Creating and maintaining the right personal image for you and your company

I'm still trying to find my USB key so that I can post some pictures up on this blog from the excursions. So far, no luck.

Anyways, I encountered an interesting way of doing business in Ocho Rios, this only happened in tourist areas, of course. As I walked towards the bus from Shaw Park Gardens, I noticed 3 beautiful chickens. Yes, chickens! Their feathers were bright and shiny, all very healthy looking. Nearby those chickens were a man with a dressed up donkey (dressed in flowers). On the donkey were a load of something that looked like bags hanging. Some people walked towards him and took some pictures. He was a smiling man, always saying "God bless you". Whenever people went up to him for pictures, he'd take out from the donkey's bags a bird and some seeds, so that the tourists can feed the bird, and a white rabbit. Somehow, it was all very attractive, these different animals with this man. I too, went up and took a picture with him. It's hard to imagine that a man can make a living out of this. His assets were his animals and his kind words. I will not likely see such a thing in North America.

Later on in the day, at another place, I saw another man doing business in a similar way. Except all he had was a dressed up donkey. The man was grouchy, never smiled at anyone, not even at me who took a picture with him - I decided to take the picture out of compassion, so that he wouldn't be grouchy all day. There were no other animals with the donkey, that was fine. No one except for me went up for a picture with this man and donkey. I think it had nothing to do with the lack of other animals, but the man's grouchy attitute.

In any case, I get to pet the donkey this time, rather than just standing next to it.

Attitude is part of first impressions. A good attitude will bring you more cash than a grouchy one. The thing about atttiute, is that it comes from the heart. Almost everyone can feel it if someone's faking an attitude.

Oh, in case any of you were wondering which cruise I was on, this is the cruise company.