George Mason University A dozen years ago Your Business Blogger went school shopping.

To buy an MBA. Living in Northern Virginia, we were considering one of the three local Georges -- Washington, 'Town, Mason.

We were budgeting north of 40K. Self pay. So I was really, really interested in the cost.

So I ask GW, "How much?"

"Around $42,000 or so."

"Or so? So what does that mean?" I wondered.

"It might be a bit more." Said the major university big time recruiter smarty pants.

I was a sales manager at the time. I turned on the huffy sales manager voice, "Can you tell me the number it will cost me. The number I need to budget."

"We don't have the exact number," says the GWU MBA seat seller.

I pause. Why would I buy an MBA from a business school that can't even forecast their own costs? And they're supposed to teach me this stuff?

I would have thought this unusual. But Georgetown said the same thing.

So I go visit Peggy at George Mason. She had the exact cost. No hidden charges. I like her. I bought a seat. Two years later, another consultant is set loose on the world.

George Mason had long been known for two things.

1) Favorable mentions by Tom Clancy in his books. And,

2) A university with a conservative flavor. Walter Williams et. al.

Now GMU is in the NCAA final four. Set to beat Florida Saturday nite.

Which creates a business opportunity. Alan Merten, the GMU president is scrambling to take advantage in the serge of applications that follow winning basketball teams.

"A target rich opportunity," says Merten.

You can bet Mason will get the business branding of higher education right.

Mason can do the numbers. George Mason knows how to do business. Now basketball scores. Increased enrollment numbers are next.

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Thank you (foot)notes:

We should be hearing from Professor Starling Hunter, at The Business of America is Business. He teaches in the United Arab Emirates. George Mason has 31 students in an extension campus there. The UAE has Patriot fever, I understand.

My church pastor, David Wayne, the JollyBlogger, is a Gator guy. Can't wait for Sunday's sermon.

The Happy Booker has more.

Mudville Gazette has Open Post.

Jollyblogger is on the other side.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 5:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Brent Bozell
MRC's Founder...at the Media Research Center's DisHonor Awards. Your Business Blogger and Charmaine attended last night's fund raising dinner with 960 of our closest DC friends.

Typical rubber chicken talk-a-thon? Nope. Steak at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. Humor and hand-held noise makers. Real Laughter.

Brent Bozell, with his master of ceremonies, Peabody Awarding winning Cal Thomas, had terrific material to work with.

Poking fun at the liberal media bias. With actual footage of the nincompoopheads that bring us the news. The Goliaths.

The Army of Davids was in the audience.

Media Research CenterThere were multiple categories. Nominees included Andrea Mitchell, Chris Matthews, Nina Totenberg, Jack Cafferty, Keith Obermann, Nancy Giles, Rick Kaplan, David Gergen, Ted Turner, Harry Smith, Mary Mapes, Kathy Griffin, Alec Baldwin, Rosie O'Donnell.

Oddly, none of the nominees were in attendance.

The presenters included Tony Blankley, Larry Kudlow, Mark Levin, Brent Bozell.

The winners were Chris Mathews, Rosie O'Donnell, Ted Turner.

The West's Last ChanceHigh class swell swag was to be had. Courtesy MRC: copies of Tony Blankley's new book.*

Ted Turner's award winning interview was his political analysis. Critical of the USA, and fawning of North Korea and Kim Jong-il. Oppression, torture, starvation north of the 38th parallel? He didn't see any. "I saw thin people...riding bikes," lectured Turner.

Odd to hear an American hating southern accent. Well, his and Jimmy Carter's.

Conservatives have a liberal sense of humor. Mark Levin said, "...Rosie O'Donnell went to charm school...on a football scholarship."

Tony Blankley mused that CNN's AAron Burr Brown believes all conservative policies and programs are delivered from "the anus of satan."

Larry Kudlow comma Capitalist, as he always introduces himself on CNBC, rolled the Chris Matthews clip. This is where the host of Harball says, "We've got to get out of our American skin...the North Vietnamese were ...objectively the good guys..." in the Vietnam War. This is what passes for journalism. And is failing.

Stan Evans bemoaned the lack of liberal's grammar. "Brokeback Mountain?...It's not Brokeback -- it's BROKENback Mountain..."

See the video at the Media Research Center.

The evening closed with A Tribute to the American Military. Some cried. Out loud.

Brent Bozell is a class act. Who loves America.

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Thank you (foot)notes:

* I picked up a few extra copies of the Blankley book. Leave me a comment on liberal bias and the benefit of blog reading and I'll mail you a FREE copy. Include mailing address, will not be published. While supplies last.

The DisHonors Awards have been held since 1999. More at the jump.

Soldier's Angel has more on the media bias.

Visit Pundit Review for real analysis.

Full Disclosure: Brent Brozell has said nice things about Your Business Blogger's wife and one of her appearances on Bill Maher's Politically Incorrect.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 6:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Just returned from the Media Research Center's annual dinner where they give out DisHonor Awards. Tonight's big winner: Ted Turner.

Crowd "favorite" Ted said, in a clip replayed several times on the big screens around the room, that North Korea is a ding-how kind of place to be.

Starvation in North Korea? Nah, said Ted. "I saw lots of thin people, riding around on bicycles."

You just can't make this stuff up.

Other winners included Rosie O'Donnell -- "I'm not a political genius, but I play one on TV" -- and Chris Matthews -- nominated twice with "Send Bush to Abu Ghraib" and "the Cindy Sheehan Media Hero" awards.

Posted at 11:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Cross Post from Jack Yoest

The West's Last Chance
by Tony Blankley Your Business Blogger and Charmaine had dinner with Tony Blankley, and a few other couples. I ask him about his days as press secretary for Newt Gingrich.

How Newt did his speeches. Did Tony write them?

"No." said Blankley, now the editorial page editor of The Washington Times. "Newt would sketch out ideas on a yellow pad in the back of the car on the drive to the event," said Tony. "He would modify his remarks to fit the [tone of the] audience -- but he always knew where he stood and what he would say." And so did Tony.

Tony warmed to the topic,

My job was easy. I could go immediately to the mics on Capital Hill after session and review what Newt doing and thinking. [President] Clinton's press people could never do that as fast, because they never knew where Clinton stood on any issue at any time. They didn't know what Clinton would think or [how to] react to any of Newt's proposals. [Clinton] was forever triangulating -- whatever the [heck] that is -- so his press people always had to wait for me to finish, then wait for Clinton to make up his mind on how he felt about an issue at any point in time....because his positions changed all the time.

Nobody on Clinton's team, including Clinton, had an internal compass; standards; core beliefs.

Blankley was reviewing the Ronald Reagan dictum that Personnel is Policy.

The dinner was arranged courtesy of the Harbour League based in Baltimore. Past guests have included Michelle Malkin and Grover Norquist.

If you are in the Mid-Atlantic area, do get on their good-guy list for upcoming events.

Here's the next gig.

