For those of you too young to remember or who don't follow baseball, before Yogi Berra, Leo Durocher was known as the baseball philosopher. Although the phrase was taken out of context, he is best known for the following: "Nice guys finish last." Not true....


CK inspired this blog in a post in which she discussed P&G's mantra: It isn't about telling and selling, it is about relationships.
So true, yet how many of us have faced blank stares when we tell clients and potential clients that they need to focus less on telling about their products and services, thinking that is selling, and listen more to their customers and talk with them, not at them. Because at the end of the day, people (the who) come first, and everything else (the what) follows.
Within that same post, CK praised and thanked several bloggers who during that week had helped her and/or given her opportunities and/or just were good friends. She didn't need to do that publicly but she knows that public praise helps others to build their brand. And she is secure and smart enough to recognize that helping others who may be vying for some of the same work doesn't do anything but help her brand.
However, I believe CK would share and help others even if it didn't result in "pay it forward." She is nice, and that means something in life and in business.
We want to work with and do business with people who we like, who we trust, who make our lives easier and who are nice. They make us happy, and there is enough sadness in the world. Who needs it in our lives or our businesses?
Here are some other successful business people who are not only good at what they do but are nice and who are relationship builders. They understand that building businesses is about serving people's wants and needs and not about what we make or what we sell. People have choices in products and services of every kind; the differentiator among businesses is who we are, not what we are.
My list of bloggers you should know:
1. Logic + Emotion's David Armano: A smart guy, a good writer and a caring person, who I read everyday to learn something new.
2. Toby Bloomberg: Her blog is smart, she is easy to get along with, and her "Friday Fun" makes my day.
3. Paul McEnany: Paul is a good-ol' boy, and that is high praise from this writer, who learned to appreciate the honest and fun loving rednecks making up the Southeast. Texas (and much of our planet) during my nine years on the Florida Panhandle, and living and working in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas. My BS is from the University of Florida, where I drank lots of Dixie Beer and learned life the old-fashioned way--by living it.
4. Cam Beck: A straight shooter, a patriot and one of the smartest people I have ever read. He also is unrelenting in commenting on others' blogs, a trait to be emulated.
5. Valeria Maltoni: Who doesn't love Italian women? But in addition to being of good genes, Valeria is also a great commenter and a wonderfully cogent writer, who cares deeply about her audience. She can also be audacious and is always a straight talker.
6. Gavin Heaton: If you haven't discovered Gavin, you are missing out. I once had the moniker, "the conscience of Starbucks," given to me by the VP of Communications. Gavin is that kind of guy: he is caring, a good writer, helpful and smart.
7. Tim Masi Guy Jackson: You don't have to ride a bicycle to read Tim. He has a great sense of humor, is self-depracating and darn funny.
8. Mack Collier: Mack challenges us to be better, whether it's his Z list, his weekly top 25, or his posts calling out stuff we ought to know... Mack is a must read.
Finally, we have this forum because of Ann Handley. Not only is she the content editor of the Daily Fix (along with MarketingProfs itself), but she is a daily fixture in our lives -- always willing to share, to be a friend or to be a smart writer.
And what all these people have in common is the ongoing effort they put into reaching out to others to build relationships. Yes, they are smart, great at what they do, and good at writing. But they don't tell and sell, they share, they build, they help, and they do all that asking nothing in return. In my mind, that is the lesson of this blog: building business, marketing products and services and selling widgets, when done right, puts people first.
P.S. I left off others: Gianandrea and Elaine Fogel, for example. You know who you are. God bless you. There's just not enough room to say thank you properly.