I was visiting with a client last week.  We were discussing political debates and attack ads. She felt that nastiness is a sign of the times.  She was lamenting the fact that we are not as civil to one another as we once were.  I agree.  Today, it can seem like being polite and mannerly is a thing of the past.  That’s the bad news.

The good news is that you can brand yourself as a polished professional by being polite and mannerly.   Tweet 73 in my career success book, Success Tweets says, “Be gracious.  Know and follow the basic rules of etiquette.  Everybody likes to be around polite and mannerly people.”

A couple of years ago, I published a book called Straight Talk for Success.  A few months after it came out, I received an email from a young guy named Jim whose boss had given him a copy of Straight Talk.  In part, here’s what it said…

Bud:

I read your book Straight Talk for Success, excellent.  You are indeed the common sense guy!  I have learned a ton from reading that book from how to brand myself, to dinner etiquette (glass on the right, bread dish on the left, outside-in with utensils).  Truly found your book easy to read and loved it…

I am 27 and feel like a sponge for all this information.

Just wanted to thank you for your words of wisdom and for writing about some of the unwritten rules in business.

That was great.  I always like to receive positive feedback on what I write.  However, I was gratified that by sending me an email, Jim was putting to work some of my advice on creating positive personal impact.  He showed me that he is a guy who understands the basics of etiquette.

Have you ever sent an email to an author thanking him for what he’s written?  Did you get a response?  Please leave a comment sharing your experience – positive or negative – with us.

Here’s a personal story about this.  A couple of years ago, I was in the New York City area.  When I’m there I listen to Q 104.3, the classic rock station.  Maria Milito was on as I was driving to the airport.  She played a great set.  When I got to the airport, I logged on to the Q104.3 site and sent her an email telling her I enjoyed her show.  I got a response from her in less than a half hour – big time New York DJ responds directly to an email from a listener.  Everybody likes positive feedback – trust me on this career advice.

Back to Jim’s email to me — sending a thank you note to someone who has done something for you is common sense and proper etiquette.  Sending a note to a stranger whose book you read and enjoyed is even better.  By doing so, Jim branded himself (in my mind at least) as an interpersonally competent guy, a polished professional, someone who is business savvy.

There is no difference between business etiquette and social etiquette.  Well mannered people always focus on making other people feel comfortable and appreciated – whether in a business or social setting.

As Jim points out when he mentioned business dining etiquette, there are some rules to follow.  But the rules only make it easier to concentrate on the conversation instead of worrying about making a social gaffe.  Most people will overlook minor faux pas if you are truly gracious.  It is a good idea to brush up on dining etiquette before important business lunches or dinners and interviews.

Sharon Hill is a friend and etiquette consultant.  She once told me a story of a young man who lost a sales job because he didn’t know how to properly eat a foil-wrapped baked potato.  Do you know how to eat a foil-wrapped baked potato properly?  I’ll send the eBook version of Straight Talk for Success to the first person who responds with the correct answer to this question.

Personally, I think the baked potato story is a sad one – for the young man and his potential boss.  Not knowing a minor point of dining etiquette shouldn’t disqualify an otherwise qualified candidate from a job offer.  If that’s the candidate’s only flaw, he can learn that lesson once and be on his way to his career success.  However, in this case the hiring manager saw it as a deal breaker – and he had the ultimate say-so.

When it comes to manners and etiquette there is an old saying…

Those who know, know.  Those who don’t know, don’t know.  Those who know, always know those who don’t know.

Think about it.  Take the advice of this career success coach.  Learn and follow the basic rules of etiquette – especially dining etiquette.  You’ll look polished.  You’ll present well.  More important, you won’t have to worry about the rules when you’re in a social situation.  You’ll be able to concentrate on the conversation – which is the important reason for any business meal

The career success coach point here is simple common sense.  Successful people brand themselves as polished professionals. They create positive personal impact.  You can create positive personal impact by becoming known as a gracious person.  Follow the career advice in Tweet 73 in Success Tweets.  “Be gracious.  Know and follow the basic rules of etiquette.  Everybody likes to be around polite and mannerly people.”  Small things – like saying “please” and “thank you,” smiling at others, taking a second to hold a door for someone who has an arm-full of packages, allowing someone to cut in front of you in traffic – are the marks of gracious people.  A strong personal brand also helps create positive impact.  If you build your personal brand on gracious and ethical behavior, you will be well on your way to your life and career success.

That’s my career advice on being gracious, polite and mannerly.  What do you think?  Please take a minute to share your thoughts with us.  As always, thanks for reading my daily musings on life and career success.  I value you and I appreciate you.

Bud

PS: If you haven’t already done so, please download a free copy of my popular career advice book Success Tweets and its companion piece Success Tweets Explained.  The first gives you 140 bits of career success advice tweet style — in 140 characters or less.  The second is a whopping 390 + pages of career advice explaining each of the common sense tweets in Success Tweets in detail.  Go to http://budurl.com/STExp to claim your free copy.  You’ll also start receiving my daily life and career success quotes.

PPS: I opened a membership site last September.  It’s called My Corporate Climb and is devoted to helping people create career success inside large corporations.  You can find out about the membership site by going to http://www.mycorporateclimb/

As I’ve often said, I get inspiration for this career success blog in odd places.  I’ve been having some pain in my right heel lately.  Last week I went to see a podiatrist about it – Dr. Gene Rosenthall.  Usually, I don’t enjoy doctor visits – long waits, doctors who are condescending, few answers to my problem.

I had the exact opposite experience with Gene Rosethall.  He saw me within two or three minutes of my scheduled appointment — and apologized for keeping me waiting.  He came in an introduced himself as “Gene Rosenthall,” not “Dr. Rosenthall,” putting us on an even footing; two people who were meeting to solve a problem.  He showed me the results of the X-Ray taken by his assistant, and then asked if it were OK with me if he left for a minute to plug in the computer, so he wouldn’t lose any data.  In short, he was extremely polite and engaging.

I enjoyed this visit and didn’t even mind that the X-Ray showed that I have a bone spur on my right heel – probably as a result of all those years on the rugby pitch.  If you need a podiatrist in Denver, you need to see Dr. Gene Rosenthall at Rose Medical Center.

There is a career success point here.  Gene Rosenthall is a gentleman.  Being a gentleman never goes out of style.  Tweet 76 in my career advice book Success Tweets says “Always act like a lady or gentleman.  It’s not old fashioned.  It’s smart business and leads to your life and career success.”

Last year, I did a series of podcasts on career and life success.  Lydia Ramsey was one of my guests.  Lydia is the author of a great book, Manners That Sell.  She is a leading authority on business etiquette and protocol.  She works with corporations, non-profit and educational institutions, helping people avoid the faux pas that can derail a career.  She also writes a weekly business etiquette column in the Savannah Morning News.  Recently, Lydia and I coauthored a book called Success Tweets for Creating Positive Personal Impact.

Here is an excerpt of my interview with Lydia.

Bud:  One of the things I’d like to discuss is a word I use a lot.  And that word is “gentleman”.  I tell people that I try to conduct myself as a gentleman at all times.  When I say this, I sometimes get some pretty weird looks.  I’m wondering what your take is on this.  Is being a gentleman or being a lady a dated concept?

