Random Act of Kindness Day

My first Random Act of Kindness experience was in the 90’s. I had just been through a difficult meeting and when I got back to my car, saw that I had a flat tire. It was one of those nasty cold, wet days when you wish you could curl up in front of a fire and forget the whole day. But here I was in my best ‘go-to-meeting’ duds, dripping, cold, despondent, staring at a flat tire. I had just opened the trunk and was digging around for the spare when a man approached me. Let’s call him Bill. In a very matter of fact way, he said, “here, let me take care of this for you”. As he worked, Bill told a story about how he had been stranded at an airport at Christmas time and was afraid that he would miss the holiday with his wife and children. A stranger approached Bill and offered to drive him to another airport where he could get a flight out. All he asked was that Bill ‘pay it forward’ when the opportunity arose.

I’m a big city girl so in my experience, acts of kindness of any kind, random or deliberate, are rare. This was a life changing moment for me. 

Do you commit random acts of kindness?

Your customers are tweeting about you. Are you ready?

It’s no secret that social media has changed the landscape. Consumers have a direct line to businesses in a way they never had before. Social media platforms are providing a public place for people to connect, share ideas, link to fun and thought-provoking stories and visuals. They are also sharing their customer experiences, good and bad, on all platforms, but with the most immediacy on Twitter. If you’re not already monitoring your brand on Twitter, you are missing out on a great opportunity to connect and engage with your customers.

Building your brand on Twitter starts with being real

Consumers expect to interact with brands on social media. In order to develop loyalty, it is imperative to create a personality for your brand that is human, credible, likeable, and approachable. It needs to be real, and it needs to be felt consistently across every touch-point.

Knowing that your customers are sharing their opinions about your product on Twitter, how can you be proactive? What is your relationship like with your customer? What are you doing to engage with your customers to encourage them to tweet positively about your brand?

Brands that do well on social media are those that build strategies that will get them noticed and remembered. Not every customer experience is going to be great, but finding ways to use Twitter and Facebook creatively will make you memorable.

Some brands have it right. My friend Karl (@TheKarltopia) hates being on the road, but since his work requires it he reasons that he may as well enjoy it, so he drives a Mercedes.  Karl is known for his positive attitude and when he loves something, he tweets about it. He sent some positive vibes toward Mercedes Benz recently and they responded promptly with a personal message and a custom banner, designed just for him. You can bet Karl told all his friends about it.

 

How are you reaching your customers through social media? What are they saying about you?

Today is my birthday

It's my birthday today. Today's the day to pick one goal, write it down and then commit to do whatever it takes to make my dreams come true. 


Lots of people have bucket lists of dreams that never come true. Or maybe they do, but my sense is that most people are like me. Lots of great ideas, but only so much energy and wherewithal.


I spoke with a personal coach recently, who asked, "What are your dreams?" Good question; obviously a good way for her to get a sense of who I am and what I want from life. I knew I had dreams ... somewhere ... but I have been too busy fighting with life to pay attention to them. I groped for an answer. "I want to write a book," I said. I wrote one in college, back in the days when they gave you credits for making yogurt. I convinced my English prof that I could write a novel, and I did. The first draft of a very embarrassing attempt in the 'sword and sorcery' genre about a man who found a sword that drank souls. (A vampire sword. Hmm. Maybe I should resurrect that).


I remember that it was a lot of fun, typing away on my mother's IBM Selectric. It had no correcting function and I was a rotten typist so I quickly ran out of correcting fluid. Fortunately, my story was a fantasy, so any time I misspelled something, I created a new word. It's a great exercise. Try it sometime. 


So after I nattered on a bit about how I put the book idea aside because I had decided that I needed life skills before I could really write anything that mattered, but hoped to do it one day, she stopped me. "When is that going to happen?" My first reaction was sardonic amusement. When indeed. Who am I kidding? But she stopped me again and said, "Really. When are you going to start?" She had me. I was feeling defensive. "I don't know, maybe when I retire?" She nodded slowly and asked,  "And when will that be?" 


The reality is that it's been thirty years since I wrote that first draft, and maybe another twenty until I retire. Do I really want to be the woman who let fifty years go by before she started making her dreams come true? Life moves pretty fast, according to Ferris Buehler. I decided that it was time to stop storing dreams and start acting on them. So today is the day that I will start with dream number one. 

Turn Six Degrees of Separation into Three

The Hidden Power of Social Networking

LinkedIn is new territory for me. I dipped my toes in the waters a couple of years ago, adding connections but not mining them because, from my Canadian perspective, it’s rude to poke into other people’s business. Checking out my connections’ connections felt like digging into their personal stuff.

I thought LinkedIn was nothing more than a job search site until I read Keith Ferrazi’s book, Never Eat Alone. It’s all about making friends and building stronger business relationships. No longer do we separate our business relationships from our personal relationships. Both work together for the simple reason that we prefer to work with people that we know and like.

Think about it. Would you rather work with a stranger, or a friend? Wouldn’t you want to meet someone your friend recommends?

Making our big world smaller

With social media tools like LinkedIn and Twitter, suddenly it’s easier to connect. I can make the big world smaller, reduce the degrees of separation. My network touches other networks.

LinkedIn allows me to reach people more quickly. More importantly, by linking through others, I’m no longer a stranger. I have a level of credibility that I would not have had without the introduction.

Here’s a real-life example. I identified a company that I would like to do business with. I Googled the president, then looked at his profile on LinkedIn. I didn’t have a direct connection, but I had several third-degree links. One of my connections happens to know someone who sits on the board of directors. I sent a request for an introduction to my friend, who promptly responded. And when I say promptly, I mean in two minutes or less.

