The Built Write Blog

“If you build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of mouth is very powerful.”

-Jeff Bezos, founder, president, CEO and Chairman of the board, Amazon.com

This past weekend, Jason and I experienced an opportunity of a lifetime by attending an event we’d been waiting on for close to 20 years. We traveled over 300 miles to see Alice in Chains in concert at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut. And not only did we get to see the concert, we actually knew the right person who could score us some VIP passes so we could meet the band!

There were approximately 30 of us that had the privilege of meeting the band, and I was a nervous third in line (Jason remained his Ranger-self: cool, calm and collected as the fourth person in line). When it was my turn, I walked up to a sun-glass-wearing Jerry Cantrell and asked (as any fan would), “Hi. Would you mind signing my CD case?” He gave me a smile (like he didn’t see that question coming, right?) and said, “Sure.”

As I made my way from band member to band member, I realized that even though these guys are rich and famous, not once did I feel like they were “put off” by having to do a “meet and greet” with their fans. Instead, I got the impression that they were actually having fun meeting us. Jerry was just recovering from having the flu earlier in the week, so he wasn’t too talkative, but both William DuVall and Mike Inez happily signed our memorabilia and talked with us. And when it came time to get a photo with the band, Jason asked them, “Where do you wanted us?” Mike responded, “Hey, you’re the fans. Where do you want us?” Now I am no expert on dealing with celebrities, but how many other rock stars would do that? Probably not too many.

Meeting the band was certainly an awesome experience for us. Not only will we continue to be fans of Alice in Chains, but because the band members made it such a positive experience, we will spend the rest of our lives telling anyone who will listen how amazingly cool they are as people, too. How about that for reinforcing fan loyalty?

And this is just the type of talked-about experience you should be creating for your customers.

Think about it. If the band members of Alice in Chains had been arrogant or ungrateful, do you think we would have enjoyed the concert (even though we’d been waiting 20 years for this opportunity)? Nope. And we certainly would have thought twice about ever purchasing their music again … no matter how much we liked it.

Creating an experience for your customers can go either way. You can choose to be unresponsive and decide not to fix that nail pop and squeaky floorboard because the customer has lived in their home over one year (and you aren’t obligated to do so anymore), or you can happily fix it, knowing that someday that customer may be in the market for another home and will want you to build it for them, again. Every day the choice is yours in how you deal with your customers.

There is a remodeler I know who rents his customers PODS (moveable storage boxes) before starting a large remodeling project. He knows that one of the biggest concerns any homeowner has before a remodeling project begins is where to store their stuff. So to combat this issue, he arranges for storage. This way, they don’t have to worry about their belongings getting dusty or, worse yet, destroyed. In doing this, he is creating a positive experience for his customers.

I frequently work with Synapse Print Management in Lancaster; they do many things right, in my opinion, but one that I appreciate the most is that they automatically send me samples from every project I do with them. While I coordinate print projects on behalf of many of my clients, I don’t often get to see the finished product, since it is delivered directly to my clients’ place of business. Synapse knows this and before they deliver the product to my client, they will put a few in the mail to me. And I NEVER have to ask. They just know to do it. That’s what makes working with them such a great customer experience for me.

It doesn’t matter what business you are in or whether you sell a product or service, you can ALWAYS create a positive experience for your customers. It can be as simple as saying “thank you” for their business or developing a system so you can stay in better communication with them (like a newsletter). One of the best ways to create a positive experience for your customers is to identify their concerns and find a solution you can provide. So ask yourself: at what level are you creating an experience for your customers (high quality, low quality or somewhere in between?)? What could you do to make the experience your customers have with you even better?

I’ll end with this quote I saw recently on Facebook from Jim Palmer – the Newsletter Guru. “Success Tip: If you simply make it easy for someone to do business with you and you are polite and courteous, you will have happy customers. If you go just a few extra steps to make your customers’ experience memorable, they’ll be singing your praises from the roof tops!”

Give your customers an Alice in Chains experience … they’ll shower you with loyalty if you do!

Thank you for reading the Built Write blog!

Tess Wittler Writing Services • Dedicated to giving your visions a voice.

