Given the obvious slow death-rattle of customer service, it's nice to stumble upon a place where it thrives!
I had a great find in Manatee County, a little family-run spa tucked away on US 301 on the way through Parrish.
I'll admit it right here: I love to be pampered. Don't we all? But I have been to a few nail spas in my travels that seem to run more like a production line in a factory. They just seem to be missing that certain welcoming ambiance.
Cali Nails & Tan in Parrish is quite different. Family run by husband and wife team Luan and Kim Vo, this little nail spa just breathes relaxation from the moment you walk in the door. The hustle and stress of life sort of stops when you sit in one of their chairs, ready to be babied. The mood is lazy and laid back here (they make good use of aromatherapy); the whole place goes back to a time when people actually talked to one another.
It's tough to have a bad thought in those awesome Shiatsu massage chairs while getting a nice, long pedicure, complete with heat wraps for calves and ankles and peppermint oil skin treatments. Forget it once the foot massage kicks in!
And at this little nail spa, there's always an "in-flight" movie playing on flat screen T.V.s if you are so inclined. If you can keep your eyes open, that is.
The regular clientele that visit here tell me Cali has been this way since it opened in 2001. Here, it's all about customer service, prices that haven't changed much over the years, and good old-fashioned pride in a job well done. No wonder they have such a following! A great place to relax, soothe the soul and get beautiful.
Cali Nails & Tan is a full-service salon, complete with waxing, paraffin treatments, massage and tanning. And since it's family run, it's also family friendly. In this economic downturn, it's nice to see a small local business doing well based on their simple values of service. Hard to find lately, it seems.
You can find them at 8323 Us Highway 301 N, Parrish, FL. Phone 941-776-5450 for appointments, but they welcome walk-in traffic too. Open seven days weekly. Relax and say ahhh!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Have press releases become dinosaurs?
I come from old school journalism, the era of "who, what, when, where & why" and a good, craftily written lead. I pounded a beat for years, surviving on my investigative skills to scoop the other daily papers.
And as the business of journalism has shifted due to our digital society, I flowed with it. I know the idea of the scoop is obsolete; no such thing when the info is spinning the Web moments after it is released.
I can remember the days when press releases were our meat and potatoes, especially when a 5 p.m. deadline is looming and an editor is peering over your shoulder. In my freelance business, I have written many, many press releases for clients, aiming that arrow at the usual print sources. They have always a been a great tool to get the word out.
I wasn't ready for the NY Times article I read today in the Sunday Business section. It seems the press release is dead. And I didn't even get to go to the wake.
We live our lives online, and more often than not that's where we obtain our news. (I still read the newspapers, too, call me kooky.) And those broadcasting the news online aren't journalists in the traditional sense, but just as savvy at disseminating the breaking news. So with this, PR has morphed.
Press releases are no more. Not when we can send the same tidbit out in 140 characters or less on Twitter, or post it on Facebook or Digg. Or blog about it, as I am doing now. PR has turned a sharp corner, bypassing the old media and courting the online pundits instead, where potentially millions of people can be reached in mere nanoseconds. The seduction is obvious.
And while I mourn the loss of the old ways, I have to also celebrate the information superhighway we travel on. When anything big happens in the world, we know about it instantly, and of course, we've become addicts.
It has changed the way I run my small business. Marketing and PR have become paperless, in lieu of our e-world. A couple of clicks and I can tweet my own horn; no need to write those pesky press releases anymore.
Social media has become vital to business, almost overnight. I have rolled with the punches. And who knows? Maybe tomorrow the medium will change. But the messages will stay the same. And hopefully, our communications will still be based on relationships.
However virtual they may be.
And as the business of journalism has shifted due to our digital society, I flowed with it. I know the idea of the scoop is obsolete; no such thing when the info is spinning the Web moments after it is released.
I can remember the days when press releases were our meat and potatoes, especially when a 5 p.m. deadline is looming and an editor is peering over your shoulder. In my freelance business, I have written many, many press releases for clients, aiming that arrow at the usual print sources. They have always a been a great tool to get the word out.
I wasn't ready for the NY Times article I read today in the Sunday Business section. It seems the press release is dead. And I didn't even get to go to the wake.
We live our lives online, and more often than not that's where we obtain our news. (I still read the newspapers, too, call me kooky.) And those broadcasting the news online aren't journalists in the traditional sense, but just as savvy at disseminating the breaking news. So with this, PR has morphed.
Press releases are no more. Not when we can send the same tidbit out in 140 characters or less on Twitter, or post it on Facebook or Digg. Or blog about it, as I am doing now. PR has turned a sharp corner, bypassing the old media and courting the online pundits instead, where potentially millions of people can be reached in mere nanoseconds. The seduction is obvious.
And while I mourn the loss of the old ways, I have to also celebrate the information superhighway we travel on. When anything big happens in the world, we know about it instantly, and of course, we've become addicts.
It has changed the way I run my small business. Marketing and PR have become paperless, in lieu of our e-world. A couple of clicks and I can tweet my own horn; no need to write those pesky press releases anymore.
Social media has become vital to business, almost overnight. I have rolled with the punches. And who knows? Maybe tomorrow the medium will change. But the messages will stay the same. And hopefully, our communications will still be based on relationships.
However virtual they may be.
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