Due to some technical issues and glitches beyond my control at that site, such as the inability to send newsletters more than once a week, I post here not only as a backup but as a more timely publication method with a more conversational format.
Don't let the title fool you, I don't limit myself to adult webmasters only. Marketing is for everyone. The only difference between selling adult materials and Victorian widgets is the target market. All the same skills, knowledge and work are required.
While it's true that adult webmasters follow in the footsteps of those in the adult entertainment industry and are the first to capitalize on technology (allowing for great ideas to be plucked by mainstream marketers), those in marketing to a mature audience often overlook the basics. So blending both sides, as it were, seems like a perfectly natural conversation.
While this blog will not post adult images per se, it will on occasion link to adult sites which may have such images ~ I will clearly warn you if the link is 'Adult' or Not Work Safe (NWS).
As a conversation, this blog is participatory. I expect to hear your thoughts, suggestions, and even your comments which contradict what I have said ~ not everyone's experience is the same and debate is healthy.
Feel free to contact me with questions, comments, suggestions, networking lead etc. at TheWhore (at) marketingwhore (dot) net.
Due to the increasing number of emails with 'just a quick question...' I'm implementing phone consulting via Keen.
Both Callie Simms & I will be back on Cult of Gracie Radio tonight, from 9-10 PM (Central), discussing mainstream & mature marketing from more of a 'how to' aspect. Tonight's agenda includes the following discussion:
* SEO: application tips (how) & definitions of purpose (why)
* The purpose behind & use of blogs (when to use, what they are for; when blogging doesn't make sense)
* Content: What is, and isn't, content with a purpose, and the issue of "giving it away for free". (somewhat related to both of the above)
* Ethics & 'feelings' about blogging & online user IDs. (When using a pen name feels icky, but is necessary; are there situations to 'out' yourself?)
(Of course, I'm sure we'll still have plenty of lively debate as we defend our reasoning!)
You can join the conversation by calling 646.200.3136
Yup, both Callie & I will be on Cult of Gracie Radio tonight, from 9-10 PM (Central), discussing mainstream & mature marketing ~ and whatever else pops into our heads & comes out of our mouths.
You can join the conversation, maybe even dictate the course of it by asking questions ~ call 646.200.3136
Clearing off my desk (finally) after the weeks of being held hostage by the flu, I discovered these promotional pieces grabbed from my trip to vote in the local Democratic caucus back in February. While I won't go on about my political beliefs (or what candidate I voted for), I have a few comments to make about the candidates' political literature.
These were the only two take-away pieces either candidate had, which were sitting with the "I voted" stickers and obligatory party volunteer sign-up sheets.
While it's rather clear that Barack Obama's was intended to get people to the caucus sites, it says absolutely nothing about himself, his platform, or anything about his candidacy other than "Our Moment Is NOW". And the back side has so much 'white space' that I consider it a waste; it may as well not have a back side. Or a front side, really.
Whatever your opinions about Hillary Clinton's stands, at least she put them on her promo piece ~ along with the caucus info. It's pretty clear she wanted the people who went to the caucus to at least know her, to be able to vote for her.
Overall, were I grading such pieces, I'd flunk Obama.
Star Light, Star Bright, Should I Give Away First Rights?
In Bad ways to use your rights (and the links therein) Val Gryphin discusses what happens when authors publish their stories and original written works at their blogs. She cautions:
There is no such thing as "pre-publishing," and posting your work online gives up your first rights. You do not have to be paid to give up your first rights! All that has to happen is your work be printed in a periodical, or put online where anyone can access it. Do either one of those and you loose your first rights, which are the most valuable in almost all cases.
But too, she offers many examples where publishing online has generated book deals for the actual works published as blog content. The trick is to calculate a plan and execute it well.
In her post, Val also mentions Dana K. Cassell's Writing Contest Cautions, sharing this tip for spotting a bad contest:
No entry fees - Writing contests cost money to run. If they aren't charging, how are they paying prizes and judges?
I'd say the contest should be paid by selling copies, or with sponsorships; not a lottery based on the fees of submitting authors. But that's just me.
In the Ford Sync ads people are so use to giving commands to the Microsoft Auto software that they forget that not everything works that way, with comical results:
I have to wonder if this campaign isn't backwards... Like the old rule of showing positives and benefits, avoiding the negatives, this ad campaign is unsettling to me.
Wouldn't it make more sense to show the harried parent, the harassed worker, people who are not used to having those they told to do something do it, who, upon using Sync, are pleasantly surprised at having a command followed? It leaves a much more positive message ~ is sure sells me a dream. *wink*
I know the ad is supposed to be funny (my man laughs whenever that poor lady hits the door), but it doesn't sell me. It only leaves me with the impression that people are too lazy, self-centered, and absurd to function in the real world. Whereas the version I suggest leaves me wistful for something which does as I say ~ even if it's a car I had no previous interest in or intentions to purchase... Until such sugar-plums of demands met danced in my head.
I know "absurd" is the new black in advertising; but is it effective?
I don't know why I do this to myself, but occasionally I look in at message boards/forums where folks ask questions, hoping pros will appear and help them make money with their businesses.
Right now I'm not too clear on why I do it... It's not like I've ever read anything from a pro there that seemed anything other than superficial. And what's worse (and likely the reason why no serious advice exists), are the pleas for if not 'get rich quick' then 'sit on my ass lazy' by people who really have no idea what they are doing.
I'm addicted to the "xxx" or "adult" marketing niche, for two reasons. Just about everyone loves it and it's something I can enjoy marketing.
