MARKETING BYTES BLOG

INBOUND MARKETING: How to Get Customers Without Really Trying, Updated

Alison Gilbert, Digital Age Storyteller — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 16:21:36 +0000

INTRODUCTION
INBOUND MARKETING: How to Get Customers Without Really Trying is a recent blog post I wrote for digitalbrandmarketing.com, a multi-author blog in the tradition of the ‘read, write and share’ philosophy. My post resulted in some interesting comments that I replied to. This got me thinking more about my original blog’s topic. I felt all of this merited a follow up blog post, INBOUND MARKETING: How to Get Customers Without Really Trying, Updated.

COMMENTS AND REPLIES
Here are the comments that were made to the original post and links to my replies:

Comment and Reply area on a WordPress blog post @Digital Brand Marketing Blog

From, smsharif:
“Interesting play of words, this Inbound Marketing. no matter what you call it, in layman’s terms it is just MARKETING.”
My reply:

From Leon De Silva:
“Offer value, get amplification without (further) incentivisation”.
My reply:

From Jason Flaugh:
“great article. I am with Smsharif. Rather than call it inbound, consider marketing as an evolving concept.”
My reply:

From mandyf:
“The terminology is a bit dressed up, but this rings to basic marketing. It’s good information and presented well.”
My reply:

LIKES
I also want to thank the two individuals who ‘liked’ this blog. They are Erik Van Erne of ‘wolframpublications’ and Steve SchraderBachar of ‘IowaHomeLoans’.

What 'Likes' look like on a wordpress blog post @ digital brand marketing blog

DEFINING MOMENT FOR INBOUND MARKETING
After reading these comments and replying to them, I got to thinking more about this concept, Inbound Marketing. This art and science is described in a variety of ways that are infathomable to most consumers and at times, to us marketing pros, as well. But for our purposes, here is an all inclusive set of explanations that I hope will provide some clarification:

#1. marketing, advertising and promotion (MAP)- the activity by and for products vendors and service providers to stimulate consumption

#2. consumption-the activity of purchasing, buying and consuming products and services

#3. Inbound Marketing-#1 will continue to become less annoying as it becomes more seamlessly integrated and an attractive rather than intrusive process towards achieving #2.

#4. The organic result-as the evolving technology continues to shift from ‘traditional to digital’ means and ‘the digital technology improve’ using #3 (or whatever name is used), the process of #1 and #2 will naturally merge or become symbiotic.

CONCLUSION
What do you think? Your comments and my ability to reply to them are part of the process of developing more ideas, a larger perspective and new theories. This are very important to me both as a writer and someone who seeks to be a thought leader. Thank you all. The comment box is below the list of ‘Sources and Related Articles’.

SOURCES AND RELATED ARTICLES

When Consumers Revolt Against Traditional Marketing What Should You Do?

Lead Generation Is The New (Old) Inbound Marketing

Inbound Marketing by Brain Halligan and Dharmesh Shah

INBOUND MARKETING: How to Get Customers Without Really Trying

digitalbrandmarketing.com

Erik Van Erne

Steve SchraderBachar

Cutting Up The Social Media Pie: Let’s Go To The Videos

Alison Gilbert, Digital Age Storyteller — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 20:43:01 +0000

INTRODUCTION

There are so many parts and facets of social media. Just attempting to keep up with them can put one into a dizzying tail spin. So what I thought might be fun, every once in a while, is to present a particular slice of the social media pie as its own post topic.

The Social Media Pie @ Culturewav.es

Today I am in the mood for videos. How about you? YouTube ranks second only to Google in the number of searches that are done on it. YouTube can be a great way to learn, be entertained and have interesting background noise while working on something else on your computer.

I have one Channel on YouTube, MarketingBytesBiz. There are a wide variety of videos on my channel. Some are educational, some are entertaining, and I am still working on some that are not your everyday topic.

In doing my research about videos, I have noticed that I have a tolerance for varied lengths of videos depending upon my mood, my other activities, the attention span, and how much time I am willing to invest in a particular topic.

I have a tremendous admiration for people who can say things very concisely. I also appreciate a longer video if it holds my attention. There are topics that require only a minute or less, particularly the fantastic series about social media by Basil Puglisi, founder of Digital Brand Marketing Education, a multi author blog that I write for.

