Disqus - Latest Comments for drewschiller

Re: Good To Bad To Great

Drew Schiller — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 14:32:47 -0000

I agree with you completely, Josh. That's why it's important to have simple systems in place so your employees can deliver proper expectations every time. This is easier said than done though!

The most important thing, as you point out, is they recognized their flaws and worked hard to make sure I felt right about the situation. They could have just said "tough luck" and lost a customer for life (and this blog post would have been very different)!

Re: How To Create A More Memorable Brand

Drew Schiller — Sat, 30 May 2009 15:52:56 -0000

Thanks for you comment, Mark. Being consistently great is not necessarily enough anymore—you must have a unique position and be consistently great!

Re: What You Don’t Know About Branding

Drew Schiller — Thu, 21 May 2009 11:46:10 -0000

Excellent point! Employee morale is an often-overlooked component to creating the brand culture. How can you expect your customers to repeat your brand message until each and every employee in your company is able to?

Re: What Everyone Should Know About Evaluating Design

Drew Schiller — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 11:40:06 -0000

Hi Sarah, I like Dan's work and I respect his design prowess (I have complimented Dan on his work before). As I said above, I misspoke regarding this particular project, and I corrected the article.

The point of the article wasn't to diss anyone, but to talk about how we evaluate design in general. As I say in the post, "aesthetics play a large role in what makes a design successful ..."

Re: What Everyone Should Know About Evaluating Design

Drew Schiller — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 10:55:18 -0000

Thank you for clarifying your work, Dan. As I mentioned in the article, I think the design is great, and I misspoke as to why the work wasn't used. I have corrected my error in the post, and I appreciate learning that you were so diligent in designing for your target audience.

My point in this post was not to take anything away from your efforts, but to look at how we all evaluate commercial design. I appreciate you sharing your insights into how you created that campaign.

Cheers! - Drew

Re: The New Social Engagement: A Visit to Zappos

Drew Schiller — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 11:18:38 -0000

Zappos is one of those companies that seems to always do the right thing. They have a great attitude, excellent employee training, and a passion for customer service, and it is paying off in their bottom line. Their brand has never been stronger, and I am happy to see the level of success they are achieving!

Re: Confidence and The Next Move

Drew Schiller — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 17:01:16 -0000

Excellent post Chris, thank you! I completely agree with you that confidence starts by believing in yourself. When people are confident in their own abilities, we see them as more real, and we are attracted to those individuals.

I can think of no greater example of this recently than Susan Boyle's performance on Britain's Got Talent—she was unapologetically herself, and for a moment she represented everything that is possible in the world.

Re: A Tale of Two Parking Tickets

Drew Schiller — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 10:14:24 -0000

Thank you for your excellent points, George. You make an excellent point that retailers are also consumers, and they should look at their business as a customer would. You aren't naive at all—in business, like attracts like. Businesses that show genuine interest in their customers will attract customers with a genuine interest in their success. Conversely, businesses that, as you say, whine to you, at you, and about you, will attract the exact customers that cause them complain even more; if they attract any new customers at all!

Thanks for sounding off and sharing your thoughts!

Re: What Everyone Should Know About Evaluating Design

Drew Schiller — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:31:28 -0000

Great points, Jeremy! Your site looks great, I'll be sure to follow it on a regular basis.

Re: Your business card sucks

Drew Schiller — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 00:01:20 -0000

Thanks, JP. You're right, sometimes the smallest touches to a business card can make the difference in being remembered!

Re: A Tale of Two Parking Tickets

Drew Schiller — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:50:10 -0000

Thanks Ryan, I appreciate the feedback!

Re: But You Do Need To Be Smart Enough to Buy It

Drew Schiller — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:03:08 -0000

Hi John, I really appreciate the points you make, and I enjoyed Brian's ebook. I am a solo business owner (chief cook and dishwasher type), and I couldn't agree with you more about the need to understand all aspects of your business. I do wish I didn't have to know so much about the legal/accounting stuff, but it really pays off when there is a tax issue or contract dispute.

In response to your statement, "... you do need to know how to buy it ...," I was recently listening to a conference call with Brian Clark and I asked him how he chooses markets when he creates new products. His answer was straightforward and liberating. He said he creates products for markets that he himself is in. He doesn't try to figure out what others need, he thinks about what product he would like to see and he creates that.

