Russel Ray's Blog

How much should you REALLY care about some of those ActiveRain members?

Russel Ray, San Diego Marketing & Business Consultant (Russel Ray) — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 09:52:30 -0600

Did you know that ActiveRain is an interactive site? Yes! It's true!

Look around! See all the words everywhere that are blue and underlined? If you click on those underlined blue words, you'll magically be taken to another place!

If you don't like it in that new place, you can simply use your browser back button to magically go back from whence you came.

You can learn a lot at ActiveRain, and about ActiveRain, just by having the curiosity of a cat. After all, here at ActiveRain, you won't need nine lives.

One of the first places to explore is the ActiveRain home page. This is where it can get tricky because the ActiveRain menu in the blue bar doesn't have a Home link like most web sites. To get to the ActiveRain home page, simply click on the ActiveRain logo in the upper left corner of your screen.

That ActiveRain logo is displayed everywhere you go, so you can always get home.

I bring this up because of a Featured Post yesterday about the Top 50 ActiveRain bloggers from 2007 compared to the Top 50 ActiveRain bloggers from 2009. The list reminds me of the game Trivial Pursuit, and trivia is fun, no doubt; just see my own blog!

To my way of thinking, those top bloggers, those with the most subscribers, etc., indicate to me that they are persistent and consistent in what they do. Persistence and consistence will get you to the top of any industry in any generation. So what's important to me is knowing who in my profession is being persistent and consistent at ActiveRain. In a worldwide community of almost seven billion people rapidly becoming interconnected in a global economy, those in my profession who are persistent and consistent will be my competitors, and justifiably so.

As a Marketing & Business Consultant, I'm not competing against Realtors, mortgage lenders, home inspectors, stagers, etc., so the list of Top 50 with everyone thrown together doesn't really concern me. Interesting, but of no real concern. Give me a list of the Top 50 Marketing people, and I'm all over it.

Here's how you can use the interactivity of ActiveRain to find out who your top competitors are in your profession, state, county, and city:

First, simply click on that ActiveRain logo. Then look at the top right side of your screen and you'll see blue underlined text that says "Featured Members."

It's definitely a misnomer because "featured" would seem to indicate that there would be far fewer than 168,330 members under that link. As with everything in life, most people overlook the Featured Members link itself because they are busy looking at the beautiful photos of whatever two members happen to be featured there. So in a sense, that Featured Members box is fewer than 168,330 members, but that link can also take you to all 168,330 members listed by their professions. Go ahead! Try it!

This is one area where I believe ActiveRain fails in reaching its potential to make money. For example, if there were a very easy way for the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors, and all the other smaller home inspector trade associations, to advertise at ActiveRain only to the home inspectors, I bet there would be some who would do it. They might even advertise to Realtors, but I don't think they'd be willing to spend a lot of money advertising to stagers, virtual assistants, or appraisers, nor the ActiveRain community as a whole.

Look around the various screens as you are enjoying our community. You'll see a lot of white space on your screen. That white space is valuable in terms of advertising and sponsorship dollars!

So there you have it. Check out the persistent and consistent competitors in your profession because those are the ones you should be worried about.

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Fifteen recent blog posts

The ActiveRain History Station: Too short to be of any importance
It's best never to think you are the best
When cute doesn't work
Get a better buzz right here!
Learn from the best of the worst!
What is social networking? Or, When is an ActiveRain Ambassador not an ActiveRain Ambassador?
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY - Part five: Happy Holidays!
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY - Part four: Happy Hanukkah!
The ActiveRain History Station: "Who's on first?"
You, too, can Play in the Rain naked!
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, AND HNY - Part three: Season's Greetings!
The one best way to be amazingly successful
Commandments #11-20
Know where your target market is and where they hang out
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY - Part two: More Christmas stamps

Helpful blog posts for ActiveRain newbies

My favorite stations on the ActiveRain TV:

ActiveRain Convention Station
ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station
ActiveRain History Station
ActiveRain Library Station
ActiveRain Nature Station
ActiveRain Symphony Station
ActiveRain Travel Station

The ActiveRain History Station: Too short to be of any importance

Russel Ray, San Diego Marketing & Business Consultant (Russel Ray) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 06:45:49 -0600

I'm wondering why Boeing didn't wait just two more days before taking their new Boeing 787 Dreamliner on its first test flight. Would have made a nice recognition of the 106th anniversary of the first airplane flight on December 17, 1903.

If you remember your American history, you should know that the two participants were Wilbur and Orville Wright, and the place was Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

Orville was the pilot of the gasoline-powered, propeller-driven biplane, which stayed in the air for a whopping 12 seconds, covering 120 feet. Doesn't sound like much in the age of travel to the moon and beyond, but on that December day, history was changed forever.

In official parlance, the event was "the first sustained and controlled heavier-than-air powered flight by man."

Wilbur was born in 1867 and died of typhoid fever in 1912. Orville was born in 1871 and died in 1948. Neither of them ever married.

Other interesting tidbits about the Wright Brothers, Kitty Hawk, and the flight of man:

Both are buried in the family plot in the Woodland Cemetary in Dayton, Ohio.
The biplane was named the Flyer, a name that should be familiar to University of Dayton sports fans.
The Flyer flew four times on December 17, 1903, covering 120 feet, 175 feet, 200 feet, and 852 feet.
Five people witnessed the flights: Adam Etheridge, John Daniels (who took the famous photograph), Will Dough, W. C. Brinkley, and Johnny Moore, a young boy who lived in the area.
After the fourth flight, a gust of wind flipped the biplane over several times, damaging it beyond repair. Years later Orville restored it and it was donated to the Smithsonian Institution in 1948, where it remains on display.
The Dayton Journal refused to publish a story about the flights, saying that they were too short to be of any importance. Reminds me of Decca Records declining to sign The Beatles because guitar groups were going out of style.
In 1904, they set up an airfield at Huffman Prairie 13 miles northeast of Dayton, Ohio, where further research took them to success and the founding of The Wright Company.
Because they had not yet been granted a patent, they were very secretive about their work and flights, so secretive that newspapers throughout the world were running headlines such as "Flyers or liars?"
Their secrecy eventually resulted in many patent battles with aviators throughout the world, most notably Glenn Curtiss and the Curtiss Aeroplane Company. In a twist of irony, The Wright Aeronautical Corporation and The Curtiss Aeroplane Company merged in 1929 to create the Curtiss-Wright Company, still in existence today producing high-tech components for the aerospace industry.
The Wright Company transported the first known commercial air cargo on November 7, 1910, flying two bolts of dress silk from Dayton to Columbus for the Moorehouse-Marten Department Store. The air cargo fee was a whopping $5,000. The silk was cut into small pieces and sold as souvenirs.
They built bicycles and printing presses to fund their flight research.
From 1910 to 1916, The Wright Company Flying School at Huffman Prairie trained 115 pilots, including Henry "Hap" Arnold, a five-star general who commanded the United States air forces in World War II and was the first head of the United States Air Force.
Samuel Langley, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution from 1887 to 1906, had also experimented with manned flight, but two tests of his Aerodrome in October and December 1903 were complete failures. However, the Smithsonian displayed the Aerodrome as the first craft "capable" of manned, powered flight, even allowing Glenn Curtiss to make modifications to it in 1914 and fly it in an effort to undermine the Wright Brothers' patent claims. In 1942, the Smithsonian published for the first time a list of the Aerodrome modifications and recanted misleading statements it had made about the 1914 tests.
There is a friendly rivaly between Ohio and North Carolina. Both states show the Wright Flyer biplane on the reverse of their state quarters. Both states have similar slogans on their license plates, Ohio using "Birthplace of Aviation Pioneers" (Neil Armstrong and John Glenn are also from Ohio) and North Carolina uses "First in Flight."

The two stamps below picture two space shuttles. Can you name them and explain their significance to each other?

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Fifteen recent blog posts

It's best never to think you are the best
When cute doesn't work
Get a better buzz right here!
Learn from the best of the worst!
What is social networking? Or, When is an ActiveRain Ambassador not an ActiveRain Ambassador?
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY - Part five: Happy Holidays!
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY - Part four: Happy Hanukkah!
The ActiveRain History Station: "Who's on first?"
You, too, can Play in the Rain naked!
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, AND HNY - Part three: Season's Greetings!
The one best way to be amazingly successful
Commandments #11-20
Know where your target market is and where they hang out
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY - Part two: More Christmas stamps

Helpful blog posts for ActiveRain newbies

My favorite stations on the ActiveRain TV:

Help your Clients read through your lists

Russel Ray, San Diego Marketing & Business Consultant (Russel Ray) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 10:56:01 -0600

Creating lists seems to be one of the things that people are really bad about doing, and I don't mean creating lists of things to do. People are good at that, especially wives creating those "Honey, do...." lists! LOL

I'm talking about putting your lists in a format that is both readable and helpful. I'll introduce you to the rules that I learned in Journalism class in high school, and which was reinforced twenty years later when I was doing editing for the Texas A&M University Press, the Texas A&M College of Science, and the Texas A&M Department of Chemistry.

