5 Elements of a Good Brand
As the CEO of a marketing agency that has been in business for over 24 years, I have heard the laments of many businesses that have wasted many resources on developing a business. A good brand has thought about the efforts of growing a company.
Review your brand against these elements.
Having read from successful CEOs , marketing professionals, and from personal experience, I can attest that nurturing a “Good Brand” for a company is one of the best investments an organization can make.
It is great to have a “Good Brand”. Employees, staff and vendors notice a difference when they are in the presence of a Good Brand. It is as a solid presence, a presence that says “we stand for X” we will help you to achieve X. It is the power of the brand.
Team spirit is easy to lose if the company doesn’t support it. If the company cares for the staff, they will reciprocate for the most part. A cohesive team is not easy to gain either. While I am not an expert , I can provide our experience in acquiring it and the benefits.
5 Elements of a Good Brand
These are the most important elements for a brand to possess:
It is Purposeful
A strong brand knows what it is and what is not. It is defined and created to be the umbrella for the company. It aligns the employees internally and projects a strong brand image to prospective customers and real customers.
It is Unique
Strong Brands know their Customer Value proposition and can easily articulate it to their prospective customers. Their staff knows clearly what they stand for and align these principles with their own values.
It Knows its Target Market
A strong brand knows who is the right potential target market to purchase its products and services. It creates messaging that resonates with them. It builds a connection with its target market and creates a solution for a need.
It is Consistent
A strong brand is consistent with its look, message, and character. A brand character is usually defined early on, you can select any character from serious, to funny or laid back. The goal is to be consistent with the messages, and tone the quality. This will translate into a strong brand.
It is Authentic
A strong brand that is authentic, doesn’t try to imitate its competition. It sets itself apart from the competition by being or doing something that it cares about. By providing exceptional “Customer Service” or Technology advanced products, or always innovating. An authentic brand knows where they stand in the marketplace.
Benefits of having a “Strong Brand”
These next elements will ensure your marketing waste is minimal after 6 months. The key is to follow up on these five factors.
Higher Retention of Talent
Staff will stay longer at the company when the organization has a strong brand with values that are well implemented.
When the values of the staff resonate with the values of the employees, it creates pride and connection with the company. Having a strong brand also means that employees have clear goals, which gives your staff a sense of purpose in their role.
Better and More Job Candidates
Fostering a strong brand will promote your company work culture to outsiders looking for work. Having a good work culture improves your company’s reputation for job seekers, allowing you to find higher quality applicants that best suit new openings.
Higher Sales
Having a strong brand will generate more sales because the right brand messaging resonates with your customers. Brand messaging helps to increase sales by setting your company apart, in a positive way. Customers will spread the word to others who seek out the same values that your brand possesses. Having a strong brand makes it more likely that prospective customers will put their trust in your company. Your brand is what customers will remember, so having a strong brand ensures that your company will be remembered.
Higher Value
Companies with a strong brand have significantly higher value. At the time of valuation, companies with strong brands will always come out on top.
A Healthier Company
Promoting a strong brand is very important for the overall functioning of your company. By promoting a strong brand, you will set your company up for success.
Defend the Brand
My final advice for nurturing a strong brand is to have very clear brand guidelines, for each of your audiences that interact with your brand. For example, vendors, staff, employees, executive team, customer service team, etc.
Make sure everyone knows the benefits of a strong brand.
At Cazarin Interactive, we strive to have a great, strong brand and understand that we all represent the company. We create joy together! This is very important to us.
Final Takeaways
Be purposeful when promoting your brand. Make sure your brand messaging is well developed and that it is well understood by your employees and stakeholders. Develop clear brand guidelines that are easy to access. When the brand messaging is promoted you can focus on what is important to the brand from its services. Including its products, caring for the environment, and caring for its people. Just be consistent on the message and make sure that everyone is aligned in understanding the brand.
When someone selects Cazarin Interactive as their marketing partner, our team becomes a part of their company. We seek to have long term relationships with our customers and pay for ourselves by increasing sales and enhancing their brand. We will nurture joy and respect in our interactions with your company.
