Good Lord, how many times have you heard that one from your mom? In high school this   was my mom’s mantra!
I wanted to fit in, like everyone else my age, and so I tried to mimic the kids in the “in” crowd. It never dawned on me to do my own thing, to stand out in the crowd, to follow my heart, to think outside the box, to have my own bag, to make a name for myself, to….you’re getting this, aren’t you?

Kids at that age usually don’t know any better. Problem is, we take this with us into adulthood. And into businesshood. We follow the crowd. We become sheep-like. “Everyone else is doing it,” we say. We’ve been stuck in a democracy so long that we think that voting indicates what’s right and what’s good. And how has THAT worked out for us? You know, even the T.V. commercials tap into that mindset. They tell me how many people are using their product. If 2 million people are using their product, it must be good for me, too, right? I mean, could there actually be 2 million idiots in this country? (Don’t answer that! We all know that of course WE are not members of the idiot club!)

Now, it’s common knowledge that to be successful in business, one of the things you have to do is to “stand out.” What does that mean, exactly? Is it like Mattress Mack of Gallery Furniture jumping up and down saying, “…saves you money!” Or is it Gallery Furniture’s “Buy It Today, Get It Tonight” ethic? No other furniture company delivers on the same day. Can you imagine the logistics nightmare to ALWAYS, WITHOUT FAIL, deliver on the same day?
How about Hyundai? They were the first to offer the 10 year, 100,000 mile warranty. Lately, they were the first to introduce the “If you lose your job we will buy back your car” option.
Now, Kentucky Fried Chicken is offering Kentucky Grilled Chicken. I bet Colonel Sanders struggled with that one for a while.

What’s my point?

Well, what do you think it is?

This begs the obvious question, do you do what everyone else does? You know, billboards, phone book ads, T.V. commercials, emails, those sorts of things?

Or do you stand out from the crowd?

When was the last time you saw a company send out greeting cards? When was the last time you saw or heard of a company doing customer/client appreciation, other than the standard, meaningless, corporate-speak letter that begins with “Dear Appreciated Customer”? When was the last time you saw or heard of a company sending gifts or gift cards to their employees, customers/clients, vendors, business associates? I’m not talking about a slush fund here or some contribution, although that can have value.  When was the last time you sent a personal greeting card talking about your employees or your family ? Imagine calling your employee, or your aunt, and telling them how valuable they are to you or thanking them for something they’ve recently done for you? Now instead, imagine bringing them up on stage in front of 500 other people and thanking them, acknowledging them or congratulating them. Would that make a difference to your employee or aunt? Is that more powerful than just calling them or shaking their hand? You bet it is!!!

So, here’s an idea. Take a picture of your outstanding employee or your aunt, make a greeting card out of it with the caption, “Bill Smith, Employee of the Month” or “Aunt Mary, My Favorite Aunt.” On the inside tell why they’ve impressed you so much. Now, send this out to EVERYONE at your company or your entire family. Do you feel the difference? You can do this with vendors, suppliers, customers. The only limit is your imagination. And you can do all this with an automated system while only spending $.93 per card + postage!! Can you imagine sending 200 cards in less than 3 minutes with the push of a computer key? In this system you can do this.

What about follow up? What if you could create a 5 card series, each with a different message, whereby each card goes out every month, or every 3 months, AUTOMATICALLY to your customers or prospects. All you had to do was create the cards and tell the system how often to send each one. Then, press the computer key. The system does the rest. AUTOMATICALLY. For as little as $.62 per card + postage!

This is not jumping off a bridge with your friends. In fact, I’ll bet none of your “friends” or business competitors are doing this. You want to stand out? You want to make a name for yourself, think outside the box, DOUBLE YOUR REFERRALS? This is the tool to use. Email me at steveblu1@gmail.com to experience this tool for yourself. For FREE.

To your business success!!!

Please visit businessnetworkingmistakes.com to get a free report about how networking mistakes can cripple your business.

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