Other stories and presentations can last the 18 minute TED.com designated length. They often leave me wanting to hear more. Then there are the film length and longer videos that have to be segmented to qualify for YouTube viewing such as the Ian Xel Lungold Series about the Mayan Calendar @ Ian Xel Lungold. It previews before the actual video show here.

LET ‘ER ROLL

I would like to combine some of my own video with that of other people and projects to present some of my favorites and some that I feel have particular value. First is my favorite, from a summer vacation two years ago. It seems to be a favorite of other people, as well. It is called, Have You Ever Been Kissed by a Giraffe? I loved every minute of the experience and hope you will enjoy watching it as much as I did starring in it @ Phil Jacobs.

A FEW EDUCATIONAL TID BITS

Next is an example of a very short series of educational videos that I think work extremely well. They are amazingly concise and really hit the nail on the head about social media and testimonials @ Basil Puglisi.

A post without an example from the TED.com series would be incomplete. The presentations are extraordinary and are about the most up-to-date things that man is doing, creating and experiencing. In my opinion, I would rather than watch these than almost any TV show on. Here is one of my favorites, Thomas Heatherwick Building the Seed Cathedral @ TED Talks:

THE END

Movie Snacks Anyone? @ GiftBasketJewels.com

Well, I hope you remembered to bring your popcorn, your favorite candy and soft drinks. Going to the ‘videos’ can be fun and entertaining. It can be educational and promotional. It can be a breathtakingly amazing experience, too. Did you enjoy your time with me today? Let me know what you think of these videos as well as the ideas of presenting slices of the social media pie as topics.

RELATED ARTICLES:

Is Curation as a Value Finally Here?

Writers, Here’s the Recipe for Grandma’s Old-Fashioned Social Media Pie

YouTube

A Fond Farewell to the Charrette Corporation

Alison Gilbert, Digital Age Storyteller — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:05:03 +0000

The Charrette delivery van @ The Charrette Corporation

How It Began

What began as a simple story, one article as the NY Graphic Design Examiner, evolved into a series of articles, about six in total, that spanned a year’s time to complete. Although the time to compile all the materials, do the research, interview primary sources and so on did not take a full year, a new assignment as an author for The Digital Brand Marketing Blog took me away from the project for sometime during that year. In fact, this multi-author blog has made it to the semi-finals of the Social Media Examiner’s Top Ten Blogs 2012 competition.

But it was overdue to be completed. It was like a long ‘good bye’ that no one wants to make when dear friends must part. But it had to be done. Essentially, I knew what the final article would be about, the store designed by architect, David Paul Helpern, a fellow student of Charrette Corporation founders, Lionel Spiro and Blair Brown, who all attended the Harvard Graduate School of Design. The store, located on Manhattan’s East side on Lexington Avenue in the East 30’s, was the Crowning Jewel of the Charrette NY retail side.

Although the commercial accounts handled by a sales force that covered much of the East Coast and into the Midwest were much larger than the retail side sales, the retail side was the face of the corporation. This gave Charrette the opportunity to show the world the ‘stuff it was made of’. As the tip of the iceberg, it glistened in the sun and shone like a well-polished gem. The flagship store was the ultimate representation of the Charrette brand.

It was a company whose name was synonymous with quality. The tools and supplies manufactured for and sold by Charrette had to be of the highest quality. The pedigree that resulted from employment at the company practically guaranteed future employment anywhere when the time came for someone to move on.

The Charrette corporate culture, philosophy and brand development was such that it is possible that other retail corporations fashioned their stores after Charrette. They were clean looking with simple straight lines, well designed, displaying everyday items as if they were high end designer merchandise.

The Announcement for the Charrette NY Crowning Jewel © Illustration: Johanna Bohoy for Charrette Corp.

What Happened

One article led to another as one primary resource introduced me to the next. Both founders eventually became available and many memorable hours were spent on the phone reminiscing about their beloved company. Suppplies, catalogs, photos and other memorabilia were supplied to accompany the memories. One by one, staff, customers and HGSD alumni were located and interviewed.

The generosity of everyone was as real as the quality of the Charrette inventory. The Charrette culture had affected everyone who came in touch with it. The writing of this story took on a life of its own, a life that also had to be written in a way that gave credence to this corporate culture and all its glorious history.