Do you want to utilize our Marketing Fusion (™) and see real growth in your business? Contact our marketing department today.
Resources:
https://www.cazarin.com/Fusion-for-Marketing-creative-advertising/
Question:
How do you nurture “Team Spirit” in your organization today?
Tips for a Successful Life
Recommendations for students entering the workforce to be successfully employed.
I have been blessed with high-quality education since I was young, at both public and private schools. This education includes a post-high school education and a Master’s degree. But, despite what many think, having a top-notch education isn’t always a fast track to getting a great job immediately after graduation.
I learned quickly after entering the workforce that a great company needs to have team spirit, and that a great employee needs to foster that spirit. After years of working for companies and now over 20 years leading my own marketing agency, I have truly learned the importance of knowing and nurturing great working environments. In this blog post I will show you what great companies have in common and how to find the right company for you.
What is “team spirit”?
You may have heard the term “team spirit” in regards to your school’s sports teams, or any chapters or clubs you may be a part of. But, what does team spirit mean in a professional setting?
Great companies have leadership that understands the importance of quality of life for every member of the organization. A company can show this through respectful and fair communication with clear work tasks and job descriptions.
Great companies know that human capital is one of the most valuable assets that create collaboration, innovation, productivity, and efficiency. All leadership members must understand how important this is to the company to obtain great success. This is what makes up team spirit and a good leader makes it a priority to nurture that positive environment daily.
At Cazarin Interactive, we prioritize clear communication, which forges great comradery and team spirit. It has taken years to truly learn how to implement it effectively and sustain it daily.
My advice to young professionals is to understand this fact and create an approach that is congruent with the desire to be part of a great team. When interviewing for jobs, search for a team that is collaborative, productive and efficient. Aim to join a team with great spirit. This is where you will be happy and provide your best work.
Where do I fit?
Now that you know what team spirit means, you have to decide where it truly fits in your life. Not every company you apply to will be a great fit for you. You can begin by understanding your strengths and weaknesses and by taking an introspective look at what truly makes you unique. Once you have done this, you will have a stronger feeling about which organizations have your type of team spirit, and which ones don’t.
If I were to go back and give my younger, newly-graduated self some pieces of advice, these would be my seven tips.
The 7 keys to a great professional life
Self Awareness
Understand yourself by identifying your strengths and weaknesses. How can you best contribute to a team? Understanding yourself requires being open to feedback.
Empathy and Communication Skills
Understand that there are different points of view to every situation. Use humility, gratefulness, and empathy in your communication with other members of the team.
Balance in your Life
In order for you to be a great team player, you need to have balance. Use the 7 F’s of Future, Faith, Fitness, Finances, Friends, Fun, and Family. Measure these every quarter and adjust accordingly when you see imbalances.
Time is a Valuable Resource
Time is a resource that can’t be purchased. Time is finite. Use it in the best way possible. Create amazing memories, help others, and take care of yourself and your family.
Authenticity – Be the Best Version of Yourself
Once you are able to put your ego aside, you will be able to communicate in an authentic way and interactions will be much more effective.
Continue to Learn
There is so much to learn. Open your mind to other possibilities, other perspectives, and find the best ways for you to learn.
Joy & Happiness
Keep this always in mind: What brings you joy and happiness will guide you to make the best decisions for yourself.
Qualities of a Great Company
The more you understand and practice those 7 keys to a great professional life, your vision of a great company will become clearer. These are the main things that companies with great team spirit and camaraderie do:
- Include Others: Include employees in decisions when possible. When employees feel included in the decision-making process, they embrace the change and help to make the transition to acceptance smooth.
- Be Positive: Always look at the positive side of any issue.
- Strong Leadership: These leaders understand the importance of team spirit.All managers at a great company understand and forge team spirit by having respect, listening skills, and proper communication.
- Resiliency: Resilient teams consistently deliver superior results. You can see this in companies that retain employees and that have built a positive reputation in the marketplace.
Final Takeaways
When someone chooses my company, Cazarin Interactive, as their marketing partner, our team becomes a part of their company as an extension of the marketing and sales department. We understand team spirit. We help to develop brand identity, messaging, and implement an ongoing marketing strategy that will help businesses grow in a healthy manner. If it weren’t for my understanding of the 7 key values to professionalism and the importance of team spirit, Cazarin Interactive would not be the great company that it is today.