The Harbour League Presents
From the Gulag to the Killing Fields
Featuring Dr. Paul Hollander, author of From the Gulag to the Killing Fields, -- holds degrees from the London School of Economics and Princeton University and is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He is also an associate of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University. A widely published author, his books include Political Pilgrims: Western Intellectuals in Search of the Good Society; Anti-Americanism: Critiques at Home and Abroad, 1965 -- 1990; and Political Will and Personal Belief: The Decline and Fall of Soviet Communism.

Thursday, April 6th
7:00pm -- 8:00pm (Reception to follow)
Doors open at 6:30pm
Hilton Pikesville
1726 Reisterstown Road
Pikesville, Maryland

There is no charge for this event; however, RSVP is a must. Seating is limited and Harbour League members have priority seating. To RSVP please visit www.TheHarbourLeague.org or call 410-206-3445.

The lecture is free. And well worth your time.

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Thank you (foot)notes:

John MacStansbury says that Your Business Blogger is an inveterate name dropper. I don't know where he gets that. (He must have heard about my meeting Alan Greenspan and Andrea Mitchell -- while they were dating! -- in the Presidential Box in the Kennedy Center years ago.) John is a good-guy, anyway, even if prone to exaggeration. He has interesting observations on Democrats. May not be workplace safe.

More on Blankley and the Harbour League at Yoest.org.

Posted at 8:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The West's Last Chance
by Tony Blankley Your Business Blogger and Charmaine had dinner with Tony Blankley, and a few other couples. I ask him about his days as press secretary for Newt Gingrich.

How Newt did his speeches. Did Tony write them?

"No." said Blankley, now the editorial page editor of The Washington Times. "Newt would sketch out ideas on a yellow pad in the back of the car on the drive to the event," said Tony. "He would modify his remarks to fit the [tone of the] audience -- but he always knew where he stood and what he would say." And so did Tony.

Tony warmed to the topic,

My job was easy. I could go immediately to the mics on Capital Hill after session and review what Newt doing and thinking. [President] Clinton's press people could never do that as fast, because they never knew where Clinton stood on any issue at any time. They didn't know what Clinton would think or [how to] react to any of Newt's proposals. [Clinton] was forever triangulating -- whatever the [heck] that is -- so his press people always had to wait for me to finish, then wait for Clinton to make up his mind on how he felt about an issue at any point in time....because his positions changed all the time.

Nobody on Clinton's team, including Clinton, had an internal compass; standards; core beliefs.

Blankley was reviewing the Ronald Reagan dictum that Personnel is Policy.

The dinner was arranged courtesy of the Harbour League based in Baltimore. Past guests have included Michelle Malkin and Grover Norquist.

If you are in the Mid-Atlantic area, do get on their good-guy list for upcoming events.

Here's the next gig.

The Harbour League Presents
From the Gulag to the Killing Fields
Featuring Dr. Paul Hollander, author of From the Gulag to the Killing Fields, -- holds degrees from the London School of Economics and Princeton University and is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He is also an associate of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University. A widely published author, his books include Political Pilgrims: Western Intellectuals in Search of the Good Society; Anti-Americanism: Critiques at Home and Abroad, 1965 -- 1990; and Political Will and Personal Belief: The Decline and Fall of Soviet Communism.

Thursday, April 6th
7:00pm -- 8:00pm (Reception to follow)
Doors open at 6:30pm
Hilton Pikesville
1726 Reisterstown Road
Pikesville, Maryland

There is no charge for this event; however, RSVP is a must. Seating is limited and Harbour League members have priority seating. To RSVP please visit www.TheHarbourLeague.org or call 410-206-3445.

The lecture is free. And well worth your time.

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

John MacStansbury says that Your Business Blogger is an inveterate name dropper. I don't know where he gets that. (He must have heard about my meeting Alan Greenspan and Andrea Mitchell -- while they were dating! -- in the Presidential Box in the Kennedy Center years ago.) John is a good-guy, anyway, even if prone to exaggeration. He has interesting observations on Democrats. May not be workplace safe.

More on Blankley and the Harbour League at the jump

Continue Reading »

Posted at 6:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (1)

Cross Post from Jack Yoest. Who lifted shamelessly from the Jollyblogger.

This is a cat.

Aslan's on the move

For all of you who live in the Baltimore and Washington DC area I want to invite you to an event at our church this Thursday night featuring author and C. S. Lewis Scholar Art Lindsley. Here's the announcement from the church:

C. S. Lewis has found a new generation of fans with the overwhelming success of the movie adaptation of his book "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe."

You are invited to a lecture and a dessert discussing C. S. Lewis and the importance of the imagination in his life and writings.

Date: Thursday, March 30, 2006

Time: 7:00 -- 9:00pm

Location: Glen Burnie Evangelical Presbyterian Church

710 Aquahart Rd, Glen Burnie, MD

For more info: 410-766-5363 or office@gbepc.org

Arthur Lindsley, Ph.DOur Speaker

Arthur W. Lindsley, Ph.D.
Senior Fellow -- C. S. Lewis Institute

Art Lindsley has served at the C.S. Lewis Institute since 1987. Formerly, he was Director of Educational Ministries at the Ligonier Valley Study Center, and Staff Specialist with the Coalition for Christian Outreach. He is the author of the books True Truth and C. S. Lewis's Case for Christ and is the co-author of the book Classical Apologetics along with R.C. Sproul and John Gerstner. He has written numerous articles on theology, apologetics, C.S. Lewis, and the lives and works of many other authors and teachers. Art earned his M.Div. from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the University of Pittsburgh.

I hope you can come!

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Thank you (foot)notes:

Free Stuff at the C S Lewis Institute.

Visit the Jollyblogger.

Posted at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Chinese Snacks in Chengdu Your Business Blogger was looking for a bit to eat. Maybe some local flavor. In Chengdu, in the middle of China.

A traditional snack. I dropped into a small grocer and loaded up. Pringles, Oreos, washed down with a Coke. And Cheetos chaser.

Then I noticed something. As I looked down into my feed bag, I saw international brand names.

(Nothing escapes Your Business Blogger.)

Peter Drucker said that innovation and marketing were the only competitive advantages the USA needed.

The raw ingredients in Coke and Cheetos are commodities. Available anywhere. Cheap.

The real added value is in the marketing. From America.

Pepsi ad at The Temple of Heaven, Beijing

Wyeth formula ad in the Beijing subway

Starbucks at Beijing Airport

Coke bench ad in Chengdu, China

Narnia sidewalk poster, Chengdu Narnia? In the Middle Kingdom?

Narnia at a theater near you, Chongqing, China American marketing on the move.

Aslan's on the move.

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Thank you (foot)notes:

Interested in Narnia? If you are near Glen Burnie, Maryland, be sure to come to the C S Lewis lecture Thursday nite.

More pics at The Travel Bug

See Snacking Across China.

Visit Basil's Blog for his pick of good posts.

Posted at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lifted shamelessly from the Jollyblogger.

This is a cat.

Aslan's on the move

For all of you who live in the Baltimore and Washington DC area I want to invite you to an event at our church this Thursday night featuring author and C. S. Lewis Scholar Art Lindsley. Here's the announcement from the church:

C. S. Lewis has found a new generation of fans with the overwhelming success of the movie adaptation of his book "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe."

