The most effortless force in the world is gravity. Once something is at a height where gravity can have an effect, you just let go and - ta da! - the item moves without any more effort on your part. Amazing. But you have to expend the energy to lift it before gravity can have an effect. Here in my home office, I generally have a fire burning in the fireplace. Occasionally, I have to get up and manage the logs, but once lit, the fire kind of manages itself. The hard part is getting it going in the morning. It takes some time (I'm an old school fire starter - no cheating here.) But to get the fire going, you have to expend energy to start it before it manages itself. A lot of people talk about viral this and viral that, catch fire this and catch fire that, and buzz this and buzz that... but consider... The most natural thing in the winter here in the Midwest is a child's desire to go sledding. Kids won't clean their rooms or put away their dishes, but they'll struggle with snow pants and boots and excitedly scramble to the family van with the trusted sled to have a go at a few moments of fun on a hill. They'll eagerly trudge up the hill, pass after pass, to take advantage of gravity's pull. When it's all said and done, they're cold and wet and they have a mess of things to put away, but inevitably they utter, "Dad - can we do it again tomorrow?" Customers are no different. There's a thin line between marketing and harassment. There's an even thinner line between marketing and sledding. Business is best when business is sledding. Inside a company, it's tough to tell between when customers are eagerly lining up to go sledding and when customers are being harangued to show up. Customers usually don't tell you. Gravity is invisible. But you can tell when it's in effect when objects move by themselves with the smallest of nudges.  | 
