Mar 18, 2008
posted by Shelley
I prepare an ezine for Scott McKain, and for each publication, Perry and I must come up with a way to ‘show’ his readers how they might utilize a concept that he presents. In the ezine that was delivered today, we spoke about the ‘fun factor’ of doing business. If you are a subscriber to the Scott McKain UCEzine you can most definitely skip this BLOG post, but if you’re not — you don’t want to miss it:
The Fun Factor
The Retail Marketing Institute released a study that in essence reported that over 70% of customers said they would tend to go someplace else to make a purchase if it was “more fun” to do business elsewhere. Ask yourself this question: How much FUN is it to do business with us?
We wouldn’t ask you to do something we wouldn’t do ourselves, so the question was first posed on the top floor – and we also asked some of our clients how they would score us in the ‘fun factor’ department. Although we were extremely happy with the feedback we received, we also understand that there’s always something new and different we can implement to create ultimate experiences with those who do business with us.
So meet the McKain Performance Group Team — and then show off YOUR fun factor!
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I can’t tell you how much fun we had with this simple project! I first sent an email stating my idea and instructed those involved to choose a trait that would best reflect who they are. They were to then write, “I am whatever word” on a sign and hold it up for a photo. Tammy even kept her descriptor word a secret from Scott! Not only did the 5 of us (who already know each other pretty darned well) find out more about each other — we had fun AND made our office seem so much more approachable to potential clients that might otherwise feel apprehensive about the first contact! If you’re a business owner, you have GOT to try this — and if you’re not a biz owner, try it with your friends!
I only received one inappropriate photo (hmmm…guess that was 20% of those submitted) that required a retake. Here’s the rejected one… 🙂
Mar 17, 2008
posted by Shelley
I don’t have little ones to photograph anymore (except for the fat brown girl), so it’s always fun to grab shots of someone else’s kids. We recently snapped some photos of Perry’s nieces — yes, there are enough of them to form a basketball team. Variations in techniques applied to portraits can totally change their ‘look and feel’. See?
Elizabeth Grace, Olivia Rose, Abigail Marie, Gracelyn Noel, and Katherine Riley
No, taking these photos didn’t make me miss the patter of little feet — but looking at the final photos caused me to reflect on the beauty of innocence.
Mar 17, 2008
Posted by Perry
It’s March and that can only mean one thing – the NCAA Basketball Tournament is here!
For every fan of sports, ‘March Madness’ as it’s called, is a special time of the year. Everything from the selection show and who got snubbed, to the four number one seeds, and eventually the opening round make for an excitement that is rarely generated in sports.
The same questions will be asked this year – which number one will be the first to fall, which region is the toughest, which Cinderella will make their magical run, and finally the biggie – who will win it all?
I hope you have your brackets filled out and good luck with your picks – they don’t call this ‘March Madness’ for nothing!
Mar 15, 2008
Rainy days aren’t good for much except cleaning house and grabbing a quick photo…
Mar 14, 2008
posted by Shelley
I read an article recently that basically said many people BLOG as a form a therapy. I actually believe that to a point — but who is reading what you have to say? If your posts go like this, “Today I got out of bed and went to the store and then…”, it’s most likely you don’t have many that care about what you have to say. I think we, as bloggers, all do that to a point — seriously, what is important to us is what happens to us — and that’s what we tend to blog about.
People want to learn something new (information, reviews or how to do something), want ideas on how to make themselves better (reflections, thoughts and visions), want to laugh (be entertained), want to read something they can relate to (be told stories), or be stimulated visually (interesting photos). I’m sure that there are other things too, but I’ve found those topics pretty much cover the gamut of highly visited BLOGS. However…this morning I received an email from a guy in Texas that found my BLOG and bookmarked it only to see photos of my fat dog. The email (thanks Shane) was asking why I hadn’t featured a Libby photo for the past few days. You’re kidding me?? Those photos are MY therapy, or at least that’s what I thought.
So this morning, I am going to provide those reading the NOTHING MATTERS blog with everything they could ask for in this one post…
1. Learn something new:
Check out this link for secret Starbucks recipes>>
2. Improve on you:
This link goes to one of my favorite (go figure) blogs, and this particular post is insightful>>
3. Laugh out loud:
I read this post and actually laughed out loud. I think you will too. Check it out>>
4. Story you can relate to:
I dunno about you, but I can certainly relate to this post>>
5. Inspiring photos:
2 people, 3191 miles apart, no text. They post a photo side-by-side each day. I don’t know who I can find that lives 3191 miles away from me, but I want to do this one too. Since I haven’t started yet, check out their site instead>>
And finally — here’s Miss Libby…