Lydia:  Well, in some ways I think that it has become that way.  We’ve gotten so politically correct with the terms that we use that we’ve lost some important words in our language, like gentleman and lady.  We’re just overly cautious.  Many people in business don’t necessarily want to be referred to as gentlemen and ladies.  They want to be men and ladies.  On the other hand, there are organizations like the Ritz Carlton who want everybody to be referred to, including their own employees, as ladies and gentlemen.  Their motto is “ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen”.

Bud:  That’s really interesting.  I take it just from what you write and your whole focus on etiquette that being a gentleman or a lady can never be harmful to your career.

Lydia:  Right, you can never be too nice.  And you can never be too courteous and respectful of other people.  That’s really what etiquette is about and what manners are about.

Bud:  I agree.  So why are manners and etiquette so important for success?

Lydia:  Well, I like to think about etiquette and manners as not necessarily about the rules, but about the relationships that we have with people and the way that we treat people.  And all of this, as you know, is really built on relationships… relationships with your clients, with your customers, with your coworkers.  Treating people well and with courtesy and respect is a way to build those relationships and to maintain them.

Bud:  That’s interesting.  Tell me a little bit more about this – not rules, but relationships.  I’m interested because I think a lot of people feel they need to pull out their Amy Vanderbilt or Emily Post book and make sure that they do things exactly correct.  What I’m hearing you say is that’s not as important as the way you treat other people.

Lydia:  That’s right.  If your mindset is really about being courteous to other people and just basically being nice to other people then you’re going to be exhibiting good manners.  That’s really what it’s about.  It’s not about a whole set of rules that somebody came up with that were designed to make us all a little crazy or paranoid or whatever.  But it’s really about knowing what to do in certain cases.  Obviously you want to do the right thing.  But you will be doing the right thing if you’re thinking about the other person’s comfort and the other person’s ease.

Bud:  So the real key thing is to think about the other person, put yourself in their place, try to make them feel comfortable and you’re likely to not go too far wrong from an etiquette or a manners point.

Lydia:  That’s right.

I like Lydia Ramsey’s common sense approach to etiquette and how it can help you create the life and career success you deserve:

• Think about other people.
• Put yourself in their place.
• Try to make them feel comfortable.

If you do this, you won’t go wrong from an etiquette or manners standpoint.  What could be easier or more common sense?  In other words, most etiquette comes down to behaving like a lady or gentleman – the point I make in Success Tweet 76.

Zach Bussey is a Twitter friend of mine.  He lives in Toronto and I live in Denver.  Isn’t the Internet a great thing?  Zach really understands social media.  A while back, Zach and I exchanged a few tweets on the importance of saying thank you.  Here’s one of the tweets Zach sent me…

“The word ‘thanks’ is used less and less.  It’s unfortunate, because it’s the kind of word that can change someone’s day.”

I agree.  A sincere “thank you” always makes my day.  I really appreciate the people who take the time to thank me for these blog posts and my daily success quotes.  My day gets a little brighter every time someone thanks me.

That’s why I end every one of my blog posts with, “Thanks for reading my daily musings on life and career success.”  I really appreciate the time you take to read my blog.  Thanking you is the least I can do to show this appreciation.

The career success coach point here is simple common sense.   Etiquette is a matter of common sense.  Lydia Ramsey, a leading etiquette consultant, says it’s as simple as one, two, three: 1) Think about other people; 2) Put yourself in their place; 3) Do whatever you can to make them feel comfortable.  Follow the career advice in Tweet 76 in Success Tweets.  “Always act like a lady or gentleman.  It’s not old-fashioned; it’s smart business and leads to a successful life and career.”  Ladies and gentlemen are gracious.  They don’t worry about the rules.  They worry about making other people feel comfortable and accepted.  Saying “Thank you” often is a great way to brand yourself as a lady or gentleman.  And, as Zach Bussey points out, “The word ‘thanks’ is used less and less.  It’s unfortunate, because it’s the kind of word that can change someone’s day.”  Go ahead, be a lady or gentleman.  Other people will like you, you’ll like yourself more, and you’ll be on the road to the career success you deserve.

That’s my career advice prompted by a visit to Dr. Gene Rosenthall.  What do you think?  Please take a minute to share your thoughts with us in a comment.  And as always, thanks for reading my daily musings on life and career success.  I value you and I appreciate you.

Bud

PS: If you haven’t already done so, please download a free copy of my popular career advice book Success Tweets and its companion piece Success Tweets Explained.  The first gives you 140 bits of career success advice tweet style — in 140 characters or less.  The second is a whopping 390 + pages of career advice explaining each of the common sense tweets in Success Tweets in detail.  Go to http://budurl.com/STExp to claim your free copy.  You’ll also start receiving my daily life and career success quotes.

PPS: I opened a membership site on September 1.  It’s called My Corporate Climb and is devoted to helping people create career success inside large corporations.  To celebrate the grand opening, I’m giving away a new career advice book I’ve written called I Want YOU…To Succeed in Your Corporate Climb.  You can find out about the membership site and get the career advice in I Want YOU… for free by going to http://www.mycorporateclimb.

As I’ve often said, I get inspiration for this career success blog in odd places.  I’ve been having some pain in my right heel lately.  Last week I went to see a podiatrist about it – Dr. Gene Rosenthall.  Usually, I don’t enjoy doctor visits – long waits, doctors who are condescending, few answers to my problem.

I had the exact opposite experience with Gene Rosethall.  He saw me within two or three minutes of my scheduled appointment — and apologized for keeping me waiting.  He came in an introduced himself as “Gene Rosenthall,” not “Dr. Rosenthall,” putting us on an even footing; two people who were meeting to solve a problem.  He showed me the results of the X-Ray taken by his assistant, and then asked if it were OK with me if he left for a minute to plug in the computer, so he wouldn’t lose any data.  In short, he was extremely polite and engaging.

I enjoyed this visit and didn’t even mind that the X-Ray showed that I have a bone spur on my right heel – probably as a result of all those years on the rugby pitch.  If you need a podiatrist in Denver, you need to see Dr. Gene Rosenthall at Rose Medical Center.

There is a career success point here.  Gene Rosenthall is a gentleman.  Being a gentleman never goes out of style.  Tweet 76 in my career advice book Success Tweets says “Always act like a lady or gentleman.  It’s not old fashioned.  It’s smart business and leads to your life and career success.”

Last year, I did a series of podcasts on career and life success.  Lydia Ramsey was one of my guests.  Lydia is the author of a great book, Manners That Sell.  She is a leading authority on business etiquette and protocol.  She works with corporations, non-profit and educational institutions, helping people avoid the faux pas that can derail a career.  She also writes a weekly business etiquette column in the Savannah Morning News.  Recently, Lydia and I coauthored a book called Success Tweets for Creating Positive Personal Impact.

Here is an excerpt of my interview with Lydia.

Bud:  One of the things I’d like to discuss is a word I use a lot.  And that word is “gentleman”.  I tell people that I try to conduct myself as a gentleman at all times.  When I say this, I sometimes get some pretty weird looks.  I’m wondering what your take is on this.  Is being a gentleman or being a lady a dated concept?

