A typical startup entrepreneur has the duties of wearing multiple hats. They’re responsible for their finances by maintaining a positive cash flow. In order to stay in the black and make a profit, founders are also the main salesperson. For the sale to occur, the prospect needs to believe the leader is organized to deliver the goods/services. The daily grind is repeated over and over again. 

I’m proud to live in my predominantly white town (Vancouver, WA) but I’m not going to sugarcoat the difficulties of succeeding in spite of the barriers of being a Black Marketer. I was prompted to publish this because I don’t want to add to the problem, but be part of the solution. The solution is bringing awareness and helping others open the doors to the tables of where these decisions are made.

It’s 2022. Small businesses are being crushed by bigger businesses, governments, changing economies, pandemic, and their own stagnation. Since the pandemic has forced advertisement to be more digital, we need to address the stinky elephant in the room. I think I speak for the majority of us, but I’ll keep it to the businesses I know of- it’s time to fire Facebook, Meta, or whatever they want to call themselves.

As a veteran digital marketer based in Portland, OR, I’ve seen the world of search engine marketing, social media, analytics and conversion optimization evolve since optimizing my first website in 1996. One of the more prominent trends affecting digital marketing agencies I’ve personally experienced in the last few years is the client’s increasing desire to take search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) and social media marketing in-house. The trend, while logical, has dangerous implications for corporations and agencies alike.

In 2001, I was hired at Nike while I was going to college. After a few years of working at the sports juggernaut, Nike, the hoopla of telling all my family and close friends wore off. However, I never got tired of telling anyone I was a Nike employee.  My prior knowledge of Nike’s brand

The PDX Godfather of Marketing Kent Lewis from Anvil Media has this infatuation with Ryan Reynolds as a marketing guru. But then Kent dropped some knowledge on me during this podcast. I was sleeping on my man, Reynolds.

As we go back to school in this crazy year of 2020, this is not a typical year. When I did the podcast episode “College is Failing America” a few months ago, we were in a much different situation. I also wanted to write about this because countless people have asked me what it’s like to be a college professor. 

Typically, I won’t talk about current events unless it directly deals with me in some fashion. In the last couple of years, I’ve had a few folks come up to me and ask my opinion of the former 49er’s Quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, kneeling during the national anthem.

One of the core principles of marketing is the 4 Ps. In the digital era of non-stop constant ads, we’re being bombarded with it. Every company has a strategy and if the budget allows, there is a mass amount of dollars being invested to get you to buy.