A four-sided life is a life well-lived

September 26, 2011

A boat without a bottom will sink.

A car with 3 wheels won’t get you far.

A square has 4 sides. If one side is ‘off’, the square breaks down.

Does your life have 4 sides?

If not, maybe you need to reassess.

An exceptional life is a balanced one.

The shape of your world can determine your outlook.

This view and theme of personal mastery has been introduced frequently over the years by a dizzying array of authors.

One of the most compelling showcases of this mastery was demonstrated by William Danforth’s timeless epic text, “I Dare You.”

So what are the 4 sides?

Mental: Stimulate your mind. When school ends, the true learning starts. Make it a goal to learn something new daily. If you can believe it, 42 percent of college graduates NEVER read another book for the rest of their lives.

Physical: An active, energetic person is happy and fulfilled. Take 20 minutes a day and breathe in the fresh air.

Social: Life is not meant to be lived in isolation. Connect with others for friendship, encouragement, joy.

Religious: No matter your view, take time to step outside yourself and connect with a higher spiritual power. You’ll be calmer and more centered.

Keep your square ‘true’ and find a better, more efficient you.

Until next time,

Dan Naden

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Posted by Dan Naden

@ Best Buy, it’s the stuff that brings them in….

September 19, 2011

Since when have we become so ‘accessorized’?

Recently, I visited a Best Buy and expected to find wall after wall of big screen TVs, computers, electronics, stereos. I am not much of a gadget guy, so I don’t frequent these places very much. Well, I wasn’t disappointed. My preconceived notions were fulfilled.

The store’s perimeter is an electronic festival with flashes of light, color, images and sound.  A bank of TVs allure with stunningly picturesque pictures of bears swatting salmon in angry rapids, two children frolicking in a meadow of wildflowers, a fearsome linebacker delivering a knockout blow to the opposing team’s quarterback. I couldn’t help but look at every one, despite the fact that they were all streaming the same picture.

You could hear a pin drop in this aisle.

The store’s interior, however, pulses to a different beat. Let’s call it stuff (accessories): game cartridges, DVDs, CDs, gift cards, wires, cables, camera cases, Ipod skins. I am fairly tech-savvy, yet I almost felt compelled to ask for a translation guide. This accessory goes with what product? And why would I need this?

I used to think of Best Buy as the store of ‘Big Things’: TV, appliances, stereos.  It’s where I went with a friend’s truck because I knew my car wouldn’t hold my loot.

Now, it’s the land of small things. Five years ago, you walked out of Best Buy with something on a dolly for $500 pushed by a pimply-faced high-schooler. Now, you pack your cart full of ‘things’ and wonder how all of it cost $300. During my recent visit, the traffic condensed around the peripherals, add-ons, and accessories, not the big-ticket items.

The world’s become bigger. Its products, however, are becoming smaller.

Sure, we still buy the big things, but the ‘little stuff’ seems to be the locomotive in today’s economy train.

Until next time,

Dan Naden

1 Comment | advertising, Communication, communications, customer experience, Customer Service, knowing your customers, marketing, shopping, store design, Uncategorized, user experience | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Dan Naden

When’s the last time you talked with your customers?

September 5, 2011

Have you heard someone say?: “To have a friend, you need to be a friend.”

Can this quote be repurposed for a business setting?

How about: “To have customers, you need to act like a customer.”

Drop everything (even that briefcase) and call your customers asap.

Think about it.

  • Customers want to know that you care about them. Am I too small to matter to your company?
  • Customers want to know that their needs are being met. Am I being heard?
  • Customers want to know that you aren’t just pushing something at them that they don’t really need or won’t solve their problem.  Am I just padding their bottom line?

When you are in business, you aren’t ‘necessarily’ in the business of making friends, but it certainly couldn’t hurt to be friendly.

When’s the last time you actually picked up the phone and talked with your customers?

Go ahead right now and act like a customer with your existing customers; make a courtesy call with the following questions in mind: (Remember you aren’t selling anything; your goal is to listen intently and show genuine appreciation for their business.)

  • How’s business going?
  • How are things going with ‘Insert your product name’?
  • Do you have any questions about using our product?
  • Is there anything else we can do to help your company?

