Writings from Force 5 Basecamp

03/03/15

March 3 marks the day that President Herbert Hoover signed a congressional act making “The Star-Spangled Banner” the official national anthem of the United States, but that might not have happened if Francis Scott Key hadn’t practiced certain social media marketing principles that helped increase the song’s popularity. Francis Scott Key’s Social Media Tips… Find a way to be an ongoing

09/18/13

I was reading Marketing Daily this morning and the first paragraph struck me, “The recommendations people make to their friends and family carry more weight than the messages companies put out on their own behalf.” The article is about the importance of “word of mouth” which always brings me back to the importance of creating Brand Evangelists and paying attention

09/03/13

I was fortunate enough to spend my long Labor Day weekend in Camden Maine with one of my best friends from college. We did some sailing, shopping and of course we checked out the local restaurants! My friend and I are both foodies so we asked some locals for a recommendation of a great seafood or Italian restaurant. We were

07/24/13

Over the past few years, I have been hearing more and more that print is a dying medium and that it is slowly being replaced by advances in digital technology. Companies such as Google and Toshiba have launched national campaigns to go paperless by switching to digital means of marketing communication and recent studies in print advertising have shown that

01/06/12

One Sunday last month, I started my day off with a vente iced vanilla latte with soy and double shot at 7:45am.  Yes it’s true; I am the only farm boy I know that loves Starbucks and all things gold card. To my surprise, the cashier asked if I had heard about “our Treat Receipt?”.  The bottom of my receipt

01/06/12

You’ve been there, you set yourself goals for how often you will blog, maybe it’s even a New Year’s resolution.  Yet it never fails that the time in between each post sneaks up on you  – “Oh No, has it been a week already?”.  I’ve been there, and this is from someone who would much rather strike up a conversation

08/23/11

We have all done it, you see a cute puppy or kitten or any kind of baby animal.  Your voice changes to that of a 4 year old as you try to talk and make this adorable creature smile – “hello little puppy”, “Your soooo cute”, you get the idea.  You’re probably saying it out loud right now as you

06/29/11

Last week when I realized we were out of bottled water in our offices at Force 5 a few hours before a potential client was stopping by, I decided to make a quick run to the grocery store.  After loading my cart with some H2O, I quickly made my way to the checkout register.  Along the way I noticed my favorite cookies

06/27/11

This weekend was not unlike many others. Running errands, working in the yard and the garden. Also common, was a trip to the store for supplies. On one such trip to Lowe’s, I was impressed by the customer service. While wandering the many aisles, looking lost, I was asked if I needed help, I certainly did. After being taken to

06/20/11

So much has been said about South Bend since it showed up on the “List of Dying Cities.” A city much like ours in many ways, Grand Rapids, (also on the list…) put together an incredible video in response. I have lived in South Bend most of my life and I spent 4 years in Grand Rapids attending art school,

06/17/11

I have to say I have a love-hate relationship with Jimmy John’s. I love the sandwiches, they are good and freaky fast. The thing I am not so enamored with is walking into the restaurant and having the majority of the folks working behind the counter yell “HELLO” at me. Most don’t even look up, it feels more like a

05/17/11

The Filter bubble by Eli Pariser I was listening to a TED talk yesterday from Eli Pariser, who just wrote the book “The Filter Bubble”.In his talk, he tells of the personalization taking place on the web. Everything is filtered before it gets to us. I have an interest in sailing, and listed that on my facebook. And lo and