Category: Marketing

When a big windstorm blew through our community a few weeks ago, it took down a couple sections of our back fence. With summer #15 fast approaching for our home – and it was a year old when we moved to Houston – replacing the entire 212 linear feet seemed like the right move. Our next-door neighbor decided to do the same, and the new cedar fences definitely improved curb appeal.

While admiring the upgraded look of our properties, I told him: “What we need to do now is have our four teenagers stain it.” He agreed, and last Saturday became an all-day paint-a-thon. When you consider both sides needed to be stained, there was a total of 800 linear feet with a materials and supplies cost of $900. Good thing the labor was cheap.

I wouldn’t say the kids had a great attitude beforehand – my daughter Tweeted the night before: “I have to spend all day tomorrow painting a stupid fence” – however, during the nine hours on the job, I heard nary a negative word. They took turns spraying and rolling the cedar planks, and never once became frustrated with each other. All in all, it was a terrific way to spend a spring day… and my guess is they’ll talk about ‘the time we stained the fence’ long after I’m gone.

One thing that arose from this outdoor adventure is recognition of an opportunity missed by fencing companies. As a serial entrepreneur, I’m tempted to start a business and provide the solution myself; however, Kathy made me promise when I created Success Handler, LLC that it would be my last career change. So, I’ll leave this one for you to pursue.

Homeowners should be able to skip the ‘paint stage’ after installing a new fence. Instead, you would have a choice of, say, four colors pre-approved by your HOA. You make your selection in advance and the fence company pre-stains the lumber before delivering it to your home. Up goes the fence and – Voila! – have a lemonade in your beautiful backyard. Customers would gladly pay an up-charge to have this time-consuming task removed from their weekend to-do list.

Feel free to make millions.

On this New Year’s Day, one more important lesson I learned during 2012:

K82wJz7Vn3L2G – We received a recall notice for the hard drive on the iMac I use to write these newsletters. As requested, I made an appointment and carried this computer into the local Apple store. There I learned the backlog of repair orders meant they ‘might have it completed’ in four days. Clearly, that wasn’t going to work, so I packed up and took it back to the office.

The next day Apple sent an email asking about my customer experience. I shared disappointment they couldn’t do the repair in a way that would keep our business operating efficiently. Within 24 hours, a rep called to thank me and to say they would work with us on the timing. A few days later the store manager called and said if I had it there at 8:45 p.m., they would put in a new hard drive and we could pick it up the next morning. I did. They did.

When I returned home and plugged it in, Kathy asked, ‘Where’s the old hard drive?’ I had no idea – then she said, what about all of our passwords? I’m not a techie, but there did seem to be a security risk, and while I trust Apple employees, who knows where that hard drive ended up. So I went to work changing every password… and you can imagine how long that took.

Fortunately, researchers have discovered how you move your phone to your ear is as distinct as a fingerprint: the speed and angle impossible to replicate. Soon you may not need all those random sets of numbers and letters for passwords. Your hand movement or how you sit will replace them. That will make a wonderful Christmas present someday!