Alphabetize

You can never go wrong by alphabetizing. For example, let's look at a Realtor who works in San Diego County but only coastal properties. This would be that Realtor's list of cities:

Oceanside, Carlsbad, Leucadia, Encinitas, Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Solana Beach, Del Mar, La Jolla, Pacific Beach, Mission Beach, Ocean Beach, Point Loma, Coronado, Coronado Cays, Imperial Beach

Someone looking to see if you work in a specific city has to read through all those, and by the time he finishes, he wonders why you didn't alphabetize them. First impression gone bad. Isn't this easier to read:

Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Carlsbad, Coronado, Coronado Cays, Del Mar, Encinitas, Imperial Beach, La Jolla, Leucadia, Mission Beach, Ocean Beach, Oceanside, Pacific Beach, Point Loma, Solana Beach

What if you're creating a list of search engine terms for yourself and you have all of San Diego's 101 neighborhoods or all of San Diego County's 70 cities? If you need to check a year later to delete or add a city or neighborhood, alphabetizing makes it easy for you to find the city very quickly, or find that it's missing.

We learned how to alphabetize in first grade, and it's still a valuable tool. Use it!

Short lists

A very good general rule of thumb is that if the list has four items or fewer, use a bullet list, like this:

North
South
East
West

You even have a choice of billions and billions of bullet symbols by clicking here. For example:

♥ Hearts
♦ Diamonds
♠ Spades
♣ Clubs

Or:

♪ Beethoven
♪ Bach
♪ Brahms
♪ Beatles

Long lists that don't need to be alphabetized

If your list has five or more items, determine first if it should be alphabetized, such as cities, counties, states, people, etc. If it doesn't, then numbering is the thing to do. For example, which of the following have you done?

Been arrested
Slept in until noon
Fell asleep at work
Ran a red light
Broken a bone
Eaten a bug on a dare
Lied to a police officer to get out of a ticket
Ridden in a helicopter
Participated in a protest
Been on television
Shot a gun
Gone skinny dipping
Taken a picture of yourself naked
Been fired from a job
Fired someone
Passed out from drinking
Played a bad prank on someone
Donated blood
Snuck into an event without paying
Eaten a whole jalapeño pepper

As you can see, there's no real reason to alphabetize those, but if you're asking someone to tell you which they've done, putting bullets in front of them and forcing someone to write out the whole thing or count down the column is wasting their time. With a numbered list, I can simply tell you that I've done all of them. You, however, can just tell me what you've done by listing the numbers.

Summary

Let your prospective Clients know that you are organized in your business life by alphabetizing, using bullet lists, and using numbered lists -- PROPERLY.

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Fifteen recent blog posts

It's best never to think you are the best
When cute doesn't work
Get a better buzz right here!
Learn from the best of the worst!
What is social networking? Or, When is an ActiveRain Ambassador not an ActiveRain Ambassador?
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY - Part five: Happy Holidays!
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY - Part four: Happy Hanukkah!
The ActiveRain History Station: "Who's on first?"
You, too, can Play in the Rain naked!
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, AND HNY - Part three: Season's Greetings!
The one best way to be amazingly successful
Commandments #11-20
Know where your target market is and where they hang out
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY - Part two: More Christmas stamps
The ActiveRain Nature Station: What do YOU think he's saying?

Helpful blog posts for ActiveRain newbies

My favorite television stations on the ActiveRain TV:

ActiveRain Convention Station
ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station
ActiveRain History Station
ActiveRain Library Station
ActiveRain Nature Station
ActiveRain Symphony Station
ActiveRain Travel Station

It's best never to think you are the best

Russel Ray, San Diego Marketing & Business Consultant (Russel Ray) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 19:58:13 -0600

I always find it interesting when someone says, "They used to be the best." Usually it's about a company, such as Hewlett Packard in the days of the original LaserJet printer, or Hertz before Avis started trying harder, or Lotus 1-2-3 before Microsoft decided to Excel, or the Jolly Green Giant before the Del Monte royal family cut him down to size, or General Motors before Mr. Toyota and Mr. Honda grew up.

In many, if not all, of those cases, the company that used to be the best spent too much time resting on its laurels and forgetting what made it the best.

In the world of business, it's best to never think you are the best, because just as soon as you do, just as soon as you become full of yourself, some young whippersnapper comes along to take your market share.

If you always think you're number two, you'll work harder to stay number one.

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Fifteen recent blog posts

When cute doesn't work
Get a better buzz right here!
Learn from the best of the worst!
What is social networking? Or, When is an ActiveRain Ambassador not an ActiveRain Ambassador?
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY - Part five: Happy Holidays!
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY - Part four: Happy Hanukkah!
The ActiveRain History Station: "Who's on first?"
You, too, can Play in the Rain naked!
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, AND HNY - Part three: Season's Greetings!
The one best way to be amazingly successful
Commandments #11-20
Know where your target market is and where they hang out
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY - Part two: More Christmas stamps
The ActiveRain Nature Station: What do YOU think he's saying?
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY — Part one: Merry Christmas!

Helpful blog posts for ActiveRain newbies

My favorite television stations on the ActiveRain TV:

When cute doesn't work

Russel Ray, San Diego Marketing & Business Consultant (Russel Ray) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 15:02:12 -0600

I have a Client who is surfing the World Wide Web and asking me my opinion of things that he finds.

Some of his finds, he likes, and some of his finds, he dislikes.

He emailed me a URL with the comment that "the cursor is cute."

I'm always cautious whenever anyone tells me that something related to the Internet is cute.

Here's the URL, but before you click on it, here are my first comments when I visited the site:

Why the unnecessary horizontal scrolling?
Why the unnecessary vertical scrolling?
The cute cursor isn't doing it for me. You might have to wait a few seconds while the cursor loads, but make sure you move the cursor around. If you get dizzy, you can quit.

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Fifteen recent blog posts

Get a better buzz right here!
Learn from the best of the worst!
What is social networking? Or, When is an ActiveRain Ambassador not an ActiveRain Ambassador?
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY - Part five: Happy Holidays!
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY - Part four: Happy Hanukkah!
The ActiveRain History Station: "Who's on first?"
You, too, can Play in the Rain naked!
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, AND HNY - Part three: Season's Greetings!
The one best way to be amazingly successful
Commandments #11-20
Know where your target market is and where they hang out
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY - Part two: More Christmas stamps
The ActiveRain Nature Station: What do YOU think he's saying?
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY — Part one: Merry Christmas!
Here is a picture tip if you copy your ActiveRain post to somewhere else

Helpful blog posts for ActiveRain newbies

My favorite television stations on the ActiveRain TV:

Get a better buzz right here!

Russel Ray, San Diego Marketing & Business Consultant (Russel Ray) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 10:02:05 -0600

I don't do any Christmas shopping between the day after Thanksgiving and Christmas day because I don't like to fight the crowds for that last latest fad gift, not to mention trying to avoid all the wacko drivers on the streets at this time of year.

However, if I'm in the neighborhood of a good mall during rush hour, I'll park and do some computer work in the car or walk around the parking lot and mall to get some exercise and see what kinds of businesses have taken up temporary residence for the 12 30 days of (commecial) Christmas.

I've never been a coffee drinker but I enjoy the smell of coffee beans and fresh coffee, so I was naturally attracted to a temporary coffee business at Fashion Valley Mall the other day.

Their name and logo said a lot.

So that's what coffee is all about? How come no one told me when I was 10 instead of waiting until I'm 54?

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Fifteen recent blog posts

Learn from the best of the worst!
What is social networking? Or, When is an ActiveRain Ambassador not an ActiveRain Ambassador?
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY - Part five: Happy Holidays!
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY - Part four: Happy Hanukkah!
The ActiveRain History Station: "Who's on first?"
You, too, can Play in the Rain naked!
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, AND HNY - Part three: Season's Greetings!
The one best way to be amazingly successful
Commandments #11-20
Know where your target market is and where they hang out
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY - Part two: More Christmas stamps
The ActiveRain Nature Station: What do YOU think he's saying?
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY — Part one: Merry Christmas!
Here is a picture tip if you copy your ActiveRain post to somewhere else
Lessons learned, the hard way: Marketing, ActiveRain, and persistency and consistency

Helpful blog posts for ActiveRain newbies

My favorite television stations on the ActiveRain TV:

Learn from the best of the worst!

