As the year comes to an end, I feel so grateful for the most amazing year of my professional life. I did another speaking tour in Australia and both consulted and presented to a group of Saudi nationals in London where I learned a different way of looking at the world. I saw the Retail Store Assessment I created for Microsoft used by more retailers than I ever could have imagined, spoke over 115 times professionally, and signed a contract with Wiley Publishing to publish my ecommerce book. My weekly tips are being read by more and more people every week and over 40 different national and international magazines are now regularly using my articles for content in their publications. I did my first public seminar, launched a Mentoring program, and started doing teleseminars — all of these will be continued in 2006.

The Retail Awards Program in Massachusetts, that we started 9 years ago, honored a record 10 deserving retailers this year at the annual star-studded program. But the best part about the year was touching the lives of so many people and receiving the most wonderful notes, letters, and emails. Sometimes I get embarrassed with some of the things that people write, but if I start to get to full of myself my wife says those 4 magic words that whip me right back into shape, “TAKE OUT THE TRASH!”

I love what I do and I am so very grateful for people like you who appreciate what I do. Next year we will be adding new programs and will be offering different ideas to help make a positive difference in your professional life. I will continue to offer my perhaps unique point of view with some down to earth sense about doing business today.

Having said all of that I got a question from a reader of my Staples.com articles that I thought I would share during this New Year period.

“I need something that makes my business stand out from the competition. What’s a good way to update my company’s image?”

Standing out from your competition can be done a number of different ways. The key operative word is different. Most businesses are built with word of mouth advertising. Everyone knows that. The part that businesses struggle with is if you want word of mouth advertising, you must give our customers/clients something to talk about. Therefore, different is good; unusual is good because unusual things are the things people talk about. The New Year is the perfect time to launch a new image initiative because the New Year is always full of promise and expectation of a better year.

The best ways to capture attention is with the three Cs. When you buy a diamond they say it’s color, clarity, and carat. Almost the same rules hold true for image initiatives:

Color — What colors do you use? What is your Trade Dressing? Your trade dressing include the colors you use, the fonts you select, and the graphic enhancements to your image, logo, or signature lines. Color is only a part of your trade dressing but it is one of the most crucial parts. It sets the tone. (Beside trade dressing didn’t start with a C.)

Copy — I believe that copy is king but I’m a writer so I have my bias. I have seen a few short words create brand excitement. “That was easy” has been a brilliant initiative by Staples. Can you imagine giving a button with a companies advertising initiative for a Christmas gift? (I gave 5 for gifts but a friend of mine gave out almost 75. He loves the concept.) Copy is king. I could go on but space doesn’t allow it.

The last C is for Content. Does the image change mean something in the mind of the customer? If it is a change for the sake of changing, it might not work. But if it has meaning behind the attention grabber, then it makes sense. “That Was Easy” is not only fun, short, brightly colored, playful, but it means that the business is hassle-free, time saving, and convenient. It’s easy.

One last word of caution — “don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.” That means be careful about radical changes. You might be tired of your image but some customers might still like it. Enhancement and improvement could just be enough to make the difference.