So I wrote and wrote and wrote. When would it end? How would it end? Numerous months’ hiatus from the writing became awkward and the pressure to finish overcame the same lingering feeling of not wanting to say good-bye. But at the same time, it was clear that the final tribute had to be made and how to do it.

That is where The Charrette NY Crowning Jewel came into the picture. It was a store that was written up in two nationally respected professional magazines, Interiors (February 1982) and Visual Merchandising (June 1982), had a grand, grand opening and one that was built to design specifications. It was glorious. Everything about it and in it was a designer’s dream. In addition, the place, their products, and award winning packaging designs were featured in two nationally renowned design magazines, Communication Arts (March/April 1982) and Print (May/June 1982).

And then, in spite of the attempts to keep up with the times of transition from analog to digital design, it was time to let go. No more founders, some staff stayed, some staff went. The era that was the original Charrette was gone. The company was bought by a succession of other companies. It even became known by different names. But the culture and the philosophy could not be packaged, bought and sold.

Gone but Never Forgotten, A Charrette Trailer @ 2011 Christine Miller, former Charrette employee

How It Ended

So it was time to say good-bye, for all of us, the founders, the staff, the customers and even this author of a series of articles that became the Charrette NY Chronicle that took a year to write. It is all over. But much will live on in the minds and memories of those whose lives were touched by the experience of their involvement.

There is a Charrette Alumni Group on Linkedin. I am the only civilian to have the honor of belonging. There is also an Internet photo archive on flickr. Finally and in some small way, it is my sincere hope that the Charrette Chronicle will be part of this legacy. It is dedicated to all the wonderful people who let me into their lives and shared their stories so that I could write a series in honor of them and their Charrette experience.

Thank you all and good-bye.

Related Articles

Gone But Never Forgotten: An Invitation to a Graphic Memoir

The Baby Was Born In a Harvard Closet

Charrette Meets ‘Big Apple’ Graphic Standards

The Charrette NY Creative Culture

Paul Rand: the NYC born and educated graphic designer, Part One

Part Two: Paul Rand, the NYC born graphic designer

The Charrette NY Chronicle Completed

Where Have All The Blog Posts Gone?

Alison Gilbert, Digital Age Storyteller — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 01:13:45 +0000

Where Have All the Blog Posts Gone?
One might think that based upon the infrequency of my posts lately, that I had lost interest in blogging. The opposite is the case. I love to write and I think blogging is one of the coolest inventions for someone like myself who has plenty to say, to show and to share.

I have not been posting here as often as I’d like because my writing energies have been going to a multi-author blog that I am a contributing writer for, DigitalBrandMarketing.com. I have been contributing for several months now and have watched myself progress as I hone my skills as an online ‘journalist’. In fact, that reminds me of some recent posts of mine about an Oregon Supreme Court case dealing with blogging versus journalism. You can read them on DBME.

Mari Smith comments on Joy Lynskey's DBME blog post @ facebook

Digital Brand Marketing Education
Let me just tell you a little bit about DBME. It is a nonprofit started by Basil Puglisi, a very bright, high-energy young man who is really going places in the social media world. In the short time that the blog has been in existence, we have reached the semi-finals in the Social Media Examiner’s 2012 Top Ten Blog contest. From an original nominated group of 570, 20 blogs have been selected as semi-finalists.

DigitalBrandMarketing.com has made it this far. We are all thrilled and keeping our fingers crossed as we watch the number of comments increase and more visitors swimming around our word-pool.

This publicity has drawn a good deal of attention to the blog. This is wonderful for everyone. Our blog deals with social media issues, things related to digital issues, branding, marketing and business. As writers, we are part of the ‘read, write and share’ tradition. As we become better researchers and writers, we are better able to educate and inform our audience about the issues at hand.

This has been a phenomenal experience for me. I look forward to many opportunities to come both as a writer for DBME and the perks that come from being part of a community of such esteemed social media professionals.

