School Update!

In the middle of  the Christmas Break and I'm loving it!  But my quest for knowledge hasn't subsided as I'm continually trying to learn more about the industry on my own time and what my place will be in it.  The final grades haven't come back from the internet marketing class, or my behavioral science class but as they stand right now I've gotten A's from both classes.  If I could summarize the top 5 basic concepts that I have learned this first month they would be:

1. The internet has changed the rules of marketing.

2. I am a Kinesthetic learner.

3. Content is what is in demand right now. (If you build it, they will come)

4. 92% of communication in non-verbal. (or on the case of this blog 100% LOL)

5. Don't Sell.  Become a thought leader instead. Here is an article I wrote about that if you'd like to read it.

At the end of the day I am determined to make this Sponsorship program work!  I really enjoy everything about marketing on the internet.  I'm applying my knowledge every chance I get.

I even got an article accepted into Ezine Articles about internet marketing, which awarded me Expert Author Status with my first submission.  I was stoked!  That may or may not be a common achievement but I chalk it up as a victory.

Keep and eye out the next couple of days as make certain changes to the EtchUcateChris website that I feel will ultimately be beneficial in the long run.  If you have any ideas feel free to e-mail me.

Christmas Time

Hurrying through the holiday shopping crowd, I find myself beginning to wonder about human nature.  This time of year should bring out the best of people but what I saw, wasn't that.  I really like the  movie "It's a Wonderful Life" and I would like for the entire neighborhood to come and gather at my home for a Christmas celebration.   Truth be told, however,  I'm a terrible neighbor. I know it. I probably talk to my neighbors 4 or 5 times a year. I don't know if people have the capacity to come to their neighbors' rescue in a desperate time of need, like it was portrayed in that famous holiday movie.

I was driving in the parking lot at the mall and I was coming to the end of the row as a car driving on the road I was coming to wasn't paying attention and last second saw my car.  I was near stopped and wouldn't have come close to hitting their car, but they weren't paying attention to me so when they did they slammed on their brakes thinking I was going faster than I was.  With their passengers disgruntled, the one in the front passenger seat flipped me off as if it was my fault.  I was the one who saw them, and was stopping because it not only was my responsibility but it's the law.

At another store I was waiting in line to purchase an item as the line moved forward a lady who wasn't previously in line cut directly in front of me.  Normally I would object and demand her social compliance I decided to keep my mouth shut and offer her that in the sake of the holiday.  I really began to be bothered by the hustle and bustle. This kind of action really takes the spirit of the season right out of me.  LOL I distinctly remember thinking to myself  "Oh, I gotta blog about this."

I was laying down last night and I began to remember the song performed by Bing Crosby, "When I'm worried and I can't sleep, I count my blessings instead of sheep... when my bankroll was getting small I think of when I had none at all..." So I tried it.

I remember back some years ago my family had nothing.  We were barely afloat with holes all over our life boat. But I remember a few times we would walk out into our front porch and find an envelope with a little "help" from some anonymous angel.  We never discovered who it was but we appreciated them greatly.

Then just this morning I went to the store and took only a dollar bill with me because I needed to buy some supplies for the meal my wife was preparing, and I turned up about 15 cents short. the cashier reached into his pocket and pulled out a quarter and applied it to my purchase. Then he handed me the 10 cents remaining, and wished me a Merry Christmas!  I handed him back the extra and wished him a Merry Christmas, and explained that didn't belong to me.

I then realized people aren't as lost as I was beginning to believe.  Sure, the entire neighborhood didn't come running to my rescue, but I know that there are some people out there who haven't forgotten what the season means as I was beginning to. So with that, I want to wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas! If you don't believe in Christmas for whatever reason then I want to wish you a Wonderful Day Off!

Marketing is Interesting

I know that it seems like a very boring topic.  Usually people imagine marketers as people in suits with poster board, pitching an idea to "the board" followed by handshakes and martini's, but I'm getting a different impression all together from taking these classes.

Internet Marketing has been changing the rules of traditional style marketing.  In the olden days, the marketing strategy consisted of stopping the consumer from what they were doing to pitch a product, while singing a jingle, and repeating it over and over and over again, so when you're thinking about dinner, you think "Where's the Beef!"

