Phew. It’s been all Olympics, all the time for the past two weeks, and I’m ready to say goodbye to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. But first, my own gold medals go to the things I loved about these Winter Olympics:

Patriotic feelings. Canadians are normally shy about this, at least compared to Americans, but put us in the Olympics, especially on home turf, and watch out for the flags, red & white clothing, Canadian flag tattoos and spontaneous outbursts of our national anthem. Come to think of it, it’s kind of like the Canadian hospitality suite at the IABC World Conferences.

The feeling of goodwill that seemed to permeate the games. Well, until it came down to the big Canada vs. USA hockey game, when it was all GO CANADA on our part. (Thank you, Team Canada and Sidney Crosby, for letting Canada win gold and USA silver 3-2 in overtime. We may have lots of Americans on our Canadian teams, but we consider it Our Game.)

The unusual medals, a collaboration between artist Corrine Hunt and designer Omer Arbel. Each medal is unique; find out how here.

The crazy sports like ski cross that have athletes flinging themselves down steep slopes and runs with seemingly reckless abandon, although I know it’s only hard training that makes it look easy. And the snowboard races! And wild ski tricks!

CTV ran a great series called “How tough are these sports?” In it, various athletes tried a different sport than usual to see just how difficult it really was. So figure skaters Jamie Sale and David Pelletier discovered working with speed skater Denny Morrison that the skates and the method used for speed skating are quite different. Ditto for hockey player Georges Laraque, who had fun with short track skater Olivier Jean learning that racing isn’t as easy as it looks, and hockey player Wendel Clark, who strapped himself in to play  sledge hockey with the Canadian Sledge Hockey team.

CTV ran another great series called “Difference Makers,” hosted by Rick Hansen, himself a difference maker. Hansen is the “Man in Motion” who pushed his wheelchair through 34 countries in 1985, raising funds for spinal cord injury research and awareness of the potential of people with disabilities. The series pays tribute to the extraordinary people who have helped Canada’s Olympians and Paralympians overcome their personal and athletic challenges.

Norway’s men’s curling team and their crazy pants. I didn’t exactly love the pants themselves, originally made famous by golfer John Daly, but I sure did appreciate the sense of humour the team had wearing them.

Here are some of the things that don’t get a medal:

The use of “medal” as a verb, as in, “She’s expected to medal in this sport.” I think I also heard “to podium” as a verb. Ughhhh.

How it so often seems to be all about winning gold, and seldom is a silver or bronze medal won; instead, it’s “settled for.” I think any medal is a real achievement, especially when you look at timed sports where athletes set personal records and finish mere fractions of a second apart.

The “I believe in the power of you and I”  in the stirring song, I Believe, sung by 16-year-old Nikki Yanofsky. Grammatically speaking (word nerd alert!), it should be “you and me,” since “of” is a preposition and takes an object, as pointed out by grammarian Joanne Buckley.

CTV’s official Olympic coverage site, which wanted to make me “upgrade my browser with the latest version of Microsoft Silverlight” to watch the Canadian gold medal performance of ice dancing, and any other videos on the site.

What did you like or not like about the Olympics?

At two recent networking events, someone commented that I am always well-dressed. A translator I once worked with was surprised to find, when we finally met in person, that I wasn’t the scruffy, unwashed writer he had expected.

People imagine that independents sit around in our bathrobes and fuzzy slippers, and therefore we don’t know how to clean up real nice.

First of all, I do not work in my bathrobe. I shower, put on makeup, get dressed (usually in jeans and a t-shirt or sweatshirt) and am at my desk by 9 a.m. Freelance writers may have freedom, but they must also be disciplined and professional.

Second, I usually work with and for corporate communications people. They are a well-dressed crowd. I am part of that crowd, even though my office is at home. So when I leave my office to meet other people, I like to look the part, and that means a jacket over a skirt or pants, if not a suit. Even if the event involves other independents, not corporate communicators, I like to look professional. If I know the group, I might wear jeans (dark wash or black), but I’ll still have a jacket on top.

In fact, a nice jacket — like the red one that gives my blog its name — is pretty much the independent gal’s secret weapon. Throw a jacket on, with perhaps a striking necklace and lipstick, and people will always think you are well-dressed.

