What you may have missed (before your first kiss)
Noticing that you darlings are 25% American and 25% English (the rest of you lovies hang on, presents for you in a minute)….I thought, “Ooh, I’ve got some love to share.”
Atop my list of ‘benefits to growing up all over’ is that, as a child, I got more books: the best of both sides of the pond.
English and American children’s literature (before both were taken hostage and stabbed in the eyes by that awful boy wizard) are so very different.
Now that he’s dead and has relinquished his hold (I haven’t read the series, this is simply what I choose to believe), it’s time to rediscover seriously good.
“But I’m not 10!”
I don’t care. You – or someone you know – probably read about that horrible boy wizard, didn’t you? Kids’ books are gorgeous – some of the richest language to be found.
Ladies and gents, let’s cross the Atlantic.
English readers, try these out.
- A Day No Pigs Would Die – Robert Newton Peck
- Babysitters’ Club series – Ann M. Martin
- Bunnicula – James Howe
- Harriet the Spy – Louise Fitzhugh
- Homecoming – Cynthia Voigt
- The Indian in the Cupboard – Lynne Reid Banks
- Island of the Blue Dolphins – Scott O’Dell
- Julie of the Wolves – Jean Craighead George
- Nancy Drew series – Carolyn Keene
- Number The Stars – Lois Lowry
- Ramona Quimby series – Beverly Cleary
- Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry – Mildred Taylor
- Shiloh – Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
- Tom Sawyer – Mark Twain
- The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle – Avi
In the land of the free? Did you miss these ones?
- (Absolutely any Roald Dahl book)
- All Creatures Great and Small – James Herriot
- The Borrowers – Mary Norton
- The Chronicles of Narnia – C.S. Lewis
- Famous Five, Secret Seven and Naughtiest Girl series – Enid Blyton
- Five Children and It – Edith Nesbit
- The Jolly Postman - Janet and Allan Ahlberg
- The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark – Jill Tomlinson
- Railway Children – Edith Nesbit
- Tale of Peter Rabbit – Beatrix Potter
- Tom’s Midnight Garden – Philippa Pearce
Did I overlook one of your favourites?
Rest of the world – what tops your list that we need to know about?
Permission to do nothing and call it research
Chocolate cake on Tuesday… wine – and plenty of it – on Thursday. Am I good to you or what?
Playing Business Blog Scattergories a few months ago, I recommended the movie Bottle Shock for small businesses. It’s an improbable romp across every emotion known to the self-employed. Vital watching as, believe you me, you’ll relate in spades.
4 things to know:
- BYO grain of salt – you’ll have to suspend disbelief while they sell the idea that chardonnay turned the wine world on its head.
- Prepare to want, need and yeaaaarn for guacamole – this movie does for organic foodies what a porn commercial does to a lonely teenage boy. You’ll want and need it now.
- Understand that Napa Valley will top your must-visit list. Chardonnay snobbery aside, it’s just drop dead.
- It’s an Apollo 13 with wine – you know the ending will come good, you just have to wait for the cast to weather a few sleepless nights.
Rent it anyway.
For this winery, business is bad. Beat-up-your son-and-fire-your-only-competent-employee bad. The owner even puts his suit back on and heads back to corporate land to grovel for his old job, something this freelancer recognises as a worst-case scenario.
The protagonist enters a contest he hasn’t a chance of winning. His father, the owner, has already given up, knowing he shouldn’t have….and yet….AND YET!!! Of course they bloody win.
If it’s as hot in your city as it is in mine right now, this is a great summer movie to watch tonight – sprawled across the floor, face shoved in the closest fan. Do NOT forget the snacks. If you don’t start with a bucket of guacamole in front of you, well, don’t come crying to me.
So crash out and watch it. Wake up tomorrow, goofy grin plastered, and ask yourself what crazy venture you can tackle today – never expecting in a million years it will come good.
To draw on a recent Royal Caribbean commercial – ‘Why not?‘
Why not.
3AM. Car alarm outside. What do you do?
3AM. A car alarm goes off on your street. It’s not your car.
Do you:
A) Roll your eyes, grit your teeth, wait for it to finish
B) Think nasty things about the idiot who trips his own alarm
C) Consider calling the police – there’s clearly a crime taking place
My guess is A and B – rarely, if ever, C.
The false alarms and the made-you-looks far outweigh the unfortunate events requiring actual action. Sick of feeling like a fool, they’re just something else to tune out and ignore. The car alarm has lost its voice.
What else is sounding off, day and night, in your life? Dozens of email newsletters. Do they make any difference to your life or are you growing deaf from white noise? Chances are, they’re not worth listening to.
Where once these marketing pieces held popular attention, it’s unlikely that today you feel inclined to take any action at all.