This style of marketing worked and served its purpose well.  I mean what choice did we have as consumers?  Suddenly we find ourselves watching flipper;  the little boy is swimming in a world war 2 proximity mine field.  He's scared, you are tense and flipper is about to alert everyone on land and then… "Have you been injured in an automobile accident, if so then call…"

So, why do you suffer through it?  Why watch the advertisement at all. You were into what you were watching, you were interrupted, you heard the pitch, jingle, and tagline. It's the same commercial you watched only 10 minutes earlier during the last interruption, so why watch it?  It's simple, the only other options are to shut off the T.V. and do something else or change the channel.

When the internet first became popular marketers tried this model of interrupt and repeat by the use of popups!  UGH!

What they didn't realize is unlike T.V. and radio people HAVE a choice to what media they want to see and don't want to see.  People simple began to be annoyed and stopped frequenting those interrupting sites for sites with the same subject matter without the popups.  I got so good at closing popups before they fully loaded that It was almost a game similar to the old shoot 'em up arcade games, like the one in Back to The Future.

Now a days, the world of online marketing is turning towards Buzz and Viral Video.  This is like a giant game of telephone.  Let's us Youtube as an example.  Some parent in England was filming their two children sitting on the couch.  The older child sticks his fingers into the mouth of his younger brother, who naturally bites down.  The older child writhes in pain and screaming in an attempts to alert his younger brother to release the chomp.  When the little brother finally does, he says "Charlie bit me, and that really hurt…"

The parents even outline how accidental this event really was when they typed into their profile 

"Even had I thought of trying to get my boys to do this I probably couldn't have. Neither were coerced into any of this and neither were hurt (for very long anyway). This was just one of those moments when I had the video camera out because the boys were being fun and they provided something really very funny." - HDCYT

140,000,000 views later.  Let me say that again. One Hundred and Forty MILLION views in two years.  You can't match that kind of exposure for the price they paid. Now they are Youtube Partners and are making money from this phenomenon, and good on them!

This is the power of what internet marketings potential is.  As I go through school at Full Sail University we're going to be talking about the different concepts about marketing and how it is changing the rules of marketing as we know it.  If you found this interesting please share with me your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below.

EtchUcateChris.com's Vlog Contest Winner!

I just wanted to give a big Congratulations to GhostbusterBob for being the first winner on the EtchUcateChris.com Vlog website!  He submitted a video call Star Wars Re-told and that was taken from the Oh-So-Popular Youtube.com website and won first place!

Bob has won a $25 gift certificate to Best Buy!

Be sure to Subscribe to this Blog.  You will be among the first to always know when a contest will be launched giving you the edge to be the most educated, most informed, and most likely to win because you've had more time to practice or submit than everyone else!

Great Job GhostbusterBob!

The Popcorn Arsenal

When people think about popcorn they usually think about a fun and tasty treat.  When paired up with movie watching, it can really make for a great friday night with the one who you care about most.

I on the other hand am not thinking about it in that way right now.  I'm thinking about it more along the lines of the Bain of my existence.  :-)

Batch 1

I'm driving home from work ready to sit back with the family and watch a flick, popcorn and everything.  Upon arrival I find the popcorn has been mostly consumed by my children.  This is normal.  Kids like popcorn, I like popcorn, but I was too slow.  Being the ingenious adult that I am I go over to the kitchen and begin making the second batch.

Batch 2

I made popcorn as a teenager at my parents home and knew the whole process.  Oil, 3 kernels to gauge temperature, pot with lid, and a burner.  Put the oil and the 3 kernels in and place on the lids above the burner. Wait, and wait. three pops later you can fill the bottom of the pot with a quarter cup of kernels and shake until done.  However, the variable I didn't take into consideration was the fact that my parents have larger pots than I do as they had to feed a family of 8 children. Ugh.

So as I'm frantically trying to contain chernobyl of popcorn incidences my wife lovingly offers to fill the salt shaker as I'm finishing up the clean up efforts.  I get the biggest bowl we have and successfully contain the problem.  I begin to melt the butter and pour it into the bowl of popcorn.  Now having three children you can imagine the time and effort it takes to care for the bunch.  As daddy is battling popcorn mommy needs to stamp out a potential potty issue.  As she flees to the command of my two year old as he says "Mommy I need to go potty" She manages to shout out "Honey please screw the lid on the salt shaker before you use it."  I half listening agree and begin to finish the final bit of the "Shake pour" method of butter to popcorn application.

