Tell a story !

Recently Seth Godin wrote in his daily blog:

People are moved by stories...

It took a minute for this is sink in before I realized how true that statement really is and the impact it has had on our business.

If you know us at all, you know that we love a good story !

It doesn't really matter what it is about we love sharing our lives and experiences with our friends/ customers.

I think that because of this our customers/friends enjoy sharing their stories with us.

We like to say that "we build friendships one pond at a time " and that attitude carries thru our entire staff.

We have been invited to many of our customers/friends weddings , birthdays, BBQs, Christmas parties, etc... We are so thankful that our customers/friends invite us into their lives.

We love sharing stories and we love hearing stories... got a good one to share?  Send us an email and let us know.
Info@pondtastic.com

I'm Happy !

This past week was our annual pilgrimage to St. Charles Illinois for the pond industries largest gathering of water feature professionals, Pondemonium.

The first words from Greg Wittstock in the opening speech were " I'm happy "
He then went on to expand on the many reasons he has to be happy.... it kinda made me think.
 
You see as a small business owner in today's climate (and I am not talking about the weather ) it is easy to get down or let the stress of the day wear you down.  It is easy to NOT be happy.

I am sure that applies to you too, no matter what you do for a living.
So I started making a list as I sat listening Greg,  ( in no particular order )

I am Happy because:

• I have a healthy family 
• I have a loving family
• I have a thriving business
• I have an amazing wife who shares my passion and dreams and is always by my side
• I still have a business
• I get to do something I LOVE everyday
• I get to work with people that share my dreams
• I get to change peoples lives in ways they didn't ever foresee
• I have created so many friendships that I would never had :
• Clients/Customers
• Pond builders all over the country
• Pond hobbiests all over the world
• I am happy I work in an industry full of people who are inspiring people who are willing to share their successes and failures to help us all be better

Now that was just a quick list I jotted down and I am sure there are so many other things I should be happy for. 

How about you?

Do the butterflies ever go away ?

Today we spent the majority of our day preparing for an event tomorrow here at our Orlando location. This " Build A Pond" seminar/class/event is something that we have done as a team many, many times and the subject we are teaching... well lets just say we are pretty good at it.

But I still find myself running around double checking and  crossing off items on an never ending to do list and having this feeling in my stomach. You know what I am talking about right?... the nervous stomach?

I know that tomorrow will be a GREAT day .

Tomorrow we get to share with people who are eager to learn.
Tomorrow we get to start people towards enjoying the pond lifestyle. 
Tomorrow we get to create Paradise !

But for some reason I still have butterflies.......

Pondtastic Travels to Chicago's Pondemonium Event.

From August 5th - 7th, distributors, contractors, and retailers from across the country will come together in Chicago for an event designed to help educate, learn and inspire professional water garden businesses.

We look forward to this event each year and with a theme focused on returning to our roots and getting back to basics this year is no different.
 
 This year's Pondemonium® focuses on the core business of the water garden industry and will provide classes, hands-on builds, and networking events.

The workshops on advanced pond building techniques, new water garden filtering products, and the latest technologies in maintenance and repair will only help us to serve our customers better and provide you all with exceptional service.

A Clowns Prayer

Many of you may have heard this before but, I heard it for the first time this past weekend.

As I listened to the words I couldnt help to think to myself...

"Thats how I feel about building water features"

I think that the world would be a better place if we all lived our lives like this....

As I stumble through this life,
help me to create more laughter than tears,
dispense more cheer than gloom,
spread more cheer than despair.

Never let me become so indifferent,
that I will fail to see the wonders in the eyes of a child,
or the twinkle in the eyes of the aged.

Never let me forget that my total effort is to cheer people,
make them happy, and forget momentarily,
all the unpleasantness in their lives.

And in my final moment,
may I hear You whisper:
"When you made My people smile,
you made Me smile."

-Anonymous-

 I feel so lucky to be able to do something I love for a living and so blessed to have surrounded myself with people who feel the same.



Jim

Social Media has become a game changer.

Travel back in time with me to a time when you were considering having work performed by a contractor or company of any kind.

Think about the process that you went through in order to select the person who you felt was qualified and offered you the best value. You probably asked to see photos of their work, references from their previous clients and more.

As a contractor we have been accustom to providing this information and in fact most of our clients  volunteer to speak to any of our prospective clients. But recently this all changed.....

Thanks to Social media sites like Facebook, Potential clients have access to not just our selected group of references or the photos we choose for our slide show presentation.

They have direct access to our clients
They have direct access to our photos of our work.
They have direct access to how we interact with our customers.


For us, that is a good thing !
We work very hard to maintain a positive relationship with all of our clients and consider most of them friends.

Our clients/friends will tell you that.

We are active in our community,
We are active in education,

Social Media Sites like Facebook give a potential client the ability to do some homework on our company before they ever contact us.

Recently we had a potential client:

• found us online   www.pondtastic.com
• found us on facebook
• looked through our photos
• contacted our clients 

all of this before we ever met them....

we just completed their pond and it is amazing. They are overjoyed with their decision and they feel good about the entire process. That the best advertising money can buy ! 

Do you know what your clients are saying about your business? Do you like it?

We do !

Individuality...

First let me tell you that this has absolutely nothing to do with ponds...or does it...

Websters defines Individuality as:

1 total character peculiar to and distinguishing an individual from others
2 the quality or state of being indivisible
3 separate or distinct existence

When we think of individuality it usually is used to define someone who resists the norm or is different than everyone else. Something or someone that does not " fit in" is the causal definition of individuality.

For instance how many of you have a 6' tall ostrich in your living room, complete with decorations,(seasonal outfits), funky multi-colored socks, shades, a captains hat and high top converse sneakers? I will go out on a limb here and say... none of you probably have that. but that's what I found as i entered a home for a consultation last week.

Of course I asked permission to take a photo and talk about it on my blog because I was immediately forced to smile as I entered this home.

THIS IS INDIVIDUALITY !

These parents of 2 teenagers and 1 preteen are teaching their kids a life lesson here in my opinion. These kids know that it is "ok" to have a 6' ostrich in the living room. They know it is "ok" to not do,say or act the "norm".

Dont everyone run out and buy 6' ostriches for your living rooms......maybe I am reading too much into this.
I have to admit... I do not have an ostrich in my living room.

Individuality is important.. not being afraid to march to a different drum, to be "yourself ".

I left this home with a smile of my face... isn't that a good enough reason to get an ostrich?