Resources:
Question:
Do you want to utilize our Marketing Fusion (™) and see real growth in your business? Contact our marketing department today.
6 Steps to Market Yourself as a Professional Online
Advice for those who are struggling with marketing themselves.
One of my customers recently asked me a great question – “How do I market myself effectively on the internet?” My company, Cazarin Interactive, had recently finished a website for Muhamed, a highly educated realtor. His question was a great segue into what would come next.
I believe every professional should know the basics of marketing themselves before working with a marketing agency like ours. We all have a lot of knowledge about our professions and we all come from different backgrounds and opportunities. This blog will provide you with solid background information to improve your personal brand on the internet.
Who Am I?
I am a business professional and entrepreneur who has worked hard to beat the odds. I would like to think that I know a lot, but the truth is that I continue to learn all the time. Just when I think I know something, it changes or evolves.
My experience includes college education in Computer Science and Management Information Systems and a Masters degree from Carlson School of Business with a concentration in marketing. I am also a graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 program and have read countless books about sales, marketing, and business development. I use these facts to market myself and have developed my brand based on the experiences and knowledge that I am proud to share.
I can tell you with confidence that this information is extremely valuable. I have gained this information from books, networking with business professionals, personal experience, personal interviews, high-level education, and spiritual principles.
These are the fundamentals that any professional needs to market themself:
- We as humans are complex, multidimensional individuals who seek connection with other human beings.
- We connect with other people in different ways.
- Physical attributes
- Personal experiences
- Sharing time
- Speaking the same language
- Doing the same or similar sport
- Affinity for activities like chess
- At the center of the connection is an ability to create an emotional bond. The bonds that last the longest are based on:
- Trust
- Integrity
- Mutual Respect
If you find the ability to CONNECT with others by helping them without expecting anything in return, you will create a great emotional bond and if done right, personal gratification as well.
It is not until this key fundamental is understood that a professional can truly market his or herself. Now, to answer Muhamed’s question, here are the specific tips for how to do that.
How to Market Yourself Online:
- Define for yourself – what knowledge do you have that can help others?
- How to do x
- Tips for x
- Story of how you became a doctor when you tried to be a plumber
- Establish a helping mindset. Define what you will share with others. You don’t have to share everything, but what you share should be helpful to another person even if you don’t receive something in return.
- Publish – Share the information and hope it can benefit others. Try to post an article at least monthly. Weekly is ideal. You can publish this information on your website, a blog, your newsletters, or share it through webinars. You should also publish the information on social media.
- LinkedIn is the best social media platform to share professional information.
- Twitter is a helpful tool for building one’s individual brand.
- Share to Facebook if it is relevant to your friends and family.
- Brand yourself: Establish a tagline. Mine is “Vision Architect” – I want to help people and companies to achieve their vision.
- Focus – The right people will gravitate towards you and you can offer your services if you are focused on a specific topic or series of related topics.
- Create an awesome email signature. This should include the following:
-
- Name
- Title
- Email address
- Phone Number
- Social Media Links
- Links to something you offer
- A quote that communicates your character
- EXAMPLE:
I challenge you to ask yourself this question: What knowledge can I share that will help others?
Let us know if we can help you in any way by emailing Marketing@cazarin.com.
Resources:
6 Steps Towards Creating a Profitable Company Vision
Advice for those who are struggling with their business.
I am a business professional and entrepreneur who has worked hard to beat the odds. I successfully launched Cazarin Interactive almost 23 years ago and the solid education I have gained over the years has given me the experience needed to be able to help others improve their businesses.
My experience includes a BIS degree in Computer Science and Management Information Systems and a Masters degree from Carlson School of Business with a concentration in marketing. I am also a graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 program.
It’s been said that most businesses fail within the first 5 years. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), this isn’t necessarily true.
Data from the BLS shows that approximately 20% of new businesses fail during the first two years, 45% during the first five years, and 65% during the first 10 years. Only 25% of new businesses make it to 15 years or more.