Social Media Examiner Blog Post Announcing the semi-finalists in their Top 10 Blogs Contest 2012 @Social Media Examiner

Sources

Digital Brand Marketing Education

Social Media Examiner Top Ten Blog Semi-Finalist for 2012

Mari Smith Comment about Digital Brand Marketing Education Blog Post

The Treacherous Trip from Leopard to Lion: A Digital Fable

Alison Gilbert, Digital Age Storyteller — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 21:03:22 +0000

HOW IT ALL BEGAN
About a month ago, I awoke to find that I could no longer view videos on my computer. Was it a nightmare or was I really awake to this horror. I would receive indications on e-mails, on social media comments, on blog posts, it seemed like everywhere. The reason I knew they were videos hidden from sight was because I was constantly plagued by the sign of the black rectangle.

A MAC OS X Leopard Logo

NO VIDEO
Often there was a chilling warning, taunting me in written in bold letters across the rectangular black void, as if I had committed the terrible sin because my Flash player was out of date. The feeling of commencing a treacherous journey, one I had taken before, began to overshadow me. The difference from other times was that this time I was surrounded by nothing but black, rectangular mine fields. Friends would say to me, “Oh did you see that video I sent you?” and I would have to answer in the negative, confessing that I had not.

TECHNICALLY INFERIOR
It had become quite embarrassing, almost humiliating. I was functioning at a technical level lower than and inferior to just about everyone. How did it happen? And literally over night, too? I went from being a Steve Job’s products devotee to being an Apple flunky. The was my biggest humiliation. Most of the people who questioned me were ardent PC users, not even MAC loyalists. And I, the great proponent of Apple superiority, was having to admit that I could NOT even view videos. The black rectangle loomed larger and larger like a scarlet letter.

OUTDATED FLASH PLAYER
It got to the point where I could not take it any more. Every time I attempted to open a video, I got the message that the Flash Player I was using was out of date and that I needed to download a higher version. No biggie to them, the messengers inside my computer. But for me, it was mortifying. It was as if I was being told to run as fast everyone else but I had a broken leg. “I am going as fast as I can”, I found myself shouting back at the Flash message every time it appeared. It got to the point where I had to admit, even to myself, ‘I can’t do this anymore. I have gone as fast and as far as I can with my Leopard. It is outdated and I can not use the higher level of Flash. I surrender. The black triangle has won’.

MY LEOPARD HAD FAILED ME
The Leopard, that had been my faithful digital companion for over five years, finally had failed me. I had no choice but to go to the Lions. Somehow though, the pain I had already suffered made this transition, as treacherous as I knew it would be, less daunting since I had experienced similar trips in the past.

GONE FOREVER
The address books, the years of methodical bookmarking and endless organizational hours would all have to go down the drain. “Wait a minute”, one might say. “Can’t you ‘migrate’ these things from your Leopard to your new Lion?” Once again, the blushing humiliation set it. “No, you can not”, the MAC salesman confessed. My 10.4.11 Leopard was just too old to do any of the necessary tricks to make the leap to a 10.7.2 Lion. Nothing less than a complete start over would suffice.

A MAC LION OS X logo © guardian.co.uk

IN CONCLUSION
So here I am, three days after purchase, in the midst of my safari. Yes, perhaps one might consider me brave or perhaps a fool. But I am still porting from Leopard to Lion.

POST SCRIRT
By the way, if you have been through this nightmare and have any suggestions, tips or similar stories, please let me know. Just contact me through the comments section at the end of this story.

SOURCES:

Apple - OS X Lion – The world’s most advanced OS.

Upgrade Mac OS X to Leopard

Flash Player Version

Traditional Print Advertising versus Digital Online Marketing

Alison Gilbert, Digital Age Storyteller — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 06:00:37 +0000

INTRODUCTION

This blog post is written partly in a question and answer interview format. This step-by-step process is meant to make it easier to understand the transition from traditional (print) advertising to online (also known as digital) marketing. It also emphasizes the importance of this evolutionary change. Since I know my own experiences intimately (what I have gone through as both a consumer and a business owner), I am using myself as both the interviewer and interviewee in the Q and A section.

Digital © digitalcamertechnique.com

WHAT IS HAPPENING AND WHY
The world as we know it is going through a major transition from printing everything on paper to digital (paperless) technologies. There are several reasons for this change from ‘print to pixel’ (a form of digital measurement).

• First is the green reason. It involves using less paper, having less waste and conserving resources. In fact, some businesses have a green or paperless policy. They frown on the use of paper and go to great lengths to minimize its use altogether.

• Second is technology. The computer and the Internet have begun to make this possibility into a reality. But this transition is not seamless. One area where this is a road filled with uncertainties is in the marketing & advertising industry.