The second part, about enjoying what you do, is fine; even if the term "addicted" suggests, at least to The Marketing Whore, a personal issue lurking about...
But who in this day and age (and this country ~ which according to his user profile he is from) thinks "everyone" loves it?
He has an Internet connection; he's posting. So how on earth can he be oblivious to the current attitudes, filled with hate and censorship, which prevail here?
I'm no guru or rich from it yet, but just a few ideas of mine and I'd like to hear yours too.
Should really read, "I'm no guru and I won't get rich from it because of the following."
Idea #1: It's been said in other posts about exploiting youtube, but I have had quite some trouble with accounts/videos being deleted quite quickly. The basic concept of the method is to find a hot video, download it, watermark it, and re-upload it giving proper tags and a nice attracting label. Well, what if instead of directly marketing in the video, you market in the user channel instead? Would this help crack down on the video removals at all?
Market in the user channel? Are you serious? YouTube doesn't want adult content there, so why on earth do you think the membership will welcome your, "Psst, look under my raincoat" message?
You clearly know nothing of target marketing, or even have the decency to respect the rules of the house (YouTube) which you are visiting.
Sure, there's overlap; some users at YouTube enjoy porn. I myself have an account there. But it's also the kind of site where mom has the membership and her kids use it. Can you do the math on that BlackAssHat?
Idea #2: I think Social networks can be wildfire if used correctly. h||p://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites A list of a bunch of social networking sites Making fake profiles and gathering up a huge quantity of friends and marketing through bulletins rather than on the front page. I've never actually massed profiles before on social network sites or messed much with them though, can't say how well they work or not.
OMG.
Make fake profiles: Hours of time. "Gathering up a huge quantity of friends": Double the hours of time. Market to random people you don't know: Triple the hours of time. Getting kicked out for spamming? Priceless.
Even if he doesn't get kicked out, he'll be ignored/deleted at best; dropped from his "huge quantity of friends" asap. Nice use of your time, BlackAssHat.
Oh, he's never actually done it... So I guess we should excuse him then, huh.
I'm about as ready to excuse his stupidity as I am to let him apply this "stellar reasoning" to the flying machine he's built, strapped onto his back, and let him jump off my roof; either way I have a frickin' bloody mess to clean up.
I really, really, Really don't need another jerk doing these things in the name of "marketing" or, worse yet, "adult marketing."
Idea #3: Google Groups. Directly linking to the program or your website. You'd have to use several accounts though, it will only let you post so many times per account per day.
Have you noticed yet that his "three ideas" are really the same stupid one with different names or locations?
I hope you did.
Or I may have to call you "BlackAssHat" too.
Just looking for some ideas/thoughts on how to market the adult niche. I can't use PPC traffic because I have no spending money, hopefully soon I can get a domain to refer traffic to rather than a tinyurl or blog.
Umm, you don't have $8 for a domain and you don't think a blog has any power or purpose?
Jeesh, BlackAssHat, are you certain you are able to work on the Internet in any capacity?
Anyone else have thoughts or ideas on how to get traffic to an adult affiliate program?
Ooh-ooh! Pick me BlackAssHat, pick me! I have an idea!
Offer a real website, with real content that real people want to see, read, visit.
Stop thinking like a con artist. Stop looking for ways to swindle.
And stop thinking of yourself as a marketing or sales professional; get some education first.
The purpose of this meme is to give high-fives to 5 people, posts, blogs and/or websites you've admired during the week. I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 5 high-fives on Friday. Trackbacks, pings, linky widgets, comment links accepted!
Visiting fellow High-Fivers is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your High-Fives in others comments (please note if NWS).
1) A Dress A Day shows you there IS such a thing as bad publicity, which is so right-on regarding poor email releases & contact that many of you who have been so horridly pitched will find yourself saying, "OMG, yes!"
5)This Month In SEO brings you more than SEO ~ readers here know I personally ponder everything but SEO and there's plenty to ponder in this post.
PS I'm still down-for-the-count with a cold; hence my silence here (and elsewhere). I only note this here for those who wondered ~ and literally 'here' at the bottom because I hate posts which start off that way and 'click away' asap. *wink*
The purpose of this meme is to give high-fives to 5 people, posts, blogs and/or websites you've admired during the week. I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 5 high-fives on Friday. Trackbacks, pings, linky widgets, comment links accepted!
Visiting fellow High-Fivers is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your High-Fives in others comments (please note if NWS).
4) Secondhand Rose talks about coming to terms with electronic book readers (post is OK, but the site is likely deemed NWS). I still hold-out for paper, but it's the best argument I've heard yet for the darn ebooks.
PS I've been down-for-the-count with a cold; hence my silence here (and elsewhere). I only note this here for those who wondered ~ and literally 'here' at the bottom because I hate posts which start off that way and 'click away' asap. *wink*
The purpose of this meme is to give high-fives to 5 people, posts, blogs and/or websites you've admired during the week. I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 5 high-fives on Friday. Trackbacks, pings, linky widgets, comment links accepted!
Visiting fellow High-Fivers is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your High-Fives in others comments (please note if NWS).
I've been a dedicated sex tourist since 2003. In other words, I love fucking foreign hookers, especially in Brazil. Not that I like paying for sex. But the working girls I've met have blown me away. It's a long way from my conservative roots as a yeshiva boy and later an advocate for tougher anti-crime laws. I'd always considered the idea of paying for sex repellent. At least until my first trip to Rio de Janeiro. It turned my world upside down.