To briefly respond to your questions above:

1. Outsource (perhaps a small staff at some point, but the tax/legal/benefits stuff is too complex for me to deal with right now).

2. Delegate? :-)

3. My best sources for education are: the public library, blogs like this, watching how others market their products, talking with other business owners, my business coach, and the occasional online course or biz conference.

Re: Great Content Gets You Past the Gatekeepers

Drew Schiller — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 08:53:22 -0000

Thanks for this post, John. This is a great reminder of the focussed effort it takes to get in front of the right people. Cheers!

Re: Empowering Versus Marketing

Drew Schiller — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 12:38:49 -0000

Excellent post, Chris! When you empower your customers with your brand, they become more invested in your success and they are more likely to spread your ideas. Adding this value to your brand is one of the best "free" ways you can increase market share and make competition irrelevant.

Re: Just be-eeeeee yourself

Drew Schiller — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 11:12:16 -0000

Thanks Jasmin, I'm so glad that you enjoy my blog! You're absolutely right, everyone comes from somewhere, and while you can admire someone's success, that admiration and respect shouldn't paralyze you.

By the way, I think you're the only friend I've had named Jasmin, so that must be why I misspelled Princess Jasmine's name in the post!

Re: Downshift

Drew Schiller — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 17:51:48 -0000

Happy to help, Joe!

Re: The Future According to Microsoft

Drew Schiller — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 11:11:11 -0000

On the one hand, this is an exciting and inspiring vision. On the other hand, I can't help but wonder why Microsoft is spending their time on this type of thinking when they have just wasted years trying to create an operating system that utilizes today's hardware/software capabilities.

I have no doubt the future will resemble something like this video, but will it be companies like Microsoft that deliver it to us? History tells us "no!"

Re: Energy

Drew Schiller — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 17:13:51 -0000

Ha! I just got an email from my grandpa about this post. Here's what he wrote:

"Reminds me of the story of the centipede who was asked, 'how can you walk with 100 legs?' The centipede found that when he thought about it he got so confused he couldn't walk at all. After reading this post, all I want to do is lie down and take a nap!"

Re: “No” is not a service

Drew Schiller — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 06:20:22 -0000

@Dustman I appreciate your opinion, but I respectfully disagree in this instance. I didn't post my entire response, but I made it clear that I didn't have prior affiliation with the company. The recommendation was provided as an option to consider, not as a solid solution, and the caller I referred to appreciated my help because he was being stonewalled everywhere else. Hopefully I helped him get closer to his solution—it's possible he hadn't considered licensing software before.

You actually do make a great point about how the brands you associate with effect your brand, and I completely agree with you. I call this "complementary branding," and I wrote a post a few weeks ago on that subject. Thank you for your comment!

Re: “No” is not a service

Drew Schiller — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 06:36:12 -0000

@Keith Excellent point, employee training is absolutely at the heart of this discussion. When empowered, customer service agents have the ability to make your day and make you feel like an important individual. When they are trained to follow lame company policies, everyone suffers: the customer, the employee and the company's brand.

Re: “No” is not a service

Drew Schiller — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:39:17 -0000

@Josh That is exactly what I'm talking about. Great example! Everything I've heard about Zappos customer service leads me to believe that this is the rule and not the exception.

If you're interested, you should check out the Zappos CEO and CFO blog. They occasionally blog about their approach to customer service and how they train their staff, and it is amazing stuff. In fact, they even offer their employees $2,000 cash to resign after their first week of training, because they only want people who are truly committed to the Zappos culture!

Re: Closed Mondays

Drew Schiller — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 17:26:00 -0000

Thanks for your confidence, Ryan! When I do eventually open a restaurant (probably in another life!), I'll do it with the understanding that for the first six months or so, I will personally be there every single day from open to close. I believe that's the commitment it takes to get your systems in place.

Re: Closed Mondays

Drew Schiller — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 09:12:59 -0000

Absolutely, Phil. I am willing to bet that your favorite pizza place has lost potential customers who tried to go on a Sunday, saw it was closed, and just never went back.

Re: 10 free do-it-yourself branding tips for businesses

Drew Schiller — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 15:59:00 -0000

Thanks, Danny. I believe so many organizations miss the little things that actually make the most difference. Cheers!

Re: How Not to Market on Twitter

Drew Schiller — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 15:53:59 -0000

Thank you for this, Chris! This is a perfect example of something I try and explain to new Twitter users.