I get my best ideas in the shower and this morning as I lathered up, my mind was adrift in thoughts about marketing.

In our modern marketplace with instant access to information, it’s not always easy to set oneself apart. (For more on this topic read the wonderful Trust Agents by super-blogger Chris Brogan and wunderkind Julien Smith.)

I’m in the process of writing a marketing campaign for a client in a very competitive industry. I’ve been immersed in market research, which yesterday included a conversation with one of her referral partners, a residential real estate broker. An astute business woman, she told me that the most important criterion for referring her customers to my client over one of her many competitors, besides doing an expert job, is that she thank their mutual clients for the business.

I called my realtor friend, not only because she is highly respected in her field, but she is successful and has surrounded herself with other successful professionals. In an industry that has lost its shirt in the past several years, my friend is busy, productive and still getting referrals. Sure her income is down, but she’s personally thriving and she’s still in business, unlike legions of others in our state who have returned their broker’s licenses since the market crash of 2007-2008.

I truly feel that the simple and humble attitude of gratitude is what will continue to set apart the haves from the have-nots in our New Economy. Gone is the heyday of our collective trust in the impersonal corporation. Hello to the age of personalizing business through the Internet, where there is nothing to hide. Of course that’s what social media is all about. And the social media craze has so much to teach us about good old-fashioned values like gratitude, love, staying connected and reaching out with community service.

I’ve got to run, but stay tuned for more ideas on how to infuse your life and your business with more gratitude. This is a wide open topic, a New Economy babe being swaddled in the arms of  its New Age mama.