Writing Effective Reviews that Teach

While reading my email this morning, I ran across one that referred to one of my favorite places here in the northwest: Bob’s Red Mill in Milwaukie, Oregon. Many people know their products for the outstanding natural grains they grind in the plant and distribute throughout the nation. Those of us in this area are fortunate to be able to head down to the corporate headquarters and store at any time.

The website had a highlighted “review” section, and clicking on it brought up a wealth of information about the store and restaurant.

What can you learn from reading reviews? Here is what I learned about Bob’s Red Mill.

1. One reviewer went on about how good the egg sandwich was and how it was an outstanding value for the price. They serve breakfast at the restaurant on the premises, and an egg sandwich is something I hadn’t thought of in years.

2. It was revealed that Bob himself hangs out there on Saturdays. A big deal? Maybe not, but it is nice to know that the man behind the company comes in and talks with his customers—the human touch.

3. Reminder: The open bins of grains are an outstanding value, costing far less than when the grains are packaged and stored on shelves.

4. Reminder: Make sure you go through your cupboards and recipes before you go there, for it is easy to get overwhelmed due to the large quality of bulk bins that line the walls.

5. Reminder: If you think you will be the only one in the store on Saturday, think again. Customers have learned to make their grocery-shopping trip a real outing, where they can browse, eat a meal, and have great coffee with friends.

I wish I had read those reviews before I went. My first visit to the store was truly overwhelming, and reading reviews before my arrival would’ve lessened my confusion.

What if you sat down and wrote a review for a person or business with which you do business?

It’s the Little Things

Tips for Writing Reviews:

1. If you are frustrated with a company, take a deep breath before you head to the computer to write a negative review. Ask yourself, would I want someone to write this about me if it were a one-time issue?

2. Pick up or ask for a contact card as you are about to exit the place of business. When it is time to write the review, you will be glad you have all the information within easy reach.

3. When writing the review, give the reader some useful information about the business.


Example: The review reminded me about egg sandwiches. If I am going to have one, it sounds like Bob’s Red Mill is the place to go—visions of my great childhood dance in my head.



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ETHICS WIN OUT OVER EASE

Recently I was on a webinar to learn even more about marketing, and one of their free trial offers was a series of email newsletters that you adapt to your own business needs. I signed up and—much to my surprise—the series was practically identical to the Weekly Wisdom newsletter that I have been sending out for seven years.

The only thing missing was my 4.5 lines of commentary. After I finished kicking myself for not taking Weekly Wisdom to the bigger arena, I thought, “Hmmm, sending these out could save me some time.” The company offered a choice of daily, once weekly, or three times weekly newsletters. It might work, but …

Was using this service something that would serve the greater good and make my life easier? I became obsessed with the question and started asking my closest confidants, my sister, my friend, Molly, and even strangers for their opinions.

Then I remembered my values, the first of which is integrity. If I sent that out with my name and contact information on it, it would appear as though I was taking the time to prepare the newsletter. That would not be the case. All I would be doing is paying for the service.

That made my decision. I will continue to personally write Weekly Wisdom and send it to my loyal followers. It’s fascinating that it was a much easier decision to make once I examined my own values. In this case, my first listed value—integrity.

IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS:

Rotary International’s Four-Way Test says it all:

1. Is it the truth?
2. Is it Fair to all concerned?
3. Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
4. Will be beneficial to all concerned?

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CASUAL CONVERSATIONS HELP YOU GROW

Arrange time to just talk with your best friend. You do not always have to have an event or a place to explore. My friend, Molly, and I have never had a problem solving issues of the world. We often joke, of course, we are perfect and our position on the subject is the “right” one.

One afternoon over ice tea, our conversation turned to the subject of Skype. I mentioned I am going to use Skype for my executive coaching. Her response, “Well when you do, make sure you stay still. You drive me crazy with all of your movement when we use it.”

My response was “You are kidding, really?” She smiled, and said “You mean you didn’t know?”

Have to say I wasn’t the slightest bit aware of how I was coming across on her monitor. An easy thing to correct, yet, would not have known if Molly had not mentioned it over our casual conversation.

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LEARNING NEW THINGS SO YOU CAN SHARE WAYS TO IMPROVE COMMUNICATION

This week I had the opportunity to go a Chapter Meeting of the Oregon National Speakers Association http://www.nsaoregon.net. It was of particular interest since Rebecca L. Morgan http://www.rebeccamorgan.com was the speaker. 

