Bartleby Press | Printing

Ted Hatfield celebrates 24 years with Bartleby Press

March 15, 2014

The last 24 years have seen many transitions in the printing service industry. Ted Hatfield, Production Manager, at Bartleby Press has adapted well establishing new production techniques. His vision to embrace new technology in hardware and software pre-production printing has established the firm as an innovative leader.Ted is the quintessential print service manager at one of the few remaining locally owned Austin print shops.  His mantra…High-Tech solutions…Old Fashioned Service.

Austin Printing Service is a Market Resource

As more marketers and businesses turn to alternative media in lieu of print services for their business communications needs, they often miss an opportunity to improve the customer experience when they leave digital printing out of the mix.

Color brochures, flyers, business cards and point of sale information are still effective touch points to get the marketer’s message across in the most effective manner. Why, because print has a tangible presence that conveys credibility.

Bartleby Press is a local printing service that provides print on demand. They have rapid turn-around digital printing that provides the highest quality imaging in small volumes that drive recipients to visit your URL. Providing short run digital printing allows the marketer to update with more real-time information, so they can finely map a message to specific individuals or groups.
To keep the dialog going, a high-quality postcard can be mailed to these qualified segments with yet another value offer. This way, the business is using the less expensive IT medium to narrow the field, and invest in high quality print for those who are likely to become sources of revenue.

Is Your Church Website Inviting?

Making the best use of our church website is a great way to evangelize our Catholic faith. It is unfortunate that most of the Catholic websites are designed for the parishioners that already attend the church regularly. Nothing wrong with that but too often we find ourselves preaching to the choir. What about the first-timer? What are they looking for in a church community?

Sometimes the person that is “shopping” for a comfortable place to worship, or a fallen away Catholic, or anyone in search of Christ’s love needs to know about your church before they walk in the door. Think of this as welcoming someone into your home. Do they find your website warm and friendly?  Is it easy to navigate?

Sr. Susan Wolf addresses Catholic Websites on her blog http://www.catholicwebsolutions.com/2014/02/04/a-parish-attentive-to-its-audiences/

Cost savings for On Demand Print Service

Offset printing, digital printing, commercial printing, short run printing, and on demand printing what does this all mean?

To clarify, offset printing and digital printing is by definition printing techniques.

The first is a traditional sheet fed printing where the image is transferred or offset from a plate to a rubber blanket and then to the printing surface with manual ink keys that are adjusted by a skilled pressman to set colors. Digital printing follows the same process but is computer adjusted to digital file specifications. Both requiring ink and water to make the impression. Additionally there have been advances with inkjet and laser printing such as the Konica Minolta bizhub C8000 or the Xerox 800 Press.

Commercial printing, short-run printing and on-demand printing are defined by the size of your finished piece and the number of impressions of the project.

Commercial printing commonly refers to web presses and large sheet fed presses are usually based on size. The number of units place on a sheet or the finished size. “The smaller press delivers a typical printing sheet of 14" by 20", the larger press will deliver a 20" by 29" size, and the most advanced in the market today delivers a 29.5" x 41" sheet. While many commercial printers started with a one- or two-color press, once successful they gradually upgrade to more color units to accommodate customer needs.” As defined by GLG Research.

Typically a short run refers to 300-2,000 impressions, ultra short run 50-500 and on demand 1-100 impressions. In our rapid turn-around environment having a good relationship with a local printing service will serve you best. Consulting with them about your product before the design can save time and money as well as deliver a quality product

About the Author: Thomas Miner is president of Bartleby Press and Austin Texas printing service.

Sunday Bulletin and Church Website-–a Good Compliment

As the publisher of Catholic Church bulletins the question that I am most often asked by pastors is. Where do you see the Sunday bulletin going in the future?

My first reaction is don’t you mean to ask. What do you see in the future for parish communication?

The Internet. Having an up-to-date website is fast becoming the most effective way to reach all your parishioners. No question about it. Total access 24 hours, 7 days a week. If a person is looking for information, church information, they will Google it or look for it on your website.

