School begins on Monday. Yay! Hooray! Too excited? The kids had a good summer. It’s time to return to our regular scheduled programming, only this year it has a few more shows added than I would like. The little guy takes piano, does scouts and goes to religious school twice a week instead of once. The older guy adds football and has to practice twice a day for a big event in February.

The daughter gets busy with her college search and application process. Glad that last one will be done by November — I hope. I know some schools accept applications later on, but the bulk of the work happens this fall. Then, she can sit back and enjoy her senior year.

Me. I’ll be working extra hard to hold on to my sanity on top of mothering, wifing (boy, that looks like wi-fi’ing — you know, be a good wife), volunteering, serving clients as best as possible, chauffeuring, exercising, sleeping.

College has changed drastically from when I applied. I only applied to three schools. After I finished my freshman year, I applied to two schools because I moved to Washington, D.C. Now, kids typically apply to more than five schools. The cost? College tuition inflation multiples faster than regular inflation. In a conversation, someone said that it’s possible fewer kids will go to college in the future because of this. Or, go to community college — which are growing like weeds. I believe it.

Education is important. But not at the expense of your finances and sanity.  What are your thoughts on the state of college education?

Brain food…

• How to Find an Illustrator for Your Book. I suppose I should save this as I doubt Lane Smith, Chris Von Allsburg or Mo Willems are available or affordable.
• 3 Principles for Facebook Fan Pages. This author-focused article gives you the basics to get started, even if it’s with a personal page. Don’t start a page for the sake of it. Do it because you have a strategy and you want to commit to it. Although, he has been talking about social media for a long time, my client didn’t commit to a Facebook page until recently. If you’re into social media and marketing, you might find it useful.
• Is Free Too High a Price? I love this post as it clearly illustrates the value of giving away an ebook.
• 10 Things About Having A Writing Blog. George highlights what it means to manage a writing blog.
• Quiet Theory of Influence. A powerful post on how you can influence in social media without the oily stuff. People will argue against some of the points like the pop ups. I never liked them, but people have tested them and they do work. It’s like “Please RT” in Twitter. Yucky, but has shown to work. But I wouldn’t feel good about it… hence, snake oiliness.

For fun because we’re allowed…

• 12 Hilarious Pics of Starbucks Spelling. Do the barristers close their eyes to challenge themselves? How do you get “Parge” from “Kate?” Actually, I’d probably make these mistakes if I couldn’t read their lips.
• 50 of the World’s Best Guided Expeditions. I hope the next time I plan a vacation and travel someplace new, I remember to check this. [Link: Gina Stark]
• Exercises for the Terminally Busy. Often, I’ll take a short break mid-morning and do something like this. Then I do a full workout in the afternoon.
• 13 Hilariously Stupid Signs. “Staff and visitors only.” OK, who’s exempt?
• World’s Smallest Origami: A Rather Tiny Art Installation. Now I’ll be watching White Collar‘s Neal Caffrey copy … steal … these adorable works of art.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Meryl Evans

Starbucks originally served whole milk and didn’t offer other milk options until after receiving customer feedback rather than making the decision without customer influence due to dietary trends. Paul of Idea Sandbox patronized a local coffee shop that serves only whole milk and won’t change.

But that local coffee shop doesn’t have the disadvantage of having numerous locations where customers barrage baristas with complaints to offer other milk options. I like Paul’s adaption of “The customer is always right.”

The customer may not always be right, but they’re never wrong.

This line of thinking helps a business come up with creative solutions or a compromise. Did Starbucks betray its identity when it started serving low-fat, skim, soy and other milk alternatives? Where does a business draw the line between sticking to its beliefs and meeting customer demands?

Thanks to technology and its ability to customize, we as customers demand more from businesses. We know it can be done, so we expect the business to conform to us, not the other way around.