It isn’t frivolous fashion. You are marketing yourself even before you open your mouth, and image and appearance matter if you want to be taken seriously.

Last night at a networking event given by IABC/Toronto’s Alliance of Independent Practitioners, or AIP, I shared why I volunteer, as did Leslie Hetherington, Donna Papacosta, Barb Sawyers and Lee Weisser. AIP is a sub-group of IABC that supports more than 100 independent communicators, offering professional development and networking opportunities that address our particular needs.

I’ve blogged before about the value of volunteering in earning referrals that help you diversify your business. At this event, we talked to the group about why we have volunteered for AIP in the past. Here are some of the thoughts I shared:

You can volunteer in an area you already know, which may help you more easily fit volunteering into your daily life. This also showcases your skills. For example, my volunteer activities often involve writing, which is what I do for a living.

You can volunteer in an area where you’d like to gain some experience or knowledge, or maybe something for your portfolio. I didn’t know much about e-newsletters before starting one for AIP, and I was glad to learn more about them.

Volunteer in an area you feel passionate about or that has some importance to you. At the point where you’re thinking, “Someone should…” or “Why don’t they offer…”, that’s where you should also be thinking, “this group needs X and maybe I can help.” Most of these organizations are only as good as their volunteers, and you shouldn’t wait for someone else to provide what you think is missing. I joined the board of AIP in 2004 because the group seemed to be floundering, and I did not want it to disappear. A 2007 Toronto chapter OVATION award is recognition that our volunteer work was able to make a difference.

Most indies get much of their work through referrals and repeat business. For people to be comfortable referring you, they have to be confident that (a) you have the skill and talent to do the work, and (b) you can be trusted to meet deadlines. That means you’ll make the referrer look good.

In my own volunteer work, I was able to show that I met both conditions. I gained new business, from people I worked with directly in AIP and from people who read my writing in the newsletter, and I gained more visibility. I also referred business to some of the people I got to know better through volunteering. We all got to practice skills like leadership, teambuilding, time management and creativity, and we made new friends. Sure, sometimes it got a little hectic trying to fit the volunteer work in with paying work, family and friends, but life is already a balancing act, isn’t it? I find it all works out, and maybe all you have to “sacrifice” is time in front of the television.

So if you don’t already volunteer, try it. Take baby steps. Offer to write an article for the newsletter, or take RSVPs for an event. You’ll make new friends, strengthen your connections and build your profile. And you’ll make sure that the events and organizations important to you will continue.

Just don’t sit back and expect someone else to do the work for you.

A thank you card arrived today in my mail, signed by someone I had never heard of. Turns out she is part of my local library’s summer reading program, just one of the programs the library notes it is able to run thanks to me and other donors to their literacy efforts. “Ella” carefully printed out why she loves the program: “It’s good for my brain to read.”

What a terrific follow-up marketing piece.

I can think of a few marketers who caused the opposite reaction and missed an opportunity, although I won’t name names:

• My cellphone provider: A three-year contract was coming to an end. In the weeks leading up to the anniversary date, I noticed an increase in call-centre calls (identifiable by call display; I did not answer them, and the callers did not leave a message). I was thinking about switching providers, because I didn’t want to sign up for the same length of time or the same relatively expensive plan, complete with monthly system access fee, and I wanted to add the ability to send text messages without being charged as much as the old provider. Still, the old company could have tried to keep me as a customer. If they were the ones calling, they could have left a message. Or they could have contacted me by mail, noting that the anniversary date was approaching and offering some attractive options to encourage me to stay. No, they did nothing, and I went to a different provider. I ended up with a shorter term, less expensive monthly fee, more options, no system access fee and a better phone.
• The local spa:  About a week before my birthday, the local spa sent me a certificate worth $10 off a treatment; a nice gesture. Unfortunately, it had to be used within about a week and I didn’t have time to use it. Here’s what they could have done: contacted my husband, who has bought me certificates there before, and offered him $10 off any certificate he might buy for me for my birthday. They get the sale and the brownie points that go with giving a discount; he gets a deal and brownie points, too; and I get to use the treatment! Sounds like a winner all around.
• The local wellness centre: Earlier this year, I went through nearly weekly treatments for a sore shoulder. First, it was physiotherapy. Then, I tried acupuncture. The acupuncturist/wellness centre director also tried a cold laser treatment. Nothing really did much, and we discussed “doing nothing” as an option before I agreed to try therapeutic massage. I tried one session but didn’t find it much help either, so opted for doing nothing but continuing the exercises the physiotherapist had originally given me. Still, I found it surprising that no one at the centre contacted me in the months since I’ve been there to ask how the shoulder is, offer a free evaluation of the shoulder or suggest an alternate treatment. But maybe I’m expecting too much.