You are invited to a lecture and a dessert discussing C. S. Lewis and the importance of the imagination in his life and writings.

Date: Thursday, March 30, 2006

Time: 7:00 -- 9:00pm

Location: Glen Burnie Evangelical Presbyterian Church

710 Aquahart Rd, Glen Burnie, MD

For more info: 410-766-5363 or office@gbepc.org

Arthur Lindsley, Ph.DOur Speaker

Arthur W. Lindsley, Ph.D.
Senior Fellow -- C. S. Lewis Institute

Art Lindsley has served at the C.S. Lewis Institute since 1987. Formerly, he was Director of Educational Ministries at the Ligonier Valley Study Center, and Staff Specialist with the Coalition for Christian Outreach. He is the author of the books True Truth and C. S. Lewis's Case for Christ and is the co-author of the book Classical Apologetics along with R.C. Sproul and John Gerstner. He has written numerous articles on theology, apologetics, C.S. Lewis, and the lives and works of many other authors and teachers. Art earned his M.Div. from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the University of Pittsburgh.

I hope you can come!

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Free Stuff at the C S Lewis Institute.

Visit the Jollyblogger.

Posted at 10:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

Internet Cafe in Chongqing, ChinaYour Business Blogger just bought The Big Blogger, Glenn Reynolds' new book An Army of Davids: How Markets and Technology Empower Ordinary People to Beat Big Media, Big Government, and Other Goliaths.

The Instapundit thesis is not, I think, limited to the US of A.

Technology; people; institutions face the same challenges the world over. Your Business Blogger has become, gasp! a globalist.

An Army of Davids

When working in China I was reminded of another army -- an army of blue ants. Twenty years ago, foreign visitors noted, not unkindly, the ubiquitous blue Mao suits. A hard-working populous; one mind; one suit.

Fashion has changed in China.

Colors, style, trend. Pushed by teenagers and embraced by all.

And the teens are pushing, as they do the world over, in other directions.

Your Business Blogger visited an internet cafe on my last China trip. Etiquette hint: Don't ask for the non-smoking terminals. A non-smoking section? Heh, as Reynolds would write. The whole country is, well, Marlboro country.

Directions to the cafe were complicated. It was hidden in a dimly lit smokey warehouse accessible thru a back alley -- safety was never a concern -- workstations as far as the eye could see. 100's of them. An hour on a keyboard sets a hacker back one yuan. 12.5 cents.

The arena was filled with 20-somethings all gone gaming. Smoking and practicing English.

The kids looked like they were there for days. I was there a few hours myself.

And not a Mao suit in sight.

What's the matter with kids these days? Beijing is wondering.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that China is attempting to limit the Web's influence on young people.

Goodness. Attempting to limit access to the web! Big Brother stopping freedom! Big Government controlling all behavior!

Except.

Except Beijing wants to limit kids under 18 to five hours -- five hours of on-line gaming each day.

Maybe that's not such a bad law after all.

Now if China could keep the kids from smoking...

Like our Government does.

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Thank you (foot)notes:

More on Mao suits at the jump.

Dana Blankenhorn has his limits. An excellent review.

Tim Wu, from the Columbia Law School has a white paper at The World Trade Law of Internet Filtering.

For the best in business in China, visit David Daniels at Global Market Development and Internet Adoption in China.

Median Sib has excellent review of Davids.

Don Surber has best of Thursday Posts. Bookmark him.

Mudville Gazette has Open Post.

See Feld's Thoughts on A Different View on China.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 1:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Cross Post from Jack Yoest

Helena Yoest, [center, The Dreamer to right, Charmaine on right] bows her head in prayer before taking part in demonstration, to call for a stop to the prosecution of Abdul Rahman. Difficult to have a business conversation when heads are being sawed off as a matter of personal conviction. Uncertainty is bad for commerce.

So. In my dual goals of 1) World Peace and 2) Keeping the little woman out of Nordstrom's, I dispatch Charmaine on a bit of civil(ized) disobedience. She takes two of my little women to attempt to cause havoc in Your Nation's Capital. Protesting at the Afghan Embassy last Friday.

From the Agence France-Presse:

Helena Yoest, 9, bows her head in prayer before taking part in demonstration, in front of the Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington, DC, to call for a stop to the prosecution of Abdul Rahman.

Prayer in public. The Horror.

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Thank you (foot)notes:
From AFP:

The AFP brand: A guarantee of excellence.

The AFP team: More than 2000 employees worldwide.

AFP products: Agence France-Presse produces each day 400,000 - 600,000 words in text, 1000 photos and 50 news graphics.

AFP around the world: Journalists in 165 countries, 5 regional headquarters.

Hugh Hewitt has more pictures.

Michelle Malkin has the story and an excellent round-up. She was there at the Embassy.

Posted at 1:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Helena Yoest, [center, The Dreamer to right, Charmaine on right] bows her head in prayer before taking part in demonstration, to call for a stop to the prosecution of Abdul Rahman. Difficult to have a business conversation when heads are being sawed off as a matter of personal conviction. Uncertainty is bad for commerce.

So. In my dual goals of 1) World Peace and 2) Keeping the little woman out of Nordstrom's, I dispatch Charmaine on a bit of civil(ized) disobedience. She takes two of my little women to attempt to cause havoc in Your Nation's Capital. Protesting at the Afghan Embassy last Friday.

From the Agence France-Presse:

Helena Yoest, 9, bows her head in prayer before taking part in demonstration, in front of the Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington, DC, to call for a stop to the prosecution of Abdul Rahman.

Prayer in public. The Horror.

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:
From AFP:

The AFP brand: A guarantee of excellence.

The AFP team: More than 2000 employees worldwide.

AFP products: Agence France-Presse produces each day 400,000 - 600,000 words in text, 1000 photos and 50 news graphics.

AFP around the world: Journalists in 165 countries, 5 regional headquarters.

Hugh Hewitt has more pictures.

Michelle Malkin has the story and an excellent round-up. She was there at the Embassy.

Posted at 9:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This week's carnival barker is Thomas Warfield at A Shareware Life.

And while there, be sure to click thru Business Pundit's take on the wisdom of crowds. Synopsis: The Masses are *sses.

I agree. But, then, I don't care much for people. Especially crowds.

Unless they are in my classes.

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Thank you (foot)notes:

More on from Thomas Warfield:

One-Line Bio: I'm the author of Pretty Good Solitaire and other shareware games.

Pretty Good Solitaire was originally released in 1995. I went full time as an independent game developer in 1998. Pretty Good Solitaire has been downloaded many tens of millions of times in the last 10 years. A retail version has been on the shelves continuously since 1998.

I live in Springfield IL with my wife Anne and 3 cats.

The Carnival of Marketing is the creation of Noah Kagan at OkDork.

Posted at 8:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SMB Trendwire

We talk about the

Top 10 Mistakes Business Owners Make and What to Do About Them

Let me know what you think.

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Thank you (foot)notes:

Small Business Trends is hosted by Anita Campbell. Visit for the best business in small businesses.

