Virginia Business Magazine goes green for the April issue. (No, the paper doesn’t feel recycled, but the stories are all about the greening of businesses around the Commonwealth.) Like every piece ever written about the subject, there’s a ubiquitous “Not-easy-being green,” Kermit-the-Frog reference (p.25). The thing is, it’s not that hard to go green. Virginia… Read more »
Media/Marketing/Advertising
Fudge the time card
I recently paid a contractor for a job very well done. And as always happens when I pay invoices, I’m mystified by the pay-by-the-hour billing system. Does it include water breaks or web surfing? Do contractors take time off to visit the bathroom or take a quick napsky and keep the clock running?
Feel-Good Marketing
Cause-related marketing, as the marketing technique is known, owes its origins to an American Express program from the 1980s, when the credit card company donated funds to help restore the Statue of Liberty. In years since, the marketing style has become an increasingly popular tool for companies to create a positive association among potential customers…. Read more »
Make Your Own Web Commercial…just don’t fall of a ladder
A number of startups think there’s a market for helping businesses make videos of their products – sort of a QVC for the masses. In Tuesday’s New York Times, Bob Tedeschi describes the nascent TalkMarket: “It begins with an online tutorial of how to shoot product demonstration videos: light well, change camera angles, speak as… Read more »
A brothel is a small biz, right?
A few keys to operating a profitable brothel include having a website and selling advertising. Josh Levin in Slate writes about how Eliot Spitzer’s favorite escort services diversified beyond just whoring. Richmond brothels don’t have websites, according to a cursory search by me. Freelance hookers use Craigslist. Read the story here.
Ads land at airport security
Perhaps you’ve noticed them, too. At first your trip starts out normally. You approach airport security fiddling with your boarding pass. You take a laptop out of its protective sleeve and check your Ziploc bag loaded with small, see-through bottles of fluid (no more than 4 ounces, mind you!). But something seems different.