5 representative emails – from companies I know and like – waiting for me, unread:
- New [Service], New Savings!
- [Company] May 2009 newsletter
- [Type of] Holidays – Summer Season Discounts
- May 2009 [Company] Newsletter
- [Company] Sale – 2 days only!
Delete, delete, delete, delete, delete.
Imagine now that you’re jolted from a dead sleep by a megaphone:
“Call the police! Someone’s stealing my car! It’s a silver Chevy! Quick!”
Now that would stand out. You’d at least think twice. And you’d probably bring it up in conversation the next morning.
Next month you come to write your newsletter’s headline – listen to this (seriously, click it).
SCREECH SCREECH SCREECH SCREECH
It sounds defeaning to you, the car owner.
This is our message!
This is our news!
This is everything that’s going to fix your problem and make your life better!
It’s not. No one’s going to listen. We’ve become inured. Every other newsletter headline on earth sounds just like yours.
Make sure we listen! Fix your newsletter headline.
***
Make your marketing copy more lovable than a White House pup. Learn a few more tasty tricks while you’re here:
- Set sail for awesomeness: why you need new website content
- Why I should write your Christmas letter
- 90s week: What the 90s taught us about copywriting | Day 1
Friday business board games: play Scattergories with me?
Ever played Scattergories? It’s the game in the red box that makes you jump out of your skin when the timer goes off.
I firmly believe that Friday afternoon is for skiving off (that’s slacking off for the North Americans). So today, we play.
Before winning a Wii, Scattergories was one of my favourite games. Its appeal is that you can play it with any range of ages – quick-thinking, not experience, is the necessary advantage. My 10-year old cousin routinely ruins me. It’s great for practicing vocab in a new language, too.
Anyway! Lest you’re unfamiliar with it (or weren’t born in the 80’s), the game comes with a 20-sided die (all the alphabet letters except the impossible ones) and 12 different rounds of cards. Each round has 12 categories on it.
For example, round 1, you roll the die and receive, say, a letter A. After setting the timer (you get 2 minutes), you must think of a word or phase beginning with A for each category.
A boy’s name….
Things that are cold….
Brand names….
2 minutes sounds like a long time but, inevitably, on some rounds you’ll suck beyond all belief – willing your brain to give you something, anything!
If your answers are unique, you get 1 point. If you don’t get anything or match someone else’s answer… no points for you, sucker. As always, majority rules. If your friends veto your answer as too “creative”, you’re out of luck.
For the above example, the first words I thought of were:
Aloisuis, Arctic Circle, American Eagle.
In the spirit of T.G.I.F., I’m hosting a business blog round of Scattergories. If it’s popular I’ll make board games a regular Friday feature (so please participate because this is much more fun for me)!
The rules of this version:
- No cheating.
- There’s no timer. Take all the time you need, but you must write the first thing that comes to mind.
- You can only use a word once.
- Articles (‘a’, ‘the’, ‘I’, ‘my’, etc.) don’t count.
- After playing, you must invite a few slacker friends to play.
Either dig out your own copy of the game and steal the die or simply open a magazine and place your finger on a random letter. Business or job-related answers, right? (Or as much as is possible on a Friday).
Got your letter?
Ready, steady, go.
- Something you know a lot about….
- Name of someone you should call….
- Benefit of using your product or service….
- Keyword or phase you need to add to your website….
- A book title or topic you should read….
- Name of blog or blogger you should introduce yourself to….
- Something you could write a top 10 list about….
- Name of movie with an inspiring message for your job or business….
- Something you’re looking forward to doing while at work next week….
- Type of animal your business or job is most like….
- A thing or action your business or company could minimise to save money….
- An obstacle your business or company’s sales pitch has to overcome to persuade new buyers….
I’d love if you would post your answers! Now share this with friends looking for some T.G.I.F. diversion before the round hour of 5 o’clock hits.
Your ideal raving fan
Last time, I covered my distinct disappointment with greedy mobile phone companies (well, one in particular). In a happier turn, I’d like to toast their opposite: Skype. (Cue ticker tape parade).
Compare and contrast:
Mobile phone company… “wants my every last penny. Might eat me alive.”
Skype…”wants to make my life easier. And much, much, happier!”
-
- Skype offers something (something pretty amazing) – for free.
- Their paid services come with no strings attached. Cancel at any time – you’re the customer, it’s your prerogative. What a concept!
- They use technology to connect people; not as a very thick, convenient curtain to hide behind (Witness emails ignored and phone calls unanswered).
Skype’s relaxed, happy, helpful brand tells me “they’re here to help.” Approaching customers as such, rather than going first for their wallets, must be commended. In this week alone I’ve brought up how much I love Skype with at least five people. That’s some marketing power.
Mobile phone company = pit bull
Skype = golden retriever
…I know which I’d rather have at my side.