2020) is a growth one. 

Businesses which can embed them in their product/service offerings can thrive. 

Entrepreneurs can create whole new lines based on the nostalgia meme. 

Marketers and public relations representatives can leverage nostalgia into the messaging for clients. The iconic way that had been done was in the Kodak Carousel campaign developed by Don Draper on "Mad Men."

Individuals can also cash in. One platform for networking can be to create and strengthen bonds through shared memories. Yes, that is perfect for commenting on LinkedIn Updates and Twitter. Baby Boomers from the counterculture would probably welcome circling back to that period of extreme optimism about reforming the system. Also, reaching back into history has become effective in your podcasts, blogs, YouTubes and speeches. Right now there is push-back on the notion that the past is passed. 

Trends come and they go. The nostalgia one is, of course, a use it or lose it. In the present it's a power tool for business in general and individual careers. 

The Future of Work. Ghostwriting on those issues and coaching for job search, transition, personal branding, re-entry after recovery and reputation restoration. Sliding scale fees. Complimentary consultation (janegenova374@gmail.com)

The Number-One Reason Your Networking Has Turned You into a Pest

Networking is a multi-use power tool in business.

You can use it in:

Positioning yourself for a promotion, as in partner or head of an administrative unit

Job search

New business development

Introducing a new practice

Gaining access to resources.

But, too many businesspeople, especially those over-50, fail in the process.

That's because you don't understand that networking is a form of horsetrading. Before you enter that space you have to know what you have to trade. And, what's the market for that particular horse.

Otherwise you can be perceived as a pest - or overreacher. And, wind up being shunned.

The prerequisite in networking is to first take an audit of what you could trade. You calculate all that based on your knowledge of both human nature and the needs/wants of particular groups and individuals. What you find out becomes your inventory. As in all businesses, you have to keep that inventory fresh. Toss what's out of date. 

The trading process can start out on a very simple basis.

You make it your business to participate in professional online networks. They range from LinkedIn to specialized groups.

What is proving especially effective is trading your time to "like" and leave thoughtful comments in order to get the attention of those whom are useful to meet. Such action enhances their branding and they know it. Soon enough, they are checking your profile or even messaging.  

Another easy way in is to launch your own media sites. Those are perfect for linking to them, telling their stories and featuring them in interviews. The vehicles to use are growing in number. They include:

Podcasts

YouTube

Paid Newsletters such as Substack or Ghost

Blogs.

You could also develop relationships (again, through networking) with third-party media. Through that connection you can gain attention for those who are necessary for your career. What is published in third-party media can have greater reach than what's on your own platforms.

There are also more imaginative ways to acquire assets for trading. 

At the top of the list is to take advantage of what is known as "the power of weak ties."

In the 1970s, researcher Mark Granovetter discovered that more professional opportunities come through those you know casually versus the supposed key members of your professional network. 

That's because of three reasons. 

They know what you and those on your professional networks don't know. For example, the nurse at the hospital which you're trying to add as a client is aware it's unhappy with the current vendor. Or, the security guard in retail can tell you about a not-advertised job opening in human resources.

Since they are not competing with you, they will share that information. Even within your own organization you and your colleagues are in competition. It isn't in their self-interest to help you, unless they do that as part of their own networking.

They have down cold the lay of the land. As insiders, they can advise you how to approach the opportunity. 

What should be obvious to you is that the trade game is easier with the weak-tie group. The classic example is the strategy of family ties. Your children play with their children. Another classic source of trading is being available for providing generic insight derived from your own expertise. The nurse is considering opening a healthcare placement agency. You explain the forms of business structures. 

Another option for piling up assets to trade is through multiple sources of earning income. Your playing field is broadened. MarketWatch reported on full-time lawyer Kevin Ha. He has 13 side hustles. They include delivering food. There are plenty of people he can network with along the way. The caution there is how to manage all those identities. This article discusses "mutt branding."

Having a broad base of entities to trade puts you in a place of strength. You can enter any niche and know you have what is of value to others.