That doesn’t mean that your Sunday bulletin is obsolete. What it does mean is the bulletin is fast becoming the brochure to your website. The bulletin is a short, quick informative blast of information.

Bulletin editors are becoming savvy. They can spend more time writing bold headlines, editing redundant copy and adding visuals that engage readers. In part because bulletin services offer custom services that save editors time. No longer do editors have to manipulate copy and photos to fit on a page. Time is a commodity. They can write and send. Although not all bulletin services offer custom bulletins. Some regional bulletin services do.

Still most parish ministries think the Sunday bulletin is the most effect means of parish communication. Truth is that the Sunday bulletin and pulpit announcements may only reach one third of all the families in a parish on any given weekend. So how can ministries effectively reach their congregations? Repeat the bulletin article, insert a flyer or another pulpit announcement and use the Internet.  

One of my favorite Monsignors would reply to such requests with “ you can start Mass late but you must finish on time.”

Accommodating every parish ministry request for pulpit announcements can add more than a few minutes to the pulpit announcements and most pastors tend to refrain from a multitude of announcements before and after Mass. The alternatives are clearly the bulletin and parish website.

The bulletin announcement or bulletin insert is the next obvious choice. Most submissions can turn into a short novelette rather than the announcement of a coming week activity. Often writers are not educated in copy writing and submit long and repetitive entries leaving the bulletin editor hours of unwanted revision, often subjecting themselves to a writer’s scorn for editorial privilege.  The bulletin should have a singular purpose of highlighting all the activities pertaining to the following week. A short synopsis of succinct copy, art and strong, attention grabbing headlines will better serve any parish activity. Any more explanation of a ministry other than basic information (who, what, where and how) can and should be re-directed to the parish website.

As we entered into the age of information (the creation of the web 22 years old this past February 16) the opportunity to provide vast amounts of information about the many ministries is essential for a thriving parish community. Web-editors are becoming as important as the bulletin editor (most are one and the same). Parish administrators are becoming more aware of the advantage of having an up-to-date comprehensive website. Not only can ministries write pages of information they can send a viewer to links providing more insight to a subject. Most recently mobile devices have entered the picture.

Our way of communicating has changed the bulletin from a sole source of information to a point of reference for the website. Integrating and keeping continuity between the bulletin and the website is the new challenge. Pastors and parish administrators wanting to know more about custom bulletin service and website service should visit www.bartlebypress.com under menu item website services.

About the Author: Thomas Miner is the president of Bartleby Press, a Texas based bulletin publishing service

Launch a New Stream of Income to your Business

It makes more sense now than ever before to support your IT marketing strategy efforts with print.

Business can target customers in small Every Door Direct Mail promotions with real time content. A specific location, real time content with a savvy promotion can drive customers to your door and website.

Also, executing digital print mailings to existing clients and your qualified audience can support your online activities and promotions. 

Partner with Bartleby Press print service team can increase sales with a marketing solution that fits your budget.

Getting the most from Your Printing Service

The design process. 

In most cases an experienced graphic designer can save you money and time so you can do what you do best—sell your product or service! On the other hand, mapping your message and targeting your brand may require extensive research.

If you do know your audience and have your message there are three approaches; Do it yourself, hire a graphic designer or ask your printing service. Today, most printing services have positioned themselves with designers to help customers who have small budgets to assemble flyers, post cards or a direct mail piece. It may be as simple as sending your document and ideas and a proof will be returned.

Getting price quotes or uploading files are offered 24/7. You can easily manage your project anytime and from anywhere. Whether you want to get brochures printed for your event in another state, or want some thing printed while you are on vacation, with a local printing services, distance is not an issue.

The convenience of printing online is great but a partnership with a print service and verbal communication remains the ultimate confirmation that the job is on track and reduces costs due to miscommunication.

