Loopmasters gives astonishing customer service

Loopmasters -- my favorite source of music production loops and samples for my Str8 Sounds projects -- gives 3 huge 200 MB loop package zip files as Christmas gifts this year ... and I've never bought a single product from Loopmasters.

I've just registered at their website and downloaded a free sample introductory package, plus tons of free sample loops every time a new loop package is made available.

They create about 6 new products each week. I get an email message with links to each new loop package. When I log in to the site, I can download free loops from each new package.

I have previously purchased all my loop packages from Sony ACID and have been very pleased with them. But now Loopmasters is luring me into their realm, enticing me with gifts, and convincing me to start buying loop packages from them. They are vastly more productive than Sony, pumping out a lot more product. Sony has about 3 new loop package per month. Loopmasters offers about 10 per week.

A few days ago, Loopmasters emailed me a 200 MB zip file called "Loops of Christmas Past". Today I received "Loops of Christmas Present". On December 31, they said they'd send me "Loops of Christmas Future".

These are not loops of Christmas music sounds like jingle bells, these are kick-ass dancehall burning bits of drums, percussion, sound FX, bass, synth melodies, and other hot sounds you can mix into your music creations.

Even though I have not actually paid them a single penny yet, I am treated like some major big spending customer! I mean, this is shocking. Most companies treat customers like crap. Most companies act like they expect you to be loyal and buy a lot, but won't lift a finger to deserve it.

Loopmasters is my favorite company for 2011.

They are generous and treat even the least profitable, non-paying customer like gold. They not only sell music production loop packages, they also provide great information about mixing and other production topics in their blog.

For example, this post: "10 Ways to Dirty Up Your Sounds"

What's more, on their website, at the bottom of the home page, they link to industry sites like Computer Music magazine, product hubs like Sonic State, and various DAW sites. It's easy to see that they want to be of maximum service to the computer musician, digital recording artist, and professional DJ communities.

Loopmasters does product innovation, customer service, free samples, and blogging in a superior, professional, and memorable manner.

If you make computer-based music in a digital audio workstation (DAW) environment like Sony ACID, Ableton, Pro Tools, Logic, Cubase, Reason, Cakewalk, or Audacity, you should check out this premiere provider of royalty-free sounds.


Pin It

Merry Modern Christmas to all

Let's be thankful for the Christmas message: peace to the earth and good will to all. A savior has been born to rescue us from the forces of darkness, violence, and despair. A man who was more than mere man. A being who can heal and astonish and redeem.

Creativity itself became a little baby and lived a life of poverty and blessing so we could be citizens of heaven.

Innovation. Art. Success. Love. Joy. Productivity. Think outside the box by being outside the box. Put a new twist on what you do, in ways that will benefit and delight others.

Be extra-ordinary, over-achieving, super-celestial, hyper-fantastic in every single detail. Thrive by helping others survive. Triumph by enabling others to succeed.

Radiate the best that is in you and increase in goodness and truth. Ascend to the highest heights of glory and majesty by remaining humble in selfless service to all.

Christmas Gift to You 15 FREE Online Tools

Merry Christmas to all.

As this year's Christmas present to my online friends and fans, here are 15 of my favorite, some of them formerly top secret, valuable, useful FREE online tools.

Plus FREE downloadable 320 kbps MP3s of two recently produced songs by Str8 Sounds: "Christian Meditation" and "New Heaven New Earth" -- from the CD "Music for the End Times".



15 of My Favorite FREE Online Tools


(1) YouTube to MP3 Converter

http://www.youtube-mp3.org/




(2) QR Code Generator by Delivr

http://delivr.com/qr-code-generator




(3) Internet Archive and Way Back Machine

http://www.archive.org/




(4) AT&T Natural Voice Text to Speech Converter

http://www2.research.att.com/~ttsweb/tts/demo.php




(5) Loopmasters

http://www.loopmasters.com/home



(6) ɹǝpunoɹɐ ɹǝddıךɟ ʇxǝʇ

http://pzyko.de/textflip/




(7) BankRate Mortgage Calculator

http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/mortgages/mortgage-calculator.aspx