Russel Ray, San Diego Marketing & Business Consultant (Russel Ray) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 20:03:35 -0600

Many years ago I used to design web sites but never got into the back end functionality, more of a critic, I guess, than a designer.

I still act as a critic when called upon, and today I was looking at a site that was so bad that I got a headache, a cold, the swine flue, a sprained mouse finger, and dizzy at the same site. It even crashed my computer and I could not get back to it.

That led me to do a search on "bad web sites" that gave me much more than I wanted. For example, Web Pages That Are Pretty Bad. You'll notice when you get there that I've slightly altered the name since ActiveRain is a family site.

Learn from the best of the worst what not to do on your own web site!

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Fifteen recent blog posts

What is social networking? Or, When is an ActiveRain Ambassador not an ActiveRain Ambassador?
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY - Part five: Happy Holidays!
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY - Part four: Happy Hanukkah!
The ActiveRain History Station: "Who's on first?"
You, too, can Play in the Rain naked!
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, AND HNY - Part three: Season's Greetings!
The one best way to be amazingly successful
Commandments #11-20
Know where your target market is and where they hang out
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY - Part two: More Christmas stamps
The ActiveRain Nature Station: What do YOU think he's saying?
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY — Part one: Merry Christmas!
Here is a picture tip if you copy your ActiveRain post to somewhere else
Lessons learned, the hard way: Marketing, ActiveRain, and persistency and consistency
Life 101: While alive, live

Helpful blog posts for ActiveRain newbies

My favorite television stations on the ActiveRain TV:

MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY — Part five: Happy Holidays!

Russel Ray, San Diego Marketing & Business Consultant (Russel Ray) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 09:51:27 -0600

This is part five of my series about United States Christmas and holiday postage stamps.

The next set of Christmas/Holiday postage stamps we'll look at are those that have no words on them but are obviously Christmas, holiday, seasonal stamps.

They include holly, mistletoe, poinsettias, trees, animals, Santa Claus, children, toys, snowmen, and snowflakes.

Part six will run on December 26, and part seven on January 1.

Hope you enjoy today's slide show!

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Fifteen recent blog posts

MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY - Part four: Happy Hanukkah!
The ActiveRain History Station: "Who's on first?"
You, too, can Play in the Rain naked!
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, AND HNY - Part three: Season's Greetings!
The one best way to be amazingly successful
Commandments #11-20
Know where your target market is and where they hang out
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY - Part two: More Christmas stamps
The ActiveRain Nature Station: What do YOU think he's saying?
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY — Part one: Merry Christmas!
Here is a picture tip if you copy your ActiveRain post to somewhere else
Lessons learned, the hard way: Marketing, ActiveRain, and persistency and consistency
Life 101: While alive, live
The ActiveRain History Station: Today in 1824 is the only time this has ever happened
The ActiveRain History Station: Honesty is the best policy, when there is money in it

Helpful blog posts for ActiveRain newbies

My favorite television stations on the ActiveRain TV:

MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY — Part four: Happy Hanukkah!

Russel Ray, San Diego Marketing & Business Consultant (Russel Ray) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 11:40:32 -0600

This is part four of my series about United States Christmas and holiday postage stamps.

We've looked at the Christian Christmas stamps, non-Christian-specific Christmas stamps, "Season's Greetings" stamps, and now, with the advent of Hanukkah, the Jewish eight-day festival of light, let's look at the three stamp designs issued for Hanukkah.

That candle design was first used in 1996, 1997, and 1998. It was re-issued with a new value since prices had increased in 1999 -- 33¢ -- which was used for 2000 as well. With rapid increase in postage stamp costs, the design was reissued again in 2001 as a 34¢ stamp and again in 2002 as a 37¢ stamp, with 2003 being the last year for the design. In 2004, the following design was issued:

The 37¢ stamp was also used in 2005, but continuing increases in the cost of a postage stamp resulted in the design being re-issued in 2006 as a 39¢ stamp, 2007 as a 41¢ stamp, and 2008 as a 42¢ stamp.

For 2009, the design and the denomination have been changed:

I'm by no means an expert on all things Jewish, but interestingly, I've had five jobs where I worked exclusively for someone else, and thirteen consulting jobs where I reported to a company representative. With no exceptions, all my bosses and company representatives have been Jews. I can't explain it other than to say that all of them have been Type E personalities (thanks, Margaret!), aggressive, detail-oriented, etc. Just like me! Maybe I was just born into the wrong Catholic/Mormon family.

If you'd like to read about Hanukkah, here's an interesting site that I found this morning.

If you have any friends of the Jewish faith, wish them a Happy Hanukkah today!

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Fifteen recent blog posts

The ActiveRain History Station: "Who's on first?"
You, too, can Play in the Rain naked!
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, AND HNY - Part three: Season's Greetings!
The one best way to be amazingly successful
Commandments #11-20
Know where your target market is and where they hang out
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY - Part two: More Christmas stamps
The ActiveRain Nature Station: What do YOU think he's saying?
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY — Part one: Merry Christmas!
Here is a picture tip if you copy your ActiveRain post to somewhere else
Lessons learned, the hard way: Marketing, ActiveRain, and persistency and consistency
Life 101: While alive, live
The ActiveRain History Station: Today in 1824 is the only time this has ever happened
The ActiveRain History Station: Honesty is the best policy, when there is money in it
Mary Agnes Kirk: My wise old grandmother

Helpful blog posts for ActiveRain newbies

My favorite television stations on the ActiveRain TV:

The ActiveRain History Station: "Who's on first?"

Russel Ray, San Diego Marketing & Business Consultant (Russel Ray) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 09:30:16 -0600

I might be revealing my age —

"He's almost 55," says Zoey the Cool Cat.

"No more special kitty treats for you," says Zoey the Cool Cat's owner.

"You might find that your garage door won't open in the morning," Zoey the Cool Cat replies.

— but comedy on television when I was young were reruns of The Abbott & Costello Show.

Arguably their best routine was "Who's On First?", which resulted in them being featured in the Baseball Hall of Fame. An urban myth says that they were inducted into the Hall of Fame, but it truly is an urban myth.

If you've never seen Abbot & Costello performing "Who's On First?", click here for the YouTube video. After you've watched it, you can read the Windows version right here:

COSTELLO calls to buy a computer from ABBOTT's Super Duper Computer Store.

ABBOTT: Super Duper Computer Store. May I help you?

COSTELLO: Yes. I'm setting up an office in my den and I'm thinking about buying a computer.

ABBOTT: Mac?

COSTELLO: No, the name's Lou.

ABBOTT: Your computer?

COSTELLO: I don't own a computer. I want to buy one.

ABBOTT: Mac?

COSTELLO: I told you, my name's Lou.

ABBOTT: What about Windows?

COSTELLO: Why? Will it get stuffy in here?

ABBOTT: Do you want a computer with Windows?

COSTELLO: I don't know. What will I see when I look at the windows?

ABBOTT: Wallpaper.

COSTELLO: Never mind the windows. I need a computer and software.

ABBOTT: Software for Windows?

COSTELLO: No. On the computer! I need something I can use to write proposals, track expenses, and run my business. What do you have?

ABBOTT: Office.

COSTELLO: Yeah, for my office. Can you recommend anything?

ABBOTT: I just did.

COSTELLO: You just did what?

ABBOTT: Recommend something.

COSTELLO: You recommended something?

ABBOTT: Yes.

COSTELLO: For my office?

ABBOTT: Yes.

COSTELLO: OK, what did you recommend for my office?

ABBOTT: Office.

COSTELLO: Yes, for my office!

ABBOTT: I recommend Office with Windows.

COSTELLO: I already have an office with windows! OK, let's just say I'm sitting at my computer and I want to type a proposal. What do I need?

ABBOTT: Word.

COSTELLO: What word?

ABBOTT: Word in Office.

COSTELLO: The only word in office is office.

A BBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows.

COSTELLO: Which word in office for windows?

ABBOTT: The Word you get when you click the blue 'W'.

