Posts Filed Under ‘Ramblings’
Mindpower’s home is a quirky but airtight commercial building in Atlanta’s historic Grant Park neighborhood. During any “dime tour” of our digs, visitors are reminded that our structure was home to the neighborhood’s A&P franchise in the 1920s and 1930s. That’s to say: The same place where Mrs. McGillicutty picked up the day’s provisions back in ’29 is where our boffo creative has taken place since 1994. Kind of cool!
As we advance marketing excellence in the 21st century, all around us we view intriguing connections to our building’s distant past. We walk on original butcher floors. We’re surrounded by exposed brick masonry that dates back to flapper days and Prohibition gin. But perhaps the most intriguing connection is found on our building’s brick exterior. High up on the façade is a rectangular mosaic that reads: C. L. Chosewood.”
Build it, Mr. Chosewood: We will come!
Grant Park Grandee
The name stands for “Charles Lee Chosewood” the building’s original developer. Maybe we’ve always been destined for big ideas. Why? Because the man who built our building was the ultimate “big idea” man, one who changed the face of Grant Park and Atlanta, as well.
Police officer. City council member. Amusement park owner. Intown real estate baron. In early-20th century Atlanta, the name Charles Chosewood was synonymous with Grant Park. In the mid-1880s, the adolescent Chosewood came to Atlanta with his mother and siblings who moved from Newton County. His grandfather and two of his great uncles were killed during Civil War battles while serving in the Confederate army.
Chosewood married in 1890. He and his wife, Dora, had four children. The Chosewood home at 700 Confederate Avenue – at the corner of Confederate and Waldo – became an epicenter for southside social and civic hobnobbing. If something was going on, it likely involved the Chosewoods.
Early on in his career, Chosewood served as a police officer with the Atlanta Police Department. He then progressed to the detective ranks. Turn-of-the-century gumshoe had its appeal but it was no match for the political bug. In 1906, Chosewood ran and was elected to the Atlanta City Council. Naturally, he represented his home Grant Park turf (along with some neighboring environs). He served in the post up to 1938 and his 32-year-long span of service still makes him the longest-serving councilmember in city history.
Walls, Parks & Ferris Wheels
With name recognition and connections a-plenty, Chosewood was able to transition into the business world with seamless aplomb. One successful endeavor of his was an amusement park that was on a large plot of land near his family home. The Grant Park attraction featured rides, a Ferris wheel, a lake (for paddle boats) and enough concessions to transform Chosewood into a noteworthy bigwig, one who acquired an extensive array of real estate holdings.
At one point he owned 130 residential properties in and around Grant Park. He became a developer and played a role in building Atlanta’s Flatiron Building in the city’s downtown Five Points business district. Other Chosewood projects were the boundary wall around Oakland Cemetery and the warden’s house at the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary. In the 1920s, he built several commercial structures, including a building at 337 Georgia Avenue that was spacious enough for a much-needed neighborhood A&P grocery store. (Some 90 years later the structure would prove über-suitable for a creative shop that’s determined to make its own mark on history.)
Historic Oakland Cemetery: CLC’s eternal stomping grounds.
In the 1920s, Chosewood championed the development of a new city park in his district, at the corner of Grant and Nolan streets. To honor his tireless service, the city council inaugurated the park as “Chosewood Park.” The neighborhood that developed around the park also carried his name (and does so to present time).
Chosewood died in 1954 at age 81. He was buried in Oakland Cemetery. No doubt he rests more easily since the city’s oldest graveyard is conveniently located in Grant Park, Chosewood’s beloved social, political, and entrepreneurial stomping grounds
Around our neighborhood, the name Chosewood doesn’t have quite the cache it once did. So we’re glad to work in a building that honors his memory – and that even bears his name. Don’t believe it? Well, see for yourself. Come to our door, look up, and then read: “C. L. Chosewood.”
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Posted by Jack Stenger on July 30, 2010 at 3:33 pm
Filed under: Ramblings
It absolutely drives me insane when people utilize the word utilize when the teeny-tiny itty-bitty word use is just fine.
I stumbled across this post when I googled “don’t use big words when little words are fine”:
Apparently this little gem was handwritten in an old Bible.
DON’T USE BIG WORDS
In promulgating your esoteric cogitation’s or articulating your superficial and sentimentalities and amicable philosophical or psychological observations, beware of platitudinous panderosity.
