don't worry - yelp knows

I work in a small startup. I am the only woman in the company. Yesterday, they threw me a baby shower. For the shower, they bought 1. beer 2. cakes from a store they found highly recommended on Yelp, and 3. baby clothes from a store they found highly recommended on Yelp. These are men throwing the shower - and they did a great job.

Everything was super nice. It's amazing how Yelp has, for so many of us, really taken over as "the friend in the know for those things we don't know about." I use it extensively - and clearly I'm not alone.

sites with personality

I get asked all the time how to build websites with personality. Everyone wants to build a (sorry to use a retro word, but I'm going to do it anyway) "sticky site," but people really struggle with giving a site voice and presence. Fwiw, it's really not that hard. If *you* have a voice, personality, and presence - let it spill into your site. Quit steralizing everything - and make the site an extension of you. Or an extension of the you you'd like to be (people pretending to be more interesting/better looking/more successful than they are has a *really* long history on the internet).

Now, I know I'm late to the party as I just found this site - but woot.com does a really good job of this. I find myself visiting the site every day now - not necessarily to buy things (though sometimes I do), but to read the product descriptions. Clearly - the people behind woot put some real thought - and play - into their work. And, it pays off. I've also noticed that I tend to frequent shopping sites with personality. I want to know that there are people behind the site - people who love what they are doing - and people who enjoy running an online business.

In short, it makes me want to buy stuff. And my friends, isn't that the whole point? Make your potential customers happy (engage them) and make more money. It's a great arrangement.

Motherhood Makes it Right

I stand corrected. This morning I received a very nice email from Motherhood Maternity. They are going to refund the value of my return. They were unable to locate the box, yet, they still want to make the situation right.

I'm very impressed. It took a while, but they showed to be a customer-focused company in the end. I have a feeling that a lot of the time it took was simply getting to the right person to make the decision.

Thanks Motherhood!

I made a mistake, and Motherhood Maternity made me pay

A couple of months ago, I placed online orders from both Motherhood Maternity and Gap Maternity. Maternity clothes are really difficult to buy - as you have *no* idea what fits until you try it on. No worries -I was able to keep most of both orders - but of course - there were some returns.

I switched up the packages by accident in my return. Oopise.

The Gap sent my mistake right back to me. The Gap is upstanding and very nice.

Motherhood - alternately - kept the return. First they said they didn't have it. When I sent them my confirmation of delivery (I paid $13 to have them keep my stuff) - they said they had sent the package back. When I asked for tracking information because I had not received it, they said they didn't have it but would find it. They finally quit giving me additional information. So I reported them to the BBB. The BBB said Motherhood wouldn't reply to them so they were going to put a black mark in their file. Then, they finally did and the cycle started again: we have no proof of delivery, it was sent back, we don't make it a practice of keeping track of packages (umm isn't that *what* mail order does?), etc. etc.

They clearly don't really care that I'm annoyed by this (that return was worth about $100) and they clearly don't respect the BBB either.

I won't shop there again, obviously.

making your site sticky with a dose of cute

iGoogle has a super cute theme right now. I loaded it just on a whim, and it's been delighting me ever since. The images change with the time of the day: early in the am the bugs are typically doing some sort of activity, midday they have lunch, and at night they build a campfire. I've even caught them in their sleeping bags when I've logged on first thing in the am.

Impressive Customer Service: Progressive Insurance

Wednesday afternoon, there was a hailstorm in my area. I left early to get my car under cover (and sedate my dogs), but several people who stayed at the office suffered extensive damage to their cars. Houses in the area rec'd broken skylights and other damage. Evidently, there was golf ball and baseball sized hail.

My insurance company sent this email out Thursday am - and I have to say - I am really impressed. This email wouldn't have been hard for the insurer to put together - and the impact it made was of incredible customer care. The original was formatted a lot better. :)

A hailstorm has been reported in the county where your vehicle is garaged. Progressive claims service is already on the scene with a special team to get to work on your claim fast. Visit progressiveresponds.com for current information regarding this storm. If your vehicle was damaged in the hailstorm:
For auto claims, report your claim online or call 1-800-PROGRESSIVE (1-800-776-4737). • For boat, motorcycle, or RV claims, please call 1-800-PROGRESSIVE (1-800-776-4737). • After filing your claim, we'll e-mail you to let you know when you can monitor its status online. When a hailstorm or other disaster strikes, you can rest assured that Progressive will be there to help settle your claim and get you back on the road as soon as possible.

Full Disclosure

On CNN.com there is an article talking about a new, proposed regulation which would allow health care providers to deny procedures *and* information about options to patients based on the provider's moral objections to some of those available options.

I think that's fine, but if they allow this, they should make these providers identify themselves to the public with a visible seal on their license, communications, practice. They should also have to register with the government and insurance companies. Then, those of us who like to have the full story can avoid these people who are playing God with our health care options and trying to impose their beliefs on us. It's simply not fair for patients not to know what is being withheld. Simple solution. Done and done.