COSTELLO: I'm going to click your blue 'W' if you don't start with some straight answers. What about financial bookkeeping? You have anything I can track my money with?

ABBOTT: Money.

COSTELLO: That's right. What do you have?

ABBOTT: Money.

COSTELLO: I need money to track my money?

ABBOTT: It comes bundled with your computer.

COSTELLO: What's bundled with my computer?

ABBOTT: Money.

COSTELLO: Money comes with my computer?

ABBOTT: Yes. No extra charge.

COSTELLO: I get a bundle of money with my computer? How much?

ABBOTT: One copy.

COSTELLO: Isn't it illegal to copy money?

ABBOTT: Microsoft gave us a license to copy Money.

COSTELLO: They can give you a license to copy money?

ABBOTT: Why not? They own it!

(A few days later)

ABBOTT: Super Duper Computer Store. May I help you?

COSTELLO: How do I turn my computer off?

ABBOTT: Click on 'START.'

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Fifteen recent blog posts

You, too, can Play in the Rain naked!
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, AND HNY - Part three: Season's Greetings!
The one best way to be amazingly successful
Commandments #11-20
Know where your target market is and where they hang out
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY - Part two: More Christmas stamps
The ActiveRain Nature Station: What do YOU think he's saying?
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY — Part one: Merry Christmas!
Here is a picture tip if you copy your ActiveRain post to somewhere else
Lessons learned, the hard way: Marketing, ActiveRain, and persistency and consistency
Life 101: While alive, live
The ActiveRain History Station: Today in 1824 is the only time this has ever happened
The ActiveRain History Station: Honesty is the best policy, when there is money in it
Mary Agnes Kirk: My wise old grandmother
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: How many times do I have to tell you?

Helpful blog posts for ActiveRain newbies

My favorite television stations on the ActiveRain TV:

You, too, can Play in the Rain naked!

Russel Ray, San Diego Marketing & Business Consultant (Russel Ray) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 08:45:31 -0600

I spend a lot of time at ActiveRain, and I also send out a lot of invitations to people hoping that they will come Play in the Rain with us -- home inspectors, Realtors, plumbers, roofers, landscapers, electricians, mortgage lenders, real estate attorneys, CPAs, tax attorneys, custom jewelers, artists....

Name a profession and I've probably invited at least one person from that profession to come Play in the Rain with us.

One of them recently asked me to tell him in one sentence why I liked ActiveRain.

I came up with one sentence, but it was 259 words long and had a lot of dashes and semicolons, so I thought I would try to shorten it. Here's what I came up with:

ActiveRain provides me with the platform where I can work hard to get new business, and once I've acquired that new business, the same platform allows me to play hard, and you know that I like to work hard and play hard.

I don't take a lot of vacations. Never have, and at this point in my life, I probably never will. I think it's because I've always enjoyed my work, which has rarely been work. My work has always been about people, and I find people to be enormously interesting because each person is so vastly different, even when they are the same.

In my early life I would work hard, but rarely did I work hard and play hard with the same people. The ActiveRain community is different, but it's a difference I didn't pick up on until July 22, 2008, having made a couple of visits as far back as March 2007.

I've found ActiveRain people to be Pleasant, Polite, Personable, Positive, and Professional, what I call the Five P's. There have been a couple of exceptions, but that should be expected in a community of 166,293 members (although that number seems to be stuck right now).

ActiveRain can't be all things to all people, but with the awesome community that is already here, and more joining by the minute, it can certainly come close, as long as you are willing to persistently and consistently Play in the Rain.

What's really nice is that you don't need an umbrella because you won't get all wet by Playing in the Rain. You also won't catch a cold, and if you'd like, you can even Play in the Rain NAKED!

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Fifteen recent blog posts

MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, AND HNY - Part three: Season's Greetings!
The one best way to be amazingly successful
Commandments #11-20
Know where your target market is and where they hang out
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY - Part two: More Christmas stamps
The ActiveRain Nature Station: What do YOU think he's saying?
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY — Part one: Merry Christmas!
Here is a picture tip if you copy your ActiveRain post to somewhere else
Lessons learned, the hard way: Marketing, ActiveRain, and persistency and consistency
Life 101: While alive, live
The ActiveRain History Station: Today in 1824 is the only time this has ever happened
The ActiveRain History Station: Honesty is the best policy, when there is money in it
Mary Agnes Kirk: My wise old grandmother
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: How many times do I have to tell you?
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Which is more valuable, your front end or your back end?

Helpful blog posts for ActiveRain newbies

My favorite television stations on the ActiveRain TV:

MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY — Part Three: Season's Greetings

Russel Ray, San Diego Marketing & Business Consultant (Russel Ray) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:46:58 -0600

This is part three of my series about United States Christmas holiday postage stamps.

Click here to read part one, and click here to read part two.

The first Christmas stamp was issued in 1962, but as the Postal Service got more and more complaints about Christian Christmas stamps and the naked baby Jesus on some of them, they decided to switch to generic stamps stating "Season's Greetings," "Greetings," or nothing at all.

Following is a slide show of the "Season's Greetings" and "Greetings" stamps and the years they were issued:

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Fifteen recent blog posts

The one best way to be amazingly successful
Commandments #11-20
Know where your target market is and where they hang out
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY - Part Two: More Christmas stamps
The ActiveRain Nature Station: What do YOU think he's saying?
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY — Part One: Merry Christmas!
Here is a picture tip if you copy your ActiveRain post to somewhere else
Lessons learned, the hard way: Marketing, ActiveRain, and persistency and consistency
Life 101: While alive, live
The ActiveRain History Station: Today in 1824 is the only time this has ever happened
The ActiveRain History Station: Honesty is the best policy, when there is money in it
Mary Agnes Kirk: My wise old grandmother
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: How many times do I have to tell you?
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Which is more valuable, your front end or your back end?
The ActiveRain History Station: Flora Fairfield and A.M. Barnard

Helpful blog posts for ActiveRain newbies

My favorite television stations on the ActiveRain TV:

The one best way to be amazingly successful

Russel Ray, San Diego Marketing & Business Consultant (Russel Ray) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 11:46:05 -0600

Ever heard someone say that they bought something somewhere but the clerks or cashiers were so impersonal or even rude?

Regardless of whether you are selling products or services, the one best way to be amazingly successful is to establish personal relationships with your customers and prospects.

Personal relationships begin with a contact, such as, in no particular order:

Neighborhood contact -- The company is located near, or in, your neighborhood. Many people try to buy locally; in fact, many companies in this economy are advertising "Think globally; buy locally." Don't neglect your neighborhood for you ARE that neighborhood contact.
Charitable contact -- If you buy from the company, they donate to a charity that you support. Sometimes they'll even let you name the charity.
Personal contact -- You struck up a conversation with one of their employees. This could have been at the grand opening, or some place else where the two of you met.
Friends contact -- One of your friends works for the company.
Referral contact -- Someone referred you to the company.
Family contact -- Someone in your family buys from the company.
Online contact -- Someone found you online and liked what you had to say. Don't let your online presence fail by being something less.

Contacts are not mutually exclusive. For example, your brother might have a friend who works for a neighborhood company that donates to your favorite charity.

Keep your eyes and ears open so that you can turn those contacts into personal relationships. Just be sure to live up to the contact.

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Fifteen recent blog posts

Commandments #11-20
Know where your target market is and where they hang out
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY - Part Two: More Christmas stamps
The ActiveRain Nature Station: What do YOU think he's saying?
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY — Part One: Merry Christmas!
Here is a picture tip if you copy your ActiveRain post to somewhere else
Lessons learned, the hard way: Marketing, ActiveRain, and persistency and consistency
Life 101: While alive, live
The ActiveRain History Station: Today in 1824 is the only time this has ever happened
The ActiveRain History Station: Honesty is the best policy, when there is money in it
Mary Agnes Kirk: My wise old grandmother
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: How many times do I have to tell you?
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Which is more valuable, your front end or your back end?
The ActiveRain History Station: Flora Fairfield and A.M. Barnard
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Making snail mail work for you

Helpful blog posts for ActiveRain newbies

My favorite television stations on the ActiveRain TV:

Commandments #11-20

Russel Ray, San Diego Marketing & Business Consultant (Russel Ray) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 22:17:04 -0600

Recently I found Commandments #11-20 which were on the second set of tablets that Moses broke when he stumbled coming down from the mountain.

It's only appropriate that I share them with the ActiveRain community since Christmas time is the time for giving and sharing.

