Hump-daaaaaaEEEEY!!!
The day started out great. I stopped by the Heat Da Spot Cafe on Georgia Avenue to grab some breakfast before heading to the economic development committee meeting at the gorgeous Prince George's County Chamber of Commerce.
It was early and I had the cafe to myself. I'd been planning to shoot the cafe for a while, so I took the opportunity.
They're not kidding about the coffee.
They are very, very serious about their coffee at Heat Da Spot, as you can see by the shrine to the coffee gods.
Uh oh. Here comes the boss!
She's getting so old...about to turn ONE in a few days!
Food in hand and camera stocked with some great images, I went to my chamber of commerce meeting. We had a great meeting. The guest speaker was Geoff Orazem, one of the founders of Eastern Foundry. If you're involved at all in federal government contracting, you should head over to their website and see this incredible incubator they've created. These guys are changing the game for both small businesses and the government alike.
I left the meeting to discover a flat tire. I changed the flat tire only to discover I had a spare that had gone flat from neglect. AAA to the rescue.
The flat, the time it took to change the flat and replace it with another flat, and the time it took for AAA to arrive with air changed the whole itinerary for the day. But at least it was a beautiful day. It wasn't hot, cold, or raining, so I kept things in perspective and armed with some air from AAA, I kept it moving on to Mac's Tire Service on Florida Avenue in DC.
I've been going to Mac's for years. They are literally open 24/7. ANYtime you get a flat, you can just go straight there and get your tire repaired for around $20. They are fast and very, very good at what they do. I can't say enough good things about this place. You'd think there wouldn't be much opportunity to distinguish yourself in the tire repair business, but Mac's does distinguish itself. The service you get here is remarkable.
There's a lesson here for all of us. If a tire repair shop can inspire customers to give unsolicited, ringing endorsements, there's opportunity for us all to differentiate ourselves from our peers and competitors.
With my schedule busted, I had some time to do some marketing brainstorming (that's what I spend all of my free brain cycles doing these days) and came up with this, my latest bright idea.
It worked for Too $hort, Master P, Daymond John, and many others. This is going to work for me, too. I'm done wasting money on Facebook ads. I'm taking my message directly to the people who I want to see it.
Subscribe to the blog to see where I went with this admittedly rough draft of a billboard. I've learned not to wait for perfection before getting started, but rather to pursue it in earnest with my feet moving rapidly forward. Pareto's Principle says this sign is good enough. By the time you read this, I'll already be working on the 2.0 version.
I hope you enjoyed this post. It's part of a series I'm doing on small businesses. Be sure to check out the other posts from this series at the bottom of the page. If I'm doing my job well, you'll find these posts entertaining, but I also want to make sure you realize that these photo stories are all stories of entrepreneurship, both for the small business being showcased, as well as for me. Draw inspiration from them and, better still, go support these small businesses!
Share this post with a small business owner you know who can use some great images to market their business with. Why use generic stock photos when you can have great photos of you and your business to use on your website and in your marketing materials? Use the contact form below to ask about the small business friendly marketing packages that I offer.
