Thank Your Top Ten and WIN!

Relationship marketing is all about building long-term relationships with customers, prospective customers and business associates.  Sending business thank you notes really makes a lasting impression and can help increase your bottom line if and when you get it right!

You can drive repeat business by simply using thank you notes and take your business to a whole new level!  It's all about going the extra mile ... and it works because people want to continue doing business with people who make this extra effort.

Yet many entrepreneurs, small business owners and sales professionals fail to grasp the simple fact that they need to show their customers how grateful they are for their business (without turning every letter or email into a product push). A thank you card after a referral or a sale helps to make customers feel valued and appreciated.

I have a simple program that allows me to recognize 10 people every month for anything from showing appreciation for business, to having a birthday or special occasion, to sympathy for lost ones, and the list goes on.  I know that if I can think of 10 people, it has been a good month and I have every right to be thankful!

if we are to achieve our goals in this competitive world, we cannot underestimate the power saying thank you in business. Become a card sender today and not only will your attitude change about your business, it will change your outlook on life as well!  And that's a good thing.....

"The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated."

William James

M is for Mother (she's the artist in us all)!

With Mother’s Day around the corner, it is fitting to blog about this timely topic!  What does it have to do with art?  You’ll see. 

Ancient cultures are said to be the discoverers of the tradition of honoring our mothers. The first Mother's Day ceremony was a church service in 1908 requested by Anna Jarvis, of Philadelphia, to honor her deceased mother. Jarvis, at an early age, had heard her mother express hope that a day to honor all mothers would be established. So, in 1914, Congress passed legislation designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day.

Mother's Day to this day is a celebration of not only the involvement that a mother makes within her family by nurturing her children but also the contribution she makes to society.  Mothers take us under her protection from the day we are born. She feeds us, cares for us when we are sick, looks after our growth and teaches us to walk, play and CREATE! 

Think of the countless hours (and resources) mother’s spend encouraging and motivating the artistic abilities of her children!  Mothers are the original inspiration we all have to become artists, singers, musicians, writers, dancers…and the list goes on and on! 

What do you remember about your mother?  Did she sing to you, draw and color with you, help you write your assignments in school?  Did she drive you to art or music lessons, encourage you to practice, take you on trips to see and experience new and exciting things?    

A mother deserves much more than a single Mother's Day.   No thank you can ever repay mother's debt, but at least we will make her happy by recognizing her on Mother's Day.  Even if your mother is deceased, you are estranged or thinking of her brings you pain, you can still take time to give her the moment she deserves.  Whatever method you choose to remember her, the best gift you give her this Mother's Day is the feeling that you thought of her and made an effort to make her feel really special in its own way.  She brought you into this world and most likely sacrificed in more ways than we will ever know to mold us into the artists we are today! 

THANK YOU MOTHER!  I am who I am in part because of the woman you were and the portion of your life you gave to me!