The very next day, I had coffee with my new connection. We talked about their business and mine, discussed how I could meet my target company president. This meeting could have taken months to schedule. It might never have happened at all if I hadn’t taken the leap and asked my friend to connect me to their friend.

It’s okay to ask a favour from your friend because friendship is about give and take. Now I admire my friend even more because she gets it and was happy to connect me. It has strengthened our relationship. And, of course, she knows she can count on me in future. How great is that?

Weekend Getaway: Wining and Dining in Prince Edward County

In today’s fast paced world, we need to take every opportunity to give ourselves a break, right? That was my logic when I asked my sister to join me for a weekend in Prince Edward County. Michele is one of those incredibly busy women who works 15 hours a day. We don’t see each other often. I was delighted when she jumped at the chance of a weekend getaway.

We perused a B&B website and settled on Harrington Bed & Breakfast, because they offer a room with two twin beds, a private bath, an in-ground pool AND a hot tub. The delicious breakfast posted on their site would be a bonus.  We caught up with each other over a glass of wine by the pool, then changed and walked downtown to find something to eat.

The Acoustic Grill turned out to be ideal for a casual dinner. Their tagline is ‘the music is acoustic but our burgers ROCK’.  We decided to take their word for it. We opted for steak and salad and a local wine (Sandbanks Baco Noir).  Then we had poutine for dessert. So much for good eating intentions! The combination of fresh fries, melting cheese and gravy was too delicious to resist.

The plan for Saturday was to cycle some of the back roads and then tour a few wineries, so we made Friday an early night. The room was very comfortable without being overdone. I slept so well I didn’t hear my sister get up. She went out for an early morning ride (she’s training for a longer cycling trip), then met me and six other guests at the breakfast table. Nona's crust-less quiche with asparagus was excellent, the coffeepot was bottomless and the conversation was great. The other six guests had toured Prince Edward County before, and had lots of suggestions of wineries to try.

Believe it or not, Michele was actually up for a second bike ride with me after breakfast.  We consulted with our host, Brooke, on the best area to cycle, as I really have very little experience on my bike. Although I’ve owned my hybrid touring/mountain bike for almost 20 years, I only go out once or twice a year for short rides in the neighbourhood. My sister owns a serious cyclists’ road bike, the type with thin tires and a light aluminum frame.

I was up for a long ride, or at least, as long as my derriere could hold out. To make things easier, we decided to drive partway to a flat area. We stopped near Black River, then cycled South and East toward Long Point. Michele gave me some tips to help me get up and down hills, and soon I was cruising along at an average of 20kph. We planned to keep it short, but we were so taken by the gorgeous views of lake and farms that before I knew it, we had cycled 16kms before we turned around and cycled back.  For a first ride, 32kms is no mean feat. I couldn’t help grinning, feeling pretty proud of myself.

After a quick shower and lunch, the wine tour began. Prince Edward County’s wine industry is still fairly new, even by Canadian standards. To be honest, my taste normally goes to Italian and Spanish wines that get their flavour from their hot, dry, southern climates.  I was pleasantly surprised to find a few Bacos and Pinot Noirs that actually made my taste buds sing. High points included Sandbanks, Casa Dea and Karlo Estates. 

While it was tempting to sit and sip wines ‘til dusk, we had made reservations for dinner, so we hustled back to Picton, glammed ourselves up and made our way to Blumen Garden Bistro.  The special of the evening was a Spanish seafood stew served with fingerling potatoes. The atmosphere was pleasant, sophisticated, fun; definitely a good choice for our special weekend.

Sunday morning means another big B&B breakfast! Everyone at the table raved about Nona’s buttermilk pancakes. I opted for a lighter meal of scrambled eggs, fruit salad topped with her home-made muesli and yogurt. Brooke was charming, telling us about his collection of African busts. Originally from South Africa, Brooke and Nona Bussell chose to retire in Picton, and it’s obvious that they love it.

By the time we settled up and were ready to go, we felt like family. Nona and Brooke are warm, lovely people who really made us feel comfortable and at home. What a wonderful getaway! We packed a lot of fun into two and a half short days, but I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
Come to think of it, I love travelling, tasting wine and blogging, so why not do it full time? Do I sense a life changing moment? For starters, I am entering this blog to the GoGirlfriend.com’s Blissdom Canada contest.

You can help me win, if you share this story and be sure to add the hashtag #GGBliss so the wonderful women at @GoGirlfriend know you’re on my team!

Living La Vida Lise means ...

Every once in a while I feel the need to reinvent my life. I want to kick off the shackles of the mundane and soar.  'Living la Vida Lise' means making every effort to live well. In order to live well, I surround myself with good friends, people who enjoy life. I ensure that my environment pleases me: fresh flowers, elegant furnishings, an original painting, a delicious glass of wine. I look for those sparkling moments, rather like looking for that interesting pebble on the beach. This blog is a reminder to me to pay attention, to keep looking for those sparkling moments. 


This morning, the weather is gloomy. Again. I have an important meeting. I want to do well, so I take the extra time to prepare myself, selecting clothing that is rich, elegant with an edge. I'm daydreaming of sunny days in Italy. So today, I make a break from my usual routine of herbal tea at my desk. I walk to the local coffee shop and order a capuccino. I savour the richness of the coffee, closing my eyes and mentally placing myself in the town square of Sienna. It's true what they say about the quality of light in Tuscany. I want to recreate that feeling, visualize myself in the moment of what it means to me to live well. Don't ask if it is working. Just live it, with me.