We know it from Biblical sources as well as from our own experience; there’s a time for everything under the sun. That is, sometimes, or even most of the time, a specific action will be appropriate and productive, and at other times precisely the same action will be inappropriate and destructive.

A time to work and a time to play or rest, a time to laugh and a time to cry, a time to speak up and a time to remain silent, a time to make peace and yes, even a time to fight. And many other examples you can think of for yourself.

And…oh yes, for writers, a time to write and a time to refrain from writing.

Throughout history, people with the urge to write – except for an especially gifted or privileged minority – have been lonely folk. Creating a piece of literature – or to use current terminology, producing content – was one thing, but searching, often in vain, for some means to get it seen by a decent number of eyeballs was something else entirely.

And now? Now the wheel has turned full circle. The big dilemma is not struggling to find the tools for publication, but since the tools are so so readily accessible at such low cost and at the press of a button, now that I have them, how do I make full use of them?

The question is not “how do I find an audience for my creations?” but “how do I find creations for my audience?” I don’t think there’s a need to labor the point.

Given the current environment, it’s no surprise to see the appearance of a new automated service designed to serve “blog owners who want fresh, on-topic content but don’t have the time to search online everyday” for it. This is done by providing “hot-off-the-press, on-topic (human-reviewed) content based on the categories and/or keywords that are most important to you.” Any blogger who so desires merely has to install a small piece of software for syndicated material to appear on their blog everyday.

All, of course, without having to lift a finger.

Significantly, the content is supplied by authors who actually pay for the privilege of submitting their work, and who are provided with a “powerful tool to make it easy” for them to submit several versions of the same article, so that each subscribing blogger will receive “more unique content” (Can something be “more unique” than “unique”?)

I don’t want to enter into a detailed discussion on the merits or demerits of plastering the same information – in a world of consumers suffering terribly from information overload – on a million places all over the Web. Here at Hodu.com we do publish so-called “duplicate content” (on a much more limited basis now than in the past), but only when we believe our own typical site visitor might not find it easily elsewhere.

The bottom line must always be this: As a publisher, am I helping to bring clarity to the lives of my readers, or am I (gasp!) only creating confusion through extraneous background noise? Am I facilitating communication, or setting up communication barriers? Am I aiding the free flow of information, or am I actually hindering it?

An important article on our site deals with a common human failing: particularly when we feel uncomfortable in a work or social situation, we have a tendency to speak up for the sake of speaking up. We often see this at meetings. The author explains the benefits of resisting temptation and remaining silence at times,  as opposed to the dangers of putting in your two and a half cents worth in the hope of appearing intelligent.

Would that writers, site or blog owners,  “content producers” or whatever you want to call them, exercise the same restraint!

Perhaps…is it just remotely possible… that the Internet would be a better place?

Your comments please!

Let’s say a close friend asks your opinion about an expensive dress she has just bought. You think the new outfit is stunning…on someone else. But the color doesn’t suit your friend so well. It’s not bad, mind you, but just that she could have done a little better.

Or maybe she wants to know whether she thinks she got a good deal on some new electronic appliance. And you just happened to pass by a store yesterday where the same item was advertised for 15% cheaper. In both cases – the garment and the gadget – you know there’s no way now she can return the item for refund for exchange.

So now…what do you say to your friend?  The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? Or in this case, will you be prepared to bend the “truth” (not my deliberate use of quotation marks) a little so that your friend can feel good?

Let’s now turn to the world of business. Let’s say a department store somewhere puts out a big sign that reads: “Buy now! Sale ends tomorrow.”

Brad Shorr of Word Sell, Inc takes a close look at this statement  on his blog.  The “latest buzzword in corporate communication,” he writes, is transparency. Fine, but what exactly is meant by the term? If by “transparent” we mean “clear”, then “By now! Sale ends tomorrow” is a transparent statement.  It is clear and unambiguous – and yes, it may even be true!

But what would you say if what the store really means is: “Buy now! We’re deep in debt and plan to file for bankruptcy before the end of the month”? Schorr points out that most people would no longer agree that the original statement is “transparent”, because in the minds of most, the real meaning of “transparency” is sincerity.

Now we have a different ball game, because sincerity doesn’t admit degrees. Lying to the market is insincere. But telling partial truths is also insincere! Schorr quotes the philosopher Thomas Merton, from his book “No Man is an Island”:

“In the end the problem of sincerity is a problem of love. A sincere man is not so much one who sees the truth and manifests it as he sees it, but one who loves the truth with pure love. But thruth is more than an abstraction. It lives and is embodied in men and things that are real. And the secret of sincerity is, therefore, not to be sought in a philosophical ove for abstract truth, but in a love fore real people and real things…”

Heady words. But here we have the key to everything that is good, or that can be good, in human relationships.

More in upcoming posts.

If you’re working in sales, what exactly are you trying to sell to your potential customers? l In their excellent book that I reviewed briefly in my last post, John Mehrmann and Mitchell Simon make a sharp distinction between trying to solve a client’s immediate problem (his “pain”) for your immediate personal gain on the one hand, and trying to help him overcome his longer-term obstacles and achieve his goals on the other.

A simple example: The prospective customer complains, “My car won’t start.” The sales person focuses on the pain: “the car”, and responds: “I want to sell you this car.”

However, if the customer says: I cannot get where I want to go”, it will be easier for our sales professional to zero in on the customer , rather than the pain, and make the far more effective commitment: “I will find the best solutions for you, now and later.”

The trouble is, of course, that the sales guy, for whatever reason, is not always fully aware of the client’s goals, needs and aspirations. I love this little anecdote that the authors of The Trusted Advocate relate – both sad and amusing…and so typical:

A woman was visiting her dentist for a routine semiannual cleaning procedure. Despite the temporary discomfort, she was in good spirits, knowing that soon she would leave with clean, sparkling white teeth. But little did she realize, as the dentist draped a bib around her neck and inserted section tubes inside her mouth, that she was about to become the target of an unsolicited sales campaign.

You see, in an effort to diversify his business and generate additional revenue, the dentist was now offering Botox Cosmetology as an add-on service. From his point of view, it was a great idea. It enabled him to earn more income with the same amount of office space, minimal investment in supplies – and best of all, ready access to potential customers every working day.

As the woman was sitting in his chair – literally a captive audience – our dentist began to expound on the many benefits of the Botox procedure to reduce wrinkles. The more he waxed lyrical with his eloquent sales talk, the more the mood of his poor patient plunged. Instead of being happy on account of her now sparkling teeth, she felt miserable for the rest of the day. “Do I really have a problem with wrinkles?” she was wondering.

After consulting with and being duly reassured by friends and family members that her concern was groundless, the woman took swift action. She successfully resolved her wrinkle problem by…permanently changing dentists.

Presumably, in time, the penny will drop for our hapless dentist and he will have learned his lesson…but how many sales people, marketers, entrepreneurs, professionals and self-styled “gurus” will remain out there who’ll never learn theirs?