However, exceeding expectations doesn’t mean you have to blow someone’s mind. It can be about adding something little.
It can be a grocery bagger asking if there is anything else he can do for you.
It’s adding a pin, a mint, a random goonies playcard in one’s package like Johnny Cupcakes.
It’s giving someone access to a part of your site that they never knew about before they bought your book.
By all means, set out to give something remarkable to the world, but be open to the ways you can surprise someone with more. If you’re a funny brand, this might be the perfect opportunity to clear out your junk drawers. If you’re an author, maybe it’s worth sending a copy of the book that inspired you when you were little.
What more do you got is a rhetorical question.
The better one is will you give it or stay comfortable?
If you’re reading this post to read about my story, sorry to disappoint you, you won’t exactly find it spelled out for you.
Actually, you won’t find anyones story by reading a pamphlet, viewing a page or reading a blog post titled “our story.” At least, not the whole story. Only half.
Johnny, founder of Johnny Cupcakes has a phenomenal story presented through Q&A, well worth the read. Yet, his story about dropping out of college to create Johnny Cupcakes is just half of the story. The other half is what you tell yourself his story is. So it goes with businesses and brands, if enough people tell themselves the same other half of the story, that’s when you have a successful brand or business.
It just so happens, for Johnny, enough people tell themselves the story that if they wear his shirts and get asked about them, they might feel as if they, not just Johnny, are inspired to chase their dreams.
That’s what branding and stories are all about isn’t it. It’s about how you make people feel.
Our Last Night. (I’m in between the two band members on the left)
Just the other week I took a nice four-hour drive down to Joliet, IL to see the band Our Last Night. Once my friends and I got there, we had to wait another five hours while other bands played. Bands we either didn’t know or they dragged on stage last-minute because the originally scheduled bands didn’t show up. After plenty of headshaking, not headbanging, Our Last Night was up to play.
As the saying goes in the hood, the music was “an orgasm in my ears”. However, this post isn’t about to promote Our Last Night, it’s what I discovered from constantly checking their Facebook page, waiting for them to upload this photo that I shared above. While I waited I saw other photos of the lead singer wearing the same shirt that he wore to the concert I saw. Even in the pictures that were taken at locations they played at after Joliet, he was still wearing the same shirt.
Finally, curiosity kicked in and I once again went on their Facebook page only to see a professional photo-shoot of Trevor (lead singer) and his brother sporting Johnny Cupcake t-shirts. Trevor was, of course, wearing the same shirt that you see in the photo above. The link was provided, I was sucked in.
Meet Johnny!
The creator of Johnny Cupcakes was, you guessed it, Johnny! Look above! There he is showing off his “Make Cupcakes Not War” t-shirt. Johnny is a multi-millionaire and he has his story. He doesn’t have a specific motto, he doesn’t have a thousand testimonials (although it would be all too easy to get them), and he doesn’t have a college degree. Most rags-to-riches stories you hear have some special opportunity in them: a person runs into an investor, an idea gets picked up by the newspaper, an anonymous person donates a hundred thousands dollars to a persons blog post of an idea, they use Kickstarter, or they know someone who knows someone. Very rarely are the stories… simple.
Johnny has a very simple story, a story that represents so many noteworthy themes and lessons.
Never giving up
Waking up early or pulling all nighters
Avoiding drugs and alcohol
Start selling whatever you can, buy in bulk and sell
Even having a smashed up car won’t stop you from making sales out of the trunk of it
Everyone loves surprises
Take risks
“These trade shows cost an arm and a leg…but you gotta spend an arm and a leg to make more arms and legs.”
Sometimes you have to leave what you like to do what you love
Add value to you and your product, no matter how crazy people think you are for the choices you have to make
Confusion sells
Upset customers sell even more.
In response to the question “why don’t you sell cupcakes too?”, Johnny says, “Well, if I did that then people wouldn’t be upset. And, if you think about it, those upset people advertise for me!”
Turn your customers into friends and truly connect with them. You can become a millionaire due to the help of 10,000 people. You don’t need 100,000.
Mac Miller representin’
Just an FYI: You’re going to see Johnny Cupcakes everywhere now. Congratulations, you’re part of the tribe!
“Do More Of What Makes You Happy” – Johnny Cupcakes
You can visit Johnny Cupcakes website by clicking on the picture above.