(8) Math.com Basic Calculator

http://www.math.com/students/calculators/source/basic.htm




(9) Sound Dogs

http://www.sounddogs.com/sound-effects.asp




(10) TinyChat

http://tinychat.com/




(11) ShoutCast Internet Radio

http://www.shoutcast.com/




(12) JetAudio

http://www.jetaudio.com/




(13) WFMU Free Music Archive

http://freemusicarchive.org/




(14) Canadian Electroacoustic Community (free CD mp3s)

http://cec.sonus.ca/cd/index.html

http://cec.sonus.ca/




(15) Looperman

http://www.looperman.com/

BONUS: MediaFire

http://www.mediafire.com/index.php

Christian Meditation by str8sounds


Click on the down arrow in the players to download the FREE 320 kbps MP3s to your hard drive.


New Heaven New Earth by str8sounds

Pin It

.

7 Essential Tips on Improving Customer Service

In the year 2012 that we are rapidly approaching, we must get perfect in customer service -- or perish.

Perfect customer service?

Of course. What other kinds are there? In the minds of your customers, service is bipolar. It's either great or it's horrible. Very rarely is customer service considered okay or merely adequate. People tend to rave happily about a business -- or complain bitterly. There's almost no neutral ground.

Customer service is the Achille's heel of American business. That's where the vast majority of your competitors are vulnerable. Most of them refuse to even consider how to perfect their relationships with customers. Arrogance, deficiency in self-awareness, lack of marketing savvy, fear of change, fear of confronting mediocre employees, and passively hoping for a miracle are responsible for much of this inertia.

The prevailing ideology seems to be: provide desirable products at a good price. Why is it then that this business model is failing? Why are so many customers disgruntled? Why are customers running off to each new competitor that sets up shop in their community? Why are customers lacking in loyalty and sluggish about telling their friends about a company?

Here are some basic, fundamental insights into how you can enhance your customer service to gain a competitive advantage and ensure the survival and growth of your business.

On a personal note, as a marketing consultant and web content provider, I take these recommendations seriously and strive to implement them in my own business.



7 Essential Tips on 
Improving Customer Service


(1) Know thyself -- how do you really feel about customers?

Ask yourself if you really, sincerely, deeply care about your customers in the first place. Are they just wallets that you hope will open and from which cash and plastic money springs forth?

Or do you really sympathize with the needs, hopes, dreams, and desires of the people who shop at your store or pay you for your services?


(2) Know your products -- how are customers really using them?

Don't assume that because you know the product description and stats, you understand the needs these products are fulfilling. You might be astonished at the actual reasons why people buy a particular product, or what they really do with it and how they personally feel about the product.

You don't understand products by talking to vendors, viewing TV commercials, studying brochures, or reading catalog copy. The only way to truly comprehend what a product means to a customer is to do some customer research.

One way to accomplish this research is to simply get out by the cash registers and ask some customers how they plan to use a product or what they like about it. Most customers will feel flattered that the boss, owner, manager, or CEO is actually asking for their opinions and showing interest in their feelings.



(3) Know your customers -- by talking with them in person.

Do you spend much time talking with customers? Do you try to get to know their needs and what they're trying to accomplish through the purchase of products? Or do you hide in your office in the back of the store or company headquarters? Could you sketch out a realistic composite description of a typical customer, what their average age, income, education, experiences, philosophy, mood, lifestyle, family is like?



(4) Know your customers -- by interacting with them on social media.

Go beyond just setting up social network profiles and fan pages. Get in there and click on Like and Share buttons. Post comments on other people's status updates. Reply personally to comments on your page.

Do NOT just delegate these duties to an outside consultant, an intern, a designated employee, or your internal marketing staff. They may be speaking and interacting on your behalf, which is what you're paying them to do, but they need you to set an example now and then. Would it kill you to step in from time to time and speak in your own voice and share your thoughts, your expertise, or your industry savvy?


(5) Know your competitors -- check out what they're doing to satisfy customers.

Go to the websites of your competitors. Do they suck? Are they ugly, dysfunctional, difficult to use and to navigate? Are there no photos of the staff? Do the sites seem cold, aloof, uncaring, boring?

Go to the blogs of your competitors. Are they consistently providing interesting information? Are they sharing expertise and insights? Or are they just hyping and pushing sales messages over and over?