As you would imagine,  with my attention span being a grand total of 2.5 seconds I immediately reached over to the salt shaker and poured 2/3 rds the contents into the popcorn bowl.

Batch 3

Temporarily giving up on the popcorn scenario we continue the night and watch the movie popcorn-less as I was the only one who wanted it by this point.  I laughed at my own blunder and my wife laughed as well.  I being slightly upset I didn't get my hard earned treat and my wife slightly upset that I wasted the butter. ;-)  We watched our movie and placed the children into bed.  I studied for school submitting one of the projects for my behavioral science class, and decided that I was going to wind down by scoping out what is new on Youtube.

Then, I had an idea.  A wonderful and sneaky idea.  With my wife having gone to bed, and the children also fast asleep, I was going to make another batch of popcorn.  So, I very quietly retrieved the tools of popcorn.  I carefully poured a new container of salt and securely fastened the lid.  I then popped the corn and poured the butter into the batch.  I shook the exact amount of salt that I required and carefully placed the popcorn bowl on the couch.  I remember the best counter measure to salted popcorn was a tall glass of ice cold water.  Success! I was ready to consume an entire batch of yummy delicious popcorn, completely all to myself.  As I was sitting on the couch my foot caught the corner of the cushion where the popcorn bowl was located, and I saw in slow motion as the bowl began to tip spilling the popcorn onto the floor and between the couch cushions.

Dejected,  and admitting my defeat I cleaned up my mess and went to bed having not eaten any popcorn, knowing that I would have to explain to my wife why I wasted more butter.  LOL

 

Just Moved!

Okay, so I'm coming to grips with the fact that the blog on EtchUcateChris.com doesn't have all of the cool little gadgets and gizmos you can find on Blogspot.  And it's much more user friendly.  So, I decided to move in with the big boys.  I know it looks like all of the posts from today were written and submitted today, but truth be told I moved the previous post to this one because I feel they are the pioneers and deserve to not be forgotten.

School is going well.  I really like both of my classes.  So far I haven't regretted the decision to start school at Full Sail, and I really like how I can work my School around work and not have to place work around my school schedule.  I had a project that I needed to complete for my Behavioral Science class which had to do with realizing my own hurdles in life and how I might be able to get over them.  One of the Hurdles that I outlined was the fact that I haven't been back to school in nearly 10 years.  But when that assignment came back with an A attached to it, I felt really positive about the classes to come.  I hope people feel the need and desire to continue their education.  I feel Full Sail was the absolute correct decision for me.

Plugging Away

Phew! I almost forgot how much work being in school really is. I’m taking two classes right now, Behavioral Science and Intro Into Internet Marketing.

I’ve found both classes to be compelling and exceptionally informative.The PR manager at my work has even said he was jealous hearing about the content of what I have been learning. Just as I will be jealous to hear about what the new classes will be learning. It’s been made clear that the world of online marketing is growing and changing so quickly that by the time I’m finished the course work they will have established new content and methods of advertising.

On another note I’m excited to see what new videos are being uploaded to the Vlog. The contest ends on Saturday so I hope everyone has an opportunity to post their favorite comedic videos. I will be placing a polling software on the website with the top 5 videos to choose from so be sure to watch for that.

On a more personal note, I can say I’m tired. Not tired in a bad way just tired in general. Somebody once said something about being stressed. If you know what that was please e-mail so I have some advice to follow. LOL

Turns out my heart is doing okay. The palpitations have lessened and I’m now on a blood pressure medication. The only thing that I can attribute the problems to is stress, and lack of sleep. Both of which are known as the silent killers. So I’m taking the time to do the things that I enjoy. I enjoy learning in class, I also enjoy watching comedic YouTube videos. I’ve posted a couple of my own on the Vlog, (which unfortunately will not be in the top 5) and I look forward to the entries this coming week.

If you haven’t had the chance please take a moment and click on the link on the left of the screen which will notify you of any new twitter updates and YouTube activity. This is one of the best ways to keep up with the latest news and content from EtchUcateChris.com!