Your corner of the sphere

What sort of novel do you want to write?

What does your restaurant offer?

What about that new record you're recording?

It's tempting indeed for you to seek to be high quality, low priced, durable, with excellent service, less filling, better taste, poetic phrasing, conveniently located, powerful characters and organic. All at once.

But that's not how humans process what you have to offer.

Consider some classic, bestselling novels or memoirs. Snow Crash matters because of the ideas within. Harry Potter worked because the plot kept kids riveted. The language in Patti Smith's Just Kids is perfect, and the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird are unforgettable. Of course, each book has the other elements in some measure, but it's the one thing that sticks with us.

Zappos might have good prices, but it's the service we talk about. Tom's might have fashionable shoes, but it's the pay it forward that resonates. And your iPhone might have good download speed, but it's the design and fashion that we pay for.

All a way of helping you think about the many disconnected points on the edge of the sphere in your industry. Pick one to exceed expectations in, while making sure everything else is good enough.

       

from Seth Godin's Blog on marketing, tribes and respect http://ift.tt/2npNCMb

A country for con men

The medicine show hypester, the confidence man, the snake oil salesman… my country has a long history of marketers of ill repute.

The reason is simple: we spent two hundred years spreading out over the continent, and unlike Europe, strangers were common. Everyone was coming and going, and it wasn’t unusual at all to engage with someone you didn’t know.

The downside of this openness are all the people who took advantage of it. A tradition that continues to this day.

In the rush to expand, people embraced the idea of the big win. They named their ranch Bonanza, or their town Prospector. They drilled for gushers, invested in penny stocks, and took expensive placebos...

The upside is that being receptive to new ideas, even those too good to be true (especially those) creates a tradition of neophilia and optimism. When someone has a breakthrough—an innovation that actually keeps its promise—it’s much more likely to catch on.

The downside is pretty obvious. 

And so we have to remain vigilant, teach our friends and customers to be on alert, and push regulators to take care, because there’s still a con artist on every corner.

       

from Seth Godin's Blog on marketing, tribes and respect http://ift.tt/2nlTtCp

The other kind of customer service

Reactive customer service waits until something is broken. We leave it up to the annoyed customer to go to the trouble of finding us, contacting us, and then, in real time, advocating for themselves until we finally manage to make things good enough (we rarely make them better than the customer hoped).

Perhaps we ought to spend more time being proactive.

How many people on your team are actively advocating for the customer in advance? Guiding the process so that most disappointments won't even happen, which means we won't have to fix them...

Is there any more effective way to engage with customers than to create products that don't break their hearts?

       

from Seth Godin's Blog on marketing, tribes and respect http://ift.tt/2nmLfsU

Would you vs. will you?

'Would you' questions almost always fail to evoke useful information. That's because people are nice, and want to spare your feelings. "Sure, if you built x, y and z, then of course I'd consider buying it."

On the other hand, 'Will you' questions get to the truth immediately. "Yes, I'll buy that from you today."

You can do all the research in the world, but until you have the guts to make a sale, it's difficult to be certain of anything.

       

from Seth Godin's Blog on marketing, tribes and respect http://ift.tt/2DFhBWO

Surfing vs. coal mining

When the unexpected happens in surfing, that's why you went.

When it happens in a coal mine, it's a matter of life and death.

Perspective changes based on how you define your work. That unplanned outcome or sudden emergency—are you looking at with the optimism and possibility of a surfer, or the dread of a miner?

       

from Seth Godin's Blog on marketing, tribes and respect http://ift.tt/2Efb0mT

"Where did you go to school?"

An interesting question, perhaps, but irrelevant to a job interview.

The campus you spent four years on thirty years ago makes very little contribution to the job you're going to do. Here's what matters: The way you approach your work.

What have you built? What have you led? How do you make decisions? What's your reserve of emotional labor like? How do you act when no one is looking?

You are not your resume. You are the trail you've left behind, the people you've influenced, the work you've done.

       

from Seth Godin's Blog on marketing, tribes and respect http://ift.tt/2DAEmLi

The Georgia – Prices, Availability, Plans

At a Glance

• located on the edge of Downtown Langley
• 194 condominium residences
• two 5-storey woodframe buildings
• colse to Willowbrook Shopping Centre
• near Nicomekl River Habitat nature trails
• adjacent to Fraser Highway & Langley Bypass

Luxury Within Reach

The Georgia, Langley’s most exquisite new condominium development, features two five-storey buildings situated on the edge of Downtown Langley. These spacious and thoughtfully-designed homes are the perfect match of style and function. Residences include 9’ ceilings, open concept living, stainless steel appliances, granite counters, high quality laminate floors and even air conditioning in master bedrooms.

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The Georgia is just steps from the locally-owned shops, boutiques, and restaurants of charming Downtown Langley, where you can enjoy a unique small town shopping experience. For a taste of the outdoors, the nature trails of the Nicomekl River Habitat are just a leisurely 10-minute walk from your doorstep. With Langley’s wonderful sense of community, lush offerings of nature and close proximity to Vancouver, The Georgia offers urban living with the serenity and affordability of a suburban community.

Pricing for The Georgia
1 bedrooms starting in low $300’s, 2 bedrooms/2 bathrooms starting in low $400’s. Sign up to our VIP list above for priority access to The Georgia updates.

Floor Plans for The Georgia
A variety of unit types are offered, including adaptable units, ranging from 466 – 1,087 sq ft. Contact me today to discuss availability and plans according to your needs.

The Georgia Interiors

Open concept living.

Chef-inspired kitchens.

Practical bathrooms.

Amenities at The Georgia
Each building includes a lounge adjacent to the entry, a fitness room on the first floor, meeting room on the second floor, library on the third, yoga room on the fourth, and theatre on the fifth floor.

Parking and Storage
The Georgia will provide 245 underground parking stalls and 39 surface visitor stalls.

Maintenance Fees at The Georgia
TBA.

Developer Team for The Georgia
Whitetail Homes is the Fraser Valley’s multi-family development specialist. With thousands of homes either constructed or project managed directly by Whitetail’s principals in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, you can be assured that your brand new condo or townhome will be of the upmost quality – now and for years to come.

Expected Completion for The Georgia
Phae 1: 2020. Phase 2: 2021. Sales begin Spring 2018.

Are you interested in learning more about other homes in Langley, Surrey, or White Rock?

Check out these great South Fraser Presales!

The post The Georgia – Prices, Availability, Plans appeared first on Mike Stewart.

from Blog – Mike Stewart http://ift.tt/2GdHYod