To learn more about how we can help you improve the way you print your marketing material through our Austin printing service visit Bartleby Press or call (we still answer the phone) 512/452-3413

About the Author: Thomas Miner is president of Bartleby Press an Austin printing Service.

Keeping Print in the Mix

As more marketers and businesses turn to alternative media in lieu of print for their business communications needs, they often miss an opportunity to improve the customer experience when they leave print out of the mix.

Integrated marketing uses a number of touch points to get the marketer’s message across in the most effective manner, and print can be effectively used as one of those touch points.

Perhaps the campaign starts with an email that encourages interested recipients to visit a personalized URL. This can go to thousands, even millions, of recipients. When interested recipients visit their personalized URL, the marketer will use an attractive offer to get recipients to provide more information about them. This allows the marketer to update their databases with more information, and more finely tune their communications to specific individuals or groups.

To keep the dialog going, a high-quality versioned postcard can be mailed to these qualified segments with yet another offer or additional information that the recipient will find of value. This way, the business is using the less expensive email medium to narrow the field, and investing in high quality print for those who are likely to become sources of revenue.

Email---website offer to collect information---fine tune content---postcard offer to qualified buyers

Thomas Miner

President of Bartleby Press Austin, Texas

How to stay motivated

Every Tuesday morning I meet with a group of business people for breakfast. It is designed to be a networking group but unlike a lot of the networking groups this one is more than an obligatory referral service. It has become a mentoring session.

Most successful business owners that I have met have confidential mentoring. Usually this is a collection of friends or family that share their knowledgeable on subjects that matter. This morning I was once again reminded how valuable these intimate conversations are…they inspire.

Today one of our colleagues was interested in how we keep our battery charged. Staying motivated is essential to our success not only for us as individuals but also for our employees. The question revolved around the table each from their perspective adding to a list that one could ruminate and visit on a regular basis.

One such suggestion came from a franchise owner that relies on the marketing services to execute a plan that will generate new leads–qualified leads. Having marketing plan and sticking to it takes the work out of sales.  Investing in traditional, proven strategies like direct mail and combining them with social media and IT solutions are practicable in pursuit of new business. We now live in a real-time-need environment and can listen to conversations about your service and knowing when a person is ready to buy is paramount. Establishing metrics to measure growth and ROI go without saying.

And when those leads dry up going back to your loyal customers and visit with them about your service. You might find out how to improve your customer satisfaction and ask for a referral. Meeting with satisfied customers reminds you that you are doing a good job and that in itself can pick up spirits and drive you forward when the leads are slowing down. Fulfilling a customer need is what drives sales.

Another emphasized the need to stay connected to people with involvement with community service and social meetings where a new introduction could be a new customer.

One last and important focus was suggested to be holistic centered. Whatever your livelihood is your personal happiness and well-being is necessary. Having little distractions in our personal lives and removing the negatives inspires us. And everyone likes to do business with a positive, blissful person.

Thomas Miner is President of Bartleby Press

Print Services Drive Customers to your Website

The print industry has evolved over the years. Today it is a viable support mechanism that is used to drive customers to your web with relevant real time content. Many people have grasped the idea of using a website to market their company in much the same way as the yellow page book. Business’ struggle for page position and Search Engine Optimization when cost effective direct mail can drive customers to your website to review products and make purchases.

A Print Resource Makes Sense

There are simple reasons that print makes sense. Networking your business through business groups requires a business card; a physical presence that a potential customer takes away. It continues to send your message long after your meeting. The same is true for color brochures, posters or a product flyer. It is tangible evidence to take away and share with colleagues in the decision making process and a reminder to check the website. It is still true, a picture says a thousand words and so does color printed products.

Investing in a website, social media and IT marketing is an expensive investment of time and money. However, after you invest in developing your web presence Every Door Direct Mail makes sense. You can cultivate your local market by driving more potential clients to visit your business online or visit your physical address.

Begin by establishing a partnership with a printing service because they can be a valuable resource. You can benefit greatly in the competitive world by having a print resource team and take advantage of a direct mail printing service. Without print, your company may miss your full potential.