Let your conversational communications possess a clarified conciseness, a compact comprehensibiliness coalescent consistency and a concatenated cogency. Eschew all conglomerations of flatulent garrulity, jejune babblement and asinine affectations. Let your extemporaneous descantings and unpremeditated expatiation’s have intelligibility and veracious vivacity without rodomontade or thrasonical bombast.
Sedulously avoid all polysyllable profundity, pompous prolixity, psittaceous vivacity, ventriloquial verbosity and magniloquent rapidity. Shun double entendres, previnient jacosity and pestifereous profanity, observant or apparent.
In other words, talk plainly, briefly, naturally, sensibly,truthfully, purely, keep from slang, don’t put on airs, say what you mean, mean what you say and DON’T USE BIG WORDS.
Remember, The great artist is the simplifier.
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Posted by Donna Bowling on March 4, 2010 at 3:31 pm
Filed under: Ramblings
Tags: big words, marketing, writing
Last Saturday (the day before Valentine’s Day), I decided to run out and buy a book for my valentine. We live close to two bookstores – the ubiquitous Barnes & Noble and the locally-owned Bound to be Read Books . As much as I knew B&N would have the book I’d was trying to find, I was compelled to first visit Bound to be Read Books, even though the book is new and they’re a mostly used bookstore. Aside from the obvious reason (they’re independently owned), why do you think I decided to visit Bound to be Read first? It’s because they always make their customers feel special and each visit is unique.
Here’s a list of what they did last Saturday to create a positive customer experience:
1) They were serving complimentary hot cocoa (my favorite) on a snowy Atlanta day.
2) They were offering $5 off any used book with a new book purchase. (I got “The Death of Artemio Cruz” by Carlos Fuentes for 95 cents.)
3) They were playing a fill-in-the-blank game on their chalk board – asking each buying customer to guess a letter of the book of the day.
4) They gave me a list of upcoming events and encouraged me to attend.
5) They said “Happy Valentine’s Day!”
Simple, cost-effective ways to keep customers coming back. Not only did they have the book I was looking for (“Just Kids” by Patti Smith), but they made the entire shopping experience delightful from beginning to end.
Their approach can be used by just about any organization. Give your customers an experience that sets you apart from your competitors and is true to your brand. You can’t always offer the most services or programs, the best amenities or the most sophisticated technology. But you can offer an experience that is authentic, memorable and joy-filled.
So, next time you’re in East Atlanta Village, stop by Bound to be Read Books and show them some love!
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Posted by Jenny Brower on February 17, 2010 at 3:23 pm
Filed under: Branding, Ramblings
Tags: Barnes & Noble, Bookstores, Bound to Be Read Books
For all Americans, a hospital Emergency Room is an important access point for critically – pun intended – important health care. ERs are vital for community health maintenance. And given the sheer volume of visits, any hospital’s ER is an important source of patient volume and possible admissions.
But what, exactly, are ER staffers attending to? In a healthcare-related fact sheet, HealthLeaders magazine listed the top ER diagnosis. The abridged list below – reformatted here as a “Top 10 List” – is a fascinating snapshot of what ails Americans – and what prompts them to seek immediate care. The stats below, from 2006, rank ER diagnoses that led to same-day discharges.
| Rank |
Diagnosis |
Total number of discharges |
| 1 |
Sprains and strains |
6,375,245 |
| 2 |
Superficial injury, contusion |
6,107, 869 |
| 3 |
Upper respiratory infections |
5,285,382 |
| 4 |
abdominal pain |
4,381,653 |
| 5 |
Open wounds of extremities |
3,697,836 |
| 6 |
Intervertebral disc disorders, and other back problems |
3,236,278 |
| 7 |
Nonspecific chest pain |
3,018,660 |
| 8 |
Headache (including migrane) |
2,825,233 |
| 9 |
Open wounds of head, neck, and trunk |
2,692,292 |
| 10 |
Skin and subcutaneous tissue infections |
2,610,735 |
The next five are “other injuries,” urinary tract infections, otitis media (inflammation of the middle ear), upper limb fracture and connective tissue disease. The list points to the important role ERs have for both the medically distressed and for hospitals in need of revenues. To us, the ailments also bring to mind the signature line from “Hill Street Blues,” our favorite 80s-era police TV drama: “Hey, let’s be careful out there!”
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Posted by Jack Stenger on February 16, 2010 at 10:15 am
Filed under: Brain Candy for Health, Ramblings
This is a TOTAL time-waster that’s TOTALLY worth the waste.
