How to Make a Bad Impression
You get exactly one chance to make a good first impression. You don’t have to nail it, but it doesn’t hurt.
To make a bad one, just take what would have been a good one and add indifference and a lack of effort.
An explanation via two stories:
A few days ago, I got this fun postcard in the mail from @AndyEverywhere:
To say the least, it was unexpected. I get nice emails from fun and interesting people regularly, but this really stood out as something special.
I started following Andy (and his human companion) on Twitter a few weeks ago after seeing them wandering around Portland. When I got the card I laughed out loud. Then, I immediately went to Andy’s website to see what he was up to.
As far as I can tell, Andy isn’t trying to sell anything, he’s just a very cool stuffed animal. Andy likes to send people postcards because he’s a nice… whatever he is.
From now on, when someone asks me how to get people to pay attention to them, I have an answer:
Send out ridiculous postcards!
The day after I got the card from Andy, I went to my local post office to send some mail. I needed to ship a few water bottles to Hawaii, so I asked the clerk to help me find the cheapest option. She scratched her head and made some funny faces before telling me I’d have to buy a padded envelope and send them for $10.
Halfway through filling out the envelope, I asked the woman, “Hey, wouldn’t it be half as much if I just put these in a priority envelope?”
She perked right up and declared, “Why yes, it would! Do you want to send your package that way?”
Of course I did, so we switched and started processing the transaction. Before we finished, she reminded me that I’d already written on the envelope she gave me, so I’d have to pay $3 for that.
Really? You give me bad information and make me pay for it, too?
I didn’t say that, but I was certainly thinking it.
By this time, the line was getting long behind me, and I’m not the type to argue over $3. Usually, I’ll pay whatever it takes to get out of the post office as fast as possible!
As I left, though, I couldn’t help but think about Andy and the card he sent me yesterday.
The juxtaposition was too perfect. One day, a stuffed animal sends me a nice note with no expectation of return. The next, I’m being extorted by my own mail lady.
Walking out of the post office, the only thing I could think was, “The world needs more Andys.”
These are both minor events—things I could easily overlook in the course of day. But I’m glad I didn’t. Andy and the mail lady reminded me of an important lesson about life:
If you want someone to remember you, do something out of the ordinary. If you want people to remember you fondly—do something remarkable.
This is at the heart and soul of Riskology.co. To lead a better life, step out of your comfort zone and do something worth remembering.
Now, this lesson is at the front of my mind each time I get an email. It’s what I think about as we get closer and closer to launching our coffee subscription service. It’s what I think about each time I meet someone new.
I get one chance to make a first impression, so I ask myself: Do I want to be more like Andy, or more like the mail lady?
Will you join the cause? Will you help me fill the world with more Andys?