Did you catch my wink?

“Not marketing is like winking at a pretty girl in the dark. You know what you are doing, but she has no idea.” Love that quote and love how it makes sense that a business has to let people know what they are doing. So now that the marketing materials have been chosen, we are headed back to Omaha to fly home. Since the flight wasn’t until 5:30 we decided to go home through Lincoln to see the University of Nebraska and the capital of this state. Several of my favorite people are from Lincoln, so I was eager to see their stomping grounds. Ken and Sandy come to have me photograph their family every year and Ken most often has on a Nebraska sweater for the picture. Before too many minutes he is looking for “ his friend, Gary”, and before long they are talking Husker/Horn football. What nice people!!! What great children! You will hear more “mams” and “sirs” in a minute from those well-mannered and loveable children. So I was excited to call them and tell them where we were.


We drove through the Nebraska countryside taking pictures of calming vistas. The repetition of the hay bales was gorgeous and I am sure that I stumbled on an Andrew Wyeth painting inspiration. Most images were taken from the car since we were running low on gas, but I managed to get Gary to stop at one inspiring sight. While I was photographing this ramshackle old house and leaning shed, Dan, the owner and a father of six, came rushing up on his four-wheeler to see what we were doing. After I assured him that I did not have bad intentions and told him that I was in love with Nebraska, he was so delightful. He has children from age 26 years down to a 5 year old. His smile was infectious. I told him how to find my blog and I hope he is reading this. I think it is interesting how people come into your life that make a big impression in a short amount of time.





We left Dan and his ramshackle house and shed behind (Dan also owned a very nice looking farmhouse a little way down the road), found a gas station and headed on to the Interstate leading to Lincoln. But before we could figure out what happened, we had not taken the wrong turn but had not taken a turn at all and missed the exit for Lincoln and were half way back to Omaha. So Lincoln will have to wait until the next Nebraska visit.

I was struck by the contrast of the sights in Nebraska and the sights out the window of the plane in our Chicago layover and our arrival in Houston. We weren’t in Nebraska anymore.






Joys ahead,

Cindy

Finding customer service in Nebraska

Do you want to see and FEEL how a business with great customer service operates? You could get on a plane to NYC or Chicago or San Francisco or….you could hop on a Southwest Airline flight to Omaha, Nebraska and drive two hours northwest to Norfolk, Nebraska. There you would find Marathon Press, the company that hosts my website and does most of my marketing materials.

We left Houston on a Saturday and flew into Omaha. We got great airfares by leaving on Saturday and therefore arrived a day early and spent Saturday night and Sunday in Omaha. Of course, unknown to us, we picked the weekend that Warren Buffett, reportedly the second wealthiest man in the world, was holding his annual shareholders meeting. The Woodstock of Capitalism, my son tells me. We wandered around the Old Market Place, taking pictures of all the interesting places to photograph, drove by Rosenblatt Stadium where the College World Series has been played since 1948 (this year is the last time CWS will be held there before they move to the new stadium…..see later blog if Gary, Curt and # 1 grandson get to go), went to a cool store called “Be Yourself” (How did I know about it? They marketed themselves.) and then found Warren Buffett’s house. At least, the girl at Be Yourself told us how she thought we could find it. I have become fascinated with Mr. Buffett, not Jimmy Buffett this time but the second or third richest man in the world. Stay tuned for a later installment for my thoughts about this Mr. Buffet. We ate dinner at Piccolo Pete’s, one of Warren’s favorite restaurants. It was like an old time supper club and has been around for a long time. Then we headed to Norfolk.

Monday morning we were met by a roomful of friends. I say friends because that is exactly how you feel when you arrive. We got lost and called Marathon. The receptionist asked, “Are you in that white car?” She could see us across the field and going by on the highway next to it. How did she know? They are just trained for detail there. We were greeted warmly by Dee Dee, Linda, Karen, and Jeff. I felt like I had called a board meeting Warren Buffett style and we were the VIPs of the day. They were all there to attend to our every need. We started in on designing different materials, we met with the web department, we prioritized, we thought through ideas, we felt special and like someone had our backs or like someone was just as interested in our business as we were. There philosophy is if I succeed, then they succeed. Yes, they are there to make money, but not at the expense of CCP. Now isn’t that a great business? I’m so excited to share my senior brochure with you 2011 seniors and my family brochure with all you contemplating a family session. We have new gift cards coming should you want to purchase gift certificates for someone you think needs a portrait session. During the day, Bruce, the president of Marathon came in and we all sat and had Runzas. It is a sandwich that reminded me of a Kaloche. I hope they stay in Nebraska, because they were really good and I don’t need another vice. Our neighbor, Betty, had told us about Runzas and lasagne at Valentino’s. So you guessed it, after a long day of making decisions, Linda and Dee Dee took us to Valentino’s for lasagne. It is how I want to run my business and I want you to fill out our new “How did we do?” comment cards. REALLY, I DO. I want you to add me to YOUR list of really great place to do business. Next, Our trip home.