Go to the stores or business offices of your competitors. Are you treated like a friend or a wallet? Do you feel welcome? Does the staff treat you with respect and joy? Or are you treated like a nuisance?

What are your competitors doing to satisfy customers? Are there any ideas that you could use and adapt to your own business? Are there any blind spots you can take advantage of? Any lessons, positive or negative, to be learned from how your competitors treat customers?


(6) Know your staff -- are they conscientious and continually in training?

How good are your employees when it comes to satisfying customers and treating them properly? Do you spend the time necessary to observe them or test them? Do you tolerate bitter, surly, careless employees, or do you have a high standard of service that is constantly and fairly enforced?

Do you have some employees that do their job, but without joy, without caring much about the customers or products, without trying to remain kind and helpful at all times? Do your employees really know enough to assist customers in solving problems and picking the right product for their purposes?

Training should be perpetually ongoing to some degree. It can cost you nothing. There are so many tutorials and informative blogs and free training sites online, you can easily assign training material to your staff, then test them on  it.

Buy them books on topics related to your field, and make them write book reports or take a quiz on the information contained in the books.

Give them special projects in sales training, industry expertise, competitive analysis, and product knowledge. Make it mandatory. Weed out the slackers and the mediocre, the disrespectful dolts and the indifferent clock watchers.

Help your dedicated employees to keep progressing in their understanding of your general field of service and in the nuts and bolts of what you sell.


(7) Know your impact on employees -- set a good, imitated example.

Don't just mandate better customer service. Show your employees how it's done. Be the shining role model they expect you to be. Meet a customer need, right there on the sales floor where everyone can watch it happen. Make a big sale. Welcome a new customer. Congratulate a current customer on going with a great product choice.

Make small talk chit chat with people as they enter your business. Crack a few jokes. Ask some pertinent questions. Express genuine interest in customers, their families, their occupation, their hobbies, and their needs that are related to what you sell.

Your goal should be to replicate your own zeal, compassion, enthusiasm, and knowledge in each person who works for you, as you yourself keep surpassing your own achievements and savvy.



CONCLUSION: Keep these tips in mind and you'll be well on your way to superior customer service, perfecting it on an ongoing, deeply committed basis.

You'll benefit from a startling increase in customer loyalty, increased sales, and new customer acquisition.

Against Sticky Websites and the Facebook Timeline Rollout

Someone said today on GooglePlus that, in spite of all the hostility and backlash toward Facebook's rolling out their intrusive, invasive, non-permission based Timeline and Ticker garbage, at least these nefarious, diabolical spyware gimmicks might increase the "stickiness" of Facebook.

Facebook is a Web Disease. A minefield of rogue apps, malware, phishing exploits, spammy game invites, stalkers, predators, and identity theft. Who wants that mess to be sticking like bad gum on the shoes of your web surfing?

Web users have tasks to accomplish. They are not seeking sites that hold them, imprison them, confine or corral them like cattle, detaining them needlessly. They don't want to spend a lot of time on any website. They want to get something done, then go elsewhere. Website design should facilitate this.

The concepts of "stickiness" and "sticky websites" is a horrible, old fashioned, outmoded concept. It hearkens back to the Web 1.0 days when all you could do is stare at a web page and maybe buy some junk. There was little to no interaction. Companies didn't want to listen to any input, suggestions, questions, complaints, or feedback from customers. They had a message to shout at you and products to sell. They cared about nothing else.

They wanted their ecommerce or corporate fluff sites to be "sticky", meaning you were stuck there, like in a trap, even though it was mostly irrelevant, boring, and We-oriented.

But the purpose of web design is to help the user ignore most of the content, to zero in, to focus on what is immediately relevant, a piece of information, a task, a tool that meets a current need -- and then move on to other things.

"Welcome to our website!!! Look around, enjoy yourself, hang out." was the stupid message that greeted users on old fashioned corporate fluff websites. Sometimes they even disabled the Back button, to force people to "stick around" like they had nothing better to do.

If Facebook is hoping that the Frictionless (non-permissive, invasive) Sharing of the Timeline and Ticker are going to keep people on Facebook longer, luxuriating in all the idiotic trivia of other people's every move and motion, they're dead wrong.

