How We Feel Is Completely Our Choice

Just read a post by Jeffery Gitomer that reminded me that the context is always decisive.

Everybody’s dealing with uncertain circumstances. Some of us are constrained by them. Many of our clients and customers are frozen like a deer in headlights or at best, waiting for ‘something’ to let them know it’s time to act.

Here’s a newsflash – It’s always time to act. The question is, what actions are appropriate, necessary and strategic? The answers to that question depend largely on who we’re ‘being’ in our businesses.  Are our actions consistent with our vision, mission, policies, procedures and practices?

Companies that have developed those elements are always in much better shape no matter what the circumstances.

It’s always time to serve someone. How we do that is what enlivens our day, our business and our lives. Jeffery reminded me that we don’t have to be in agreement about our circumstances nor do we have to make them so significant that we withold our products, services, or our personality and our gift from our customers or prospects.  I think it’s time to make some calls.

Trust In Business Declines From 59% to 36%

Trust is becoming as elusive as finding out where the bailout money went.  It’s notr really a surprise, but it does paint a grim picture for some companies – especially those who already had a deep hole to dig out from. When you add the “trust tax”, recovery could be in some distant future.

The good news is that there are plenty of companies who understand that taking care of their customers and employees is still job number one. Circumstances are just circumstances. They change like the weather. Integrity, transparency and being authentic about what they’re committed to isn’t subject to circumstances. It’s what makes business legends, well, legendary.

Online Health Info Starts With Search

I guess that’s what we do when we don’t want to “ask your doctor if  ‘X’ is right for you”.

More than three-quarters of Internet users in the United States go online for health information, according to Burst Media.

A Search a Day Keeps the Doctor Away: Americans Turn to the Internet for Health Information Nearly as Often as They Turn to Doctors

Ask.com Introduces New Health Smart Answers to Help Searchers Get Trusted Health and Medical Content Faster

OAKLAND, Calif., Aug. 14 /PRNewswire/ — Ask.com(R), a leading search engine and operating business of IAC, today released the findings from a 2007 Consumer Medical and Health Information poll and, in conjunction, introduced new Health Smart Answers to help searchers find the trusted health information they are looking for faster.

Commissioned by Ask.com and conducted by Harris Interactive(R), the study demonstrates that adults(1) now rely on the Internet as a primary source of health-related information nearly as much as they rely on their primary doctors. Seventy percent of adults are now turning to the Internet as one of their primary resources for medical and health information, surpassed only slightly by their personal physician (72 percent). Results also cited the Internet as a far more popular resource for health information than traditional media outlets such as newspapers/magazines (30 percent), television (26 percent) and books (25 percent) — even surpassing friends and family (40 percent) as a source to find the medical information people seek.

Following on this research, Ask.com is introducing new Health Smart Answers that help people find trusted health and medical information faster. Smart Answers are special search results placed at the top of the results page that provide editorially-selected information as well as quick links to authoritative content. The new Health Smart Answers provide quick access to trusted information for a broad range of health-related topics, like diseases, symptoms, treatments and medications. For example, a search for “Breast Cancer” reveals a definition of the disease as well as statistical information on how many women will be diagnosed with the disease in a lifetime. The Health Smart Answer also provides useful links to news, symptoms, treatments and medical encyclopedias. Other examples include “Strep Throat,” “Oxycodone,” and “Blood Pressure.”

Additional findings from the Harris survey include:

* Knowledge is Power: It’s all about being informed. 73 percent of adults

expressed a desire to be more informed about their personal health, as

well as the well-being of friends and family. Even those born well

before the Internet generation (ages 55+) feel the medium has helped

them diagnose and better understand their condition (76 percent).


* That’s What Friends are For: Two-thirds of Americans search to help

them diagnose or better understand a condition (71 percent), and more

than half of adults reporting doing the same for friends and family

members (55 percent).

* For Your Eyes Only: Adults aged 18-34 are still embarrassed when it

comes to sharing personal health information, and 21 percent noted they

turned to the Internet for privacy, stating that they were just too

embarrassed to talk to anyone about their medical or health issues.

* What’s the Alternative: Nearly 30 percent of adults (28 percent)

reported leveraging the Internet to find alternative (e.g.,

homeopathic) treatment options. Continue reading