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A Weekly Letter With Tips and Ideas to Improve How Your Life and Business Work - and Other Interesting Things that Catch my Eye!
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December 23, 2017 - Issue 17-52
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Good afternoon. And Merry Christmas! I hope you are surrounded by people important to you for this holiday season, whatever holiday you celebrate, or don't.
People who've been reading this letter for some time will recognize the theme of this week's message.
As I so often do (looking back over the past year and a half, I counted 7 related articles -
here and
here are two examples), I'll talk about the value of good dedicated employees and how employees get to be that way. I'll take on this topic from the point of view of our community in northwest Argentina, La Estancia de Cafayate (LEC).
December 11 was a day set aside as Employee Recognition Day in Argentina. Activities at La Estancia de Cafayate included an employees' golf tournament in the morning, in which 15 employees participated, along with two property owners, David and Jeff. The winners of the tournament were announced and rewarded at the dinner later.
Kurt, a fellow LEC property owner and friend from Belgium and Mauritius, and I learned of the dinner that evening at Doña Argentina, a casual restaurant and folklore club in Cafayate. We were welcomed to attend on fairly short notice. I'm so glad we did.
For me it was an eye-opening view of Argentine and LEC culture.
For a description of this amazing experience, please read on below...and enjoy!
John Stevens at Unity Copywriting
Marketing Support for the Business Coaching Industry
Office and cell phone: 814-590-3854 or 603-835-3215
In Argentina: +54(country code) 9 3868 459586
Skype: johnbstevens1943
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Please Help me Spread my Message Where It's Welcome
Please remember to pass this letter along to anyone you think will enjoy and benefit from it, and/or might like to receive my messages every week. Just click the "" link at the bottom of this one, or here. If this message was forwarded to you, and you'd like to join us regularly, please click on the "SIGN UP FOR EMAILS" link below or here. You'll be automatically added to my mailing list, and I guarantee that will not generate promotions from anyone else. Your privacy is of the utmost importance to me.
If you'd rather not receive these messages any more, you're welcome to click the "UNSUBSCRIBE" link here or at the foot of this message. I'll miss you, but I'd rather send these ideas to those who find benefit in them.
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Over 90% Attendance!
To establish the background for my comments, I'll run through some important facts about this event and the conditions at LEC:
Subjective Impressions - the Important Stuff!
After a very nice dinner of stuffed chicken with lots of beer, wine and soft drinks, one of the golf course workers came to the front of the group, borrowed a guitar from the musician, sang a few songs, and then poked fun at various members of the staff, all in a very good-natured way. He was what the Argentinians call a "payador" (a character who would communicate with music around a campfire in the past, when most of the gauchos were illiterate). This was all received with great enthusiasm by all, and virtually everyone participated.
During the after-dinner festivities several people performed folkloric dancing, a lovely and sensual art form in Argentina.
Many of the attendees were dressed in evening clothes. Women had their hair done especially for the event. I found several people difficult to recognize, as they looked so different from the way we see them in work attire.
The spirit and enthusiasm exhibited throughout the evening were palpable. I see this as a tribute to the culture of cooperation and enthusiasm promoted by the LEC management, the employee peer group, and the owners with whom the employees interact.
At Felicitas' (the Resort Manager) request, I had written a few comments to be read at the dinner. One of the nice surprises of being there in person was that I got to read them myself in my halting Spanish! They were well-received, and followed by words of recognition and gratitude by Resort Manager Felicitas.
The length-of-service statistics and the great camaraderie displayed during the entire evening, especially during Julio's "payador" performance, are testament to the positive culture at LEC. People "hang around" a place that long only when it's a pleasure to work there. It's important that the intangible rewards are there, in addition to the paycheck.
As I've suggested before (again, the links to previous issues here and here), for any organization employees are the most important asset. It's good to see that, here at LEC, the employees' value is well recognized and celebrated. This is a huge factor in their overall satisfaction in working here...and in my, and my friends', enjoyment of life in La Estancia.
Besides learning a lot about Argentine and LEC culture, It was just simply great fun to be among this lively, enthusiastic group.
Bravo, LEC Employees and Management!
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Do More of What
You Love Doing -
and What
You Get PAID For!
Do you coach or advise business leaders on ways to improve their businesses? If so, when you're face to face, or on the phone, with your clients, that's the work you signed up for, that you love...AND that you get paid for.
