Uplevel Your Mediation Business: How to Offer Compelling Value to Your Market, Online and Off

Are you a mediator who wonders…

• What the marketplace really wants from someone with your skills?
• How to stand out in the crowd authentically and without arrogance?
• How to get the ball rolling with word-of-mouth marketing?
• How to leverage social media and the web to attract prospective clients?

This one-day seminar less than an hour’s drive from Boston and easily accessible from the northern New England states, will answer these questions and more. In an engaging, interactive learning environment you’ll learn the four pillars of mediation marketing and how to use them to craft a simple, effectively marketing strategy you’ll want to act on. You’ll learn how to find those most interested in what you offer and how to connect with them, online and off. And you’ll discover straightforward actions you can take now, in a down economy, to attract new clients and position yourself well as the economy improves.

Seminar enrollment is capped at just 15 to give you plenty of focused one-on-one time. We’ll be in a comfortable, professional conference room with plenty of windows and wireless access, so bring your laptop if you have one. Morning snacks and a deli lunch are included in the ticket price. My style is professionally informal — come in casual business attire and be ready to have fun and walk away with a clear 90-day implementation strategy.

Learn more about the seminar and register here:

Uplevel Your Mediation Business: How to Offer Compelling Value to Your Market, Online and Off

Hope to see you there,

Making Mediation Your Day Job by Tammy Lenski is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Based on a work at MakingMediationYourDayJob.com.

The value of extended, integrated mediator education

by Tammy Lenski, Alice Estey and Susanne Terry

Traditional approaches to mediation training rely heavily on mastery of technique, strategy, rules and structure. Some also provide companion workshops in theory, research, ethics and content knowledge for specific types of disputes.

Many, if not most, professional and part-time mediators in the U.S. receive their training through a series of self-selected, intermittent workshops of one to 10 days’ duration. This cafeteria-like approach to mediator preparation, where mediators select items á la carte according to interest, has some of the same benefits as buffet food: Freedom to taste as much or as little as one likes, and the opportunity to experiment with new selections without significant investment. This allows “digestion on the run” so that other work and life commitments can continue on center stage.

It is entirely possible tor a mediator to become competent, even excellent, through the self-built training program, and there are a number of practicing professional mediators whose consistently high quality of service to others reflects this reality.

That said, we believe the cafeteria approach has noteworthy limitations for the mediator, for the field, and perhaps, in some instances, for clients. Since we have the good fortune to teach mediation in a graduate program that places high value on extended, integrated preparation, we’d like to paint a picture of what’s possible when mediators have ongoing opportunities to interact with the same instructors, receive regular, in-depth feedback on progress and are intentionally challenged to develop a deeper understanding of theory and more extensive practice of their craft.

The program at Vermont’s Woodbury Institute is based on a three-pronged framework tor advancing mediation as the primary profession of the practitioner: (1) develop masterful professionals capable of mediating any kind of dispute in which they’re interested, (2) foster heightened mediator self-awareness, and (3) contribute to the credibility of the field through the accomplishment of the first two goals.

Developing masterful mediators

One risk of stand-alone basic mediation training is that new mediators may mechanically replicate methodology, perhaps even zealously embrace it, without a broader context to guide them. The result can be an unintentional indoctrination into a specific mediation “camp” or “method” due to insufficient awareness of other approaches, skills, tools and the values and beliefs upon which they’re based.

When we designed the curriculum for the master’s in mediation and applied conflict studies several years ago, we focused on helping mediators move beyond a recipe of rules, techniques and processes attached to one style or school. Because of the length of the program, students have the time and the depth of learning to make meaningful choices about how they will approach their work not only in ways that satisfy and serve clients well, but which are also consistent with their own deeply-held values and principles.

We designed the program to be anchored by faculty with whom students have ongoing relationships over multiple courses that were deliberately interwoven. This encouraged students to examine their own relationships with conflict, deepen their understanding of the work they’re asking parties to do, and develop ways of knowing and working that aren’t limited by the conflict cultures in which they grew up or practiced in earlier professions. We wanted to give students the time and learning space to look into the mirror held up by instructors and learn from what they see reflected back.

