What do you do again?

I get this question alot because no one really understands what I do.

Q: "What do you do?"
A: "I am the digital marketing specialist for chron.com."
Q: "What does that mean?"
A: "I help get the word out for whatever it is that needs to have the word out"
Q: "So what do you do?"
A: "I help promote chron.com and other sections of the site through various means like search engine marketing, email marketing, at events and such. That includes creating flyers, signage, promotional items, etc. That doesn't mean I actually create it but I work with a team that designs and creates these things with the direction I give them."

So, if you're a marketing person, you get that. If you're not... you really don't get it. Why is that? Why is marketing so difficult for people to understand? It's everywhere. It may not be an exact science when you're looking at results but down the line, its working somewhere. Someone told me, you just gotta be there when they need you. There's a saying out there...

"No marketing is like winking in the dark at a party. You know what you're doing but no one else does."

I love marketing. I love the fact that it allows me to be creative and think and dream and to help create these amazing campaigns. But, what do I do again? What's the objective of my position? I wonder sometimes if I'm the one that doesn't get it. Naw, that can't be it. ~_^ I'm just thinking too much. Where's the tequila bar?

Common Sense Spoils

I took my car to the dealership to get its usual maintenance and check up. Of course there was something wrong with it. My battery was dead and I didn't know why. Anyhow, I get sent to get a rental car. I asked for something small. I am a fast driver and I refuse to change for a large car (that and plus I refuse to pay extra for gas). I get in the small rental and drive to work. As I pull into the garage, I start feeling for the window buttons. I'm feeling around and I don't feel anything. OH MY FREAKING GAWD! There are NO BUTTONS! I quickly look down and there it is... a window crank. What in the world is that?

Do you know how long its been since I've even seen a window crank? I didn't think they existed anymore. Personally, I didn't think I was that spoiled. All the cars I had ever owned were hand me downs from my uncle, my cousin, my parents, etc. All the cars had automatic windows. I must have been lucky. Am I the only one to think that window cranks are from the caveman days? Who in the world still has a window crank?

A friend of mine thought this story was hilarious. Actually, what she found funny was that I didn't have automatic seat adjusters. My car has manual seat adjusters. My reasoning behind that is, it's faster for me to adjust my own seat versus waiting for the seat to move me to the correct spot. Automatic windows can pull up and down quicker than I can ever crank it open. Plus you don't have to reach across the passenger seat to pull down the window.

Another thing - the rental car didn't have automatic door locks. What is wrong with that? Even my old '89 Camry had automatic door locks. I think it is a safety issue.

So is it that I'm spoiled? I don't think so. I think it is just that the people who marketed automatic windows, automatic door locks and what have you did such a good job that I believe in my heart that I should never have to manually lock my door or crank a window ever again. When I went to buy my car, I specifically wanted automatic door locks and windows. It's not even a hard sell, just common sense.

Surprise it's MJ!

So I'm helping my sister at the family doughnut shop - D.Donuts in Pearland. If you ever go, the kolaches are the best and I'm totally addicted to the tacos and croissant sandwiches. She tells me the short stories of random customers who either don't care that she finally raised her prices (due to inflation of course) or tell her, tuff noogies which means I'm going somewhere else. I'm thinking... it's a business and we can't slowly die as a business if we can't cover our overhead. People should undesrstand that, right? Others were just thinking, what's another 5 or 10 cents? That's right... cents! They'll come back anyways. It's not like she increased prices 100%.

To my point - which makes for a really short blog... your hardcore customers won't care that you raise prices (it's called reality). They'll keep coming back for the quality of the food and the quality of the service. For those that are "bargain" shoppers - they will be back because we still have the one of the lowest prices in the area.

So the surprise? There was a pot of Mary Janes in the dumpster. Anyone up for a party? Maybe tomorrow?