The purpose of this meme is to give high-fives to 5 people, posts, blogs and/or websites you've admired during the week. I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 5 high-fives on Friday. Trackbacks, pings, linky widgets, comment links accepted!
Visiting fellow High-Fivers is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your High-Fives in others comments (please note if NWS).
The Lolita Midsleeper beds were designed for six-year-old girls and this unfortunate name ('Lolita', not 'Midsleeper' which I find dreadful ~ but I'm not British, so what do I know) has resulted in upsetting parents.
The main complaint seems to be that the name 'Lolita' on a bed implies that the youth which sleeps upon it is of little virtue ~ or will be perceived as such by others. This due to, in case you didn't know, "Lolita", the 1955 novel by Vladimir Nabokov, in which the narrator becomes sexually obsessed and then sexually involved with his 12-year-old stepdaughter when she seduces him. The icing on the cake is Lolita is not a virgin at that time either.
While the beds of ill repute were shown on the Woolworths' site, they were not an actual Woolworths product; this apparently caused part of the confusion in the handling of the complaints, as one of the upset parents received the following reply from Woolworths:
- they say they will 'pass my letter onto the buying dept' but also state "Our aim is to attract a broad customer base of all ages and we make every effort to stock items, which appeal to the whole family. However, we also have to respond to customer demands and follow current trends. "
That one customer service kid hadn't heard of the book, or the two films, is a bit surprising... But it only gets worse as eventually that complaint, or another like it, was passed along and higher-ups confessed:
"What seems to have happened is the staff who run the website had never heard of Lolita, and to be honest no one else here had either," a spokesman told newspapers.
"We had to look it up on (online encyclopaedia) Wikipedia. But we certainly know who she is now."
It seems to me that someone should have known... I mean eBay and plenty of other sites actually forbid the word 'Lolita' from appearing in listings & profiles (at least for specific categories) and also police word combinations and content, just in case it would appear that you are trying to market to and profit from pedophiles.
#1 High-Fives for The Sexies for The Sex-Positive Journalism Awards, which recognizes writers "who stick to high journalistic standards in a climate of repression and misinformation around human sexuality." Found via Libido Films' blog (NWS), which is run by one of the judges, and friend, Jack Hafferkamp.
#4 A general high-five goes to Brian Solis. Quite possibly the only regular blogger I read who honestly has longer posts than I (and who doesn't like a guy with stamina?), Solis ponders & pontificates, mulls & masticates interesting ideas. Even if he's wrong sometimes. *wink*
#5 Seth Godin's Layering is a really simple and concise post on a big idea. (Maybe Solis and I should consider such tactics? *wink*)
The purpose of this meme is to give high-fives to 5 people, posts, blogs and/or websites you've admired during the week. I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 5 high-fives on Friday. Trackbacks, pings, linky widgets, comment links accepted!
Visiting fellow High-Fivers is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your High-Fives in others comments (please note if NWS).
A firm’s most valuable customers are not those who buy the most; customers who refer new business are worth as much as the big spenders, or more. We've all been told that, but a new study, "How Valuable Is Word of Mouth?" (by Dr. Robert P. Leone of the Neeley School of Business at Texas Christian University and Dr. V. Kumar and J. Andrew Petersen, of the University of Connecticut) reveals the truth of it.
"Most companies with statistical models for customer valuation focus only on customer spending and don't factor in a customer's word-of-mouth value," says Dr. Leone. "We demonstrated that when companies try to ascertain how valuable individual customers are, it's not just about how much the customer spends but whether that individual can bring in new business."
Knowing which customers can potentially add the most to the bottom line is vital to the firm, he says. Broad-based marketing is expensive and inefficient. But detailed customer data can guide the content and timing of marketing pieces to segments of the customer base and achieve the greatest return on investment.
"But if a company creates a priority list of customers based solely on how much those customers spend, they risk focusing on the wrong individuals," says Dr. Leone. This is because high-volume spenders and good referrers are not generally the same people. And the value of the best referrers can far exceed that of the good spenders.
A year-long marketing campaign was directed at the affluents, advocates, and misers, offering incentives tailored to each of those three groups (but not to the champions). The goal was to encourage affluents to increase their referrals and thus become champions, advocates to increase spending to likewise become champions, and misers to become affluents, advocates, or champions by increasing spending or referrals or both.
The results were dramatic. Hundreds of affluents and advocates became champions, and throngs of misers upgraded into affluents, advocates, or champions.
The real return on investment, however, is even higher because the researchers did not include indirect referrals, which occur when referred new customers make referrals of their own.
If similar targeted marketing campaigns were to be directed at the telecommunication firm's 40 million other customers and the financial firm's 15 million customers, the profit potential could be staggering.
And, says Dr. Leone, future returns on marketing investments may be able to be improved even more.
"A new study we are conducting involves profiling customers who make a lot of referrals. We're looking for distinguishing characteristics such as demographics, profession, geographic area, and large social networks. Then we'll select other customers with similar profiles for targeted marketing with referral incentives," he says.
Dr. Leone concludes that companies with marketing efforts designed toward eliciting referrals should see much greater returns from their advertising expenditures than do companies relying on mass marketing.
"Mass marketing is very costly and inefficient, with low rates of response. But referrals from existing customers are personalized, so the odds of response are much greater," he explains. "The more targeted a company's marketing is, the more efficiently they can spend their marketing dollars."
#1Scott Baradell of Idea Grove, for starting Spin Thicket ~ and keeping it alive. I don't get there as often as I like; but I'm glad it's there when I am looking for (and forward to) it.