Fostering mediators’ self-awareness

Excellent mediators develop a keen form of self-awareness that creates fodder for continuously improving their work. Such practitioners not only self-reflect deeply on their work, but also know how to translate those musings into greater artistry in practice.

In our experience, this self-awareness begins with the act of unlearning. The deep grooves of behavioral response worn into our students from years of navigating the world of communication, social interaction and conflict do not yield automatically to the introduction of new skills and knowledge. This is particularly true for mediation students who come from another field of origin, such as law or counseling, because old frameworks for problem solving are often deeply ingrained. An extended education program creates the space and mechanisms for students to return to “beginner’s mind,” that state described by Buddhist philosopher Suzuki with the words, “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities; in the expert’s mind there are few.”

We’ve noticed that newly minted mediators don’t really know what they don’t know. Our graduate mediation students often display wonderful confidence and solid ability after 30-40 hours of preparation. With more and regularly occurring instruction, they begin to second-guess themselves and lose that initial glow of confidence. We consider this a good thing! This is when we know they are beginning to unlearn and we’re witnessing the process of a re-wiring of old neural pathways being replaced by new ones, of old problem-solving crutches being set aside.

Over a period of months we observe students’ progress, challenge them, push against what they think they already know and ask difficult questions. We believe that one of the mediator’s most powerful tools is the use of “self as instrument.” To help our students begin to use who they are as one of the tools in their toolbox, we invite them regularly into the hard work of honestly exploring their own interior terrain. This on-going interaction between teacher and student, with the trust of challenge and support that’s built over rime, enables this difficult work to unfold in ways that intermittent trainings are rarely able to foster.

Building the credibility of the field

Mediators help parties navigate some of life’s most difficult moments: the dissolution of a marriage or a business, the evolution of a workplace team, decision-making about end-of-life care, negotiations over significant environmental and land issues. Considered in this context, it seems insufficient that the professionals assisting disputing parties in these major life matters may have had the equivalent of a week’s worth of specialized classes (distinct from their professions of origin) to prepare them for such a pivotal role.

We believe that the credibility of our field will advance when professional mediators make in-depth investment in their learning and development, in much the way required in other fields. While formal “school” learning never ensures professional excellence in any field, advanced, cohesive educational programs, along with the selecting and weeding that inevitably goes with them, significantly improve the quality of practitioners in any profession. Law students or counseling students with six credits completed are quite different professionals than ones who complete several more terms of study and practice, regardless of their first profession.

There is also the matter of hybridization—some would label it appropriation—of the mediation field. We believe the field will gain credibility when we abandon the current vogue of identifying practitioners with hybrid professional labels. The labels “attorney- mediator” and “counselor-mediator,” for instance, convey that the roles are somehow linked in practice, and reinforce the notion that the mediator role cannot or should not stand alone.

We invite professionals to name themselves as mediators and mediators only, to assume that role as primary, and to acquire the kind of cohesive preparation worthy of a profession that is pivotal in some of the most important matters and difficult decisions in people’s lives.

	Tammy Lenski, Ed.D., in private practice since 1997, served on the core faculty of Woodbury College’s Master’s Program in Mediation & Applied Conflict Studies for nine years.
	Alice Estey, M.A., teaches mediation skills, negotiation, and ethics in the Woodbury program; she is a mediator and conflict management specialist in private practice since 1994.
	Susanne Terry, M.S., is a mediator, facilitator and consultant in the public and private sectors worldwide. She founded and teaches in the Woodbury Mediation Program.

© 2007 by Tammy Lenski, Alice Estey and Susanne Terry.

That’s the question we asked and the answer we discussed and debated in the most recent episode of the Cafe Mediate podcast.

Joining me were fellow New Englander Diane Levin of The Mediation Channel, London-based Amanda Bucklow of The Mediation Times, and New Yorker Jeff Thompson of Enjoy Mediation (and whose Project Bluejay is worth checking out).

