Lets Be Honest

How many times have you heard fast-food companies describe the products in their food as "All Natural."? The answer most certainly is too many. What does it mean? To put it simply, nothing! The terms "Natural Foods" and "All Natural Foods" have no legal definition. The next time you are looking for a truly natural product, check to see if it is USDA organic. Lets be honest and not try and trick the customer, sound good?

RED

When you see the color red what comes to mind? The first thing you think of has emotional attachment to you. It could be your favorite shirt, favorite cola (coke), or your favorite bands album cover... you might also think of something hot. Random examples yes, but hopefully they show you how powerful color is to each human being. Red is the hottest of the warm colors, which, means it has powerful meaning. When human’s get angry or embarrassed often times their faces grow red. Emotions get the best of us and cause our blood to pump a little faster. It can give away how we are feeling. Most often the color red shows power. This is one of the few reasons why it is on the flags of so many different countries. Red it an attention grabber; showing dominance and power. It is also a color that shows love. Next time you are in a need of a new color for you wardrobe, think about red.

Why marketing?

Almost every time I meet someone the question comes up, why did you major in marketing at Azusa Pacific University? My answer used to be rather bland and boring. Until I was a senior I really didn't know. As time went on however, I realized that marketing is a great way to help people. I enjoy finding things for friends, family, and even strangers that they will like. Recommending a friend a new band to listen to or telling someone about a high interest cd that you found online are both things I love doing. Their are products or services that some people like and others do not. It is a waste of time and resources to marketing products or services to those who don't want or need them.

As a marketer I want to be as efficient as possible in my research so I can reach the right consumers. I would love it if everyone wanted a product or service that I was marketing, but thats not the case. Their are a very limited amount of people who do want that thing you are offering but you need to find them and deliver that message. I want to find these people, but what separates me from others is that I only want to find these people. I do not want to market products to people who won't get their worth out of them. Selling a product to someone who does not need it is the best way to lose a customers trust. Delivering a product or service that a person truly needs is the best way to get a customer to trust you and continue doing business with you. Why do I want to be a marketer? I love to help people.

What I do not want to do

I was listening to the radio today and heard an ad trying to sell jewelry. As a marketer/ advertiser I know that companies need to advertise to get out word about their products or services. Their is a right way to do it and a wrong way. This company was advertising to parents of college kids. They tried to sell this idea that it's a tradition to buy your recent graduate in your family some diamond earrings or a white gold bracelet so that they may always remember graduating college. This may not be a new form of advertising but it comes off as fake and unnecessary. Selling products in the form of making up traditions, which, is nothing new for the jewelry business is trying to trick people. It tricks people in that they feel an emotion which says if they do not support this so called tradition then they are behind in the world. This is the bad part of marketing. Remember that you are your own person and your traditions are yours to pick and choose. They are not to be forced upon you by a marketing campaign unless you choose to support them. You always have a choice.

Golfing

It has been a while since I last posted, which, is mostly because I have been golfing a ridiculous amount. It also has to do with me being in Vegas for a couple weekends in a row as well as moving from the Los Angeles area to Portland, Oregon. So what have I learned during this time? I am a lucky guy who needs to start taking better advantage of my surroundings. While I have talking to numerous people about landing a job I still am left out in the cold. I do believe something will come up rather shortly, however, until then I am left wondering.

What I mean by taking better advantage of my surroundings is taking all of my time and using it wisely. I should be volunteering my time to the church. I should be writing business plans. Just because you are unemployed does not mean you cannot be useful. Seth Godin would say its about ignoring your lizard brain. My lizard brain tells me that I am an inexperienced recent graduate who needs a job before I can start doing anything. I know that I am capable of running my own business, therefore, I need to start writing more business plans. I would recommend you start using your time wisely as well, because golf may be fun but its unlikely that we are going to go pro.

Holding hands

This weekend I was walking through a crowd of people with a friend of mine. I wanted to make sure she stayed close so I reached back without looking and grabbed her hand. The spot we were at was loud and dark so the next minute was somewhat confusing to me. A man who looked like a security guard was pushing me back as if to say that the place I was going was off limits. I tried to move on through anyway but again was pushed back. I realized after a minute that this man next to me was trying to tell me that I had grabbed his hand instead of my friends. Lucky for me he found it to be funny.

Lesson learned?...Don't no look grab unless your willing to make a fool of yourself.

Friends give the best advice. That sounds obviously dumb, but I think its worth mentioning. Sometimes when I am need of advice I will google my questions. This has to be one of the most idiotic habits that have developed because of the development of search engines such as google. Maybe you will find the answer you are looking for through the internet. Most likely you won't, and even if you do how can it match the advice you could get from someone who cares about you? I know that I am capable of talking with one of my friends and giving far better advice than any wiki answer.

No matter how good or bad an advertisement is I always pay attention to it. When I was a kid I acted out my own commercials as I was playing basketball by myself in my backyard. I had a creative imagination that wanted to act out an NBA basketball game exactly as it happened. I, of course was the star player and did everything perfectly (thats creativity). I was obsessed to the point that I took commercial breaks between shooting hoops outside. When you grow up being exposed to over about 5000 advertising messages in a 24 hour period it can become a part of some people, as it is now in my life.

I notice every billboard, sign, radio ad, TV commercial, magazine ad, and especially ads on the internet. I estimate that their are on average 5 ads that I enjoy per day, the other ones automatically get hated upon. When I say enjoy I mean that they caught my eye with 1. their creativity 2. made me laugh, or 3. had a superior product that had the first two things. That is how you effectively market to Gregg Rathbone. You must be creative, funny, and have a superior product... am I different then the rest of the United States population?

Smiles

Smiling while you are talking on the phone really does make a difference. I always have to remind myself of this. Holding a phone conversation in an upbeat and positive tone lets the other person know that they are valued. It helps in making you seem like a passionate person or friend depending on the nature of the call.

As I am searching harder and harder to find a place to begin my career, I am constantly seeking to learn new ways to separate myself from the pack. Being creative and different is not easy. I have learned that nothing shows confidence quite like a smile though, and this has help me out much.