I’ll never forget a phrase that one of my former bosses said to me one day, it stuck with me because it is so true.  He had just been on the phone with a store seeking their help in purchasing something, and it was like pulling teethe to get someone who treated him with the respect he deserved as a customer who had given this company good business in the past.  He was talked down to, put on hold for an incredible period of time, and finally, hung up the phone in disgust.  He, my senior by a number of years, looked across the room at me and said “you know, there was a time when the customer was always right…even if you were wrong, you were right”.

My former bosses’ comment was the first thing that I thought of when I turned the pages and became captivated by the book “The Celebrity Experience”, with the subtitle “Insider Secrets to Delivering Red-Carpet Customer Service”.  Can you see where I’m going with this?  Or better yet, can you see where the author, Donna Cutting, is taking us?

Through her gifted story-telling style of writing, Donna shares how, with the right outlook, a can-do attitude, and a bit of creativity, you can make your customers and clients feel so special that it’s the next best thing to being a celebrity walking down the red carpet, pampered and loved.

This is a book that you will find hard to put down, it hits home because it is so true, and if you own a business, you will feel so inspired, ready to apply the things that you have learned.  Not only will you feel good making others feel good by applying the principles in this book, but you might just find that by treating your customers and clients the way they deserve to be treated, your business will flourish and grow…in fact, I guarantee you will!  Happy you, happy clients, sounds like a wonderful formula for success!

I am sincerely excited about this book, and know you will love it.  If you would like to read other reviews, visit the link to the book above, and also please visit the following sites that are taking part in “The Celebrity Experience” blog tour this week, some have interviews with Donna Cutting, and others may have book excerpts:

Wendy Piersall / CEO of Sparkplugging, hosted a guest blog by Donna about how to be a A-list customer.
Heidi Richards/founder of WECAI and WE Magazine for Women Blog
Dawn Goldberg / Write Well Me will be doing her own book review.
Pam Archer / I Do Weddings showcased Donna’s guest post about tips for brides to be A-list customers
Judy Davids /Guitarist of the Mydols and author of Rock Star Mommy
Carol Deckert / Run Lancaster

and coming tomorrow if not posted already:

Mary Eileen Williams / Fiesty Side of Fifty
Kirsten Harrell / I Pop In

Happy reading!

Everything is bigger in Texas, they say, so if you’re looking for enough office space to spread your wings, there is a site url you’ll want to visit, doncox.com.

Whether you’re looking for a warehouse, a place to operate a book business, or any other business for that matter, if it’s in Texas, you’ll want Don Cox to help you. In fact, this site is generally focused on one area of Texas, Austin Office Space, and because they are so focused, they are experts at finding you the best match for your needs at the best price.

I was going through some past emails recently, and came across an issue of “Book Marketing Expert“, a newsletter that I receive on a regular basis, and while looking through it, found the following tips on how authors can make video trailers about their books. If you have never done this before, I think you’ll find it helpful.

Be sure to come back tomorrow, I have a special book to introduce you to, my day to post on a very special “book tour”.

Here’s the article:

How to Make Your Book Trailer Shine

1. Keep it short - 30 seconds is about perfect. Most people do not have the attention span to sit through anything longer. You want to make sure that the viewer lasts to the credits - the place where you should tell them how to buy your book!!

2. Flash is the program I recommend to stream your video - a short video should load immediately. Other videos or players will take much longer to load and will usually be pretty big files. Example, a Flash video we created for the book Accidentally Engaged is 225k - as a Windows Media video it would have been much bigger, and therefore taken much longer to load and view. Plus, the market penetration is much larger with Flash. You want to reach as many people as possible.

3. Avoid using poorly produced video and bad acting. Still shots can be just as engaging and paint a vivid picture - leave something to the imagination of your viewer! For me, there is nothing worse than having the characters on the cover of the book, because frankly the characters in my head never look like the ones on the cover; you could be deterring interest in your book if you’re not careful.

4. Make sure that your music is Rights Free, or that you own the rights. You can always try to buy the rights too, the choice is yours.

5. Make sure to include the cover of your book and a website where your viewers can buy it.

Tip offered by Jeniffer Thompson, author of Web Site WOW, Turn Your Web Site Into Your Most Powerful Marketing Tool, www.websitewow.com. Jeniffer is the president of Monkey C Media, a full-service design house specializing in author web sites and book cover designs. Visit her at www.monkeycmedia.com

I just found out about an event that is taking place THIS Friday that those of you who are considering self-publishing a book may want to be a part of.  Even if you’re reading this too late, you’ll find a link to “Logical Expressions, Inc.” to learn more about what the presenter, Susan Daffron, has to offer.

I’ll make the link above “live” later, but for now would like you to click here to review the information about this event, taking place at 11 a.m. CT (12 noon EST, etc.) on Friday, and other virtual events taking place over the next few days.

I have been introduced to a rather technical site that may have applications that will be helpful to you in business, and pleasure, called “Blaze Media Pro”. To put it in simple terms, the site offers one software download that does all of the following:

• Audio Converter
• Video converter
• CD/DVD burner
• Editor
• DVD Ripper (you techies will know better than I what that is)
• and much more.

The software is easy to use in spite of it’s intricacies.  It is capable of burning VCD, SVCD, and DVD applications.  Here is a list of a few if it’s other features:

• Video Converter
• Video creation, combining, and extraction, editing,
• Copying of music CDs, audio and video merge.
• MusicID audio recognition, lyrics search, audio tag editing,
• FreeDB support, and more.

Actually the list of things this software can do is so extensive, that I would suggest you visit the site, and see for yourself what they offer.  You will be able to determine whether it is useful to you, whether for business, or pleasure.

The 7th anniversary of 9/11 is next week, so I thought it appropriate to introduce you to a book that comes from the heart of a woman who has become special to me, Michelle, and her husband, Randy Rosada. Following is part of the book description, and a link to the site so you can explore more, I hope you will! In fact, here’s the link, when you visit you will see the beautiful picture Michelle took 4 days before 9/11 that has become part of the cover of the book.

Pursuing Your Destiny is the touching true story about 911 Survivor, Michelle Rosado’s heroic escape from the World Trade Center into the life that she never dreamed she could have. Together, with her husband Randy, they share the experiences of their chance meeting that brought these two beautiful souls together to create one life that they share.

Be ready for an exciting journey that begins just weeks after the 911 tragedy, and takes you through their 2003 wedding, finding business ownership, and most importantly finding themselves. This young couple has already inspired thousands of people, and intend to reach millions more through the release of this book. Their unique and powerful writing styles compliment each other, with a vividness that will make you feel like you are sitting through a motion picture when you read!