Lydia:  Well, in some ways I think that it has become that way.  We’ve gotten so politically correct with the terms that we use that we’ve lost some important words in our language, like gentleman and lady.  We’re just overly cautious.  Many people in business don’t necessarily want to be referred to as gentlemen and ladies.  They want to be men and ladies.  On the other hand, there are organizations like the Ritz Carlton who want everybody to be referred to, including their own employees, as ladies and gentlemen.  Their motto is “ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen”.

Bud:  That’s really interesting.  I take it just from what you write and your whole focus on etiquette that being a gentleman or a lady can never be harmful to your career.

Lydia:  Right, you can never be too nice.  And you can never be too courteous and respectful of other people.  That’s really what etiquette is about and what manners are about.

Bud:  I agree.  So why are manners and etiquette so important for success?

Lydia:  Well, I like to think about etiquette and manners as not necessarily about the rules, but about the relationships that we have with people and the way that we treat people.  And all of this, as you know, is really built on relationships… relationships with your clients, with your customers, with your coworkers.  Treating people well and with courtesy and respect is a way to build those relationships and to maintain them.

Bud:  That’s interesting.  Tell me a little bit more about this – not rules, but relationships.  I’m interested because I think a lot of people feel they need to pull out their Amy Vanderbilt or Emily Post book and make sure that they do things exactly correct.  What I’m hearing you say is that’s not as important as the way you treat other people.

Lydia:  That’s right.  If your mindset is really about being courteous to other people and just basically being nice to other people then you’re going to be exhibiting good manners.  That’s really what it’s about.  It’s not about a whole set of rules that somebody came up with that were designed to make us all a little crazy or paranoid or whatever.  But it’s really about knowing what to do in certain cases.  Obviously you want to do the right thing.  But you will be doing the right thing if you’re thinking about the other person’s comfort and the other person’s ease.

Bud:  So the real key thing is to think about the other person, put yourself in their place, try to make them feel comfortable and you’re likely to not go too far wrong from an etiquette or a manners point.

Lydia:  That’s right.

I like Lydia Ramsey’s common sense approach to etiquette and how it can help you create the life and career success you deserve:

• Think about other people.
• Put yourself in their place.
• Try to make them feel comfortable.

If you do this, you won’t go wrong from an etiquette or manners standpoint.  What could be easier or more common sense?  In other words, most etiquette comes down to behaving like a lady or gentleman – the point I make in Success Tweet 76.

Zach Bussey is a Twitter friend of mine.  He lives in Toronto and I live in Denver.  Isn’t the Internet a great thing?  Zach really understands social media.  A while back, Zach and I exchanged a few tweets on the importance of saying thank you.  Here’s one of the tweets Zach sent me…

“The word ‘thanks’ is used less and less.  It’s unfortunate, because it’s the kind of word that can change someone’s day.”

I agree.  A sincere “thank you” always makes my day.  I really appreciate the people who take the time to thank me for these blog posts and my daily success quotes.  My day gets a little brighter every time someone thanks me.

That’s why I end every one of my blog posts with, “Thanks for reading my daily musings on life and career success.”  I really appreciate the time you take to read my blog.  Thanking you is the least I can do to show this appreciation.

The career success coach point here is simple common sense.   Etiquette is a matter of common sense.  Lydia Ramsey, a leading etiquette consultant, says it’s as simple as one, two, three: 1) Think about other people; 2) Put yourself in their place; 3) Do whatever you can to make them feel comfortable.  Follow the career advice in Tweet 76 in Success Tweets.  “Always act like a lady or gentleman.  It’s not old-fashioned; it’s smart business and leads to a successful life and career.”  Ladies and gentlemen are gracious.  They don’t worry about the rules.  They worry about making other people feel comfortable and accepted.  Saying “Thank you” often is a great way to brand yourself as a lady or gentleman.  And, as Zach Bussey points out, “The word ‘thanks’ is used less and less.  It’s unfortunate, because it’s the kind of word that can change someone’s day.”  Go ahead, be a lady or gentleman.  Other people will like you, you’ll like yourself more, and you’ll be on the road to the career success you deserve.

That’s my career advice prompted by a visit to Dr. Gene Rosenthall.  What do you think?  Please take a minute to share your thoughts with us in a comment.  And as always, thanks for reading my daily musings on life and career success.  I value you and I appreciate you.

Bud

PS: If you haven’t already done so, please download a free copy of my popular career advice book Success Tweets and its companion piece Success Tweets Explained.  The first gives you 140 bits of career success advice tweet style — in 140 characters or less.  The second is a whopping 390 + pages of career advice explaining each of the common sense tweets in Success Tweets in detail.  Go to http://budurl.com/STExp to claim your free copy.  You’ll also start receiving my daily life and career success quotes.

PPS: I opened a membership site on September 1.  It’s called My Corporate Climb and is devoted to helping people create career success inside large corporations.  To celebrate the grand opening, I’m giving away a new career advice book I’ve written called I Want YOU…To Succeed in Your Corporate Climb.  You can find out about the membership site and get the career advice in I Want YOU… for free by going to http://www.mycorporateclimb.

On Friday, I provided some career advice on the importance of nurturing your personal brand.  In a blog post, I used Serena Williams’ meltdown at the US Open to point out how a moment’s indiscretion can do serious damage to a brand you have worked diligently to build – as well as your life and career success.

A strong, unique personal brand is one way to create positive personal impact and career success.  But there is more to creating positive personal impact than branding.  Lydia Ramsey and I have just released a new career advice book, Success Tweets for Creating Positive Personal Impact.  You can pick up a copy here.

But if you don’t want to purchase the book, or are looking for some quick career success advice on creating positive personal impact, look no further.  Here are 15 common sense bits of career advice for creating powerful personal impact.  Check them out.  Let me know what you think.

1. Become known as a person of character and high integrity.  Be true yourself.  Your reputation is all you’ve got.  A reputation as a person of high integrity will help you create the career success you want and deserve.

2. Know your values and stick to them.  If you haven’t already articulated your values (what’s important to you in life), take a few minutes, think about them and write them down.  Review them often.  Make sure you’re staying true to yourself.  If you want to create positive personal impact and become a career success, you have to be values driven.

3. Take responsibility for your life and career success.  You are the one who is responsible for making your dreams come true.  Embrace this responsibility.  Do whatever it takes to create you career success.  Making sure that you exude positive personal impact is a great place to start.

4. Build your legacy.  Your legacy is how people will remember you when you’re gone.  Think about the memories you are leaving behind every day.  How will people remember you?  Focus on ensuring that people will remember you as someone who did his or her best, helped others and created his or her own life and career success.

5. Make yourself stand out.  Identify the qualities or characteristics that make you a unique human being.  Develop your unique feature/benefit statement.  Identify what sets you apart (the feature) and how this benefits the people around you.  This will help you create your career success.

6. Become widely trusted. Deliver on what you say you’ll do.  If you can’t meet a commitment, let the other person know as soon as you can.  Keep confidences.  Avoid gossip.  It is never good to embarrass others by repeating what they have shared with you – even if it isn’t in confidence.