I received this email last week from Marcia Hoeck and without a doubt, it caught my attention. The subject line read: Entrepreneurs and ADHD. Here’s how first few sentences went:

Do you ever feel like you have ADHD?

A lot of entrepreneurs feel that way. And there are a lot of surprising similarities between the characteristics I’ve found most entrepreneurs and small business owners have, and adults with ADHD.

There’s the procrastination, the tendency to not finish projects, the feelings of over- whelm, the flitting from one project to the next, the "bright shiny object" syndrome — sound familiar?

Boy, did it ever! Now I don’t believe that I have ADHD, but I do have a propensity, at times, to be easily distracted. Often this occurs when I have many projects pulling me in different direction. They could be writing newsletters, feature articles, information sheets or even special reports. All are important, yet I can’t possibly work on all of them at the same time. Sometimes what occurs then is the “bright shiny object” syndrome – where you lose focus and start jumping from one project to another to another – almost as if you are a bumble bee buzzing from one flower to another to another.

My “bright shiny object” syndrome most often happens with books, which should be no surprise since I am a copywriter. I usually juggle reading two books at a time – one fictional book and a business/professional development book. This is on top of the dozens of trade journals, blogs, online articles and newsletters I also read on a monthly basis (I am always reading something.).

So after I got my latest Amazon.com  and BuilderBooks.com orders a few days ago, I, naturally, couldn’t resist a new-smelling book and started reading my latest gems. Then it occurred to me that I had done the exact same thing with the last few batched of books I’d received. This made me wonder: Just how many books am I reading right now? SEVEN! 7 books with bookmarkers, post-it flags, highlights and notes penciled into the margins. SEVEN! (Holy Cow!)

So I took this picture to show you.

But wait, there is more. I also have a pile of e-books in a corner of my office, and about once a week I grab a few that I have printed out and read them. Here’s a picture of those (As you can see, some of them are so large they have their own 3-ring binder!).

Keep in mind this only represents the ones I’ve printed out; I have “reading” file on my desktop of other e-books that caught my attention that I want to also read when I get a chance.

So my question to you is this: As an entrepreneur, do you also suffer from “bright shiny object” syndrome? Or are you going to leave me hanging and think that I am only one? My “bright shiny object” syndrome is caused by books and other reading material, but what “bright shiny objects” break your focus and get you jumping? Chime in … I’d love to hear what you have to say.

Thank you for reading the Built Write blog!

Tess Wittler Writing Services • Dedicated to giving your visions a voice.

While surfing the ‘net this weekend, I found these photos that I thought appropriate for this week’s edition of Monday Morning Motivation. Thanks to Photo Dump for sharing these gems!

Thank you for reading the Built Write blog!

Tess Wittler Writing Services • Dedicated to giving your visions a voice.

by Tess Wittler

You may have a strong business idea and a great product, but are you doing everything you can to be seen by the right people? Increasing your visibility can change the way that potential customers see your business.

Visibility is the glue that holds all other strategies together when it comes to achieving “expert status” as a business owner. Each strategy gets your name out among other business owners, movers and shakers and potential clients. Being seen goes a long way with the word-of-mouth crowd.

Here are a few ways that you can increase your visibility:

• Take advantage of all opportunities that come your way
• Attend business seminars either in person or online. Hands down, face-to-face networking is always the best method, but don’t discount attending online sessions. I’ve met some great people (and clients) virtually.
• Get involved in your trade association. My niche is writing for the building industry, so I am an active member of two local associations, and I am becoming more active at the state level with my involvement with the Pennsylvania Builders Association. I am also a member of the National Association of Home Builders and have plans to be more active by participating in online forums.
• Public speaking
• Write press releases
• Start a Fan Page on Facebook
• Start a blog – and maintain it
• Publish a consistent and regular newsletter

If you are comfortable doing what you are doing and it works for you, still try at least one or two of these ideas. No one ever made a fortune playing it safe or being comfortable. Trying new things to elevate yourself within your business is a part of the process. And, it can be fun to learn just how good you are.

Some business owners are too picky. They want to do certain things to achieve expert status. This goes back to the issue of comfort level. When you are on Facebook and a fellow business owner is looking for speakers for his online conference or a local event in your area, throw your hat in the ring.