Listen to the podcast at the Cafe Mediate site or get it on iTunes.

Future Cafe Mediate topics include certification, getting the best training and preparation, mediation “schools” or “styles,” getting past fear of failure, debunking persistent myths about our work, and social media best practices. Have a topic you’d like us to discuss? Leave us a comment to let us know.

Many thanks to Jeff, Amanda and Diane for engaging conversation, great spirit, and smart, collaborative thinking. I’m privileged to have colleagues like you to bounce ideas off of and spark my thinking.

Making Mediation Your Day Job by Tammy Lenski is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Based on a work at MakingMediationYourDayJob.com.

There are five critical characteristics that affect the rate at which a new idea gets adopted broadly in the marketplace. Know the five — and how to address them in your marketing efforts — and you have a powerful key not only for your own success, but also for helping professional conflict management and resolution gain traction broadly. More work for any good mediator means, ultimately, more work for all mediators.

Alan AtKisson, environmental sustainability expert, the powerhouse behind the Sustainable Seattle project, and writer on the “diffusion of innovation,” says this about spreading innovation:

Researchers have discovered that the adoption of an innovation in any given population follows a fairly predictable pattern. An innovation starts with an innovator, often a single individual with a new idea. (”New” here means unknown to the culture, even if the idea is very old.) After its conception, an innovation spreads slowly at first — usually through the work of change agents, who actively promote it — then picks up speed as more and more people adopt it. Eventually it reaches a saturation level, where virtually everyone who is going to adopt the innovation has done so.

AtKisson identifies five critical characteristics for increasing the rate at which a “new” idea — like professional mediation — gets adopted by the mainstream. I’ve described each and how it’s relevant to your mediation marketing.

Characteristic 1: Relative Advantage

An innovation will spread more quickly if it’s perceived as better than the status quo – that is, its advantage relative to the status quo is quite clear in the potential adopter’s mind.

For mediation to gain market traction, the market needs to see it as better in some way than these other common options:

• Doing nothing or handling it yourself. This remains the most widely adopted option in conflict situations in virtually every market.
• Intervention by someone with authority. In commercial and business settings, this might include human resources or senior leadership.
• Litigation. While mediation marketing commonly makes the case for mediation by contrasting it to litigation and the accompanying financial and emotional tolls, only a very small number of business disputes escalate to litigation. The status quo isn’t litigation for most conflict and disputes, including those in the business arena.

Until mediators collectively do a better job of contrasting mediation’s relative advantage over the above “big three” options, adoption rate will rise slowly.

Characteristic 2: Compatibility

To spread, an innovation needs to fit well with people’s existing values, past experiences and present needs.

If you want to increase your ADR marketing success, you need to figure out what your target market values, what problem-solving approaches they already know and use, and explicitly connect your value offer to those.

For instance, if your market values direct dialogue for resolving disputes and preserving the business relationship, they’re apt to be more attracted to a style of mediation that doesn’t rely solely on caucus to negotiate a resolution. If your market distrusts neutrality, then they may be more attracted to working with a negotiation coach who’ll figuratively “step to their side” and advise them, than a professional mediator.

Characteristic 3: Complexity

The easier it is for people to understand and use the innovation, the faster the adoption rate.

This is a particular challenge for mediators. The public still doesn’t really know what mediation is because the term is often used interchangeably with negotiation and arbitration in the media, and because mediation conducted by one mediator can look quite different than mediation conducted by another. The public doesn’t yet know how to find the kind of mediator who will be a good fit for their particular situation and values, and too often assume that one size fits all, sometimes leading to disillusionment with all of mediation. And court-associated mediation carries some of the same procedural and systemic complexity that litigation carries – hardly a way to make mediation simpler to adopt than litigation.

Mediators who de-complexify the process of getting to the mediation table will help diffuse mediation faster. This translates into re-thinking the procedural maze associated with some court-associated ADR. And for mediation outside of the legal arena, it translates into minimizing the hoops mediators require parties to jump through to get to the table.