That's exactly why the most successful networkers don't have rigid boundaries. Or settle into a single sphere of influence. Here, a free read, is my book on exiting comfort zones. In the new normal of a COVID-19 shaped economy, there is no settling in.

The work world has become unforgiving. You may be among those who have to reimagine your career. Affordable coaching.  Make an appointment for complimentary consultation (janegenova374@gmail.com)

Want to Remain Marketable? Ditch What You Learned in College Freshman Composition

It's that bad.

Possibly it's the end of work in journalism for too many of those driven to get the story. Yes, Axios indicates that the layoffs in the newsroom during the first six months of 2020 (with more to come) have become so over the top.

The unthinkable is no longer unthinkable: Some journalists, even brandname ones, will have to decide to leave this purpose-driven career path.

During the first six month of 2020 (much of it COVID-19 time) more than 11,000 jobs have been lost in the news industry.

Among them have been those on furlough who were informed they're officially laid off. Goodbye. All hope is lost. The news media outlets taking that ultimate step range from the BBC to Vox. 

But the disruption goes beyond newsrooms, doesn't it.

What seems to be occurring in this digital era is that the very essence of how human beings take in the world and interpret it may be mutating. In addition, the sense of timing has changed.

Editorial, that is linear narrative, is becoming too complex a form of data display to bother with. We scan headlines and pull in a few bits from them. We feel we have to be in an accelerated time cycle.

So, we opt for snippets. As in ad copy. Fictional Don Draper from "Mad Men" would be in demand right now. His mind did not operate in a linear narrative manner. 

That is one reason why traditional content creation is increasingly badly paid. Some help-wanted notices on the Pro Blogger type platform indicate 2-cents per word. Others boast they pay competitive rates, that is, 4-cents a word. In 2004, as an editor, I paid up to $1.25 per word. 

In contrast, the copywriting kinds of the use of language and organization pay much better, even in this recessionary economy.  In addition, demand for all that is increasing.

Will college professors have to revise the curriculum for How to Write?

Could be.

The tightly organized exposition the Ok, Boomer had been trained to do in Freshman Composition may be too ponderous to be readable. The flow may be too smooth. Bring in the bumpy. That's fun. Roller coaster? Maybe too much. 

Fragmentation can emerge as the preferred style. At least in myriad forms of communications.

Sure, the management consulting firms will still produce tightly organized white papers. Those have their place in the data-display sandbox.

Product reviewers of software will still use narrative descriptions of pros and cons. There are so many nuances and tradeoffs.

On BigLaw websites, the partner profiles will have detailed traditional success narratives. 

Judges will continue to expect the highly documented briefs arguing a motion.

And children need old-fashioned stories. A clear beginning, middle, and an end are centering. The continuum bestows safety.

However, overall what is put out there to get, hold, and scale attention is more snippet than plodder.

The human mind seems to have catapulted to a very short version of short form. Social branding is created in shorthand. And, of course, we all are our social brand. On LinkedIn, many displaced professionals are experimenting with how to put together their new social identity. 

In marketing timing is everything. Complimentary consultation on your marketing communications in COVID-19 time. janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

When We Studied the Scientific Method in College - Now This ...

Populism has shaken the faith societies once had in science.

The standard course in higher education globally had been the introduction to the scientific method. Evolution was assumed to be a fact. 

The break-down of confidence in science is happening at the worst of times: during  the surge of the coronavirus in myriad nations.

On July 6th, U.S. President Donald Trump announced he's considering cutting ties with the World Health Organization (WHO).

No newsflash, then, giant public relations agency Hill + Knowlton is assisting WHO in establishing establish trust in its messaging about science and well as public health.

In Odwyerpr.com, Kevin McCauley reports Hill + Knowlton is focusing on influencer identification, messaging testing, and development of campaigns. For this it's receiving a $135k fee.

How successful Hill + Knowlton is can save lives - perhaps millions of them. COVID-19 seems to be just getting started.

