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December 23, 2004
The Power of Belief
I saw something amazing this week.
We were at a family holiday party, where the jolly fat guy with the red suit showed up for the kids. (No matter how you feel about Santa, holidays and their commercialization, stick with me here, as there's a lesson to be learned.)
As the kids were filing up for their moment with the big guy, I was watching Emma, the daughter of our friends. 4-year-old Emma was showing her usual shyness, hiding behind Dad's legs.
But then it was her turn for Santa. He held out his arms to her, and all shyness disappeared.
Her face blossomed, her head lifted, and her literally her entire posture instantly changed from shyness to joy as she stepped forward into Santa's arms.
Suddenly this man wasn't Don Briggs in a borrowed costume, he WAS Santa, and for 30 seconds little Emma and Don were in a totally different world.
What changed Don from the production manager at a foundry into someone with two very long lists, a factory full of short green men, and a remarkable mode of transportation?
Emma believed.
And that made all the difference...
I saw something else amazing this week.
Posted at 11:18 PM
Five Things To Do This Holiday To Build Your Business For The Next Year
I love the week between Christmas and New Years. It's a great time to relax, spend some serious time with the kids, and to be incredibly productive in the few hours you spend working.
Here's five work-related things I recommend that you do this holiday to build your business for the new year.
1. Write and distribute at least one tip sheet on your area of expertise. Because this is such a slow news week, you've got a much higher probability of editors running it!
Here's some resources to help you in preparing your tip sheets:
Special Report: How to Write Tip Sheets That Catch the Media's Attention
Audio CD: Briefs, Fillers and Quizzes: How to Write Them and Why Editors LOVE Them
2. Write at least one article to teach people how to do something related to your business. Submit it to one of the many different article exchange sites on the web.
Our audio CD How To Submit Online Articles That Pull Traffic To Your Website teaches how to write, submit and get credit for them, plus you get a handout listing 27 different places that will welcome your article submission.
Posted at 10:42 PM
What's That Again? Honey, Mama's Mad At Me!
From Hammond Florida, we get the following newspaper report:
"A man who said he forgot he had brought his mother home for the holidays shot her Monday morning, thinking she was an intruder, authorities said.
"The 76-year-old woman later told deputies she was angry at her son for shooting her."
Can you imagine what that emergency room conversation went like?
Good thing he's not a very good shot!
Posted at 07:25 PM
New Year's Resolutions
While we're thinking about the holidays, here's a few resolutions that Joan Stewart recommends you adopt to make your new year great!
- Vow to make one new media contact each month. That could mean asking a reporter to lunch, or sending an article to a reporter who you want to get to know, so it will help her better cover her beat. Then follow up with a phone call.
- Start keeping a database of media contacts that includes personal information, such as the names of the reporter's spouse and children, the reporter's hobbies, likes and dislikes, etc. The very best sales people do this. You should, too.
Posted at 04:43 PM