#2 To Sara Winters for keeping the adult marketer's street cred alive at Spin Thicket. *wink*
The purpose of this meme is to give high-fives to 5 people, posts, blogs and/or websites you've admired during the week. I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 5 high-fives on Friday. Trackbacks, pings, linky widgets, comment links accepted!
Visiting fellow High-Fivers is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your High-Fives in others comments (please note if NWS).
1 Find one community you enjoy, one where your target market is, and participate in it. Natural enthusiasm and interest go much further than anything else. And if you can't find a community which provides both your audience and interest for you, then why bother anyway? (Or, perhaps consider the need for such a community ~ if there truly is a need, perhaps you and your company should be providing it.)
Community defined as: Social Network (i.e. myspace, tribe, facebook), forum/message board, newslists (i.e. Yahoo groups, Google alt lists), social bookmarking (i.e. stubmleupon, reddit, etc.)
2 Get & read one marketing book or publication a month.
Do not avoid books which seem to be written 'not for you,' If you're a 'company of one' don't dismiss books which seem to be 'too corporate giant' in scheme and projection; you may have to twist what they are saying to suit your budget and other constraints, but hell, that's part of the point in critical reading.
Yes, I mean print. Reading from paper allows you to do the following:
a) unplug from sound-byte mentality and short attention span problems
b) research & study, make notes & resource lists (You aren't only reading to learn and agree; read critically and even you disagree, you'll at least have learned how to better take your stand.)
c) change in physical position and space creates changes in mental space signals 'this is new, pay attention!'
3 Get & read one industry publication per month. (Ditto details of #2.)
What are the trends? What's your competition up to? Any news in legal?
4 Get & read one non-industry publication per month. (Ditto details of #2.)
Example One: If you're an author or a product manufacturer, consider books on retailing so you can understand their point of view; you can really sell them on carrying your book/product when you know their concerns.
Example Two: What issues are other industries facing, and how might that affect you? How are are they addressing the issues?
5 Blog damnit. Blogging is a publishing format which converses (you talk, others may easily reply); don't resist it.
If your blog is separate from your main website (hosted on blogger, wordpress, etc.), make sure that your blog is part of your website's main navigation so folks can find your latest info as quickly and easily as possible.
6 Pay attention to the presidential candidates, and vote when it's time. Don't kid yourself that it doesn't matter; who ever is elected will affect you and your business.
9 Check your stats (refer logs, Technorati Authority, PageRank etc.) daily. Not only do you need to see if marketing efforts are effective, but find out what others are saying about you -- and join the conversation.
10 Go one new place, eat one new food, drive a different way home, do one new thing. It not only is fun, but it keeps your mind alert ~ and who knows, maybe you'll stumble upon something or someone useful.
Don't:
11 Don't join a bunch of communities that do not fit, or which you cannot keep up with.
12 Do not waste time by checking stats or email more often than necessary.
13 Do not replicate your website/blog in 100's of places, it dilutes your brand by making 'home' less special.
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
Attention creators of all that is fabulous. Have you ever considered documenting your work? Need an EPK? A video fashion shoot? Music videos, actor reels, instructional videos - you could even start your Youtube career or just send a video letter to your granny! Joshua Katcher of Perhaps Media, Inc. has been producing television shows, music videos, and environmental/pro-social content for networks like MTV, FUSE, and Al Gore's Current TV for years. He brings to the table, most importantly, an understanding of how to craft stories. With his company Perhaps Media, he has worked with numerous non-profits, schmoozed with glitzy celebs and directed tasteless reality shows alike. His short films have been to more countries than he has, and he wants to share his skills! If you are looking for documentation, storytelling, plain old eye-candy, or even private filmmaking production lessons/instruction, or consultations drop Joshua a line at joshuaperhapsmedia.net
I didn't just post this because we had such a giggle spotting it on the road that we turned the car around to snap the pic, but rather to illustrate that there is something very charming and in fact disarming when we see the people in business.
I've noticed this in my business too. When sites are too corporate, too serious ~laced-up & polished to the point that personality and humanity are absent ~ the interest wanes. I do believe that in the age of the Internet, with its user driven content and blogging, that credibility suffers too.
The formality that once translated to 'good business sense' and trust has shifted to a transparency that not only lets consumers see inside, but like Michael Keaton in Gung Ho, lets consumers know it's fun too. We want to have some sense that the culture is less rigid and more able to deal with and reflect our own cultural 'Casual Friday' changes.
A sign like this reminds us that there are folks employed there, just doing their job, and maybe even having some fun while they do it too. And that means more to folks driving down the street than some ad in the Yellow Pages, or even a slick skyscraper ad at the big boy websites. And what do they see or sense when they do arrive there?
What sort of things can you do to charm and disarm, to let folks know that there are real people working to create/sell/deliver your product &/or services?
Working At Home Mom posted 13 Ideas For Creating Finding Your Niche; it wouldn't be a bad list if she knew what a niche was, or at least knew a niche from a USP. This is clearly a list of USPs.
I'm sorry to sound rude about it, but I hate it when people spout about yet don't know what they are talking about ~ worse yet when they are 'educating' others. :snort:
While activism certainly employs marketing (or at least good, effective activism does), and business certainly has a mission, mixing activism and business can be tricky.
Sure the business papers like to play up Anita Roddick and Ben & Jerry's as models of business models with activism mentalities, but the truth is both companies are more models for ethics than activism. Both made tough value-centered choices, and both spoke out for other companies to do the same, but neither went up in arms or published tirades against the people and organizations which they needed to use to peddle their wares.