About the Author: Thomas Miner is the President of Bartleby Press, an Austin. TX printing service. Bartleby Press provides digital printing, offset printing, and more. 

Benefits of Branding Your Business

Your business needs a brand – something that makes the business unique and stand out from the competitors while simply showing what it is your business does. A failed brand can create loss of audience, a misunderstanding of the product or service you offer, and many other downfalls. The print industry provides your brand with relevant content that drives customers to the web.

                 

From using unique colors, distinctive behavior, and your own identifiers, you are able to give your company a brand that the public can remember you by. Being distinctive and unique will help the company stick out from competitors, think of brands such as FedEx with their orange and purple brand, compared to UPS’s brown brand.

The print industry has changed from what it used to be. Today it is a viable support mechanism that is used to drive customers to the web with relevant content. Many people have grasped the idea of using a website to market the company, but it’s just as important to have something on paper and in a person’s hand for more tangible evidence that the company exists.

                 

A brand gives the company more credibility. When people are looking to make a purchase, they want something they can trust and rely on. Once a customer has a positive experience, they’re more likely to continue using that same business and spreading the word to everyone they know about the experience they had with the business.  Being able to provide your customers with business cards, brochures, flyers and posters gives them more reliability.

                 

Putting money into creating a brand with digital printing can be expensive. However, after you invest in creating the brand, you can maintain it without having to tell the story about the brand every time you market it. Once your brand is recognizable, it will pay for itself.

                 

By making your company noticed with a brand that uses print to its advantage, you will benefit greatly in the competitive world. Without a brand, your company is not reaching an audience or maintaining any customers. Without a brand that is supported with print, the chance of reaching any sort of audience is very minimal.

About the Author:

Denver printing company, The Print Connection is pleased to bring you this article on the Benefits of Branding Your Business with Print in an IT World. The Print Connection specializes in Denver bookbinding, digital printing, offset printing, graphic design, and so much more.

Is Your Advertising Hit or Miss?

Most business’ are small and don’t have a strong national brand to rely on scores of marketing teams to provide you with content and promotions. But every business needs to have its own personality and investment within its community to succeed. If your business is going to grow it has to adjust to its target customer base and there is no one that knows your business better than you. There are simple ways to reach out to your local audience through a combination of an online presence, small-targeted direct mail campaigns, and ads in local specialty publications.

You may hear a lot about localization. Localization is content matched to local media and searches. If you feel like the return on your local promotional initiatives is hit or miss, you may be neglecting some basics that can bolster your business and reputation.

Here is a look at three common mistakes businesses make when it comes to reaching local customers as Posted on February 28, 2013 by Megan Totka. Megan Totka is the Chief Editor for ChamberofCommerce.com, one of the largest business directories on the web.

No Web Presence. Even owners of longtime mom and pop establishments can benefit from a simple website or inclusion in an online directory. It is not often that a local business owner says he or she has “too many” customers. In addition to regulars, a web presence brings in new clientele that happen upon sites when looking for a product or service. Many websites cost very little to create and maintain, and results-driven online directories are affordable too. If you are truly at a loss on where to begin in building an online following, hire someone to help you. The money you invest will pay off over time and many companies offer a flat fee to maintain the site for you.

Remember that it is not enough to rely on word-of-mouth or traditional marketing techniques to bring in new local customers. Hanging your digital shingle in cyberspace is also vital and easier than ever to accomplish. Give potential customers the answers to their questions in an immediate way in order to win their business and not lose them to more visible competitors.

Difficulty to Find. This point is similar to having a lack of web presence but applies beyond the digital realm. If people do not know where you are located, they cannot give you their business. This means promoting your web location in addition to your physical address. Unfortunately, people are so programmed to find the answers to all questions immediately that they will not take the time to track you down if a competitor offers ease of information. Do whatever it takes to let people know where you exist, from web presence optimization to the signage outside your location to inclusion in web listings for your industry.

