Office Coffee
Loved this. Also? Our office coffee is awful. Just this morning I found myself thinking of this tiny bit of dialogue from David Sedaris’ Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim:
He took a sip of my father’s weak coffee and spit it back into the mug. “This shit’s like making love in a canoe.”
“Excuse me?”
“It’s fucking near water.”
Hilarious.
Anyway, Ugly Mug Coffee caught my eye. Between the name, the packaging and the witty ad copy, I’m sold. Think our office will go for it?
[via]
Morning Song
For about as long as I can remember, I’ve woken up in the morning with a song in my head. It’s usually pretty random and sometimes ties in with a particular theme or artist. (The Whitney Houston phase comes to mind.)
Over the summer, I decided to start blogging about it.
As you can see, my posting frequency slipped big time last month during a time of peak stress. But now that you all know it exists, I’ll feel more pressure to get a song up per day.
Anyway, meet Morning Song. Hope you guys subscribe or stop by via Creative Victuals for a morning dose of jams…for better or worse.
How to Make an Entrance
From the bride: “The music played was Michael Nyman’s “String Quartet No.2: 3.III”, which is more unusual but beautiful; when it started, the bridesmaids and I started the long walk from behind the hill top to the top of the aisle.”
“The girls were instructed to keep their parasols down over their faces, and to walk tightly in pairs of 2 (except for my sister in the lead). Guests had no idea I was in the back of this long, colorful train.”
[via]
Push My Buttons
I’ve been meaning to post Smashing Magazine’s article on effective call to action buttons. Examples galore. Do check it.
Missing: Kenzie Boots
I’m in a boot crisis. I’ve worn my Kenzie Tulip boots into the ground and can’t find anything close to replacing them, which boggles the mind. It’s fall! Ankle wedge boots should be be everywhere!
Does Kenzie even make shoes anymore? I’m getting nothing from the Goog. Sigh. So sad. So frustrated. RIP, favorite boots.
On Being Responsive
Megan says: Don’t leave clients hanging. A little heavy lifting goes a long way.
It’s probably fair to say that brides are a different type of customer. We’re picky, obsess about details and do a lot of homework before we decide on anything from dresses to vendors.
I’m currently having trouble with the latter. After much research and deliberation, D and I picked a vendor—-an independent business person—-to help us with a very important component of the wedding.
I did all the right things. I answered the vendor’s emails in a timely fashion, included my contact info in every email, asked for a contract, sent follow-up emails to see how things were coming along and encouraged the vendor to call me.
Nada.
The problem with radio silence is that it prevents you from forming any kind of trust on which successful business relationships are built. It also leaves your client waiting, wondering whether they should fire your ass (even though you were their first choice) so they can shore up their second or third choices.
Whether you work for yourself or own a business, you owe it to prospects and clients to be responsive. A simple email response telling your client that, “Hi! We’re still on track; it’s just been a zoo here. Can we talk next Monday at 7P?” can go a long way to calm anxieties.
If you’re worried your workload will prevent you from committing to the client, just say so. It will allow both parties to walk away without hard feelings and with your reputation in tact.
Which is a pretty big deal when you’re talking about your business.
A Pair of Winners
Always been a fan of making lists. Thankfully, I’ve never had to use one to weigh the pros and cons of my love interests. Where did we learn to “weigh the pros and cons,” by the way?
via Found Magazine
Bono Does Rush-Hour Traffic
I love Bono, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t have a good laugh at Alyssa Lang’s Short Imagined Monologue, “Bono Does the Rush-Hour Traffic Report” for McSweeny’s.
Here’s a excerpt:
People. Waiting for the government to fix the problems of the people. People. Waiting for a sign. For a sign that says “END CONSTRUCTION ZONE”!
Waiting.
To see the flashing lights. In the distance. Under a blood-red sky. The flashing lights that say, “I’ve passed the three-car pileup on the westbound turnpike.” I see people. Sitting in their cars. Burning their fossil fuels. Their transmissions. I-DL-ING! On the Expressway. Sitting. On I-95.
It’s sort of perfect.
[via @malziecakes]
