BLOG: FRIENDLINESS IS NOT HARD

Like a lot of young men, about the time puberty hit and I was interested in trying to talk to girls, the thought of “what do I say “or “how in the world do you do this?”  seemed about as impossible as Quantum Mechanics.  As usual, young men trying to express interest in the opposite sex would just plain overthink it, go through 5 million worst case scenarios and absolutely sure that we would screw it up.

In stark contrast, girls and guys who were my friends were no effort at all.  Talking to them was a walk in the park, no Problemo, no anxiety.  Since I attached no worry of failure, I could spontaneously talk to any one of them about anything anytime.  

You may find yourself drawing a similar “blank” when trying to come up with what to say to Clients, Customers, Suppliers, etc.  No, you're not attracted to them…you're just too worried about all the consequences that “might” happen.  Instead, just make simple statements: “Nice to Meet You,” “Great to have lunch with you,” “Enjoyed having coffee.”

To help you through this conundrum, Send Out Cards developed our “First Impression Series”  consisting of either “It was Great to Meet You,” “Thank You Very Much” and “Celebrating the Possibilities” available in beautiful ebony black and brilliant pearl white. How easy is that?  Or just make a card saying simple statements about the interaction.  We find that people are more impressed that you took the time to ACTUALLY send them a card rather than the level of creativity, level of artistry, color, etc.  Jordan Adler, our top earning SOC representative, sends tons of cards daily that just say very basic things “You Rock- Jordan” Just doing something for the Customer, Client, Supplier sends a message of sincerity, caring and helps cement the relationship.  Being friendly is actually very easy- just be yourself- just be sincere. 

We, at Send Out Cards, call it “Appreciation You can Touch.”  Let Ralph show you how effortless and automatic it can be. Have a conversation with Ralph Harold, “guywithtwofirstnames.com,” avoid “perceived indifference” and “Take it to the Bank.”

Ralph Harold

ralph@guywithtwofirstnames.com

816-808-2465         

YOU SAY “I DON’T NEED SEND OUT CARDS”

In the various Marketing Groups I attend, there occasionally is a person who finds out what I do and makes the offhand statement that “Things are pretty busy. I don’t need Send Out Cards”

Yeah, maybe you don’t.  Glad for you that things are busy my friend.  That’s what we all hope for each other, for our fellow Entrepreneurs.  Congratulations.  Glad you’ve got the world by the tail. Don’t suppose it’s ever crossed your mind that conditions may change, demand may vary, technology may change and if you don’t change with it you’ll be out. At one time there was a booming business fOT Blacksmiths.  Every town had at least one and they were busy business people.  Do you see many Blacksmiths today, outside of Silver Dollar City or Branson?  Wagon Wheel makers had a captive audience when the whole country travelled by covered wagon and wheels wore out with amazing regularity.  Can you even find a wagon wheel dealer?  They didn’t think it could happen to them- but it did.

So Blacksmiths and Covered Wagon Wheels are too ancient history for you.  Consider what happened to Eastman Kodak. Huge in the 70’s and 80’s. Gone now. At one time, Kodak was one of the largest corporations making a boat load of different film.  There was consumer photographic film, pro film used by photographers, even industrial film for hospital radiology departments.  Of course with every roll of film sold that film had to be developed.  They were so big, it seemed nothing could ever go south for them.  Not the mighty Eastman Kodak, right? Kodak seemed like they were set for life. Maybe forever. Then along comes this little something called digital imaging sure at first the digital images were not nearly as good as film because film had better resolution. But as the mega pixel count continued to improve with each generation of digital cameras, the pictures got better and better.  People began to muse that they could take as many pictures as they wanted, something you didn’t do with film unless you had an unlimited film budget like a newspaper photographer or a Sports Illustrated contributor.  

With expansions of memory cards photographers could snap all kinds of pictures and immediately delete the unwanted ones and voila- you had your picture capacity regenerated.  Kodak is all but gone.  Polaroid went the same way, but has recently made a comeback. 

As your Mother would say, “Let this be a lesson to you”. No matter how much it seems that your business could ever not be needed (I.e. Blacksmithing) or that you’ve cornered the market (Wagon Wheels), or that you are so large and omnipresent (I.e. Eastman Kodak) it could still happen to you.  

