Last night my wife was thumbing through a restaurant "directory" of sorts - picking out places to eat this weekend.

All of a sudden she announce, "Ooohhh...this sound good: 'Vintage beer and wine bar with an exciting assortment of European tapas.'"

I caught myself nodding in agreement then began to grin.

Isn't this just a nice way of say: "Sorry. Beer & wine only. No dinner available, appetizers only."

It really is. But they sure had my lovely wife hooked and set.

It's a prime example of classic word-smithing. Most people believe you have to be an artistic writer to pull it off. And many small business owners don't think they've got what it takes.

But it really has very little to do with writing. Instead it has to do with perception.

What limitations are placed on your business that you can turn into exciting features?

When this restaurant found out they wouldn't be able to have a full bar (for whatever reason), they may have at first been disappointed. But they twisted the unfortunate fact in a "vintage beer and wine bar." It sounds like something you'd like to visit.

Folks, this stuff is simple. And you competitors aren't doing it.

Start giving everything you do - ordinary or not - a name, a face, a story. Make doing business with you unique and exciting - even if under the curtains it's ordinary.

You are what you believe and what you think about. Positive thinking begets positive results. If you begin putting a positive spin on the ordinary things you do, you'll soon find those things cease being ordinary. Strange.

Good luck with this one.

P.S. It doesn't cost anything to do this - so there's no excuse.