San Bernardino Shootings

The San Bernardino shootings is something getting to be the norm on the news these days. What is it about the Islamic way that from watching a video and pledging to a group of people that you have never met, makes you leave a 6 month old child with the grand mother surely knowing in the back of your mind that you are not going to see this child again. This is some bad stuff. If this religion is this bad then maybe we need to think about religion control along with the gun control the government is trying to implement. Oh I forgot, freedom of religion has more weight than the right to bear arms in order to protect yourselves and your family. But the sad thing about this and the other shootings alike is not the people that lost their lives or the family members grieving over their loss, but instead someone profiting in a business sense. Somebody, somewhere is making money from these shootings as people are trying to figure out how to protect themselves and their families. Anything from buying a gun and ammunition to who knows what else. Then of course the presidential candidates that are using this to say what they would do different to gain your vote next year. I will conclude by saying that if I had a business, I would like to think that it would be a business that would produce a profit in happy times and goodness. 

Black Friday

Black Friday is a day of deals and savings, right? Black Friday is really a marketing scam if you all haven't figured that out by now. So you go out of your way to rearrange your schedule and even take off work so you can be in line at 2am and sit in the possible miserable weather conditions to save a few bucks. Not to mention, once again, are you just going for the things that you really need or are you going to get caught in the moment of the shopping experience and buy more than you came for and probably didn't need. That's the marketing end of this Black Friday that businesses look forward to. Not only are they selling it a little cheaper than the regular price, but they are betting on the volume that they are going to sell. You, as the customer, is caught up in the shopping experience and the holiday spirit and more than likely going to buy other items that you didn't come for. Not to mention everything that you bought that is not on the Black Friday sale list. If Black Friday was really for the customer, the businesses wouldn't start advertising this sale a month in advance. It's a way to get the commercial end of the holiday's started and the businesses profiting from it. Happy Black Friday!   

Smartwatch

A few years ago the idea of a smartwatch was like a science-fiction movie. Not only in the last couple of years has the smartwatch become a reality, but now the competition of other companies getting into the market with their version of the smartwatch as well. All the new technology this day and time is great and endless of what you can have and their uses. For the most part, anything you want, information wise is at the tip of your finger. I am not one of those that has to have the latest of technology or the look at what I got attention deficit syndrome or the out doing the Jone's stratagy. My question to the world is, when is enough, enough. Can you justify the cost and how much it really needs to be in your everyday lives. The marketing of all these new items is great, but the general public does not take the time to realize how they are being controlled and manipulated by the marketing of these new products. You like the newest and think that you have got to own it without realizing that you only will use this new item at about 5% of its function ability. You probably already have a device now that does everything that you need it to do without the cost of the new device just on the market. Do you really need a watch to keep in touch with the world with your every single heart beat? Stop and think, this new technology marketing concept is great if you need this in your business, but for the individual, this technology trend is controlling your everyday thinking and lives. Take a moment and evaluate just how much technology you really need and level out with that.

RV Parking Ownership

In Cullman, Alabama we have the beautiful smith lake. People from all over the country come here and buy lake lots and build their dream homes. There is just one problem and that is that the price tag for a lot on this lake is expensive. Some of these lake lots sell for more that some people have in their homes. Then there is this rv campground that I heard about that you buy your rv spot instead of rent for the night or week. When I first heard about this along with the price tag, I thought that this was crazy and could not see it being successful. Then I looked at this from a need and a marketing angle. There are people who own rv's that would like to own a piece of the lake as well, but know that this is all too expensive. This campground marketing plan enables these people to do both.  There are people who own rv's and have paid a lot of money for them and enjoy the camping world. But the average person cannot afford a rv and a place on the lake both. The man who started the smith lake rv park saw a need and noticed a marketing possibility. He put a plan together and started out small to see how it would do. The need was there and after 2 years, he has started clearing off for phase 2 of the campground. He owns the campground and maintains it but you buy the lot within the campground and you own that lot. With ownership of this lot you have a boat slip for your boat with golf cart access to it so you don't have to walk. Being a part of this campground also gives you access to 2 ponds, swimming pool, laundry mat, water falls by the boat docks, and a social gathering house. The way this is set up, its like a little neighborhood or think of it as your lake family every weekend. Now you can take your rv to your lot on the lake and enjoy being on the lake. This enables people to double their pleasure of their investment instead of missing out of enjoying the rv at the lake. Figuring out where there is a need for a service and knowing how to market it can be very profitable.

