Tattoos In the Workplace? What are your thoughts

 

Let me start with the fact that I am not against tattoos. I have worked with many people who have had tattoos in the workplace and they have been the best employees that I have ever seen. I have also seen some of the worst employees have tattoos. I believe that that tattoo doesn’t make the person (unless the tattoo is a racial or negative tattoo).

I am reminded of a time when I was in school and my biology teacher told us how she locked her keys in her car. People kept walking past her without giving her a second glance. Then these two people covered in tattoos came over to her and asked if she was alright? My teacher stated she was nervous when they started walking over because she thought they were looking for trouble since they had tattoos. In the end they were the most polite people she has ever met and they helped her get into her car. This event happened over ten years ago, but the story remains fresh in my mind.

Recently, I was working with a client who had door to door reps and I was working with a person who had tattoos on his arm. I noticed that some people would not even give him a second of their time because of the tattoos (one of which is a cross and the other was a heart with a crown), but they listened to me. Then there were other times when people preferred him over me. It was like they felt a connection seeing that he had tattoos.  So it led me to think about the acceptance of tattoos in the workplace. Is there an age group where we need to hide the expressions we made on our bodies?

Even though I do not have any tattoos (yet), I feel like people who get them are expressing something that is important to them or a life event that they will cherish forever. It’s a picture they will carry with them forever. As an example, my brother got a tattoo of his daughter’s footprints on his chest to remind him of the best day of his life.

In the end I think that tattoos should be embraced in the workplace since they are a form of expression. Would we stop a person from showing us a picture of their pet or family? I know I wouldn’t. Or would you stop someone from wearing a pin of their favorite band or symbol (assuming it wasn’t offensive)?

 

I want to hear your feedback on how you feel.

Acceptability of tattoos in the workplace

Gagliardobc.com

How to Be a Great Leader

Whether you are starting a new business or managing an existing business, you need to have great leaders in place. What makes those leaders great? Is it the ability to handle stress, remain cool in tough situations, or even controlling your emotions? Yes, but that is just to tip of the iceberg. Let us look at some qualities that make great leaders.

1)       Honesty

It is important to remember that your business and the employees reflect what you believe and how you act. There is no do as I say. If you make honesty and ethical behavior your main focus, your team will do the same thing. With that being said, hold yourself to a higher plane so you employees want to raise the bar.

2)       Ability to Delegate

A true leader knows every ones strength and weaknesses and capitalizing on them. People who do what they love will do a better job than someone who does not. This means you have to TRUST your team to make progress in the direction that you want it. Delegating tasks to the appropriate departments is one of the most important skills you can develop as your business grows. The emails and tasks will begin to pile up, and the more you stretch yourself thin, the lower the quality of your work will become, and the less you will produce.

3)       Communication

Have you ever had an idea in your head, but when you try and explain it to others, they don’t understand? If this has been your experience, then you may want to focus on honing your communication skills. Being able to clearly and succinctly describe what you want done is extremely important. If you can’t relate your vision to your team, you won’t all be working towards the same goal.

This is done through training new members and creating a productive work environment through healthy lines of communication. This can come from an open door policy to your office, talking to your staff on a daily basis, or making yourself available to discuss issues. Your team must trust and depend on you.

4)       Sense of Humor

When do you need a sense of humor? Of course it’s when anything small happens, but even more importantly it is when your website crashes, you lose that major client, funding dries up, or guiding your team through the process without panicking. When your morale is high, your productivity will be high too. Encourage your team to laugh at the mistakes instead of crying. If you are constantly learning to find the humor in the struggles, your work environment will become a happy and healthy space, where your employees look forward to working in, rather than dreading it.

5)       Confidence

You need to keep up your confidence level, and assure everyone that setbacks are natural and the important thing is to focus on the larger goal. As the leader, by staying calm and confident, your team will reflect you. The key objective is to keep everyone working and moving ahead.

6)       Commitment

If you expect your team to work hard and produce quality content, you’re going to need to lead by example. There is no greater motivation than seeing the boss down in the trenches working alongside everyone else. One thing I always teach is that a promotion is not a change in job description, but an addition to it. I change the trash and wash the bathroom just as often as I expect my employees to do it. I am not better than them I am them with more responsibility. You want to create a reputation for not just working hard, but also be known as a fair leader. Once you have gained the respect of your team, they are more likely to deliver the peak amount of quality work possible.