The new Timeline and Ticker are designed to collect more data, to track your every move on the internet, and then sell that information to advertisers and organizations who will use it to exploit you.

These gimmicks are some of the last, desperate gasps of a dying and rotten web platform, a social media that is really a surveillance trap.

We will be so happy when Facebook finally dies and disappears off the face of the internet.

Long live GooglePlus.

Small Business Failure Checklist

As the economy continues to decline, with horrible Federal Reserve policies, turmoil in the Middle East, and the financial collapse of the European Union contributing to the uncertainty, there are some simple things you can do to protect your business.

One of the worst attitudes you can have is to just hope that the economy improves, so customers will start buying more product off your shelves. This is a common practice with small business owners. Instead of making tough decisions, they prefer to just fret and complain and hope for a miracle.

To make the necessary business survival steps more vivid, let's view them from the negative angle: what to do to make sure your company goes bankrupt.

Small Business Failure Checklist


* Just hope that the economy improves -- and customers magically start spending more money in your store.

* Blame your sales slump on the competition -- and hope they fail so you don't have to do anything to improve what you're doing.

* Keep ordering more product, and cluttering your store with things nobody cares about, rather than determining which products are selling best, and focusing on them.

* Scatter your product categories all over the store, rather than grouping them together, so that when a customer is shopping for a specific category, they won't see all the alternatives and options in one place, but have to hunt and hope they found everything available.

* Purchase whatever your vendors suggest, trusting them to be concerned with your best interests rather than their own profits.

* Don't exhibit products based on the change of seasons, holidays, news stories, internet buzz, trends in the industry, focus groups, surveys, customer suggestions, competitive maneuvers, or any other data -- just leave things alone and hope for the best.

* Don't have daily morning inspirational briefings with your staff, to keep them excited and informed.

* Don't talk to customers to find out how you could improve your operation.

* Don't ask your staff for ideas on how to improve things, because then they might start thinking you're not an all-knowing being with godlike powers and unquestionable authority.

* Trust the media salesmen who want you to keep buying advertising on radio, TV, and newspapers, but don't provide statistics on how effective these media buys are for you.

* Delegate social media strategy to employees who have no business education or proven marketing skills.

* Treat your customers the same way you always have, without looking for ways to reach out to them in creative, innovative ways.

* Ignore what your competitors are doing to meet customer needs, stick your head in the sand, and continue to hope those methods will fail, because you don't want to change anything you're doing.

* Never tie in with holidays, just hope that customers will come to you for their holiday needs, even though you don't decorate your store appropriately, provide holiday-oriented products, or offer holiday-oriented discounts.

* Remodel your store but refrain from remodeling your sales staff with good motivational material.

* Don't bother training your staff, even with free material they can view on the internet, because people don't like homework or exerting themselves to save their jobs or keep their employer prosperous.

* Don't have any gift card programs to reward customers for usable testimonials, because you just don't care about investing in genuine, customer-generated marketing.

* Ignore any marketing ideas from employees or outside consultants, because you know everything, and how dare they suggest there might be something you could learn.

* Don't use blogs, Facebook, Twitter, GooglePlus, QR codes, or any new technology to promote your business -- because you don't want people to think you are keeping pace with modern methods and strategies.

* Ignore the reality of online sales, cell phone shopping, partnering with other local businesses, and local search -- since these emerging trends are confusing and you are too busy shuffling papers around on your desk.

* Don't provide a Suggestion Box in your store, with note paper and pens, or if you do, don't bother reading the suggestions.

* Delegate social media work to someone, then stay away from it, don't jump in from time to time with your own remarks and content, because you're paying someone else to represent you, and you don't want to present your own thoughts to online community members.

* Ignore changes in the market place -- if your competitors are selling hot wings and pizza, you don't have to do so, because why worry about what customers want or expect?

* Strut around like a big deal and treat employees and vendors like slaves or nobodies -- after all, you are highly exalted and superior to everybody else.

* Don't educate your customers about how you are different and better than your competitors -- just assume they already know this and don't need any reminders.

