Arguments Against Gay Marriage and My Responses to Them

The following list, and my answers, are not comprehensive. Gay marriage is a contentious, divisive issue for some. For others, it is a matter of equal rights, and equal treatment under the law. Since the Bible is often used to rail against the government extending equal rights to the gay community, I’ll start this out with a Biblical Verse:

Pagan, Occult, and New Age Advertising

As the former employee of a Pagan business that also catered to customers of a New Age and/or Occult bent, I knew that the store I worked at was something special. With a stated goal of providing every customer with an “Authentic Craft Experience,” the products we offered were spiritually minded, and included resources for the beginner just setting his foot to the path, the adept who had been practicing her Craft forever, and everyone in between. With a high level of traffic on a frequently traveled artery, in the largest metro area of the state, attracting customers into the store was an important part of the business. Daily, new customers would tell me they were just passing by, became curious, and so had turned around to find out what the place was about. The signs outside the building, at least, were working. But the most common response I received, “I’ve never even heard of this place,” was more concerning from the perspective of an employee. After all, if potential customers don’t know a business exist, if only a few of them happen upon the physical store by chance alone, then the business is trusting its success to the subjective opinions of the curious willing to execute a dangerous U-Turn along a stretch of road with a mile separating the nearest traffic signals, and luck. If a business doesn’t exist in the mind of a consumer, if the only exposure to a store is passing it by at 40 miles per hour, then the business doesn’t exist.

Businesses Use Yellow Page Advertising

Although Yellow Page Directories have been predicted to go the way of the dinosaur, businesses still use this multi-billion dollar medium (Grant) of advertising because it allows certain types of businesses to reach a broader market area, maintain a solid and consistent message, and create attention, interest, desire and action in consumers. Any type of business can engage in Yellow Page Advertising, but the businesses that most frequently find a strong return on investment fall into one, or more of the following categories: Retail, Restaurants, Emergency Services, and New Businesses.

Word of Mouth Marketing and Paid Advertising

 Smart business owners know that advertising is a great source for generating new customers (KQV) and engaging current customers to return again and again. But when it comes to a return on investment, many small business owners especially fall into the trap of trusting their customers to do all of their advertising, a type of free marketing known as Word of Mouth Marketing, or Word of Mouth Advertising. After all, if a business treats their customer right, building a strong relationship that is mutually beneficial over time, then surely customers will be the only form of marketing a business needs, right? In a perfect world, yes, Word of Mouth Marketing would be the only type of advertising a business would need. Until that perfect world arrives, a land of fruitful prosperity for all in which customers remember everything about a business, know what image the business wants to project, is aware of every special in the past, present and future, and never have a bad day, paid advertising will be there for business owners. Word of Mouth Marketing is a great way to spread your brand around town, yet even the most knowledgeable customer knows only a small portion of your business.

The Main Products and Target Audience of Pepsi

Sweet, refreshing, and full of unnecessary calories, Pepsi and its variety of products continues to be the drink of choice for many individuals in the coveted target market of 18-35 year olds. Effective marketing and targeted advertisements has led to Pepsi’s success as a company and a brand, with products that reach out to a multitude of beverage drinkers, in North America and a growing international market. But as an obesity epidemic consumes the United States, with an audience growing ever more conscious of health concerns, and finite resources growing ever thinner—and more expensive—Pepsi is leading the way in marketing to its core audience, providing real solutions to the world’s health problems and economic depression. It also has the potential financially, and the obligation morally, to make its global brand ecologically sound.

Yellow Page Advertising: What Message Are You Sending?

In this era of electronic communication and easily accessible information, business owners still turn to one advertising source year after year to invest their marketing dollars: The Phone Book. Even when studies confirm that consumers use the internet first for their purchases, reaching for the yellow pages second or third (Lewis), directories are still a multi-billion dollar industry (Grant). Advertising dollars produce yellow page directories; if they didn’t still work to bring consumers to businesses, the yellow page industry wouldn’t exist. After all, business owners are savvy people. So, if you find you’re not getting the returns you think you should with your yellow page advertising, then it’s time to ask yourself what message your ad is sending before shifting your marketing budget to something else.