7)       Positive Attitude

You want to keep your team motivated towards the continued success of the company, and keep the energy levels up.  You can provide snacks, coffee, relationship advice, getting a beer, team night, playing sports, or any other activity where everyone has fun. Remember, if your team is happy they won’t mind staying that extra hour to finish a report, or devoting their best work to the brand.

8)       Creativity

Some decisions will not always be black and white. During critical situations that your team will look to you for guidance and you may be forced to make a quick decision. As a leader, it’s important to learn to think outside the box and choice the greater of two evils. By utilizing all possible options before making a rash decision, you can typically reach the end conclusion you were aiming for.

9)       Intuition

When new scenarios arise, you need to use your intuition to guide your team. Day-to- day tasks can be figured out to a science and done by memory. But when something unexpected occurs your team will look to you for guidance. Until you can trust your gut, you may want to drawing on past experiences or reach out to your mentors.

10)   Ability to Inspire

In the beginning stages of a startup, inspiring your team to see the vision of the successes to come is vital. Being able to inspire your team is great for focusing on the future goals, but it is also important for the current issues. When you are all mired deep in work, morale is low, and energy levels are fading, recognize that everyone needs a break now and then. Acknowledge the work that everyone has dedicated and commend the team on each of their efforts. It is your job to keep spirits up, and that begins with an appreciation for the hard work.

 Gagliardobc.com 

How to increase Website Traffic: Part 2

 

We already discussed three of the ten ways to increase traffic in part 1, so now we will discuss 4-6 ways to increase website traffic.

These three topics have to do with the dreaded Search Engines and Social Media.

4) Improve your search engine ranking. This can be accomplished by focusing your content on keywords related to your topic. If your topic is about lead paint, make sure lead paint is mentioned in your content. This is called search engine optimization and this will help people find your website when they’re searching on Google, Bing, or yahoo. Make sure the keywords flow naturally with the text and make up only about 18% of your content. Anymore and it may harm your chances of ranking well. Google and Bing algorithm is set up to determine how often your keyword is used compared to other information. If your key word count is high, they will assume it is spam. Make sure you use words that everyone will use. Keywords not only go into headings and page names but also into “meta tags”. “Meta tags” are the software code that website visitors do not see but search engines do. When inserting graphics, you need to add your key words into you “Alt tag”. Search engines do not see pictures, but the “alt tag” allows them to know what the picture is for.
5) Get linked. This is a very important! You need to exchange links. Trading links with other websites that are closely related to the subject of your website can bring you more website traffic.  However, Be VERY CAREFUL, linking to low-quality websites can threaten the credibility of yours. Only link to sites that are dead on topic, and truly help your visitors. Try and get on .edu websites.
Links are not all you can do. You could also use or trade banner ads or other Ads.

If you get a lot of links overnight, it will be harmful too. Also, do not make trading links your entire link building method. A Google webmaster guideline specifically says to not engage in link schemes including: Excessive reciprocal links or excessive link exchanging (“Link to me and I’ll link to you.”)

Use social media. Post compelling, beneficial, and useful content and you’ll soon build a loyal following. I used to think I wanted the same followers on twitter, facebook, wordpress, linkedin, etc. but I have learned that having different followers on each site is more beneficial. When you Follow and share with other users, most likely they will reciprocate and follow you. Keeping up to date with social media and finding time to post can be tricky, but it’s well worth it. Let people talk and become part of a community (if you look at my website, GBC, I have my email list as community news) and they’ll promote your content for you. This will save you a great deal of time, and they will share much further than via conventional strategies.

Related articles

• How to increase Website Traffic: Part 1 (petergagliardo.wordpress.com)
• Gagliardobc.com

How to Build Backlinks

How to create backlinks

I got this question in an email, so I thought I would share it with everyone since it is an important question. Creating backlinks is vital on being a SEO Guru. But how and where can you build beneficial backlinks?

1) One way is what I am doing here. Write a Blog/Site. Why is this important? Google and Bing do not look for sites. They are looking for people who help people. Think if Wikipedia. This site is designed to give people information. The founder of Wikipedia built a site for people. That’s why they show up on almost every search you do. That means what you do have to be useful to others. Ask yourself this important question. “Is my site/blog helping others fill a need?” If the answer is no, then no one will want to share it with others.

