I had no idea what winning an Austin Chronicle “Best of Austin” title could do to my small business until I won Best Contractor/Home Service in 2007.
Sure, I expected it to be a big deal, but it was more like a tsunami–an instantaneous rush of new clients. I had my first caller responding to the list by noon the day the paper dropped. I’ll never forget sitting down on the stairs at Ecclectic (RIP) after getting that first phone call…someone wanting a consultation about window treatments. I thought to myself, “wow, is the ink even dry yet?” Within another two hours there were several more phone calls and emails as well, including one from a woman who saw the list, checked out my website, and forwarded it to all of her friends because she thought it was so cool.
Room Fu – In case the paragraphs above didn’t drive home my point 🙂
Fu For Thought (roomfu.com/blog) – Read it and weep, baby.
Blue Star Cafeteria – Truthfully, when asked to name my “favorite” anything, I have a hard time picking one place, but this was the first thing that popped into my mind. I’ve only been here once but I just felt like it was oozing fun and humor. Fun and humor are always big with me. There are more stylishly la-di-da interiors out there, but do they make you smile? Creating a smile through environment alone–that is pretty powerful in my book.
Art on 5th – The owner of this gallery is a client of mine (who, incidentally, discovered Room Fu via the Best of Austin list last year), but even if he wasn’t, I would still vote for this gallery. You can get a good overview of the space by checking out their video tour, and they’re nice enough to break down a lot of artspeak for you here.
Hey Cupcake – If you haven’t hit SoCo for a cupcake out of an Airstream, you’re doing your life wrong.
Hotel San Jose – Isn’t this just a no-brainer? Where else would you want to stay if you weren’t local?
The online poll will close up shop by Sept. 2, 2008.
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