Activism isn't (typically) about being quiet; it's about making some noise. And while that can be good for your business, when you attack (or are seen as attacking) de rigeur, 'the man' with the hand that feeds you, you can burn some bridges which then cut-off your main avenue to move product.
AVN's publications are considered (by many) to be porn industry bibles; the organization itself rather like a god. They are The Powers That Be. And The Powers That Be are, despite the 'great equalizer, the Internet, control your service or product by refusing to cover (or panning) your product or service (or refusing to finance/invest in it).
Sometimes, these powers mull over your ideas & claim them as their own, using their power and clout to broadcast, sell and profit from them. In the case of true activism, this is change and it is good; in the case of business, this cuts you out of the profits & may be the end of your business.
I know because I've been in situations like these.
This doesn't mean your business can't or shouldn't be trying to activate change; quite often there is good money there. But you'll either need very deep pockets to ride out the cold shoulder of the establishment, of you'll need to speak softly and hope your fans are the ones to carry the big stick (and yell loudly).
Your marketing, done right, can do that. And if you don't believe me, look at non-profits.
However, today's environment is more hostile towards sex activists. We in adult businesses know that even though our market share or customer base isn't shrinking (shifting about, certainly; but not shrinking), our avenues of distribution and sales are. It's simply a reflection of the non-profits and organizations which (marketing fear) have placed their mission squarely on the shoulders of their fans (followers) who have happily grabbed clubs and are willing to speak loudly.
Here again are lessons for us.
You remember how Momma used to say, "You have to pick you battles"? Well, sometimes you have to pick a side or a method of battle: Business or Activism. And if you choose business, then be prepared to either play ball with The Powers That Be, accept the consequences when you don't, or be careful in the construction & actions of your mission.
Recently Mike Lynch was asked, "Can anyone make a living as a gag cartoonist?", and he thoughtfully replied with a blog post. Many of his points are applicable to anyone selling their wares, so gag cartoonist ~ any type of artist ~ or not, you can learn something.
Here are a few of my favorite points:
There is also the shark aspect. The idea that you keep moving your cartoons, keep seeking out new markets, carry your business cards with you at all times. And sometimes calling editors to ask where your cartoons are. Promotion, persistence, production! But this is something that is inside of you and something you have to decide to do every day, you know? It's easier just to have a "real job" and dream about it. Much easier.
Our dream jobs are often more work than any other job we've held. Hopefully we are motivated because we love what we do and we want to live the dream, but it's still more work than most realize. "Promotion, persistence, production!" Isn't that the damn truth.
Whenever I meet enthusiastic entrepreneurs, I do try to caution them ~ not dampen their enthusiasm, but alert them to the realities. But if my words dampen enthusiasm, or scare them off, well, perhaps that's just as well.
"Promotion, persistence, production!" is our battle cry, our workload, and without passion we'd barely make it to those pay days (however small and far between they are). You take a sick day, and since no one is there to do anything while you're away, you stumble back to work still less than par and with double or triple the workload. It can be daunting.
Lynch continues:
I was at a business function full of NYC business-types. This was to be expected since it was held on the fashionable edge of SoHo in a huge converted loft. One of the guys came up to me and asked what I did. I told him that I was the guy that did the cartoons for their Web site. He was intrigued, especially when I told him that that was the way I made my living. He told me, "It must be great to be creative all the time."
I smiled as pleasantly as I could. I told him that cartooning was a job. Cartoons don't flow out my hand like water from a faucet. They are work. But, like I always add, this is also a job I love.
Cartoonists can't just draw when inspired if hey want to make money. As for me, I have to produce marketable, salable work at a regular pace. I'm an assembly line, putting out good cartoons at a regular pace. I'm a marketer, aiming my product at clients large and small. I'm the R&D department, finding new ways to get my material out there. You wear a lot of hats, including that Mad Hatter one.
Though [Paramore's] success is in large part due to smart pop songwriting and a fashion-forward frontwoman, music executives and talent managers also cite Paramore as a promising example of a rising new model for developing talent, one in which artists share not just revenue from their album sales but concert, merchandise and other earnings with their label in exchange for more comprehensive career support.
If the concept takes hold, it will alter not only the way music companies make money but the way new talent is groomed, and perhaps even the kind of acts that are offered contracts in the first place.
Commonly known as “multiple rights” or “360” deals, the new pacts emerged in an early iteration with the deal that Robbie Williams, the British pop singer signed with EMI in 2002. They are now used by all the major record labels and even a few independents.
While I post this as a bit of marketing news, I also can't help but wonder what this really means for the word 'artist'. Music is an industry, a business, and certainly celeb status helps push product (both their own product, music, and the products of others), I wonder what this means for those of us who want music. Real music, not 'a brand'.
It wasn't that long ago that 'world music' had appeal for some of these very reasons ~ we wanted music for music's sake, not some commercialized glut.
Admittedly, the panache of posh persons has always been a regular in the marketing and making of damn near anything and everything; but this open move towards acts signing these 360 deals seems to be counter-productive to the current age of transparency... Now we the consumers know what companies, acts and performers are the least artistic. For it's not about the music, getting it out there, but some sort of success measuring stick which must include marketability beyond the main product. In other words, bands are not to be signed unless they are great cash-cows ~ selling more than CDs to music lovers, but shoes, shampoo and heaven knows what else.
In the case of established artists, like Madonna, this is not so shocking. But what of the new artists? Who won't be signed because they either have no track record of being able to push other (non-musical) products at us or are viewed as not being able to reach such commercial status. Shouldn't recording artists be judged solely for their ability to sell records?