2) Comment on other peoples Blogs. Not only will guest posting get you traffic from relevant websites, it’s also a great way to get links with custom anchor text around the key phrases you want to rank for. It also gives weight for you to ask for big bloggers to promote a current article of yours if you are a constant contributor to their blogs.

Now that we know what to do, where do we do it?

Google +

Google Maps

LinkedIn

Digg

Yelp

Youtube

Ezine Articles

HubPages

Manta

Facebook

Twitter

What you do not want to do!

• Building Links too Fast – Build links very quickly is usually unnatural. There may be times where write a post that gets hundreds of links overnight and that’s not going to penalize you, but just be careful about building too many links for your site as a whole. There are sites that will send your link to hundreds of sites that will just link to yours. This is going to backfire and take months to fix. Google and Bing look at the sites that do the linking. If they are beneficial sites, you will do well. If all those sites do is link after link, if will bring you to the back of the line.
• Using Spammy Resources – Not all links are created equal. You can’t control who links to you, but just be careful where you focus your link building time.
• Taking Part in Link Exchanges – This is an outdated technique that search engines look for. Don’t add sites just because they added you.
• Buying Backlinks- This is another technique that I am surprised to still see. When you see someone selling 500 backlinks, this will only hurt you! Backlinks need to go to credible sites, hopefully ones that end in .edu. If they just go to any site, it has no weight and will hold you back. Plus you will be out hundreds of dollars.

Gagliardobc.com

Part 4: Closing through Conversations

Up to now we have made it through the…

Intro

Short Story

Questioning

Presentation

And now we have reached the closing. This is the stage where you determine how well you have used impulse toward your potential customer. Up until now you have told them who are, how you can benefit their lives, ask important questions to find out what they need, and show them a solution to benefit them. Now we close them into agreeing to purchase the product or service. How do we initiate this sequence?

Simple!

“Great! What’s the name you want this under?”

From there if they are impulsed enough they will give you all the information you need. It can be a name, phone number, address, etc.

At the end shake their hand, smile, and tell them they are going to be happy with the service.

I’m sure you have been thinking the entire time that nothing I have said in the past few weeks is rocket science. You know what?!? You’re right!

I bet you’re also thinking that I must be dumb to think that people will not through objections into the conversation to make it this simple. Again, you are right. I did not want to confuse you each week on common objections. That is why Part 6 is going to contain objections and how to overcome them. But next week we have the last step of the conversation! Weird, that the conclusion isn’t the end right? It’s a section I like to call… I guess you will have to wait until next week to find out 😉

Related articles

Gagliardobc.com

• Part 1- Intro (petergagliardo.wordpress.com)
• Part 2: Short Story- Selling by Conversation (petergagliardo.wordpress.com)
• Part 3: Presentation when selling through conversation (petergagliardo.wordpress.com)

How to improve your website: 6 Steps to make it user friendly

1. Keep it simple. Remove unnecessary images since it allows the important information to stand out.  This will create a balance to make your page more visually appealing and easier to read and follow. When people look at your page their focus starts on the top left, goes to the right and then focuses on the text of the page. Most people focus on the text rather than the images.
2. You should have a clean background. The background color you chose should have the ability to estimate the overall appeal of the website.  Remember step one of keep it simple. A lot of texture and graphics in the background can be distracting. The more texture you add to the background, the less noticeable your text and images become to the viewer. The problem we run into is that people use a color for the background and do not contrast the text color to make it stand out. You can almost never go wrong black text and white background because it’s easy to read. Be careful when using the colors red and yellow. They stand out, but tire your eyes quickly.
3. You should have a toolbar for easy navigation. Most web users look for the toolbar across the top, down the left the left hand side of the page, or at the bottom.  Never forget to add a link back to the homepage on the toolbar.
4. Your page should be easy to read.  You can do this by breaking up blocks of text and by creating short paragraphs. You should think of what the key points on each page are and create headings and subheadings. When doing this you should only use one or two fonts. You should select one font for your headings and subheadings and another for the body text.
5. Make sure your page has NO horizontal scrolling. I know I don’t like when I have to scroll left or right to read a page because it’s annoying, so if you’ve got it, lose it. Vertical scrolling is ok if you have to have it. If you have a lot of information you should put that information on to another page and provide links. Remember, you run the risk of a person missing vital information that falls below the screen if a user decides not to scroll down to view it or skips certain sections because there is too much to read. Try to keep all your important information above the fold.
6. The 5 second rule. As a society we are impatient and when it takes more than 5 seconds to connect to a website we move onto the next page. Users want to make contact, and make it quick since everyone has limited time. You need to ensure that your pages load as quickly as possible. This can be achieved by eliminating unnecessary graphics.

