There is a funny British comedy called "Are You Being Served?" that I use to watch every week. I don't have much time for TV any more, but I can remember watching how those characters tried each week to offer the best customer service they could, despite all the comical blunders that may have happened along the way.
Thinking of that show made me wonder if I am serving my readers to the best of MY ability. The purpose of this blog is to uplift, inspire, and maybe give a tip or two on how to become a stronger writer. Am I accomplishing my goal here?
All my teenage and adult years I have been in the service industry. I am passionate about assisting others and there is a sincerity in my efforts that others usually recognize. When I was a manager within the retail industry I could determine whether I was helpful or not simply by looking at my customers. Face to face contact was an easy way to know if they were getting the answers they wanted. When I was in the finance industry I would know if I was achieving my customer service goal by the friendly connections I made over the phone. At one point I was handling more than 20 million dollars of other people's money at any given moment and they trusted that I was serving their interests to the best of my ability.
But the internet is different. You, dear readers, are sometimes "faceless" and "voiceless" to me so how is the best way of determining if you are being served properly? There isn't exactly a big HELP button sitting on my blog for you to push when you have a question or need a pick me up post. So I gauge my effectiveness in helping you by both the comments you leave on my posts and if you pass on information to your friends about my blog.
One of my favorite blogs comes from Kristen Lamb, author of the best-selling books We Are Not Alone--The Writer's Guide to Social Media and Are You There Blog? It's Me, Writer. Yesterday her post talked about the T.E.A.M. concept where Together Everyone Achieves More. You can read her post at http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2012/03/02/t-e-a-m-together-everyone-achieves-more. I like this concept. We are all members of a wonderful writing community and if we continue to help each other and lift each other's spirits then we ALL will be successful and achieve more.
So tell me, dear readers, are YOU being served?