Having clarity on your professional vision is key.
I can tell you with confidence that this information is extremely valuable. I have gained this information from books, business professionals talks, personal experiences, personal interviews, high-level education, and spiritual principles.
Create a solid VISION – a plan that describes your goals for your company for the next 3 to 5 years. Create a plan that is as visual as possible by using meaningful images, photos, inspirational quotes, etc. In your plan, define the following:
- Why are you in business?
- Goals for annual gross revenues
- What are the core values of the company?
- How many employees do you desire to have
- What will you offer your employees?
- Culture
- Compensation
- Flexibility
- What does your complete team want to be
Let’s break these down a little further.
Why are you in business
Many people go into business for themselves because they want to become millionaires. I simply wanted to have good financial income. The reason I started Cazarin Interactive was because I felt that working for myself and being my own boss was the right decision for me. As an educated professional, I wanted to forge my own destiny and have a high quality of life aligned with my personal values.
Annual gross revenues
How can you decide on gross revenues when you have not sold anything? It doesn’t matter as long as you have a goal and an objective. The better question is: Do you know what you want your company to accomplish in the next three years?
Core values of the company
Define your core values and live them. When you are all aligned, you build “Team Spirit”. As a leader of Cazarin Interactive, my goal is to create the vision for the company to get on the right path to fulfilling goals by creating an unwavering guide. I am the Vision Architect to make sure we harness the team spirit.
The values at Cazarin Interactive are:
-
- Integrity
- Commitment to Quality
- Value Relationships
- Operate with Vision and Purpose
- Value Collaboration
- Great Atmosphere for our Staff
How many employees you desire to have
I was encouraged to grow our company in the early 2000’s . I didn’t want to do it. We had investors ready, but I had experienced chaos in a previous company after we reached 20 employees. With under 20 people in a company, it was a close group and we had a lot of fun. Once it grew over, the social dynamic changed. For me, the number is 20 and this has always been the maximum.
What do you offer the staff?
Culture, friendliness, positivity, and quality of life are items that can’t be purchased.
Compensation, many times, is a low priority if you have a great culture. It is VERY important of course but can become lower in the priority if you have a great culture.
Flexibility, the ability to work from home, and odd hours have to be possible for more and more people these days. If you have the right systems, this can work.
What does your complete team want to be
This is OUR VISION:
-
- To be a premier digital marketing agency where both staff and clients enjoy working together in a creative environment filled with happy people.
Please note, we are complex individuals. The above suggestions are a foundation to create a business with great team spirit working towards a vision. The profit is a manifestation of doing the above correctly.
Tips
Where do you start? – Try to make an inventory of what you are missing. Talk to other professionals and business coaches to make sure you understand what you are lacking.
Decisions under fear – Don’t make important decisions under fear, more than likely, you will regret it.
Calm – Remain calm at all times. As a leader, you have to keep a solid foundation for the business. Learn to meditate, decrease stress, etc. If you are calm, you will be able to find answers. Reach on your spiritual beliefs to get answers.
Resources:
- Goldman Sachs 10,000 program application
- Cazarin Interactive – Digital Marketing
- Top 6 reasons businesses fail
Question:
What is the vision for your company in the next 3 years?
Let us know if we can help you in any way.
One Smart Cookie!
Gift: Maia wanted to share her cookies with her friends and teachers.
On a recent Sunday evening, my cousin and his family decided to teach their daughter Maia how to make butter cookies. Maia is only eight years old and had a desire to learn something new. My cousin’s family has been affected like most people during COVID-19 and thought this would be a good way to spend time together and teach their daughter something new.
They baked a few dozen cookies and decorated each one. Maia then asked her parents if she could share the cookies with her friends. They created small packages filled with a few cookies and a loving message from Maia and delivered the cookies directly to the mailboxes of her friends and teachers.
After her friends received the cookies and tasted them, they started to call and ask to acquire more… and voila! One Smart Cookie was born. Maia, with help from her mom, came up with a name, a handwritten “company card”, and designed a logo to accompany the orders. Within a few days, orders for cookies were rolling in. Maia and her parents jumped back into the kitchen and began baking more cookies and have now upgraded to five different shapes: cactus, flowers, circles, bunnies, and hearts.