The secret sauce for Send Out Cards is the constantly changing landscape of the human condition.  By reaching out with a little flair and a sense of humor, you will constantly ingratiate yourself to the public.  We call it “Appreciation you can touch” Reach out to Ralph at ralph@guywithtwofirstnames.com.  

Ralph Harold

816-808-2465

ralph@guywithtwofirstnames.com

BE THE EXAMPLE YOU WANT TO BECOME

Remember as a second grader you didn’t think you could climb the rope in the gym, you didn’t think you could kick the ball in kickball or contact the baseball when you were up to bat in baseball?  You were SO SURE that you could NOT do it. No way! Maybe your teacher, maybe your best friend, maybe just the voice inside your head said “Come on you can do it“!  And then there are some who didn’t hear those words because either they had no adult role model, no supportive siblings, no friends or lacked the self-confidence to believe that they could possibly do this.

Regardless of the source of the words “Come on, you can do it!”, the words were surprisingly helpful. More than just a little bit helpful, the words were greatly helpful. Now as far as physics goes, the task (i.e. climbing the gym rope) didn’t get any easier. As far as muscle physiology goes (i.e. kicking the kickball or batting the baseball), you were no stronger after the words were said then you were before the words. But there is something about the mental attitude that enables you to go after-it, unlike any way you thought possible before the saying of those words. Even the great Muhammad Ali said that despite all his training and working out, every fight was won or lost mentally. If you were prepared mentally you had the upper hand.                 

Thus, your MENTAL psyche is not only Ultra-important for you, but let me open-up your mind (wide)  how important mental attitude is to the people you interact with. Yes, YOU CAN POSITIVELY IMPACT another human being. Yes, you- the person without the Psychology degree, the person who has never read any sell-anything-to-anyone books. The characteristics of the Ultimate “GuyWithTwoFirstNames” are fostered by a positive attitude and you know what, I like it that way.  So anyone who does anything remotely nice to me or for me has just made my morning, day, week, life!  

I guarantee you don’t know what an impact your positive countenance has…it can be the catalyst another person has been in need of.  It may be life changing for them.  It may be life changing for you.  In fact, conceive in your mind of the Ultimate you…and then BE that example.  Be the example others will feed and thrive off and they will give you the energy, the drive, the endurance and whatever else you need to STAY BEING that Example.  Have a conversation with Ralph Harold, “guywithtwofirstnames.com,” Grow Yourself and everyone around you and “Take it to the Bank.”

Ralph Harold

ralph@guywithtwofirstnames.com

816-808-2465

BLOG: IT’S A GREAT DAY, BECAUSE I’VE DECIDED IT’S A GREAT DAY

It’s a very early 0700 at the early Weekly Marketing Group.  In walks Sheri Berger, who simply announces in a loud prominent voice: “It’s gonna be a great day because I have decided to make it a great day!”

How can you lose with that kind of philosophy? My point very simply is that attitude is the beginning of anything. Sure in the next eight hours, who knows what manner of malady or fortune will fall into your lap, but if you start off with a good attitude, whatever does come your way will be much easier to handle. Take a lead from “The Greatest Fighter of all Time”, Muhammad Ali, who declared that “every fight I have ever won or lost, the difference was my mental preparation”. I do not mean that you should simply have blind hope. Far from it.  Success takes work! Living Life takes work! Thought, study, planning, introspection, reanalysis, re-study and further application will get you a lot further than just hope. There also those that get lost in the Paralysis of Analysis. They never do anything, they never make a decision. That doesn’t work either.

So listen, it’s hard to have this app mentality all the time, 24/7! It takes energy, lots of energy. And on any given day you might be full of that energy and another given day you’re lacking. What that means is the people around you are lacking either from time to time or maybe all the time. That’s where you come in bunco. You have the ability to inject some positive energy into another individual in close proximity by having a smile and a bright cheery attitude. For those people that are more than 10 feet away, send them a card. More specifically, a Send Out Card! It’s the ultimate win-win situation when you feel better for having helped someone else and this someone else feels better being the recipient of your goodwill!. And guess what they have - vivid memories of people who go above and beyond. They’re more apt to want to do business with you or at least to consider you when you’ve done something that they do not expect. Let me show you how these simple, unprovoked and more importantly, unexpected Acts of Kindness can further your Business.                         

Have a conversation with Ralph Harold, “guywithtwofirstnames.com,” make it a habit of being happy and “Take it to the Bank.”