It’s a good reminder to look around and see if there’s a marketing opportunity your business is missing.

USB drives are useful. Mini highlighters are cute. There are magnets, keychains, stress balls, lanyards, mugs and sports bottles everywhere. But THESE are cool ways to promote your company (sadly, not available to Canadians):

*  Sharpie will personalize your pen — nothing hateful or obscene, please! — for $11.99 for six. Be inspired looking at samples done for a wedding, Valentine’s Day, a graduating class and more.

*  M&Ms can also be personalized with your name, company name, URL or very short message up to eight characters on each of two lines. You can try different things and see how it looks on the candy model. I could fit “Get It” on one line and “Write” on the next. You have to buy a minimum, such as 20 1.7-oz bags for $3.99 each or 20 1.6-oz silver tins for $4.25 each. Or get a bulk five-pound box for $130 and repackage in your own containers.

*  Lego figure as a business card. Only available to certain Lego employees, and not available to you or me, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want one!

Thanks to Andy Sernovitz for the link to the Sharpie site.

A card arrived yesterday the old fashioned way, in the mail with postage stamp and all. It was from my friends at the local Honda dealership. Since I have just closed the deal on a new car, I thought it might be a “thanks for buying our car” type of card. Silly me! It was a card inviting me to a “Private V.I.P. Customer Sale” with special pricing authorized for current Honda owners and their family members.

You could probably make the case that the card might have been put in the mail the day before I actually bought the car. But that doesn’t excuse the e-mail version that arrived today, four days after the big purchase, inviting me to the same V.I.P. sale. (This, by the way, said “RSVP by April 14″ and it arrived April 16.)

Talk about the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing!

Today’s lesson, kiddies: Update your customer records as significant events occur. If you can set up your system to trigger a follow-up survey after a car is brought in for servicing, surely you can set it up to cancel messages about car sales to someone who has just bought a car from you.

P.S. I was glad to see that the “special discounts and financing” were the same as those offered in person. Who wants to be offered a sale price after you have already bought at a higher price?

Car sales representatives have a reputation that’s hard to shake. There are exceptions, of course, but would you generally link them with words like “honest,” “trustworthy” and “working for me”? I didn’t think so. They also bring to mind the words “high-pressure sales” and “let me talk to the manager.”

My car is 10 years old this year, and I have been planning to buy something new this year. It must be made in Canada, and get better fuel economy than my current car. Now that I don’t regularly have a car full of large teenage boys, it can be smaller.

I have my choice of all kinds of Canadian-built trucks and vans, but the small, made-in-Canada requirements narrow the field. So yesterday I found myself at my local Honda dealer, talking to a sales rep who assured me I would qualify for a $3,000 in various discounts, twice mentioning his honesty, although reading the newspaper later that night I saw an ad that promised $4,000. He hinted these might be fleeting discounts, suggesting others in the past had been good only for a weekend, but I told him I was on a fact-finding mission only. He assured me I am in the driver’s seat while trying to find out how much I had set aside to spend and what I thought my car might be worth as a trade-in.

The literature connected with cars is filled with all sorts of weasel words. An accessory that used to be optional (clearly not included) is now called available. The former sports utility vehicles are now called  crossovers, whatever that means, given the bad perception of  SUV. Used cars are pre-owned. Special car pricing is extended to well qualified customers, which I guess these days means solvent.

So, the ride for a new ride without being taken for a ride has begun. I’m going for a test drive on Wednesday (when I expect pressure to seal the deal before the end of March) and setting up an appointment with another dealer to view/drive another couple of cars. Should be interesting. Wish me luck!