There is really no financial advantage to being an industry “best kept secret.” Ask customers how they found you and how you can improve your physical visibility. Those that are most loyal to your business will want to help and will be honest with you. Do not lose customers to frustration or impatience at having to track you down, instead make it easy to find you and even easier to buy your products or enlist your services.

Lack of Community Outreach. There is a reason that people say “the more you give, the more you get.” Find simple ways to give back to the community of your loyal clients and build your reputation for future local clients. Simple ways to get involved include sponsoring a local event, donating a product or service to a fundraising auction or volunteering at a local non-profit organization. Align your name with a cause that you believe benefits your client base and one that represents your business ideals.

Not only does outreach earn you the respect of the community, but it also creates a culture of social consciousness in your business, encouraging employees to reach out when they are off the clock too. You can feel satisfied knowing that you went beyond the call of duty to help the community and build a strong image of beneficence in the process.

Focus on local marketing does not have to be overwhelming or exclusive to the Internet. There are simple ways to reach out to your local audience through a combination of an online presence, small targeted direct mail campaigns, and ads in local, specialty publications that have a qualified demographic. 

Thomas Miner is president of Bartleby Press

Websites by Bartleby Press

I know I have been delinquent in posting a blog for the last few weeks(a marketing no, no) but we have been busy developing a new addition to our communication services. I thought about this for a long time over the frustration I had with so called web designers, web masters, or web information specialists. They have been at least unreliable, inconsistent and at times, incompetent with my business development strategy. This is a common frustration among business owners. Competency is the highest compliment that I give to an employee or vendor. To be competent means that I can ask you to get it done and not think about it again because I know it will get done right the first time. But I stray…announcing Websites by Bartleby.

Websites by Bartleby is developed around the benefit that we see in clean, concise, informative and affordable websites.

When your community is on the go, your connection to their lives should be too! With the use of Wordpress, an easy to use website developer program, all the benefits of having a source for your online community is there without all the frustration and disappointments. We still maintain our position statement—High Tech Solutions…Old Fashioned Service!

Websites by Bartleby works to create for you a 20 plus page website that is tailored to your business and online community needs. After development the site administration can be handed over to your staff. It is that simple—EASY to update, and enhances your personal intention online. 

Should you need our continued assistance we also offer website limited maintenance and full management services as an aid to your website’s growth and development.

How to choose a Print Service.

DO YOUR HOMEWORK.

If you are a print broker, designer, procurer or any part of the publishing industry you should already have a working knowledge of the "Print Process." Far too often I am asked to quote a job and there is little or not enough information to forward a quality estimate. This will offer me the opportunity to speak with a person and establish a working relationship.

KNOW YOUR TRADE

Most print firms have an online presence that should guide you through the process; Quantity, finish size, process or spot color, bleeds, pages- one side or two side, bleeds, folds, bindery, did I mention bleeds. I don't think that is taught in school or they cut the class that day. Know what is required of your artwork before you ask for a quote as it will make a difference in the quote.

TALK TO YOUR PRINTER

Before visiting a simple phone call can save time and money. Going over your specs asking press size and requirements is essential to the decision making process. It will also let you know if the print firm has a working knowledgeable or a sales person is working on commission. If they can answer your questions and are helpful then and only then it might be worth your time to visit the plant.

VISITING THE PLANT

Clean press rooms are sign of conscientious workers. However, talking to line pressmen about a job on the press is generally a no,no. That is why print firms have heavy charges for press checks. It is distracting them from the job and asking questions about color or what could be different when the job is on the press is too late. Those are the questions you should ask the pre-production staff. Keep in mind any quality print firm should check your work and assist you before the plates are burned.

Social Media—Word of Mouth Marketing

A fast way for branding your company and gathering information about potential customers is through social media. Learning and grasping all the details of this new market place is not as easy as it is presented. It requires a commitment of time. We all understand the value of social media to reach and inform potential customers about your business. We also know that it is a fabulous tool to listen and talk to your customers as well as creating messages that engage the customer. The key is understanding the basics before hiring someone or out sourcing your service.

