It MIGHT be official!

Okay, so I think I know the answer to the question that plagued me about that New Year's Eve Tucanos ad.  On the 17th of December, I received another online coupon announcement from them!  It was of the "Share It" variety.  You all know what I'm talking about, right?  It says that I can "share" the gift of Tucanos, and get a discount on the coupon.

I STILL love this restaurant, but...

Within three weeks of downloading that great coupon from Tucanos, I found another offer in my inbox.  This one was for a New Year's party deal at

"Problopportunities"

No, I didn't forget to hit the space bar, and, no, I didn't just have a brain spasm.  It was a BrandAid, which I get every so often from Killian Branding, a company whose mass emails I really enjoy.  Click on the title to go to their website; sign up there to get your own BrandAids.

I LOVE this restaurant!

I got this coupon in an email a week prior to my birthday.  Not only was it a great deal (50% off), it's for a place I actually eat at.  So, hooray for Tucanos, a company that gives great deals to people that already like them!

Competitive Advantage, Part 1

No matter the shape of the economy, gaining a competitive advantage is an important key to business growth.

Quit looking at the numbers and act like a corner store.

Gun Lovin' Fun!

Which one of these is not like the others?

If you guessed that only one of them has a big, white tag, you're RIGHT...but it's not what I was thinking of when I snapped this shot at Walmart. I, of course, was looking at the PINK gun on the left.

Site Updates

To all my readers:

Over the next few months, the site will be going through some back-end changes that will cause change to its look fairly regularly. Don't worry though, because the content will still be here for your perusal. I've been taking some web design classes so I don't have to rely so heavily on Blogger to control my site layout. Keep reading, and don't forget to post comments on the posts you like, even if they're old; you never know what could spark a discussion!

-MJP

What I've learned from failure

Especially in this economy, it's hard to get a business up and going. Even once things are moving, the difficulty of keeping the forward momentum going is a continual problem. Over my career, I've worked for great businesses, some of which were large, and some of which were VERY small. I'm going to be focusing on the smallest two because they are the most applicable to my target audience: the small business owner.

Beard Types

Not that I'm an expert on facial hair, but this list seems incomplete. Most of my facial hair experiments are on this chart. I've done the short boxed beard, which eventually got shaved down to the Van Dyke, but never had the courage to try most of these.

For Social Media Jugglers...

Click on the title to be re-directed to one company's take on juggling social media. The most relevant point for me was the suggestion to simplify. Yes, I can try to be on as many as possible, but when the possibilities are at the expense of quality, I should stop. When I have to decide between commenting on a friend's blog post or signing up on Digg, I should forget the latter.

Post a comment about your challenges juggling social media. I'd love to hear what you think!

- MJP

Wasting time like a pro!

I just read an article on SocialMediaToday.com called, "6 Ways to Waste Your Time on Social Media." Click the title of this post to go directly to the post. It did a great job of pointing out some fairly common ways that a lot of people, including myself, waste time in the social sphere.

Why is it so popular?

Question: why is this video SO POPULAR? It's had more than 2 million hits since it premiered in July 2010. Yes, it makes fun of the Old Spice ads, but it only mimics them in style. There's something funny about it that's all it's own. Watch, ponder and then post a reply telling everyone why YOU like or dislike it!

Experience pays...right?

Click on the title of this post to go to an interesting article on experience and success in a given job. The results surprised me, and they will do the same to you; I guarantee it!

Disney as a Key to a Happy Brand

I was recently at Disneyland, and I was amazed at the number of products they sold that weren't made by Disney. For instance, a giant Mr. Potato Head interacts with the guests standing in line to ride Toy Story Midway Mania; not only is it my favorite ride at ANY Disney park, it's also a great cross-promotional opportunity for Hasbro. There's no way to know how much Disney pays each year to use Mr. Potato, but it has to be a lot since he's featured so prominently in the ride's "pre-show" line cue.

Cleaning House, Part 3: Targeting

Picking the correct target is more simple if you've done a good job of cleaning your data. If you skipped that step, go back and read "Cleaning House, Part 2: List Hygiene." Hygienic lists are imperative if you want targets that are well focused. I know that I often want to include as many people as possible, but with well-crafted campaigns, you'll get better response rates than if you go with a broader target.

Hey, everybody!

Hey, everybody! It's been a while since I've written on the blog since things have been really busy at work as of late. Not to worry, though! Much more is in the works for the coming months; I've got lots of ideas bubbling in my brain. I'll see you all soon!

Twitter for Job Seekers?

Apparently, it's the next wave in job searching. I read an article by Kevin Kermes, who interviewed two Twitter "pros" who claimed that it really is possible, if done correctly.

Cleaning House, Part 2: List Hygiene

The only thing better than putting on a warm shirt right out of the dryer is putting on a CLEAN warm shirt right out of the dryer.