Posted at 10:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

cross post from Reasoned Audacity

I'll be on CNBC tonight, "On the Money" talking about Senator Baucus' proposal to establish a XXX domain for porn. It's a bad idea. Hit time is 7:30.

Saturday UPDATE:

Stacy has the video.

As usual, they invite me to talk about porn, then, while I'm talking they run pictures. . . of porn. Don't run this while your kids are around. I took the Dude with me to the studio for the taping and wished he hadn't seen the segment.

Posted at 12:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Cross Post from Jack Yoest

Charmaine Yoest with
Amy Bolthouse Shane
from ELI/China
at The Willard lobby
The English Language Institute/China recently held their 25th Anniversary in Washington, DC, staying at The Willard Hotel.

The hotel has a rich history.

The Willard is a social and political hub. President Lincoln probably stopped by a number of times while president. A few visits can be verified: with Mrs. Lincoln on July 6, 1861, to attend a concert by Meda Blanchard, and his review of troops with General Burnside on April 25, 1864.

In 1861 Willard's also hosted Julia Ward Howe, who wrote the words for The Battle Hymn of the Republic in her hotel room early one morning.

General Tom Thumb and his bride, who visited the Lincolns at the White House, stayed at The Willard in 1863.

In 1864 General Ulysses S. Grant was a hotel guest. In his presidency, he passed thru Willard's lobby where he coined the term "lobbyists."

The Original Willard

Lobbying is the practice of private advocacy with the goal of influencing a governing body, in order to ensure that an individual's or organization's point of view is represented in the government. A lobbyist is a person who is paid to influence legislation as well as public opinion. A more tactful description might be said to be someone who is engaged in public affairs.

Was this helpful? Do comment.

Thank you (foot)notes:

The English Language Institute/China began in 1979 at the start of normalization of relations between the People's Republic of China and the USA. The PRC's move to modernization and market reform created demand for English language skills. The first teachers were sent to China in 1982 for the purpose of teaching English, building friendships, offering instruction on the teachings of Jesus Christ to university students and faculty.

Posted at 12:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Charmaine Yoest with
Amy Bolthouse Shane
from ELI/China
at The Willard lobby
The English Language Institute/China recently held their 25th Anniversary in Washington, DC, staying at The Willard Hotel.

The hotel has a rich history.

The Willard is a social and political hub. President Lincoln probably stopped by a number of times while president. A few visits can be verified: with Mrs. Lincoln on July 6, 1861, to attend a concert by Meda Blanchard, and his review of troops with General Burnside on April 25, 1864.

In 1861 Willard's also hosted Julia Ward Howe, who wrote the words for The Battle Hymn of the Republic in her hotel room early one morning.

General Tom Thumb and his bride, who visited the Lincolns at the White House, stayed at The Willard in 1863.

In 1864 General Ulysses S. Grant was a hotel guest. In his presidency, he passed thru Willard's lobby where he coined the term "lobbyists."

The Original Willard

Lobbying is the practice of private advocacy with the goal of influencing a governing body, in order to ensure that an individual's or organization's point of view is represented in the government. A lobbyist is a person who is paid to influence legislation as well as public opinion. A more tactful description might be said to be someone who is engaged in public affairs.

Was this helpful? Do comment.

Thank you (foot)notes:

The English Language Institute/China began in 1979 at the start of normalization of relations between the People's Republic of China and the USA. The PRC's move to modernization and market reform created demand for English language skills. The first teachers were sent to China in 1982 for the purpose of teaching English, building friendships, offering instruction on the teachings of Jesus Christ to university students and faculty.

Posted at 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ronald and Jack pledge global unity
at a shopping mall in Shanghai.

Many pundits forecast war with China within two decades.

I would forecast lunch.

The I'm Lovin' It ad McDonald's popular ad campaign is well known across America. The boys in Hamburger University near Chicago came up with a brilliant branding tag line winner that is well recognized. And well received around the world.

Yep, nothing beats good ol' Yankee innovation and marketing. American know-how.

Ni Hoa?

Hello...

The ad was created in Shanghai, China.

We have more in common than we realize: making friends; making (Star)bucks.

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Thank you (foot)notes:

There are more than 700 McDonald's in China with over 50,000 staff. See more at the jump.

From the China Daily

China's creative history goes back centuries. The world's first print ad for Liujia Zhenpu (Liu's Needle Workshop) in Jinan City, Shandong Province dates back to the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127).

This predates the first European advertisement, a British Bible poster from 1473, by more than 300 years.

Visit Basil's Blog for the best blogs.

Don Surber has best of Saturday and is looking for a job at the Washington Post.

Mudville Gazette has Open Post.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 8:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (1)

"It's all fake," said the young man who lived in town.

We were looking at acres of a bazaar, that was, well, bazaar bizarre. Rolex, North Face, Mont Blanc, DVDs as far as the eye could see.

None of it was real.

There was a 'new' word that swept thru elite American campuses a few years ago: Authentic. Professors liked the word because it had three syllables instead of the single syllable 'real.'

Inauthentic for the academy was even better -- it has four syllables instead of single syllable 'fake.'

So.

In this (new) age of exploring our feelings, few ask any questions about the emotion of fake goods; stolen brand names.

How does the fake North Face make you feel?

Your Business Blogger owns a real Armani suit, purchased some time ago from a reputable establishment. (Yes, only one.) Every time I slip the coat on, I stand a bit taller.

Tragically, few people have ever recognized or identified the brand name suit on its smug owner. No one knows it's an Armani.

But I do.

And that is the difference. The suit is real. The emotion is real. Ergo I am real.

The feeling is authentic.

Not everyone is as shallow as Yours Truly. A fake brand, a fake suit would make me feel like... a fake.

And feelings are the only things that count.

Full Disclosure: Your Business Blogger did a little shopping in East Asia. And bought a North Face duffle bag to haul all the loot home. I was assured that it was real. A sign, in English!, said so.

The Carnival of the Capitalists is up at CaseySoftware.

Posted at 6:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Milton Friedman
Trusting TransactionsThe biggest challenge my American female clients have is learning effective negotiations.

They should spend a month in East Asia.

Most retail shoppes in that part of the world are modest mom and pop store fronts. Where evey price is negotiated.

Designed to extract the last yuan in consumer surplus.

Shopping in this environment is exhausting for Your (western) Business Blogger. Different cultures. But when in Rome...

So I ask one of my local clients his opinion on the custom of haggling over everything. Everything.

I thought he would wax nostalgic on the old style interaction of true competition: buyer vs seller. The best pricing equalibrium of quantity demanded with quantity supplied. A romantic Asian metaphysical transcendence of commerce.

Did he like the East Asian pure sales process...?

He hated it.

(Your Business Blogger can be such a dope.)

He said:

Everytime you buy something it takes so long to reach an agreement...it takes too much research for little items

Another local said the non-stop haggling was "draining."

So why does this system continue?

Lack of trust. It is all buyer beware in Mandarin.

There is no trust in a fair offer. And,
There is every expectation to be cheated.

