When putting on any kind of event, planning for the number that might attend is the most nerve racking – would we have enough food, or too much; would we have enough beer (is there ever too much beer?) would we have enough door prizes or would the staff be getting early Christmas presents?  All these things ran through our minds on Monday and Tuesday when only a handful of people had responded to our mailed postcard.

Then, David sent out an audio postcard, our first try with this marketing tool and the RSVPs flew in!  Even those people who had responded before felt compelled to respond!  What a great marketing tool!  We plan to use it again and to offer it to our clients.  We can easily record messages here in out video studio and then send them out to our client’s mailing list.

Our next experiment will be with a video postcard.  David will be our first client in the new Video Studio and we’ll let you know how it works out!

Consider this:Do something unexpected in your marketing and see if you get unexpected results.  We did and we were happily surprised!

Out of 38 on the list, we found that 10 were suggestions that we could adapt to our business.  Some of the 38 were not geared to us at all but we knew clients that might be interested so we’ve passed this list along to them, too.

One suggestion will really make clients that visit our offices GASP  and we are really excited to implement it.  That is all I’m going to say …. I’ll tell you all about it when it’s completed.

We go out to eat on a regular basis; every Sunday morning for breakfast and at least one a week for dinner.  We always notice the service that we get.  We have even followed our favorite breakfast waitress to her evening job restaurant.  Not as stalkers, as we first feared she might think, but as appreciative customers who she has made feel special with her warm and friendly way.

The waitress at the Cheesecake Factory was excellent, too.  She commented on our choices, offered suggestions and paid attention to our requests and service.  It seemed to matter to her that we were happy.

This was not so with a meal we had recently at a new, local restaurant.  The waiter was lifeless and not welcoming at all.  He never asked if we had been there before, never offered any suggestions or explainations and was lifeless in any conversation.  Needless to say, we didn’t GASP!  The food at this new restaurant was excellent and the atmosphere interesting and fun.  It was too bad that we got stuck with a dud of a  waiter.  Too bad for him, too, because we always reward outstanding service.

Consider This:  Next time you go to a restaurant, pay attention to your server.  Did they make you feel well cared for?  Customer service can make or break a business.  We are assessing ours all the time.  We do pretty good; we are always trying to do better.

Let me know about your service issues, at a restaurant and especially with us! We’re looking for ways to make you GASP!

I “hopped” a little, both forward and backwards. 
“There goes our summer!”
“It will be great – I’ll have a much bigger office to meet with clients!”
“We have to do so much work to get it ready!”
“It will be a great, new space for our whole team!”
“Everyone has their own window!”

So, my forward “hops” were greater than the backward “hops” and we are now in our beautiful, spacious new offices.  We still have more finishing touches to do and a new service to get started – a video studio for our web clients.  It’s a big goal and we are excited about it.

David and I listen to CDs, or read about marketing our business constantly.  It’s something that we learned from our “mentor” Dr. Barry Brodil.  I’ll write more about this man who has made such a big difference in my life in a later blog.  

A recent interview that we heard with Scott Ginsberg brought me to his website and his seemingly endless lists.  Scott’s story is that he went to a seminar when he was in college and  decided not to take off his “Hello My Name Is Scott” nametag.  He has worn a “Hello My Name Is Scott” nametage every day ever since.  As of taday, that’s 2865 days and it has changed his life, given him a terrific, exciting business (No, not selling nametags – he’s an author, blogger and motivational speaker.)

Check out his website http://www.hellomynameisscott.com and sign in to read his articles.  It’s the most simple log in ever – just your email address – no password, no questionaire, no invasive anything!  Here are some of the title:
65 Things I Wish Someone Would Have Told Me When I First Started My Company
99 Ways to Think Like an Entrepreneur, Even If You Aren’t One
123 Questions Every Marketer Must Ask
20 Ways to Make Customers Feel Comfortable
52 Random Insights to Grow Your Business

As I said, the list is endless!  I’ve printed a few of these and read through them together for ideas.  We’ve got a new office and one of our new goasl is to market ourselves in new and better ways.

Consider this:  Go to Scott’s website and pick one list.  Read through it and follow through on one action.  I picked 38 Ways to Make Your Customers Gasp!  I’ll let you know which idea I take to action.