Every Saturday I salute someone or a group that deserves a little extra attention for his or her good deeds, achievements, creative solutions, witty comments or meaningful acts of customer love.

This week my hat goes off to Jeff Bezos founder of Amazon.

Salute to Jeff Bazos

I’ve admired Jeff for many years, but tonight after reading the WSJ and an essay by Richard l. Brandt about his new book, “One Click: Jeff and the Rise of Amazon.com” I was reminded of what an amazing journey Jeff Bazos has had as an entrepreneur and the incredible success his company has earned.

Wearing cowboy boots as I write this blog post, I do have an extra soft spot for Texas-breed business heroes like Jeff. Jeff spent many of his summers in Cotulla, TX at his grand daddy’s Lazy G Ranch. The Journal article recounts Jeff’s early inspiration from rural living and his grandfather.  Citing that self-reliance was an important value. “People do everything themselves and when something is broke you fix it.This upbringing turned out to be a valuable entrepreneurial trait for Bazos as he built his global empire.

A great American success story for all start-ups and entrepreneurs with big dreams
From the early years of working from a garage office, to a diet of Pizza on most days, to answering customer emails himself, Bazo’s passion, vision, quirkiness and micromanaging have paid off quite well.

I admire so much about Jeff’s leadership and the company including:
Great brand name and branding.

It is cool, smart and simple (the original name was Cadabra, it was nixed after being mispronounced as Cadaver).

Amazing technology.
I enjoy and use often all the site features and intelligent marketing from their patents from “One Click” to many rumored others.

Remarkable experiences.
The ease of the shopping experience and thoughtful customer service.

Being an advocate and channel for other entrepreneurs.
I’m so thrilled and grateful that Amazon is such a dominant book channel for affiliate marketing and for promoting and selling books like: Brain Tattoos and my new title Brand Turnaround, my new baby that is about to be born in December.

Thank you Jeff. You inspire us!