“It’s never crowded on the extra mile.”
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Just recently, a great opportunity came up that required me to make a decision about simply satisfying someone’s request or going beyond it. Here’s what happened: I emailed a columnist at a major Web site about some article ideas based on my book Birthing the Elephant. To my amazement, a reply popped up in my email almost instantly. My timing couldn’t have been better: the columnist was backlogged and up to her ears. She asked if I could pull together a draft that she could shape into the format she needed for her column.

After shooting an email back saying I’d be happy to help, I went to work. Luckily, I had a piece on tap and revised it in the draft form she requested. Then it occurred to me that since the columnist was really pressed for time, it would make her life much easier if I reshaped what I had written to fit her format. By going this extra step on my end, she would be able to simply fine-tune my text. That’s what I did. It took me extra time, but I sent off a piece that was far more polished than the draft she’d requested. This meant doing my blog post after 1:00 at night, but hey, I’m a night owl!

Talk about instant gratification! By the time I checked my email the next morning, the columnist had tweaked my article a bit, included a link to my book Web site and my bio, put it up on line, and sent me a thank-you note for a great piece. Was putting in the extra writing time on my end worth it? Absolutely!