In an age of cynical consumers, such transparency could bite the hand that pretends to feed. I know when I see its be-jeweled fingers pushing, I'll certainly be suspicious.
While hearing the word 'negro' sure is shocking, the 58 minute interview is worth downloading and listening to. Have we come a long way? How many of the questions and issues raised by Evans are worth asking today?
Somewhere there is a copywriter who had to create a description for "Brazilian Butt Fetish" in 10 words or less without offending anybody. This unique occupational challenge stems from two relatively new events: Cable and satellite providers quietly adding harder-edged porn channels to their lineups, and the advent of detailed on-screen interactive program listing guides.
Given the title and premise, can you describe a XXX film in ten words or less without profanity? We'll even make it easy for you and choose our one of favorite porn epics of last year ever: "Dirt Pipe Milkshakes 2." We know the title sells itself, but think of the late night fapper who needs a little more convincing. Best entry wins the respect and adoration of tens of your fellow commenters.
I love the Evolve campaign by Trojan. Love, love, LOVE it.
In the commerical, male pigs hit on women, striking out until one decides to be prepared for safe sex, getting a Trojan, and then becomes human.
I love it because it's relateable. I love it because, as a woman, it's grand to see the message that women aren't assumed to be the party responsible for safe sex &/or birth control. (It's so annoying to live in a world where men are allowed to be sexually aggressive but leave the consequences to the women.) The Evolve ad depicts men who aren't prepared for safe sex to as pigs and juxtaposes that image with condoms, the responsible behavior.
All this means I love it as a marketer.
Interestingly, Trojan, isn't spoken and even the logo appears only briefly on the bathroom's vending machine and at the end. Jim Daniels, vp of marketing, said the company was focusing less on growing market share than growing the market. I think the commerical serves the intent and the brand well, very well, indeed.
However, both CBS and FOX rejected Evolve ads by Trojan. In its rejection CBS wrote, "while we understand and appreciate the humor of this creative, we do not find it appropriate for our network even with late-night-only restrictions."
"It's so hypocritical for any network in this culture to go all puritanical on the subject of condom use when their programming is so salacious," said Mark Crispin Miller, a media critic who teaches at New York University. "I mean, let's get real here. Fox and CBS and all of them are in the business of nonstop soft porn, but God forbid we should use a condom in the pursuit of sexual pleasure."
Amen.
This points to the current problem those of us in adult marketing face every day.
"We always find it funny that you can use sex to sell jewelry and cars, but you can't use sex to sell condoms," said Carol Carrozza, vice president of marketing for Ansell Healthcare, which makes LifeStyles condoms. "When you're marketing condoms, something even remotely suggestive gets an overly analytical eye when it's going before networks' review boards."
Why is it unacceptable to be so damn honest? Honest about your product; honest about human needs. It's stupefying. Why doesn't business evolve and get their heads out of their behinds?
It's like we're the women and the folks who make decisions like CBS and FOX are the pigs.
The good news is that the commercial will run on ABC, NBC and nine cable networks, and print ads will appear in 11 magazines as well as on on seven Web sites. (Feel free to write emails and letters of support to these folks, letting them know you approve!) All will highlight a Web site, trojanevolve.com.
Daniels also said that the company was spending more on the Evolve campaign than any previous campaign, though declined to say how much.
(Hey Daniels, I'll run your ads! And I can get you a free list of more who will do the same. *wink*)
I still stand my ground, but this is a clever gimmick. I'd say more, but it's difficult to know the content when you can't read the text. (Polish, I think?)
The symbiotic relationship between selling something to someone and making money off of that transaction is written-off as bad. The sales person profits from something 'done to' the customer, affiliates are parasites which feed off the wide toothy grins of unsuspecting blog readers, and marketers are the tapeworms feeding off the insides of rich corporate fat-cats.
But I'd like today's word to remind you that this is not necessarily so:
Symbiotic: An interrelationship between two different organisms in which the effects of that relationship are expressed as being harmful or beneficial; intimate associations in which organisms of more than one species live together.
The association may be beneficial to both (mutualism), beneficial to one with no effect on the other (commensalism) or beneficial to one with harmful effects on the other (parasitism).
It's up to you, as a buyer and as a seller, to decide what sort of symbiotic relationship you'll have.
Big Snake Sale! Sssssave! Sssssave! Sssssave! Pick and choossssse! Mix and match, everything'sssss marked down! Thessssse marvelous petsssss are quiet and refined. Rid your house of rodentsssss and unwanted baby chicks, ssssstartle your friendsssss today!
Which got a few of us off our own "S's" and thinking... Why not have an ad sale and help a few of our friends with stuff stuck in their backrooms? (We bet that even the adult industry has a few snakes which must be moved. *wink*)
So here's our SSSuper SSSmut SSSpecial.
Get the Standard (150x200, 16K + 300 char) Blogads at the three following sites:
All three blogs, one month ~ at half price! Just $214.50
All three blogs, one week ~ at half price! Just $65
(In case you're too freaked-out by the offer to focus on the math, a week at all three sites would normally cost you $130; and a month is regularly $429.)
Also at Sex-Kitten.Net only, buy a Hi-Rise ad (150x600, 35K + 300 char) for one week (normally $200), now just the price of a one week standard ad.
(That math means you pay only $100 for the week!)
These are Limited Time Offers ~ We Aren't Kidding! (And we know this offer isn't a turkey; it won't hit the ground like sacks of wet cement either! *wink*)
Here's how to do it:
1) Make your ad payment via PayPal to Pay (at) equilibri-yum (dot) com.
