April's Marketing Calendar - Funny Sells

"Laughter just may be the shortest distance between the customer, you and the cash register." Heidi Richards

Did you know April is National Humor Month? Funny Sells! Just ask Sarah Lefton! Her quirky sense of humor and her Jewish pride were the impetus to a successful home based business. As the marketing director for a Jewish summer camp at Yosemite National Park, Lefton discovered that by changing the emphasis of the word Yosemite she created "Yo Semite". She silk screened the term on a few T-shirts for herself and wore the Yo Semite T-shirts around the streets of San Francisco. People started coming up to her and asking her where they could buy one. Two days later, she had taken orders for 36 shirts and her Internet based business, Jewish Fashion Conspiracy was born.

Her Yo Semite shirts took off and Lefton has now added additional designs to her product line. They include Chanukah panties, and a "Jews for Jeter" shirt to honor the New York Yankee's star Derek Jeter. She created her designs as a way to celebrate being Jewish and have fun at the same time. Her ingenuity and humor has received media attention from a variety of Jewish publications and Time Magazine.

Victor Borge said "Laughter is the shortest distance between two people."

Humor, when used properly is one of the most powerful tools in business today. Think about the last time you made a purchase. What was the experience for you? Was there a bit of humor in the sales process? Was humor used to get you "through the door?" If not, think about a time when humor did captivate you. Chances are not only did you make a purchase, you probably spent more than you originally intended to spend.

That's because humor improves business communications, builds rapport, builds trusts, increases morale, increases sales and productivity and improves relationships overall.

Andrew Carnegie said, “There is little success where there is little laughter."

When you are fun to do business with, more people want to do business with you. Laughter and a good sense of humor build loyalty. Creates raving fans and ensures a company will be around for a while.

it is no wonder that the most successful businesses are those with a healthy attitude, and a healthy bottom line. A happy firm with a good, positive attitude will have happy employees producing good products and services and have a loyal following of satisfied customers.

So how can you make your company or organization more fun? Well, for starters think about your advertising. Are you taking yourself too seriously. Of course, if you sell a serious product, or provide a serious service (like brain surgery) it is possible that some humor won't be appropriate. However, even people wiht life-threatening illnesses need humor in their lives. Laughter has a way of helping us cope with even the most tragic life events.

Here are some ideas to instill more humor and laughter in your work day:

Hang funny posters around. There is no wonder that humorous posters are in such high demand. Think Dilbert, or Peanuts, or Ziggy or Cathy. People buy them to bring a bit of levity to what could otherwise be a dull job.

Use humor in your company newsletter. You could add jokes or cartoons or even have a "joke contest" for your readers to submit to. I use humor in my newsletters. For example in my floral newsletter "Ramblin Rose" I include a section called "just for fun" and share one liners and stories with customers - Here's one:

"Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me, I want people to know 'why' I look this way. I've traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved." Unknown

According to Professor Jeffery Goldstein, of Temple University, "people who use more humor tend to wield more influence over group decisions. Good, effective leaders combine communications and persuasion skills with an appropriate touch of humor to get their message across and to win support for their ideas."

Dwight D. Eisenhower said it best: “A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done."

If you want to be a leader in business, use more humor!


For more April Marketing ideas, visit:
http://www.speakingwithspirit.com/AprilMarketingCalendar.asp.

Some great humor sites include:

Small Business Humor - http://smbtn.com/smallbusinesshumor/

The Humor Project - http://www.humorproject.com/

World Laughter Tour - http://www.worldlaughtertour.com/


To your continued success... and then some.

Heidi Richards

My Daughter's Journey to Freedom

"Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand-and melting like a snowflake..." Marie Beyon Ray

Please forgive my silence these past two months. On February 6th my daughter Alexis Lee Richards lost her battle with drug addiction. It is something I constantly prayed would never happen and even though she was in and out of rehabs and at death’s door on three separate occasions over the past 10 years, we really never thought she would die. To us she was the cat with NINE LIVES. She used every one of them … and then some.

For several weeks prior to her death I had dreamt she was going to loose her battle with this horrible disease. It was difficult to sleep at night just knowing that the phone would ring in the middle of the night (as it often did when she had been either admitted to a hospital or another rehab). The only time she and I found peace was when she was in a program. And then she would get out into the "real world" and life took over - she did not know how to cope in a "normal" society. She never felt like she fit in. Many times she would tell me she was tired - and I would beg her not to give up - I prayed and prayed and prayed.

When the police called to tell me they found her body, I was numb. And I have been for the past two months. The death of a child is something no parent should have to experience. It is something I doubt I will ever get over.The bright side of this story is that Alexis was truly a beautiful woman. Even in her own suffering she reached out to other addicts to encourage them to get clean - we had dozens of her friends at her funeral sharing stories of how she would call them to just make sure they were okay.

Alexis was 27 years old and is survived by four sisters. Two of which are mine - Jennifer (30 - and the mother of my two beautiful grandchildren) and Suzannah (23 and my business partner).The death of a child is something I hope no parent experiences. My family and I are very thankful for all the wonderful people who have reached out to us. Every day I get at least one phone call from friends of Alexis' just to see how I am doing. And dozens of cards and emails from family and friends around the world.

My heart is very full right now - all I can say is THANK YOU! To all those who have reached out with love, support, cards and kindness during this time. It has helped a lot.

This virtual world we have all created has been a comfort to me and so I find great pleasure in using it in any way that can help others and myself in the process.

You will be hearing more about Alexis’ life in future postings. It is my intention to write her life story. The first program she attended was Here's Help (she was there on 2 separate occasions). Each time she stayed clean for the longest. The last program she attended was back in October 2006 - it was Journey to Freedom Life Ministries for Women - the place she found GOD. Her story is tentatively going to be called Journey to Freedom, because Alexis is now free - free from her torment and all the demons she had inside her. For that we are grateful.

My family and I greatly appreciate the many people who made contributions to Here's Help and Journey to Freedom. The monies will go to good use to help these young adults in their own recovery. These two organizations (and many others around the world) are in this fight against drug and alcohol addiction until the war on drugs is won.

Please say a special prayer for Alexis. And if you have children please give them an extra hug from "Aunt Heidi." Children can never have too many hugs or too much love.

Love, peace, and good health to you all.

Heidi Richards