Characteristic 4: Trialability

If people can try out an innovation in some form, without first having to commit to it all at once, the adoption rate will increase.

Trialability is not an unfamiliar idea if you’ve ever walked by the product sample lady in the supermarket.

The challenge for mediation, of course, is that its confidential nature makes sampling difficult. Videos of roleplays (even unscripted ones), while informative, don’t achieve trialability in the true sense because the viewer knows what they’re watching isn’t fully real. They’re not really sampling; they’re watching someone else sampling.

The answer to this challenge may well be in the time-tested process of networking. Networking, online and in person, allows your market to sample who you are instead of what you do. The most effective networking builds trust and gives your market the opportunity to experience how you think, what you’re like, and how credible you are. It’s a shorter leap to buy your services for a market that already knows and trusts you as a person and as a professional in your field.

Characteristic 5: Observability

If people use an innovation and the good results are visible by others, the innovation will spread more rapidly.

Observability is tricky stuff for people whose product is invisible. Self-promotion by talking about your successes at networking events, on blogs, and via social networking sites doesn’t rise to the level of observability. Credible observability comes from others talking about your work and the good results they achieved because of you.

Add to this challenge the real possibility that consumers of mediation may not really observe that the mediator is helping the dispute or conflict get sorted out. In Daniel Bowling and David Hoffman’s Bringing Peace Into the Room: How the Personal Qualities of the Mediator Impact the Process of Conflict Resolution, Peter Adler describes this small research project:

Several years ago, Kem Lowry of the University of Hawaii Department of Urban and Regional Planning did an analysis of some thirty successfully mediated cases that had been in a program I directed…First Lowry asked the mediators in our cases to explain what they did to bring about success. Then he asked the parties in those same cases what they actually observed the mediators doing. The mediators – myself included – gave elaborate explanations of strategies, timing, and tactics. We identified how we went about conducting our conflict analyses and circumscribing issues to be worked on. We deciphered the breakdowns, breakthroughs, and the windows of opportunity both lost and found. The participants in our cases had a very different view. What they recalled us doing was opening the room, making coffee, and getting everyone introduced.

So how to build credible observability for both the ADR field and for individual mediators? Some ways include:

• Testimonials. Not just any testimonial, but ones in which the writer or speaker explicitly describes what you did that helped.
• Tapping people with courage. Some folks who’ve used mediation won’t discuss it with others, even when they’re happy with the results. It’s the dirty-laundry thing. But the blogging, cell phone generation may have fewer inhibitions. You need to find the people with courage to talk – again, very specifically – about what you did that helped.
• Tapping people affected positively when the parties work things out. If successful observability is about making the good results visible to others, you may have more success getting people who weren’t directly involved in the mediation to talk about the successes. People like HR directors, managers, CEOs, and legal counsel.

To integrate these ideas into your mediation marketing, answer each of these questions for your own practice and use your answers to design your approach:

1. What is the conflict status quo for my particular market and how can I demonstrate to them that my services are a vastly preferable alternative?
2. How do my services speak explicitly to the values, past experiences and present needs of my market, and how will I convey that to my market?
3. How can I make the adoption and use of my services as straightforward and simple as possible and how can I best alert my market about that?
4. What will I do to give members of my market the opportunity to sample me and/or my services?
5. How can I make the good results I’ve had with my clients observable by my prospective clients?

This article was originally printed in the ACR Commercial Section Newsletter, December 2009.

Making Mediation Your Day Job by Tammy Lenski is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Based on a work at MakingMediationYourDayJob.com.

The Conflict Dynamics Profile® (CDP) is one of those tools. I’ve been certified in the use of the CDP since 2005 and decided it was high time to blog about the CDP.

Nancy Pridgen, Communications Director for the Center for Conflict Dynamics at Eckerd College, graciously agreed to a brief interview. The Center, home of the CDP, helps leaders and organizations maximize the benefits and minimize the harmful effects of conflict through assessment and training, research and publishing. Nancy holds a B.A. and J.D. from the University of Florida and is a member of the Florida Bar. She has special interests in conflict management, team leadership, and executive coaching.