Nobel laureate Milton Friedman spoke to this. He said that a cultural prerequisite of making money is the holding of truthfulness as a common virtue.

When you can trust a merchant's word, says Friedman, "it cut[s] down transaction costs."

Without adherence to common moral principles we must substitute external controls to govern business behavior; efficiency demands a framework of standards and accountability.

But there are modifications a-coming. Large retail shops in new malls have established set price policies.

Large international retailers coming to East Asia, such as Wal*Mart, have set prices. And they are reintroducing old traditions from the world over.

There is an ancient Jewish tradition of the prohibiting of "differing weights" for commodities. Established known weights would be used with a fair scale to measure items, grain to gold. A dishonest merchant would use a lighter or heavier weight to tip the scales for unjust enrichment.

Different prices for different people. Which is frightfully inefficient.

East Asia loves speed. Loves making money. Loves making money fast.

To get rich is glorious.

East Asia will tolerant no wasted motion.

So.

Honesty is not only the best policy. East Asia is a bit more pragmatic. And a bit more demanding:
Honesty and trust make for good business.

Posted at 6:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

Finally, someone who takes child pornography and rape seriously. Tony Zirkle, Congressional candidate in South Bend, Indiana:

. . .I am willing to debate the idea of returning the guillotine and lynch mob for those who prey on children under the age of 12. . .

Probably not a winning strategy. But I like his style.

HT: Memeorandum, one of the best places to follow the blogosphere.

Posted at 8:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday afternoon -- in other words, late Friday afternoon when they hoped no one would notice -- the FDA announced that two more women have died from taking RU486, the abortion pill.

Over ten years ago, I said this would happen.

The Wall Street Journal published a piece I wrote when RU486 was rushed through the FDA approval process. By the Clinton Administration. Natch.

Here's RU-486-Sunny Rhetoric vs. Bloody Reality May, 1994.

How many times will women be used as guinea pigs? We should have learned some lessons from the Dalkon Shield, DES and maybe even breast implants...

Seriously: How many more women??!! A total of SEVEN women have died from using this drug here in the United States. Seven.

And how is the FDA responding? They are planning to hold a workshop. In May.

Jack has the full Wall Street Journal article.

Big thanks to Priests for Life for archiving the article. I had lost my copy.

Posted at 7:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (1)

The Wall Street JournalCharmaine wrote about the politics and dangers of this drug a dozen years ago in The Wall Street Journal.

She was right then. She is right now.

Read RU-486-Sunny Rhetoric vs. Bloody Reality 25 May 1994.

Her article has been read into the Congressional Record by Chris Smith from New Jersey.

How many times will women be used as guinea pigs? We should have learned some lessons from the Dalkon Shield, DES and maybe even breast...

Article at the jump.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 6:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

Read the above-the-fold headline story. And to get this growth the government wants to:

...raise personal income by scrapping [some] taxes.

Is this another evil plot hatched by George Bush and Karl Rove?

Cooked up by the the Rascally Republicans wanting to reduce taxes?

Nope.

The headline is not from capitalists in the good ol' US of A.

The headline is from the communists in East Asia.

The communists.

Goodness.

Jiao Xiao Yang has the byline in China Daily on 16 March. The government's leadership would not be happy with the mere 12% GDP eye-popping growth.

It is not enough that 50% of the world's concrete is poured in China. Or that 40% of the world's steel is consumed in China.

To get even more growth, the communists want to cut taxes.

Something the communists in our own Congress won't do.

Let us put the Democrats on a slow boat to, well, China.

Thankyou (foot)notes:

The US economy needs 3% growth to keep even with population growth. China needs only 0.6% growth to keep even and maintain existing standards of living.

Posted at 4:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Sons of Thunder...is a common prayer in East Asia. Done with incense by devout and cultural Bhuddahists.

Your Business Blogger was a bit curious about this superstitous nature when visiting an ancient temple.

Until.

Until, I remembered a nifty BMW advertisement a few decades ago:

Every man should plant a tree, raise a son and drive a 12 cylinder car

What may be superstition 4,000 years ago,

Is called marketing today.

Full Disclosure: Totally unrelated to the BMW advertisement, Your Business Blogger has planted a tree, is raising the sons of thunder, but has never owned a 12 cylinder car. Unless a 1957 Chevy counts.

Posted at 7:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

From Charmaine:

I'll be on CNBC tonight, "On the Money" talking about Senator Baucus' proposal to establish a XXX domain for porn. It's a bad idea. Hit time is 7:30.

Posted at 4:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'll be on CNBC tonight, "On the Money" talking about Senator Baucus' proposal to establish a XXX domain for porn. It's a bad idea. Hit time is 7:30.

Saturday UPDATE:

Stacy has the video.

As usual, they invite me to talk about porn, then, while I'm talking they run pictures. . . of porn. Don't run this while your kids are around. I took the Dude with me to the studio for the taping and wished he hadn't seen the segment.

Posted at 4:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

More here.

Posted at 9:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Why do they have an upside-down street-light in Syracuse, New York?

Posted at 8:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The biggest complaint among US school teachers is that parents are not actively involved in the training of morals of children.

In contrast, parents in East Asia are not expected, indeed do not see themselves adequate to teach moral development. In East Asia moral training is seen as the job of the child's teacher.

The Confucious model. Teachers are revered as being more enlightened. Teachers are seen to be closer to the divine. Closer to god.

Little wonder elite USA university professors love the overseas system of hierarchy.

In East Asia, parents put the government between the parent and child.

In USA, the teachers put the teachers' union between the parent and child.

In East Asia, parents think teachers are gods.

In USA, teachers think teachers are gods.

Posted at 7:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Cross Post from Jack Yoest.

Yesterday, Your Business Blogger was on a major university campus in East Asia watching students play basketball outdoors. Acres of concrete courts. A football-sized outside arena with dozens and dozens of hoops.

The play is not quite like the intramural competition in USA. On this side of the world the students don't play defense. Just shooting.

So I ask my host about this -- offense only, no defense.

I'm expecting a deep relevelation of cultural differences. A difference in innovation or strategies or team play or ego or losing face. Maybe something about DNA differences?

Nope.

The answer?

American TV.

These students watch ESPN. They learned to play basketball watching America's NBA.

Where you will never see any defensive play.

The basketball style of play will probably change when college ball is broadcast into East Asia.

So. The world is watching the USA. And picking up some bad habits, in addition to watching Spong Bob Square Pants.

Posted at 8:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yesterday, Your Business Blogger was on a major university campus in East Asia watching students play basketball outdoors. Acres of concrete courts. A football-sized outside arena with dozens and dozens of hoops.

The play is not quite like the intramural competition in USA. On this side of the world the students don't play defense. Just shooting.

So I ask my host about this -- offense only, no defense.

I'm expecting a deep relevelation of cultural differences. A difference in innovation or strategies or team play or ego or losing face. Maybe something about DNA differences?

Nope.

The answer?

American TV.

These students watch ESPN. They learned to play basketball watching America's NBA.

Where you will never see any defensive play.

The basketball style of play will probably change when college ball is broadcast into East Asia.

