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Get Past Your Middle with a Marketing Mindset

With the notable exception of Double Stuf Oreos, the middle is the worst part of most things. Consider the middle of your body — your waist — which acts like a billboard advertising “This person has not done a sit-up since high school.” How about the middle seat on an …

Perception of Your Brand Changes as Your Story Unfolds

They say a story has no real beginning or end — only points at which you start and stop watching. If you began watching on March 30, 1981 at 3:34 pm, you’d see President Ronald Reagan being wheeled into an operating room at George Washington University Hospital. The 40th president …

Create a Niche to Get Rich, Happy — or Both

I drank my first six cans of Red Bull over the course of one very long night in Las Vegas in 2001. The Red Bull slogan was “It gives you wings.” In retrospect, “It gives you horns” might be more apropos. Prior to trying Red Bull, I had never heard …

Two Must-Read Marketing Books

George Farris, CEO and Senior Brand Coach of Farris Marketing, reads at least one marketing or business book a week. He’ll be the first to tell you there are a lot of duds out there, and a lot of books that have very little useful or practical advice or insights …

Marketing and The One-Man Band

It’s 8:30 p.m. and many of the tourists in this southwest Florida resort town are just starting their evening. But Andres Colin, singer, songwriter and one-man band, is already two and a half hours into his gig on the open-air patio of The Hub Baja Grille. Even though the sun …

Big and Little Lies in Life and Advertising

I’m a Liar That’s right. I admit it. I lie all the time. I lie so much, they wrote “Liar, liar, pants on fire” about me. As a matter of fact, my pants are smoking right now — and it’s not because I had chili for lunch. Well, maybe the …

Baseball, Hot Dogs and YouTube

The temperature is a perfect 73 degrees on this early summer evening in northeast Ohio. A gentle wind meanders across the bright green turf of the youth baseball fields in Boardman’s Field of Dreams facility. Seven or eight games are being played simultaneously, and hundreds of parents and siblings of the …

All You Need to Know about Marketing — in just 30 Quotes

It’s hard to be smart. It stretches the brain — and that hurts. Sometimes, it’s best to use someone else’s brain and just look smart. (I’m good at that.) Luckily, I’ve discovered that pretty much all marketing knowledge can be found in just 30 quotes— which I have provided here …