Happy 2006 - January issue of Eastside Business Monthly is out now

It's 2006 and I'm looking for great things to happen this year for Eastside Business. We plan on becoming even more involved in the community, helping more organizations and continuing to promote business on the Eastside. The January issue is out now - if you're not already a subscriber, pick up a copy at over 300 locations on the Eastside or subscribe here. If you ever have any comments, rants or raves we love to hear them all - especially the suggestions and criticisms. We sincerely want to make Eastside Business a news organization that the entire Eastside can be proud of. Simply write an email to Feedback@EastsideBusiness.com

A Gift List for All Seasons - All the Good Things

This is an article that I received in the most recent edition of Jeffrey Gitomer's Sales Caffeine (Issue 215). I think we can all take something from it. I know I did. JK A different gift list: ALL THE GOOD THINGS He was in the first third grade class I taught at Saint Mary's School in Morris, Minnesota. All 34 of my students were dear to me, but Mark Eklund was one in a million. Very neat in appearance, but had that happy–to–be–alive attitude that made even his occasional mischievousness delightful. Mark talked incessantly. I had to remind him again and again that talking without permission was not acceptable. What impressed me so much, though, was his sincere response every time I had to correct him for misbehaving – "Thank you for correcting me, Sister!" I didn't know what to make of it at first, but before long I became accustomed to hearing it many times a day. One morning my patience was growing thin when Mark talked once too often, and then I made a novice–teacher's mistake. I looked at Mark and said, "If you say one more word, I am going to tape your mouth shut!" It wasn't ten seconds later when Chuck blurted out, "Mark is talking again." I hadn't asked any of the students to help me watch Mark, but since I had stated the punishment in front of the class, I had to act on it. I remember the scene as if it had occurred this morning. I walked to my desk, very deliberately opened my drawer and took out a roll of masking tape. Without saying a word, I proceeded to Mark's desk, tore off two pieces of tape and made a big X with them over his mouth. I then returned to the front of the room. As I glanced at Mark to see how he was doing, he winked at me. That did it!! I started laughing. The class cheered as I walked back to Mark's desk, removed the tape, and shrugged my shoulders. His first words were, "Thank you for correcting me, Sister!" At the end of the year, I was asked to teach junior high math. The years flew by, and before I knew it Mark was in my classroom again. He was more handsome than ever and just as polite. Since he had to listen carefully to my instruction in the "new math," he did not talk as much in ninth grade as he had in third. One Friday, things just didn't feel right. We had worked hard on a new concept all week, and I sensed that the students were frowning; frustrated with themselves and edgy with one another. I had to stop this crankiness before it got out of hand. So I asked them to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name. Then I told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down. It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed me the papers. Mark said, "Thank you for teaching me, Sister. Have a good weekend." That Saturday, I wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and I listed what everyone else had said about that individual. On Monday I gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. "Really?" I heard whispered. "I never knew that meant anything to anyone!" "I didn't know others liked me so much." No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. I never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and one another again. That group of students moved on. Several years later, after I returned from vacation, my parents met me at the airport. As we were driving home, Mother asked me the usual questions about the trip, the weather, and my experiences in general. There was a lull in the conversation. Mother gave Dad a side–ways glance and simply said, "Dad?" My father cleared his throat as he usually did before something important. "The Eklund's called last night," he began. "Really?" I said. "I haven't heard from them in years. I wonder how Mark is." Dad responded quietly, "Mark was killed in Vietnam. The funeral is tomorrow, and his parents would like it if you could attend." To this day I can still point to the exact spot on I–494 where Dad told me about Mark. I had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. Mark looked so handsome, so mature. All I could think at that moment was, “Mark, I would give all the masking tape in the world if only you would talk to me.” The church was packed with Mark's friends. Chuck's sister sang "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." Why did it have to rain on the day of the funeral? It was difficult enough at the graveside. The pastor said the usual prayers, and the bugler played taps. One by one, those who loved Mark took a last walk by the coffin and sprinkled it with holy water. I was the last one to bless the coffin. As I stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as a pallbearer came up to me. "Were you Mark's math teacher?" he asked. I nodded as I continued to stare at the coffin. "Mark talked about you a lot," he said. After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates headed to Chuck's farmhouse for lunch. Mark's mother and father were there, obviously waiting for me. "We want to show you something," his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket. "They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it." Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. I knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which I had listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him. "Thank you so much for doing that," Mark's mother said. "As you can see, Mark treasured it." Mark's classmates started to gather around us. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, "I still have my list. It's in the top drawer of my desk at home." Chuck's wife said, "Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album." "I have mine too," Marilyn said. "It's in my diary." Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. "I carry this with me at all times," Vicki said without batting an eyelash. "I think we all saved our lists." That's when I finally sat down and cried. THE END Written by: Sister Helen P. Mrosla The purpose of this letter is to encourage everyone to compliment the people you love and care about. We often tend to forget the importance of showing our positive feelings, our affections and our love. Sometimes the smallest of words could mean success to another. Feel free to send this letter around and spread the message of encouragement to express your good feelings for others –– you never know what the impact can be. I wish you and your families all the joy of a holiday, and all the health and happiness a new year can offer. Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, and Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless. President of Charlotte–based Buy Gitomer, he gives seminars, runs annual sales meetings, and conducts training programs on selling and customer service. He can be reached at 704/333–1112 or e–mail to salesman@gitomer.com

