Pay it Forward – It does comes Back!
One of the things I did in 2008 when I started networking online for my business was to set a goal of helping others online. If I see someone who looks like they were hacked, have a typo in their BIO, you know, the little things… I try to help by letting them know how they can fix the situation. If I see someone asking a question, needing help I point them in the right direction. It’s my way of paying it forward ( the concept of asking that a good turn be repaid by having it done to others instead – ie. if you help 3 people and they each help 3 people, it’s just like word of mouth or viral marketing, but instead people helping others) for all the help I got in my life from others and especially when I started my business.
It’s the little things that I see when I am networking online – looking at new followers, chatting on a Facebook page, and talking to people. Really, it’s the same as you would help out people in person too (well, except for the old one of someone’s ’fly being down’ and never knowing if you say something or not – can’t see that situation happening online!) – just being kind and helpful.
Anyhow this past week I ran into a different type of way I could help someone. It started when I got my mail and my new Moo Cards were in there. Whoohoo – More Moo! And the Bonus was these were the 100 FREE mini moo cards I got from a Klout Perk. They were even free but for the shipping. I flew in the house all excited to open the package and see them (and by the way if you are wondering what a Moo card is, you have obviously never held one in your hand. They are a delight to hold and touch and feel. If you want to see one live and in person, send me an email with your address and I will mail you one of mine! Seriously, I will)
…. back to the story
I get the package open and then open the little box they come in … and the first one is usually a reference card for the order, I look past that and it is another odd card, I keep looking and then finally it dawns on me… they are all these odd cards and not mine! UGh! All the excitement for nothing!
I had someone else’s cards! I called Moo Customer Service and we go through the order numbers and they realize that I have someone else’s cards and someone out there probably is getting mine. A little shipping mixup. No big deal, they tell me to chuck the cards in the garbage because they are sending me a rush order, as well as this other person whose cards I have in my hands.
Chuck them out??? No way - they are Moo Cards. Mini or not – they are too nice to put in the recycle bin. Luckily the cards had the twitter id of the company – @QuipMag (and the special order reference card had the name of the person who made the order) – so I looked them up on twitter, got their website, then found the right person on the “About” page.
I emailed and said what happened, that she would probably get an email about an order problem and that more cards were coming… but in the meantime – what is her address so I can mail this box of cards off. (I could not in any way throw them out).
She was so happy I emailed and very appreciative that I was willing to mail the cards. I did, she got them last week and was so grateful I took the time to send them. We also got to know a little bit about each other’s business in the process.
A little help and a little pay it forward – it always comes back I say…
So today I got a tweet from Kateryna:
@timeontaskva So guess what, I just got your cards! Will mail them tomorrow please DM me your address
Pay it Forward, It ALWAYS comes back one way or another and not always from the recipient as was the case today – but somewhere somehow it will come back to you.
PS. Don’t forget to send me an email if you want a sample mini-moo card. The postage is on me!
A Special Blog Post
Today, I needed to vent a little about some stress I have been having… it involves our dog, Lola and some other unnamed creatures.
Sooo… Lola is our adopted dog.. a beautiful dog in looks, temper and personality. We’ve had her for four years now and everyone loves her. She has always been a suspected Rat Terrier breed mix, but we have never known for sure… until now.
We had some renos done in our basement and apparently that stirred up a few critters. (And God help me, but I did not tell my mother about this while she stayed here over Christmas! Hopefully she does not subscribe to my blog!) We think they are in the walls/bathroom heaters in the basement … or so I thought, until yesterday.
When I woke up I heard that sound I had been hearing during the nights lately… the sound of a mouse – or something, as I have not sighted anything yet – in the main floor bathroom. It was no longer in my imagination. My husband has been telling me this every night in the middle of the night – along with yells of “Go back to sleep, there’s no mouse!”
Everyone heard it today. Something is in that main bath heater for sure. The fact that the dog, who before this has never really spent much time in the basement or bathrooms, has been there too much; pawing at walls, heaters and more. She would not leave the bathroom and was sniffing at the heater and trying to get IN the heater (we are talking a baseboard heater) and was shaking like a leaf in excitement at whatever was making the noises in the heater… well… all this tells me, we in fact do have a mouse.
And Yes, I know the drill… there is not one mouse. I can hear you all saying it now: “Kathy, there is NEVER one mouse” We owned two homes before, that were both over 70 years old. We are good at catching mice… I am just very terrified of them too. They make me yell and swear … oh wait, the mice make me yell, the kids who go “MOM! What’s THAT by your feet!!!! – well, that is what makes me swear – and the kids laugh hysterically.