Tammy: What is the Conflict Dynamics Profile® and what is it designed to do?

Nancy: The CDP is an assessment tool which improves self-awareness of what triggers conflict in individuals as well as how they respond to conflict. The instrument examines particular conflict behaviors, both constructive and destructive. Through feedback from the instrument and a subsequent plan of action, people can become more effective at resolving conflicts.

Tammy: What are the optimal circumstances for using the CDP?

Nancy: The CDP can be used in all kinds of settings, but probably the best scenario would be a situation where an individual or an organization wants to be conflict competent and is willing to practice those behaviors that result in more effective conflict resolution skills. By creating an action plan and working in a proactive way to improve conflict skills, people can prevent conflicts from occurring in the first place and enhance their leadership effectiveness.

Tammy: In what circumstances have you found the CDP not particularly helpful?

Nancy: The CDP can be beneficial in a myriad of circumstances, but since it is focused solely on conflict resolution skills, it would not be appropriate for someone who wants a broad-based assessment of overall leadership skills unless it was used in conjunction with other assessment instruments.

Tammy: What are some of the ways you’re seeing the CDP used most?

Nancy: The CDP is being used in all kinds of training situations including leadership development, team building, and, of course, conflict resolution. Not only is it used as a “preventative” tool to reduce the amount of conflict in the future, but it also is used to address current, ongoing situations, including everything from a one-on-one disagreement, to a dysfunctional team, to an overall pattern throughout an organization of destructive conflict management.

The CDP is also used quite a bit in individual coaching, individual and team mediation, and organizational development projects examining conflict culture and change initiatives.

One other way it is used is through the process of developing “Teaming Standards” or team norms for interacting with one another. Individuals gain self-awareness of their own behaviors, share their strengths and development needs with other team members, and then the team as a whole arrives at a set standard of how it is going to operate in the future when faced with conflict situations.

Tammy: Describe one thing you’ve learned from your research that might be of interest to conflict resolution practitioners like mediators and conflict coaches.

Nancy: Our research finds that for everyone in the workplace, whether it be male, female, manager, or subordinate, the “hottest” (most upsetting) hot button is untrustworthiness. (Tammy sidenote: Now that’s a whole separate blog post right there.)

Tammy: What methods are available to folks for getting certified in using the CDP, including methods if they’re not geographically near you?

Nancy: Phone certifications are conducted several times a year where participants can register, prepare 5-6 hours of pre-work, and then “attend” a two-hour certification over the phone. Custom certification programs for several people in an organization can be scheduled either on site or on the Eckerd College campus in St. Petersburg, Florida.

More information on the Conflict Dynamics Profile®

• The Dynamic Conflict Model on which the CDP is based
• About the authors
• Getting certified

Thanks, Nancy, for taking the time to answer my interview questions.

Making Mediation Your Day Job by Tammy Lenski is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Based on a work at MakingMediationYourDayJob.com.

I’m not in the habit of going on rants here at Making Mediation Your Day Job, but the time has come to call out some of you whose sense of entitlement to my time and know-how goes way beyond the pale. Shrugging some of you off isn’t working anymore and your numbers seem to be increasing.

Not usually a fan of taking time for the 5% of readers who can be aggravating when 95% of you are completely fabulous, I’m driven to distraction today by the 7th – 7th! – message that went something like this (I’ve copied this one verbatim and in its entirety):

I read your blog and need some more information from you about marketing my mediation practice, which I started 18 months ago and isn’t making me enough money yet.

• Should I blog? Everyone says I should blog and get on Facebook.
• What should I blog about?
• Do you think a target market of supply chain businesses is a good idea (my background is in supply chain management)?
• What is the maximum you think I can get away with per hour?
• I also need some more training. Where can I get good training in [city]?