So. The world is watching the USA. And picking up some bad habits, in addition to watching Spong Bob Square Pants.

Posted at 7:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Your Business Blogger has one exception for women in combat:

Credit: Dean's World

Your Business Blogger has one exception for men in combat:

Credit: TruckerPhoto.com

Report to Citizens for Condi and see her as Leader of the Free World.

My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy has the fashion advice for (world) domination.

Why do liberals think everything is about sex? Gavin's Blog at Condoleeza and Speculation.

The American Street, informs us that,

you might be a Bush supporter... if you think Spongebob Squarepants is a homosexual, but Condoleeza Rice isn't.

Linked with Indepundit at Heh.

Cross Post from Reasoned Audacity.

Posted at 5:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jann and Claude Allen
credit: Charmaine Yoest, Ph.D.
April 20, 2005

Posted at 5:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Chinese school system is producing some very bright children.

The United States system is, well, academically challenged.

Here's how the Chinese manage education:

1) Schools are ranked by qualitative measure of student performance, and

2) Any student can compete to get into any school, so that

3) Competition makes schools and students better.

Competition. In Communist China.

But not in the USA. Children must attent schools based on geography. Or pay for private schooling -- in effect paying twice.

One would have hoped that the last two communist structures in the world could work together.

The communists running the National Education Association -- the teacher's union -- should be following the lead of the union's smarter comrades on the other side of the world.

And let the children attend whatever school they wish; local or not.

Freedom of association. The American Way.

Full Disclosure: Your Business Blogger was once a member of the National Education Association.

Posted at 8:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

...in the same sentence? Your Business Blogger is a-travelling in East Asia.

So I'm on a subway and studying local people.

And notice a two year-old little boy held safely by his mum and dad. I smile: The little guy has a US Army patch on his shoulder. As a brand name decoration.

And back in my hotel room, Spong Bob is on. In English.

It's just like being home.

Posted at 7:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I taped comments this afternoon for tomorrow morning's Good Morning America on gay adoption. . .

Posted at 9:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Jack left Friday morning for East Asia -- I just heard from him that he was safe. . . . and could I please put a post up for him? Um. Hm. Such is the life of a blogger-wife.

For security reasons he was not able to take any electronic devices, but he has managed to locate a way to send email, so we should soon be able to get more reports from him.

Tonight he'll be giving a speech to a group of physicians on health care management.

Do check back in! I'll keep you posted.

Posted at 9:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Questions or Comments? Please click on comments and leave your questions. Jack will answer and publish as soon as possible.

Posted at 8:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yeah. We already know I'll hate it. Still, could be fun. Drop by. Join in. Sunday night at 10P on HBO.

Bill Paxton portraying a man with three wives. One big happy family.

The Dreamer says: I thought that [polygamy] was illegal. So why have a television show about it?

Good question.

10:04 So we begin with him leaving a $100 bill under a glass on the bedside table of one of the wives. Subtle. Talk about handing it to us on a silver platter.

10:12 We have the soft-focus scenes of them all eating dinner together, one big happy family, and him greeting everyone, one wife at a time, in the kitchen -- one big happy family. But then we come to his night together with Margene -- she is all excited to see him after their three days apart and wants to know how much he has missed her: "Officially I miss you all the same." Exactly why this kind of arrangement never works. Officially, and reality, of course, are two different things.

Then, things don't go so well when they go to bed -- he ends up sitting by the pool, and one of the other wives sees him, they exchange a meaningful glance, but they don't speak. . . while Margene looks on out the window.

10:20 One of the wives spends more money than the others -- her son shows up at breakfast with a new shirt from Lands' End. And one of the other wives works while the others don't -- so she gets to redecorate while the others don't. I never thought about the money angle, but seriously, that would be a mess.

10:22 Now he's googing "male impotence" -- turns out it's not just the one wife.

And now he's in bed with the first wife and she's making a move on him -- everyone assumes that would be the male fantasy to rotate through all the wives, but it's kind of sad-funny to see that in real life, that would get tiresome.

10:28 They are headed out on the road to check on his father who is ill: first wife in the front seat, second one in the back seat. Yeah, that's what women want, to be the Backseat Wife.

10:46 I read one reviewer who said that the show didn't make Mormons look bad, but I don't see how you could say that. They show them traveling back to a "compound" of sorts and the people are portrayed as backward hicks, fearful of modern medicine -- and a young girl turns up who is 14 or 15, now married to "the Prophet." A really skin-crawling scene shows her talking with the first wife about having children.

10:50 Now a scene with all three wives where the youngest one is in tears because she feels she doesn't "measure up" and doesn't contribute enough to the group. The first wife is trying to comfort her and it becomes clear that the other two wives are, in many ways, more children for her to care for -- and, if nothing else, represent a major managerial challenge.

Posted at 8:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yesterday was International Women's Day and National Review Online ran a symposium on "Women the World Should Know." The entries were really wonderful -- showing a diversity of women committed to bettering the world. There are gripping stories: Nour Hoyday was Steven Vincent's translator in Iraq and was shot and left for dead when he was kidnapped and killed by Shiite militia; she is now working to carry on Vincent's work.

Josephine Butler
Others inspire to action: Lisa Thompson tells the story of Josephine Butler who fought legalized prostitution in the late 1800's. We think many of the issues we fight today are new. But they are not.

And there is the story from Ann Corkery of a woman who was also my friend, Joan Prince. Joanie was diagnosed with breast cancer while pregnant with one of her four children, and Ann tells this story:

. . .when the doctor told her euphemistically that he needed to "interrupt" the pregnancy, she jokingly asked him when she could resume it. As her precious body nourished her unborn baby, it also allowed the cancer to flourish. . .

Seeing those four children -- so beautiful, dignified and well-behaved -- paying tribute to Joan at her funeral was a heartbreaking sight I'll never forget. I worked with Joan when she was young, vibrant and joyously in love with the man who became the father of her children. It's still hard to believe she's gone.

My entry pays tribute to a young woman readers of this blog will recognize: Gianna Jessen:

Gianna Jessen was born April 6, 1977, two months premature . . . after surviving a saline abortion.

As a result of oxygen deprivation from swallowing the saline in utero, Gianna has cerebral palsy. Gianna was a teenager when she found out the reason for her disability. Her response? "Well, at least I have cerebral palsy for an interesting reason."

Gianna has set out with incredible determination to turn that reason into something far more than merely interesting. She is a walking indictment of an ideology that has sanctified choice over humanity. In 2000, she testified in front of the House Judiciary Committee on the Born-Alive Victims Act, courageously asking the august assembly: "Where is the soul of America?! Members of this committee: where is your heart?"

When Gianna was a baby, the doctors told her foster mother that she would never walk. Last year, she ran Nashville's Country Music Marathon.

She finished last. In 7 hours and 35 minutes.

This April, she'll run the London marathon.

That's the kind of story of strength, determination, and inspiration that would land any other young woman on the cover of magazines like, say, Ms. But don't look for feminists to spread the word.

So let's do help tell her story: Gianna Jessen is a woman the world needs to know.