So here they are:

11 - Marketing is everything!
12 - Perception is everything!
13 - Test market everything!
14 - Know thy merchandise and thy services!
15 - Know thy target audience!
16 - Market to thy target audience!
17 - Market persistently and consistently to thy target audience!
18 - Know thy Clients!
19 - Follow up with thy Clients!
20 - Market persistently and consistently to thy Clients!

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Fifteen recent blog posts

Know where your target market is and where they hang out
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY - Part Two: More Christmas stamps
The ActiveRain Nature Station: What do YOU think he's saying?
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY — Part One: Merry Christmas!
Here is a picture tip if you copy your ActiveRain post to somewhere else
Lessons learned, the hard way: Marketing, ActiveRain, and persistency and consistency
Life 101: While alive, live
The ActiveRain History Station: Today in 1824 is the only time this has ever happened
The ActiveRain History Station: Honesty is the best policy, when there is money in it
Mary Agnes Kirk: My wise old grandmother
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: How many times do I have to tell you?
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Which is more valuable, your front end or your back end?
The ActiveRain History Station: Flora Fairfield and A.M. Barnard
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Making snail mail work for you
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: It's only too late to start if you think it's too late to start

Helpful blog posts for ActiveRain newbies

My favorite television stations on the ActiveRain TV:

Know where your target market is and where they hang out!

Russel Ray, San Diego Marketing & Business Consultant (Russel Ray) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 19:57:28 -0600

As with anything that you are going to sell, you have to know who to sell it to.

One of my Clients had a condo listing in what I call a "hotel condo" building, i.e., a huge building with four entrances, and the hallways and condo entrances that look just like a hotel.

He came up on his fifth month of a sixth-month listing and had no offers and poor attendance at his open houses. When he came to me for help, I asked him what the average age of the owners was. "Oh, probably about 60."

Consequently, advertising on realtor.com and craiglist probably are not the place to advertise a condo where only another senior citizen would want to live. I got him advertising with AARP, the local newspaper (expensive), and other places where senior citizens hang out (Symphony, high-class restaurants, etc.). Boom! He got his first first offer within 24 hours of the Sunday paper hitting the streets (Saturday evening). While they were in negotiations, he continued to get inquiries and three backup offers. By the end of the six-month listing, he was in escrow, I had done a home inspection, and the place sold.

Moral of the story: Ya gots ta know your target market and where they hang out.

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Fifteen recent blog posts

MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY - Part Two: More Christmas stamps
The ActiveRain Nature Station: What do YOU think he's saying?
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY — Part One: Merry Christmas!
Here is a picture tip if you copy your ActiveRain post to somewhere else
Lessons learned, the hard way: Marketing, ActiveRain, and persistency and consistency
Life 101: While alive, live
The ActiveRain History Station: Today in 1824 is the only time this has ever happened
The ActiveRain History Station: Honesty is the best policy, when there is money in it
Mary Agnes Kirk: My wise old grandmother
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: How many times do I have to tell you?
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Which is more valuable, your front end or your back end?
The ActiveRain History Station: Flora Fairfield and A.M. Barnard
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Making snail mail work for you
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: It's only too late to start if you think it's too late to start
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: ActiveRain makes this my most thankful Thanksgiving and Christmas in many a year!

Helpful blog posts for ActiveRain newbies

My favorite television stations on the ActiveRain TV:

MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY — Part Two: More Christmas stamps

Russel Ray, San Diego Marketing & Business Consultant (Russel Ray) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 17:46:49 -0600

If you missed part one of my "MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY" series, simply click here.

If you don't know what "MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY" stands for, well, take some guesses.

Our second set of Holiday stamps since 1962 are those that are not flagrantly Christian (see part one) but do include the word "Christmas."

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Fifteen recent blog posts

The ActiveRain Nature Station: What do YOU think he's saying?
MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY — Part One: Merry Christmas!
Here is a picture tip if you copy your ActiveRain post to somewhere else
Lessons learned, the hard way: Marketing, ActiveRain, and persistency and consistency
Life 101: While alive, live
The ActiveRain History Station: Today in 1824 is the only time this has ever happened
The ActiveRain History Station: Honesty is the best policy, when there is money in it
Mary Agnes Kirk: My wise old grandmother
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: How many times do I have to tell you?
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Which is more valuable, your front end or your back end?
The ActiveRain History Station: Flora Fairfield and A.M. Barnard
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Making snail mail work for you
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: It's only too late to start if you think it's too late to start
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: ActiveRain makes this my most thankful Thanksgiving and Christmas in many a year!
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Who do we contact?

Helpful blog posts for ActiveRain newbies

My favorite television stations on the ActiveRain TV:

Speechless Sunday: What do YOU think he's saying?

Russel Ray, San Diego Marketing & Business Consultant (Russel Ray) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 05:12:48 -0600

I love taking pictures of nature and then trying to figure out what that picture is saying to me, or what it might say to someone else.

Such a practice keeps me on my toes for new and interesting marketing ideas, trying to reach the part of the human psyche that says, "I like that. I need it. I want it. I'm going to buy it."

A recent trip to the San Diego Zoo found the three California condors in a very playful mood. The young one, about a year old, is pictured below.

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to add a caption to the following two pictures. Anything you like. Just leave it as a comment, but most importantly, have fun!

What do YOU think he's saying?

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Fifteen recent blog posts

MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY — Part One: Merry Christmas!
Here is a picture tip if you copy your ActiveRain post to somewhere else
Lessons learned, the hard way: Marketing, ActiveRain, and persistency and consistency
Life 101: While alive, live
The ActiveRain History Station: Today in 1824 is the only time this has ever happened
The ActiveRain History Station: Honesty is the best policy, when there is money in it
Mary Agnes Kirk: My wise old grandmother
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: How many times do I have to tell you?
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Which is more valuable, your front end or your back end?
The ActiveRain History Station: Flora Fairfield and A.M. Barnard
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Making snail mail work for you
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: It's only too late to start if you think it's too late to start
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: ActiveRain makes this my most thankful Thanksgiving and Christmas in many a year!
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Who do we contact?
The ActiveRain History Station: Let The Entertainer entertain you

Helpful blog posts for ActiveRain newbies

My favorite television stations on the ActiveRain TV:

MC, SG, HH, HH, HK, and HNY — Part One: Merry Christmas!

Russel Ray, San Diego Marketing & Business Consultant (Russel Ray) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 14:14:22 -0600

Way back in 1962, the United States Postal Service issued its first Christmas stamp.

The success of the stamp, measured by sales, meant that succeeding years would see more Christmas stamps.

From 1962 to 1965, Christmas stamps were very generic meant to be used by anyone for the end of the year holidays, but after four years of complaints from the "Christ is the reason for the seasons" folks (even though gift-giving is truly the reason for the season ☺☺☻☻☻☻☺☺ if you ask the toy companies), in 1966, the Postal Service switched to a "Christ in Christmas" stamp.

That brought complaints from the non-Christian crowd, so the 1969 Christmas stamp went to being generic. In 1970, the Postal Service realized that they could easily satisfy both crowds by issuing multiple Christmas stamps, so 1970 to the present has seen at least two Christmas stamps issued each year, one for the Christians and one for the non-Christians. Beginning in 1978, the Christian Christmas stamp always featured a famous painting of the Madonna and Child.

Of course, then other groups wanted their own stamps, so along came the Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Chinese New Year stamps. Of course, the Postal Service didn't mind since the more stamps that were issued, the more stamps there were for collectors to collect, and when collectors stash away unused stamps, that's basically free money for the Postal Service.

Each year brings various complaints about the Christmas stamps. The 1973 stamp brought a lot of complaints because the child Jesus was naked, and while some previous stamps had a naked baby, the naked child on the 1973 stamps was large and obvious. The 1982 and 1983 stamps also had a very naked child, but 1996 brought the second most complaints after the 1973 stamp because people thought that the male child's private parts were not so private.

Today I give our Christian friends a slide show of all the Christian Christmas stamps. I'll follow up soon with the non-Christian Christmas stamps, the Hannukkah stamps, and the Kwanzaa stamps, and then for New Year's Day we'll see the New Year stamps.

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Fifteen recent blog posts

Here is a picture tip if you copy your ActiveRain post to somewhere else
Lessons learned, the hard way: Marketing, ActiveRain, and persistency and consistency
Life 101: While alive, live
The ActiveRain History Station: Today in 1824 is the only time this has ever happened
The ActiveRain History Station: Honesty is the best policy, when there is money in it
Mary Agnes Kirk: My wise old grandmother
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: How many times do I have to tell you?
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Which is more valuable, your front end or your back end?
The ActiveRain History Station: Flora Fairfield and A.M. Barnard
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Making snail mail work for you
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: It's only too late to start if you think it's too late to start
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: ActiveRain makes this my most thankful Thanksgiving and Christmas in many a year!
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Who do we contact?
The ActiveRain History Station: Let The Entertainer entertain you
The ActiveRain History Station: Who let it Luce?