2) Email me at TheWhore (at) MarketingWhore (dot) Net with the following ad information:
Ad Headline: Max. 32 chars. No html allowed Ad Text: Max. 300 published chars. Max. 3 empty lines. Simple HTML (a, b, i, u) allowed. No more than 18 continuous visible characters please! URL: Your website, product etc. Standard Ad Image: 150 X 200 pixels and 16KB jpg/gif OR Hi-Rise Ad Image: 150 X 600 pixels and 35KB jpg/gif
Yes, you can reserve future dates ~ with your payment only. Please include your requested ad start date with your other ad information.
Fine Print: Since this is an ad special, you won't be using the Blogads interface ~ we will be placing the ads for you, so it's really important that you email with your information as soon as you make your payment.
These offers end when we say they do. The only guarantee you have that your ad(s) will run is once you've made your payment. So reserve your spots now!
Having hosted before, I have a new appreciation for what Hurlbert's work load was like. I know his task was neither simple nor easy, and he's selected some really fine offerings. As usual, I suggest you go there and read, read, Read.
***
My favorite post from this week's carnival is Non - Linear Leadership Thinking vs. Behavior, by Charles H. Green. Hurlbert describes this post as "how it seems the best leaders are sages, able to hold two contradictory ideas in mind at the same time, believe both, and reconcile them." (Which is far more succinct than I could ever hope to be, so I must use his phrasing.)
What's excellent about this post, what's so exciting, is that Green describes what every good salesman knows ~ and I'm speaking of real salesmen in the legendary ways of old, when the profession was deemed noble.
Once upon a time every good salesman knew that if you keep the customer's needs and objections in mind and at the same time know your products well enough you can find the solution to the customer's problems via a sale.
'Tis the same with my philosophy of marketing. You know you, your product or service can't be everything to everybody ~ but you know and believe that you, your product or service can be just the thing your customer is looking for. Help him to see how, solve his problems ~ and make a sale too. It's holistic, a symbiotic win for all. This is what Green is talking about in his discussion of leadership.
Since Green's left the salesmen and marketers out of it, perhaps many more will listen. *wink*
***
Which brings us back to Hurlbert (and other fine hosts of CoTC): They create lists of the best postings, points and pontifications for the rest of us to read. Hopefully, they are read and respected in return. Another win-win.
Good marketers understand their products and services and their potential customers and clients. Just as the magician applies the laws of science to the various tricks, the savvy marketing person considers the needs and desires of the marketplace. Sometimes, that market requires the talents of the illusionist. Instead of the standard marketing techniques, a few gimmicks can be employed successfully.
At first I bristled. Yes, good marketers understand their product and their target market. But gimmicks? This is exactly the sort of negative stuff that makes the world mistrust and hate marketers. Slight of hand is not something I want associated with my work.
His specific suggestions are less upsetting though. And he does provide a warning:
Just as some people can see things up the magician's sleeve, so too can they see through a badly run marketing campaign. Care must be taken to perfect the art of spoon bending, and so too with gimmick marketing.
As Wayne says, "A successful gimmick marketing campaign can go viral in an instant, however. Be certain to be prepared for the global sales that result." Ditto that when it goes terribly, horribly, hideously wrong.
It is from those creative suggestions and his warnings that I do trust that what Wayne is really in favor of is a more creative approach to getting the attention of potential consumers, clients and fans. I do just wish he would avoid comparing marketing with the less honest (or cheesy) aspects of magic.
I really, perhaps naively, believe 'the wow factor' should come from the product/service itself and that the marketer's job is to find ways for those who would benefit from the product/service ~ even say "Wow!" about it ~ to know about it. That's the real marketing magic.
As one who recommends regular blogging to their clients who use blogs, I feel I ought to make a comment regarding my own irregular blogging. It's not really a case of "do as I say, not as I do" *wink* I do have my (legitimate) reasons for pauses and silences here. And this isn't just a simple post in which I rationalize my silences to you (or even myself). I think this is actually something you should know about. (No, I'm not going to brag or whore; but I am going to share a philosophy I hope you'll consider.)
No matter how much I'd like to be here, babblin' on and on, my first priority is my own business (i.e. my own projects and my clients), and you, my very dear blog readers, are secondary. (No offense, but The Whore has a job to do and bills to pay, and so our little conversations are a luxury for me. I do hope you understand.)
Like many marketers, much of the work I do is behind the scenes. The science of targeting and the crafting of campaigns takes time and is rather unseen work, for the most part. I know some marketers (or those who like to make judgements) will say that if I was really doing my job, they'd know it. They say that if I was any good, my name would be appearing 'everywhere.'
But I disagree. Completely, utterly, disagree.
Unlike some marketers or consultants, I not only do not think the number of times my name appears is a sign of my doing my job but in fact find it a statement to the contrary.
My job is to market my products or my clients/clients' projects, not myself. Every time I see a press release with the name of the agency on it, even as a tiny last line, I am amazed at the audacity. Unless your agency is actually the one taking the calls for you (and then I wonder why on earth you'd have some one other than yourself talk to the media or consumers ~ how can anyone possibly know more about you, your company and products more than you?!), why is their name even on any release, advertisement or other information?
Yes, these third parties should be arranging conversations between you and your target market, and that may be started in the media via a release etc., but shouldn't they be more like a friend setting you up on a blind date? The agency or other professional should introduce you to the contact (via whatever means you've discussed) and then get out of the way, leaving you to talk. If my sister or friend says she has this great guy for me to meet and then actively participates in our first date ~ monopolizing the conversation, I'd be more than suspicious... She must want this guy for herself. Ditto on the marketing professional who must surely have an agenda of their own.