Gagliardobc.com

 

How to increase Website Traffic: Part 1

We are going to discuss 10 ways to increase your website traffic. Part 1 covers ways 1-3. Some ways are free and others cost money. In my experience free is nice, but spending money is how to drive traffic quicker. Those being said, never overlook free options because they build a long term client base.

1) Make sure you offer free, original, and quality content on your site or blog. When you have information that others cannot get elsewhere that is the same quality, they will come to your page to get the answer they are looking for. How do you ensure that your content is of higher quality than competitors?

– Creating content that is helpful and useful.  You need to solve a problem, achieve a goal, entertain, and give quality information. The days of copying others people work is in the past.

– Keep it fresh. How often do you complete updates? Would you work or shop with someone who has one post from 3 years ago or a person who updates their page or blog often? Add fresh content every few days if possible; at a minimum, weekly. Repeat visitors are happy visitors.

– You need to have a fully functioning website. This means you need to make sure your tags are in place and all your links are working. The best way to do this is to look at your sitemap.xml. This is what Google and other websites use to have your website show up (nothing to do with ranking). There is a tool that inspects websites just in case you missed tags and links and it creates a free sitemap.xml file. It gives you results in minutes.

– Sometimes you need to outsource article writing. I know this sounds crazy because who knows more about what you want to write about than you. What’s great about outsourcing? You have no following, so you are limited. Outsource companies have a following. Is it worth spending as little as $5 to reach 5,000 people or do it yourself and reach 50 people? Once you have your following, take over the reins and write articles yourself.

– Add videos to your site that is informative and relevant. Respected studies show that good video can improve conversions and page ranking more than most any other item you can add to your pages.

– Use landing pages for fast fulfillment of your PPC advertisement.

– Launch some contests. It’ll draw you instant traffic. You can Goggle search some free sponsor program and do such contest frequently. People LOVE getting free stuff.

2) Supplement your original content. Leverage available free content from sources with Creative Commons licenses that support your website message that readers will share. Find for-fee products that will allow you to fully use premium branded content that is legally allowed to be shared.

3) This one is important. It can make or break your page rank and customer base. Trying to get more back links on your website this may help to increase the traffic. In the past you could just put links on any page and yahoo and Google would think it was a great article. Now-a-days it’s the reverse. Search engines look at how credible a site is. If you can get your info on an .edu site you will raise quickly to the top. Other things to look at when creating back links are…

–Get a proofreader. Poor spelling and grammar reflect badly on the services and information being provided. You want to avoid unwarranted negative judgments by getting the writing in order prior to publication online.

–Never copy and paste. You should be putting your own team’s creativity online. Search engines are too smart for this now-a-days and will detect copied and unoriginal content, sending you to the bottom of the rankings.

 

Gagliardobc.com

Loss Prevention and Security Field: What we do for you

While our training techniques will work with any industry, we have a specialization in Loss Prevention and Security Field. This can include selling equipment as well as services. This is because we have a stronger background in these fields. What we do is unique because we work with you and your client to sell your services for you. Loss Prevention and security fields are the hidden soldiers of any company. People do not realize our importance until they need us, and we hope they see that before it’s too late.

We understand the difficult nature of selling these features to potential clients. This is because when we do our job correctly, the client may not see the work we put into it.

As an example. I was working with a Large Security company about a year ago about a current client. The client flat out told me that he does not see a need for security guards. When I asked why his response was that nothing has gone wrong, so it’s a waste of money.

At the time, I had to let out a little giggle. How could he not see what the guards did to prevent breaches, or ensure all the emergency equipment was ready at all times? Needless to say after talking with the company and explaining that security guards are the hidden essential employees, he saw what they did. The end result? The company boosted their security presence and spent over 1 million dollars in new CCTV equipment, access controls, and guards.