* Don't help your customers choose the product best suited for their needs -- just display product and hope they select what they need without any assistance from you or your staff.

* Don't confront any employee who comes in late all the time, is rude to customers, wastes time on the job, has a bad attitude, violates company policy, or spends too much time on personal activities -- who cares about excellence or company morale?

* Just push product on social media, rather than sharing expertise, personal interests, funny anecdotes, company history, product selection and comparison tips, human warmth, genuine interactions with social media participants, or non-commercial content.

* Stay in the back of the store, in your office, with the door closed -- why get out and mingle with customers or provide a salesmanship role model for your staff?

* Don't promote your blog, ecommerce site, or social media web addresses aggressively with the URLS printed on business cards, tee shirts, coffee mugs, pens, hand-outs, or signs in the store -- just hope customers find your online presences by magic or luck.

* Tell people "check us out on Facebook" -- but when they arrive, they're greeted by an incomplete profile, no photos of store, or products, or happy customers, and there are only a few wall posts and no interaction with other people on Facebook.

* Decide you "don't have time" to engage in social media participation. A placeholder presence is enough. If customers want to know more about your business, they can go to your website, which is a dismal disaster, has broken links, is not updated, and is poorly designed.


If you follow these simple tips, that require no brains or effort, I guarantee your business will close within 6 to 12 months. Trust me. I've seen it happen, but I refrain from naming names to protect the ignorant.

:^)

InterBusiness Issues articles by Steven Streight

Here is a link to some of my articles published in InterBusiness Issues: Steven Streight on InterBusiness Issues.

I am currently wrapping up a new article, "GooglePlus Invades the Social Media Scene",  for the January 2012 issue.

Audience Reactions vs Inner Vision

Which is the Best Audience Reaction?

(1) Audience is skyrocketing in wild popularity and raving ecstatically about how great your content is.

(2) Audience is steadily growing and somewhat pleased with your content.

(3) Audience numbers are modest, slightly increasing, and mildly approving of your content.

(4) Audience is holding steady, with mixed reactions, or general indifference, to your content.

(5) Audience is declining, with growing negativity toward your content.

(6) What audience? Universal contempt or apathy toward your content.


What do you think about these 6 common reactions of an audience?

Which reaction would motivate you the most to generate high quality content?

Which reaction would make you feel that your work was important, relevant, and may have enduring value?

Which reaction would you be most proud of?

Which reaction would increase your feeling of legitimacy, worth, and self-esteem?

Which reaction is ideal?

Which reaction would make it all seem worthwhile and would spur you on to greater and greater achievements?

ANSWER = None of the above.

Audience reactions are important only when selling product. Your marketing must appeal to and please your customers. Or when you're running for political office. Or trying to get a date.

Your personal output, self-expressive art or philosophical musings, should not be tied to any external standards of popularity vs obscurity. Your work must not be influenced by public approval and disapproval.

You should build a body of work and keep improving it and expanding it, according to your own vision, goals, and standards.

If nobody likes it, if everybody hates it, that should not matter in the slightest. In some cases, it may mean your work is horrible, ugly, destructive, or irrelevant, and you should consider examining your vision, standards, and goals.

If everybody loves it, if all people praise it, that should be more annoying than satisfying.

Universal admiration should make you wonder if your work is too mainstream, too similar to what's already popular, too safe, too trendy, too mediocre, or too much in tune with the vulgar, violent, and perverse interests of the masses and not representing any threat or critique of ruling powers.

But in most cases, indifference and hostility are the hallmarks of innovation or prophecy.

Biblical prophets, for example, were generally proclaiming unpleasant realities, antagonistic rebukes, and stern warnings.

Prophets were killed, not adored. Only many years later did the hypocrites erect monuments to the dead prophets, in an attempt to transfer the credibility of the prophets, proven right by history, to themselves.

As long as you feel good about what you're doing, keep at it.

As long as your content is a good representation of your expertise or ideals, don't give up.

As long as you know within yourself that your work could be of value to others, if someday it is discovered, understood, and correctly implemented, continue grinding it out.

Producing content is good for you, no matter who loves or hates it. By not giving up, you increase your own tenacity and reinforce the idea of working without reliance on external support.

Just creating quality work can be its own reward.