In marketing timing is everything. Complimentary consultation on your marketing communications in COVID-19 time. janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Bob Dilenschneider, 76 - In the Era of The Social Brand as Everything (and when Google is your homepage)

How is your social media branding doing?

Likely if it's serving your professional needs well, it probably doesn't include a book you published recently.

In digital, "real" books are an anachronism, with some exceptions.

Sure, though, knock out some free e-ones as a download on your website. But, since Google is your new homepage, that website per se has less and less ROI.

Now and then, Google will pick up some content from your website. But the game is actually about what makes it onto search engines about you. Add onto that reality this: Google is currently a major part of your resume. Employers review your social branding. 

And, just as important, in the era of Amazon - as public relations player Bob Dilenschneider should have known - publishing a book is a risk. If it doesn't get traction in Amazon rankings, that book puts the author in what could be called The Amazon Corridor of Shame."

Here's an interesting tidbit in the annals of branding. There's a lesson here. 

On December 31, 2019, scheduled to help folks with their own decisions in 2020, Dilenschneider published the book "Decisions."

Since then, it never did catch fire.

Right now, at 6:00P.M. ET, its Amazon ranking is 700,749.

The number of customers who had reviewed: six.

No Big Brandname has given it gush. After all, both the long-time business celebrities on Dilenschneider's network - Roger Ailes and Jack Welch - have died.

The composite social brand is what counts, not being the author of a book, at least not one which isn't a best-seller or a juicy expose.

The elephant in the room is: Could "Decisions" or, by extension, any book had done okay had there been no coronavirus? A judge on the bench assessing who's in and who's out would rule that issue speculative and irrelevant. All that matters is what's getting attention for and enhancing the social brand in the now. 

Those in the trenches of executive communications in the Fortune 100 and in marketing for BigLaw, for instance, have to embrace that development. That is, if they want to generate results for their clients.

In addition, they are probably struggling to hold onto their jobs during the latest Stalin-like purge of white-collar workers. As The New York Times reports, once they are knocked out the 2020 sandbox, they wind up in suspended animation. Too many do not understand how to grab onto work in a very different phase of the American labor market. They may never land comparable jobs. 

Place your paid sponsored content on this blog. Here are 6 tips for search engine optimization (SEO) in 2020. Contact janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Late Blooming: Google Selected Ok, Boomer's Post on Ambtion as Featured Snippet

The thrill.

The honor.

The professional leap forward (and, "at my age").

My post on Law and More about the death of BigLaw partner Peter Munson analyzed the dynamics of ambition.

Google selected it as a Featured Snippet. 

In this article on search engine optimization (SEO) I explain the key role played out by Featured Snippets on Google rankings as well as overall influence. 

Thank you, Google. And thank you readers who are linking to that Featured Snippet. 

Place your paid sponsored content on this blog. Here are 6 tips for search engine optimization (SEO) in 2020. Contact janegenova374@gmail.com.

It's Becoming Okay Again Not to Be Wealthy

Once golden, publishing empire Conde Nast has become a symbol of what are now labeled Un-American values - or of values which should be Un-American.

In this case, it's the ethos of exclusion.

To consider oneself a member of the Conde Nast "tribe" you had to enjoy elite tastes. Yes, you read Bon Appetit. You looked to Anna Wintour for guidance on fashion. You were probably even invited to the Vanity Fair Academy Awards party.

Slowly and currently very very rapidly the culture of inclusion is replacing that sense of specialness. The New York Times asks if Conde Nast can survive the new order.

However, it isn't only in the values sandbox that Conde Nast struggles. Like so many with a print legacy it can't get its footing in a digital world. In 2017, it lost $120 million and financially things haven't gotten much better since. Folio calls it "Paradise Publishing Lost."

Meanwhile, Wintour personally keeps taking it on the chin for not being a kind human being. During another era of upheaval - the Industrial Age - novelist Charles Dickens declared it was only the Milk of Human Kindness which could get society through all that. It seems America is taking that to heart. Even help-wanted ads are specifying that only nice people apply. 

It's unlikely that Conde Nast and its leadership such as Wintour can retrofit themselves, at least not fast enough, to be relevant in the new order.