Building your website and effectively connecting through the Internet should be a good part of your marketing plan. Creating the proper message, identifying your meta tags, and blogging on matters of interest, to name a few, improve your SEO and need constant maintenance. Most important monitoring your social media chatter should be a primary concern. It will improve your message to customers and prevent any potential disasters with a dissatisfied customer. Let’s face it does happen and how we handle their concern is paramount. I have learned the “rule of 300” the hard way, which in today’s terms could be the “rule of 3 million.” You may not keep all your customers happy but preventing them from telling 300 friends what an awful experience they had with you is pretty important. It is the way of human nature that we are more likely to convey a bad experience than we are a good one and they will never forget it. A good example is YELP. If I am thinking of trying a new restaurant often I will Google them and up pops YELP reviews. If I read a bad review it makes me wonder about going there, not that I take every review as an expert opinion, but there are people who are just plain mean. Although, a bad review makes me think twice about going there. So I wonder why would that restaurant keep that review up for people to see unless they are NOT MONITORING their social media.

Like any new product/tool understanding the mechanics of manipulating the system to your advantage is not necessary but highly recommended. Getting advice from an expert can be a costly lesson to learn without understanding the overall strategy. You need to know enough to set effective policies. Social media is no different from the town crier, the farmers market, the public square postings, print media and your direct mailings with the exception that it reaches globally and can destroy your reputation as fast as you can build it. Social Media is a modern way to create word of mouth— a good way to market your company.

About the Author: Thomas Miner is the presidenr of Bartleby Press, an Austin printing service

THE CHOICE OF PROFESSIONALS, PRINTING SERVICE

Business printing service remains the cornerstone of effective marketing in today’s world despite of the ease of the computer, mobile devices and the Internet. In the whole scheme of things the Internet is only a partial solution; a door opener and a follow up for the face-to-face meeting. There is nothing more personal than a business card or other printed collateral to leave a lasting impression with your customer. In today’s business atmosphere after the Power Point presentation the tangible piece of descriptive business printing is the vital take-away.

A printing serviceprovide business cards, envelopes, brochures, catalogs, magazines, programs, white papers, forms, contracts and handouts in quantities that are more cost effective than the color copier. For instance, shipping a product to an existing customer is an opportunity for a product update or add-on sale with color brochures and inserts.

If you are attending a trade show, business cards and color printing are a must. Digital printing is perfect for targeting captured audiences. You can map your message directly to a specific customer need.  Partnering with a printing service can assist you with graphic design, layout and color choices that will make a lasting impression. And what about after the trade show? Phone calls, emails, postcards and thank you notes are in order.

I am not saying that digital printing will close the sale for you but a color brochure in the customer’s hand says you care enough to leave something with them. 

About the Author: Thomas Miner is the presidenr of Bartleby Press, an Austin printing service

Why everyone needs a good proofreader…

Copywriters and bulletin editors tend to take things personally. When I was publishing an Irish culture magazine I detested it when something I've written went to a proofreader or copyeditor and my work came back all marked up. "I wanted THAT comma just where I put it!!"

On the other hand, it is embarrassing when I've printed an article and someone sends an email saying "I could not read the article because of the errors?"

When you are gathering copy for your weekly bulletin it may come to you in bits and pieces with the expectation that the editor will clean it up, rewrite it or edit it down for space. That takes time and if you are still putting the bulletin together you are behind the eight ball every week or rolling that massive stone. It tends to create a Sisyphus atmosphere. You remember the mythical cruel Corinth king condemned in Hades to roll a boulder up a hill only to have roll back down again. 


Bartleby Press’ church bulletin service takes the layout process out of your hands allowing for more time to edit and proofread. If you would like more time to proofread and write your bulletin visit www.bartlebypress.com under the Church Publishing and Website Services menu or call us at 512-452-3413

Your Website is a Tool of the Future

A question that I am asked most often is where do you see the bulletin going in the future?

