Recent Activity
You've already received a lot of advice on this, so I'll just look at one area - your customers. The cliche goes, "like to love to defend." If they liked your stuff enough to buy it once, find out why. Temporary decorating trend? (how can you fit into their next one?) Was it a gift? Would the...
(more)
You've already received a lot of advice on this, so I'll just look at one area - your customers. The cliche goes, "like to love to defend." If they liked your stuff enough to buy it once, find out why. Temporary decorating trend? (how can you fit into their next one?) Was it a gift? Would the gift recipient be interested in more like it? Will it be an heirloom? Would they like more like that last piece? What else are they interested in?(The secret is to do with without being annoying; be interesting and interested.) Once you have made a connection with them, don't take them for granted; build that relationship with the other tools that other responders here are suggesting; social media et al. Once that relationship is cemented and nurtured, then your customers will move from the 'love' to the 'defend" stage. They become your advocates, your promoters.
Beyond the usual (selection, training, consistency, autonomy, recognition), staff have to know that while they may answer a question or fill out a form 30 times a day, the customer may be asking or or filling it out for the first time. See it from the customer's side.
(more)
Beyond the usual (selection, training, consistency, autonomy, recognition), staff have to know that while they may answer a question or fill out a form 30 times a day, the customer may be asking or or filling it out for the first time. See it from the customer's side.
Badly.
(more)
Badly.
Honestly, "read this book" or "don't read this book" isn't much of a review. Well it is if you're Oprah. Assuming you're not, you have to tell people why. And 'why' has to go beyond "it's fun." I'm thinking that if you tell your readers to "read this book" and they do and some of them hate it,...
(more)
Honestly, "read this book" or "don't read this book" isn't much of a review. Well it is if you're Oprah. Assuming you're not, you have to tell people why. And 'why' has to go beyond "it's fun." I'm thinking that if you tell your readers to "read this book" and they do and some of them hate it, your credibility is shot. Maybe a "why I liked this book" or "why I hated it but you might not" approach might make more sense.
I was very proud of the first story I ever sold to a magazine. It was to a West Coast scuba diving magazine and the story was about a dive my club did on an infamous wreck. It was also the deepest dive I had ever done and when the wreck appeared in 135 feet of water, it looked for all the world...
(more)
I was very proud of the first story I ever sold to a magazine. It was to a West Coast scuba diving magazine and the story was about a dive my club did on an infamous wreck. It was also the deepest dive I had ever done and when the wreck appeared in 135 feet of water, it looked for all the world to me like a toy boat lying there. So I put that in the story. When it was published, a scuba diving buddy in Seattle admonished me, "That cliche was the best you could do?" Lesson learned.
1 Reply
What model of Porsche should I get?
8).
(more)
What model of Porsche should I get?
8).
1 Reply
Pretty sure that's not the market you're looking for.
Develop a pitch to entice the group who would not settle for less than a professional portrait - major legal firms, CEOs, moguls of economy and politics, the pitifully rich and self-important, fraternities and clubs with rogues gallery...
(more)
Pretty sure that's not the market you're looking for.
Develop a pitch to entice the group who would not settle for less than a professional portrait - major legal firms, CEOs, moguls of economy and politics, the pitifully rich and self-important, fraternities and clubs with rogues gallery walls. Pander to those egos with a pitch that includes the word "immortality."
Something totally unique (pardon the redundancy), clever and both thoughtful and thought provoking.
(more)
Something totally unique (pardon the redundancy), clever and both thoughtful and thought provoking.