• There is still a great deal of paper used in this industry. Although it is decreasing and there are options to use paper or go paperless in many of our daily activities, it is my opinion that the case to continue in the less-paper direction with all due diligence is a crucial one.

• Unfortunately, one of the major obstacles to going paperless is the generation of adults, considered baby boomers and older, who grew up and became educated without this technology. The height of sophistication was slide rules and pocket calculators. Now there are the Inbound Boomers to help with this transition.

• The process of thinking is very different for those of us born before desktops, laptops, iPhones, iPads, iPods and I don’t know what other ‘i’ things there will be. We think on paper. Our reality is based on doing and learning things by reading from and writing on paper not from a computer screen, keypad and mouse (or touch pad). It takes a focused and concerted effort to change one’s thought processing beyond ‘recycling one’s garbage’.

The Boomer Family © Marketing Bytes

• None the less and for the reasons listed above, I think it is very important to have a discourse (this is where the Q and A format begins) to highlight where we are in the transition from print to pixel and the value of continuing as quickly as possible.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS FOR CONSUMERS:
Q: Do you have any phone books in your home?
A: I admit that I still have a few local ones but none of the large, cumbersome ones.

Q: If so, what do you use them for?
A: Primarily to gather dust but I hear they are good as pillows for high chairs, car seats if someone is short and can’t reach the petals or see above the dashboard and the latest designer furniture pictured here.

Q: How many times have you opened a phone book in the last year to find a phone number or locate a local business?
A: Once, maybe twice.

Q: Do you read the advertising circulars and magazines that are delivered weekly to your home by the post office?
A: Never

Q: Or do you throw them away without reading them?
A: They are delivered by letter carrier between Wednesday and Friday and placed in our lobby. Within a day, they become a messy pile. The building super throws them away on Sunday for Monday garbage pickup.

Q: Do you collect discount coupon books and cut out retail coupons?
A: I love coupon books. In fact, when they arrive, I take most if not all of them so they do not end up in the trash. I hand them out in my neighborhood. Everyone loves when I do that. I have no patience to clip coupons but I do hear about people that do.

Q: How many times have you left coupons home or misplaced them so you were not able to use them when you needed them?
A: I always misplace the book coupons or other discount papers I receive.

Q: Do you have the plastic ID key chain tags that retailers give out?
A: Someone could write my biography based on the number and variety of the ID tags I have. In fact, CVS Pharmacy gives one the option of printing out a coupon or placing their weekly discount information on their ID tag so one never has to worry about losing a coupon. Other retailers should adopt that system too. It is a great digital, paperless move.

QUESTIONS FOR BUSINESS OWNERS:

Q: What techniques do you use to promote your business?
A: All online, ‘attraction’ and Inbound Marketing.

Q: What is the primary way your customers find you?
A: Networking, recommendations and referrals online and in-person.

Q: Do you advertise with traditional print media, print ads, coupons, etc?
A: No. But I know plenty of local businesses that do and I am startled by how much money they willingly spend to do so.

Q: Do you know where the circulars and magazines that you spend your advertising budget on go when they are delivered to postal residents in your community?
A: I know they go right into the garbage.

Garbage truck © dreamstime.com

Q: Do you believe that if you keep using traditional methods of print media advertising, including direct mailings, that it will eventually pay off again when the economy improves?

A: I know that is NOT the case. Technology is changing the way consumers shop and businesses need to advertise. But many of my local business colleagues do not seem to understand this yet. Some times I consider sending out a postcard for the fun of it but the cost of printing and postage cool my enthusiasm.

Q: Do you know what the cost is per new customer based upon the system of advertising you are using?
A: I admit that I don’t use this tool religiously but I know it works and I recommend that clients use it. I also know that online marketing is much more affordable and has a much wider reach than traditional advertising unless you can afford an advertising spot on the SuperBowl.

Q: Do you have a trackable method for learning how your new customers find you?

A: Yes, the new online marketing technology programs have amazing features to assist business owners in following and recording the progress of their marketing activities.

