Hi Reader,
Our Halloween route is pretty set. Same streets, same order, every year.
But a couple of houses in our neighborhood hand out full-size candy bars. When one of those houses is coming up, my daughters pick up speed. Nobody has to tell them. They just know.
We also have two dentists in the neighborhood. They hand out toothbrushes. The girls skip them. I respect the commitment. My kids do not.
Here's what I keep thinking about. The candy bar houses don't do anything for those kids the rest of the year. They show up one night with the same thing they gave out last year, and every kid on the block remembers.
I have a friend who's an agent in the Phoenix/Mesa area. Every year around Thanksgiving, he gives his clients Costco-size pumpkin pies. That's become his thing. His clients know it's coming.
Most pop-by plans run the other way. A pumpkin in October, a candle in December with a pun stapled to it, something new each season. Every one of them is fine. Nobody can tell you which agent gave them which.
The candy bar houses and my friend's pie have two things in common. It's the same thing at the same time every year. And it's a little bigger than it needs to be.
That's the whole play. Pick one thing and keep doing it until people expect it.