Ralph Harold

ralph@guywithtwofirstnames.com

816-808-2465

HOW YOU CAN BE IN TWO PLACES AT ONCE

One of the classic skits by the satire group, Firesign Theater, is the sketch called “How Can You Be in Two Places at Once When You’re Not Really Anywhere at all?” If you’re ever in the mood for some fairly clean, zany levity look up an audio recording of the sketch and I’m sure you’ll find it crazy and enjoyable. I have a copy I can steer you to.  

The point is you ACTUALLY CAN be into places at once when you use SendOutCards. There is an automatic feature called a “Campaign” where you can tell Send Out Cards to send as little as one individual card or an entire series of cards spread out at intervals you choose. For instance, when you get a new customer you might tell Send Out Cards to immediately send a card saying “Thank You for doing business with us.” Make it your own, and embellish that sentence with a few of your own so it reflects your personality. Then two weeks later you have a card all queued up and that the campaign will send out saying “Excellent Customer Service is our Priority.  Have we met your expectations, fulfilled what you were looking for?”

Then a month or so after that,  another card can be queued up in the Campaign to automatically go out detailing the additional services that you offer.  After all, almost no business is just a one trick pony! How about three months after that a card goes out asking if you can deliver the same high-quality service to customers of theirs, their friends and relatives, people they care about? All this occurs in the background without you having to lift a finger.

The customer thinks “wow those people love me over there! I hear from them three or four times a year. They must love me and really want my business.” Ralph can you help design this so the campaign keeps your name in front of them just the right amount, not too much and not so seldom that they incorrectly perceive that you don’t care about them. With all this happening in the background you can assuredly move forward in your business into new avenues.              

We, at Send Out Cards, call it “Appreciation You can Touch.”  Let Ralph show you how effortless and automatic it can be. Have a conversation with Ralph Harold, “guywithtwofirstnames.com,” avoid “perceived indifference” and “Take it to the Bank.”

Ralph Harold

ralph@guywithtwofirstnames.com

816-808-2465          

BLOG: LESSONS FROM A NEW GRANDPARENT

Like most parents, while I absolutely love my children love and adore my children, when I found out we were going to be first time grandparents the whole perspective changed. I’m not sure it is known who was quoted as saying why can’t we be grandparents first because that’s where all the fun is!

So I am very proud to announce that my oldest daughter just had her first child after three years of marriage and therefore we get to celebrate being first time grandparents. We weren’t really scared to death like we were when we found out we were going to be parents, but we were excited as all get out.  And oh yes, our little granddaughter only a few days old is absolutely the most gorgeous baby I’ve ever laid eyes on. So she is so warm, soft and cuddly. Yes, I have and will share pictures.

So in no time, after the baby was born and pictures were taken, I started sending cards to everyone I knew and created automatic campaigns do you send to business associates, church friends, relatives, coworkers etc. well both a $37 card a day program and the $97 unlimited plan offer great opportunities here. Especially in the $97 plan if you personalize each card send out cards will pick up the cost of reproducing the card itself as well as paying for the postage. And believe me because I pack a lot of pictures. A three panel card that has six sides on it can hold a myriad of pictures.  Because Send Out Cards does not charge any extra no matter how much ink you use, how many pictures you post etc. I can absolutely cover the three panel card like you would expect from a proud grandpa.

The lesson here is that whatever you wish to celebrate, Houses that you have listed, athletes that you have trained, garden sculptures that you have for sale, and in my case of pictures of my beautiful granddaughter, Send Out Cards offers a perfect medium to do this with these                

We, at Send Out Cards, call it “Appreciation You can Touch.”  Let Ralph show you how effortless and automatic it can be. Have a conversation with Ralph Harold, “guywithtwofirstnames.com,” avoid “perceived indifference” and “Take it to the Bank.”

Ralph Harold

ralph@guywithtwofirstnames.com

816-808-2465            

BLOG: NO NEGATIVES

I highly recommend the book The Energy Bus by Jon Gordon.  In this easy to read book, Gordon paints the picture of a person who has not only a really bad day but maybe even a really bad week (and is probably describing you and me at some point in our lives). In trying to overcome the terrible things that happen, the principal character learned the importance of a positive attitude and maybe even more importantly the power of no negatives.

