Dan Goldgeier asked:


I’m sure by now you’re familiar with the Donald Trump reality show train-wreck “The Apprentice.” It began with 8 young men and 8 young women forming “corporations” to compete doing various business tasks.

In their second business assignment, the two groups competed to create spec ad campaigns for corporate jets. I believe they had a few days to complete it, and the use of some of Deutsch’s New York office to help produce the concepts.

And with someone’s “job” with Trump literally on the line, the two groups presented their concepts right to Donny Deutsch himself.

The ads the women created were primarily ***** jokes aimed at men. The ads the men made used boring stock photo yuppie business imagery.

It is revealing that these campaigns reflect how tough smart advertising is to create, particularly with 8 bright minds (and egos to match) in the room.

But what scares me is that these Apprentice contestants are all supposedly successful, bright people who have a solid future in business.

In other words: they’re our future clients.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

To be fair, I know that a few days is not enough for any group of people to familiarize themselves with the nuances of good advertising and marketing.

But in spite of all the industry discussion of how jaded/cynical/skeptical most consumers are of advertising, the contestants on “The Apprentice” resorted to familiar clichés. And these were bright 20-and 30-something people—the very generation widely purported to be so jaded.

In many ways, resorting to clichéd thinking is what lots of clients do. What’s familiar is safe. Since they pay the bills, clients tend to get their way.

I’ve seen many ad people (myself included) walk out of client meetings amazed at how seemingly unqualified some clients are to judge marketing concepts. But for many marketing managers and other client decision-makers, judging and approving ad concepts represents a tiny fraction of their time—their jobs are often more wide-ranging than we think. Nevertheless, the decisions they make about ads affect both the brand and the agency.

So how do our clients learn about great advertising? Can you actually train a client if they lack expertise, or is that idea too self-serving?

Colleges and MBA programs don’t teach good real-world marketing practices to students. And on-the-job training is scant if any.

The ad industry has to find a way to educate clients and earn their trust. We have to assert that marketing creativity and profitability aren’t mutually exclusive. And that the safe route isn’t the best route, no matter what consultants and the bean counters think.

One thing’s for certain:

If the next generation of clients is as ignorant of marketing as the contestants on “The Apprentice,” well, for the ad industry, reality is going to be harsh indeed.



Lonnie

Karen Giardunio asked:


It seems that what was once considered a “Pyramid Scheme!” and a Marketing “Hoax.” is now evolving into the type of entity that has everyone - including some of the top Financial and Business Gurus in the industry taking a second look! The sudden credence seems to be redefining the over all idea and general interpretation of MLMs of days gone by. The reemergence of working at home employees is taking on a life of it’s own. According to the 2000 Census Bureau there were over 4,000,000 people who consisted of working- at- home income earners at that time. There is every indication that the number of individuals who are choosing their own path outside of the typical office- employment venue most commonly utilized for the average worker is now on the rise.

Recently, Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki - two of the most famous Real Estate and Finance experts in the country, teamed up to write a book telling people why taking control over their own lives - using MLMs is the perfect way to create residual income and as a leveraging device for a more prosperous future. Kiyosaki himself wrote yet a second book supporting this networking system as a wealth- generating device. Robert Allen has two books out that address this process towards financial freedom. His books are Multiple Streams of Income and The One Minute Millionaire. Bob proctor has a great audio CD out entitled “What Would You Change If Your Annual Income…Suddenly Became Your Monthly Income?” Lastly, Paul Zane Pilzer has several books out supporting the whole Network Marketing/MLM industry. His latest book The Next Millionaires gives a refreshing out look to the opportunities we have available to ourselves in joining in on this sweeping rage. He is one of the most enlightened experts in the field of Economics, and this guy really knows his stuff.

We are talking the “Cream of the Crop” here, these guys have too much at stake to put their names on something that has no merit or long term benefit to offer their wide base of staunch supporters. Now then, if you had to rely on the word of someone you know who is struggling themselves who was telling you “That stuff doesn’t work!” or “It’s all just a big waste of your time!” to make a decision as to whether or not this is worth taking a better look at, or…if you had available to you these gentlemen in this article - to seek out their advice instead, which of the two do you think would be the wiser choice? They have not gotten where they are at because they have bluffed their way into the Millionaires (or Billionaires) Circle. They all researched this particular field of interest before deciding to endorse it.

So, if you have come to the place in your life where you are asking these questions: “Is this all there is” or “How can I make more money?” Then perhaps heading down to your local bookstore or library to see for your self if this is a road worth venturing down -it just might be worth all the effort involved. Educating yourself in this area can’t hurt and it may prove to be the way you’ve been looking for to not only change but to improve your current way of living and thinking. Is now the time? Is today the day?

Now, you can finally decide for yourself!



Joel

Benjamin DeBell asked:


The image of a real estate investor many people have is a landlord with many apartment buildings to his or her name, or a Donald Trump figure, with many hotel properties or commercial real estate under his or her belt. However, this stereotype only tells half the story. Many millionaire real estate investors are actually not moguls investing in business real estate, but ordinary people making large amounts of money by investing in residential properties.

If you’re new to real estate investing, you may wonder why investing in residential real estate makes more sense than investing in business properties. After all, don’t business properties make money because they are used in business? While that may be true, there are many advantages to investing in residential properties:

1) They are easier to finance. You likely already qualify for some type of mortgage. If you are buying a business property, you may need a business plan to show lenders that you can handle the loan, but with residential real estate you have your pick of lenders and mortgage options. Plus, many lenders can offer you better rates on residential real estate because this sort of real estate often carries fewer risks.

2) They offer more investment opportunities. You can hold onto these properties, flip them, lease them, rent them, sell them to investors or homebuyers, and even rent them with an option to buy. When you buy business or commercial real estate, in other words, your only target market is business professionals. When you buy residential real estate, however, your market is wide open since renters, homebuyers, and investors may be interested.

3) They have a larger markets. Not only can you sell or rent residential real estate to businesses and homebuyers or individuals, but you have more to choose from when it comes to residential real estate. Your local paper likely has thousands of properties listed on any given weekend. You simply have lots of choices, since everyone needs a place to live and residential properties are built everywhere.

 



Hazel