Helpful blog posts for ActiveRain newbies

My favorite television stations on the ActiveRain TV:

Here is a picture tip if you copy your ActiveRain post to somewhere else

Russel Ray, San Diego Marketing & Business Consultant (Russel Ray) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:14:35 -0600

I've read a few blog posts this week where people were copying their ActiveRain blog post to another web site or blogging platform but the pictures were not showing up.

There are two easy solutions to that problem.

The first one is to simply upload the pictures to your new site, but what if you had a lot of pictures, graphs, etc.? What if you're a social networking-aholic and have 50 platforms? That could involve a lot of time, and why do the same task multiple times? Aren't computers supposed to help make life easier?

The second solution is to enter the complete URL for your picture when you copy it to someplace else. It's an HTML thing. Zoey the Cool Cat has asked me if she can help here, so here's a picture of her:

If I were to just copy this post, the underlying HTML reference to the picture would read:

http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/9/2/5/0/ar125968929205296.jpg

Notice that it starts with a forward slash instead of the typical http://www.domain name.com. That leading forward slash means that the picture is stored on the web site where you are, in this case, ActiveRain.

In order to get access to your ActiveRain pictures from somewhere else, you have to enter the ActiveRain domain name in front of that forward slash, like this:

http://www.activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/9/2/5/0/ar125968929205296.jpg

Now I can take that URL to any other web site and it will show up.

Try it. Right click on that last URL that I typed, click on "Open in new window," and you should see Zoey the Cool Cat wishing you a Happy December!

If your other site accepts HTML code directly, you can simply switch to the HTML tab here and you'll see the HTML code. You'll notice that the HTML code everywhere you have a picture looks like this:

"img src" means "image source," but you'll notice that the source doesn't say ActiveRain, which is where the picture is. So you can edit the HTML code directly here and simply put http://www.activerain.com between the quote mark and the forward slash:

img src="http://www.activerain.comhttp://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/6/9/2/5/0/ar125968929205296.jpg"

Then copy all your HTML code here and paste it wherever you want and you should see your formatted text and pictures!

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Fifteen recent blog posts

Lessons learned, the hard way: Marketing, ActiveRain, and persistency and consistency
Life 101: While alive, live
The ActiveRain History Station: Today in 1824 is the only time this has ever happened
The ActiveRain History Station: Honesty is the best policy, when there is money in it
Mary Agnes Kirk: My wise old grandmother
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: How many times do I have to tell you?
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Which is more valuable, your front end or your back end?
The ActiveRain History Station: Flora Fairfield and A.M. Barnard
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Making snail mail work for you
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: It's only too late to start if you think it's too late to start
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: ActiveRain makes this my most thankful Thanksgiving and Christmas in many a year!
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Who do we contact?
The ActiveRain History Station: Let The Entertainer entertain you
The ActiveRain History Station: Who let it Luce?
See something you like? Make it yours! Own it!

Helpful blog posts for ActiveRain newbies

My favorite television stations on the ActiveRain TV:

Lessons learned, the hard way: Marketing, ActiveRain, and persistency and consistency

Russel Ray, San Diego Marketing & Business Consultant (Russel Ray) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 04:02:34 -0600

A couple of days ago I was contacted by Mr. Home Inspector whom I've known for several years. It was a simple message:

"Russel business had come almost to a halt for me here. I've done four inspections in the past two weeks and nothing so far this week.

Please send me some good vibes. "

The first thing I did was to see if he was a member of ActiveRain. Yep. Since August 2007. Over 25,000 points. Doing about three blogs per month and had over 4,000 blog comment points.

What did I deduce from that? A lack of persistency and consistency. If a lack of persistency and consistency happens at ActiveRain, I'm pretty sure it happens in other areas of the business.

So I sent him a short email:

"Have you continued marketing persistently and consistently?"

I want you to read his reply very carefully, especially the first sentence:

Well.....no I have not. You see business was great all year and to be honest I rode that without thinking much about the slow down. I know that's the wrong way to run a business but I just didn't make the time for marketing consistently. My marketing now is limited exclusively to online.

My problem is when I start to put together a marketing campaign, like direct mail, I become overwhelmed and just shut down. That's a good way to fail I know but I just feel like I hit a road block somewhere and don't know where to turn so I just give up.

I need to hire someone to do it for me because I just can't seem to kick it in gear myself.

He has part of the answer in his last paragraph, but I think he can do it himself if he has a plan. So I sent him a reply:

"Here is my top secret for my life since the age of 11:

Create a five-year plan for where you want to be five years from now.

How do you get where you want to be? More education? A second job for six months? More marketing?

Then break it down into years, months, weeks, days, and even hours, if necessary.

Work those hours and days persistently and consistently and you'll find that the weeks, months, years, and five-year plan fall naturally into place.

What I've found, courtesy of my wise old grandmother, is that if I work those hours and days persistently and consistently, then I am never wanting for something to do. I'll be doing it!

If I finish my daily tasks early, then I can reward myself by doing something I love -- going to a movie, extra gardening, reading a Stephen King novel, etc. It can even be something that I've already done.

For example, I love ActiveRain, and I get my ActiveRain daily comments and blogging in first thing so that it's always done. The Google juice I get from my ActiveRain activities is unmatched by anything I've ever seen.

I just picked up a Marketing & Business Consulting Client who lives in London, England. He found my series of history lessons using United States postage stamps. He's a stamp collector. We talked on the phone for 90 minutes using my minutes, and I determined that I could help him, but at a cost of $xx,xxx, paid in advance. The money was in my PayPal account within 24 hours.

I have received 49 home inspection referrals from Realtors I've met at ActiveRain and from people who have found my ActiveRain blogs in a Google search. In just sixteen months!

During my five years at NACHI when I was trying to help home inspectors with marketing, I got one home inspection referral and constant bashing from xxxxx, xxxxx, and others. Obviously, ActiveRain is much better, much more powerful in the search engines, much more positive, etc., etc., etc.

If you're experiencing a slow time, get your marketing going if it's not, and blog consistently at ActiveRain, as well as commenting on the blogs of others, especially Realtors in your service area.

I'm happy to say that Mr. Home Inspector not only entered a blog post yesterday but created a new group, too!

Because our email conversations were private, I'll leave him anonymous at this point and let him weigh in if he would like to.

Zoey the Cool Cat has also provided some helpful hints in the mouseovers.

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Fifteen recent blog posts

Life 101: While alive, live
The ActiveRain History Station: Today in 1824 is the only time this has ever happened
The ActiveRain History Station: Honesty is the best policy, when there is money in it
Mary Agnes Kirk: My wise old grandmother
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: How many times do I have to tell you?
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Which is more valuable, your front end or your back end?
The ActiveRain History Station: Flora Fairfield and A.M. Barnard
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Making snail mail work for you
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: It's only too late to start if you think it's too late to start
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: ActiveRain makes this my most thankful Thanksgiving and Christmas in many a year!
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Who do we contact?
The ActiveRain History Station: Let The Entertainer entertain you
The ActiveRain History Station: Who let it Luce?
See something you like? Make it yours! Own it!
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: First impressions—Just how carefree is carefree?

Helpful blog posts for ActiveRain newbies

My favorite television stations on the ActiveRain TV:

Life 101: While alive, live

Russel Ray, San Diego Marketing & Business Consultant (Russel Ray) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 11:13:33 -0600

This post is one of a series based on the book, Life 101: Everything We Wish We Had Learned About Life In School — But Didn't.

This book is a very powerful inspirational and self-help book without being pretentious about being powerful, inspirational, or a self-help book.

If you're interested in doing something about your life and don't have the money right now for a life coach, try this book.

There are used copies at amazon.com for pennies on the dollar.

Maybe something here, or in this series, will be the inspiration that can help you through a particularly tough day or time in your life.

Previous Life series posts can be accessed by clicking here.