Posted at 9:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Rush Limbaugh
credit: Jack Yoest There are only two items that matter in radio:

Ratings

Revenue

Charmaine was on NPR's Talk of the Nation this week in the 2 to 3pm EST slot. NRP up against Rush Limbaugh.

Who wins in that capitalist competition?

NPR is a public service; subsidized by your tax dollars. Rush Limbaugh is paid through outrageous ad rates by advertisers. Who clamor to get the ears of millions of eager listeners.

NPR can't command an audience for money-making ad rates. Your tax dollars keep this public service sounding off.

National Public RadioSo why does no one listen to NPR? A brief review of Charmaine's gig will suffice.

The talking heads on the show were:

1) The Host; a liberal
2) A USAToday reporter; a liberal
3) Adoption Agency representative who does lots and lots of homosexual adoptions; liberal
4) Think tank expert; a liberal
5) Think tank expert; a conservative

In the sense of fair play, the liberal notion of egalitarianism, each participant, including the hostess gets equal time.

Charmaine gets 20% of talking time. The conservative point of view.

Liberals get 80% of the air time.

So when Limbaugh goes with his tag line/punch line of "I am equal time," this is what he means.

But the media bias is more than packing a panel. Liberals commit sins not only of commission but of omission. To wit:

There is no mention that guest Rob Woronoff, think tank "expert," is the Program Manager for the LGTQ, Youth Services, for the Child Welfare League of America. And that he is not a scientist. He's an activist.

(I understand Lesbian, the Gay, T for trans-gendered. But what on earth does the 'Q' stand for? Other?)

Charmaine was the only one on the panel who knows her way around multiple regression. She was never addressed as Dr. Yoest.

Listen to Charmaine and learn why liberals are losing.

Limbaugh is entertaining.

NPR is propaganda.

Rush Limbaugh gets 20 million listeners a week.

Talk of the Nation gets 3. Million.

Ratings and revenues.

Rush wins.

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Thank you (foot)notes:

More on Rush Limbaugh at the jump.

Don Surber has best Thursday articles.

Update: Willism has numbers.

Continue Reading »

Posted at 7:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Cross Post from Reasoned Audacity.

Once again, Stacy has the video at Writing Right!

Posted at 7:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Cross Post from Jack Yoest

Small Business Trends
Forbes Winner Your Business Blogger will be discussing Top 10 Mistakes Small Business Owners Make with Their Employees.

Hit time is Tuesday, March 7th at 1pm EST.

Anita Campbell

Live.

Visit Small Business Trends and click through the microphone at top right.

Small
Business
Trends
Radio

The award winning Small Business Trends is hosted by Anita Campbell. Her collaborator is Steve Rucinski at Small Business CEO.

Small Business CEO, published since May 2004

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Small Business Trends is sponored by Six Disciplines on www.business.voiceamerica.com. Safe for workplace listening.

Posted at 7:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Small Business Trends
Forbes Winner Your Business Blogger will be discussing Top 10 Mistakes Small Business Owners Make with Their Employees.

Hit time is Tuesday, March 7th at 1pm EST.

Anita Campbell

Live.

Visit Small Business Trends and click through the microphone at top right.

Small
Business
Trends
Radio

The award winning Small Business Trends is hosted by Anita Campbell. Her collaborator is Steve Rucinski at Small Business CEO.

Small Business CEO, published since May 2004

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Small Business Trends is sponsored by Six Disciplines on www.business.voiceamerica.com. Safe for workplace listening.

Posted at 6:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Carnival of Marketing "A Picture's Meaning Can Express Ten Thousand Words"

Attributed (incorrectly) to Confucius. The phrase is so exotic; so Oriental. But it's not Chinese.

How did that happen? Where did it come from?

Marketing.

Your Humble Business Blogger is honored to host The Carnival of Marketing this week. Terrific articles made hosting easy.

And it's free. Edited. Vetted.

Steven Silvers, at Scatterbox at stevensilvers.com, presents Some flacks have a way with words. Some flacks no have way.

Steven is right. And offers his clients, and we readers, this advice:

draw a picture of what you have written

As the Chinese say, "A picture is worth 1,000 words" and all that.

Actually, the phrase is from a 1920's American marketing campaign.

A picture is worth 10,000 words...

Anyway, we live in a sight and sound generation. Which is why Tom McMahon's 4-block World gets 3,000+ hits a day.

by Douglas G. DavidoffDouglas Davidoff has an outstanding article on managing customer expectations. Customers want consistency. Predictability.

The stock market hates uncertainty -- people hate uncertainty.

Read his A Four Seasons Experience Isn't Always About A Four Seasons Experience.

And Douglas gets Wal*Mart right.

I particularly appreciated Davidoff's piece. I once consulted for a firm that tested for ISO 9000 certifications. A key component of the award was producing a consistent product or service. It could be good.

Or cheap. Or fast.

But it had to be consistent and fit with customer's expectations. And be repeat-able. Douglas has a perfect example.

Jim Logan, at Jim Logan, presents You''re Pre-Qualified For This Offer! I Hate Stuff Like This.. Jim, a winner in the 2005 Business Blogs awards, reminds us that there's a sucker born every minute. But he uses nicer words.

My lead would be: Goodness, I wish the Suckers would cease conceiving. Suckers make spammers succeed.

But Jim Logan is more nuanced than me. (And a better writer.)

Jim has a reasonable solution. The perfect suggestion.

Which will be ignored.

The masses are *sses. And all marketers are liars.

Read Jim's appeal to our better angels.

Nedra Weinrich
with Spare ChangeVisit Five Resources for Social Marketers. Nedra Kline Weinreich, President, Weinreich Communications, has recommendations for people who want to learn more about how to use marketing to bring about health and social change.

Brother can you spare a dime? was the Depression Era's direct appeal from one person 'down on his luck' to another. IRL. Person to person.

Nedra takes this a step further. She consults with non-profits and government agencies to bring about social change. To make a difference.

I like her emphasis on advising the not-for-profits. But Your Business Blogger gets somewhat uncomfortable with government agencies bringing about social change.

The purpose of government is to restrain evil, not to do good. Doing good, charity, is a test of the human heart. Not government action.

I did a tour of duty with Health and Human Resources for the Commonwealth of Virginia a few years ago. One of my agencies spent 100's of thousands of taxpayers' dollars advertising on bill boards.

Telling the citizenry to stop being stupid.

Or something like that...

...Lots of marketing campaigns fail, you know...

Anyhoo, Nedra has resources and an excellent overview. For educating the public. I'm sure she'll do better than I did.

by Brian ClarkBrian at Copyblogger has a free, yes, free, report on Viral Copy selling with blogs. The 30-page freebie has eleven basic points presented.

At a fast clip. For only a click.

Excellent.

Visit Brian and start making some money.

Brand AutopsyJohn Moore, Starbucks marketing expert, reviews an unusual line extension for the upscale coffee, experience dispenser. Cold cereral:

Yep...Starbucks is selling ho-hum Kellogg's Low-Fat Granola in its iconic logo'd cups

Get John's take at The Passion of the Cup.