7. Use the two most important words in the world – “thank you” – often.  People who use these two simple words do well when it comes to creating their life and career success.  And, as a bonus, others come to see them as truly nice people.

8. Treat every social interaction as an opportunity to build and strengthen relationships.  Strong relationships are and important key to your life and career success.  When meeting people, make a personal connection.  Think about how you can help every person you meet.  You’ll generate opportunities for yourself.

9. Stand up straight, smile, look people in the eye.  Shake hands as if you mean it.  Use other people’s names frequently during conversations.  Be genuinely interested in what they have to say.

10. Business meals are about business, not the food.  Learn and use simple table manners.  Good table manners make you look polished and poised and help you in your career success journey.

11. Dedicate time and money to your wardrobe.  Purchase your clothing according to a well thought out plan.  Buy the highest quality clothes that you can afford.  This will pay off in the long run.  High quality clothes look better and wear longer.  This is important career advice that you should not ignore.

12. Make sure your clothes fit well are well tailored.  Use the three way mirror when trying on clothes.  Make sure you look good from the front, back and side.  Keep your clothes looking good and you’ll be moving toward your career success.

13. Have your hair cut and styled regularly.  Your hair stylist is your friend.  Visit him or her as often as necessary to keep you looking sharp.

14. Become a great communicator.  If you want to create the career success you deserve, you need to get good at writing clearly and well, handle yourself in conversations and presenting to groups.

15. Finally, maybe the most important piece of career advice of all — seek out and welcome feedback.  Listen to what people, especially your boss, and customers, tell you.  Absorb it, even though it may hurt.  Develop a plan for modifying your behavior.  Work your plan.

The career success coach point here is simple common sense.  You have to create positive personal impact if you want to become the life and career success you deserve to be.  If you really want to learn all about creating positive personal impact, pick up a copy of Lydia Ramsey and my new career advice book Success Tweets for Creating Positive Personal Impact.  If you’re pretty squared away on this subject, run through 15 tips in this post again.  Use them, and you’ll be on your way to the life and career success you want and deserve.

That’s my career advice on creating positive personal impact.  What do you think?  Please take a minute to share your thoughts with us in a comment.  As always, thanks for reading my daily musings on life and career success.  I value you and I appreciate you.

Bud

PS: If you haven’t already done so, you can download a free copy of my latest career success book Success Tweets Explained.  It’s a whopping 390 + pages of career advice explaining each of the common sense tweets in Success Tweets in detail.  Go to http://budurl.com/STExp to claim your free copy.  You’ll also start receiving my daily life and career success quotes.

PPS: I opened my membership site on September 1.  It’s called My Corporate Climb and is devoted to helping people create career success inside large corporations.  To celebrate the grand opening, I’m giving away a new career advice book I’ve written called I Want YOU…To Succeed in Your Corporate Climb.  You can find out about the membership site and get the career advice in I Want YOU… for free by going to http://www.mycorporateclimb.com.

On Friday, I provided some career advice on the importance of nurturing your personal brand.  In a blog post, I used Serena Williams’ meltdown at the US Open to point out how a moment’s indiscretion can do serious damage to a brand you have worked diligently to build – as well as your life and career success.

A strong, unique personal brand is one way to create positive personal impact and career success.  But there is more to creating positive personal impact than branding.  Lydia Ramsey and I have just released a new career advice book, Success Tweets for Creating Positive Personal Impact.  You can pick up a copy here.

But if you don’t want to purchase the book, or are looking for some quick career success advice on creating positive personal impact, look no further.  Here are 15 common sense bits of career advice for creating powerful personal impact.  Check them out.  Let me know what you think.

1. Become known as a person of character and high integrity.  Be true yourself.  Your reputation is all you’ve got.  A reputation as a person of high integrity will help you create the career success you want and deserve.

2. Know your values and stick to them.  If you haven’t already articulated your values (what’s important to you in life), take a few minutes, think about them and write them down.  Review them often.  Make sure you’re staying true to yourself.  If you want to create positive personal impact and become a career success, you have to be values driven.

3. Take responsibility for your life and career success.  You are the one who is responsible for making your dreams come true.  Embrace this responsibility.  Do whatever it takes to create you career success.  Making sure that you exude positive personal impact is a great place to start.

4. Build your legacy.  Your legacy is how people will remember you when you’re gone.  Think about the memories you are leaving behind every day.  How will people remember you?  Focus on ensuring that people will remember you as someone who did his or her best, helped others and created his or her own life and career success.

5. Make yourself stand out.  Identify the qualities or characteristics that make you a unique human being.  Develop your unique feature/benefit statement.  Identify what sets you apart (the feature) and how this benefits the people around you.  This will help you create your career success.

6. Become widely trusted. Deliver on what you say you’ll do.  If you can’t meet a commitment, let the other person know as soon as you can.  Keep confidences.  Avoid gossip.  It is never good to embarrass others by repeating what they have shared with you – even if it isn’t in confidence.

7. Use the two most important words in the world – “thank you” – often.  People who use these two simple words do well when it comes to creating their life and career success.  And, as a bonus, others come to see them as truly nice people.

8. Treat every social interaction as an opportunity to build and strengthen relationships.  Strong relationships are and important key to your life and career success.  When meeting people, make a personal connection.  Think about how you can help every person you meet.  You’ll generate opportunities for yourself.

9. Stand up straight, smile, look people in the eye.  Shake hands as if you mean it.  Use other people’s names frequently during conversations.  Be genuinely interested in what they have to say.

10. Business meals are about business, not the food.  Learn and use simple table manners.  Good table manners make you look polished and poised and help you in your career success journey.

11. Dedicate time and money to your wardrobe.  Purchase your clothing according to a well thought out plan.  Buy the highest quality clothes that you can afford.  This will pay off in the long run.  High quality clothes look better and wear longer.  This is important career advice that you should not ignore.

12. Make sure your clothes fit well are well tailored.  Use the three way mirror when trying on clothes.  Make sure you look good from the front, back and side.  Keep your clothes looking good and you’ll be moving toward your career success.

13. Have your hair cut and styled regularly.  Your hair stylist is your friend.  Visit him or her as often as necessary to keep you looking sharp.

14. Become a great communicator.  If you want to create the career success you deserve, you need to get good at writing clearly and well, handle yourself in conversations and presenting to groups.

15. Finally, maybe the most important piece of career advice of all — seek out and welcome feedback.  Listen to what people, especially your boss, and customers, tell you.  Absorb it, even though it may hurt.  Develop a plan for modifying your behavior.  Work your plan.

The career success coach point here is simple common sense.  You have to create positive personal impact if you want to become the life and career success you deserve to be.  If you really want to learn all about creating positive personal impact, pick up a copy of Lydia Ramsey and my new career advice book Success Tweets for Creating Positive Personal Impact.  If you’re pretty squared away on this subject, run through 15 tips in this post again.  Use them, and you’ll be on your way to the life and career success you want and deserve.

That’s my career advice on creating positive personal impact.  What do you think?  Please take a minute to share your thoughts with us in a comment.  As always, thanks for reading my daily musings on life and career success.  I value you and I appreciate you.

