Calm After The Storm
Forever & AlwaysWe often think of the 'calm before the storm', but rarely do we recognize or even witness the 'calm after the storm'. This sunset occurred less than an hour after a severe storm, near Otter Falls, MB, that brought down a hundred trees near a cabin we had rented. The clouds became soft like cotton balls (mammatus clouds) and the sky was at peace.
With the sand sliding between our toes, and walking hand in hand, there was no thoughts of #tweets, #likes or #snapchats.
Stress permeates all of our lives and has an affect on everything we do; from our daily jobs and personal relationships to our ability to concentrate.
A long time ago I came across a list of the Top 5 Most Stressful Life Events and committed them to memory. Here they are in no particular order:
Why am I writing about life events?
Well, quite simply the more we can personally reduce or understand the stresses in our life, in theory, the better we can perform and enjoy life. More importantly, by understanding that anyone who we may be talking to, emailing, communicating or writing for may possibly be experiencing one of life’s most stressful events, it just might change how we approach people or communicate. I’m not saying we go around assuming that everyone we speak with just had a family member pass away, but odds are if you communicate with a large amount of people on a regular basis, then you will be touching a few stressed out folks that are currently going though one of life’s most stressful events.
I know awareness is sometimes not the only answer.
No matter how tough the times are… I know most people can help themselves get though almost anything. Sometime though, you need to recognize when you can’t. That’s when you need to reach out for help. Seek out a friend, a teacher, a doctor, your church, or anyone who will listen. If it’s real bad, and you or someone else is in immediate danger you HAVE to call 911 or the police.
If you are in the midst of experiencing one of life’s five most stressful events right now… my thoughts go out to you, and If there is anything I can do to digitally assist you please post your comment below & I will do my best (sorry that sometimes I am slow to respond). Either way, it often helps to write out what you are feeling. Feel free to use my comment section to let it out and get it out of your mind for a moment.
Gregory over at http://getcontagio.us reminded me of something very important.
He posted on his blog a video posing a simple question. What are you doing to cut though the noise with your messaging? I semi-brilliantly answered the question, and it immediately reminded me that I have gotten off track with my MARKETING & IDEA blog. Sure, I want to write about odd topics and go off on tangents, but is that cutting through the noise of the 1000’s of other marketing blogs you can read online? How many idea guys are blogging these days? (Just checked and there are 9.6 Million Results in Google…ouch!)
Nike says __________!
Face book lets you ________!
Google is the king of _________!
Now I understand these are global brands and I am not…yet! But, we all need to be crystal clear these days on our value proposition and specifically how we differ from the crowd. My point here being, our messaging starts with how we are perceived by our customers, as any future messages will never be heard or seen if we don’t have our customers attention in the fist place.
I have some FUN work to do this weekend in retooling my messaging, and if you find yourself in the same situation maybe this is a good kick in the butt for you to the same. Either way, go check out Greg’s video at http://getcontagio.us/wordpress/2008/10/03/how-are-you-producing-messages-for-your-customers-that-breakthrough-the-clutter/
I recently sent this email responding to a potential customer who turned me down for an appointment.
Hi *First Name*,
As always, thank you for your time. After your response to my meeting request, I realized something very important. When I asked to meet with you this time, I clearly didn’t offer anything of immediate and compelling value to you and your business. As time equals money, why would any smart business person give up their valuable time for a meeting of unknown proportions?
You can be sure that the next time I contact you * First Name*, I will bring an offer of compelling value to the table. Cheers,
Lee
The power of hearing the word NO can cause an epiphany, of which hearing a YES usually can not! When we get too many positives or yes’s in our lives, we can become complacent and start making assumptions about the perceived value we bring to the table. We need to be turned down once an awhile to keep sharp, to keep ensuring we communicate clearly to our customers and potential clients the immediate value we bring to the table. Come to think of it, the power of NO is true for any relationship. Embrace the NO, and learn from it!
If you are like many other people on the planet, you have great intentions of sitting down at your computer and hammering out your extensive to do list, maybe set up a marketing campaign, respond to all your emails, and usually the list goes on and on.
Do you ever find you get side tracked and time just magically disappears on you?
Maybe it’s Facebook that sucked you in to a 23 minute tangent, or maybe it was that funny video link your buddy sent you that forced you at gun point to go surf on YouTube for 30 minutes.