I admired Rebecca from afar because of her newsletter SpeakerNet News http://speakernetnews.com. The newsletter requests readers to send in their helpful hints and Rebecca and her business partner sort through them and send the newsletter out each Friday. More than once, an “aha” surfaced that would solve an issue that had been bothering me.

What is interesting, that my preconceived idea of Rebecca was that she was home in her jammies producing the newsletter. The interesting fact is that her theme for the night was “How to make money in your Jammies. While Rebecca talked about working from home, she talked about working from Dubai, places in Asia and Hawaii.  Hmmmm…now why hadn’t I thought of that?

As I sat there, I realized I had many products that could just be packed and printed in hard copy or transferred to EBooks. I have written my Ezine “Weekly Wisdom” for about seven years. How many more people have to tell me they would be delighted to buy a copy of book containing Weekly Wisdom? 

Then there is my blog. Surely, I can go through them and put them into a series of articles that pertain to communication. Now let’s see, do I make an EBook first or print the hardcopy first?

The issue of posting one’s articles on sites that accept articles with the understanding others could use the them for free. Now how come I never thought--to contact the place that posted my article and asked if I could be a regular contributing author? (If you go to http://www.ezinearticles.com and put in Kathy Condon you can read my articles posted there)

Finally, there was the point….write something every day. Hmmm…that is easy enough for me and since I write swiftly, imagine what I could be producing in a short time?

Oh yes, if you want to sign up for “Weekly Wisdom” go to my website http://www.kathycondon.info    (For those of you are surprised to see my old website….keep the faith—a major glitch occurred and for the time being my old website is up. To tell you the truth……I’d rather talk to you in person anyway. (360) 695-4313.)

HANDWRITTEN NOTES VERY MUCH APPRECIATED

In my supply cabinet is an array of note cards. I have my formal printed ones with my logo, name, and address on the back. However, I have discovered in recent months, I tend to go to the note card that fits the personality of the intended recipient.

Handwritten notes can be used for:

Congratulations on an award.

Congratulations for the news article which included his quote. (Send the article so they have extra copies.)

Letting the recipient know you are glad you met.

Thanking a person for a special lunch or dinner.

Thanking a person for inviting you to a special event.

Thanking a person for giving you a great idea.

Thanking a person for supporting you at a meeting.

Thanking a person for a gift.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this out – yet, I think we have gotten away from this simple gesture. All you need to do is write three lines. Then include your contact card (formerly business card) so that it is easy for the recipient to get in touch with you if they want to in the future.

A simple reminder that the human touch is very much appreciated.

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION TIP:

When you have to change a business date, call the person up and give them the reason why. Then suggest some possible alternative dates. A quick phone call will be very much appreciated

Sign up for my Weekly Wisdom at http://www.kathycondon.info (upper right-hand corner) and receive a very short email that will start your week out on a positive note.

WEEKLY WISDOM CELEBRATING FIVE YEARS

Recently I was talking with my son-in-law and I said “Weekly Wisdom” is now three years old. He replied, “You have been writing it a lot longer than that”. I just looked back and sure enough, my weekly positive Ezine has been going out since February of 2004. "Weekly Wisdom" has a one line quote, no more than 4.5 lines, which explains why I like it and a question to challenge you for the week. It is a quick read and attracts new readers daily.

To use an old cliché it is amazing “how time flies when you are having fun.” It certainly is not a chore for me to sit down and write this brief message each week. Half the fun is keeping my ears and eyes open to great one-liners that I can comment on each week.

It is time “Weekly Wisdom” gets the attention it deserves. A logo is being designed. A packet of 52 “Weekly Wisdoms” printed on contact size cards has moved beyond the planning stage. People will be able to draw their own quote for the week.

The proof to me that “Weekly Wisdom” is being appreciated is the emails that arrive from people who are changing jobs and ask me to change their email address. Comments are always welcome and you will receive a reply back from me.

Remember “Weekly Wisdom” can be forwarded. Better still have your friends and colleagues sign up for their own Monday email on my new website in the upper right-hand corner.

http://www.kathycondon.info

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION TIP:

Here’s some great information about the use of Twitter:

http://www.twitip.com/10-tips-to-be-effective-at-marketing-on-twitter/