Instead of spending so much time and money  finding new customers, there are things you can do today to transform your existing Customers into a Consumer Army who want to send you new business.

Its all about creating some ILM in your business,and taking the time to show customers you really care and delivering this powerfully and in unexpected ways.

What is ILM? Well, it's an I LOVE MOMENT ...  a little thing you do that shows another person you really are interested in them, it brings a smile and it shows you are passionate about what you do. And yesterday I got an ILM from Mike Barnett, CTO of RealTown and RISMedia, and Vice President of Technology at InternetCrusade. Thanks, Mike.

So what did Mike do that had such an impact?

1. Despite it having nothing to do with his role at RealTown, he took the time to ring me, out of the blue, after reading my new blog post, Have You Been Googled Yet? Very unexpected, but also very cool.
2. It made me feel special that he had read and enjoyed my article. Proving the reach of Blogs and Social Media and reconfirming my committment to being an active participant once again.
3. He showed me how to make my article even better by pointing out a spelling error in the opening sentence, which allowed me to fix it before too many people saw it.
4. He encouraged me to get even more involved by pointing out some other features like the ability to form Groups on the RealTown platform.

So why did this mean so much to me? Well if you know me reasonably well, you will know that spelling is a bit of a sensitive topic for me. When i first started blogging, writing articles and putting out my newsletters, I was publicly criticized about my poor spelling, punctuation errors and numerous typos.I used to put it down to the fact that Aussies and Americans spell very differently and tried to brush it off. Until one post that said because of these errors they felt I was very unprofessional and although I had a great vision and could feel the honesty and passion behind my writing that they felt it would hurt their reputation to come on board at IlovemyAgent.

I did comment back, letting them know my blog was from me personally, written from my heart and unedited as I sat out on my deck on the beautiful Gold Coast and that I hoped he would be able to forgive my spelling and learn to love me anyway and gain value from the messages. I also pointed out  that the website www.ilovemyagent.org  had been professionally edited by an experienced American Journalist and so if he joined he would not be attaching any typos to his reputation. 

However I let it upset me so much that a year ago I stopped blogging and writing, despite my love of it and all the wonderful things it had done for me professionally and personally. I invested my time and energy in travelling, studying, learning and not doing, not sharing my value with the world. Although I thought big and had a big vision for ILOVEMYAGENT.ORG I let fear dictate my actions and I started playing small, serving only my personal coaching clients and helping them focus and overcome their fears and achieve and surpass their goals.All the while not really facing the fact that it was my FEAR of criticism  that was holding me back from achieving mine.

Anyway once I learned that I decided to face my fear and reclaim my Abandoned Blog, with the help and support of Frances Flynn Thorsen, and of course now the criticism is still forthcoming but now I love it! I am learning to make Spellcheck my friend, and keep a dictionary close by. I know my strengths and I know my weaknesses, I know I am not perfect but I am confident in my abilities and know why I am hereand I am totally committed to making that happen.

So, Mike Barnett, a Big Thank You for the I Love Moment yesterday. I am officially an Advocate! It is a powerful reminder of how it is the little things we do and the way we do them that is the transforming factor in relationships with our customers. Won't you join me in watching this short, powerful, true story shared by Ken Blanchard and Barbara Glanz on the Simple Truths website www.simpletruths.com of how a grocery bagger transformed the business he worked for www.barbaraglanz.com/simpletruths/dvdvideo/index.html  and think of some things you can do to show your customers you really care. Just like Mike Barnett did  to me yesterday.