Walk the Talk Mid-Week Motivator

I don't know about you, but I really appreciate daily reminders/motivations/affirmations/whatever, especially since the buck stops at my desk. Consequently, I've subscribed to a few regular M-F newsletters to help get me going in the mornings. Certainly, they don't all hit it every day, but they do jump start that internal cheerleader who reminds me of what's important.

So, this morning when I opened the WalktheTalk.com newsletter, I read this list.


OUR CHARACTER IS SHOWN BY…

The jokes we CHOOSE to share…and not to share.
The derogatory terms we CHOOSE to use…and refuse to use.
The promises we CHOOSE to break…and the ones we keep.
The rumors we CHOOSE to spread…and those we ignore.
The resources we CHOOSE to waste…and those we use wisely.
The lies we CHOOSE to tell…and not to tell.
The responsibilities we CHOOSE to accept…and those we shirk.
The courtesies we CHOOSE to extend…and fail to extend.
The efforts we CHOOSE to put forth…and not put forth.
The quality we CHOOSE to provide…and the corners we cut.
The information we CHOOSE to share…and that which we hoard.
The listening we CHOOSE to do and not do.
The respect we CHOOSE to give…and fail to give.
The helpful hands we CHOOSE to extend…and those we keep in our pockets.

As I read each one, I thought about how it applied to me personally, then how it fits into my professional life, as a company owner, a service provider, and an evangelist of the customer experience.

I don't think the "rules" for great customer service can be expressed any more eloquently than in those used above that define character.

Happy New Year!

2007 went out quietly for me and 2008 has already sorely tested me. But, as Elvis used to say, "Ambition is a dream with a V8 engine" and we have more than our share of ambition.

You will see many changes this year, not the least of which we are in the final stages of relaunching with a new name, new positioning, and a brand new Website to better reflect what Private Label InterActive and PrivateLabel Mail really are and do.

The new name if you didn't already know is Venntive. There'll be more about that name later.

I've been accused of having the 7 Year Itch. Maybe so! PLI turned 7 Jan. 1, 2008. That's a milestone. And, the baby has gone through a lot in those 7 years! PLI will remain the parent company, but PrivateLabel Mail will be replaced by Venntive.

We realized that the solution we market and implement for our clients is far more than an email marketing solution. It really is enterprise email marketing tools integrated with that 10% of CRM tools that people actually use into a very tightly integrated suite. Sweet! No more integration nightmares!

Along with Venntive, we are working on a completely new and exciting venture, CaducesDotMobi. A caduce(u)s is the symbol for physicians, the staff with two snakes intertwined. The mission of CaducesDotMobi is to help women all over the world better manage their families' health and wellness. For women in developed nations, we will provide a subscription-based Website with a multitude of tools and features to go toward simplifying the task of staying on top of doctors' appointments, medications, etc. For the women of the third world, we will provide a goodly portion of our net revenues to subsidize healthcare and other initiatives to improve the quality of life for them and their children.

If you are interested in learning more about CaducesDotMobi, following our progress toward launch, helping us get it launched, and becoming first subscribers, drop us an email at CaducesDotMobi at gmail dot com.

Most Dangerous Object in the Office This Month: $2 Pocket Shots

Just what the office environment needs! Most Dangerous Object in the Office This Month: $2 Pocket Shots

What with all that's written about psycho, curmudgeonly, controlling, insecure, manipulative, ineffectual bosses; political, gossipy, insecure, unqualified co-workers; spouses of whatever gender who just don't understand and don't hold up their end of the bargain; children we thought we had to have to complete our lives who are just demanding, ungrateful, self-absorbed; and, finally, all those other people who make our lives difficult on a daily basis from the barista who cannot seem to get a coffee order straight to fellow commuters who are self-entitled beyond belief, I felt it was my honor-bound duty to provide the ultimate cure-all to all that's making you lose your aplomb, the $2 Pocket Shots.