Maia writes hand-made cards to accompany each of the cookie packages. They have the name, a logo she created, phone number, and price for additional orders.
When I talked to Maia about her new venture, she told me that she enjoys making the cookies and has made over $112 in one week.
Maia started her business by trying to share her cookies with her friends and teachers during this pandemic, and it’s growing into something bigger. Asking her parents what they liked most about this new adventure, they shared that Maia has taken initiative in making the cookies and only utilizes them for baking now.
Resources :::::
One Act of Kindness: www.oneactofkindness.org
Questions:::::
What are you doing to spend time with your loved ones during this time?
What would you do if you want to create a business?
Marketing Strategy – Partner with Google
Early on Google dominated the search on the Internet. Perhaps it was their simplicity on the page. Perhaps their name, but it is clear that Google has become an important company for anybody or any company who desires to market on the Internet.
Google came from the word Googol which is one of the largest numbers named. Googol is a 1 with 100 zeroes. Very large number if you ask me!
Google has turned into a verb, its brand is incredible. My daughters when talking among themselves and can’t find the meaning of something just say “Google it!” Meaning find its meaning on Google.
The company dominates the searches online and tries to be ahead of its competition by looking, researching and investing into many different technologies. Google’s official vision statement is to “Organize all of the data in the world and make it accessible for everyone in a useful way.”
Since I sell digital marketing company and believe in Google my company is a Google Partner. Decided to take the courses, I am certified by Google on the following:
Google Provides all the necessary tools:
Google has an incredible Academy online available to anyone. Google tracks your progress and provides the certification for free. There is no need to pay any company or anyone.
We are currently Google partners, there are several of us certified. We should be Google Premier Partners by the end of 2019.
We adopted Google Docs a few years ago and the implementation of these tools have made us very productive.
Conclusion
Google is a great company to review and analyze. There are many tools available free of charge.
You are invited to receive 30 minutes of free advice if you mention this article.
To learn more, contact Ricardo at
Marketing Strategy – New Business MN Magazine
Marketing is one of those things that everybody thinks they know something about. After all, every day they are exposed to it through emails, phone calls, direct mail, web ads and more. What they don’t see is the strategic thinking that goes into designing campaigns that reach them with the right message, in the right medium, at the right time that stimulates their interest to act.
For more than 20 years, I’ve worked with small business owners to create successful marketing campaigns to grow their businesses and educate them. Based on that experience, here is What Every New and Small Business Should Know about marketing strategy:
So much has changed over the years when it comes to marketing online. It used to be enough to have a good looking website. Now, it’s so easy to build a website that almost anyone can do it. My teenage daughter built one for $6 a month with easily available software tools.
Yes, a site should be attractive, but the overriding purpose behind the design must be to attract the market segment you want. And they you want that market segment to execute an action that is planned and gets you closer to having them call or fill in a form to doing business with you.
At Cazarin Interactive, we view a website as a “Digital Sales Channel.” We take that term very seriously because we believe your website should be part of your sales department. Rather than hire a sales rep for $60,000 plus benefits, you could upgrade your website and have your Digital Sales Channel achieve those sales.
To drive sales, your website needs to be creative and attractive. It should differentiate you from competitors. There should be a clear call to action, such as an enticement to fill out a form or pick up the phone. It should have Persuasion Architecture, which helps the user to navigate well and easy to find the necessary information.
Your website needs to be the hub of all your sales efforts. It needs to tie in with social media, direct mail, Google Ad Words, and other advertising. It will produce for you day and night! – That is the Digital Sales Channel.
Track Results
There is truth in the old saying that 50 percent of your marketing money is wasted, but you just don’t know which 50 percent. That’s why it is so important to track results.
By tracking, you can figure out what marketing effort is working and what isn’t. When you know that, you can fine-tune your message or channel. Good marketing requires that you follow this recipe: Implement, review, fine-tune and repeat.
Brand Building
We elevate brands, both large and small, with cohesive, impactful presentation.
Marketing Services
We develop customized marketing campaigns to achieve specific goals.
