Sarah Palin and Mad Men

Sarah Palin, draws a crowd, sells books, makes appearances, (Uh, attracts customers?) some people would say she does not have campaign advisers she has a well-oiled marketing team. Look past the politics, the platform, the ideology and study marketing technique. Without the snide remarks. As the old marketing adage advises: "Find a need and fill it."

If I were half as good, people would be booking me for advice, speeches, and book tours.

Still, I was not spellbound by Sarah Palin. I was more fascinated by the public response (pros and cons). Hillary Clinton was an easy out for those who did not want to embrace a female governor who hunts and fishes and does all the guy stuff and does it better than most guys. (Anyone hear the "oops!" when she became the running mate?) Trick question. I'm not talking about the male voters.

Hillary Clinton is tough and smart. I don't hear people raising the cliché comments about women being tough and smart. Another myth debunked? (!)

None-the-less, in a business site, on a business topic, Sarah Palin should be a marketing study. So, too, should Hillary Clinton. However, this is best left for the B-school kids and the MBA candidates. (Although I'd be surprised if Mad Men aren't already in the midst of the study. Albeit one with ponderous academic overtones to deflect the critics. Waffles go best with maple syrup.

Regards,

Slim

Mail slimfairview@yahoo.com

Copyright © 2011 Slim Fairview

Chinese Wisdom and Privacy

Chinese Wisdom:

"In the West, when you want privacy, you go into a closed room. In the East, when we want privacy, we go into an open field."


Regards,

Slim

Mail slimfairview@yahoo.com

A WHITE HORSE IS NOT A HORSE

A WHITE HORSE IS NOT A HORSE

That is what is known as “an old Chinese saying.” I learned it from my finance professor. I was too embarrassed to ask him to explain what it meant. Soon, I would figure it out for myself.

A few years later, my wife and I moved out West. What happened? Something that almost never does. I got a craving. A food craving. A food craving for for something I never crave. A salami sandwich on rye and a bottle of beer.

We drove to the supermarket. Beer, no problem. Salami, no problem. Then, we went to buy the rye bread.

I found, pumpernickel rye; marble rye, low-sodium rye; diet rye; California rye; I found every kind of rye bread except rye bread. Then I understood. A white horse is not a horse.

Solution. I had a baloney sandwich on white bread and a glass of chocolate milk.

How many white horses do you have in your stable?

Regards,

Slim

Mail Slim tilden9@yahoo.com

Copyright, © 2011 Slim Fairview

Internet Disconnect? NO!

Internet Disconnect? Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

Among my "skills set" in addition to starting out life as an English major, and transferring schools to major in Finance, I also left the corporate world to write an unpublished (able) novel. I took unique jobs. Steel Fabricator. 10 hours a day on a brake-press, a spot welder, etc.

Plan B. 8 - 10 hours a day at a keyboard.

A. Hot, dirty, heavy, low pay, long hours.....
B. Keyboard, share ideas, connect with people globally!

Type a novel, enter an email, click attach and away we go. See an article -> twitter. Share it with thousands. (Okay, only seven.) Copy paste, high-light, add a link, add a mail to. Or, copy paste a photo, a graph, a chart, or a dozen links to same. Sit down to dinner with a friend across town, across the country, on the other side of the world. Free. (Did I hear someone say skype?)

I heard a rumour you can even run for President using the Internet.

http://slimviews.blogspot.com/

Regards,

Slim

Frank Investment Strategies

 

Investing?

Here's the metaphor.

Two friends stop off at a hot dog stand. Ahead of them, they see a man order a hot dog. One says to the other, “I bet he has mustard.” His friend says, “Ketchup.” The man puts mustard on his hot dog. The first friend wins.

They follow him down the street to a pretzel stand. The first man bets that he buys a pretzel with no salt. The second says with salt. The man buys it with salt. The second man wins.

Down the street, the man stops for ice cream. The first man says, “Chocolate”. The second man says, “Vanilla”. The first man wins when the guy in front of them buys a chocolate ice cream cone.

You know all this because you are following the two men and listening in as they make their wagers.

The next thing you know, you are calling your friend on the phone and inviting him to meet you for lunch at the hot dog stand.

When you get there, you see the same two men you saw the day before. They make the same wager. You turn to your friend and say, “I bet the man on the left wins the bet.” Your friend says, “You’re on.”

You bet that the man on the left will win the wager each time.

You win two out of three bets. You come out ahead.

Do you now have some idea of how our investment industry is changing?

Regards,

Slim

Mail: slimfairview@yahoo.com 

Copyright © 2011 Slim Fairview

Slimviews is an non-profit, unfunded, unsupported, and, alas, unprofitable web log by Slim Fairview

http://slimviews.blogspot.com

Commentary on Global Political and Economic Events by Slim Fairview. Read my blog today or hear it from experts in a month or two. Slim

The Stages of Ages

The stone age, the iron age, the dark ages, the renaissance, the age of discovery, the age of enlightenment, the age of reason; what will those in the future call this the age of?

Regards,

Slim

Copyright (c) 2011 Slim Fairview

The CSO: Chief Strategic Officer

We all know the C-Level jobs. Which one is in charge of strategy? And don't say all of them.

A company has to have a metaphorical motion detector that detects changes. That motion detector is the Chief Strategic Officer.

Part One

Is the turn around time getting shorter or longer?
Is the ROI going up or down?
Are sales rising? Are they rising at a slower rate or a faster rate?
Have competitors entered the market?
Are clients/customers starting to ask questions about innovations, discounts, delivery dates?