1. Pick the number of times a week that you would like to have chocolate. (More than one; fewer than 10.)
2. Multiply that number by 2.
3. Add 5.
4. Multiply that number by 50. (We don’t mind if you use a calculator)
5. If you have already had your birthday this year add 1759. If you haven’t, add 1758.
6. Subtract the four digit year that you were born.
You have a three digit number, don’t you?
The first digit is your original number, or how many times you want chocolate each week.
The next two numbers are your age.
Dang. Pretty cool, huh?
BTW: Apparently 2009 is the only year this will work. If you know “why,” do tell. We’ve work to do, chocolate to eat and not enough time to figure it out.
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Posted by Donna Bowling on November 5, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Filed under: Ramblings, Uncategorized
The vast majority of professionals worldwide are using social technologies for business purposes, according to an August 2009 survey by Mzinga and Babson Executive Education, but most are not measuring return on their investment.
Determining the success of your social media efforts can be a big investment in and of itself, but there are a few basic measures that cost next-to-nothing. Here are a few:
- Track the growth of your various social media channels
- Record your unique blog page views
- Count the number of Twitter followers
- Watch Facebook Fan Page interactions
- Track unique website visitors
- Analyze traffic generated by SEO, Facebook events, Twitter promotions, etc.
- Track leads and monitor leads by source (inbound web, email, trade shows, seminars, etc.)
Start there. While some of these measures won’t necessarily translate into a hard-core ROI or measure the business value generated, you’ll at least be doing something. You can’t manage what you don’t measure.
What measures are you using?
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Posted by Donna Bowling on October 8, 2009 at 4:11 pm
Filed under: Brain Candy for Health, Brain Candy for Wealth, Brain Candy for Wisdom, Ramblings
Tags: Measurement, ROI, social media
Please be kidding.
Don’t get me wrong. Throughout the whole MIke Vick controversy, I’ve ticked off plenty of people with my “he’s paid his debt to society, so let’s give him a chance — the same way we gave Teddy Kennedy a second chance after Chappaquidick.”
I’m not “all that” opposed to Mike being back in the NFL. But getting an endorsement deal? Are you kidding? One of the world’s biggest, most respected brands is re-signing Mike Vick?
Here’s one quote from the AP’s story about the re-signing. “It is quite evident that athletes that run afoul of the law are by no means relegated to obscurity when it comes to pitching products,” said David Carter, a professor of sports marketing at the University of Southern California. To Carter, Nike likely made a calculated business decision that the benefit of sales tied to Vick outweighed any potential public outrage.
Are you kidding? So this is about money, huh? Not brand values. Not what NIke stands for as a company. Not about the millions of kids who believe that the Nike brand is right up there with Jesus?
Vick’s primary agent, Joel Segal, confirmed the deal in a statement to Sports Business Daily: “Mike has had a great relationship with Nike and is excited to be part of the Nike team again. He has always been a fan of the brand and looks forward to the relationship,” Mr. Segal said. [Whatever! Mike. I suppose you ARE excited.]
Will Dick’s Sporting Goods cave next? Not too long ago, MyFoxPhilly ran an article announcing Dick’s wouldn’t be stocking or selling Vick’s No. 7 Eagle’s jersey. A spokesperson for the sporting goods retailer said the chain wouldn’t carry the Vick jerseys until it evaluated the reaction of Eagle fans.
I’m glad to say I bought a pair of Asics a week or so ago.
Am I wrong to be so disappointed?
P.S. Tiger, Roger, MJ, Serena — how does it feel to be on the same team?
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Posted by Donna Bowling on October 1, 2009 at 7:24 am
Filed under: Ramblings, What were they thinking?
Tags: Dick' Sporting Goods, Michael Vick, Nike
[Borrowed and edited a wee bit, yet strongly believed, from Cam Foote, editor Creative Business]
The main product of our business is our “mindpower” — creative solutions to the issues and opportunities facing our clients and prospects. And, good ideas — creativity — can be tough to define, or agree upon.
One person’s passion is often another’s poison. So, it’s no wonder that potential clients often ask us to take a project on speculation. That is: To “test” our creative product in much the same way they may try out other types of products before purchasing.
Unfortunately, we must turn down such projects. This [post] may explain why NOT doing spec work actually makes us a better, more stable and reliable partner for whom to do business.