When the applause or rotten tomatoes come, and they probably will eventually, be steeled against caring one way or another.

Praise and support can sometimes be more destructive than ridicule and opposition, especially when the adoration is insincere and manipulative.

Let your work exist in and for itself. If it remains in perpetual obscurity, be happy knowing that your talent and specialty keep improving day by day.

Luke 6:26 "Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets."

Glass Half Full or Half Empty or

How Would You Describe a Glass Containing Water Up to the Midway Level?


(1) half full (said the optimist)

(2) half empty (said the pessimist)

(3) twice as big as it needs to be (said the engineer)

(4) too far for me to reach it (said the cynic)

(5) full of irrelevance (said the drowning man)

(6) full of pollution (said the paranoid)

(7) a new source of tax revenue (said the socialist)

(8) a profit opportunity (said the capitalist)

(9) a free drink anyone can claim (said the anarchist)

(10) poor customer service (said the consumer advocate)

(11) since it's on our table, it's something to which we can affix a hidden surcharge (said the bank)

(12) the property of The Proletariat, which the Party shall now confiscate (said the Communist)

(13) another random event generated by chance operations (said the atheist)

(14) something to give to the thirsty poor (said the Christian)

(15) a manifestation of nirvana and result of molecular karma (said the Buddhist)

(16) full -- 50% water and 50% air (said the pragmatist)

(17) a dream come true (said the cotton-mouthed pot smoker)

(18) it should be beer (said the guy in the pub) [Contributed by +Matthew Wilkinson ]

(19) not my fault (said the politician)

(20) pretty (said the artist) [Contributed by +John Lewis ]

(21) a rip-off (said the accountant)

(22) assault (said the lawyer)

(23) the exact right amount of water for my needs (said the diplomat)

(24) part of my hush-money golden parachute? (asked the CEO)


.

Lensing and Shuttering photo blog

I have a new blog wherein I showcase my photographic skills. It's called Lensing and Shuttering.

I'm displaying the images in extra large size, to increase their impact.

My photos are aesthetically pleasing, avant garde, Peoria historic, funny, and almost never posed or predictable. If you enjoy images that are well composed, brilliant in color, and a joy to behold, check out my new photo blog.

RIP Johnny Cash on 8th year anniversary of his death

Here's what real, socially conscious Christian music sounds like. If a Christian band never sings about the poor and downtrodden, the miserable rich and the negligent materialists, the corrupt power structures and misguided patriotism, it's not a spiritual band. 

Jesus himself didn't just praise and worship God with his hands flapping around in the air. He got up and helped people, fed the poor, healed the sick, and condemned the religious leaders and oppressors.





"On this day in 2003, Johnny Cash, American singer/songwriter, died of respiratory failure at the age of 71. He traditionally started his concerts by saying, "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash."

I can’t think of anyone apart from Elvis who has had such an influence and hold on musical culture for over 40 years, the singer became an imposing and influential figure. Johnny Cash didn't sound like county music from Nashville, nor did he sound like a rock and roll singer. He created his own sub-genre, halfway between folk, rock and roll, and the world-weariness of country.....

He is the only person to be inducted into the Country Music Hall Of Fame, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame AND The Songwriter's Hall of Fame. The image of the Man In Black is as deeply American as the stars and stripes themselves."

-- Neil Cossar, The Morton Report "Johnny Cash: He Walked the Line"

Johnny Cash - "Man In Black"


Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,
Why you never see bright colors on my back,
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.
Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on.

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,
Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he's a victim of the times.

I wear the black for those who never read,
Or listened to the words that Jesus said,
About the road to happiness through love and charity,
Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me.

Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose,
In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes,
But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back,
Up front there ought 'a be a Man In Black.

I wear it for the sick and lonely old,
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,
I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been,
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.

And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,
Believen' that the Lord was on their side,
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,
Believen' that we all were on their side.

Well, there's things that never will be right I know,
And things need changin' everywhere you go,
But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right,
You'll never see me wear a suit of white.

Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day,
And tell the world that everything's OK,
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,
'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black.

ALSO SEE:

Johnny Cash 

"God's Gonna Cut You Down" 

video on YouTube.

