Obama Goes Toe-To-Toe With Stephanopoulos On “Tax Increases”

Posted by John Park on Sep 20th, 2009
2009
Sep 20


Is this a TAX Increase or not???


If the Government forces me to purchase something via a MANDATE, how is this not a tax increase?  How will this effect small businesses everywhere?


Chime In. Let me know what you think.




Until Next Time…



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A Marketing Lesson From The Vegas Water Guy

Posted by John Park on Sep 18th, 2009
2009
Sep 18

waterguy

 
I see dead people… I mean marketing opportunities everywhere and what I noticed on a Vegas walkway in the middle of August was no exception.
 
It was an “Africa Hot” day and making money from everyone’s discomfort were entrepreneurially minded individuals selling chilled bottled waters to passersby tourists.  They were poorly dressed, disheveled looking and not exactly professional in their approach or presentation.  Nevertheless, they were selling these waters just by waving them around standing in front of their coolers, which were filled with all generic brands.
 
During the 3 minutes it took for us to walk completely by, I observed two guys—one at each corner.
 
The guy on the left was just standing there holding a bottled water in each hand.  He had a handwritten cardboard sign propped up against his cooler with a “$1″ written on it.  He looked bitter and he clearly didn’t want to be there.
 
The guy on the right had the same setup except he was engaged in the “selling.”  Every few seconds, he would yell out “cold water here, $1″.  He would just repeat that statement over and over again.  Not surprisingly, I witnessed him sell about 3 times more water than the guy on the left.


Don’t worry.  I didn’t stop to give the guy on the left marketing advice (I was with the family).

 
However, I did start thinking about how we could probably all define our level of business success by how ENGAGED we are in the selling of our products and services.
 
So, which guy or gal are you?


Are you the guy on the left waiting for the business to miraculously come to you, otherwise known as playing the numbers game or are you the guy on the right dictating your own outcome by being engaged in the success of your business?


In this economy, you know which guy you have to be.  Dictate your own outcome or success.  Don’t be a recession victim.  If the water guy has it figured out, it should be easy for you. (no offense to water guys everywhere)
 
 
Until Next Time…
 
 



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Suddenly They’re Blind.

Posted by John Park on Aug 27th, 2009
2009
Aug 27

 
As my readers know very well,  I am often writing about the good things happening in business.  However, in some cases, I have to bring to everyone’s attention a very bad thing happening in the business community.
 
So… as of today, I’ve decided to start a SHAME ON YOU BUSINESS category.
 
All of the businesses listed or mentioned in these postings are doing or have done something really STUPID to damage their brand and customer loyalty.  And more importantly, their acts are damaging small businesses and their owners—the people I fight for.  Sometimes these acts are illegal but most of the time, they are just unethical.  In most cases, it is just downright shameful.
 
Today’s winner is CHASE BANK.
 
There is a lot of negative consumer buzz on the Internet about what this bank has done lately.  After the 25 Billion bailout (our hard-earned tax money) and after they got a chance to buy WAMU for cheap from the FDIC when that bank went belly-up, this not so fine institution has decided to launch a series of tactics to increase their profits by levying new and unreasonable terms on their customers.
 
For the past several years, they have been one of the biggest marketers of low rate balance transfers.  These programs would promise you a low rate for the life of the loan as long as you transferred to them.  And as a result, millions of consumers did just that.
 
 
( The Shameful Act )
 
They recently adopted a policy to raise the minimum payment percentage from 2% to 5% of the balance on many of these same customers.  As you can imagine, balance transfer accounts have a higher balance because consumers and business owners were using these accounts to pay off or manage their debts during this recession.  And as a result, minimum payments will more than double for these people.  If a business owner carries a 15K balance, his or her minimum payment will go from $300 to $750 a month.  This is not easy to swallow for any small business owner during these hard times.
 
And when consumers complain, they say “sure you can keep the 2% minimum payment but we just have to raise your interest rate to a much higher rate.”
 
Wasn’t this once known as the “bait and switch?”
 
This just exemplifies again that in business… Just because you can do it legally doesn’t mean that you should.
 
 
( Some negative Internet BUZZ about Chase )
 
 
 
It’s kind of ironic their new ad campaign is based on the song “Suddenly I see“.  Clearly… they don’t SEE.
 
 
Shame on you CHASE!
 
 
 

Facebook added 100 million users in 9 months!

Posted by John Park on Aug 25th, 2009
2009
Aug 25

It took Radio 38 years and TV 13 years to reach an audience of 50 million.  Facebook added 100 million users in 9 months!  This is a very important video for all business owners.  Social Media Marketing is here to stay.  As the video states… It is not a fad.




Until Next Time… By the way, don’t forget to follow me on Twitter.



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The T-Mobile Dance… Just Really Fun to Watch!

Posted by John Park on Aug 18th, 2009
2009
Aug 18

One of my clients passed this along to me and I just love it.  It’s another successfully produced viral business video.  The importance of this particular video is that T-Mobile has successfully connected their brand to the video.  It isn’t just funny or shocking, it actually supports the brand in a magical way–right down to the slogan.  See if you can count how many times they’ve managed to connect the brand to the actual video.  HINT:  How many people are holding a cell phone to their face?




Until Next Time…



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