Either way, I have found a new tool from Yahoo Widgets called Ten Plus Two that is so dead simple it works. It displays a ten minute timer on your screen and then gives you a little alarm when it runs out, then it gives you two minutes before it starts over again. They say it was designed to get up and take break every ten minutes, which is a great idea too, but I think it better suited as a consistent reminder to get back on task when you have been side tracked by mother internet.
If you don’t have Yahoo Widgets already, you’ll need to first get the Yahoo Widget Software, and then just do a quick search for Ten Plus Two. Not only will you be cured of your bad internet habits, at least until you forget to start using it, but they have about 5000 other cool widgets you just might find pretty cool as well.
I’ll Do It When I Get Around To It!
When I was growing up as a teenager I remember we had ‘A Round To It’ posted on the wall in our basement. It was a constant reminder to avoid procrastination, and never, ever say I will do something when I get around to it. In the event someone slipped you were reminded of the round piece of paper of shame. It was simply a forbidden statement as it should be.
I hope the round ‘To It” below will benefit you or someone you know as much as it has me. At the very least have some fun with your favorite procrastinator in your life.
Just right click and print…
Almost everyone has to write for some purpose or another. Whether you are in marketing, journalism, or simply have a deadline to write a business proposal or birthday card, writers block can hit at the most inconvenient times. Here are few interesting ways to cure the nastiest cases of writers block.
Top 10 Cures for Writers Block
Three cheers to the end of writers block and may all your words flow as easily as the air you breathe. If you have found other ways to beat writers block please post your comments below. I may need a # 11 soon :>)
Update: Friday, October 10th
It has been widely quoted, that an agreement signed in 1976 between the City of Winnipeg and the Portage & Main Building Owners has been the primary reason why a pedestrian crossing at Portage & Main has not be implemented. Our mayor has been quoted in the media as saying with out all the property owners consent, he would not proceed in good faith because of this agreement.
Here it is folks:
You can download the entire agreement here: /download/Dec20-1976.pdf
Here is the Trizec Building Agreement: /download/Trizec_Building_Agreement.pdf
Suffice to say, I stand behind the idea of the Portage & Main Pedestrian Overpass Proposal now more than ever. If all the city needs to do is provide access from the new structure to Winnipeg Square, then in good faith of the 1976 agreement that is what we should do!
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As a proud resident of Winnipeg and believer in the revitalization of our downtown, I have come up with a solution to the long standing debate on whether to open up pedestrian traffic at our infamous intersection of Portage & Main. It has been 4 years since the City last held a design contest and nothing has happened, maybe it’s time for another one!
To read the hard to see text on the image: http://www.LeeRaito.com/download/portageandmain.pdf
Yes, Winnipeg should open up Portage & Main to pedestrian traffic and can do so WITHOUT affecting automobile traffic whatsoever. The establishment of a world class Pedestrian Overpass & Tourist Destination is the only solution that makes sense to both parties; pedestrians & automobiles. In addition to the blatantly obvious benefits to pedestrians being able to easily get to their desired downtown destination directly, there are many side benefits to building a pedestrian overpass directly above Portage & Main.
Potential Benefits:
Obvious Benefit: Automobile traffic unaffected and pedestrians can easily navigate to any corner of Portage & Main with out having to go below ground.
Revenue: There are many potential revenue streams.
Environmental: This can and should be a green initiative attempting to leave no lasting environmental footprint.
Downtown Revitalization: If we successfully design and build a world class structure that tourists & Winnipeg residents want to visit, this will bring us one step closer to fully revitalizing our downtown.
Of course, the idea in itself raises questions.
Questions Raised:
Download the 1 Page PDF Visual Concept Here: http://www.LeeRaito.com/download/portageandmain.pdf
Statement: I am not an artist and the structure depicted should and will drastically change for the better as this proposal moves forward. As recommended in the PDF, the City Of Winnipeg should establish an International Design contest to find the best workable concept. This idea has been forwarded to Winnipeg City Council for consideration.
Please contribute your thoughts, questions, agreement & or concerns below… just hit the comment button!
I had a reader ask where to submit press releases online that actually get SEEN, and the answer to that is quite simply PRWeb. I know there are a ton of online free press release services, but I haven’t found or heard of any to be truly effective. If you care to disagree…please post your comments at the end of this post!