Writing effective promotional, or even just conversational, material to attract new business takes hard, focused work. It's also very important in staying top-of-mind with your prospects and clients. If you're doing that writing yourself, it diverts your time and attention from the clients you're already helping. Your coaching work, also very absorbing, distracts you from your promotional writing. That likely makes your business-building less effective. I can focus on that writing while you put your time and effort toward your most important work.
Call Unity Copywriting today and learn how I can eliminate this distraction for you, and help you stay in touch with your important sources of business. Let me write a regular e-newsletter for you (similar to the one you're reading - these are my specialty) or other pieces to help you build and nurture relationships with your prospects and clients. I'll go to great lengths (not necessary the length of the message, unless you want it that way!) to describe how you serve your clients, and how prospective clients can benefit from working with you.
Note: If you'd like to experience the benefits of my writing in a low-cost sample, call me to discuss what it will take to rewrite and enhance your LinkedIn presence. Depending on the complexity of your LinkedIn pages, I can usually do this for a few hundred dollars.
For many people, this doubles or triples their LinkedIn recognition.
Put My Experience to Work for You...
For several recent years I was a business coach, and before that I worked in various operations management roles during a long and varied career. So I've been practicing and studying leadership and teamwork for over 45 years. With this background, I'm uniquely qualified to explain the benefits you offer to your clients and prospects. I love writing about this work and I'd love to talk with you about how we can work together to promote your business most effectively. Please let me hear from you!
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Have you a stimulating story about enthusiastic employees? And how they got that way? (Hint: It always happens as a result some form of enlightened leadership!). Such stories fascinate me - I'd love to hear yours. Would you like to discuss something else? Bring it on! Let's talk about whatever's on your mind.
Do the ideas in any of my messages contribute to making your life and business more enjoyable and effective...or, do you have some reservations about them? I very much look forward to hearing your thoughts and experiences and learning from them. Call me or email me. I promise I'll respond.
If you email or text me whatever's on your mind, please give me a phone number or a Skype address. Or you could send me a Skype contact request (see my Skype address below) and mention that you read my newsletter. It's really important to mention this - with all the spammers, phishermen, etc. out there, I'm very selective about my connections on networking services. If your name is unfamiliar to me, I'll consider your contact request when you tell me the reason you want to connect with me, and...
Conversations are often necessary to discuss complex ideas. Conversations occur only in real-time, two(or more)-way exchanges; hence my request for your call or the information I need to call you. That way we can have a real conversation about your thoughts. Email and other forms of one-way communication are data transfers, and are very useful for many types of communication. However, they are extremely limited in their ability to convey the ideas, emotions, and inflections that characterize conversations. It's estimated that words, which are the total content of an email, convey only about seven percent of the total import of a message. Sure, you can add emoticons, which help marginally, so maybe the percentage becomes 10 or 12 - still very limited. So please call me or tell me how to call you.
Here are all the ways you can reach me.
Help me Spread my Message Where It's Welcome...
If you know someone you think will find value in the ideas I discuss each week, I encourage you to forward this to them, using the "
" link here or at the end of this message. If this was forwarded to you, and you'd like to hear more, please click the "
SIGN UP FOR EMAILS
" link below, or here. You'll be automatically added to my mailing list, which I
never
sell, rent, or even add a name to without permission.
Your privacy is enormously important to me.
On the other hand, if you'd rather stop receiving these messages, simply click the "
UNSUBSCRIBE" link here or at the bottom of this message. I'll promptly remove you from the list...and I promise you won't hurt my feelings. It's my desire to send these ideas only to people who find them valuable.
Join me here again next week for more unique ideas on life and business...and
thanks for reading this week's message.
Have a wonderful week celebrating however you do at this time of year
, and contact me
to discuss how we can partner up to add value to what
you
do. Our investigation as to how we can mutually benefit from working together is totally on me - no obligation or cost will arise from that conversation. You won't pay me a dime until you hire me to write something for you.
Be well, my friends. Merry Christmas!
John Stevens
Unity Copywriting
Marketing Support for the Business Coaching Industry
Office and cell phone: 814-590-3854 or 603-835-3215
In Argentina: +54(country code) 9 3868 459586
Skype: johnbstevens1943
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About John
Throughout a career spanning over 45 years my management style has been one of building teams to bring several competent people together to focus on a common objective.
As I transition to life in the Argentine outback, my focus will shift to helping other business coaches and advisers get their message out to their prospective clients. With my first-hand knowledge of the benefits of effective business coaching, I am uniquely qualified to work with business advisers of all stripes convey their message.
Contact Info
John B. Stevens, Freelance Copywriter
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