Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name.
Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down.
It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.
That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual.
On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. 'Really?' she heard whispered. 'I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!' and, 'I didn't know others liked me so much,' were most of the comments.
No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and one another. That group of students moved on.
Several years later, one of the students was killed inVietNam and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student. She had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. He looked so handsome, so mature.
The church was packed with his friends. One by one those who loved him took a last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the last one to bless the coffin.
As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to her. 'Were you Mark's math teacher?' he asked. She nodded: 'yes.' Then he said: 'Mark talked about you a lot.'
After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates went together to a luncheon. Mark's mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his teacher.
'We want to show you something,' his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket 'They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it.'
Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times.. The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him.
'Thank you so much for doing that,' Mark's mother said. 'As you can see, Mark treasured it.'
All of Mark's former classmates started to gather around. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, 'I still have my list. It's in the top drawer of my desk at home.'
Chuck's wife said, 'Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album.'
'I have mine too,' Marilyn said. 'It's in my diary'
Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. 'I carry this with me at all times,' Vicki said and without batting an eyelash, she continued: 'I think we all saved our lists'
That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again.
The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don't know when that one day will be.
So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are special and important. Tell them, before it is too late..
And One Way To Accomplish This Is: Forward this message on. If you do not send it, you will have, once again passed up the wonderful opportunity to do something nice and beautiful.
If you've received this, it is because someone cares for you and it means there is probably at least someone for whom you care.
If you're 'too busy' to take those few minutes right now to forward this message on, would this be the VERY first time you didn't do that little thing that would make a difference in your relationships?
The more people that you send this to, the better you'll be at reaching out to those you care about.
Remember, you reap what you sow. What you put into the lives of others comes back into your own.
May Your Day Be Blessed As Special As You
Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down.
It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.
That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual.
On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. 'Really?' she heard whispered. 'I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!' and, 'I didn't know others liked me so much,' were most of the comments.
No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and one another. That group of students moved on.
Several years later, one of the students was killed inVietNam and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student. She had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. He looked so handsome, so mature.
The church was packed with his friends. One by one those who loved him took a last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the last one to bless the coffin.
As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to her. 'Were you Mark's math teacher?' he asked. She nodded: 'yes.' Then he said: 'Mark talked about you a lot.'
After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates went together to a luncheon. Mark's mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his teacher.
'We want to show you something,' his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket 'They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it.'
Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times.. The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him.
'Thank you so much for doing that,' Mark's mother said. 'As you can see, Mark treasured it.'
All of Mark's former classmates started to gather around. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, 'I still have my list. It's in the top drawer of my desk at home.'
Chuck's wife said, 'Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album.'
'I have mine too,' Marilyn said. 'It's in my diary'
Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. 'I carry this with me at all times,' Vicki said and without batting an eyelash, she continued: 'I think we all saved our lists'
That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again.
The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don't know when that one day will be.
So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are special and important. Tell them, before it is too late..
And One Way To Accomplish This Is: Forward this message on. If you do not send it, you will have, once again passed up the wonderful opportunity to do something nice and beautiful.
If you've received this, it is because someone cares for you and it means there is probably at least someone for whom you care.
If you're 'too busy' to take those few minutes right now to forward this message on, would this be the VERY first time you didn't do that little thing that would make a difference in your relationships?
The more people that you send this to, the better you'll be at reaching out to those you care about.
Remember, you reap what you sow. What you put into the lives of others comes back into your own.
May Your Day Be Blessed As Special As You
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
What's in Your Wallet
I love being my own boss because of the flexability especially with raising three children all under the age of ten. I love having a chocolate business because it is an area where there is still tremedous growth. Especially in a down economy, people are still investing in their speciality foods and thankfully our chocolates fall into that category. Even on a day like yesterday where temps reached high into the 90's, customers still came to all three locations for their "favorites". One customer was having a bad day so she bought a box of our hand rolled truffles for lunch. I eat them for breakfast so clearly I won't judge.
Owning my own business, there are so many upsides, but the downsides are really beating me down: The Cost of Running My Own Business
1.Payroll Taxes- any small business owner, and larger one now, will tell you that the payroll taxes are what keeps businesses from growing. During the presidential campaign a reporter noted that if a candidate were really invested in helping our Nation's Economy grow,then they would lower the payroll taxes. I am running three stores now with the same number of employees I had in one store back in 2004. I'd love to employee more people, but there are too many weeks that the taxes are higher then the sales.
2. Small Business Loans- these are an Urban Myth because banks are not loaning to existing businesses and the so called "Economic Recovery Loan Program 'ARC' makes you jump through so many hoops and takes so long to get approval it's easier to moonlight at another job to help bring in funds.
3. Credit Cards- I read an editorial a few years back where the writer stated that the real terroists were those who only use credit cards because they were not putting much needed cash into our sinking
The Bank Bail Outs are paid by us (the tax payers) and yet some executinves are receiving bonuses. Most private organizations are not giving pay raises and are even forced to cut salaries to help sustain the business. I for one work fulltime, but don't take a check so that may staff is paid. So the Banks got bailed out, executives are still living high on the hog and the credit card companies are looking to raise capitol through it's customers by increasing interest rates and transaction fees. Do you want more money in your wallet, then use cash. It's old fashion, but it helps keep you disciplined; you only spend what you have. So what's in your wallet?
Owning my own business, there are so many upsides, but the downsides are really beating me down: The Cost of Running My Own Business
1.Payroll Taxes- any small business owner, and larger one now, will tell you that the payroll taxes are what keeps businesses from growing. During the presidential campaign a reporter noted that if a candidate were really invested in helping our Nation's Economy grow,then they would lower the payroll taxes. I am running three stores now with the same number of employees I had in one store back in 2004. I'd love to employee more people, but there are too many weeks that the taxes are higher then the sales.
