Crap! As A Middle Aged Marketer, I am Hosed

As a marketer, I need people to pay attention... to ME! I am not going to explain my dilemma yet. I am only going to share these vids with you as food for thought. OK, I may add a few of my own first thoughts.

Disclaimer: Skully has a 16 year ADHD kid who is A) Very quick and bright, B) Can't get home with assignments, C) Can't remember to turn stuff in, D) Doesn't see a darn thing being taught as relevant, and E) Is stimulated to learn when he is stimulated and entertained. In other words, HE IS MY FUTURE CUSTOMER. Too much extra sensory input and too little attention to a single message (i.e. my marketing message). AND he wants my message to be relevant instead of "frequent". Or, he learns by 1)Being interested and 2) Reacting to a message based on what "captures his attention" vs. being hit over the head with repetition. Now... that's a big problem if you are a marketer!

These clips deal with education but there are some big lessons for middle-aged marketers if they want to be old-age marketers.















Top O Mind Thoughts (all of which scare the crap out of me).
1. Times are achangin.
2. It is all about me.
3. Entertain me BY informing me.
4. Deliver messages they way I receive them.
5. Forget frequency.
6. Do all of this for me AND I MIGHT care about you. Might.

Change

Several folks have sent me a powerful video on the speed of change. It's equally mind-blowing, scary and exhilarating. Regardless of how it effects you, it raises a whole lot of questions for all of us. Business school books are littered with descriptions of how companies have reinventing themselves over time. AND I STRESS "OVER TIME". After you watch the video, think about what "over time" now means.




Not sure if I want to grab on to the innovation thing or find a slow boat to Key West.

For Trop Rock Fans

A sort of public service announcement:

More and more people mention they love Jimmy Buffet stuff. Frankly, I find this quite troubling. Don't misunderstand, I've been a Parrot Head for a long, long time. Picked up the habit during college (in an entirely land-locked area) and have never laid it down with the exception of two times.

1. A Pirate Looks at 50. Read the book and kept wondering where the rest of the family was during their "trip together".

2. Swine Not. Picked up the book. Read the intro. Set book down.

OK, there was another time when I seriously considered retiring... after a search of all of his songs and how many albums were little more than re-do's of his classics.

But I always came back. So why am I more than a little concerned that I have been noticing how many people seem to be "discovering" JB of late? Because I fear they are picking up the habit from Margaritaville Radio. And to put it pretty bluntly, there are way too many flat recordings of his live shows. Folks, there is a reason for studios and editing! Just listen to his original recordings and then the live versions. You will quickly get the point.

So, for all of you newbie Trop Rockers, check out Margarita Mafia (Musicians, Artists, Fans and to save you time from searching (not to mention leaving a free hand for a margarita), here is a great way to discover the best that the genre has to offer: Margarita Mafia. Guaranteed to get you looking for beaches, bars and ballads.

And don't forget to check out one of the best: Brent Burns

OK, one more...


OK, one more one more... You CANT tell me this aint fun!!

and this ends my PSA (public service, not prostate).

All The Top News

Hey Kiddies - stumbled on Alltop lately. Wow! Get on board. This is an awesome way to aggregate the news the way I want. Basically the front page of a newspaper that you design. Seriously cool too.

Register for free. Spend some time choosing your topics and away you go. Absolutely fantastic.

PS: Skully has no financial interest in Alltop. Just so you know.

The Power of 7 or 5 or 3...

Just finished perusing an article entitled 5 Rules for Keeping Your Sales Job During a Recession. Enlightening! Insightful!

Main Tips:

Paying attention to activities and performing the right ones;
Developing and keeping the proper attitude;
Making yourself indespensible;
Not making enemies;
Planning contingencies.

Other than not bothering to run spell check (Skully doesn't either) - indispensable was misspelled - the article (OK, I read no more than the 5 "Rules" bullets) is in a nutshell... just plain horse hockey.

Only "rule" you need to know: Make your company a lot of money. Yes, its that simple. So what did I really learn? While copywriters extol the virtues of 7/5/3 "Secrets/tips/rule" for headlines, at least salespeople SHOULD know that making the sale (isn't that what headlines are for?) boils down to one claim: Mr. Prospect, I am going to make you (fill in the blank).

It's all about the "Power of 1". Now, go make your company a lot of money.

PS: If you get canned anyway, there's a ton of companies that will drool over you.
PSS: You will make some enemies along the way if you are any good.

Is there any justice?

Skully closes two major deals this week and is working on a HUMONGOUS one... he's still responsible for grouting his own shower. What's that all about? If you haven't had the pleasure of replacing grout... don't. It really is that simple. After 117 web references he is no closer to enlightenment so he does what he always does. Throws away the instructions and just starts slapping crap around. Who knows. Maybe something will stick. Hmmm, maybe a business lesson in there somewhere. Nah.

Life Lessons:
1. Skip the advice.
2. Blow through the second guessing.
3. Go ahead and jump in.
4. Go hire somebody after you totally screw it up.

At least you got going. That's more than most folks.

TSA and the Magic Card

You may recall Skully had a little run in with TSA in Ft. Lauderdale recently. Well, this past week he had to take to the unfriendly skies once again. Honestly, sorta sweating it. After all Skully had lodged a formal complaint with TSA and was probably on some sort of list.

Imagine his excitement when he realized that he had left his driver's license at the departure airport and needed to return home! Well, given enough credit cards, insurance cards, etc. he learned that it's possible to pass security. Possible... but with "extra scrutiny". Fortunately he was carrying the MAGIC CARD! Yes, his Costco card got him through. Costco. I am not kidding. Rest safely America. Oh, and Costco card, don't leave home without it.

Looking to make a difference... don't know how?

Quick plug. These guys are incredible. If you want to make some positive impact in the world and are looking for something bigger than yourself... check out these guys. Met Tom last night during preparation for a couple of my younger Pirates to travel down to the 9th Ward to help out over Spring Break.

Pretty easy to worry over the 401k. Pretty easy to worry over the Beamer payment. Pretty easy to stand back and complain about Bush/OBama/Madhoff/etc. Pretty hard to understand what people who have never known any security worry about. Personally, I'm putting it out there so my Bucanneers can hold me accountable - I will be helping these guys.

Miller to Retire!

Skully was thrilled to see headlines today stating, "Miller may retire after this season". This seemingly innocuous new put a little hop in my stride, a smile on my face and a whistle on my lips all afternoon.

But alas, my excitement was once again dashed due to reality. Hate it when that happens. See, the issue was that Ol Skully assumed it was DENNIS MILLER set to retire which meant that Skully would never inadvertently be subjected to the arrogant, self-centered and often mean-spirited drivel spewing forth from Miller's pie hole.

With great enthusiasm, Skully jumped on Google to find the details and print the headlines to hang in the Captain's Quarters. What Skully actually found was that BODE MILLER ( a great pirate! ) was looking to retire. DANG!

And apparently I am not alone. According to Ski Channel, Reason #7 for why Bode should not retire is: "Dennis Miller will become the most famous Miller". And that my fellow pirates is just plain DISGUSTING!

Bode dude, HELP! Don't let this happen!