Think of it like this.  Imagine you see some snazzy marketing, which inspires you to buy something.  Then, when you use it, you find that it’s not as good as the marketing suggests.  It’s OK at best.  Below average maybe.

You are not happy. You feel like you have been duped.

What do you do?

• You may seek a refund.
• You may blog about how it failed to meet your expectations.
• You may tell your friends on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin etc, how the product failed you.

What wouldn’t you do?

• You wouldn’t buy from that company again.
• You wouldn’t give them permission to market to you again.
• You wouldn’t recommend their product to your family or friends.

Here’s the thing: No matter how good the marketing is, if the product or service behind it is just OK, you set a very low ceiling on the potential of your business.

When I start working with a new client, one of the first things I work on with them, is how to transform their product or service into something that’s of unique value. We look for refinements and improvements, which will be of genuine value to theirprospective clients.  As a result, their marketing messages become massively more attractive and their clients want to tell the world how much they love the service they receive.

It may take less thought to bring yet another OK service to the marketplace, but the return is very poor.  That’s because your prospective clients are not looking for an OK service.  Even if some of them are, most of your competitors are already providing an average service, which is why they are competing against each other based on prices or fees.  When competing providers offer an OK service, prospective clients use prices or fees to determine the best value.  That’s why I get my clients out of that fee-sensitive loop FAST, regardless of their industry or profession.

Offer more unique value than your competitors.  Get as far away from average as you possibly can.

That’s where the best clients, highest fees and most rewarding work is.

Gashaw Tahir, an American citizen, returned to his birth country of Ethiopia to find the green hills that surrounded his home eroded and ruined due to deforestation. So he decided to do something extraordinary: Plant one million trees.

http://blog.sensitiveskinmagazine.com/2011/professor-sun-ra/

In the Spring of 1971 Herman “Sonny” Blount, aka Sun Ra, was artist-in-residence at the University of Califonia at Berkeley, where he offered a lecture course, variably described as African-American Studies 198, “The Black Man in the Universe”, or “The Black Man In the Cosmos,” or perhaps it was AAS 171. Apparently there was always some confusion regarding the course, and students had difficulty in picking up books from the required reading list, although one listing, The Source Book of Man’s Life and Death (i.e, The Bible, “King James”), whose author was listed as “God”, was available from “numerous” publishers.

Supposedly enrollment was sparse, but the classes filled up anyway as folks wandered in off the streets, and Berkeley back then (and perhaps now) didn’t mind civilian walk-ins. Ra would lecture for the first part of the class, then treat everybody to keyboard solos, or perhaps Arkestra performances for the second half.

Pencils sharpened? Here’s what’s believed to be the sole existing recording of one of those lectures:

Ra-Sun_Berkeley-Lecture_1971.mp3

Register here: http://bit.ly/fnLFZO 

 Read today’s message here, read previous messages here, and subscribe if you like what you see. thank you very much.

Good Vibes, Music & FOOD!

Check them out. "Young people of color redefining green"

Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment.
Relax, pick them up later after you've rested.
Life is short.   Enjoy it.

 

1 * Accept the fact that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue!

  2 * Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.

    3 * Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.

    4 * Drive carefully... It's not only cars that can be recalled by their Maker..

   5 * If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague

    6 * If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it..

  7 * It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.

  8 * Never buy a car you can't push.

    9 * Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.

    10 * Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.

  11 * Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.

    12 * The second mouse gets the cheese.

  13 * When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.

   14 * Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.

  15 * You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.

  16 * Some mistakes are too much fun to make only once.

17 * We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.

18 * A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

19 * Have an awesome day and know that someone has thought about you today.

20 * Save the earth..... It's the only planet with chocolate!*

Tax Day 2011: Tax Deadlines for Tax Year 2010

Deadline April 18*, 2011
Due Date for Federal Income Tax Returns (and Tax Extension requests) - Tax Day  for Tax Year 2010 - Filing Deadline April 18, 2011 Due Date for State Income Tax Returns (for many states - check with your state tax agency) -


Filing Deadline April 18*, 2011
Due Date for Tax Extensions for Federal Income Tax Returns for Tax Year 2010.  


*The traditional tax return filing deadline is April 15 of each year, but the IRS has approved April 18, 2011 as the tax filing deadline for 2010 Tax Returns and extension requests in observation of Emancipation Day in the District of Columbia.

**The traditional tax return extension filing deadline is October 15 of each year, but the IRS has approved October 17, 2011 as the tax filing deadline for 2010 Tax Returns with extensions because October 15 falls on a Saturday in 2011.