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Zappos.com has impressed the heck out of me. Huge selection, great prices, and fanatical service! I heard a story about them recently, and I can totally beieve it. A woman had bought a pair of shoes for her husband, and then suddenly he passed away. The woman received the shoes the day before the memorial service, and called Zappos to see if they could be returned. The answer, of course, was yes. But the story doesn’t end there. When the woman arrived at the funeral home and entered the chapel, she saw all the lovely flowers people had given. Among them was a particularly lovely and large arrangement, and the woman inquired as to who had brought them.

“Well, that’s the thing,” replied the funeral home director. “They arrived this afternoon, and the note simply said, “so sorry for your loss” and was signed by someone named Zappos or something.

I don’t care who you are, THAT’s a company who cares about its customers!

Shopping online for products like shoes or electronics is easy. But finding good services in your area is a bit tougher. You want to make sure that the photographer or plumber you hire is reputable. So where do you go online to learn more about the services you need?

“There are many good web sites for digging up good services in your area,” says Carter Harkins, owner of HarkinsCreative, a graphic design company in Nashville, TN. “One of my favorites is Angie’s List, a site where you can find reviews on local businesses, and find others you might not know about yet.”

But how do you know that the company you choose online is going to treat you well?

“It’s really not much different than finding someone in the Yellow Pages, ” says Carter.  “There is always risk when hiring someone, but I would say that in today’s business climate, with virtually all reputable businesses having and maintaining a web presence, you don’t run any higher risk by contracting with someone you found on the web, versus other advertising means.”

And in fact, statistics prove this is true for local providers of services. Do your homework, just like you would on any company you are thinking of using. Ask around, Google them, see what others are saying about the business online.

A vision board is a collage of visual images that suggest your deepest goals, visions and desires. They tend to free up the “right brain” and give a playful, inspiring visual cue to remind you of your purpose and innate uniqueness. Vision boards can be an effective way of freeing up your creativity and inspiration. I used a vision board to help set goals at work. It helped me link my passions and dreams to my goals of taking our organization to a new level.
Three of the most interesting images in my collage were a picture of the artist Marc Chagall, a child’s stick drawing of a happy family and a photograph of a rare night rainbow in Hawaii. Chagall’s work represents transcendence to me, and I surely wanted to rise above the problems I was experiencing at work. The child’s drawing connected me to creativity, innocence and spontaneity. These were qualities I needed to tap to perform my job better. Finally, a night rainbow suggests an unexpected event of unusual beauty. I actually saw one on the Big Island of Hawaii several years ago and the memory has stayed with me. I asked myself the question, “How can I bring something unusually beautiful and rare to my job?”

Rhinos are aggressive when they need to be. They protect their resources and make an effort to keep the best for themselves. Do you shop this way? Do you wave your horn when you go looking for the best deals, to intimidate the best deals out of retailers?

A Rhino Shopper is:

• Committed to finding the best, juiciest deals.
• Not afraid to throw a little weight around to get their way.
• Demanding of a fair deal, especially when advertised that way.
• Fast to act to get there first.
• Resourceful and able to make a little go a long way.
• Dangerous. Don’t get between a Rhino shopper and the thing they want!