Worse than a third wheel, these types of agenda driven folks are more like a steering wheel. They try to (and often do) take control of where everything is going. And the destination is not about you, but rather about them. They want their name or business to prosper & shine; not yours. That's not what you are paying for, is it? Like ad companies who are more interested in winning a Cleo than you selling your inventory, consultants, agencies and marketers who stand in the middle of the conversation are more interested in their name and agenda than yours. So every time I see that third party mentioned, I cringe.
I figure my job is to sell what I've been hired to sell, and that rarely is me. So why should my name appear 'everywhere' when it's not about me?
In the case of third parties, silence may in fact be golden.
What's wrong is treating bloggers like traditional media outlets. New media content creators do not have any obligation to "report" or field inquiries. They don't have to write up a kind review of your product (even if you comp them something), and a great majority distrust traditional public relations tactics.
(This post is a follow-up to this post, Thinking Bloggers and Pitching Blogs, which I think he intended to be his first link in that post... In any case, I also recommend reading it.)
I have witnessed and participated firsthand in sustained and determined efforts to increase the number of women recruited into investment banks, and it is true that the number entering each year in first-year analyst and associate classes has increased markedly from my youth. However, what is also true is that very few of these women stay. The ones I know who do genuinely seem to enjoy their work, and they can cut the balls off a charging rhinocerous (or CEO) with an indenture with the best of them, all the while making their doltish male colleagues think impure thoughts about their pantyhose. In other words, I am of the opinion that smart, aggressive women have a distinct advantage over men in investment banking. Why, therefore, aren't there more of them?
Phil for Humanity writes about The Size of Money. Those who cannot see and those who are new to the US have to deal with our funny money and it's time we started making more cents sense with our money.
InsureBlog ponders health care in Margarita's & Medicine. As a self-employed person who knows many others in this same boat, I know we wonder what's worth paying for. Here's a perspective I recommend you read.
You can cough up the $40,000 or so to have your joint replaced (if you do not have insurance).
Or, you can jet to an exotic isle where the procedure is more like $6000.
The two most trust-destroying words you can say are, "trust me." Never say you're someone's trusted advisor, much less say you want to be, much less build an ad campaign around it. It is inherently non-credible and insincere. (I try on my own website-- which of course uses the term -- to say "helping people become trusted advisors" -- and not to claim that I are one).
In business, I think we often know the things we should do, but instead we try to do the things we want to do. We like the random fun things. We want to plan, brainstorm, hold meetings, all the stuff that doesn't require any discipline or focus.
An Internet pal, MissFussyPants, gave me some interesting news.
She had posted the link to the $10,000 copy writing contest over at Sensible Erection (a community which posts links and comments on them, like Fark or Spin Thicket) and was surprised by the response. So surprised she sent me the link and cut and pasted the comments in her email to me, in case the post went so many pages 'deep' in the site that you'd have to be a registered member to see it.
While it's probably accurate to say this isn't a professional site, it's equally likely that this membership is a general enough slice of consumers (and given the number of porn links, likely a large part of adult consumers) so their comments are interesting.
Like MissFussyPants, I'm posting them here in case the link is now members' only (and for perpetuity).
Comments
plexer said @ 7:30pm on 15th May [Score:2 Underrated] - moderate/reply How has this not been modded down yet? Its $10, 000 of fucking ADVERTISING for creatively spamming people. Its like an invitation to produce more viral adds to annoy the hell out of everyone else on the internet.
DO NOT WANT.
fuzzo said @ 10:46pm on 15th May [Score:1 Informative] - moderate/reply jeez, such opinions ! it's called marketing you guys.
donnie said @ 10:53pm on 15th May [Score:1 Insightful] - moderate/reply Marketing is just another word for spam. Good products don't need to be marketed - their usefulness is self-evident. It's the crap that nobody needs or wants which people need to be convinced of needing or wanting, generally accomplished by means of persistent annoyance and aggravation.
Sgt Harry 'Snapper' Organs.. said @ 11:17pm on 15th May [Score:1 Funny] - moderate/reply But without a relentless barrage of marketing how will I make informed decisions about what sort of carbonated sugar-water/over-engineered foam-rubber footware/stylishly overpriced and functionally neutered digital audio player/ho-hum action game starring a gung ho marine it is that defines ME?
donnie said @ 4:55pm on 15th May - moderate/reply training the spammers of tomorrow...fucking lovely
Garibaldi Biscuit said @ 5:23pm on 15th May - moderate/reply I thought it said 'irresistable officers' and was envisaging some ultra-camp police parade.
Todomanna said @ 5:29pm on 15th May - moderate/reply I thought it said 'Irresistable Cheesecake baking monkeys' but I've gone off my meds, so it's understandable.
bruceski said @ 6:02pm on 15th May - moderate/reply can the "offer" be a virus that auto-loads and takes over the computer? Who needs Diplomacy when you have Dominate Person?
donnie's definition of marketing, "Marketing is just another word for spam. Good products don't need to be marketed - their usefulness is self-evident. It's the crap that nobody needs or wants which people need to be convinced of needing or wanting, generally accomplished by means of persistent annoyance and aggravation."
Or that when fuzzo posts, "jeez, such opinions ! it's called marketing you guys." only one person agreed (gave him a point).
But this is what most folks think of us. And like it or not, we're going to have to deal with it one way or another.