Truth about Brands and Branding

"Brands" as a term has slowly evolved into a clever euphemism for corporations, companies, businesses -- although it originally was meant to refer to a product line and the themes associated with it.

[QUOTE]

The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers. The legal term for brand is trademark. A brand may identify one item, a family of items, or all items of that seller. If used for the firm as a whole, the preferred term is trade name."

A brand can take many forms, including a name, sign, symbol, color combination or slogan. The word branding began simply as a way to tell one person's cattle from another by means of a hot iron stamp. The word brand has continued to evolve to encompass identity — it affects the personality of a product, company or service.

-- Wikipedia "Brand" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand

[END QUOTE]

Now "brand" is a word that dubious or malicious companies hide behind as they launch their exploitation machinery on a hapless public.

Marketing people speak of such silly things as "people engaging in conversations with our brand" and "brand interactions". But nobody is seeking to "interact with a brand". People seek solutions to problems -- and sincere companies who genuinely care about their customers and listen to them.

A "brand" is something they want you to trust and swear allegiance to. It started in full force when corporate logos became trendy on clothing back in the 1980s, so that dumb consumers thought it was hip to be unpaid, walking advertisements for Nike, Coca Cola, Apple, Calvin Klein, etc. I think of such people as "brand zombies".

A "brand" is a second level abstraction, an artificially construed personality or aura that is strategically imposed upon a product or product line. Branding is not generally derived from any true benefit or characteristic of a product, but is invented by an advertising agency. It is fundamentally synonymous with "positioning".

You need to define a product and differentiate it from competitors, so you proclaim your product to be "the choice of the younger generation" (Pepsi) or "what the rich elites all use" (Rolex) or "the must-have item for a true geek" (iPhone).

The word "brand" thus acts as a cloaking device, to soothe and pacify critique, and make the public feel good. It often refers primarily to the colors, design artifacts, messaging, and feelings that they hope are invigorated within a customer as they shell out their hard earned money for miscellaneous crap.

A "brand" is thus an image, a concept that ad agencies hope to wrap a product in, so that people get excited about the product, because of the hype and status associated with the product, and not necessarily on any true assessment of the worth or value of the product.

The true definition of "branding" is "that mental impression that is burned into the consciousness of a customer as they use a product to solve a problem or enhance a lifestyle."

No matter what "branding" campaign and slogans the ad agencies sling around, the mark that is "branded" on the hide of the consumer's mind is the only thing that really matters. And this authentic branding or mental positioning is not under the control of any ad agency, as it happens independently, in real life situations of product usage.

This is why it is vital to probe the minds of customers and discover what they think about a product.

You should consider using their ideas about the product, even their exact words, in your marketing, what actual users appreciate about it, rather than trying to impose some random idea upon the product, which may not be intrinsic to the product or the way users feel about it.

A contrived aura for a product can collapse from the sheer weight of its falseness, leaving you with disappointed customers and negative word of mouth advertising.

A good example of this is "brand Obama", which many former supporters are becoming disgruntled with, compelling them to seek a new brand to replace it. Other brands that are in trouble recently, for various reasons, include Yahoo, Readers Digest, NPR, Sara Lee, Frontier Airlines, Michelob, Milwaukee's Best, Facebook, T-Mobile, RadioShack, Office Depot, E*Trade, Gateway, and AOL.

READ  MORE

Forbes "The Trouble With My Brand is Me"

Yahoo Finance "10 Brands That May Disappear in 2011"

Daily Finance "10 American Companies That May Disappear in 2011"

Late One Night FILM

Late One Night

A Dave Christiano Films presentation.

I used to show this film to my students when I taught junior high Sunday school. I have a collection of many other Christiano films. All of them are well-written and interesting, being realistic portrayals of faith in a broken world, with flawed believers and difficult situations.

Late One Night, and several other Dave Christiano films, have a Twilight Zone feel to them.

At age 28, in the summer of 1985, Dave wrote, produced and directed his first film called The Daylight Zone. It was a Christian version of the old TV series, The Twilight Zone. Dave's brother Rich Christiano co-financed the project. Filmed in south Texas, the movie was shot on 16mm film and released by Christiano Brothers Films in the spring of 1986.