Influence has shifted to social networks such as LinkedIn Updates, Twitter, and Instagram. And those, instead of being controlled by publishers and editors as at Conde Nast, are totally open.

Some of us who were on the front lines of the early 1970s counterculture see myriad parallels between 2020 and then. Society broke open.

The Boston Women's Health Book Collective let us know that we females were all beautiful. Its manifesto had been the publication "Our Bodies, Ourselves." Finally, women could love themselves in the body they were born with.  

In the emerging culture of inclusion we can love ourselves even if we're not wealthy. In some circles minimalism is catching on. That contentment with what one has is replacing the hunger for more. 

Be a Post COVID-19 winner. Exactly the right positioning and packaging for your messaging. Complimentary consultation for what you need for strategy, research, ghostwriting, and editing janegenova374@gmail.com.

OK, Boomers - The Career Edge We Got from Our Part-time Jobs

At prominent law firm Pryor Cashman, the Executive Committee is reviewing the allegations about furloughed associate Colinford Mattis.

But, already, his profile has been taken down from the Pryor Cashman's website. Things don't look good, do they? On his own LinkedIn profile, Mattis still lists that law firm as his employer, though. 

Mattis' situation is out of the ordinary, of course. He has been accused of being in the loop of tossing a Molotov Cocktail during a George Floyd protest. But, the reality is that it takes a lot less for employees in the private sector to be terminated from their jobs for how they behave on their own time. In a legal sense, they are always tethered to the jobs, at least in the private sector.

MarketWatch reports:

"Private employers are well within their rights to terminate workers for their off-duty conduct ..."

Underlying this is the concept of employment at will. With the exception of Montana, MarketWatch points out, employers can end the employment of any worker for any reason.

In the private sector, there are no First Amendment rights. Workers can not only be "held back" in their careers by what they say off-duty. They can be fired.

Not that employers like to fire. They tend to not want to end how someone makes a living. 

However, in this era of public relations - every organization is a brand - employers are pushed to protect their reputation.

If an employee's off-duty behavior is throwing a shade on that, then employers might terminate. Consider the recent termination by Franklin Templeton of Amy Cooper. Her alleged actions in Central Park could send the message that the company condones racism. It didn't take long for the investment firm to ax her. One day the media reported it was reviewing the whatever. The next day the media announced it was a done deal and she had been fired.

That employees should be cautious about how they comport themselves in public, including on social networks and in social media, when off the job is hardly new.

Ever since youth embraced Facebook (they have long fled to Instagram, then TikTok) career experts have warned them about how they positioned and packaged themselves out there. The typical warning was not to post photos from an Animal House kind of party. Also on the list was not to threaten violence. Employers could interpret a metaphorical expression of rage literally.

That is a reality too many highly educated don't get.

Here's the deal: Going to work is a game onto itself, with its own formal and informal rules. That's why in a more simple time, parents encouraged their teenage children to work part-time. That experience socialized those who weren't quite adults yet  on how to conduct themselves in that unique context.

Unfortunately, when parents began to push their children to excel academically, there has been less opportunity for that kind of socialization. Part-time work is perceived as interfering with scholastic obligations.

By time all that education is completed it can be very difficult for the now-adults to adjust to what it takes to be paid for work. That old-line rite of passage from a student mindset to a professional identity has become increasingly complex.

As a result, there are too many new-hire interactional mistakes. Those errors can impede a career significantly. The classic example have been the associates who didn't connect the dots on how to navigate the power structure of a law firm. Within a year, they could be out. With that "on their record," good luck landing another plum job.

Incidentally, the old adage keeps playing out: In college, the "C" students become the bosses of the "A" students. One reason why is that the "C" students develop a deep understanding of how the world really operates. Meanwhile, the "A" students are booking it, oblivious to what it really takes to succeed in contexts beyond academia.    

Place your paid sponsored content on this blog. Here are 6 tips for search engine optimization (SEO) in 2020. Contact janegenova374@gmail.com.