Bud

PS: If you haven’t already done so, you can download a free copy of my latest career success book Success Tweets Explained.  It’s a whopping 390 + pages of career advice explaining each of the common sense tweets in Success Tweets in detail.  Go to http://budurl.com/STExp to claim your free copy.  You’ll also start receiving my daily life and career success quotes.

PPS: I opened my membership site on September 1.  It’s called My Corporate Climb and is devoted to helping people create career success inside large corporations.  To celebrate the grand opening, I’m giving away a new career advice book I’ve written called I Want YOU…To Succeed in Your Corporate Climb.  You can find out about the membership site and get the career advice in I Want YOU… for free by going to http://www.mycorporateclimb.com.

Lydia Ramsey and I have just published a new career advice book: Success Tweets for Creating Positive Personal Impact.    It’s about business etiquette.  You can get a copy at http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_10?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=success+tweets+for+creating+positive+personal+impact&sprefix=Success+tw.  Tweet 4 says, .  “Be courteous.  It costs you nothing and can mean everything to someone else.  It also helps in getting what you want.”

Last Tuesday my flight from Denver to Newark was delayed by about an hour.  Instead of returning to the President’s Club, I chose to stay at the gate and do some people watching.  I got to observe some courteous behavior and some very discourteous behavior.

First the courteous behavior — the gate area was crowded.  Three travelers came up.  All were over 60, one was in a wheel chair.  The attendant pushing the wheelchair was able to find only one seat.  He parked the wheelchair near it.  One of the wheelchair bound person’s traveling companions had a place to sit, the other did not.  A young man immediately got up and offered his seat to the other traveling companion.  I thought that was pretty cool.  I bet he is a career success.

On the other hand, I observed a 30ish couple who had staked out an area on the floor in the boarding area.  They had several bags that were spread over a fairly large area.  They had to iPads that they were charging and they were eating.  People could not easily get by them to get to the podium to check in.   The woman realized they were causing a bit of a traffic jam, and mentioned it to the man.  His response, was “Screw them, we were here first” – not exactly courteous.  Make me wonder if he is a career success.

Because of the delay, several people kept returning to the podium to ask questions of the agents.  One guy stood there patiently waiting.  Two people cut in front of him and approached the podium.  Finally, he said to the third person, “There’s a line here.”  The guy’s response – “I have to ask her (the agent) a question.”  He went to the agent and asked his question.  This guy was in his 50’s and looked to be a career success – he was sitting in first class.  He is someone who should have mastered basic courtesy by this point in his life.

Air travel is stressful enough these days – crazy TSA rules, overcrowded flights, delays.  Simple courtesy, such as displayed by the young man who offered his seat to people traveling with a wheelchair bound person, mitigates some of that stress.  Rude behavior adds to it.

If you want to become the career success you deserve to be, you have to become a courteous person.  Here are some of my thoughts on basic courtesy…

• Open doors for others (regardless of gender or status).  Courteous people open doors for others and hold the door, until everyone in their party has walked through.  They also hold the door behind them if someone else is approaching.
• Allow people to exit elevators prior to entering.  If you are near the buttons, press and hold the “door open” button until everyone in the elevator has made their exit.
• Always stand to greet visitors.  This shows that you respect them as individuals.  Shake hands, and offer your visitor a seat before you sit down yourself.
• Assist your visitors with their coats.  Offer to hang it for them.  If you don’t have a place to hang a coat in your office, place it neatly over the back of a chair.
• Introduce the person of lower business rank to the person of higher business rank.

Here are some of my thoughts on business meal courtesy…

• Wait until everyone has been seated before unfolding your napkin and placing it in your lap at a business meal.
• Remember, your water glass is on your right and your bread and butter plate is on your left.  If someone uses your bread and butter plate, don’t correct him or her, just place your bread on your dinner plate.
• If you leave the table during a meal, place your napkin on your chair.  Once you have finished eating, place your napkin neatly, but not folded, on the table.
• Wait until everyone has been served before beginning to eat.
• Do not put your purse or briefcase on the table.
• Avoid using your cell phone during business meals.
• The host should be the one to bring up business.  If you are the host, it is usually best to wait until everyone’s order has been taken before beginning a business discussion.
• The most senior person in the group should pay for business meals – unless that person has delegated that responsibility.

These are just a few common sense tips on business etiquette.  If you follow them, you will find that people respond positively to you – that you’re making a positive personal impact.  And making a positive personal impact is an important part of life and career success.

The career success coach point here is simple common sense.  Successful people create positive personal impact.  Basic courtesy is the foundation of all positive personal impact.  Follow the career advice in Tweet 4 in Success Tweets for Creating Positive Personal Impact.  “Be courteous.  It costs you nothing and can mean everything to someone else.  It also helps in getting what you want.”  It’s true, courtesy can mean a lot to others – like the people traveling with the wheelchair bound person.  It also marks you as someone who pays attention to others – not just yourself.  Courtesy helps you create positive personal impact, and positive personal impact helps you get people on your side.  People who are on your side are more willing to help you create the life and career success you want and deserve.  You can get a copy of Success Tweets for Creating Positive Personal Impact at http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_10?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=success+tweets+for+creating+positive+personal+impact&sprefix=Success+tw

That’s my career advice on being courteous.  What do you think?  Please take a minute to share your thoughts with us in a comment.  As always, thanks for reading my daily musings on life and career success.  I value you and I appreciate you.

Bud

PS: If you haven’t already done so, you can download a free copy of one of my other career success books Success Tweets Explained. It’s a whopping 390 + pages of career advice explaining each of the common sense tweets in Success Tweets in detail.  Go to http://budurl.com/STExp to claim your free copy.  You’ll also start receiving my daily life and career success quotes.

PPS: I opened my new membership site on September 1.  It’s called My Corporate Climb and is devoted to helping people create career success inside large corporations.  To celebrate the grand opening, I’m giving away a new book I’ve written called I Want YOU…To Succeed in Your Corporate Climb.  You can find out about the membership site and get your free copy of I Want You… by going to http://www.mycorporateclimb.com.

Lydia Ramsey and I have just published a new career advice book: Success Tweets for Creating Positive Personal Impact.    It’s about business etiquette.  You can get a copy at http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_10?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=success+tweets+for+creating+positive+personal+impact&sprefix=Success+tw.  Tweet 4 says, .  “Be courteous.  It costs you nothing and can mean everything to someone else.  It also helps in getting what you want.”

Last Tuesday my flight from Denver to Newark was delayed by about an hour.  Instead of returning to the President’s Club, I chose to stay at the gate and do some people watching.  I got to observe some courteous behavior and some very discourteous behavior.

First the courteous behavior — the gate area was crowded.  Three travelers came up.  All were over 60, one was in a wheel chair.  The attendant pushing the wheelchair was able to find only one seat.  He parked the wheelchair near it.  One of the wheelchair bound person’s traveling companions had a place to sit, the other did not.  A young man immediately got up and offered his seat to the other traveling companion.  I thought that was pretty cool.  I bet he is a career success.