Q: Do you think it is easiest and cheapest to use direct mail (letters and postcards) to contact existing customers and attract new ones?
A: I cringe every time I get another postcard or even letter in the mail from one of my community business colleagues. I know they think this is a reasonable and inexpensive way to advertise. It worked in the past. If only they would take that leap into the 21st Century, the new economy and online marketing to at least give it a try for a little while. They can always continue with traditional media too and compare the results.

Q: Are you afraid of the computer, the Internet and the new advertising & marketing technology?
A: Personally, I embrace it and I am fascinated by what is going on. But there are so many business owners who are terrified of using the new technology. Some barely know how to use a computer.

Q: Do you know what online marketing is and how it differs from traditional advertising in content, cost and coverage?
A: Because marketing and advertising are my business, I started to learn about the new technology about a year and a half ago. It was very challenging but essential for me. Therefore, I am now well versed in what online marketing is. It is the use of the computer, the Internet and a whole host of new programs to help businesses attract new customers. Just as customers have changed the way they shop, business owners have to change the way they advertise to meet their customers’ searching needs.

A: I also know that online marketing is very cost effective. In fact, it is the only way that many start up businesses can afford to advertise on a zero dollar budget. Print advertising is VERY expensive and it requires constant repetition for recognition. With online marketing, once you are on, you’re on. But you do want to update and tweak information there too.

A: Online marketing’s coverage is so much broader than print media. There is NO comparison.

Q: Are you familiar with Local SEO (Search Engine Optimization)?
A: Search Engine Optimization is something that Google has been using for years to help consumers find what they are looking for. Google also designed SEO so that if a business uses the right formula, keywords, etc. it will rank well (first place or at least the first page) when a consumer searches for what they want.

A: Local SEO is the latest and most exciting addition to the host of services and tools Google offers. Instead of a ‘global’ search where a customer is looking to purchase something by mail (for example) and it can come from anywhere, local SEO is community specific. It is designed for consumers to locate what they want in a specific community. It is for making local, face-to-face purchases.

Q: Do you know what ‘Google Places’ are as well as their significance in promoting your business?
A: Google has identified over 49,000,000 local businesses in the US. Only about 11% of these businesses have ‘claimed’ their Google Place. Claiming one’s Google Place is the first step in participating in local online marketing and broadening one’s reach better than any other technique.

Google Places-Marketing Bytes near Rockville Centre, NY

Q: Have you claimed your Google Place? Is your business on the ‘seven pack’?
A: Yes, my company has claimed its Google Place. In the business categories I am listed under, I rank in the first seven listed and on the first page. This is both for my industry and geographic area. This is what is called the ‘seven pack’. (No it is not a free can of beer when you buy a six pack).

Q: Have you heard of Local Online Business Directories?
A: Local Online Business Directories are similar to print directories but they are dynamic, interactive, and can have visual and verbal information changed at any time. They also have links and can take you to other places. One of their primary features is reviews. They are the most attractive advertising aspect.

Q: Are you listed on Local Online Business Directories?A: I am listed on over 70 directories because someone did it for me as a favor and did no know it is unnecessary and even appropriate to be listed on so many.

Q: Do you know how to get recommendations and use word of mouth on line?
A: Yes, there are programs designed to help businesses get recommendations from their website, e-mail, blog, etc. These type of recommendations ARE word of mouth online.

Q: Do you know how to convert your current customers into your sales force?
A: On line recommendations from loyal customers are the best selling tool a business can have.

Q: Did you know that national and regional corporations sometimes need to be advertised as local businesses?
A: Yes, when they have a local retail presence like a Subway, Dunkin Donut, CVS, etc. They are all part of your community’s retail landscape.

SOURCES:
EcoJoes-Green Thinking for the Average Joe

MerchantCircle, one of my favorite Local Online Business Directories

Local SEO Online Business Directories

The Ultimate List: 50 Local Business Directories

Designing Traditional Print Advertising

Local Business Listings

Best SuperBowl ads

CVS Extra Care Card

Steve Jobs’ 2012 Presidential Prediction for Obama

Alison Gilbert, Digital Age Storyteller — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 02:01:13 +0000

“Steve Jobs, known for his aggressive and sometimes prickly personality, didn’t hold back when he met President Obama in 2010: The Apple CEO warned Obama he wasn’t going to win re-election.

‘You’re headed for a one-term presidency,’ Jobs said during a meeting with the president that took place a year prior to Jobs’ death related to pancreatic cancer, according to his upcoming biography as reported by the Huffington Post.”

