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            

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

THERE IS A BETTER WAY

Listen, go a little easier on yourself. Stop this push, push, push because you’re driving yourself into the ground.  Sit on a deck, look at the pretty clouds in the sky (yes, they’ve been there, but you were too busy to notice how pretty they were), smile at and start a conversation with someone nice, etc. As I have quoted Carl Little a little (little pun there) “Life is too short”. Yeah, I know he didn’t say it first…I don’t know who or if someone else said it first, but consider it like a Re-tweet except in a blog.

Since “Life is too short,” we have got to enjoy Life a little.  Okay enjoy Life a little more than a little. Enjoy the beautiful. Engage in Passion and fuel that passion- I always do!  Love what there is to love. Love Will Find A Way.  Erase the put downs, forgive the bad and seek honorably for the good in the future. ‘Life is too short”  In the song Climbin’ Up The Ladder, part of the Lyrics are:

Well I'm climbin' up the ladder

I keep pushin and I'm bound to know

Well I'm climbin', climbin' up the ladder

Though it be shakin'

Ain't it up that I gotta go?

Read more: The Isley Brothers - Climbin' Up The Ladder, Pts.1 & 2 Lyrics | MetroLyrics

Ain’t it up that I gotta go? That line always spoke to me. Ain’t it up that I gotta go? Yeah, that’s the ticket. Up! Improve yourself! Improve somebody else (Lift Somebody Up). Rise to the occasion or simply Rise!  Okay, maybe you haven’t set the world on fire, but that doesn’t mean you can’t.  Or that you are going to in the future, you just don’t know it yet. Or haven’t decided to yet.  A positive attitude, Dedication and a sense of humor are required School Supplies for this thing called Life.  But quit killing yourself in doing it. No, I never condone mediocrity, but I certainly allow R-n-R. When was the last time you laughed really hard? When was the last time you told any number of people you love them [not just your Romantic interest(s)].  When was the last time you just shared a kind word or a nod of encouragement? (See Blog “Try a Little Kindness”) Told someone they’re pretty? Told someone they’re special? Told someone you care about them? 

Sure, you can do it in person and I encourage you to do it in person.  But want your words to linger? To have a long-standing effect? Then follow it up with a Send-Out-Card.  A card with THEIR picture on it that you create and you put in the card EXACTLY the same words you said verbally…or wanted to say, but didn’t have the guts.  Sure, her eyes and her stunning beauty reduces you to melting butter everytime…been there my friends, but Send-Out-Cards is a kryptonite-free way to get the words said.  I can help. We even have a Free account that will save you like 66% over standard Greeting Card prices so now MONEY is not the issue. I’ll give you all the details. Let’s Talk- in person, text, Zoom, Facebook Messenger Videocall, e-mail, etc.  

P.S. Every Bolded and Underlined reference in this blog (except this one, obviously) is a song you can Search in a music app, Google browser, etc.  Listen to The Music!

Have a conversation with Ralph Harold, “guywithtwofirstnames.com,”  be like Carl Little and “Take it to the Bank.”

Dr. Ralph Harold

ralph@guywithtwofirstnames.com

816-808-2465           

THE SIMPLER IT IS, THE MORE POWERFUL

Modern marketing is a modern technological marvel. They’ve got analytics, data analysis, statistics and statistics on their statistics. Despite these terabytes of analytical output, there is still no magic bullet that will give you a sure fire sale in every instance, every time.  “If we just had more data” say the data analytical geeks…. then we’d have more useless monikers with units we don’t understand or can’t even wrap our heads around.

“Will someone please tell me what it is a customer actually wants?“  Don’t Google “what it is a customer actually wants?“. Sincerity. Heartfelt sentiment.  I mean what I say. Here’s a shocker: “ I’ll actually stand behind what I say”. Carl Little, the oldest copier salesman in Kansas City Missouri is so honest and will actually stand behind what he says that he’s willing to take a loss if one of his copiers screws up too many times.  The unbelievable Carl Little has actually driven out to an irate customers’ business with a check in his hand willing to buy back the copier at the full price they paid for it rather than have an irate customer. “Life is too short…” says Carl. And Carl will tell you, that people are so taken aback by this upfront honesty that they’ll quit being mad, get down to the heart of the matter and discuss with Carl the actual issues that are really causing problems. In this manner, Carl disarms what was thought to be a “lost cause Customer” and walks out with a $13,000 order for a brand new, even better, even bigger Copier.  Plus he’s got a Customer for Life. And then Carl sends them a card.

Willy Nelson sends his customers a Send Out Card, too.  I know this to be true because I personally signed him up. No, not Willie Nelson the country singer, but Willy Nelson the realtor in Lees Summit Missouri.  Then Willy is “On the Road Again…” with another Send Out Card for the next Realty customer.

Ask me about friends of mine at Send Out Cards who had a Tree Trimming Business with one truck and one chipper and only worked a few days a week.  Hey husband got the idea of using his phone or tablet to take a picture of the customer’s house from high up in the tree. He thanks the Customer for their business and shows the Customer how nice their home looks from that vantage point.  In 2 minutes, the picture is taken and the card is on its way. Using no other marketing techniques except send out cards, they now have six trucks, six chippers and a bunch of crews working every day of the week. What’s more, people still have those cards on their refrigerators, desks or front entryways.            

Send Out Cards calls it “the one thing”. While it’s hard to define in words, everyone fundamentally understands what the one thing is.  Sincerity. Heartfelt sentiment. I mean what I say. We so firmly believe in this One Thing that we rewrote and re-purposed our entire forthcoming 2019 upcoming convention to be all about how our company supports the one thing among fellow human beings. Quit trying to be something you’re not and just be the warm, wonderful really nice man or woman you are deep down.  Let go of the façade, the image, the mystique and be a little more like Carl Little. At least a little.

Have a conversation with Ralph Harold, “guywithtwofirstnames.com,”  be like Carl Little or Willy Nelson and “Take it to the Bank.”

Ralph Harold

ralph@guywithtwofirstnames.com

816-808-2465