If you don’t know these tools, you should - they will help you to deliver a better experience.

(photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/omalmivaara/)

It’s easy to presume that the newspaper, the magazine, and everything else about old media is dead. Frederic Filloux does an excellent job of explaining how certain old line publishers (Bloomberg BusinessWeek, in this example) are retooling their business models to the new world of online media - and not simply by copying what they did before.

This is online media 2.0 (or perhaps 3.0) - the conscious segmentation of readers into groups that will consume similar stories in very different formats on different devices and in different places. (And psst. the publishers can still make money, especially due to the enormous savings produced by not having to send out physical copies of the content.)

Publishers that make their own luck win.

When you thank someone, don’t just thank them - give them something great too!

Here’s a great example of going above and beyond in welcoming someone to a new job. Vik Duggal, a friend from Seattle who has since moved to San Francisco, made one of my first days at Assistly really special just by saying hello. (Did I mention he said hello with cookies?)

Not only did Vik help me learn more about my new sometimes-officemates and their predilection for cookies, he also reminded me that Delivering Awesomeness comes in many forms.

Thanks, Vik!

If you haven’t met Drew Olanoff, you should (virtually or otherwise.) Here, he shares a great list of 20 ways to make customers feel awesome. These tips will help you delight your customers (or really, anyone you interact with online or offline.)

I’m printing this and putting it on my wall (pssstt. Drew. This could make a great poster/infographic.)

(photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/21664580@N04/2095574414/)

Getting to product-market fit isn’t easy. But your customers can help.

When was the last time you thought, “I want to make that company look great just because they have great branding or marketing?” Isn’t it more likely that the last company, service or brand you championed made you feel great?

If you are able to make your customers feel valued, brilliant, and able to think of themselves as Rock Stars, you’ve accomplished the first big hurdle of service, marketing, and sales - getting them to think about you. If you do it again, and make them remember that you made them feel like a Rock Star before, and can do it again? (Then, you’re in a stratosphere occupied by brands like Apple, W Hotels, and Virgin America.)

indiecases:

Should we make this? Reblog or Like if you think so…

We Design. You Like. We Make.  Get access to the shop

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STYLE: #017

TITLE: “Oh S#*!” (2011)

DESIGNER: Ed N. (Brooklyn, NY)

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Love this idea - not only the protective casing of an eraser but also the iconic pink eraser and the fact that everyone likes an Undo button.

Really does a great job to #delivertheawesome. ;)

Whether you are using a visual pun to make a point or not, the task of building service to scale requires a few things:

1. Dedication to a system
2. Speaking with “one voice” as an organization
3. Owning mistakes
4. And letting the customer know that you are capable of (and demonstrating that you can) acknowledge, answer, triage, and close the loop.

Good luck!

A great example of why saying “what if …” can result in awesomesauce.