Someone in one of your associations needs advice or a speaker for the next meeting? Take that spot for yourself. Every opportunity places another feather in your cap. It is a point that you can add to your bio and also your press releases for new products or events.

And, you can create newsletters for your customers. Sending a monthly or quarterly newsletter about your business gives you the chance to add information about accomplishments that have occurred since the last newsletter. Each solidifies your expert status in the eyes of current and potential customers. Newsletters can be printed and passed around to others.

Once you put all of this in place, keep a monthly check on your ventures to be sure that they are still bringing about the desired effect. Some of it won’t require much tweaking just checking in with the movers and shakers to be sure they still know your name.

Achieving expert status inspires confidence on the part of customers and fellow business owners and elevates your credibility. Increasing your visibility is the first step in that process.

Thank you for reading the Built Write blog!

Tess Wittler Writing Services • Dedicated to giving your visions a voice.

Entrepreneurs Can Change the World

I saw this amazing video (thanks to Ed Gandia at TheWealthyFreelancer.com) – and quickly recognized that it was too powerful to keep to myself and not share with you. Many of my clients are entrepreneurs. They may not call themselves that; they may prefer the terms home builder, engineer, developer, remodeler, or even supplier – but they, like entrepreneurs, had a dream, a vision and the guts to go for it.

I, too, had a vision – of being a copywriter and marketing specialist for my friends in the building industry. My goal is to help promote the industry that I love; the industry I call … home.

I hope you enjoy this Monday Morning Motivation. Have a most excellent week!

Thank you for reading the Built Write blog!

Tess Wittler Writing Services • Dedicated to giving your visions a voice.

Fast Tube by Casper

How do you inspire customer loyalty? One way is to let them know that you are thinking about them all the time. When you have new things to share, be sure that your customers are the first to know.

Just about everybody has received a newsletter at one time or another. It can be one page, front and back, a brochure or a booklet style. Truthfully, when you are publishing an online newsletter, you have more options for enhancements to thrill your readers.

When you add another marketing tool to your arsenal, it does add more work for you. To minimize your workload, create dedicated columns/topics for your newsletter. You can have a place for an uplifting message from you, product news, suggestions from customers and the fun stuff.

Uses for Newsletters

How do you get the customers to subscribe to your newsletter? Well, you can create a unique webpage or “sign up box” for your website that allows customers to opt-in for the newsletter. This way, visitors can sign up for the newsletter if they are willing to provide their email address. It is important to provide a disclaimer assuring subscribers that you won’t sell their email address to a third party.

But as you know, people are inundated with email newsletters and are often reluctant to sign up for another newsletter. To get around this and make signing up for your newsletter attractive,up-sell the newsletter with coupon offers, contests, freebies and/or a special report. Every month, offer new customer-friendly features where subscribers can interact and not simply read text.

Additionally, the offerings in newsletters can work in tandem with other email marketing campaigns. Use newsletters to talk about new product offers and then send follow-up emails to help them decide to purchase the offer. You can link the sign up with auto-responder messages will be automatically sent to subscribers. Auto-responders are great for helping businesses take the headache out of remembering to schedule an email because once it is set up, it automatically does it for you!

Enhance Your Newsletters

To enhance your email newsletter, come up with a descriptive and engaging title for it. If you are a remodeling contractor, you can name your newsletter something like “Hammering Home Trends.” Remember, a newsletter is a unique part of your marketing arsenal, and as such, it needs its own identity to get customers to use it.

Newsletters are great because they can be shared. Encourage customers to “forward to a friend” or print them out and give them to friends and family who can also utilize your products.

Don’t neglect the power of visuals. Add pictures and even video to your email newsletters to engage your customers. Photos break-up the text and are a great means to enhance points you are making in the article. A newsletter with a video embedded is different and will pique your readers’ interest.

So if you are looking for ways to capitalize on your business, add a newsletter subscription to further build up the relationship with your customers. They are an inexpensive, yet effective, way to stay in-front of your prospects and customers.

Thank you for reading the Built Write blog!

Tess Wittler Writing Services • Dedicated to giving your visions a voice.