Anyhow for a little fun and deviation from my normal blogging about business… here is my boring, yet somewhat funny video of my little rat terrier and her persistence in our bathroom heater. And, heaven help me… the tub as well! (You can’t imagine how on guard I am while having a shower lately – I have been showering with my glasses on!). Warning… there may be the start of a little swearing near the end, I apologize, but as you will see it was not my fault. I will not be sharing the video the kids took of me while they were scaring over and over, the first day we realized what may be happening (but that one could win on America’s Funniest Videos).
Needless to say, Braemar Pest Control visited my house today and though Justin (very nice guy) feels that there are not many critters based on the ‘dropping’ evidence, he still wants to solve the problem before the few become many. UGH!
Suffice it to say, though I have all the confidence in the world in Justin and his bait traps. I am scared to use our washrooms now, those little traps stand out a lot under the heaters… and all I do is stare at them in pure fear of anything moving. I walk on guard throughout the house, mostly because my imagination can do more than anything else ever would! I work from home, so the days are a little freaky right now, I walk around making lots of loud noises as I go… trying to shoo my friends away. Again, I have not seen one mouse in person, but I sure feel their presence.
… Now to figure out how to keep Mom away from here until the problem is solved.
My New Year started off with a bang – or rather lots of little ones in my heaters.. how about yours???
Make Changes to Improve your Business
Last week in an email, one of my clients, a General Contractor in Halifax Nova Scotia, wrote a sentence that really struck home for me. He said:
If I do what I do time after time, obviously the results will always be the same. Something has to change.
I think it was the word ‘obviously’ that really makes this statement stand out. Especially this time of year – the year end is always a time where I am looking back at what happened this past year and thinking and planning about changes to improve for next. And “Obviously” if nothing changes nothing improves, unless you have reached perfection already!!
These are words that should ring true for any business owner. No matter what your business goals are, in most cases we all want to improve; to have increased sales and more business. Putting your plans and goals in writing, assessing where you are and analyzing past results are ways to make certain you are seriously tackling the issue of improving your business and not just keeping it at a standstill, a pipe dream.
The assessment and analysis is especially important. Without looking at what you did in the past you will have a hard time figuring out what worked, what didn’t and more importantly, what needs to change.
Here are a few simple steps to take you through the process of making changes in your business:
- Know your results to this point – Financial results and overall Business Practices.
- Have goals set in place and understand where your results have taken you with regards to these goals.
- Have your goals changed? If so, look at the new goals compared to the results.
- Look at what worked to achieve these goals – or what did not. Think about the obstacles (no matter how small) that got in the way of achievement.
- Develop new plans to help you overcome the obstacles and plans to build on what worked this past year.
- Set your goals for the coming year, taking into account all the changes to be implemented.
- Communicate these plans to all who are involved in your business and all who will be affected by the changes.
- Implement the changes and then re-evaluate during the year to assess results and make changes along the way (better than waiting it out til the next year end!)
Words never said enough: Thank you for a Job Well Done
A big (BIG, really BIG) Pet Peeve of mine is that more people send negative feedback than they ever do positive. And even worse, this has trained us all to expect the bad and not the good.
When I worked at Royal Bank years ago, one of my jobs was the Information Desk. You know, the main front desk where everyone stops to get information – who to see, how to do this etc etc. Not many people liked to cover my desk when I was away for a few reasons:
- You needed to know a lot about what was going on in all areas of the branch.
- You got a lot of complaints here – banks cards eaten, not working, big lineups, can’t see banker because of no appointment booked etc etc. Lots of negative things.
- It could get real busy.
My philosophy was always to help out everyone to the best of my abilities; solve problems, fix things, and then of course the go the extra mile to help. Yes, you got the crappy stuff all day long – but you also got the good stuff, the people so happy you helped them, so appreciative of your services. I always said the good may not have outweighed the bad, but the good was so good it would wipe out all the bad.
That’s how I am with service now, I comment on both good and bad service received. But my good always outweighs the bad – that is my personal policy on giving service comments. I have made it a personal commitment to prove to the world people do give feedback on good service too.
In doing so I have learned a few tricks, and the # 1 trick in in how you ask for the comment card. When asking staff for a comment card to fill out, indicate something like this :
I wanted to share how happy I was with the service today, do you have a comment card I can fill out?
If not, you will cause a panic situation. As soon as you go up and say to someone:
Can I have a comment card?
