Visit, Use, Like, Love

iheartthis by miss_rogue.

We all want to be liked. When creating a product, service, blog it is always our goal to create something people accept. This is setting our sites too low. The goal needs to be more than that.

Love. Some people have problems with this word in a personal context so I am not expecting many people to accept it in a business context but this is the target I strive for with what I do. It means going the extra mile, and then another (or kilometre, depending where you live).

The illustration is from Tara Hunt who wrote an excellent post on the subject describing how she engages with services

I have apps and services that are USEFUL, but they are also near and dear to my heart. I’ve talked about a few of them here already, but they include Flickr, Zipcar, Pandora, Blue Bottle Coffee, Blip.tv, Ma.gnolia, Wordpress, etc. I have a deeper, more emotional connection with these tools. Either I relate them to the people behind them, my network on them, my experiences with them and the way that they have not only solved day-to-day issues for me, but they’ve also enhanced my life. Most all of them, I have discovered through a strong recommendation from a friend

A lot of this comes down to how much thought and effort we put into what we do. Many people, particularly those who achieve a certain level of success, stop working so hard, use less imagination, lower their creativity to just enough. Are you meeting expectations or consistently trying to beat them? If you are only doing what everybody else does or expects then you are not going to achieve your full potential.

Do people use, read, accept what you produce or do they love it? If they only like it then you are not working hard enough.