2. Small Business Loans- these are an Urban Myth because banks are not loaning to existing businesses and the so called "Economic Recovery Loan Program 'ARC' makes you jump through so many hoops and takes so long to get approval it's easier to moonlight at another job to help bring in funds.
3. Credit Cards- I read an editorial a few years back where the writer stated that the real terroists were those who only use credit cards because they were not putting much needed cash into our sinking
The Bank Bail Outs are paid by us (the tax payers) and yet some executinves are receiving bonuses. Most private organizations are not giving pay raises and are even forced to cut salaries to help sustain the business. I for one work fulltime, but don't take a check so that may staff is paid. So the Banks got bailed out, executives are still living high on the hog and the credit card companies are looking to raise capitol through it's customers by increasing interest rates and transaction fees. Do you want more money in your wallet, then use cash. It's old fashion, but it helps keep you disciplined; you only spend what you have. So what's in your wallet?
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Happy Customer
I love hearing from happy customers! Please read what Sarah Masciave wrote:
"I just had to write you a quick note. I saw your van parked down the street and was mortified I hadn't known about you until this week. After eating just a couple of the 12 truffles my husband got me I will never shop anywhere locally for chocolate again. The flavors I enjoyed last night were amazing. The texture of them were also out of this world. Thank you for that. I will be coming to your store fo all my parties, and girls night get togethers from now on. Bravo!!!"
"I just had to write you a quick note. I saw your van parked down the street and was mortified I hadn't known about you until this week. After eating just a couple of the 12 truffles my husband got me I will never shop anywhere locally for chocolate again. The flavors I enjoyed last night were amazing. The texture of them were also out of this world. Thank you for that. I will be coming to your store fo all my parties, and girls night get togethers from now on. Bravo!!!"
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
What does it mean to be social as a business?
I'm relatively new to the whole social media wave, but I'm not new to sales. As the owner of The Chocolate Truffle www.thechocolatetruffle.com with three retail stores in Reading, Lynnfield and Winchester, a manufacturing division Bacci Chocolate Design and a wife and a mother, I value time. So far I've found social media time consuming with little ROI. After reading the attached blog posted by Esteban Kolsky my wheels were spinning.
For my business to succeed I must be social. However, sitting behind a computer isn't the form of social I see driving my company sales. For The Chocolate Truffle and Bacci Chocolate Design, being social is to be out there where people can meet our product. After all, it's the product that I'm looking to sell and I've seen tremendous success with selling through sampling. For my business Twitter and Facebbok help promote brand awareness and create interest, but so far I haven't found too many customers, the ones who actually purchase my product following.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Professional Assistants Week
Don't forget all the people who help you! The week of 4/1/-4/19 is Professional Assistants Week and we have all sorts of chocolate gift ideas and we deliver!
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Phantom Food & Wine Phest
The Chocolate Truffle will be at the Phantom Food & Wine Phest this Saturday 4/10/10 from 3-8 at the Bayside Expo!
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Teh Taste of Winchester was a Success!
Thank you to everyone who attended the Taste of Winchester, it was a huge success! We sampled The Fig Truffle , the Beer Truffle (last night was Harpoon), the Wine Truffle, the Hazelnut Truffle, the Maple Mousse and the Sea Salt Bar. In order the favorites of the evening were: the Fig Truffle, the Maple Mousse, the Wi...ne Truffle, The Beer Truffle, the Sea Salt Bar and the Hazelnut Truffle. What was your favorite?
Monday, March 22, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
The Phantom Gourmet
Listen for our new Radio Ad on the Phantom Gourmet from 4-7 on 96.9 WTKK http://969bostontalks.com/
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Help us REACH our Goal
The Chocolate Truffle, Suzanne Harring of Discovery Toys and Jayna LaVerde of Portraits by Jayna are working together for REACH Beyond Domestic Violence http://www.reachma.org/ . Together we are building Easter Baskets for children living in the REACH shelters. Please help us REACH our goal of 52 baskets by sponsoring a basket or purchasing select Easter items to go in the baskets and receive 15% off your store purchase. You can also make an appointment for Bunny Pictures with Jayna and she will donate the stitting fee to REACH.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Dipping the Twitter Bird in Chocolate!
Do you tweet? Well The Chocolate Truffle is keeping it to 140 characters on Twitter. Follow us to some special opportunities like free sample truffles and chocolates, gift certificates, contests and chocolate news and educational clips. You can check out pictures of new products and upcoming seasonal specialties during the holiday season. We have close to 1000 followers from the Boston area and all over the country. Since we offer all our products online our national audience is growing in leaps and bounds and ordering our gourmet chocolates for friends, clients and family. Follow us on Twitter as we fly all around the country with the joy of chocolate! TheChocolateTruffle (TheTruffle) on Twitter
The Chocolate Truffle on Phantom Gourmet
What an exciting year we are having at The Chocolate Truffle and Bacci Chocolate Design! We were recently featured on the incredibly popular gourmet food show known as The Phantom Gourmet. Our friends at Phantom came to the Reading, MA location to shoot some pretty tasty segments on our all chocolate pizza with toppings like Heath Bar and caramel, Oreo cookies and cream, or the ever popular M & M pretzel! What a great time we had with their amazing crew plugging along and sampling our CB Stuffer Peanut Butter Cups, our chocolate drizzled popcorn and a variety of our hand rolled truffles. Funny, the shoot lasted for days and they slept right next to the chocolate case! We are so grateful to the Andelman brothers for such a great time and for airing the show on more than one occasion. You may just see it again soon but anything you see on the show is fantastic so don't miss them on Saturday and Sunday mornings on TV 38. Welcome to Phantom Gourmet's Online Dining Community
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