Common Sense Tips From A Guy W/ Common Sense

Uncle Mark's Gift Guide & Almanac is always a welcome year-end quickie compendium of great recommendations. Instead of a "Top 10" or worse, "Top 100" list, Mark Hurst, Founder/CEO of Good Experience publishes his single recommendations in certain categories.

At the end, there are great tips on how to run a meeting, how to give a great Best Man toast, how to leave a phone message, etc.

It's a good thing!

When Marketers Get Really Bored & Really Creative

A friend recently brought my attention to what he described as the best "Coming Soon" announcement ever.

If you're familiar with Rube Goldberg's inventions of very complex machines that accomplish simple tasks will feel at home.

Not to overcomplicate matters, but there are so many lessions I've drawn from this.

1. Don't overcomplicate things. The simple solution is usually the best.
2. Don't be afraid to get wacky. Wacky is memorable.
3. Create an environment where people feel free to let their imaginations fly.
4. Take time for a break in the middle of the day to have a laugh and get a fresh perspective.

I know there's more, but I have to get back to work!

Enjoy and please, share your thoughts by leaving a comment!

Cats, Daylight Savings Time, and Expectations

Cats don't recognize Daylight Savings Time. Consequently, they aren't aware of the return to Standard Time. So, today at Zack's usual time when he starts begging for his can of Fancy Feast , it was only 4:30, not 5:30. What do you do? Make him wait, deal with his begging behavior of nudging and rubbing me with his head, progressively insistent pawing at my hand with claws gradually coming out, or just give him his food? I gave him his Fancy Feast. He doesn't know we "fell back" in the middle of the night. So, his expectation was that he'd get his evening can of Fancy Feast at the same general time as every other evening.

Just like "they" say a big part of success is just showing up, I think another big part of success is fulfilling customers' expectations, giving them what they signed up for. If you are able to exceed those expectations, then you have some very happy, very loyal customers.

Of course, there is a piece that precedes all that and that is managing expectations. From the beginning of the sale process, don't make promises you can't or don't intend to keep.

I made a promise to Zack from early on that he'd get that can of Fancy Feast every night to help him keep his weight up and that's exactly what I do.