Forget grieving over the demise of the three martini lunch! Who needs lunch anyway when you have $2 Pocket Shots? Skip that morning coffee and bagel and go straight for a Pocket Shot to start your day. All the office discussion about where to order lunch today getting you down? Just pop another $2 Pocket Shot and it won't matter. Got an afternoon of departmental meetings staring you in the face? Hmm, sounds like a double shot of Pocket Shots to me!

In the great tradition of surreptitious substance abuse at the office to get through the day, we bring you $2 Pocket Shots.

Or, you could just go into business for yourself and call your own shots!

Summer In The City

Hot town, summer in the city
Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty
Been down, isn't it a pity
Doesn't seem to be a shadow in the city

All around, people looking half dead
Walking on the sidewalk, hotter than a match head

But at night it's a different world
Go out and find a girl
Come-on come-on and dance all night
Despite the heat it'll be alright

And babe, don't you know it's a pity
That the days can't be like the nights
In the summer, in the city
In the summer, in the city

Cool town, evening in the city
Dressing so fine and looking so pretty
Cool cat, looking for a kitty
Gonna look in every corner of the city
Till I'm wheezing like a bus stop
Running up the stairs, gonna meet you on the rooftop

But at night it's a different world
Go out and find a girl
Come-on come-on and dance all night
Despite the heat it'll be alright

And babe, don't you know it's a pity
That the days can't be like the nights
In the summer, in the city
In the summer, in the city

Hot town, summer in the city
Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty
Been down, isn't it a pity
Doesn't seem to be a shadow in the city

All around, people looking half dead
Walking on the sidewalk, hotter than a match head

But at night it's a different world
Go out and find a girl
Come-on come-on and dance all night
Despite the heat it'll be alright

And babe, don't you know it's a pity
That the days can't be like the nights
In the summer, in the city
In the summer, in the city
From: Summer in the City
The Lovin' Spoonful
(John Sebastian - Mark Sebastian - Steve Boone)

Just got back from two brutally hot weeks in New York, specifically Manhattan. That is New York for me, but then, some would call me a snob about that among other things. Everyone was looking for a cool drink, including this guy hitting up the girls at a bar on Clinton St. on the LES. He probably had a greater level of success than most! Because, if you don't ask, you definitely won't get!

Serendipity is a wonderful thing and happily, I got to experience that on this trip, too.

I keep a really sweet 3-D Racing SS (that's single-speed to you!) bassboat red (don't know why it's called that, but it's a deep red w/ metal flecks that is just sexy gorgeous) at the NY apartment. Flat tires, old worn-out pumps and a resulting broken stem sent me to one of the coolest bike shops in the city, BikeWorks, located just off Rivington at 106 Ridge St., New York, NY 10002, (212) 388-1077. They're serious about cycling, closing on Wednesdays so they can do the track races out in the far reaches of Queens and on Sundays so they can go for a ride, too, like everyone else. They cater to the bike messenger community, fixies/single-speeds, but they love bikes and know how to treat the high-end, low-end, everything-in-between-end spectrum of bikes.

So, this aloof, tattooed chick wrencher takes my bike under her wing to make it all better. As we're talking, I'm thinking I know her, so I introduce myself first to get her name. Lo and behold, it is KT, a bike messenger I bugged until she would talk to me years ago riding across Houston St. (Bike messengers, like bike mechanics, are slightly loathe to mix with the general population of people on bikes.) I ended up loaning her a few $$ to take the ferry to Jersey to then ride to Philadelphia with a herd of messengers for the Bike Messenger Worlds after the week of Metropoloco in New York, summer of 2000.

As narrow as margins are in bike shops, she didn't hesitate to comp me for the new tube and the work without objection from Dan the Man. Good customer service! Good karma! Cool experience all the way around on a sweaty August afternoon.



KT's teaching wrenching to women each Monday evening in the basement at Times Up on E. Houston St. and I went to check it out. Full house, despite the heat and humidity.

She asked about GirlGroove.com. Seems every direction I turn, someone is reminding me that I need to relaunch this bike chick online mag. With a commitment from one of the best chick wrenchers in the US to write a regular column, I guess I'm going to have to take the plunge.

Stay turned for the re-launch in the near future as a Web2.0 blog thing.