As these matters come up, they are indicators that the strategy and the process need to be reviewed and refreshed.

Part Two

To remain competitive, the CSO has to look to opportunities to make changes to stay ahead of the competitors, the market demands, and the changes in the financials.

This is not something to be done occasionally. This is an ongoing process.

Any thoughts on the matter?

Regards,

Slim

Mail: tilden9@yahoo.com

Copyright (c) 2011 Slim Fairview

Project Management of the--oops! Gotta run!

Project Management of the future is the ability to embrace change quickly. People who will be a part of the team will access information faster from better-informed sources than can be imagined.

It doesn't matter whether you are in IT or construction or in portfolio management.

Whatever the task, whatever the goal, the team will be able to leverage technology at a very rapid rate.

While one company is looking to complete a project, it will be obsolete before it is launched because another company launched the product yesterday.

Some companies will shoot themselves in the foot by launching a product too quickly with limitations while another company will release a product that not only can perform the function but also has additional bells and whistles besides.

There must be a massive shift in the paradigm. You can't hit the ground running. You can't hit the ground at all.

In IT, it is all about tech-talk. The team will know the language, will be clutching to their p-pads, twittering their thumbs, and coming up with answers before the manager finishes asking the question. And those answers will make the next question unnecessary.

People will know what needs to be done before they get their assignments.

Meanwhile, upstairs, the boss is waiting to get a one page summary while the company across town will have his updates tweeted to him. One page, 140 characters. Your choice. Let's move on to the next item on the agenda.

Sincerely,

Slim

Mail: slimfairview@yahoo.com

Copyright (c) 2011 Slim Fairview

Contact

Contact Information:

For Global Interests: tilden9@yahoo.com

For Domestic Interests: slimfairview@yahoo.com


Thank you.

Sincerest regards,

Slim

Distortions of Graphic Proportions

View the graph to the left. Do you see how slowly the spending is rising?

View the graph below it. Do you see how quickly the spending is rising?

Actually, in each instance, spending is rising by 100,000 dollars per year.

However, the percentage changes. It increases by 100% then by 50% then by 33.34%.

With each subsequent year, the percentage decreases.


When we watch television, regardless of which network or cable station we watch, those on either side of the issue use the same tools to distort the picture.

If spending decreases from $100,000,000 to $80,000,000 the cut is 20%. However, if the spending increases, from $80,000,000 to $100,000,000 the increase is 25%. Either way, we are talking about $20,000,000.

When Joe six-pack opens a bottle of Blue Ribbon beer and begins reading the Post, he sees that spending is rising modestly as evidenced by the bright red graph.

Across town, Bill six-pack opens up a bottle of Blue Ribbon beertm and begins reading the News. He sees that spending is sky-rocketing as evidenced by the bright red graph.

When they watch television, each watches a different cable station. However, each host has invited someone from the left and someone from the right. Each hears half the truth from one guest and half the truth from the other guest.

A message to the illustrious members of our most august fourth estate:

It behooves you to print both charts, with numbers, with percentages,
to show that both graphs show the same information.

Further, it is important to demonstrate that a 20% cut of $100,000,000 and an increase of 25% of $80,000,000 both involve $20,000,000.

As long as spin doctors engage in linguistic legerdemain, mathematical manipulations, and distortions of graphic proportions, the country will not only remain but become increasingly polarized.

Regards,

Slim

Mail: slimfairview@yahoo.com

Copyright (c) 2011 Slim Fairview

* "Blue Ribbon Beer" is a registered trademark. No solicitation was made and no compensation was received for this reference.

Welcome

Just a note to thank those from around the world who have visited my Blog.

From the Stats we have, The United Arab Emirates, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, The Czech Republic, Turkey, United Kingdom, and The United States arranged in alphabetical order. There have been varying numbers of visits from one per day to 28 in one day.

And welcome to new visitors: China! Lebanon! Malaysia! Moldova!

I am happy to have visitors from around the world.

Sincerely,

Slim
Mail: tilden9@yahoo.com

Group Norms

Colloquial:

Normal; of and/or pertaining to the norms.
Norms; prevalent characteristics of a demographic subset.

Take a group of people, perhaps in a corporation or company--accounting, marketing, or the most affable of all, sales. Your choice.

Take three groups in one, or one group from each of three. Now let's take a look at what we have.

a. The group eats in the same restaurant every Friday and splits the check with each person paying his or her own share. (Sounds like the accounting department.)

b. The second group never eats in the same restaurant twice. The bill is divided evenly among the members of the group. (Sounds like marketing.)

c. In the third group, each week a different member picks the restaurant and picks up the tab for all. (Sounds like sales.)

Each group, for the purposes of this discussion, has group norms:

• how to decide where to eat
• how to divide the bill

These are the prevalent characteristics of the three demographic subsets. (My satirical remarks not withstanding.)

These are the "norms of the group".

An essential aspect to the cohesion of the groups is the individuals' embracing the norms of the group.This dos not now, nor has it ever been claimed to be, an objective right or wrong; good or bad; superior or inferior. These examples do, however, demonstrate a difference or differences. Diversity, if you will. And diversity is firmly rooted in the word diverse.

Successful management will recognize these factors and do little or nothing to disrupt them. The personnel problems arise when a member of one group moves to another group. An essential to employee orientation is to convey the concept of norms and to be certain new employees understand them.

Regards,

Slim

Mail: slimfairview@yahoo.com

Copyright (c) 2010 Slim Fairview