On the other hand, I observed a 30ish couple who had staked out an area on the floor in the boarding area.  They had several bags that were spread over a fairly large area.  They had to iPads that they were charging and they were eating.  People could not easily get by them to get to the podium to check in.   The woman realized they were causing a bit of a traffic jam, and mentioned it to the man.  His response, was “Screw them, we were here first” – not exactly courteous.  Make me wonder if he is a career success.

Because of the delay, several people kept returning to the podium to ask questions of the agents.  One guy stood there patiently waiting.  Two people cut in front of him and approached the podium.  Finally, he said to the third person, “There’s a line here.”  The guy’s response – “I have to ask her (the agent) a question.”  He went to the agent and asked his question.  This guy was in his 50’s and looked to be a career success – he was sitting in first class.  He is someone who should have mastered basic courtesy by this point in his life.

Air travel is stressful enough these days – crazy TSA rules, overcrowded flights, delays.  Simple courtesy, such as displayed by the young man who offered his seat to people traveling with a wheelchair bound person, mitigates some of that stress.  Rude behavior adds to it.

If you want to become the career success you deserve to be, you have to become a courteous person.  Here are some of my thoughts on basic courtesy…

• Open doors for others (regardless of gender or status).  Courteous people open doors for others and hold the door, until everyone in their party has walked through.  They also hold the door behind them if someone else is approaching.
• Allow people to exit elevators prior to entering.  If you are near the buttons, press and hold the “door open” button until everyone in the elevator has made their exit.
• Always stand to greet visitors.  This shows that you respect them as individuals.  Shake hands, and offer your visitor a seat before you sit down yourself.
• Assist your visitors with their coats.  Offer to hang it for them.  If you don’t have a place to hang a coat in your office, place it neatly over the back of a chair.
• Introduce the person of lower business rank to the person of higher business rank.

Here are some of my thoughts on business meal courtesy…

• Wait until everyone has been seated before unfolding your napkin and placing it in your lap at a business meal.
• Remember, your water glass is on your right and your bread and butter plate is on your left.  If someone uses your bread and butter plate, don’t correct him or her, just place your bread on your dinner plate.
• If you leave the table during a meal, place your napkin on your chair.  Once you have finished eating, place your napkin neatly, but not folded, on the table.
• Wait until everyone has been served before beginning to eat.
• Do not put your purse or briefcase on the table.
• Avoid using your cell phone during business meals.
• The host should be the one to bring up business.  If you are the host, it is usually best to wait until everyone’s order has been taken before beginning a business discussion.
• The most senior person in the group should pay for business meals – unless that person has delegated that responsibility.

These are just a few common sense tips on business etiquette.  If you follow them, you will find that people respond positively to you – that you’re making a positive personal impact.  And making a positive personal impact is an important part of life and career success.

The career success coach point here is simple common sense.  Successful people create positive personal impact.  Basic courtesy is the foundation of all positive personal impact.  Follow the career advice in Tweet 4 in Success Tweets for Creating Positive Personal Impact.  “Be courteous.  It costs you nothing and can mean everything to someone else.  It also helps in getting what you want.”  It’s true, courtesy can mean a lot to others – like the people traveling with the wheelchair bound person.  It also marks you as someone who pays attention to others – not just yourself.  Courtesy helps you create positive personal impact, and positive personal impact helps you get people on your side.  People who are on your side are more willing to help you create the life and career success you want and deserve.  You can get a copy of Success Tweets for Creating Positive Personal Impact at http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_10?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=success+tweets+for+creating+positive+personal+impact&sprefix=Success+tw

That’s my career advice on being courteous.  What do you think?  Please take a minute to share your thoughts with us in a comment.  As always, thanks for reading my daily musings on life and career success.  I value you and I appreciate you.

Bud

PS: If you haven’t already done so, you can download a free copy of one of my other career success books Success Tweets Explained. It’s a whopping 390 + pages of career advice explaining each of the common sense tweets in Success Tweets in detail.  Go to http://budurl.com/STExp to claim your free copy.  You’ll also start receiving my daily life and career success quotes.

PPS: I opened my new membership site on September 1.  It’s called My Corporate Climb and is devoted to helping people create career success inside large corporations.  To celebrate the grand opening, I’m giving away a new book I’ve written called I Want YOU…To Succeed in Your Corporate Climb.  You can find out about the membership site and get your free copy of I Want You… by going to http://www.mycorporateclimb.com.

As I mentioned in my Monday August 1 post, I have a new career advice book being released this month.  It’s called Success Tweets for Creating Positive Personal Impact.  Lydia Ramsey of Manners that Sell is my coauthor.

I’ve decided to give readers of this career success blog a sneak peek at the common sense tweets in Success Tweets for Creating Positive Personal Impact this week.  Here are some of the common sense tweets you’ll find inside the book.

Meeting Manners

• If you are a first-timer in a group that meets regularly, ask where you should sit.  Otherwise you risk taking someone’s usual seat.
• Don’t try to look more important than you are.  Constantly checking your watch or cell phone is distracting and rude to those around you.
• Pay attention to your body language.  If you are slumping, slouching and looking about the room, you are sending a negative message.
• If you have a valid reason for leaving a meeting early, tell the speaker in advance to avoid any misunderstanding or appearing rude.
• Prepare for the meeting.  If an agenda is sent out in advance, read it, take a copy with you, and be ready to participate or take action.
• Arrive on time.  When you arrive late, you send a message that your time is more valuable than others or the meeting is not important.
• Close your laptop, shut off your phone.  Respect the other people in the meeting by giving them your full attention.

Business Introductions

• When you encounter someone you don’t know, immediately introduce yourself.  Don’t wait for someone else to do it for you.
• When you encounter someone you have not seen for a while, reintroduce yourself.  Possibly that person has forgotten your name.
• When you can’t remember someone’s name, reintroduce yourself.  Most likely he or she will respond in kind with their name.
• When making business introductions, introduce junior people to senior people.  Start by saying the name of the senior person first.
• Never avoid an introduction because you can’t remember someone’s name.  Confess your memory lapse and ask for the name.

The Business Handshake

• People will judge you by your handshake.  Yours should be firm, brief and inviting, not limp or bone-crushing.
• Men and women in business shake hands in the same manner.  A man no longer needs to wait for the woman to extend her hand first.
• Always stand to shake hands.  It shows courtesy and respect for the other person.  By not standing, the business person loses credibility.
• If for some reason, such as an injury, you are unable to shake hands, always offer an apology and an explanation.

Customer Courtesy

• The three essentials of customer courtesy, which is the same as customer service, are eye contact, a smile, and using your customer’s name.
• When addressing customers, use their title (Mr., Mrs., or Ms.) until they give you permission to call them by their first name.
• Be yourself, as Mom told you.  Don’t put on airs to impress clients.  They will see right through you and soon become former clients.

International Business

• Be prepared before you travel.  Read as much as you can and talk to other people about the countries where you will be doing business.
• The handshake is the universal business greeting.  While there are variations on the firmness and length, the right hand is always used.
• Hugging and kissing are common greetings in business settings in parts of Europe and Asia.  Do your homework and know what to expect.
• Learn to bow.  Most Asian cultures have adapted to the handshake.  Show respect by learning their traditional customs as well.
• Business attire is as important in other countries as it is here.  Dress to the culture, which is often more conservative than U.S. dress.
• Always send your host a hand-written thank you note.  This is one tradition that will hopefully never change, no matter where you are.

