As an entrepreneur, I'm always intrigued by small businesses, home-based or not, that exceed expectations of their customers in a big way.

Let me tell you about one of them.

Recently I spent some time with my daughter in her college town of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. We were spending day getting her apartment ready for her return to school in fall. When it was time for lunch, she wanted to take me to a restaurant in small town of Northport, just to north of Tuscaloosa.

Northport is one of those typical southern small towns whose downtown area has been converted into a delightfully quaint shopping area. Central to it is a restaurant called City Cafe.

What an experience.

We arrived at location at 11:30 a.m. Typically I like going to restaurants for lunch at that time so that one can "beat rush." I commented on this to my daughter before we arrived; she just laughed.

When we walked in, I understood why. I faced a room with

1) a lunch counter to left (full) 2) booths to right (full) and 3) a line that stretched all way to back wall and then circled around.

Like visitors to Disney World, we automatically took our place at end of line. Then I began to look toward front of line and realized that it continued on into another room (which I couldn't see). So I asked my daughter, "where is FRONT of this line?"

Her response - "you'll see."

Sheesh!

So I began to look around at diners surrounding me. Their plates were piled high with what can only be described as "down home Southern cooking." And diners themselves? A quick glance around room told me that this establishment attracted customers from every walk of life. At this moment, however, they all had one thing in common - serious business of eating.

Meanwhile, aroma was making my mouth water. So I turned my attention back to ultimate end of line. When would I have my turn?

You sit down to write first article for your third issue. That's when it hits you. There's nothing left to write about!

At The Write Exposure, we get lots of panicked calls from clients saying, "I've run out of article ideas!" What we've found is that seldom has our client actually run out of topics, rather they've covered all topics that came most easily to mind and now are overwhelmed with possibilities.

It's a little like being told to write a poem. Any poem. Limerick, haiku, whatever you feel like. It's a bit overwhelming, isn't it? That's why we suggest you brainstorm topics within these categories.

So, next time you think you've run out of article ideas, why not brainstorm all of customer successes you could write about? Some of most popular newsletter article categories are:

Customer successes. Has a customer used your product to produce an amazing result? Do you have a customer with a recent success your other customers could learn from? Whether it directly relates to your product or not, success is always newsworthy.

Customer complaints. Receive a couple similar complaints lately? Address them in your newsletter (be sure to point out how you've responded and fixed problem). By addressing complaints in print, you prove your company is trustworthy and always improving.