Forget Politics

Forget Politics

Man oh man, has this been a wild year.  

Besides a world wide pandemic that we still don’t fully understand, we are winding down an outrageous political election season in the United States that on a national scale we won’t know the results of until after the special election in Georgia where both U.S. Senate seats are up for grabs. The outcome will determine if the Democrats or Republicans control the Senate which will impact the amount of legislation is passed and so on…

But I really want you to stop focusing so much on politics.  If you voted, thank you.  You did your part in making the United States of America the model for representative democracy around the world that people from all over the globe risk their lives to come to and be part of.

Numerous business owners have said that they were waiting until after the election to decide what they were going to do to advertise and market their business in 2021.

I say, Forget Politics.  You need to step up and plan using proven, timeless marketing principles.

Unless your business is in danger of becoming illegal, the determining factor in your success is not the government, it’s you.

A couple weeks ago I talked about the importance of putting together a marketing plan for 2021 and I wasn’t kidding.

The God’s honest truth is you need to invite people to spend their money with you.  You need a marketing plan to do that.  You need a business plan that includes the internal processes that are the machine that you and your team follow.  We learned this year that you will need to include some additional options that were not part of your business plan in 2019 or before.

But the marketing and advertising need?  It is always going to be there if you want to stay in business no matter what the political climate or health situation we face in 2021.

It may sound weird that the General Sales Manager of the most listened to radio station for adults in Fort Wayne, Indiana, WOWO whose radio format is talk radio, specifically conservative talk radio is telling you to Forget Politics, but for the reasons I just mentioned, for the future of your business, I want you to move forward.

And I also want to invite you to take advantage of our current political situation by using WOWO as the advertising media to help you reach the people you can have as customers.

Some people asked if the liberals win, does that mean your audience will decrease?  Nope.  Time has shown that no matter which side of the political divide wins the elections, conservative talk radio will have plenty to talk about and plenty of listeners.

I don’t care what your political leanings are, I simple care that you will do your very best to take care of our WOWO radio listeners when we invite them to spend their money with you.  Conservative, Liberal, Somewhere In Between, or None of the Above, all of us want to trust the people we do business with and that matter more than anything.

Contact me, Scott@WOWO.com for help. 

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4 Marketing Lessons from Bernie Sanders & Donald Trump that will Make Your Business Great

I have a love/hate relationship with the Presidential election season.sanderstrump_mashup

I love pulling a few marketing lessons out of the hi-jinks.

But I also hate the nasty tone and the lies that are used to convince us who to vote for.

First off, I’m not going to suggest you should ever lie in your ads.  Even if the FTC or BBB doesn’t catch you, I don’t want to be associated with deception.

So let’s move on to the 4 Marketing Lessons from Bernie Sanders & Donald Trump that will Make Your Business Great:

  1. There are people who want to support you and your business. Both Bernie and Donald have tapped into a % of the population that are unhappy with the status quo.  In the past, many of these folks didn’t even vote. This year Bernie and Donald have delivered a message that echo the thoughts and feelings of those who felt the establishment had abandoned them and they came out to the rallies in record numbers and also voted in huge numbers.
  2. A consistent message works wonders. For this I’ll turn my attention to Donald Trump. While the media was waiting for Donald to implode with one outrageous comment after another, Donald continued to stay on message, Make America Great Again and he continues to wear that silly hat.  Nearly everything he says (besides the insults) are on message.482327612-republican-presidential-candidate-donald-trump-gives.jpg.CROP.promo-xlarge2
  3. Focus more on your customers, than you. Bernie has been a master of this. Instead of promoting himself as the greatest potential POTUS ever, Bernie Sanders has focused his campaign on creating a political revolution that gives power to the people who have felt left out.

    UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 14: Presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks at Liberty University's Convocation in Lynchburg, Va., on Monday, Sept. 14, 2015. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

    UNITED STATES – SEPTEMBER 14: Presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks at Liberty University’s Convocation in Lynchburg, Va., on Monday, Sept. 14, 2015. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

  4. Be real and be different. Neither Sanders or Trump used typical political tactics.  Bernie decided to stay away from Super PAC’s and instead sent out emails to his supporters asking for small donations, like $27.00.  Donald spoke his mind, and it was refreshingly blunt according to those who are supporting him.  Being real and being different will also work in your advertising if you also follow the other 3 lessons I mentioned.

Want help applying this to your business?  Let’s talk.

Dad, Politics and the Future

Dad, Politics and the Future

November 3rd, 1930.

29 years before I was born, Donald Fredrick Howard was born in Maine.  The 2nd son and third of four children to my grandparents whom I never met because they both passed away before I was born.

In 1998, he passed away after a short battle with cancer.  He was 67 at the time.

In those 37 years that he was my Dad, he had his principles.  And just like the rest of us, he made his mistakes.  But he is remembered more for the impact on the lives of those who knew him.

He was patriotic.  He served in the Navy.  He took me to parades on Memorial Day and the 4th of July and passed along a respect for those who served and for the country that they served.

I’m not sure what he would say exactly if he saw the mess we are in today.

I know that he would be disgusted by the self-serving, lying politicians that are either in office right now, or who want to be in office.

And I echo those sentiments.

I realize that there are plenty of sincere people wanting to serve as elected officials.  But it’s hard to know who is who sometimes.

All we want is truth with a minimum of distortion.

Different points of view are fine, different solutions are fine, but the spin on the truth that occurs on all levels of politics from my city to my country and around the world…

Please stop.

Next week we will have elections in my city for Mayor and other city and county offices.

The sad fact is that so many people who have the power to elect the office holders for the next four years know very little about the candidates, what the role of each office has, and how it all fits together.  It is the political advertising, and to a lesser extent, debates and commentary that will persuade the voters to select one candidate over another.

I’ve only done slightly better.  I have done a decent job of paying attention to all of my choices for Mayor and have spoken with 2 of the 3 who will be on the ballot next week.

I do my best to listen to as many sides of an issue as I can find and look for nuggets of truth.

There are two other notable birthdays later this month.  On November 16th my friend Ron turns 70.  He is surprised to have lived this long as he has now outlived his parents.

The day before, November 15th, my son Jon will be celebrating his 27th birthday, which I find hard to believe.

The future for me, my kids and their kids is in all of our hands. Each of us has an impact on others.

Seek truth in your lives for everyone’s sake.

 (Picture was taken when I was 7 years old with my Dad)