Quick notes to help you grow your business in less time with less effort. . . starting next week.
In this issue:
- Thoughts on Driving
- Being Human
- Random Stuff
Thoughts on Driving
Thoughts from the road on our way to my in-law's 30th anniversary celebration of Green Bay's own, Hinterland Brewery.
- When young people race past you on the right, shake your head and mutter, "it's dangerous to pass on the right."
- Name the road-kill as you speed past. Out loud. Very loud.
- As you pass little towns, wonder out loud what its residents do for a living. Then say, "I wonder if anyone famous lived there?" Pause. Say, "Probably not. There would be a sign."
- The driver controls the radio station and volume. It's okay to move to the next station even if your co-pilot is humming, but not advisable to do more than once an hour.
Being Human - Make me better
Help Your Customers Kick Butt
(this originally appeared in Amalgamate Summer 2016)
Want to surprise and delight your customers?
Help them kick butt at what they do.I have a little illustration for you. I just bought a new camera. An entry level DSLR from Nikon. Let me show you the ad.
That’s what I bought. I am endless possibilities. I want to kick butt. Look at that picture! I can see my boys and their friends in action. I can smell the chlorine. I can see my email inbox filling up with print requests from relatives.
This is what I got.
I have the tool to kick butt. I think. Not sure yet.
Don’t do this to your customers. Make it easy to fulfill the promises you’re people are making.
Help them kick butt.
(9 years later, I still have no idea how most things on the camera work. I have some very detailed pictures though.)
Random Stuff
“If you ask someone on a date, that’s your business. If that person accepts, that’s his or her business. If this couple should someday decide to marry, that’s their business. If they want the best DJs available, that’s our business." – Will Nye (presumably)
Driving through my part of rural America, we see a lot of billboards. I haven't kept detailed counts, but if I had to guess, most of them advertise real-estate agents, second place is insurance agents, then food. Somewhere in the top 10 are messages from God. This morning, one wants me to know that God Created (no evolution), another warns me about a fiery afterlife if I don't pray, and another says babies are good.
It made me wonder, how much is a rural billboard? A cursory internet search shows some areas I'm driving through require between $140-500 for a month's display. It looks like $4-500 for the production, but by the look of the AI artwork, technology is making its way into production, so maybe the cost is lower.
For the little orange KIA we drove past that had 11 bumper stickers containing a similar message, the cost is easily 1/10 of that.
Which is more effective? Hard to say. In either case, one soul saved is some serious ROI.
My barber showed me a new nose ring she got for her birthday. I missed it, but to be fair, I only see her once every 6 weeks or so. We talked about piercings and tattoos, and she asked if I had any. I didn't tell her my tattoo story, but I did offer her my rationale for not having tattoos. It's probably the same rationale behind my lack of bumper stickers and billboards too.
I can't commit to a message.
Will Nye the DJ Guy? He knows what he wants to say. And he knows he wants to say it to everyone driving north on Interstate 41 between Kaukana and Green Bay.
I admire that. I'll wager he had no issues deciding about tattoos or piercings, too. That's just the kind of guy Will Nye is.