14 Characteristics of a Classic Internet Troll

What exactly is an internet troll? How can you spot one with any degree of certainty? Aren't they just people who express a contrary opinion? Who are you to call anyone a "troll"?

To answer such questions, and to help you detect the presence of that peculiar species of creature called the internet troll, no matter where they may be slithering, here's a list of Key Troll Attributes commonly found in the wild. When you see someone engaged in any, or a combination of, these behaviors, they are almost certainly the entity known as the troll.

(1) Posts inflammatory comments, not to engage in serious conversation, but to "grief" or annoy an online community.

(2) An obvious glee and elated satisfaction is aroused in them when people join the fight and reply to their deliberately disruptive comments.

(3) Copies and pastes large blocks of text to appear scholarly or to exhaust the readers of a topic thread, thus driving away legitimate posters of sincere comments. These blocks of text are often recycled and appeared on a variety of threads.

(4) Tends to avoid complimenting people who disagree with them, even when those in opposition to the troll make some valid points.

(5) Shuns any conciliatory statements like "You have obviously spent a lot of time studying this subject, and I'm not certain how to reply to your last remark, so let's shake hands, part as friends, and move on."

(6) Never ends a debate with "Thanks for the discussion" or "I'll consider what you say" or any other finalizing remark, because they love arguing and disrupting civilized conversations.

(7) Keeps an argument going a lot longer than a normal person would, to the point where people will start asking a moderator to turn off comments or block the troll. However, sometimes people will do this just because they can't tolerate contrary opinions and are angry at seeing them posted to a thread they enjoyed reading. The mark of a troll is to keep hammering away at a point in an obsessive manner.

Click on image above for larger view

so you can read the text.

(8) Acts innocent when called a troll, and states "I'm just stating my opinion, and you can't handle it", but the reality is they are not innocent, they are trouble-makers who only post inflammatory remarks, rarely contributing any real value or good information to a discussion.

(9) Starts saying filthy words and making wild accusations when confronted. Their hostility and provoking rhetoric escalates when you ask them if they are simply trying to stir up trouble.

(10) Will often preface their attack with a back-handed compliment. "I know you are well-intentioned, but stick to issues affecting our local community" or "you seem like an educated person, but..." 

(11) Will bring up issues they are angry about, no matter what the topic of a thread is. 

For example, they will say things like "sounds like the Open Source movement" or "reminds me of Tea Baggers" or "you're sounding like a typical commie libtard now" or "you sound like some irrational Creationism crank" or "you atheists are all the same", or whatever it is they're hostile toward, in an attempt to hijack the thread and start a new argument within the current debate.

(12) When people realize or are warned that the person is a troll, and the troll is then ignored, and nobody will respond to anything they say, the trolling person tends to give up and go to some other thread. They crave attention and they try to get it by being obnoxious in a juvenile, or pseudo-scholarly, manner.

(13) They use a nickname, are anonymous, or use a real sounding name, but do not embed a link to their blog or website in their name, as is common in comment forms. This lack of accountability enables them to get away with saying anything they want, to anybody, and even tell outright lies about what they saw or heard.

(14) They, when not confronted or exposed sufficiently, will seek to have the last word in an online discussion. When nobody responds to their last troll comment, they will proudly proclaim that they "won" what they fantasize as a "contest" or "battle".

Blogocombat means friendly online discussions, as well as heated debates. I use the term "blogocombat" to refer to both. But where the rubber meets the road is when you have to deal with the internet troll.

There are no winners or losers in a civilized discussion. There are just people who express their thoughts and people who learn a bit more about a subject and improve their presentation of ideas by engaging in conversations.

"Trolling" has nothing to do with sincere expression of contrary opinions or stubborn dedication to an idea. Trolling is all in how the comments are phrased and how the comment poster behaves, especially when confronted.

You know it's an immature attention-getting scheme when they respond quickly to every single comment posted in response to theirs, and their rhetoric tends to escalate in intense hatred, absurd rambling, and malicious provocation.

See also "Amanda Chapel Anti-blogosphere Team Troll".

Pictured above: my car loaded 

with the devices necessary for 

detecting and smashing internet trolls.

Click on images for 

larger view to read the text.