Web Development
We build robust websites that drive business and grow audiences.
Establish goals for your marketing plan. It could be a goal like adding four to six new clients every month totaling a minimum of $40,000 in revenue. Or that a telemarketing campaign must provide two qualified appointments each month. Make sure you set up a tangible goal for your website and measure the results.
Keep It Fresh Search engines reward websites that have changing content with higher rankings. Make changes on at least a monthly basis. Add a page or an article. If your website isn’t evolving, it will look outdated and be harder to find in a search. Never forget that your website is often the first Impression for prospects. Old and outdated content can be seen as neglect. One of our newer clients has a beautiful building because they want to impress their high-end clients. Their website, however, was atrocious. They didn’t realize that making a bad first impression online can turn off prospects rather than leading them to take the next step to buy.
Watch Your Competition
If people are searching online for your products or services,they are also checking your competition. Follow their example. Visit your competitions’ websites to learn what they are showcasing. See if you can glean any insights that might benefit you. Then, like a prospect, compare the first impressions of the sites. If you are on the losing end of the comparison, it might be time to update your design.
Website Is an Asset
If what I’ve said about using your website to drive revenue is true, then it is also true that a website that produces sales is an asset that can increase the value of your company. A great example of this one of our clients. After we built their Digital Sales Channel, sales increased by 1,100 percent. When the time came to sell the business, they were able to get a higher value because the website was the engine that produced that growth.
Conclusion
Take a few minutes and take a good, honest look at your website. Ask yourself if it could do more to support and drive sales.
What kind of first impression do you think it presents?
Think about what is the tangible purpose for your website?
Think about what you could do to improve your search ranking. Check out what your competitors are doing. Start thinking of it as a Digital Sales Channel and as an asset.
You are invited to receive 30 minutes of free advice if you mention this article.
To learn more, contact Ricardo at
Exceeding Customer Expectations
In the early 1990’s I was working for a large company and a consultant was brought to help us to increase sales and increase customer satisfaction.
Since I like stories, I must use one of my stories to illustrate this point. I usually tear off when I think of it. I hope you like it!
The consultant explained that we all have different personalities and expectations. For those of us who are Type A personality we expect that someone would start working on our task as soon as we communicate it.
Recently I went to have my eyes checked, my prescription had changed and ordered glasses. The person who took my order said it will be two weeks before you can have your glasses. I am type A and asked for a shorter timeline. She said no, I told her I would pay extra. She said no, I agreed to wait for two weeks. My glasses arrived in seven days, I was very happy about it!
Resources :::::
Questions:::::
Do you believe we all can exceed customer expectations?
What is your preferred way of communication?
What does asap mean to you?
Money can’t buy everything!
Recently I was thinking of situations that have made my life rewarding. I do believe I have a fantastic life. Would not change it for anything, came to realize that money can’t buy some of the most rewarding situations that I have been involved in the past.
Since I like stories, I must use one of my stories to illustrate this point. I usually tear off when I think of it. I hope you like it!
Dr. Ricardo
I am going to entitle my story “Dr Ricardo” , about ten years ago I was asked to donate some of our work/time to an organization called “Children’s Surgery International”. We did and provided a website to promote their cause. It was nice to receive a certificate of appreciation at a fancy dinner. A few years later I was asked to participate in one of their missions to help children who had been born with cleft palads in different parts of the world. I accepted and took the position as logistics manager and translator to a mission to Chihuahua Mexico. The group had four surgeons, six nurses and seven people who would help to play with the kids and aid as needed.
My job was to help the group to go through Mexican immigration and translate for the mothers and families from the time they provided their children to us at the time of surgery to the instructions needed for after care for their children. It was exciting and the comradery that I experienced with the group was fantastic. Surgeons who donated their time free of charge, nurses as well. We took many medicines and equipment from the US to Mexico. We had some issues in immigration, but we were able to resolve them easily once the nature of the mission was explained.
I was part of the team selecting the children to be operated. There were about 75 families wanting to have the operation, we had enough resources and time for 35 surgeries, but 37 were selected. We all agreed to work extra time and do whatever it was needed.
