Good: Being Creative to Get Others Working for You

I haven't read the book "43 Things". I don't know what it's about, but I'm promoting it. This is a great example of how a little creativity and planning can go a long way in building awareness.

4 Things that made this an awareness generating machine:
1. Quick, online personality quiz (prey on curiosity)
2. Output results people want to share (contribute to online personality)
3. Very easy to share (unique code to copy and paste into blog post)
4. Ties result output to product (product and link to landing page go everywhere with results)

I took the 43 Things Personality Quiz and found out I'm an

Extroverted Creative Self-Knower

Even better? I found the quiz via pure happenstance.
I was scanning headlines in my PageFlakes when a TwitPic of the snow in my neighborhood caught my attention. From the woman's Twitter page, I clicked over to her blog where she had a post, just like the one above but with her results. I was curious so, I took the quiz. Now I'm aware, and so are you.

Beyond using creative, viral tactics to generate awareness, there's a great story with this book - bigger than just selling books, the team behind this is out to change the world for the better. Check it out here.

Good: Realizing The Pendulum is Perpetual

I've really had a lot of angst lately and I know I'm not alone. We're bombarded with sour news in the media; worried about the impending impacts to our comfy lives; worried about the impacts to friends, family, co-workers. We're all in one big cocktail shaker-- or tornado-- getting mixed up and thrown about. Eventually we'll be distributed into life again, but in a completely different place than before. Even though it seems like only the beginning, I'm really starting to feel better--even excited.

We're going through a revolution. The power and potential of the Internet and social media-- the way people are connecting, the return to local locally mixed with the flattening of the world globally is completely changing everything we know. I can't help but be consumed and empowered by the possibilities. This place we're at will be in the history books that our kids and their kids read. The outcome will change us forever and how we get there will be analyzed and studied and discussed and new philosophies will be created and new economies will emerge. The emotion is overwhelming.

I find comfort in the realization that the pendulum will continue to swing, forever. We'll always, always, always have ups, and downs. We'll go too far, and then come back to what works best. We'll grow, and retreat. And it happens to all of us-- differently, yet the same. Knowing this, I feel more willing to take a good risk and step out beyond what is comfortable to get to my next great thing. I know I work hard and I'm smart and that even if things get bad, they'll get great again-- there's comfort in that. I know this about my friends and family too. I worry that they worry, but secretly I'm so excited for them-- to see what comes next, what they will find, that they couldn't imagine today, but that years from now they will look back on and say "That was the best thing that ever happened to me."

There is only opportunity in our situation-- the opportunity to learn and change, do things a little differently, get out of our comfort zone and push ourselves. While the unknown is tough, if we look back and learn from history, this has all happened before and we survived, and came out better...for a time.

For me, right now, it's a matter of finding a focus in all this opportunity-- while the world is being shaken I need to focus on my landing point and do what I can to get myself there.

Good: Making the Move to Customer Loyalty (from Customer Recruitment)

I've mentioned before the importance of focusing on customer loyalty and how few companies really do anything REMARKABLE when it comes to loving their existing customers.  Comcast has been one of my favorite offenders - ever since they took over broadband from AT&T and then jacked up our price for the same service.  

Yes, this did happen over four years ago and I'm still annoyed because they keep fueling the fire!  The only messages they've EVER sent me are my bill, and promotional deals (for far better rates than I have) for NEW customers (blasting me via mail, tv & online ads).  They also keep asking me to add more services...why?  They aren't offering anything of compelling value over their competition - after the way they've treated me, DO THEY THINK I'M STUPID?

Until very recently this has been how they've interacted with me, their customer; leading me to feel very undervalued and small.  It was probably two months ago when an intellectual woman called and asked if we could have a candid conversation about my feelings on Comcast - there was a structured survey, but she encouraged me to provide any feedback I saw fit and she would document as I went.  So, I unleashed.  When we hung up, I felt better having vented, but I was skeptical...I knew if I didn't start seeing some action that I would become even more upset at them for having wasted my time.

Today, a Comcast representative CAME TO OUR DOOR, to tell us they will be upgrading to a fiber optic network, increasing our bandwidth per second throughput, AND if we wanted to migrate from Vonage to their no contract, improved quality, VOIP solution, they would reduce our monthly bandwidth bill.  Hmmm...interesting...  A new approach for sure.  After getting over my initial attitude of annoyance that Comcast was now at my home to waste my time, I was actually quite taken by the opportunity to speak to someone face-to-face, get my questions answered, and the offer to add a valuable service and be recognized as an existing valuable customer won me over.  So, we signed up.

Time will tell if this is a true and authentic shift in strategy for Comcast.  I'd like more services from them - cable TV NOT being one of them.  The services need to be valuable and relevant.  We don't have cable but stream a lot of shows and download a lot from iTunes...an online cable viewing option or ability to watch cable shows we want but not pay for all the other junk...that would be valuable.  A wireless extension of my bandwidth service so I could leverage my home Internet on the go...that would be a valuable service I would pay for.

Readers, what could Comcast offer you that would increase your loyalty to them in a time of ever- increasing competition?