Around us are all kinds of bad news, tails of lies, deceit and impropriety. It seems like there is no elected official whether Democrat, Republican or Independent who can be trusted for anything. Lawyers seem to exploit not what is right but what will win their case. Morality is so loosely defined that it’s variations are never static. 

With all the bad news, corruption, changing of statements, alteration of facts and misrepresentation the abounding negativity in the world does nothing but bring people down. The result is that hope is all but deflated and it’s hard to find any reason to believe, aspire or even try. We cannot allow mankind to sink into an abyss of despair when there is still the human spirit which can arise, be awoken and redirected. If we suppress the “negatives” by not giving them a voice, not propagating ANY negative connotation or construction, it is amazing how much lighter the load “seems” just by vanquishing negative thoughts and aspects. 

At Send Out Cards, we offer one  plan called “Card-a-Day” for $37 a month. This plan allows you to send up to 30 cards in any grouping that you wish, such as a card a day for a month, or two cards a day for two weeks, 30 all at once,  a few here and a few there, etc. The point is if you look each day for someone to correspond with, chances are excellent you will brighten their day, add a bright spot or become the highpointe of what would otherwise have been a humdrum, no-nothing day. Interestingly enough, the people you reach out to will notice and they will feel better! Why?  In this world of negatives, the party you sent the card to doesn’t think they’re important enough to warrant the effort you put out in sending them a card. Notice I did not say the card had to be some work of art or some poetic masterpiece. Just send someone a card asking them how they’re doing, inviting them to go for a cup of coffee, lunch (because everyone eats lunch) or just get together for no reason other than the two of you haven’t spent time together in awhile. 

The wealth of human interaction is merely in getting together and not in the amount of money spent or the elaborateness of the occasion. Just getting together and hanging out will make a difference. But it won’t happen until you send the card inviting them. So make a difference, send a card and “Make The World a Better Place.” Read The Energy Bus by Jon Gordon.

LESSONS FROM CARING FOR MY MOTHER

Isn’t it interesting that no matter how much things change, things also still remain the same. What I’m talking about is that the basic human decencies taught to us by our mother or parent of significance, remain as true today as when they were first conceived. 

My wonderful mother, age 86, now suffers from Alzheimer’s disease and underwent a bad fall. Per protocol she was rushed to the emergency room where my sister and I anxiously met her there to discover the extent  of her injuries. It was explained to us that she would be in the hospital while they explored whether she would need one and possibly two surgeries and what was life-threatening.

My mother has been an RN nurse since 1956, but with her Alzheimer’s disease, does not remember the specifics of the nursing profession. Even though almost all of recent memory is sequentially erased in about 10 minutes or so, the one thing she never forgets is that her parents instilled in her the importance of being gracious and kind. So even though my mother could not remember caregivers at the hospital, she smiled graciously, spoke kind words and gave compliments to people as they came and went.  It was soon obvious that she had no recollection or frame of reference for these complementary statements, yet they rolled off her tongue as sincerely as if she knew them for years. Subsequently, the staff found her to be absolutely charming and heartwarming even though they had never met her before. Mom was treated with an extra dose of kindness and compassion by them in compensation for her initial foray of kindness and thanksgiving. Both parties were uplifted. 

What I am stating is that Alzheimer’s disease could not erase this deeply ingrained pattern of behavior from my grandparents instilled into my mother.  This emphasis on being gracious showed itself at what is typically a persons poorest hour (we all know that doctors and nurses often make the worst patients). I’m not saying my mother was perfect, because we are all far from it, but for five days, she charmed and lifted the spirits of many a nurse, physical or occupational therapist, pharmacist, housekeeper or dietary staff member and others that she came in contact with. This made their day, brightened their spirits and gave them a happy countenance ironically from someone who had no idea what she was doing. Mom didn’t remember the fall or the ambulance ride for heaven sake!  She certainly did not do it for secondary gain but it was simply built into her overall pattern of behavior. Are you so hardwired that you would default to be instinctively gracious even when your mind was “unplugged”? I can help you learn to be that way.

The lesson here is that we have a huge opportunity in our dealings with business associates, customers, suppliers and other people with which we routinely do business or have interactions of various kinds. If there is an underlying tone of graciousness, kindness and overall humanity, you absolutely will have an effect on others even if it is subconscious or subliminal. At Send Out Cards we call that “making the world a better place.” Read future blogs about our new “Card-a-Day” program or reach out to Dr. Harold at 816-808-2465 or e-mail me at ralph@guywithtwofirstnames.com. 

