Why'd you name it that?

What's in a name? Everything. But sometimes nothing.

Microsoft. Caesar's Palace. Escaping Mediocrity. Burger King. Staples.

Hear or see those names, you know what they are, you know their success, you know their quality. Imagine any of them with a different name. Would they be doing as well? Would they even be? What if Bill Gates was drunk one early day when microsoft was young, and he changed the name to something else....GatesCo for example.

Would that company be here today in the same position? Probably not. But maybe, it's possible that a product is good enough to overcome a bad name.

I've been thinking a lot about names. As things change at The Marketing Mark, the name could be one of them. Will that destroy what I have already built? I don't know. Will it propel me into new heights and beyond? I don't know.

Change is scary, isn't it. Hmmm...that sounds familiar...

How do you know when the fear is worth it?


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Business as usual? Nope.

Another Sunday at work. It's business as usual for the company I work for. Customers come in and out, just like they do every day. When you find something that works, why not stick with it?

It's a good thing that I am not my company. Not for any bad reasons, I've just noticed a few things that don't work around here. I meant what I said the other day, things are changing around here, and I want you all to come along with me. Business as usual often leads to complacency and taking things for granted. That's not me. Not to say that business as usual is a bad thing, because sometimes it works very well, it's just not for me personally when it comes to marketing, social media, etc.

I'm not 100% sure exactly how many changes are going to happen, or in what order...but they are happening. I'll ask again, any tips, stories or any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks for reading and taking my voyage with me...


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Change is scary. Change is inspirational.

Change is feared. At the same time, change is welcomed, anticipated, even sought after. How can something inspire feelings from all over the map? Change comes in about as many forms as emotions or thoughts it inspires. I don't think there is anything that evokes as varied a response as change.

I've gone through many changes in life...as has just about everyone. I have been lucky in that most if not all of the changes I have been through were positive in the end. Not everyone is that fortunate. However, I would have to say that with the exception of getting married and buying a house, my changes have been fairly tame. I've never really had to stick my neck out before. That is both good and bad, safety is nice, but a good failure now and again is good for the soul.

I've seen many people around me, new friends and old go through some inspiring changes and I have come to think, why not me?

Why not me? I don't fear change...I do have a healthy respect for it. But still, why not me?

To quote Owen Hart "enough is enough, and it's time for some change!"

Wanna come along and see what I do? I'd love to have you.

What are some of your changes, and what feelings did/do they inspire?

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Twitter & Blogging - A Self Perpetuating Circle?

Little guy starts a blog and a Twitter account. Little guy follows the big guys (yes, girls too. Using guys is easier to write.). Little guy sees big guys doing their thing, and knows he is not yet there. Little guy asks questions of everyone, big, little, whomever. Little guy not big guy, so many big guys aren't following him back or reading his blog. Little guy can't get advice from big guy because he isn't big guy. Little guy stuck, because to be big guy you need advice from big guy. Big guy generally only helps out fellow big guys, leaving little guy on the outside, trying to climb a mountain he can't climb by himself.


Seem like an absurd story? It happens everyday, and not just online. You know that guy in your office trying everything he can to get ahead, but he can't catch a break? Little guy. The guy from math class that can't get it right but the teacher won't help him? Little guy.

If there's nobody behind you pushing you, ready to take over for you when you're done, where is he? He's the little guy, and he's been stuck with the other little guys using little guy advice on how to be a big guy.

Do you want your hard work to be useless once you're gone because you didn't help get people ready to take your place? I hope not.

Be nice to the little guy. He just wants to be like you. You were there once, someone helped you. What's stopping you from doing the same?



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When To Change Everything Or Nothing

Sometimes a blog runs its course. Sometimes a marketing campaign runs too long. Occasionally an individual advertisement dissapears too quickly. We've all seen it happen, maybe even been part of it. Why does this happen?

Any ideas?

Dumb luck? Fickle audience? Bad product?

Probably, but generally no.

Much like in sales, everything has a break even point. Stop too early, and you miss it. Stop too late, and you run the risk of losing it all. Finding that point is a skill that not very many people have, and even those people aren't always perfect at finding it. For every time the break even point is hit, and you cut and run at the right time, there are untold numbers of people who stayed too long, or left too early.

The thing about it is, there's no generalization on how to find the spot. It could be years, months, weeks, days, hours, or any other time measurement. A blog could reach that point in three years, whereas a commercial may hit it within weeks or months, and that's with a quality product. The break even point for a subpar idea is likely to be even shorter.

What break even points have you come across?

Thanks for reading!!

Why My Blog Reminds Me Of Spam

I suppose that's not the greatest title for a blog post, but it's true. My blog reminds me of spam.

It doesn't seem to get to the right target, it's all over the place contentwise, and post tend to come in bunches, much like spam does.

I promise you, my loyal (I figure if you read THIS post especially, you're a loyal reader) readers, that I will be fine tuning things around here quite a bit in the coming days and weeks and so on.

The only thing that makes this blog NOT like spam, is that you all know where the posts are coming from, and I am actually a real person who's not trying to sell you anything. I don't have a product or service for sale - I just voice my opinions.

Thanks for reading.