Contributor Michelle Villalobos Tackles Female Work Relationships in Her Book

We love getting good news from our Visual Marketing contributors. Here’s something we’re excited about: Michelle Villalobos, who taught us that headshots don’t have to be typical, recently published a book:  The Stiletto In Your Back: The Good Girl’s Guide To Backstabbers, Bullies, Gossips & Queen Bees at Work. Her book is based on a special report she created in 2010 called “Why Women Play Dirty.” Addressing the issues women often have in the workplace is important to Villalobos:

“It is important to address these issues and bring them out into the open because the very nature of female rivalry is under the surface. If we can shed light on it, admit what’s going on, and if each of us takes responsibility for our part in it, then we are ALL more likely to get ahead.”

The book, the first in a series called “Good Girl’s Guide To…,” addresses serious female work relationship issues that can keep a woman from succeeding professionally. It explains the evolutionary, sociological and psychological underpinnings of female rivalry, as well as the 7 archetypical female “bullies” and their techniques. Villalobos provides 8 tactics to manage  behavior to help readers be less vulnerable, more aware, and fully able to confront antagonists.

“I wrote this book because I had been delivering the workshop “Communicate Powerfully Without Being a Bit%&” and every time, women in the audience would (hesitantly) ask me about female-female work relationships, saying that they found working with women was actually harder than working with men, due to the under-the-table nature of female rivalry and aggression,” said Villalobos, “They asked about jealousy, envy, gossip, backstabbing, etc… and the truth is I didn’t know much about it. So I made it my business to learn. I ended up fascinated with the subject and did an in-depth research paper about the topic, which I released as “Why Women Play Dirty” about 3 years ago, and that project just morphed into this one. ”

What’s Next, Michelle?

Villalobos is already hard at work on her next book. It’s a variation on the topic of “Shameless Self-Promotion,” and should be available as an ebook by the end of the year, and a hard copy early 2014.

Smedio Talks Visual Marketing, Plus a Visual Book Review

We may have been ahead of our time. When we published Visual Marketing, tools like Pinterest and Instagram were fledgling marketing components. Now they’re growing in use, and more people are using the phrase, “visual marketing.” Go us!

Here’s a fantastic, in-depth post by Douglas Idugboe on Smedio that not only quotes our book but also goes in-depth on why visual marketing is so fabulous, and how businesses can use it. He quotes the book where we talk about how well-designed infographics can have a lasting impact. He also points out the benefits of visual marketing:

  • Attract busy people who wouldn’t take the time to read long copy
  • Help people digest large amounts of data
  • Search Engine Optimization
  • Drive engagement
  • More traffic
  • More inbound links
  • Increase the time visitors spend on your site [Read more…]

Why Reviews Are So Important

If you’ve ever shopped on Amazon, consider whether you look at the product reviews or not. I know I do. Other consumers’ input is helpful in understanding whether a given product will work the way we want it to.

We live in a society that is quickly becoming review-focused. Many diners review restaurants (and these days, any other type of business) on Yelp. We’re using these reviews to determine where we spend our money.

So as a business, it behooves you to take advantage of reviews and encourage your customers to give them.

How to Get Reviews

Start with the customers or contacts you have a good relationship with. Ask them to visit your Yelp or Amazon page and leave a review. You want honesty, but don’t be afraid of a few negative reviews. They show visitors to the site that the reviews aren’t rigged by the company. And the more reviews you get, the less important those few negative ones become.

Make it easy for customers. Send an email after they make a purchase with a link to your Yelp or Amazon page so all they have to do is click and type. Put a sign in your store at the cash register reminding them to leave a review, and have your staff invite customers to go online to leave reviews.

Our Reviews

We’re always thrilled when someone reviews our book. It shows that we’re on the right track with our content, and that people appreciate what we’re doing. Here’s a great review we recently got:

“Visual Marketing – 99 Proven Ways for Small Businesses to Market with Images and Designs is a THE book for savvy business owners. This valuable reference is full of smart, creative and innovative ways to promote their businesses. Whether it’s on the web, in print or in-person, Visual Marketing provides fabulous ideas, illustrations, tips and the story behind each strategy. It’s one of the FIRST books I enthusiastically recommend to my business clients.”
— Teri Scheinzeit, The Savvy Business Coach

Reviews can be a marketing tool, just like social media or press releases. Use them to your benefit, and you’ll see an increase in customers coming through your door.

Photo Credit: Yelp.com via Compfight cc