Inside John's Locker

Brian and I had breakfast with Deb Wills recently to map out ways we could work together. We had never met in person, but she and I had spoken on the phone quite a few times. I recognized Deb from the photos of her that are everywhere (she had to look for the guy in the purple shirt). To save you the trouble of reading the rest of this, let me just say that even though we’d never met, I instantly felt comfortable enough to greet Deb with a hug and kiss on the cheek rather than shaking hands---yes, she’s that nice! When you meet her, you instantly think “warm”, “honest”, “confident”, “trustworthy.”

In case you live under a tech rock and don’t have a computer, Deb Wills runs the phenomenally successful site, AllEars. It’s where just about everyone it seems turns for reliable guidance about Walt Disney World. Want to check out one of the resorts?—here’s the place. Want to see what’s on the menu at one of the restaurants?—you’ll find it here. Techies call it content and let me tell you, AllEars has it. And it’s not just quantity. It’s most definitely the quality of Deb’s content that makes her site so popular.

Deb could write a book about creating a brand—but she’s probably too busy writing other books such as her new one, “Passporter's Open Mouse for Walt Disney World and the Disney Cruise Line which she co-authors with Debra Martin Koma.” She has been so successful in building a brand around herself; I’m tempted to say that Deb is as well known as her site. And the interesting thing is, she’s not doing this by being a self promoter. She’s just being Deb—an energetic, dynamic, savvy businesswoman who’s fiercely protective of her site and its reputation. And it all comes naturally. She doesn’t try to be warm, straightforward, helpful, authoritative and trustworthy. She just is. And it shows in everything she does.

I occasionally like to share my experiences in working with some of the really nice people we share space with. I’d like to tell you about getting to know Deb Wills and you’ll see what I mean in the paragraphs above and why we felt like we had known each other by the time we actually met. Let’s just say Owner’s Locker had to jump through a few hoops before that breakfast got scheduled!

It won’t surprise you to know that as we were preparing to launch Owner’s Locker, establishing a relationship with AllEars was rather high on our radar screen. So Brian and I started pretty quickly trying to find a way to establish an advertising/sponsorship arrangement with AllEars. To say that this was easier said than done would be an understatement. But I say this in a good way as you’ll see.

I’ve got to tell you that she is without a doubt, the most careful person about accepting advertising that you can imagine. And this isn’t a bad thing at all. Deb just doesn’t want anyone with advertising dollars to have access to the people who trust her and rely on her site.

It was a bit of chore to even get through to Deb at first (and since I now know that she turns down nine out of ten people who want to advertise on her site, I can see why). And getting past Deb’s elaborate screening process for potential advertisers is, shall we say, tough.

When we did get in touch, she was extremely gracious and patient as she listened to my description of Owner’s Locker. She was intrigued but said up front that she had a rigorous program of checking out potential advertisers. First test passed. She didn’t tell me to go away.

Next she asked a LOT of questions about our facility, security, licensing, etc. and she wanted to review the terms we have our Members agree to. Second test passed.

As it turns out, there were several additional levels of scrutiny we needed to go through and the funny thing is, we weren’t even aware of a couple of them at the time! Deb Wills is VERY thorough.

But even after we had successfully passed all of these tests, Deb wasn’t quite done yet. She wanted to try Owner’s Locker herself because she wanted to be absolutely certain that we provided the type of service that was consistent with the quality of her site. Well, she’s tried it and I’ll let her say what she thought of us. But we did have that breakfast and we are now a proud advertiser/sponsor on AllEars. We even made it into Deb's Digest, although I do wish Deb had used the slim-o-matic function on her camera before she took this photo!

Whew, we made it…and you know what? Brian and I loved every minute of it. We’re proud of Owner’s Locker and we treat every Member and every Locker like it belonged to Deb Wills. But more importantly, we treat every Member and Locker the way WE would like to be treated. We’re trying to build a brand, too and Deb Wills sure does set a good example for us. Thanks, Deb!

JDVM
www.ownerslocker.com