How to approach a blogger or author with your questions and requests

Most of us had mothers who taught us the following. For the few of you who didn’t but want to succeed in business, here’s a primer:

1. Begin your message (phone or email or contact form) with a greeting. “Dear Tammy,” “Hi, Tammy, and even “Hey there, Tammy” all work quite well and take you exactly 4 more seconds to type.
2. Somewhere near the beginning of your message use the word “please.”
3. Near the end of the message use the words, “thank you.”
4. When you receive a reply, which was done as a favor and courtesy, write back with a brief note of thanks. Silence in response to another person spending time helping you gratis just isn’t remotely acceptable.
5. If you’re asking for a reply that will take more than 2 minutes of the other person’s time, add something akin to, “I know I’m asking for information/feedback/help that will likely require more than a quick response. I want to be sensitive to the many demands on your time, so please don’t hesitate to let me know if there’s something I can do in return for the generosity of your time.” Just leave the attitude of entitlement completely out of your message.

For the 95% of you with great manners, I hope you’ll continue to contact me with your questions and I’ll do my best to help you find answers. I love that you’re there. For the other 5% of you, I’ll send a copy of this post in reply to your message.

Making Mediation Your Day Job by Tammy Lenski is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Based on a work at MakingMediationYourDayJob.com.

The video ad that plays automatically when you visit a site. The tacky ad with the belly fat jiggling next to stories about tragedy in Haiti. Ads that suddenly expand, taking up half your screen until they finish and return to their original tiny size.

Those ads do little more than guarantee I’ll never purchase the product or service advertised in such an intrusive, annoying way. Apparently the authors of the Readability bookmarklet, Arc90, share my sentiments. If you do, too, you’re going to like this simple little tech tool.

Readability strips away all the clutter on a page and leaves only the main article you want to read, formatted according to a few preferences you set beforehand (font size and style, for instance). It lives in your browser’s toolbar and when you want to use it, you just click it and voila – jiggling belly fat and dancing mortgagees are gone!

Here’s a very short video that shows Readability in action:

[Can't see the embedded video? Click here to view it on the web.]

Get your own free copy of Readability here.

Many of my mediation students have said that to me and I don’t think there’s a mediation trainer or professor alive who hasn’t heard something similar – for good reason.

Notes mediator and trainer (and one of the trainers I first took Basic Mediation from 14 years ago) Sandi Adams, “I have heard many newly trained or beginning mediators ask to observe or listen to ‘a real mediation’ so they might get a better understanding of what exactly the mediator does and says to assist parties in a session. ‘How do you learn mediator-speak?’ they ask.” Roleplays only get you so far.

Opportunities to observe highly skilled, seasoned mediators in action are rare for fledgling mediators, though. So in 1998, Sandi compiled a concise book of examples from her own years of practice – examples of what a mediator might say in each stage of the mediation, in response to typical dilemmas and needs in a session, in response to tricky moments, and to do our work of supporting the parties, helping them negotiate, and attending to the process.

I’ve handed out print copies of What the Fly Heard: What Mediators Say Behind Closed Doors for many years in my mediation trainings. It’s not available in print at this time, but since I get multiple requests each month from mediators who want to observe my sessions or would like advice about how to say something, I approached Sandi about making an e-book version available here. She graciously agreed and I’m pleased to announce it’s now available from me (purchase link is at foot of this article).

The book has nine chapters with examples of mediator language that’s helpful – and language to avoid:

1. Listening in on the Mediator’s Opening Statement
2. Things Mediators Say to Clarify Information and Parties’ Interests
3. Flies in the Ointment – Sticky Comments to Avoid
4. Eavesdropping on Issue Checklist and Agenda Setting
5. Mediator-Speak During the Negotiation Stage
6. You Could Get Burnt – Don’t Fly Near These
7. Say What? Finalizing Any Agreements and Agreement Writing
8. Closing Statement Statements
9. Flypaper – Don’t Get Caught in These Traps

About Sandi Adams

Sandi Adams, MSCM, has been working in the field of conflict resolution since 1982. Her work includes providing direct services of mediation, facilitation, conflict coaching, and conflict resolution, mediation, negotiation, and facilitation trainings. She is also an ADR Advisor for FEMA, and is on the roster for mediating ADA complaint cases.

