Marketing Beats Selling
FNORD
My dad, 84 years old and counting, lifelong salesman, sales manager, sales trainer and independent representative speaks with open disdain about marketers. Yet, when you listen to him talk about his sales process it becomes clear that he takes a straight up marketing approach.
The first thing he does as a “salesman” is to identify companies ready to purchase in commercial volumes. Among marketers this is known as locating a market.
Next he connects with a decision maker and during the interview clarifies what problems they have. Marketers often use polls and questionnaires to discover a market’s needs, wants and desires.
Then, my dad works with one of the companies he represents, or even locates a company he has never represented before, to come up with a solution. Marketers follow the same process and if the solution is an information product either hires an expert, obtains the rights or creates the product themselves.
Finally, he goes back to the prospect company with the solution [...] Continue Reading…
Marijuana Parity Pricing
FNORD
Agricultural producers, under economic attack for generations in the United States, need to receive parity pricing for their produce in order to begin another round of the economic cycle without debt. Forcing agricultural producers into debt at the beginning of the economic cycle impoverishes everyone except the financial services industry parasites who profit at everyone else’s expense.
Marijuana, cannabis, hemp or whatever you call it may well be the last agricultural crop grown in the United States that is capable of providing enough income to be worthwhile growing. Profitable agriculture only appears possible outside of a legal system created to benefit a pathological elite, by definition an activity pursued only by outlaws.
This fact alone proves the lie to the political theater misrepresenting open markets and free trade. The only open markets and free trade possible today operates outside of the licensing, regulation and taxation of our pathocracy.
The free and independent culture surrounding marijuana agriculture, even as harassed and persecuted as it [...] Continue Reading…
Resilience Economics
FNORD
Useful Resilience Economics needs more than theoretical responses to scenario sketches. Thought experiments will not be enough to get you moving towards a more secure economic status today.
The current economic collapse appears unique within the history of economic collapses because we have lost our inherent safety net that traditionally cushioned downturns. The very same so-called “Masters of The Universe” who drove the current economy into the wall have already cannibalized our ability to weather failure gracefully especially in the United States and Europe.
The decades of economic attacks upon family farms leave us vulnerable to a very hard landing in which millions will suffer death through the deprivation of essential food and shelter. During the Great Depression of the 1930s many of the urban homeless and unemployed factory workers found sanctuary on the family farm.
We may now only look back with fond nostalgia at how we lived a couple of generations ago. In hindsight the wisdom of Raw Material Economics proves [...] Continue Reading…
Understanding Our Economic Crisis
Nick Gillespie narrates this video sponsored by Americans for Prosperity, the Heritage Foundation, and Reason.tv that clearly shows our current economic situation.
While it seems most available information focuses attention upon the segments of the economy that appear to be responsible for this mess few possess the willingness to look upon the economy as a whole.
Here I wish to look upon the economy as a whole.
Money used to be things, commodities, that could be traded for anything else because everyone recognized and accepted their value. Precious metals eventually became the commodity of choice to use as money but throughout history almost any other thing you can imagine became used as money someplace sometime.
The concept of money, commodities with universally recognized value, is really straight forward and simple. If people harvest or produce something lacking a widespread market then trading it for something else of equal value with a widespread market opens up new trade opportunities for them.
Trade became so dependent upon money [...] Continue Reading…
Reporter vs Expert – Why Most Bloggers Are Stuck Reporting
FNORD
There are basically two types of bloggers in the world – reporters and experts – and some people perform both roles (usually the experts, it’s hard for reporters to become experts, but it’s easy for experts to report).
If you have ever taken an Internet marketing course or attended a seminar specifically for beginners, you have probably heard about the two different methodologies. Whenever the business model is based on content, and if you blog for money then the model is based on content, people are taught to either start as reporters, or if possible step up as experts.
I’ll be frank; you want to be the expert.
Reporters leverage the content of the experts and in most cases people start off as reporters because they haven’t established expertise. Experts enjoy the perks of preeminence, higher conversion rates because of perceived value, it’s easier to get publicity, people are more likely to seek you out rather than you having to seek others out, [...] Continue Reading…