Most times you will get a response like:
- Is there something wrong?
- Can I help you with a problem?
- Did you have an issue with your service?
Others may hear you as well, and come over to offer to help fix the bad service you obviously received since you are asking for a comment card. We have all been trained to expect the worst. I’m not saying feedback on bad service is not to be shared,m it needs to be, no one will learn and improve if not, but share the good too!
So… why not try this out yourself? Those simple words, “Thank you for a job well done” should, in my opinion, be said more often that they are.
One of my most recent comments was about an employee at a Building Supply store here in Dartmouth, Kent at MicMac Mall. We have been dealing here for years and have done some kitchen renos recently. After a fabulous service experience with someone there, I took a minute and filled out the card at the service desk. (I try to do this right there so I don’t forget why or the name of the person who helped me).
What surprised me about this feedback, was when a few weeks later received a letter in the mail from Kent, thanking me for the comments and letting me know that the associate would be receiving a ‘star’ at their next team meeting. (One of the few times I ever had a comment acknowledged – a great practice for any business to implement and one that will encourage more good feedback I am sure!). Even better, the letter came from the Human Resources Department at head office… it was so nice to know my good words went far and wide. That letter made me feel great.
We also had above and beyond service from the contractor who did our bathroom and kitchen renos… so we sent him 
and his family a fruit bouquet (*See picture* It’s a really cool thank you item to send anyone , it was from Fruitful Expressions a local biz here) – this totally surprised him and his wife, as it probably is not something that happens often. People would say thanks, great job – but not always take it a step farther.
His wife called my contractor immediately and then he called me. Everyone was happy, them for the thought and acknowledgement of a good job and me, because they appreciated my thanks.
Thank you for a job well done
Words that can change the world and the attitudes of everyone you encounter. I challenge you all to send one positive feedback item every week of your life. Your mood and the mood of others will change, I guarantee it!
Taking Care of You
As a small business owner, your business can be operating like a well-oiled machine, but if you’re not taking care of yourself, you’re going to be stressed out. It’s ironic that when things are going really well, we typically end up spending MORE hours on our jobs because we’re just having so much fun and we’re seeing all the fantastic benefits of hard work.
To be a healthy person, you need to be a well-rounded person. Here are a handful of tips to make sure your business isn’t taking over your life at the expense of your health and well-being:
- Get physical
You’ve heard it before and you’ll hear it again – regular exercise reduces anxiety, combats obesity, and makes you a nicer person to be around. If you are sitting on your rear in front of the computer most of the day, you have to find some way to move your body on a regular basis. It can be as simple as a 15 minute walk first thing in the morning, or as intense as a 2 hour gym workout. Just choose something and do it. Commit to this for three weeks and you will probably develop a life long healthy habit.
- Get some rest
I’m willing to bet that at least once in the past month, you’ve found yourself up way too late, finishing one last work project, answering one more email, or putting the finishing touches on one last product. On an occasional basis, these nocturnal escapades are no big deal, But burn the midnight oil night after night after night, and you’re frying yourself. Not only does sleep deprivation make you anxious, edgy and unable think clearly, it also makes it harder for you to work at peak efficiency. Set a bedtime, and stick to it.
- Get a hobby
You will probably laugh at this, thinking you don’t have time for a hobby. But the truth is, you don’t have time NOT to have a hobby! Whether it’s knitting, canoeing, genealogy, cooking, or grooming llamas, you need something that will provide balance to your life. There will be days when the business side of things isn’t going so well, and you will need an escape. Get a hobby before you’re forced to find one.
- Connect
Connecting with those around you is critical to minimizing your stress. At the end of your life, you’re going to be worried more about the people you love and less about the business you created. Show your family and friends how important they are to you NOW by giving them their rightful share of your time. The bonus? It will calm your anxiety when you know you’re investing time where it’s going to matter most throughout your lifetime.
It will take time to get all of these items as part of your regular routine, but stick with it, if you do your health, mind and family will all be more appreciative, as will your clients and business!
Learn the basics of Twitter – understand what a DM, RT and Hashtag are and how to use them
Follow a typical schedule that will help you remain efficient and effective with your time spent on Twitter
Click here to buy your copy nowfor only $12.00.
Download your FREE eBook on Productivity for Entrepreneurs
Join the Social 4 Biz Club
Get your social media questions answered during a live call every month PLUS learn new tricks and tips to using Social Media for your business. Forum support as well for help throughout the month.
