Article Surfing Archive

Thanks, gulliver, for this story...

??The "Just Looking" Badge

?Neutralize your customers' worst fears.

Car shopping as entertainment has always been the draw at Planet?Honda in Union, N.J., one of Honda's fastest-growing dealerships.?A giant video wall shows footage of the latest models, and?new-car buyers get a G-force ride on an 18-foot spaceship?simulator. The best part of the show? The "tech cafe," where the?presence of salespeople is strictly verboten, and where a?receptionist asks shoppers if they need help. If you respond the?way most do--"Just looking, thanks"--you get a yellow smiley-face?badge emblazoned with the letters "JL" to stick on your lapel,?which alerts the sales guys to back off.

Not for long. Planet Honda owner Tim Ciasulli says JLs turn out?to be his best customers, because the badge helps to lower their?defenses. "The magic is when they peel it off after 15 minutes?and they're ready to do business," Ciasulli says. The dealership?sold 3,300 new cars last year, more than three times the average?for independent dealerships. -- Paul Kaihla, Business 2.0 Magazine

I'd rather be amateur than pro here, too.

From Jason's ever bright and provocative blog, he quotes this unbelievably insightful observation which applies to us too, folks. Read slowly. with relish.

"Amateur is not below professional. It's just another way of doing [media]. The root of the word amateur is love, and someone who does something for love is an amateur. Someone who does something to pay the bills is a professional. The amateurs have [more integrity than] the professionals. If you're an amateur you have less conflict of interest and less reason not to tell your truth than if you have to pay the bills and please somebody else." So said Dave Winer, colorful Internet guru.

It's about telling the truth. YOURS, not one you're getting paid to tell. Read this mind tingling story from Poynter here.

And yes, good people will still come to you. Even more when they know you're telling it (your story) like it is, like the amateur above. Who needs the professional, compromised story he's talking about, when you've got the real one others are aching to hear?

Word History: The word's ultimate Latin source, amtor, 'lover, devoted friend, devotee, enthusiastic pursuer of an objective,' and from its Latin-derived French source, amateur, with a similar range of meanings.