Commercial Real Estate to Be Featured in January issue of Eastside Business Monthly

We are looking forward to featuring Commercial Real Estate in the January issue of Eastside Business Monthly. Make sure to get your ad space reserved asap and submit any relevant news or content before the December 20th deadline. The current issue of the Eastside Business Weekly E-Newsletter will be sent out to over 2300 people in the morning. You can subscribe FREE by send an email to Subscribe@EastsideBusiness.com Finally, the Eastside Business website is now live. Be sure to visit soon and often - make sure you add your business or organization to our new online Business Directory FREE of charge. Featured listings are available at an initial low rate of only $50 per year. Thank you for your interest in Eastside Business.

All New Eastside Business News Site is Live!

The All New Eastside Business News site is now live at EastsideBusiness.com Mucho thanks to Ramey Bell and Rocket Fuel Marketing. I think that you will like it a lot and look forward to your comments. Please make sure to visit our Business Directory and list your Eastside business or organization for FREE. Featured listings are available for a limited time at only $50 a year on a first-come, first-served basis, although priority is given to advertisers in the print edition of Eastside Business Monthly. For more info send an email to Ads@EastsideBusiness.com

The China Eggs

This is a great story that was in today's Small Business Advocate e-newsletter from Jim Blasingame. I recommend that anyone in business sign-up for and read his newsletter. The China Egg "Farm-fresh eggs." Seeing those words on a breakfast menu harkens me back to when that was a daily reality. But farmers know that hens don't lay eggs for our breakfast. Consequently, they harvest the fresh eggs each day, and leave a China egg in each nest, which is sufficient to prevent the hens from abandoning their nests and continue production. There are China eggs in business, too. They're the prospects you keep calling on who never buy anything. Since you're smarter than a chicken, don't spend time and resources sitting on China eggs. On the farm or in business, China eggs never hatch. The message I get from this is that your time is your key resource and you cannot afford to spend it on those who waste it and will never buy or do business with you. On the other hand, my brother is a pit-bull salesperson who will call on a prospect every month or couple of weeks in person until they do buy from him. He will tell them straight up "I'm going to keep on coming by until you end up buying from me". It almost always works - although he occasionally has had to call on a person for 2 or 3 years before getting an order.

New Website almost Ready

Hello Dedicated Readers: I wanted to let you know that we have been hard at work on the new, and greatly improved Eastside Business website. Thanks to the design work of Ramey Bell, I believe it kicks ass on all the other local news sites, including the King County Journal's. You'll have to take a look on the 1st of Decemeber (or maybe a day or two earlier) and see for yourself. Please let us know what you think! When it goes live, we will be consolidating the websites for Eastside Business Weekly and Eastside Business Monthly into one great site at EastsideBusiness.com. Besides being updated on a daily basis, one of the great features of the new site is that local businesses and organizations will be able to add themselves to the online Eastside Business Directory free of charge. Visitors will then be able to rate these businesses and write reviews. It's cool and I'm looking forward to introducing it to you!!!

Bill Gate's "Sea Change" Email - Full Text

Thanks to Dave Winer and Hypercamp we now have the full text of Bill Gate's by now infamous email noting a "sea change" in technology as well as the complete memo from Ray Ozzie that was attached to that email. We're certainly glad that they've recognized the need to adapt and hope they can do so quickly and successfully. We'll certainly do what we can to help.

Ruby's Diner at Redmond Town Center Celebrating 5th Anniversary

Ruby's Diner at Redmond Town Center is celebrating its 5th anniversary with a 15 day celebration with special promotions. Congratulations to Ruby's!

Redmond's Perma-Chink Systems on "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition"

Redmond-based Perma-Chink Systems has contributed to television's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition". The show will air Sunday, November 13th at 8pm on ABC. (full story)

McCormick and Schmick's Pre-Opening

Tonight's pre-opening at McCormick and Schmick's in Lincoln Square was a real nightmare! People were cramming in and it was almost impossible to get anything to eat or drink. I'm not sure why they even asked for RSVPs as it was readily apparent that anyone who walked by could get in - after the stood in line waiting for everyone in front of them to cram in. They are very lucky the fire marshall wasn't around (or had his eyes closed). At any rate, it looks like it will be a very popular place. If it is like the other M&S restaurants, the food and the service will both be very good and generally be a very positive experience. I'm glad to have it so close to home.