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Almost every sentence in this book can be taken out of context and used as a motivational or inspirational thought. Following are just a small selection that I've been saving:

Live by what you believe so fully that your life blossoms, or else purge the fear- and guilt-producing beliefs from your life.
Feel free to invite misery into your life by believing one thing and doing something else.
If you give yourself the name, then play the game.
When you believe something that you don't follow with your heart, intellect, and body, it hurts.
Life your belief, or let that belief go.
If you're not actively involved in getting what you want, you don't really want it.
The best cure for the fear of death is to remember that life has a beginning and an end. Always be prepared for the end.
The day of death is better than the day of life (Ecclesiastes 7:1).
Do not grieve over the inevitable (Bhagavad Gita: 2:27).
It's only after a painful process is over that we can look back and see what we learned.
We seldom know our biggest lessons while they are taking place.
The most exotic lands with the most amazing scenery sometimes means sleeping in tents 200 miles from the nearest toilet.
There are certain things human beings are not permitted to know, like what we're doing (William Burroughs).
Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not; it is the first lesson that ought to be learned; and however early a man's training begins, it is probably the last lesson that he learns thoroughly (Thomas Huxley)
While alive, live.

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Fifteen recent blog posts

The ActiveRain History Station: Today in 1824 is the only time this has ever happened
The ActiveRain History Station: Honesty is the best policy, when there is money in it
Mary Agnes Kirk: My wise old grandmother
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: How many times do I have to tell you?
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Which is more valuable, your front end or your back end?
The ActiveRain History Station: Flora Fairfield and A.M. Barnard
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Making snail mail work for you
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: It's only too late to start if you think it's too late to start
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: ActiveRain makes this my most thankful Thanksgiving and Christmas in many a year!
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Who do we contact?
The ActiveRain History Station: Let The Entertainer entertain you
The ActiveRain History Station: Who let it Luce?
See something you like? Make it yours! Own it!
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: First impressions—Just how carefree is carefree?
The ActiveRain History Station: Am I, or am I not, the President?

Helpful blog posts for ActiveRain newbies

My favorite television stations on the ActiveRain TV:

Today in 1824 is the only time this has ever happened!

Russel Ray, San Diego Marketing & Business Consultant (Russel Ray) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:41:22 -0600

Those of us who lived through the presidential election of 2000 between George W. Bush and Al Gore thought it was the most contentious presidential election ever.

Possibly.

The presidential election of 1824 might have been just as contentious, if not more so, since there were four candidates involved and allegations of corrupt political bargains.

On this date in 1824, the election was turned over to the United States House of Representatives in accordance with the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution since none of the four candidates had acquired the 131 electoral votes required to become President.

The candidates and their number of electoral votes were:

Andrew Jackson - 99 votes
John Quincy Adams - 84 votes
William H. Crawford - 41 votes
Henry Clay - 37 votes

All four candidates were members of the Democratic-Republican Party (interesting) but they were as different as day and night, black and white, stop and go.

Because the Twelfth Amendment allows the House of Representatives to only consider the top three candidates, Henry Clay could not become President, and William Crawford's poor health following a stroke made his election highly unlikely.

Virtually everyone expected Andrew Jackson to be selected President since he had the most electoral votes and had won a plurality of the popular vote.

Henry Clay endorsed John Quincy Adams, and as Speaker of the House of Representatives, his endorsement carried additional weight. The House selected John Quincy Adams on its first ballot, but when Adams appointed Henry Clay as Secretary of State, many people believed that the two had agreed to a corrupt political bargain.

Hmmm, a corrupt political bargain? Seems nothing has changed in all these years. ☺☺☻☻☻☻☺☺

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Fifteen recent blog posts

The ActiveRain History Station: Honesty is the best policy, when there is money in it
Mary Agnes Kirk: My wise old grandmother
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: How many times do I have to tell you?
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Which is more valuable, your front end or your back end?
The ActiveRain History Station: Flora Fairfield and A.M. Barnard
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Making snail mail work for you
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: It's only too late to start if you think it's too late to start
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: ActiveRain makes this my most thankful Thanksgiving and Christmas in many a year!
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Who do we contact?
The ActiveRain History Station: Let The Entertainer entertain you
The ActiveRain History Station: Who let it Luce?
See something you like? Make it yours! Own it!
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: First impressions—Just how carefree is carefree?
The ActiveRain History Station: Am I, or am I not, the President?
The ActiveRain History Station: Ford didn't need a bailout

Helpful blog posts for ActiveRain newbies

My favorite television stations on the ActiveRain TV:

Honesty is the best policy, when there is money in it

Russel Ray, San Diego Marketing & Business Consultant (Russel Ray) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 09:35:33 -0600

"Honesty is the best policy, when there is money in it."

Do you recognize the quote and who said it?

How about this one: "A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining, but wants it back the minute it begins to rain."

No?

Try this one: "Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest."

I'm sure you've heard that one but might not know who said it, so here are two more clues: He was born on this date in 1835 in Florida, Missouri, but is better known by his pen name.

Still no idea? One last clue, then: Did you know that if you can find a frog that will jump more than 21'5¾", you can win $5,000?

Give up?

Here he is: Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain.

Samuel Clemens was born two months premature and was a sickly child for his first ten years. Fortunately, the world is better for him having recovered. Following are my Top 15 works by Mark Twain, though in no particular order:

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
Roughing It
Old Times on the Mississippi
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
The Prince and the Pauper
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson
A Dog's Tale
The Battle Hymn of the Republic, Updated
King Leopold's Soliloquy
Christian Science
Mark Twain's Autobiography
The Bible According to Mark Twain: Writings on Heaven, Eden, and the Flood
The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg

Clemens (and Twain) is one of the most quoted people in history, so I'll leave you with 97 more of my favorite quotes -- to make an even 100 with the three above -- from the mouth of Samuel Clemens and the pen of Mark Twain.

Take some time today to read them all. You'll recognize many of them, be inspired by some of them, laugh at some of them, find some of them still relevant, and possibly even be offended by some of them, but all of them will make you think!

A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read.
A human being has a natural desire to have more of a good thing than he needs.
A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.
A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.
A patriot is mocked, scorned and hated; yet when his cause succeeds, all men will join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot.
All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure.
Always acknowledge a fault. This will throw those in authority off their guard and give you an opportunity to commit more.
Are you so unobservant that you do not yet realize that sanity and happiness are an impossible combination?
Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.
Civilization is a limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities.
Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.
Do something every day that you don't want to do; this is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain.
Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.
Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are more pliable.
Familiarity breeds contempt - and children.
Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example.
Fleas can be taught nearly anything a congressman can.
George Washington as a boy was ignorant of the commonest accomplishments of youth - he could not even lie.
Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please.
Good breeding consists in concealing how much we think of ourselves and how little we think of the other person.
Great people are those who make others feel that they, too, can become great.
In order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to obtain.
Heaven goes by favour. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in.
How little a thing can make us happy when we feel that we have earned it.
I am not one of those who in expressing opinions confine themselves to facts.
I can live two months on a good compliment.
I can teach anybody how to get what they want out of life. The problem is that I can't find anybody who can tell me what they want.
I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.
I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.
I have spent most of my time worrying about things that have never happened.
I never could tell a lie that anybody would doubt, nor a truth that anybody would believe.
I was born modest. Not all over, but in spots.
I was gratified to be able to answer promptly. I said, "I don't know."
If Christ were here now there is one thing he would not be - a Christian.
If I owned both Hell and Texas, I'd live in Hell and rent out Texas.
If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.
If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything.
In religion and politics, people's beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second hand, and without examination.
It ain't those parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it's the parts that I do understand.
It is better to deserve honors and not have them than to have them and not to deserve them.
It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.
It is noble to teach oneself, it is still nobler to teach others.
It takes your enemy and your friend, working together, to hurt you: the one to slander you, and the other to bring the news to you.
Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.
Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.
Let us be thankful for the fools. But for them the rest of us could not succeed.
Let us not be too particular; it is better to have old secondhand diamonds than none at all.
Let us so live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.
Loyalty to petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul.
Mankind is governed by minorities, seldom or never by majorities. It suppresses its feelings and its beliefs and follows the handful that makes the most noise. Sometimes the noisy handful is right, sometimes wrong, but no matter, the crowd follows it.
Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising.
Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.
Never tell the truth to those unworthy of it.
October is one of the peculiarly dangerous months to speculate in stocks. Others are July, January, April, September, November, May, March, June, December, August and February.
Of all the animals, man is the only one that is cruel. He is the only one that inflicts pain for the pleasure of doing it.
Of the delights of this world, man cares most for sexual intercourse, yet he has left it out of his heaven.
Often it does seem a pity that Noah and his party did not miss the boat.
One of the most striking differences between a cat and a lie is that a cat has only nine lives.
Quitting smoking is easy, I've done it thousands of times.
Religion consists in a set of things which the average man thinks he believes and wishes he was certain of.
So much blood has been shed by the Church because of an omission from the Gospel: "Ye shall be indifferent as to what your neighbor's religion is." Not merely tolerant of it, but indifferent to it. Divinity is claimed for many religions; but no religion is great enough or divine enough to add that new law to its code.
Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.
The best cure for Christianity is reading the Bible.
The best way to cheer yourself is to try to cheer someone else up.
The easy confidence with which I know another man's religion is folly teaches me to suspect that my own is also. I would not interfere with any one's religion, either to strengthen it or to weaken it. I am not able to believe one's religion can affect his hereafter one way or the other, no matter what that religion may be. But it may easily be a great comfort to him in this life--hence it is a valuable possession to him.
The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creature that cannot.
The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year.
The holy passion of Friendship is of so sweet and steady and loyal and enduring a nature that it will last through a whole lifetime, if not asked to lend money.
The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter.
The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them.
The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like, and do what you'd rather not.
The radical of one century is the conservative of the next. The radical invents the views. When he has worn them out the conservative adopts them.
The report of my death was an exaggeration.
The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.
The worst loneliness is not to be comfortable with yourself.
There is no sadder sight than a young pessimist, except an old optimist.
There is nothing so annoying as to have two people talking when you're busy interrupting.
There ought to be a room in every house to swear in.
Those that respect the law and love sausage should watch neither being made.
Thousands of geniuses live and die undiscovered - either by themselves or by others.
Truth is more of a stranger than fiction.
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do then by the ones you did. So, throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
Virtue has never been as respectable as money.
We all have thoughts that would shame the devil.
We are always more anxious to be distinguished for a talent which we do not possess, than to be praised for the fifteen which we do possess.
We are always too busy for our children; we never give them the time or interest they deserve. We lavish gifts upon them; but the most precious gift, our personal association, which means so much to them, we give grudgingly.
We have a criminal jury system which is superior to any in the world; and its efficiency is only marred by the difficulty of finding twelve men every day who don't know anything and can't read.
We should be careful to get out of an experience only the wisdom that is in it--and stop there.
What a good thing Adam had. When he said a good thing he knew nobody had said it before.
When a person cannot deceive himself the chances are against his being able to deceive other people.
When I think of the number of disagreeable people that I know who have gone to a better world, I am sure hell won't be so bad at all.
When I was fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have him around. When I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.
When I was younger, I could remember anything, whether it had happened or not.
When in doubt, tell the truth.
When you cannot get a compliment any other way, pay yourself one.
Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority, it is time to reform.
Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been.