Previously, she was director of the Mediation Training Program at Woodbury College in Montpelier, VT and Friends Conflict Resolution Services in Philadelphia, PA, and taught at University of North Carolina-Wilmington.

She holds an M.S. in Conflict Management from George Mason University, has been an associate editor of Peacemaking in Your Neighborhood: Mediator’s Handbook, 2nd ed., and has published articles in a number of journals and magazines.

Purchase What the Fly Heard: What Mediators Say Behind Closed Doors here.

Making Mediation Your Day Job by Tammy Lenski is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Based on a work at MakingMediationYourDayJob.com.

There’s an old psychology experiment (if someone can recall the source, please remind me, as I can’t find it) demonstrating that specific requests trump general ones. I was reminded of this experiment when I saw an article by the word-of-mouth marketing geniuses at GasPedal. In In “How to Get Your Fans to Take Action,” they say,

A large fan base is nice, but it’s when you get them to take action that it really pays off. Here’s how:

1> Be specific
2> Make it easy
3> Acknowledge them

1> Be specific
Get fans moving by giving them something specific to act on. Rather than asking for general support, ask for specific things like reviews, volunteers, testimonials, feedback on a new product, donation amounts — whatever. By keeping your requests specific, your fans will know exactly how you need help.

2> Make it easy
People are busy — and while they would love to help you, they don’t always have the time to join in complicated campaigns on your behalf. Make things simpler by removing unnecessary steps, giving them links to where they need to go, and outlining specific instructions on whatever you’re asking. The easier you can make the process, the more likely fans are to participate.

3> Acknowledge them
When a fan shows their support for you, make a big deal about it. Thank them, acknowledge them in front of other fans, and highlight the results of their efforts. Sooner or later, you’re going to be asking your fans to take action again — make it easier next time by showing everyone how much fan support means to your business.

Making Mediation Your Day Job by Tammy Lenski is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Based on a work at MakingMediationYourDayJob.com.

You bring yourself (well, digitally speaking) and I’ll bring the gifts! Here’s how to join in:

1. Send me a digital photo of yourself holding the new edition with the green cover (your sending it to me constitutes your permission to let me post it on my site and/or the book’s Facebook page). OR you can write on the wall of my book’s Facebook page and attach the photo yourself. I’ll trust that you bought it and didn’t just run to the local bookstore for the photo opp…

2. Provide your U.S. mailing address when you send the photo and I’ll send you a personalized, autographed bookplate to insert into your copy of the book.

3.I’ll enter you into the February 14, 2010 drawing for the prizes listed below. And get this: If you send me your receipt for 2 or more copies of the book, I’ll triple your entry into the drawing (2 copies = 6 entries, 5 copies = 15 entries, and so on)! What better day to share the love than Valentine’s?

No party would be complete without gifts

I’m giving away these prizes to three winners of the random drawing I’ll hold on Valentine’s Day (Want to know how I’ll do it? Here’s how, from the drawing I held when the book was released two years ago):

• 1 free membership in the Making Mediation Your Day Job course (if you’re already a participant and win this prize, I’ll refund your registration fee).
• 1 new 4th generation iPod shuffle pre-loaded with best of Making Mediation Your Day Job blog posts.
• 1 hour of one-on-one telephone mentoring with me.

How to enter

Send photo, U.S. mailing address and receipt to Tammy :::at::: Lenski :::dot::: com (take out all the weird colons and extra words to translate it into a real email address) by February 13, 2010. Or upload your own photo to the book’s Facebook page by the same date.

That’s it! Easy peasy. And thanks in advance for joining my party…I’m gonna love seeing your smiling face.

I’d so appreciate it if you’d forward copies of this to mediator friends and tweet it on Twitter by clicking the green Retweet button at the beginning or end of this post.

Making Mediation Your Day Job by Tammy Lenski is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Based on a work at MakingMediationYourDayJob.com.