I had to wear scrubs which made me look like one of the surgeons and early on, families would refer to me as Dr. Ricardo. The first couple times I corrected them indicating I was just a translator. Since it happened so often, I let them call me Dr. Ricardo ?
I thought my job was going to be very easy, however on the first translation I almost fainted. There was a mother with an 8 month child. As she handed her child to the surgeon she started to cry and ask with broken words to take care of her precious child. As I started to empathize with her, my throat closed up and I had to translate to the surgeon. Quickly recovered and translated what she was saying. The surgeon was awesome and smiled, saying with his smile and embracing the child that all will be ok. I then took the woman out and spoke briefly to her. Told her about our American surgeons experience and their abilities. There were several situations similar to this one and then came one of the most rewarding experiences on the trip. A handsome boy we will call Pedro for this story came. He was 14 years of age, he came alone
to the surgery room and he was nervous. I asked him, Pedro how are you doing? – He answered “Bla ta eh no” I couldn’t understand what he said to me. He had a hole on the roof of his mouth and his enunciation was very hard to understand. I asked again and he answered “Te lo ka da “ this time I acted as if I understood and took him to the surgery room. I was able to hold his hand until he felt asleep for surgery and explained the process to him. He was one of the last patients we operated on the last day. The next day was a Sunday and the task at hand was to go through the hospital, check on the kids. By now we had three days of surgeries from 7 am to 9 pm, we were tired and of course I was Dr. Ricardo to everyone. I was the person providing the instructions in Spanish for after care, given to me by the real doctors in English of course. The surgeons instructed me to check on some of the kids for bleeding and make sure the kids were comfortable with minimal pain.
As I walked through the floor which had 37 beds in this large floor, Pedro’s mother held my arm and said: Dr. Ricardo, I have to share a story with you. Please share it with the rest of your team. Pedro came out of surgery at about 9:00 pm and I was by his side, he slept deeply and woke up at about midnight and yield at me and said “Mom do I speak ok now?” She answered yes honey you do. Pedro then said: “Great, I thought it was just a dream”. He was approaching puberty, he wanted to be heard and to be similar to all of the other kids. HIs mother then told me, Pedro woke up again at 3:00 am and 7:00 am and the same thing happened. He kept thinking it was a dream, but he now speaks like everyone else ? Her last words were thanks for changing my son’s life for the better…. As she said this, a warm feeling came into me, my heart rejoiced. I knew at that moment, she was right, we had changed Pedro’s life. It was very rewarding to me. A few minutes later I shared the story with my team. My team said, Ricardo, thanks for the story. It was a very exhausting experience but well worth it! We changed children’s lives …
Resources :::::
Children’s Surgery International website.
Questions:::::
Do you believe we all have the ability to change people’s lives?
Do you have a situation in which you knew there was not enough money to replicate it?
What life experience have you had which gave you incredible personal reward?
One Act of Kindness
In the Spring of 2007, I was very happy. I had just sold a large project and put a few hundred dollars in my pocket. I went for lunch and behind me there were three roof workers, all of which were dirty and hungry. I had decided I was going to pay for their lunch; however, I didn’t do it. In my mind, I played the scene and thought they would be suspicious of me by giving them something for free. I took my sandwich sat down and began eating. As soon as I took the first bite, the idea of “One Act of Kindness” was transferred to me. It was a great idea and I began writing all I could and this was the birth of www.oneactofkindness.org
The idea was to create cards that anyone could print and give to people in the process of executing “Acts of Kindness”. See example of the cards below.
The cards give a sense of permission to help others without expecting anything in return. Something that I realized was lacking when I wanted to pay for the lunch of those workers.
In the past ten years I have received great emails from people around the world. Canada, England, Australia, Ireland just to name a few. These were from people who received cards from people doing Acts of Kindness and enjoyed whatever was given to them.
It is VERY gratifying to receive these type of messages and to know that a bit more kindness is being sprinkled around the world. You can see some of these messages from recipients.
Resources ::::: One Act of Kindness — www.oneactofkindness.org
Questions:::::
Have you received a message from a stranger?
Are you willing to give an act of kindness?