It lets us keep our prices low
We make money mostly by selling our time. Unlike businesses that sell products, we can’t take time back and resell it. Thus, the less time we actually sell, the more we have to charge. So we attempt to hold our prices down by keeping busy.
We also have substantial fixed overhead costs — rent, utilities, computers, peripherals, software, etc. So the higher the percentage of our time that is productive (billable), the more we can spread those costs, and the less each individual client gets charged for them.
In addition, the only way we can recover our overhead costs is through what we charge our clients. If we accept speculative projects, the overhead for these non-billable hours would have to be added to the factor we charge our regular, long-term, appreciate, paying clients. We don’t think this would be fair.
We want to give you only our best
We are very proud of our track record of helping many different clients with many different challenges. In doing so, we have come to understand the crucial components in producing outstanding creative work.
First, outstanding creative work requires good, complete input from our clients. It takes time and effort that’s tough for them to justify unless they are committed to awarding an assignment. Yet without it, we can’t show how good we really are. Or our best effort may well be misdirected; a great shot that hits the wrong target.
Equally important, great creativity requires enthusiasm. We need to be excited enough to pour all our energy into a project. Frankly, that’s impossible without knowing whether we will be chosen to go all the way, or even get paid.
And, finally, developing creativity is very labor intensive. Although we wish it were otherwise, good work seldom comes in a flash of inspiration. Rather, it usually requires research and thinking time, then the working through of many different ideas and approaches. This makes it difficult or impossible to do good work in a compressed time frame.
Speculative projects, whether done by us or some other firm, usually require cutting every creative corner. That’s hardly in your best interests, or ours.
We’re a small firm, in business to stay
We hope our small size is what attracts many to our firm. Because we are small, you get to deal directly with those actually doing your work; there are no “middle-men” to muck things up. It also means we’re more flexible, and able to turn things around faster. We can offer better, more personal service, too. And, because our overhead is lower than that of the “big boys,” so are our fees.
Another reason for our success is that we are good business people
We know that a small business like ours (probably yours, too) has to watch costs carefully and can’t afford to give much away. If we weren’t careful — if we did give away our time — it is likely we wouldn’t be here next time you called, which means you’d have start all over again bringing someone else up to speed learning your business. We doubt you’d want that, and we know we wouldn’t. We believe we should both be looking to build a long-term, mutually-productive and cost-efficient business relationship.
Truth is, small organizations like ours can seldom afford to accept speculative projects. If you find one that will, be skeptical. They may be desperate.
As for larger organizations and agencies, yes they can afford to do speculative projects, and often do. But that’s the very point. If they do have the volume and staff that makes it a small risk for them, they’re probably too big to give you the personal service and outstanding creativity you’re searching for.
We hope you’ll give us the opportunity sometime soon to prove just how good we really are. In the meantime look at our portfolio. The work we have done for many other clients with many other challenges speaks volumes about our abilities.
Unless you’re willing to offer what you offer for free, don’t ask me to.
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Posted by Donna Bowling on September 1, 2009 at 10:00 am
Filed under: Brain Candy for Health, Brain Candy for Wealth, Brain Candy for Wisdom, Ramblings
Tags: spec work, speculative
Because we “have” to. That’s the one and only reason. [Well. I suppose we don't really have to, but as a business owner doing my best to keep my staff employed, often we do feel the obligation to respond.]
If you’re ever involved in writing one of these boogers, please, if only for me, try to avoid ridiculous terms, demands and requests.
For example, here’s a paragraph taken directly from a recent RFP:
Monthly Invoicing and Reimbursement of Project Expenses
The successful candidate will be required to submit monthly invoices for all program expenses incurred during the prior month by the 10th of the month following. Invoices must include detailed documentation supporting all program expenses, and expenses must be incurred according to the budget established at the beginning of each year.
The successful candidate will be reimbursed for all properly submitted and approved invoices within five working days after the receipt of payment from our funding source. Based on our 2009 experience one can expect that payment for one’s January services will be processed in May and that subsequent monthly invoices to be paid every 30 days thereafter. The average payment cycle is expected to be 120 days from the date of invoice.
So, in other words, I have 10 days — not 10 business days, mind you, 10 days — to get my sh*t together, but the entity who MIGHT hire me, has 120 days (4 months!) to pay me???
Wonder what what happen if we paid our taxes 4 months late?
Give me a break. I despise RFPs.
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Posted by Donna Bowling on August 28, 2009 at 4:22 pm
Filed under: Ramblings, What were they thinking?
Tags: RFPs
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