What number was your favorite quote? What's your favorite Mark Twain book?

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Fifteen recent blog posts

Mary Agnes Kirk: My wise old grandmother
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: How many times do I have to tell you?
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Which is more valuable, your front end or your back end?
The ActiveRain History Station: Flora Fairfield and A.M. Barnard
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Making snail mail work for you
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: It's only too late to start if you think it's too late to start
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: ActiveRain makes this my most thankful Thanksgiving and Christmas in many a year!
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Who do we contact?
The ActiveRain History Station: Let The Entertainer entertain you
The ActiveRain History Station: Who let it Luce?
See something you like? Make it yours! Own it!
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: First impressions—Just how carefree is carefree?
The ActiveRain History Station: Am I, or am I not, the President?
The ActiveRain History Station: Ford didn't need a bailout
The ActiveRain History Station: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion....

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Mary Agnes Kirk: My wise old grandmother

Russel Ray, San Diego Marketing & Business Consultant (Russel Ray) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:31:34 -0600

I get at least one question a week asking about my wise old grandmother, and since it's been a long time since I talked about her, and since this is the end of the Thanksgiving weekend, I thought it might be appropriate to say how thankful I am that she adopted me when I was just a few months short of eleven years old.

When my father committed suicide, my mom took us to northern Utah where her family lived, leaving behind my dad's family in central and south Texas. When she remarried, I became a brat, one of the biggest brats in the history of the State of Utah. Fortunately, I was a juvenile brat, so I'm not spending the rest of my life in a Utah penintentiary.

I was such a juvenile delinquent in Utah that either the State of Utah took me or my mom and stepdad gave me up. In any event, I wound up in the Thomas D. Dee Memorial Hospital in Ogden, Utah. It was there that I met an 18-year-old woman named Barbara Hunt. She was from Bakersfield, California, and I've spent many a day and many thousands of dollars trying to locate her, but to no avail.

Barbara got me interested in The Beatles, taking me to see "A Hard Day's Night," and helped me write a letter to Mary Agnes Kirk, my wise old grandmother. We didn't know her address, but I had a dream, and in that dream came "Kingsville, Texas," so we simply addressed the letter to "Mary Agnes Kirk, Kingsville, Texas." Thirty days later, I was living in Kingsville, Texas, having been adopted by my dad's parents.

My wise old grandmother gave me what so many children then and now are missing: love and discipline. Love without discipline creates spoiled children who grow up to think they are entitled to things without having to work for them. I was fortunate; so many children are not.

So at the end of this Thanksgiving, I'd like to say that I'm thankful for the Thomas D. Dee Memorial Hospital, having met Barbara Hunt, and for my wise old grandmother adopting me when she was 55 and I was a juvenile delinquent of 11. She didn't need that after having raised four sons of her own, but for her, I'm confident that I wouldn't be here today.

If you'd like to read more about me and my wise old grandmother, please feel free to visit my web site dedicated to her at http://www.mywiseoldgrandmother.com.

Best wishes to all for health, happiness, peace, and prosperity, and if you have the opportunity to make a positive impact on some young child's life, including your own, please take it.

And Barbara Hunt, if you're out there and reading this, I sure hope you'll contact me! I love you!

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Fifteen recent blog posts

The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: How many times do I have to tell you?
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Which is more valuable, your front end or your back end?
The ActiveRain History Station: Flora Fairfield and A.M. Barnard
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Making snail mail work for you
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: It's only too late to start if you think it's too late to start
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: ActiveRain makes this my most thankful Thanksgiving and Christmas in many a year!
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Who do we contact?
The ActiveRain History Station: Let The Entertainer entertain you
The ActiveRain History Station: Who let it Luce?
See something you like? Make it yours! Own it!
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: First impressions—Just how carefree is carefree?
The ActiveRain History Station: Am I, or am I not, the President?
The ActiveRain History Station: Ford didn't need a bailout
The ActiveRain History Station: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion....
If you don't need me, then I don't need you

Helpful blog posts for ActiveRain newbies

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How many times do I have to tell you?

Russel Ray, San Diego Marketing & Business Consultant (Russel Ray) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 21:41:03 -0600

I was back Playing in the Rain this evening when I came across a fairly new member (9,872 points), so I went to read the profile and visit his web site.

Alas, the link to his web site was dead.

Since he was in my time zone, I picked up the phone to call him to tell him that his web site link was dead.

Alas, the phone number "has been disconnected or is no longer in service."

Well, I tried.

Here's a secret that I learned from my wise old grandmother way back in 1966:

Whenever you are working on something that is critical, once you finish it, have someone else proofread it. If there is no one around to proofread it for you, meaning that you're going to have to proofread it yourself, put it aside for 24 hours and then, and only then, proofread it.

If it's a brochure, letter, flyer, business card, or something else critical, put it in a dark closet or a dark drawer for 12 hours and then proofread it.

You can even print out each page of your web site and proofread them away from the computer.

You'll find that if you do those, the next day any typos, misspellings, wrong phone numbers, bad URLs, etc., will almost literally jump off the page and say, "Lookie here! I'm an error! How did you miss me yesterday?"

Try it, and report back to me.

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Fifteen recent blog posts

The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Which is more valuable, your front end or your back end?
The ActiveRain History Station: Flora Fairfield and A.M. Barnard
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Making snail mail work for you
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: It's only too late to start if you think it's too late to start
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: ActiveRain makes this my most thankful Thanksgiving and Christmas in many a year!
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: Who do we contact?
The ActiveRain History Station: Let The Entertainer entertain you
The ActiveRain History Station: Who let it Luce?
See something you like? Make it yours! Own it!
The ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station: First impressions—Just how carefree is carefree?
The ActiveRain History Station: Am I, or am I not, the President?
The ActiveRain History Station: Ford didn't need a bailout
The ActiveRain History Station: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion....
If you don't need me, then I don't need you
The ActiveRain History Station: Four score and seven years ago....

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