Well, I suppose my first message should be to welcome you to my blog. It's probably kind of silly, being that these things are in reverse order (meaning if you use it as intended, you'll read my welcome message last.)

But regardless, welcome.

I hope to make this blog somewhat useful - this isn't going to be a place for me to post angsty thoughts and/or complain about the government. Instead, I'm going to talk about marketing, writing, business... that sort of thing. Oh, it won't be all work, and I'll certainly try to be interesting and entertaining.

Another thing I'll strive for is to make this blog accessible to anyone. Meaning a marketing manager of a Fortune 500 company will get something out of it, as will Dave of Dave's Seeds and Slugs.

Ok, how often will I write? Probably several times a week. However, I reserve the right to ignore it for a week or so without penalty. Maybe even two weeks if I'm feeling particularly rebellious. But I do guarantee one thing - you're not going to come here and see the last entry a month ago. To me, that's just bad business (there will be more on that later.)

Anyway, thanks for showing up, and we'll speak (read? write?.. whatever) soon.

I have Jury Duty all this week. I'm really not very happy about this, as Jury Duty is rough when you work for yourself. In essence, I have to go do the jury thing, then come home and do the work I normally would have done during the day. However, there is little I can do, so it does no good to complain.

Today, right out of the box, I was selected to sit on a jury for a civil case. I was questioned by the lawyers, and promptly sent home. I really don't know why - all I did was answer honestly when questioned about my opinion regarding the basic details of the case (a civil lawsuit.)

Really. The lawyer said "Do you have a problem with the merits of the case as presented?" I answered with "Yea - it sounds like a frivolous scam to me" (which it did.) This got a chuckle from the courtroom, and also got me a big black checkmark next to my name. I was asked to leave about five seconds later.

I'm on call all week - I hope I don't have to go back.

A few months ago, I started using an e-mail stationery. For anyone who doesn't know what that is, an e-mail stationery makes the e-mails you send have a particular look to them - you can choose colors, fonts, add pictures, logos, etc.

The stationery I used was similar in design to my website, and really had a "professional" look to it. Since my current e-mail had that boring "letters on a white background" look that is so 90's, I was really excited at the prospect of sending snazzy, good-looking e-mail (obviously, I am easy to please.) And as a marketing guy, I also recognized the advantage of "branding" myself and always using a logo or whatnot. So I eagerly used this new tool.

However, I soon ran into a serious problem with it.

I started noticing that some of the e-mails I sent did not get a response (when I was expecting one.) This didn't happen every time, mind you, but it happened often enough that I started wondering if there was some kind of problem. I checked with the people I didn't hear back from to confirm that we were still on speaking terms. In most cases we were, so the non-response to my e-mail was puzzling.

After some investigating, I found that my e-mail was sometimes being flagged as spam, and the recipient would never even see it. Since spam almost always uses the same elements that an e-mail stationery does (HTML, pictures, colors, etc), many spam programs either simply deleted the e-mail I sent, or put it in another folder reserved for e-mails that promise to make body parts larger and firmer. Nobody ever looks in this folder.

I decided my e-mail didn't deserve that fate. I ditched the stationery and went back to plain text. I felt bad, because a friend made it for me. But the facts were clear - I was getting flagged as spam.

See, people today are starting to get very militant with spam - the prevailing attitude is that all spam must be stopped at all costs, and all spammers must be messily killed. I'd rather that not happen. I'd also rather my e-mail just reach my recipient without issue. Even if it looks a little boring.

If you are using a stationery, I'd like to caution you - it's almost a certainty that all of your messages are not getting through. Now, maybe this is ok with you, but it wasn't for me. I want 100% of my communication to go through without any hitches.

I like Owls. A lot, in fact.

This is a fairly innocent hobby of mine - I have all kinds of owl-related items around my office. When someone is at a loss to give me a gift, an "Owl Thing" usually bails them out.

But I don't have a lot of Owl shirts. If you can believe this, they are very hard to find. There are plenty of horses, eagles, and wolves, but nary an owl (besides one or two basic designs that show up everywhere.) If I liked wolves, I could wear a different shirt every day for perhaps... nine years. If I liked both Wolves and Eagles, I'd be set for life.

But I don't - I like Owls. Such is my lot in life. This means if I see a new owl shirt, I buy it.

I found one the other day. I won't mention the company, because I'm going to complain a little about them. I was initially happy about finding a "new" design that not only looked cool, but was on a quality shirt. I eagerly placed my order...

Well, my eagerness waned a bit when I saw big letters on the bottom of the form that said "we don't have the capability at this time to provide you with an order or payment confirmation via e-mail".

Really? Why not? This is 2007. I can provide an e-mail payment receipt for credit cards - why can't a t-shirt company? I guess this company takes your credit card number and calls it in or something like that...

I still placed my order because I really wanted the shirt. But if there was any other alternative, I would not have done business with this company. Because in this day and age, it made me somewhat uncomfortable. Not because of the safety aspect (I don't worry about using my credit card online), but in a "we're on top of things" aspect.

If you're going to do business online, it will hurt you if you are not somewhat current in regards to online payment. "Real" online Credit Card payment is simple to get, and easy to set up. Accepting credit cards without such essentially says one of two things: you don't care, or you're broke.

By the way - I got the shirt in the mail yesterday, so this story has a happy ending. But it bears repeating - this company got my business despite their poor credit card practices. Such is the power of an Owl.

My week of Jury Duty is over. Thank goodness.

I had planned to write a lengthy essay about how unjust it is that self-employed people have to serve and all that, but now that my week is over, my interest in doing that has definitely waned. I can't be called back for six years, so now I'm looking at the jury system in an entirely new light: As long as I don't have to go, I'm all for it.

Also, I am pleased I did not have to sit on any trials. All things being equal, I'd just as soon not be one of the people deciding the fate of a guy named Edgar "Drill Bit" McNulty. In fact, I'd rather just avoid sitting in the same room as Edgar, thank you very much. 

I have a bit of writing work to catch up on, which is why there isn't another thought-provoking marketing entry this week (bad thoughts count too, right?)

Have a nice weekend!

Dan