IT’S A GREAT DAY, BECAUSE I’VE DECIDED IT’S A GREAT DAY

It’s a very early 0700 at the early Weekly Marketing Group.  In walks Sheri Berger, who simply announces in a loud prominent voice: “It’s gonna be a great day because I have decided to make it a great day!”

How can you lose with that kind of philosophy? My point very simply is that attitude is the beginning of anything. Sure in the next eight hours, who knows what manner of malady or fortune will fall into your lap, but if you start off with a good attitude, whatever does come your way will be much easier to handle. Take a lead from “The Greatest Fighter of all Time”, Muhammad Ali, who declared that “every fight I have ever won or lost, the difference was my mental preparation”. I do not mean that you should simply have blind hope. Far from it.  Success takes work! Living Life takes work! Thought, study, planning, introspection, reanalysis, re-study and further application will get you a lot further than just hope. There also those that get lost in the Paralysis of Analysis. They never do anything, they never make a decision. That doesn’t work either.

So listen, it’s hard to have this app mentality all the time, 24/7! It takes energy, lots of energy. And on any given day you might be full of that energy and another given day you’re lacking. What that means is the people around you are lacking either from time to time or maybe all the time. That’s where you come in bunco. You have the ability to inject some positive energy into another individual in close proximity by having a smile and a bright cheery attitude. For those people that are more than 10 feet away, send them a card. More specifically, a Send Out Card! It’s the ultimate win-win situation when you feel better for having helped someone else and this someone else feels better being the recipient of your goodwill! And guess what they have vivid memories of people who go above and beyond. They’re more apt to want to do business with you or at least to consider you when you’ve done something that they do not expect. Let me show you how these simple, unprovoked and more importantly, unexpected Acts of Kindness can further your Business.                         

Have a conversation with Ralph Harold, “guywithtwofirstnames.com,” make it a habit of being happy and “Take it to the Bank.”

Ralph Harold

ralph@guywithtwofirstnames.com

816-808-2465

Don't Sweat The Small Stuff

There is a nice person closer to you, closer than you think. You just have to find them.

Sure you’re going to be skeptical and I am positive some percentage of you don’t believe me, but I am absolutely right. There are more nice people in the human race then we give them credit, it’s just that they don’t get the newsfeed headlines, they are not flashed across your cell phone except once in a blue moon. I believe that there is good in many people that just needs to be fostered, fertilized, encouraged and controlled to come out and make its presence known. There will be someone today who will smile at you even though you didn’t expect them to smile. Knowing this, why don’t you feed this person and start a pattern yourself. At a ball game someone has to be the initiator of the wave cheer, we don’t see who the catalyst is. We just see the waves here as it propagates through the upper balconies of the ballfield. Someone had to make a conscious decision that this is what we’re going to do.  

My point is this, all the things that you threatened and worried about in 2007 are not only non-issues today but you can’t even remember half of them or maybe even a 10th of them that worried you back then. So if the destiny of most of our worries is to fade into oblivion, why don’t we help them by getting them a one-way ticket or a fast airplane and dismissing them from our minds early. Yes whatever you think is of paramount importance today, this too shall pass. I’m pleased to announce that the world has not ended despite your dire predictions a good 84,000 times. How could you be wrong that consistently? Maybe because there was never that big a problem in the first place and you simply worried it completely out of proportion.

I’m telling you to not sweat the small stuff. Whatever you’re sure right now will split the planet in half it’s probably not going to be the Swan song of all mankind. You are going to be all right or at least better than you think. Do you know of someone having this kind of day? Send them a card to pick them up. Send them a card to just simply tells them you’re thinking of them. Send them a card to tell them they are forgiven. Send them a card to beg forgiveness for yourself.  Whatever the scenario, put pen to paper the easy way and use the SendOutCards and therefore it will actually happen. I just sent the director of maintenance a thank you card for coming to fix the TV inside the mirror at the Dallas Omni Hotel. I’ll bet you no one else does that and it will make Sergio’s day- guaranteed!

Have a conversation with Ralph Harold, “guywithtwofirstnames.com,” make it a habit of being happy and “Take it to the Bank.”

Ralph Harold

ralph@guywithtwofirstnames.com

816-808-2465