My Mom-in-Law, Mary Cameron, passed away this week, and everyone is devastated, even though we had been preparing for a while. As a member of Probus, Mary was tasked in 2001 with telling her life story to the group. The following is the text from her speech she made in April of that year. It opens with her expressing her horror of the prospect and how she would just quit and “join another Probus club if asked.” But she was…
As a marketing guy, I can’t help but apply that lens when observing the shitstorm that is sweeping our southern neighbours, and that is the presidential campaign of Donald Trump. While everyone is trying to figure how it is possible that a disastrously spray-tanned xenophobic, misogynistic racist is leading the GOP field, it’s pretty obvious why. It’s all about marketing. More specifically, Trump is a direct reaction to a remarkably effective, all-encompassing branding strategy run by the Republican party for…
TechCrunch writes a great article for today’s tech companies letting them know, what is old is new again, finally. But, not really. The premise is a simple one. Regardless of new terminology like “inbound”, “content” & “social media” marketing, what they all mean, is what they have always meant… and that is, it’s all just marketing. “Imagine that it is the year 1996. What did traditional marketing departments think about? The four Ps. The promotion mix. Communications strategies. SWOT analyses. The five forces. Building…
The first step in any content marketing strategy is seeing where a site is at SEO-wise. Consider this: A proactive business person, wants to stay on top of their business, their competition, their customers and leads. So, they go out and hire an SEO consultant or company and have them go over the company’s complete online presence. They are given access to Google analytics, and any Adwords campaigns. They are allowed to peek under the hood of the blog, keyword…
How consumers make purchasing decisions has changed, and changed forever, been driven by a cute little algorithm introduced by Google named “Panda.” Panda requires websites to provide information that demonstrates the benefits of a product or a service. If they don’t, they get buried. If they try old school black hat tactics, they get killed. First rolled out in 2011, marketers had to adjust to the realization that they are no longer selling someone something. Instead, they are providing potential customers with…
It’s been a long time since hockey was a “must see” sport, probably about 20 years or so. Way back near the end of last century, Wayne Gretzky was still at the top of his game, he was named the league’s MVP for the 9th and final time, and on any given night he could and would amaze like no others ever had. Even the fringiest of fans would tune in Sportscenter specifically to see what No. 99 had done…
There is no team in sports today more universally reviled than the Miami Heat. The Yankees, the Lakers and Dallas Cowboys combined look like pikers compared to these slacker millionaires. Hailed by many as unbeatable before the first tipoff, now their 10-8 record has most NBA fans laughing out loud. Losers of four out of their last six and only one victory against a plus-.500 team all season long, they are remarkable in one way and one way only: They…
If you haven’t been following the antics of Glenn Beck these days, here’s the CliffsNotes version: America, as you know it, is about to come to an end. The apocalypse is upon us and the government, the financial system and the military are about to fall. There will be food riots, starvation, anarchy and pestilence because that’s what the liberals, (who are all really just heathen communists), want to happen! Why? Because the collapse of capitalism will allow them to…
According to no greater an authority than Mark Twain, in life, there are no second acts. He didn’t see Michael Vick on Monday Night Football. The first time he touched the football from scrimmage, Vick dropped back in the pocket and with his foot on the three-yard line, he launched it 65 yards in the air to a startled DeSean Jackson who was so open he ran it into the end zone backwards. The play went eighty-eight yards and took…
“American exceptionalism” doesn’t seem to be what it used to be anymore does it? The place is a mess. No confidence with folks running around with their collective tails between their legs. Millions have been unemployed literally for years, and the political wave they just sent to Washington is ready to cut the strings on their safety net and any and all of their benefits. America the brave? No so much anymore. People are scared of everything – liberals, communists,…