THE FUTURE OF MARKETING
Social Media as Word-of-Mouth
to the Max

It has long been recognized that Word-of-Mouth Marketing (WOMM) is the most effective form of advertising. AND it's free. The phenomenal growth of Social Media has created a bold new universe for the ever growing marketing industry: Engineering fake word-of-mouth.

Traditional forms of marketing account for many billions spent each year as companies carefully nurture their brands, maintain valued customers and attract new leads for their products and services. Very recently, with the huge success of Twitter, Google+, YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook, marketing departments around the world can no longer ignore the necessity to exploit these fertile fields for their own puposes.

Welcome to the fastest growing employment opportunity that nobody is supposed to know about -- manipulating social media to optimize word-of-mouth advertising. MORE >>

PSYCHOLOGICAL TRIGGERS
50 Sneaky Customer-Persuasion Techniques

Copy writers for Internet Marketing sales letters and email pitches use behavioral push-buttons to prompt visitors into becoming paying customers.

1) Once In Awhile
The "every once in awhile something comes along that changes everything..." strategy tells your prospects that your product is going to change the way they are currently gaining their desired benefit. People will buy your product if it makes things easier, less expensive, faster, lighter, more effortless, etc.

2) Lying Down
The "when you're lying in bed tonight and staring at the ceiling, imagine..." strategy tells your prospects to imagine the benefits of your product. Most people won't purchase the first time they see your ad so this helps persuade them to buy later when they're not viewing your ad.

3) By Yourself
The "why would you try to do it yourself when you can get [your product]..." strategy tells your prospects to question why they would try to gain their desired benefit by themselves. You just need to convince them how much harder it would be without your product's help. MORE >>

The Legacy of Star Trek
Past and Future

With the J.J. Abrams Star Trek "origins" movie, this significant franchise is getting a much-deserved reboot into the popular consciousness. I never considered myself to be a Trekkie, or Trekker, or Trekkist, or whatever you want to call them. Nevertheless, as a kid I made sure to catch every episode of Star Trek because the stories were just plain fun and thought provoking. MORE >>

ALSO > Trek Trivia: Return to Tomorrow & Tomorrow is Yesterday

Why Climate Change?
Don't We Have Enough to Worry About?

At a time when societies around the world are coping with the results of financial shenanigans and rising unemployment, there are even weightier matters bearing down on future generations. The economic crisis and the problematic job markets will eventually be sorted out, but do we also need to urgently deal with issues of climate change? MORE >>

ALSO > George Carlin's "The Planet is Fine..."

The Fantastic Future of the Internet:
Save the Dreams, Cancel the Nightmares

Thanks to research funds from the U.S. Department of Defense, "Inter-networking" was born at UCLA on October 29, 1969. The net has been with us for only 40 years, and this is barely the beginning. It has already become a dominant force in communications, commerce, politics, entertainment, even interpersonal relationships. It is a reflection of every one of us -- humanity's collective brain. Maybe we can guess its potential when it turns 50, but can we imagine it beyond 100 years? MORE >>

ALSO > Google Advanced Book Searches; Ray Bradbury's "Night Call, Collect"