One More Thing…

• Knowing is not enough.  Poised and polished professionals will read and act on this career advice.  Be poised, polished and professional.

I hope you found these common sense tweets to be helpful in your journey to the life and career success you want and deserve.  I’ll let you know when Success Tweets for Creating Positive Personal Impact will be available. It will be out sometime in August 2011.  As always, thanks for reading my daily thoughts on life and career success.  I value you and I appreciate you.

Bud

PS: If you haven’t already done so, you can download a free copy of my latest career success book Success Tweets Explained.  It’s a whopping 390 + pages of career advice explaining each of the common sense tweets in Success Tweets in detail.  Go to http://budurl.com/STExp to claim your free copy.  You’ll also start receiving my daily life and career success quotes.

As I mentioned in my Monday August 1 post, I have a new career advice book being released this month.  It’s called Success Tweets for Creating Positive Personal Impact.  Lydia Ramsey of Manners that Sell is my coauthor.

I’ve decided to give readers of this career success blog a sneak peek at the common sense tweets in Success Tweets for Creating Positive Personal Impact this week.  Here are some of the common sense tweets you’ll find inside the book.

Networking Etiquette

• Make the most of networking events by arriving five minutes early.  That gives you the opportunity to speak to people as they enter.
• Make it a point to work the room and speak to as many people as possible.  Set a goal of how many people you want to connect with.
• When you meet someone at a networking function, make sure you remember and use his or her name.  People love the sound of their name.
• Be warm, pleasant, gracious and sensitive to the interpersonal needs and anxieties of others at networking events.
• Speak from your heart.  Show that you care about yourself and the person with whom you are in conversation.
• Demonstrate your understanding of others’ points of view.  Listen well; ask questions if you don’t understand.
• Use the 2/3 – 1/3 rule in networking conversations.  Listen two-thirds of the time; speak one-third of the time.
• Focus your complete attention on the person with whom you are speaking.  Don’t look for others with whom you want to connect.
• Look for common ground with people you meet at networking functions.  Find out about them, their life, their passions.
• Never approach two people in conversation.  You may be interrupting a private discussion.  Find groups of three or more or someone alone.
• Go prepared with conversation starters.  Have at least three topics you can discuss if the conversation lags.  Stick with safe subjects.
• Make sure you have an exit line in case you get stuck with one person.  Offer your exit line after you have finished speaking.
• Follow up after the event.  If you promised to call, pick up the phone the next day to arrange that meeting or lunch you suggested.

Business Cards

• Never leave your office without plenty of your business cards.  There is nothing more unprofessional than not having them with you.
• Keep your cards in a business card case that protects them from wear and tear.  A crumpled business card makes a poor impression.
• Know where your business cards are at all times.  The person who has to go through a self body search to find them loses credibility.
• Hand them out with discretion.  Doling them out in multiples of 12 says your cards are of little value.
• Give and receive cards with your right hand—the hand of discretion.  This makes a big difference when doing business internationally.
• Give the card so the person who is receiving it can read it without having to turn it around.
• Always comment on a card you receive.  Note the logo, the business name or other piece of information to place value on the card.
• Keep your business cards up-to-date.  When any information changes, run, don’t walk, to your nearest printer for new cards.
• Don’t write notes to yourself on someone else’s business card during the exchange.  Do that later out of sight.
• Don’t be aggressive when handing out your business cards.  Wait to be asked or request the other person’s card first.

Email Etiquette

• Email is now the dominant form of business communication.  Uniform policies regarding its use and format should be in place.
• Keep it brief.  Email is intended to be fast and efficient.  If your message is lengthy, it will not be read.
• To be appealing, your email message should be made up of short sentences, short paragraphs and lots of white space.
• Make sure that your subject line is a summary of your message; that it aligns with the content and what the reader is expecting to see.
• Limit your email to one topic.  You’ll find your results go up when you keep to a single subject.  Create another email for another topic.
• Email has no tone of voice or body language.  Choose your words carefully so that your message will not be misunderstood.
• Email is not for disagreements.  Never argue in email.  Walk down the hall or pick up the phone for sensitive discussions.
• Use spell check, but remember to go beyond spell check.  It only knows if the word is spelled correctly, not whether it is used correctly.
• Email is not private, so write nothing in your message that you couldn’t bear to see on a billboard on your way into work.
• Watch those email threads that grow like tumbleweeds.  Before you hit “reply,” review the chain of messages and consider “delete.”

Telephone Courtesy

• Whether you are placing or answering a call, identify yourself immediately.  The person on the other end should not have to ask your name.
• Ask permission before placing callers on hold and wait until you hear their answer before doing so.
• Before you transfer a call, make sure the person to whom you are sending your caller is available and has the correct information.
• Eating, drinking or chewing while talking on the phone is rude.  The other person may not be able to see you, but will surely hear you.
• Give callers your full attention.  It is obvious when people are multi-tasking while on the phone and it devalues the other person.
• Live people take precedence over phone calls.  Continue in-person conversations rather than answering your cell phone.
• Cell phones should be kept off and out of sight when you are meeting with others.  Just having yours on vibrate sends the wrong message.

Successful Social Media

• The common sense rules of courtesy and civility that apply to in-person relationships are more important online.
• Social networks allow you to get known and help others.  Give value and you will build a strong reputation online.
• Social networking is reciprocal.  When you help people, they’ll be more likely to remember you and return the favor.
• Avoid being overly aggressive in social networking.  If you are too persistent in pushing your agenda, you can damage your reputation.
• LinkedIn is the best social network for business professionals.  Get active on it.
• For online profiles, use your real information and pictures.  Your cat may be adorable, but that isn’t the face you want to present to the world.
• Post nothing you wouldn’t want a would-be boss to see.  Potential employers will Google you and make judgments based on what they find.
• Preserve your online reputation.  Keep your promises when offering to facilitate a personal introduction or find a phone number.
• Use a different account or profile for your personal connections or websites.  Remember, it is best not to mix business and pleasure.
• Offer real value, ideas and links to ideas that people can use to help their career or their business.
• Create screen names that reflect how you want to present yourself.  Clever is good; cute is inappropriate.  Your name is often the best choice.
• Twitter is a great site to share information, meet new people and build your brand.  Tweet items that have benefit for others.
• Retweet items that you think will be beneficial to others.  You will gain more Twitter followers this way.
• Check out the people that befriend you or follow you.  Others will judge you by the company you keep.  Unwanted “friends” can cause harm.
• Compose your posts, updates or tweets in a word processing document before you post them, so you can check spelling and grammar.
• Remember there are no guarantees of privacy in social networks (even with settings).  Anything can be cut, pasted, and sent.
• Never put anything on the Internet that you wouldn’t want your boss, your coworkers or clients to see.  It is not a secure place.
• Check your Klout score frequently.  Others do.

I hope you found these tweets to be helpful in your journey to the life and career success you want and deserve.  Come back tomorrow for more common sense tweets from Lydia Ramsey and my forthcoming book Success Tweets for Creating Positive Personal Impact.  As always, thanks for reading my daily thoughts on life and career success.  I value you and I appreciate you.

