Category Archives: Reality checks

Where Did You Learn This Stuff?

From time to time I chat with folks who are just starting their professional lives. One of the things many of them discover pretty early on in their job searches is that they have spent a lot of money obtaining a degree that might not qualify them to do much. This isn’t something new: my degrees are in English and Education which have, on the surface, very little to do with a career in traditional and digital media, sales, and sports.

The question I get asked a lot is “how did you get to where you are?” – what was my career path, etc. Inevitably, the specific knowledge one needs to advance down a particular road comes up and then the question becomes “where did you learn this stuff?”. Good question, and not as simple an answer as you’d think. Continue reading

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Filed under Helpful Hints, Reality checks

It Exists – Now Measure It

Image representing Ifbyphone as depicted in Cr...

Image via CrunchBase

Some of you are probably familiar with the S.M.A.R.T. philosophy of business goals.  The “M” in that acronym is for “measurable” and today’s screed has to do (once again) with the gap between our desires and our actualities with respect to measurement.

Specifically, it has to do with the results of a survey by Ifbyphone on the State of Marketing Measurement.  You can look at the results here but a few things stood out in my mind – let’s see what you think.

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What’s A Bagel?

Those of you in the NYC area have heard of Stew Leonard’s.  For the rest of you, Stew’s began as a dairy store (Clover Farms I believe) and is a sort of supermarket combined with a theme park and petting zoo.  Don’t go on the weekend or after school hours!

Stew Leonard's

Image via Wikipedia

Recently, a local blogger pointed out yet another quirk (I’m being overly pleasant here) of the “I’m entitled” behavior which runs rampant around here:  that of eating much of what Stew sells while you shop by a tiny minority of the customer base.  I read Dan’s initial piece and shook my head in sympathy, or at least until a follow-up piece yesterday that featured a great business insight from Stew Junior who now runs the company.  I think we can all learn from it.

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Filed under digital media, Reality checks