Surprise! We Won!

[gallery ids="eyJ1cmwiOmZhbHNlLCJ0aXRsZSI6bnVsbCwiY2FwdGlvbiI6ZmFsc2UsImFsdCI6IiIsImRlc2NyaXB0aW9uIjpudWxsfQ=="] When the email arrived last spring, I nearly deleted it. After all, a business owner is always deluged by solicitations, and I was just too busy to take much time with it. Swamped with bike shop business as well as writing assignments for my PR clients, I stretched that pinky over to the “delete” key. Then, for some reason, the email made me look again. Good thing. Time Warner Cable Business Class asked me to tell them about our bike shop and our use of their products in 300 words or less. The challenge was too much to resist. “I can do that in 299!” Now, I don’t recall making that word count happen, but I did hit the “send” button an hour later. And then, I promptly forgot about it. So when Michele from Time Warner Cable Business Class called a few months later, I thought it was a sales call. And when she followed up with an email, well … I nearly deleted it. Instead, I wrote back and asked, “So how much is this going to cost?” because, of course, it had to be a sales pitch. Her response: “Nothing!” I re-read her email and finally realized that we had won the prize — a national TV and Internet ad campaign. We’re one of four businesses chosen out of — get this — 200,000 potential winners. The commercial is set to air in September along with a full internet campaign. This not only gives us a chance to show off our store but also to share how we use our phones and internet to reach out to the communities we serve. Thank you, Time Warner Cable Business Class! After a week, we came down off the ceiling and prepared for the arrival of the production team. In my next post, I’ll describe the thrills and chills of being part of a “Hollywood” event in our store in Seal Beach.