“It was the day my grandmother exploded”. That’s the opening line of The Crow Road by Iain Banks. The book opens in the chapel of a crematorium in Scotland. The narrator has returned for a funeral. Although this is from a novel, it’s a great example of an opening line that compels the reader, or […]
I recently stumbled on a social networking site called Biznik. It’s been described as like LinkedIn, but with more social interaction and ways to promote. This evening, I set up a profile, and found one local person I know already on the network (hi, Michael!). The basic membership is free, but there are more goodies […]
Have you ever looked at a lawn sign ad — one for something other than a political candidate — and wondered how successful that marketing approach really is? Me neither. Robert J. Moore, on the other hand, got to wondering. While driving through Glassboro, New Jersey, he saw a lawn sign advertising an online dating […]
It is easy, these days, to convince yourself that all the news is bad, and everybody’s losing money. So I was heartened to read the following message from Jim Taszarek in his TazMedia newsletter: Here are some numbers out last week. Verizon profits up 31% in Q3 ’08. Everything cellular is hot. Honeywell profits up […]
I’m working with a Portland insurance company on a radio-and-internet campaign that hit the airwaves this week. The recruiter needs salespeople, and this is what he told me: Each year, he hires roughly 100 sales agents 50 of those agents will be gone before the end of their first year Of the 50 who remain, 25 […]