WHO: PRWeb
WHAT: Press Release Service
WHY: Besides getting a ton of eyeballs immediately viewing your company or service via Google News, Yahoo and other major online news services, the potential to get your story picked up by main stream media, TV, & radio should be why you submit a press release on or offline. If your story is compelling enough and starts to spread virally, it is more free advertising than you or I can potentially imagine.
As well, your press release will be permanently pointed to your website. This can send you additional website visitors, improve your search engine rankings with major search engines, and even have your story picked up by media again, and again.
WHEN: 24 hours a day/ 7 days a week /365 days a year. WHERE: www.prweb.com
I have an interesting story about shoes that might not be indicative of blogging about marketing ideas, but certainly is about customer service and pride of product.
For the longest time, I have been in love with Hush Puppy dress shoes. I wear them almost day and night and despite loving the product so much almost dropped buying the product all together because of a bad experience.When I bought my last pair of Hush Puppies about a year before my problem occurred in 2004, I told everyone. It was their most expensive shoe and I was ecstatic with their new technology, which put a cushion of air under your heel. I talked about them on the plane, at seminars, to family and friends…to absolutely everyone. They looked good and felt even better. I gave Hush Puppies so much free advertising some might have accused me of being on their payroll, I assure you I wasn’t and am not currently.
A little over a year after buying the shoes, I one day realized…hey, my feet aren’t so comfy anymore. I took off my shoe and took a look inside. In both shoes, the air cushion had collapsed and a crater had developed under each heel. I’m hard on my shoes but not that hard, and I’m not even a heavy guy. So, I was disappointed but figured it wouldn’t be a problem, just take them back and get a new pair…right? Not that easy after all.The store indicated that they only can return Hush Puppy product with in one year of purchase and you must produce a receipt, which was OK as I still had it. Strike one. I figured OK, if I contact Hush Puppies directly, they would surely recognize a manufacturing default and pony up a new pair of Puppies. Nope…after contacting Customer Service via email their response was simply to shrug me off stating that they only provide a one-year warranty on all their products. In other words, we don’t care that their may be a manufacturing default and you are out of luck. I guess some people may have stopped trying at this point, but I wanted my Puppies repaired or replaced, and I wasn’t taking no for an answer.In the mean time, I had purchased a new pair of stylish, yet comfortable jet black, slide on Rockports. They were surprisingly comfortable, but not my dear Hush Puppies. With the shoebox that my new Rockports came in, I boxed up my old Hush Puppies and shipped them to the office of the CEO of Hush Puppies, with a letter letting them know how I felt.
One of two things is going though your mind. He’s crazy … well, just a little, or brilliant. I really don’t think either are holey appropriate. The fact is Hush Puppies had a choice, they can either stand behind their product or they can leave their customer hanging, in a highly competitive market.
What did they do?
About three weeks after sending my shoes off, at the whopping cost of about eight bucks, my wife received a call from the Executive Assistant to the CEO of Hush Puppies. I happened to be on a business trip at the time but Tanya indicated that she knew why they were calling. The lady politely asked Tanya if she thought Lee would mind waiting about a month, until their new line of shoes came out, and they would ship me a brand new pair. Whoo…hooo…success! Tanya said that would be fine and that she would pass on the message to me. Tanya called me pretty much immediately after getting off the phone, as to date we have had quite a few laughs over the Hush Puppy incident.
I was elated that in the end I succeeded at achieving my goal, but was still upset that it took such great lengths to get satisfaction. This was not a case of a miser seeking a freebie, as I always believe in paying fair prices for quality; their product obviously had an “alleged” manufacturing default. Maybe it was limited to all the shoes produced on New Years Eve, who knows and who really cares.
The morale of the story is stand behind your product or service and your loyal customers will take care of you. If you don’t, they will abandon you faster than you did them.
It doesn’t matter if you are a marketer, a plumber or an actor, if you advertise your services as being no job is too small for your undivided attention, then that’s what you need to live up to. It’s a great way to make every customer feel important, of course, only if you can and will dutifully follow through on your promises.
Regardless of your market there is money to be made in small jobs, or what some might call micro sales. You just have to figure out how to keep your promises and be profitable at the same time.
Amazon has figured this out with the Artificial Artificial Intelligence (that’s not a typo), where people are profiting from services completed for as little as .05 cents. It’s called Amazon Mechanical Turk http://www.mturk.com/mturk/welcome If your business is online you’ll immediately see the value of this service!
Why can’t the local handyman who advertises ‘No Job is Too Small’ do the same?