Close the call by sincerely thanking them for their business, setting the stage for future interactions.

Dale Carnegie said:
“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”

There’s no reason we can’t replace ‘friend’ with customer:
“You can make more customers in two months by becoming interested in customers than you can in two years by trying to get other customers interested in you.”

Now, get out there and speak to your customers. (not just e-mail or text)

Until next time,

Dan Naden

Leave a Comment » | Communication, communications, community, Conversation, customer experience, knowing your customers, marketing, personal, personal connection, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
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Hungry to persuade and motivate? Try this recipe.

August 29, 2011

The words we use are very situation-dependent.

What you tell your friends on the green of the 18th hole on a recent golf outing will most likely be different than how you respond to someone’s question during a job interview.

The same holds true for your voice tone.

Yelling at a teammate to hustle on a basketball court is expected just as whispering is between the stacks of books at a library.

But how about what you say? Can certain words persuade or motivate us to act?

Go ahead, tell me about your most popular dish.

I don’t do it often, but I recently visited a few ‘very’ fine-dining restaurants. Outside of the delectable, mouth-watering food, my favorite part was listening to the waiters announce the ‘specials of the day’.

“Our chef has specially-prepared this dish for you: It’s always one of our favorites. We’ve trolled the deepest part of the ocean to find the thickest, most meaty red snapper. We top the snapper with lime juice, capers and the sweetest organic tomatoes straight for our own garden. The perfect pairing for the red snapper is the wild rice combination with finely-cut almonds. Delicious!”

“We offer you the freshest ocean salmon, drizzled with light cream sauce, nestled under a bed of organic orzo. Accompanying the salmon is gently fire-roasted asparagus.”

Hungry? I didn’t need much more convincing. Typically, I ordered the specials that were so brilliantly communicated by the skilled waitstaff.

So what’s their trick? It’s a trick that you can use in your marketing.

Notice these words:

  • Specially-prepared
  • We offer you
  • It’s always one of our favorites

Now, you may not be selling high-quality seafood, yet you are trying to make your prospect feel as if your product or solution is directly geared to his/her need. I always like to know that a company is doing everything they can to make me happy (see: ‘specially-prepared or ‘we offer you’). I want to know that others have made a similar choice (see: it’s always one of our favorites), whether it’s trying the red snapper or spending big money on the latest storage technology.

It’s easy to over-complicate, pushing every single feature through a face-to-face demo, meeting or Web site copy. Stick to the basics: you’ll convince them every time.

Bon appetit!

Until next time,

Dan Naden

Leave a Comment » | advertising, Communication, communications, Conversation, healthy eating, restaurants, retail | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
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Give me a reason to try your www

August 15, 2011

We’ve been a bit blurred by the ever-presence of dot-coms. Nearly every billboard, advertisement (radio or TV), newspaper, magazine article contains www.[clickhere].com.

You’d think most businesses would know there’s a bevy of ‘advertising’ noise in today’s marketplace. If you don’t raise above the clutter, you are lost, done, finished. Everyone’s clamoring: “Click this,” “Follow me,” “Retweet now,” “Friend us,” but some aren’t giving us a compelling reason to do so.

Increase your odds of a meaningful Web visit.

Recently, I was driving up I-10 and found a casino billboard that lacked a reason to compel. (This was rural I-10, what else was I to do?)

It said: (something to the effect)

Evergreen Special Casino

http://www.evergreenspecialcasino.com

Huh? Do they expect that I just have random free time to visit their Web site?

How about adding a few ‘urgent’ lines to the billboard?

  • Visit our Web site for $10 in free chips
  • Visit our Web site to win free tickets to see Hall and Oates
  • Visit our Web site to get $50 off your first night’s stay

What does just randomly, meaninglessly placing a URL on a billboard do to continue the conversation?

Before slapping your URL on everything in an effort to draw attention, give people to reason to commit to click.

The days of being excited to just have a Web site ended about a decade ago. Write and market with busy, ‘prove it to me’ prospects in mind.

Until next time,

Dan Naden

Leave a Comment » | billboards, Communication, communications, community, marketing | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Dan Naden

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