Thursday, June 10, 2010

Journey to remarkable, continued


I started talking yesterday about the journey to remarkable in an online world of making and selling.

Why do I think it's so crucial?

One of my favorite authors, Seth Godin, talks about the importance of being remarkable:  not just being great, or very good, or good enough. In today's Google-based, speed of light, global, online economy, you'd better be the very best.

I've really worked to wrap my head around this. Seriously, if I'm not knitting the most remarkable scarves on the planet, does that mean I should sell the biz and move on?

Well, what I'm understanding is that remarkableness isn't just be your product design. Remarkable is your entire product, your entire business, and even you. In a huge sea of knitters on Etsy, if your photos aren't remarkable, you're going to spend far too much time trying to get noticed. If your photos are incredible, but you have zero customer service, you're dead before you start.

Remarkable is something I innately understood in my previous professional lives and was valued on many levels. I did a lot of reading and research in my degree on super star employees ("remarkable" employees): how to find them, what to do with them once you have them, how to help develop them, and how to let them go when they move on to their next and better opportunity.

Remarkable is going the extra mile. Sending your best customer a super special surprise, just because. Refunding that unhappy customer with a smile and kind word, while converting unhappy to happy, and hopefully soon to order again. Developing relationships with your customers so that they want to hear about something new that you know they'll love even before you have it posted online.

Remarkable is the first super cool thing that blows your mind when you see it (before it quickly trends and becomes invisible to you in a sea of mediocre knock offs).

Remarkable is that thing that is so jaw dropping that MAN you wish you had thought of that first!

Remarkable is incredibly well made items of beauty, made by hand, by artists and artisans in your town or on the other side of the planet.

I'm on a journey to understand remarkable. I really look forward to sharing with you businesses and concepts that strike me as remarkable, but mostly look forward to hearing what you think about them and the entire concept.

And if you find something that you think is truly remarkable, let me know!

1 comment:

Sharon said...

I think that you are remarkable for all that you accomplish with such finesse. Great post. Can't wait to read more!