What do we bring to the table that other sales companies do not?
1) Professionalism- We take our work seriously. We know that our impression may be the first impression a company sees. How we look and act is vital to your success

2) Interviewing/Training- As I mentioned before, we have decades of experience in Security and Loss Prevention. We know what it takes to fill a site and build a team. It takes the right person to make your contract last as long as you want it.

3) Transparency- We hide nothing that we do. Everything we do is able to be seen and approved so everyone is on the same page. We do this by coming to you and going to the client in person. This is because trust is built by personal interaction. Not phone calls or emails. Once we meet everyone in person, we may continue everything by other forms of communication.

4) Dedicated person to your account- We want our team to be able to focus on you and no one else. Yes that means we have limited space available and only help 1 client per account manager at a time.

What we do not do…
1) Write Contracts- We use the contract and service you provide to us. We do not alter anything without permission and approval first.
2) Find Clients- We do not find clients for you. We are here to sell your products and services for you. What we do is contact the clients that you are interested in and once we discuss what you want out of the potential client, we proceed to make that happen for you.

In the end, we want to see you increase your sales and services to a new level and want to see your company be a top competitor for the industry!
Visit us at Gagliardobc.com and contact us with any questions.

Name(required)

Email(required)

Website

Comment(required)

Submit

Δ

 

Gagliardobc.com

Gagliardobc.com Security and Loss Prevention Sales

Empathy: Why is it important for leaders?

One of the most important skills we have as a leader. It is teachable to children, but as adults it’s almost impossible to learn. Empathy is the ability to see and value what another person is feeling or experiencing. When we see someone in pain and feel that response in our own gut, that’s empathy. When we see someone crying tears of joy at an important reunion and notice ourselves choking up, that’s empathy. When we see someone struggling with a problem and feel an emotional pull to help, that’s empathy. It’s a core skill for what psychologists call “pro-social” behavior – the actions that are involved in building close relationships, maintaining friendships, and developing strong communities. It appears to be the central reality necessary for developing a conscience, as well. As leaders this allows us to see build our relationship with our team, family, and friends. It shows that we have their best interests at heart when we make decisions.
One thing I always find myself saying to my daughter is, “think about how what you did made your sister feel,” we are training our kids in empathy and inviting them to recognize the importance of taking others’ feelings into account. Why is this important? How we treat others depicts how we will be treated. As leaders we need to feel for our co-workers and what’s going on with their life, so they will do the best they can to work harder and more efficiently.How can we show Empathy?
•Put words to the emotions. Feelings are complex bio-chemical realities that take place in our whole bodies, but not necessarily involving our logical brain! Naming them can be trickier than we sometimes realize. We have a great many words in our language to try to express the various shadings of sadness, anger or fear.
•Feel out loud. Modeling the behavior you want your team to emulate is one of the best Leadership strategies around. Employees are watching us all the time and what we do influences them as much or more than what we say. Share your thoughts and feelings about situations in the family, what friends are going through, what that kid at school your son is complaining about might be feeling, what you see on TV. No need to be heavy-handed or lecture about it. Simply share what the other person may be feeling or going through and how that affects you, makes you consider how to help.
•Include empathy as part of discipline. Make sure you include conversation about how people are affected by a problem in the creation of the solution. Get your team members to consider how their aggrieved co-worker might have felt when they got hurt or when someone took something without asking. Show empathy to the perpetrator, too, so they see how this empathy can guide consequences, as well.
•Reward empathy. When we notice your employees doing the right thing, a reward “out of the blue” can be a powerful way to influence their behavior in the future. Pay attention to when your teams are responding out of empathy, reaching out to help, changing their behavior out of concern for another, and let them know you value and support what they’re doing. Recognition and affirmation are often reward enough.
•Be patient. None of us is perfectly empathetic all the time, even as adults. To ask your team to put others first or even to be able to have the emotional energy to notice what someone else is feeling when they are upset is asking a lot. As with all things human, progress is slow and accumulates over time as skills (and brains!) develop. Just keep pointing these moments out and modeling the skills the best you can.

 

Gagliardobc.com

6 Spots Open for Sales Training

I’m looking for 6 people to test my sales training techniques. Cost: FREE except I want feedback (good or bad) and recommendations to others. Message me if you are interested or want more details.

Please share to get a wider audience.