I’ve written many blog posts about mowing my lawn and working in my yard. There was this one and this one, and this one and this one. It’s one of my favorite jobs as a homeowner and it gives me 1-2 hours of time to think, contemplate, listen to music to energize me, or listen to podcasts to educate me.
In the big picture, mowing the lawn is one of “the basics” of home ownership. Anyone who is a homeowner has to mow their lawn…or pay someone to do it. At the end of the day…or at least at the end of the week, it has to be done.
What really separates the average Joe (or Josephine) from quickly running over the grass with a lawnmower and making the yard look extra special is the extra details like weeding, edging, and blowing.
Seeing the stripes in the yard is one thing but having clean, straight edges along the sidewalks really makes the neighbors passing by take notice. Seeing someone’s flowerbeds’ tightly edges helps you know that extra time and attention were given to the task. Bagged grass is so much more appealing than big clumps of grass clippings strewn about the property.
“The difference between something good and something great is attention to detail”
– Charles R Swindoll
What are the little extras you can do to make your customers, clients, and community notice? How can you stand out from the competition? Where are the sweet spots you can highlight to make people remember you?
As we turn the calendar to a new month, make a commitment to do a few more of the “extra touches.” Those added details that people satisfied with the status quo won’t bother to do can really make people stop and take notice.
A personal phone call?
A video text message?
A hand-written note?
Stopping by just to say “hi”?
Get out there and double-cut the lawn. Bag it this week. Spend a little time manicuring the loose ends. Pay attention to details and then make things even sharper, more detailed, and visible to those people just passing by.
It could be just the edge you need to stand out from all your neighbors