The finale was all I expected it to be (sort of): the first two firings were obvious - almost like the two candidates, Frank and Nicole, knew they were done even before it started. Frank and Nicoles’s video was terrible. They knew it, Mr. Trump knew it, we all knew it. The editing was awful - switching every 2 seconds made me sick. Frank seemed to be so nervous, stumbled over his words, and said some interesting things. His answers were extremely weak! James and Stefanie’s video was so much better - a theme, an idea, a great advertisement. I really liked Stefanie’s answer about hiring her and then she’ll hire James. Great answer!

The interesting point that Bianca made was that Stefanie wasn’t ever really a leader. She was always behind the scenes, never wanted to get fired, never stepped up as a project manager, never wanted to make mistakes or take a risk. Is that the kind of employee or business manager I’d want? The sexist comment about “keeping the frat boys under control” was pathetic. Kristine, making it a gender issue is completely unfair. Are you insecure about your male conterparts?

As I watched the final results, I really didn’t feel the best person for the job won. James took the lead, took the heat, and performed. Stefanie was always under the radar. Yes, she never got mentioned by any of the other participants. But is that really a positive thing or a very creative strategy?

No Comments »

I wanted to change the feel of Moller Marketing today .  Self Confidence is one of the big keys to success in any endeavor.  I’m sure most of us have heard the story about the little train that could.  This train was famous for breaking paradigms, not giving up, and using his self confidence to make it over a huge hill.  The simple phrase, “I think I can, I think I can” took him to a place he’d never been before.

As we start new businesses on and offline, we have to have that same attitude and perspective.  It’s not “if” this is going to work, it’s “when” and “how much”.  Some may already have self confidence at a certain level; like anything, we can always improve.  Here are a few ideas that can help us all build more self confidence:

1. Be Positive!  You may not always feel positive but you have to focus on the best things that are happening.  There’s no room for negativity if you want to be as successful as you have potential to be.
2. Smile when you look in the mirror.  Many studies have been done about the “facial feedback theory”.  Conclusions have been made that the expressions on your face can actually encourage your brain to register certain emotions. If we look in the mirror and smile every day, we’ll feel happier and be more confident in the long run.
3. Be Thankful!  If you acknowlegdge and apprecitate what you do have, it’s easier to fight off feelings of being inadequate, unsatisfied, or incomplete.  Recognizing and being grateful for what you have will bring inner peace that will help boost self confidence.
4. Identify your successes.  Keep them written down; review them often; we’re all good at something, so discover the things you excel at and focus on your talents.  Give yourself credit for the success you are seeing.  Feeling inferior is a state of mind.  Remember, the “Small Success leads to Big Success!”
5. Surround yourself with positive people. Peer pressure has effects on everyone, not just youth.  If we’re around people that are always talking bad about their life, their situation - we’ll probably tend to fall in to that pit too.

Some other things you can do that have helped include exercise, set specific short and long term goals, go for a hike or drive in the wilderness, invest in some new clothing and give away the old: looking sharp and feeling successful can go hand in hand.  Remember, you can do this!

13 Comments »

Advertising is defined as: “to announce or praise (a product, service, etc.) in some public medium of communication in order to induce people to buy or use it; to give information to the public about; announce publicly in a newspaper, on radio or television, etc.; to call attention to, in a boastful or ostentatious manner.” (source)

Advertising, both on and offline, can have tremendous effects on the people it reaches. As I’ve watched TV lately and seen report after report about the horrific events that happened at Virginia Tech, it makes me wonder “What is going on with the media?” Are they immortilizing this methodical killer? Do they not realize that they are doing exactly what Cho Seung-Hui wanted them to do when he put together the viscious confessional video footage to seal his fate? He wanted the fame, the recognition, the lime-light. He needed the attention; he sought after it. As the media tries to “break it down” and focus on the killer more than the victims, they are “advertising” his act as a way to get tons of “ad space” all over TV, Online and Offline. Have you ever thought that the media may be challenging sick people like Cho Seung-Hui to out do this thoughtless act. Saying things like “more chilling revelations about the gunman”, “the largest masacre in US history”… it makes me question, “Is all the recognition, analysis, and coverage that the media is giving Cho Seung-Hui giving others ideas, encouraging them to do similar things to get attention and recognition from their peers?”

Cho himself refers to the Columbine killers in his last recorded rantings.  “Outsiders” like this are convinced that they are victims, that they are not responsible for their own actions, and they see these mass murderers as heroes of their cause. Cho even had the audacity to compare himself to Jesus Christ, dying a martyr for the weak and afflicted. When other outsiders see the attention, recognition, even credit he is receiving, might they not be compelled to imitate his actions?

We love numbers - they help us keep score. Right after the incident happened, the media couldn’t wait to tell us all that this was the biggest mass murder in history. Someone out there is probably saying, “I could do better than that…I could be the worst in history…I could be famous…they could make movies about me…I could be the ‘heizman trophy winner’ of murders…” Could these be the thoughts going through future killers’ minds?

So, the main question is this: “Is the media exploiting a tragedy and advertising for their gain?” Do they really think they are providing a valuable service to all of us? Do they really think that by analyzing all the data, talking about it over and over, doing complete one hour reports on it - is this really helping the general public become nicer to one another? As Glenn Beck said perfectly, “Media coverage has hardened us…it’s always about the next big story”.

5 Comments »