My first reaction is don’t you mean to ask what do you see in the future for parish communication?

When you think about parish communication of activities and events the pulpit announcement is first and foremost as the most effective avenue to reach your congregation. Accommodating parish ministries requests for pulpit announcements can add more than a few minutes to the pulpit announcements and most pastors refrain from a multitude of announcements before and or after Mass. The alternatives are the bulletin and the parish website.

The bulletin announcement or bulletin insert is the next obvious choice. Most submissions can turn into a short novelette rather than the announcement of a coming week activity. Often writers are not educated in copy writing and submit long and repetitive entries leaving the bulletin editor hours of unwanted revision, often subjecting themselves to a writer’s scorn for editorial privilege.  The bulletin should have a singular purpose of highlighting all the activities pertaining to the following week. A short synopsis of succinct copy, art and strong attention grabbing headlines will better serve any parish activity. Any more explanation of a ministry other than basic information (who, what, where and how)should be re-directed to the parish website.

As we entered into the age of information (the creation of the web 22 years old this past February 16) the opportunity to provide vast amounts of information about the many ministries is essential for a thriving parish community. Web-editors are becoming as important as the bulletin editor (most are one and the same). Parish administrators are becoming more aware of the advantage of having an up-to-date comprehensive website. Not only can ministries write pages of information they can send a viewer to links providing more insight to a subject Most recently mobile devices have entered the picture.

Our way of communicating has changed the bulletin from a sole source of information to a point of reference for the website. Integrating and keeping continuity between the bulletin and the website is the new challenge. Pastors and parish administrators wanting to know more about Bartleby Press’ bulletin service and website service should visit our website www.bartlebypress.comunder menu item website services.

About the Author: Thomas Miner is the president of Bartleby Press, an Austin bulletin  printing service

Develop your Listening Skills and Improve your Bottom Line

There are benefits to a good education but there are some skills that are learned outside the classroom. Experience is what we commonly refer to as learning on the job; that innate ability to know and understand the business at hand. Networking, over coming objections, preparing and organizing your presentation, “thinking on your feet” are all valid but how often do we take into consideration LISTENING. Sharpening listening skills is relatively easy to begin practicing. Remember, listening is not a passive process.

Be ready to hear and consider all sides of an issue in other words listen with an open mind.  We may not agree with what is being said, but we must avoid defensiveness.  Consider the interaction an opportunity to understand new viewpoints and ideas.  Our willingness to listen to a different perspective will sometimes yield surprising new insights.

Begin with listening to the entire message and allow each conversation to run its course then and only then can you advance your thoughts, and respond with understanding. There is a proper time to respond and recognizing those signals will create an even flow with the conversation. Restrain the urge to interrupt it will devalue their message, and it is often perceived as rude and offensive. If ever you do interrupt it is good to be apologetic and acknowledge that you are interrupting; that awareness goes a long way towards mending your deliberate violation of the other person’s right to speak. We can only do one thing effectively at a time: listen or respond. 

The best gauge to know whether you are listening is actively looking for the central idea of what is said. Our job would be easy listening to a well-communicated idea, not all of us are effective communicators. Regardless of the speaker’s ability, if you can share a summary of what you heard you are confirming your understanding of the topic. Asking questions shows your understanding of a topic. When we ask questions, we are showing that we are listening and help the speaker to communicate effectively with us.  The ability to ask good questions also helps us to learn. I would caution you to use discretion and ask genuine questions. Questioning everything may back fire and perceived as a way to make you seem smart.

Finally the most important action is to show the speaker you are listening. Visible body language and audibly demonstrating that we are listening is just as important as the listening itself. A simple nod of the head, maintaining eye contact, taking notes when appropriate and verbal affirmation such as asking question assures the speaker we are paying attention. Practicing listening will open doors and increase your bottom line.

About the Author: Thomas Miner is the presidenr of Bartleby Press, an Austin printing service