Presidental Election

As we all have heard with the advertisements and debates on TV that the nation is gearing up for a presidential election in 2016. Some people like to hear what the candidates have to say and how they present themselves under fire from the press and the mudslinging from the other candidates. Other people could care less because for the most part, same oh, same oh. They make a speech or a campaign promise that they won't be able to keep or don't even try. Elections and all the bad mudslinging that always seems to be the norm gets the general public disgusted and some get down right mad. But have you ever thought to take a minute, let the smoke clear out and look at all this from a different angle. The truth about the election candidates is that they are marketing themselves to the voters and in the presidential election, making sure they get the attention of the electoral voters. There is no difference in these guys and girls going after each other and making the other look bad than two companies doing the same about a product or service. Do me a favor and watch the next presidential debate with a marketing approach and you will find the mudslinging a lot more interesting and sometimes even down right funny. 

Pre-Pay

Years ago when I started  working at Cullman Electric co-op we had a lot of customers that just couldn't pay their bills on time. We at the co-op spent endless hours cutting people off and then reconnecting them when the bill was paid. An inconvenience for both parties. Some people get embarrassed about this, but the truth is that there are a lot of today's population that just can't make ends meet on what they make while trying to provide the expensive necessities in life. Then companies started offering pre-pay options. For these companies I thought how nice of them to work with the working public to meet them half way on providing a service along with a payment option. Then the co-op announced that they were going to offer a pre-pay option. I was not in any kind of business class when this started and my first thought was that this will never work. At that time I did not realize that in order to be good in business you have to develop a plan to work with your paying customers. If you can't get paid for your services, you won't be in business long. Yet new technology and smart business people came up with a great pre-pay payment option that really helps the customers keep their bills paid on their terms. I was proven wrong, and after getting into business management classes, learning what I have I realize that I was looking at this from the wrong side. If your going to be successful in business today, you need a good product, a fair price, good service, and sometimes depending on the type of business, have a payment option available.  

Playboy Magazine

What a magazine in the good ole days. Of course some people know this magazine as a skin magazine. That it has been indeed, but if you take a minute to get past the nude pictures, this magazine has always offered a lot more. In the years past, it was actually considered as the bible for cool men's fashion. It was a way of understanding certain lifestyles that young men looked to live. As of March, 2016, Playboy has announced that it will stop publishing images of nude women. It's bad enough that the circulation's has dropped from 5.6 million magazine's in 1975 to less that 800,000 in 2015, they now are going to stop doing what the magazine has always been known for. This is going to be a very difficult marketing problem. Common sense in my book say's that the company should have done something long before a loss of 4.8 million magazine's per year. Playboy's issue is defining what the brand stand's for as it revamps its editorial content. At least they have the heritage and they have the very clear authentic position. Before you give up on Playboy, note that it did away with nudity on its website in 2014 and the digital version actually attracted more traffic as well as a younger audience. The strategic decision resulted in a 375 percent increase in global unique monthly visitors to Playboy.com. The editors are going to have to figure out who its audience is since the magazine isn't nearly as accessible to the younger demographics. It seems that it would have been a better move to have addressed this problem a little at a time over the years as the magazine was losing its audience instead of such a drastic move all at once, or a have too if you will. I wish Playboy well on its transition and its major journey as it reworks its marketing strategy. This will be interesting to follow the restructuring of this magazine.