Lynette Chandler, at Marketing Automation and Technology, presents Virtual Conferences Ineffective?.Lynette makes the point, emphasised by Tom Peters(!) that when something is important real people show up in real life.

Nothing beats Meet and Greet. Grip and Grin. Selling face-to-face.

I love conferences, confabs, seminars, trade shows. (Which is odd, since I don't care for people, much.)

Are Virtual Conferences Ineffective? It depends if the camera likes you. And what you're selling. Read what Lynette thinks.

Doug Sorocco with Rethink IP will be hosting on March 12th. Do visit him for more in the best Marketing articles of the week.

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Are you interested Hosting the Carnival of Marketing? Email Noah, the originator at noah [at] okdork.com with your website and which date you want to host the carnival.

Marketing articles can be forwarded to the Blog Carnival submission form.

Visit Basil's Blog for picnic.

Don Surber has best Monday posts.

Mudville has Open Post.

Posted at 5:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (1)

From The Wall Street Journal

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Hat tip for the file from Big Picture.

Posted at 1:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Once again, Stacy has the video at Writing Right!

Posted at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Cross Post from Jack Yoest:

ABC World News Tonight And will be debating the recent news from Missouri about school prayer.

In the public schools.

Usually on at 6 or 6:30 pm EST.

Tune in and let us know what you think.

ABC World News Tonight
website is sponsored by Wal*Mart

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Charmaine blogs at Reasoned Audacity.

Posted at 3:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

ABC World News Tonight And will be debating the recent news from Missouri about school prayer.

In the public schools.

Usually on at 6 or 6:30 pm EST.

Tune in and let us know what you think.

ABC World News Tonight
website is sponsored by Wal*Mart

Was this helpful? Do comment.
Consider a free eMail subscription for this site.

Thank you (foot)notes:

Charmaine blogs at Reasoned Audacity.

Posted at 3:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Child porn on a man's I-Pod.

Being a parent just got more difficult.

Posted at 12:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A thoughtful reader, Annie, wrote to respond to my remarks on the Neil Cavuto show about the increasing percentages of single women buying homes. Just to recap: I was arguing in counterpoint to the "girl power" perspective which sees this as an unmitigated positive expansion of "the American Dream" (Cavuto's comment). I wanted to argue that it is no criticism of the individual woman, like Annie, who buys a home as a single woman, but that we should be paying attention to the underlying social forces at work here: delayed marriage for more women (which leads to postponing childbearing into the thirties), and larger percentages of women who never marry.

But Annie thought this sounded a bit like the "smug marrieds" of Bridget Jones. Ouch. Not exactly what I was aiming for! Here's Annie's remarks:

Charmaine, I enjoy reading your blog and think you are a great advocate for life and the family, but I must disagree wholeheartedly with your comments on the Cavuto show

I say this as a staunchly prolife, profamily single woman who proudly owns her own home (and is glad for the tax benefits alone). It is unsound to rent for years on end while waiting for a Mr. Right who may never come along. Such women may find themselves far worse off than if they had bought sooner, and having some financial wisdom makes a woman a better marriage partner, not worse. . .

. . .Perhaps this is not what you meant, Charmaine, but I think your comments were reminiscent of the smug marrieds despised by Bridget Jones. Do women generally want to be 30, single, and a homeowner? Probably not (and that includes yours truly), but it beats being 35 or 40 and single and having wasted thousands of dollars on rent that could have been building a nest egg for her future family, retirement, or whatever. Home ownership and being profamily are not mutually exclusive, even for never-married singles. I would even argue that having good money management skills (e.g. investing in a home as appropriate) is a profamily atribuute, not antifamily.

If you want a better angle for your comments, you could comment on today's Post piece on the 11 single women who have the same sperm donor for their children. Now that, in my view, is a legitimate target for antifamily behavior on the part of single people - that is, those who set out to bring fatherless or motherless children into the world without regard to the child's best interests (having two parents).

Hope you don't mind my providing a different point of view. Thanks. Annie

No, don't mind the different viewpoint at all. In fact, I'm not sure it's really a different view at all. I agree with your argument, Annie. If I were single, and could afford it, I might buy a home. And I have quite a few friends who have done so and I'm happy for them.

The really central point of my argument is that the home-buying isn't the real issue -- it hides the larger point. And I do still think that my broader argument is a valid one: we need to look at the societal forces at work that are making it more difficult for larger percentages of women to find suitable mates to settle down with in their twenties.

As to the sperm donor story. . . you're right there, too. That's worth it's own entry. Next up. In Part Two.

* * *

Comments anyone?

Posted at 10:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Peter Drucker
courtesy: Claremont Peter Ferdinand Drucker passed away November 11, 2005. But his work and frameworks will serve management for some time to come.

Your Business Blogger was recently asked for resources to outline a strategy for a non-profit. Nothing beats Drucker:

The Five Most Important Questions You Will Ever Ask About Your Non Profit Organization

1) What is our business (mission)?
2) Who is our customer?
3) What does the customer consider value?
4) What have been our results?
5) What is our plan?

One of the sharpest business minds I've ever worked with, Leon Masiewicki, Ph.D., a former McKinsey consultant, expanded Dr. Drucker's questions with a list of his own:

1. How do you define your business?

2. Can you describe an ideal customer? Can you describe a bad customer?

3. Who are your competitors? Why are you better? What advantages does your competitor have? How do you stack up on the cheaper/faster/better scale?

4. What growth rate are you anticipating for the next three - five years? Why?

5. What are your three/five year profit projections? Why?

6. What are the organization's plans for expansion/New Markets/Products/Manpower/A Physical Plant?

7. How do you measure quality? What was the rate of quality improvement in the last three years?

8. How much has your company's productivity (revenue per man-hour, value-added per man-hour) increased?

9. If I handed you a "magic wand" that would allow you to change anything, what would it be?

10. Where would you like to start?

11. What are the strengths of your organization?

11. What are your goals in the next 12 months?

13. What are the obstacles that stand in the way of your group reaching its goals?

14. What do you need, in terms of additional resources or training, to do your job more effectively?

A business session with Drucker was a Socratic conversation where he asked questions non-stop. You will notice that Leon's list is like Drucker's:

Questions.

The answers come from the leadership of the organization. I have found that the collective wisdom of the top dozen managers from the client company can be extracted, pooled and applied.

Consultants never have any answers.

But you knew that.

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Thank you (foot)notes:

For more information, see Non-Profit Board Management

So what is leadership really?

Drucker's Writing Secret

Non-profit Boardmanship in Business Development; a short Powerpoint to the Virginia Piedmont Technology Council.

And see more of Leon Masiewicki's work at Non-Profit Success.

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National Public RadioClients have asked Your Business Blogger, "What topics do managers never discuss with the media?"

Charmaine is debating one such business taboo topic today: Homosexuality.

Today on National People's Public Radio at 2pm EST, Talk of the Nation
Thursday, March 2, 2006

Tune in and let us know what you think!

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Thank you (foot)notes:

Tune in and listen. You paid for it. More at the jump.

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