The same person

A house. A hair brush.

At first glance, it seems like the marketing campaigns for these two items would be extremely different. The campaign for one would try to get someone to make a small decision; the other, a huge decision. But the same person who buys a house will also buy a hair brush.

Her attention span won't change: you don't get much more time to pitch the house than the hair brush.

Her tastes won't change: she recognizes what she likes and doesn't like intuitively.

Her gender won't change: she may make color the deciding factor in both cases.

If she's a smart shopper with a house, she'll be a smart shopper for a brush.
If she's not a smart shopper with a house, she probably won't be one when she's buying anything else.

Genuine Pursuit

Sometimes fortune cookies predict the future, but most often they just provide a truism on a strip. I got one that read: "If you want to have a friend, you have to be a friend." That's not so easy. We want people to go after us, we don't necessarily want to chase them down. Going after someone is scary. You face rejection. It takes effort.

But how refreshing is it to get a well-thought-out letter out of the blue? A gift for no reason? A surprise invitation? Those little efforts make you realize how special you are to someone else. They make you want to pay it back (or forward).

If you pursue your customers genuinely (the way you'd want to be pursued), you'll both be more satisfied.

A blog is a smile

In the days of Mom and Pop corner stores, people walked into businesses expecting to be greeted warmly with a big smile from the owner. If you were a regular, he might even welcome you by name. And even though a lot of our day to day trading and mingling happens online now, we still want to be treated like people. So a blog is a way to celebrate our human dignity. It's a smile—a gentle way of saying, "Welcome; I hope you'll make yourself at home."

Welcome to Pass a Smile Around: A marketing blog that's naturally sweet

Photo Credit: Second Life Market Place

This marketing blog will be devoted to sharing tips on how to increase loyalty by building naturally sweet, relational activities into your business. As the lead characters in Monsters, Inc. would tell you: laughter is more powerful than scream. And learning to pass a smile around is a way to strengthen your brand and your outlook on life.

As I venture into new blog territory, I want to thank Sally Lloyd-Jones for giving me the idea, and for the three things she's shared with me that make me smile: her books, her blog, and her friendship (which is the only one that doesn't come with a link).