Here’s a rare sight: a television ad that makes you smile, and you don’t even mind when it repeats several times during the show you’re watching. I’m talking about the Discovery Channel’s “I love the world” ad, sometimes known as “Boom dee yada.”

You know the one. It starts with two astronauts in space, looking down at the Earth. “It never gets old, huh?” “Nope.” “It kinda makes you wanna…” “Break into song?” “Yep.”

The song continues with different people representing Discovery Channel shows, such as Survivorman, Man Vs. Wild and MythBusters. The final frame just has the words, “The world is just awesome,” which mirrors the print ads.

Congratulations to the many people who worked on the ad (credits here) and to agency 72andSunny for a great ad! Of course, now I have the song stuck in my head…

Have you noticed that companies seem to be deliberately managing our expectations downwards? I’ve run across this a couple of times lately :

When I traded in loyalty points for lift tickets for a recent ski trip, the web site said it would take about two weeks to get the reward certificate by mail. The confirmation e-mail I received shortly afterward downgraded that to three to four weeks. The certificate actually arrived within a few days.

Calling a government ministry to make an appointment to replace an I.D. card, I got a message that “All our agents our busy. Because we are currently experiencing a higher than usual number of calls, it may take more than five minutes to answer your call.” (As an aside, the same message ran when I called at different times, leading me to believe the higher number IS the usual number.) Having set my expectations for a longish wait, they actually  answered within two.

There’s nothing wrong with under-promising and over-delivering; it’s way better than the reverse, which just about guarantees customer dissatisfaction. But I’m suspicious. The examples here sound like these outfits are trying to artificially set expectations so low that an average performance will seem amazing and the customer will be “delighted.”

Here’s a thought. Give an honest estimate of how long it will take to deliver good service. Meet that timing. Try, as I always do, to bring the service/product/project in early. But don’t double your estimate to make meeting a normal deadline look like a miracle.

Happy birthday to Barbie, who turned 50 today. Talk about a toy with legs! Whether 50 is the new 40 or 50 is the new 30, she sure looks good. And she’s got all kinds of “dream” things — dream bedroom, dream dining room, dream kitchen, dream game room and more, much of it pink, like the dream bathtub (pink clawfoot tub with a pretend flat screen TV). You can see it all on the Mattel site, which sports wallpaper in a violent pink with tiny paired images of her classic slip-on shoes.

Oh, Barbie. Yes, I had her, and a black case with tiny hangers holding her vast wardrobe of snug sheaths, pencil skirts and evening gowns, both store bought and lovingly sewn by my talented mother. I had little boxes holding multiple tiny accessories, like those iconic shoes. I had a cardboard Barbie Dream House, built by inserting tab A into slot B — my handyman father took on that chore, probably late one Christmas Eve. I briefly had a Barbie cake, made out of the stacked icing from four or five Oreos, until a visiting neighour kid ate it.

I also had Skipper, Barbie’s little sister. She had long blonde hair but few other features of her curvy sister; she had flat feet and a chest to match, so I totally identified with her.  She also had sensible shoes and raincoats and shorts, and I don’t recall ever seeing a ballgown. I had a flashback moment visiting BarbieCollector.com when I spotted my “Dreamtime” set: dotted two-piece PJs with a lightweight fleece robe and slippers (all pink, of course) and a tiny blue felt stuffed cat.

Oh, you’re thinking it’s a girly thing. Nuh uh. My two sons had an enormous collection of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle gear that far surpassed my Barbie/Skipper collection. They had several different versions of the original four Turtles — Donatello, Leonardo, Raphael and Michaelangelo — plus assorted vehicles, a whack of bad guys to fight, and seemingly millions of tiny plastic weapons and accessories like pizza slices. The Turtles’ version of the Dream House was a sewer lair; we had that, too. (We may actually still have much of it all in our basement. Make me an offer, please!)

Some people scoff at toys like Barbie and the Turtles (hey, that would be a great band name, as humour columnist Dave Barry used to say). It’s true they seem to inspire an unfortunate need to collect, but a lot of imaginative play goes on amidst the piles of stuff. So keep on dreaming, Barbie!