THE YAHOO ARTICLE
Read the entire Yahoo! article at the following link:
Steve Jobs predicted Obama would be a one-term president

What amazed me about this article was not the contents of the article itself but the reaction my post on facebook got from my friends. The post has been up more than twenty four hours and I am still getting reactions to it.

To me it is immaterial if my friends’ comments are for or against the issue but that there is still a buzz about this post. The power of social media and that fact that it is relatively simple to get a reaction from people about how they feel if it is something they care about deeply can not be under estimated or overlooked. We have already seen this with twitter. I love it!

MY FACEBOOK COMMENT
You can see the reaction as it grows on my facebook page’s comments titled, Alison read an article on Yahoo! Some of the comments are not listed there but are sent as notices to me on a continuing basis indicating people like that I have posted the article about Steve Jobs’ prediction.

IRONIC CONCLUSION
Ironically, Jobs had planned to design political ads for President Obama’s 2012 campaign despite Jobs’ one-term presidency prediction for Obama. But Steve passed away before he was able to make good on his offer to support Obama’s 2012 bid for a second term or to see the outcome of the upcoming presidential election next year.

SOURCES
Steve Jobs predicted Obama would be a one-term President
Jobs’ death related to pancreatic cancer
Jobs upcoming biography as reported by the Huffington Post
More Buzz About Steve Jobs’ Biography from the Huff Post Social News
Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs’ Biographer on Wikipedia

Transforming Trash Into Treasures

Alison Gilbert, Digital Age Storyteller — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 18:24:03 +0000

The day before bulk garbage collection was heaven. Visiting my grandmother’s basement was like going to my own antique store. Looking for new thrift stores was an ongoing adventure.

So began my love affair with old furniture and furnishings, transforming them from trash into treasures. It lasted for several years, became a business and a system for the (re)use and (re)decoration of wood, metal and other materials.

Sidewalk finds, hand-me-downs, client commissions, were all considered trash that could be turned into treasures. Furniture that was neglected, considered ugly and worthless was saved from the garbage dump.

Dark mahogany wood, once in fashion, painted pea soup green when out of style, was transformed into colorful collectibles. The 5 Step Decorative Painting System was born out of transforming these orphans into debutantes. The results would often bring tears to the eyes of the recipient of each make over.

Household furnishings made of wood, metal and glass, unearthed from thrift stores throughout the area, became ‘Recycled with Love’ Collectables. Designs and patterns with names like Buttercup, Deco Style, African Violets, Crazy Pot, etc. covered aluminum, steel, and copper pots, wooden bread boxes, napkin holders, paper towel holders, glasses, vases, and all sorts of bric-a-brac.

The results of my love affair with furniture and the system I developed were shown in magazines, House and Distinction, in newspapers, Newsday and the Herald Community News chain as well as on television, on Lifetime’s Our Home Show.

It was an exquisite time for me. I am still kept company by some of these treasures. Many homes are filled with them as well. Hundreds of transformations are documented. They are either slides, before and after photos, and YouTube videos. Copies of the print materials are safely filed away.

A myriad of paintbrushes still decorate a shelf in colorful containers. The paints are long gone. They have less of a shelf life than the brushes. Once in a while, I will eye a piece of furniture, check its lines, its construction, the quality and condition of the wood. Pieces speak to me. That is why I painted them and not blank canvases.

I still check dresser drawers to see if their joinery is dovetailed or just glued and nailed together. I no longer have a business doing decorative painting but the love of it runs through my veins. On occasion, my heart leaps when I see a particular piece or a well executed design.

It all lives on as part of Alison*s Heirloom Projects. There it is stored and saved, to be brought from the past into the present for future safekeeping.

More on Logo Design and Branding

Alison Gilbert, Digital Age Storyteller — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 18:21:31 +0000

Here is my latest contribution to the Digital Brand Marketing Education Blog.
More on Log Design and Branding

A Casual Glance at Social Media

Alison Gilbert, Digital Age Storyteller — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 20:09:28 +0000

As some of you may know, I am one of five contributing writers to Basil Puglisi’s, Digital Brand Marketing Education Blog. My most recent post, A Casual Glance at Social Media, can be reached at the title link . Please let me know what you think by rating and commenting either here or on the DBME blog itself.