Bud

PS: If you haven’t already done so, you can download a free copy of my latest career success book Success Tweets Explained.  It’s a whopping 390 + pages of career advice explaining each of the common sense tweets in Success Tweets in detail.  Go to http://budurl.com/STExp to claim your free copy.  You’ll also start receiving my daily life and career success quotes.

As I mentioned in my Monday August 1 post, I have a new career advice book being released this month.  It’s called Success Tweets for Creating Positive Personal Impact.  Lydia Ramsey of Manners that Sell is my coauthor.

I’ve decided to give readers of this career success blog a sneak peek at the common sense tweets in Success Tweets for Creating Positive Personal Impact this week.  Here are some of the common sense tweets you’ll find inside the book.

Networking Etiquette

• Make the most of networking events by arriving five minutes early.  That gives you the opportunity to speak to people as they enter.
• Make it a point to work the room and speak to as many people as possible.  Set a goal of how many people you want to connect with.
• When you meet someone at a networking function, make sure you remember and use his or her name.  People love the sound of their name.
• Be warm, pleasant, gracious and sensitive to the interpersonal needs and anxieties of others at networking events.
• Speak from your heart.  Show that you care about yourself and the person with whom you are in conversation.
• Demonstrate your understanding of others’ points of view.  Listen well; ask questions if you don’t understand.
• Use the 2/3 – 1/3 rule in networking conversations.  Listen two-thirds of the time; speak one-third of the time.
• Focus your complete attention on the person with whom you are speaking.  Don’t look for others with whom you want to connect.
• Look for common ground with people you meet at networking functions.  Find out about them, their life, their passions.
• Never approach two people in conversation.  You may be interrupting a private discussion.  Find groups of three or more or someone alone.
• Go prepared with conversation starters.  Have at least three topics you can discuss if the conversation lags.  Stick with safe subjects.
• Make sure you have an exit line in case you get stuck with one person.  Offer your exit line after you have finished speaking.
• Follow up after the event.  If you promised to call, pick up the phone the next day to arrange that meeting or lunch you suggested.

Business Cards

• Never leave your office without plenty of your business cards.  There is nothing more unprofessional than not having them with you.
• Keep your cards in a business card case that protects them from wear and tear.  A crumpled business card makes a poor impression.
• Know where your business cards are at all times.  The person who has to go through a self body search to find them loses credibility.
• Hand them out with discretion.  Doling them out in multiples of 12 says your cards are of little value.
• Give and receive cards with your right hand—the hand of discretion.  This makes a big difference when doing business internationally.
• Give the card so the person who is receiving it can read it without having to turn it around.
• Always comment on a card you receive.  Note the logo, the business name or other piece of information to place value on the card.
• Keep your business cards up-to-date.  When any information changes, run, don’t walk, to your nearest printer for new cards.
• Don’t write notes to yourself on someone else’s business card during the exchange.  Do that later out of sight.
• Don’t be aggressive when handing out your business cards.  Wait to be asked or request the other person’s card first.

Email Etiquette

• Email is now the dominant form of business communication.  Uniform policies regarding its use and format should be in place.
• Keep it brief.  Email is intended to be fast and efficient.  If your message is lengthy, it will not be read.
• To be appealing, your email message should be made up of short sentences, short paragraphs and lots of white space.
• Make sure that your subject line is a summary of your message; that it aligns with the content and what the reader is expecting to see.
• Limit your email to one topic.  You’ll find your results go up when you keep to a single subject.  Create another email for another topic.
• Email has no tone of voice or body language.  Choose your words carefully so that your message will not be misunderstood.
• Email is not for disagreements.  Never argue in email.  Walk down the hall or pick up the phone for sensitive discussions.
• Use spell check, but remember to go beyond spell check.  It only knows if the word is spelled correctly, not whether it is used correctly.
• Email is not private, so write nothing in your message that you couldn’t bear to see on a billboard on your way into work.
• Watch those email threads that grow like tumbleweeds.  Before you hit “reply,” review the chain of messages and consider “delete.”

Telephone Courtesy

• Whether you are placing or answering a call, identify yourself immediately.  The person on the other end should not have to ask your name.
• Ask permission before placing callers on hold and wait until you hear their answer before doing so.
• Before you transfer a call, make sure the person to whom you are sending your caller is available and has the correct information.
• Eating, drinking or chewing while talking on the phone is rude.  The other person may not be able to see you, but will surely hear you.
• Give callers your full attention.  It is obvious when people are multi-tasking while on the phone and it devalues the other person.
• Live people take precedence over phone calls.  Continue in-person conversations rather than answering your cell phone.
• Cell phones should be kept off and out of sight when you are meeting with others.  Just having yours on vibrate sends the wrong message.

Successful Social Media

• The common sense rules of courtesy and civility that apply to in-person relationships are more important online.
• Social networks allow you to get known and help others.  Give value and you will build a strong reputation online.
• Social networking is reciprocal.  When you help people, they’ll be more likely to remember you and return the favor.
• Avoid being overly aggressive in social networking.  If you are too persistent in pushing your agenda, you can damage your reputation.
• LinkedIn is the best social network for business professionals.  Get active on it.
• For online profiles, use your real information and pictures.  Your cat may be adorable, but that isn’t the face you want to present to the world.
• Post nothing you wouldn’t want a would-be boss to see.  Potential employers will Google you and make judgments based on what they find.
• Preserve your online reputation.  Keep your promises when offering to facilitate a personal introduction or find a phone number.
• Use a different account or profile for your personal connections or websites.  Remember, it is best not to mix business and pleasure.
• Offer real value, ideas and links to ideas that people can use to help their career or their business.
• Create screen names that reflect how you want to present yourself.  Clever is good; cute is inappropriate.  Your name is often the best choice.
• Twitter is a great site to share information, meet new people and build your brand.  Tweet items that have benefit for others.
• Retweet items that you think will be beneficial to others.  You will gain more Twitter followers this way.
• Check out the people that befriend you or follow you.  Others will judge you by the company you keep.  Unwanted “friends” can cause harm.
• Compose your posts, updates or tweets in a word processing document before you post them, so you can check spelling and grammar.
• Remember there are no guarantees of privacy in social networks (even with settings).  Anything can be cut, pasted, and sent.
• Never put anything on the Internet that you wouldn’t want your boss, your coworkers or clients to see.  It is not a secure place.
• Check your Klout score frequently.  Others do.

I hope you found these tweets to be helpful in your journey to the life and career success you want and deserve.  Come back tomorrow for more common sense tweets from Lydia Ramsey and my forthcoming book Success Tweets for Creating Positive Personal Impact.  As always, thanks for reading my daily thoughts on life and career success.  I value you and I appreciate you.

Bud

PS: If you haven’t already done so, you can download a free copy of my latest career success book Success Tweets Explained.  It’s a whopping 390 + pages of career advice explaining each of the common sense tweets in Success Tweets in detail.  Go to http://budurl.com/STExp to claim your free copy.  You’ll also start receiving my daily life and career success quotes.