What I’ve learned in my short 24 years of life on planet earth is this: G.I. Joe had it right - knowing really is half the battle - or more. Currently, I’m a media buyer for an advertising agency in Central California. I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer by any stretch of the imagination. But, I did go to business school. While there, I had the fortune of studying under Dr. Joseph Penbera, probably one of the smartest businessman on the West Coast if not greater.

I learned, from Dr. Penbera, that there’s really only one rule to your business: know your field from the bottom to the top. Know it better than anyone else, but know it.

So here’s the full circle: if you’re a media buyer, media sales rep or anything in the realm of media, there’s one principle you must understand if you want to buy or sell media: gross rate and net rate. That’s it, really. I know it sometimes gets confusing with such terminology as “commissionble or non-commissionable” but I’ve created a cheat sheet.

Gross Rate = Commissionable = The rate which you charge an agency. Equal to the standard rate plus the rate of agency commission - typically 15% on media.

Net Rate = Non-Commissionable = The standard rate you charge all advertisers regardless of their nature.

I’m hoping this clears up some of the confusion - or complete lack of knowledge. I know it’s a little like writing the theory of relativity on a toothpick but hey, I do what I can.

Comments(2)

Yep, he’s doing it. Dell is now going to be sold via third party retailers. Congratulations to Dell for the massive sales they’re about to achieve.

This story, to me, isn’t about Dell signing on to retailing through third parties, it’s about the fact that economies of scale quickly change the marketing dynamic of an organization. It’s funny, really. A company makes it big from a garage-operation to corporate America using non-orthodox means but, in the end, reverts to tried and true means of distribution because, frankly, the bigger the scale, the bigger the risk. So here’s my question:

We’ve developed new means for companies to grow organically from the garage to a skyscraper, but what have we done in terms of innovating methods of growing from gargantuan to über-mega-corporations?

What would you do?

Comments(0)

See Seth Godin’s post regarding the importance of a great receptionist. This is not to be missed.

How to be a great receptionist

Comments(2)

A group of five prominent media and venture capital companies, including CBS Corp. and Viacom Inc., have invested $45 million in Joost, a company attempting to broadcast television over the Internet, they said Thursday.

These guys obviously know something I don’t. Oh wait, yes I do. CBS, Viacom and others have decided that it’s easier not to compete with smart guys than to create competition. This is good news for all the tech-smart guys out there with big ideas. Come up with a big idea and begin the journey, you’re bound to get an offer from any of the Fortune 500.

These two guys, founders of Kazaa, Skype and now Joost, have decided to provide copyrighted media to Internet users, legally. Therefore, there will be zero uploading and only authentic material will be provided to the public at the cost of whatever the advertisers will pay. The amazing part of all of this is that they’ve actually recruited advertisers to begin beta testing their advertising before full functionality ensues. This is unheard of.

Spending some time in media, I know it’s not easy selling tried and true media, more or less a form of media delivery that hasn’t hit the market in full functionality. That’s incredible.

So what we’re witnessing is something that we’ve been watching Microsoft do since day one. This is a form of intrapreneurship. An idea has already begun development but has not been completed but the companies who will benefit most from the development are assisting in development until they can [easily] leverage a buyout of the creators. Both parties part ways happy campers. Easy money for the developers, a simplistic, new media outlet purchase for the media company.

Don’t be surprised when, in a few months, you witness another large media company approaching other developers mid-project, to begin venture talks. It’s becoming too easy for decent developers to make a billion dollars and for main stream media to pickup new means of pushing material.

What kills me about this is the fact that there are so many social-lovin’, web-huggin’, Internet purists that speak of big media and government as they are the great satan, but embrace people like the Joost folks. My problem here is that the more big media grasps the Internet, the more mainstream it becomes. When big media grabs the Internet, government has easier access to the Internet. This is a slippery slope and is very much, in the words of Jerry Doyle, creeping incrementalism.

Comments(0)

The one movie I’m looking forward to. But, I’m a little irritated. They don’t use the real transforming sound. Jerks.

Comments(0)

 

 

 
This is not good news. We made the Drudge Report. There is such thing as bad publicity and this is it.

Comments(0)

To settle my own curiosity, how many of you click on paid advertisements on web sites? Are they ever truly relevant to you or do they just draw a curiosity for you to click?

Last weekend I had been looking at the Callaway golf web site and I directly surfed over to a news web site. To my surprise there was a banner ad and a multimedia ad to the right, both of which were advertising Callaway golf. I was impressed.

Comments(0)

James Lileks of the Minnesota Star Tribune has been a brilliant columnist for years and is now being reassigned to beat reporting. One of the most entertaining, intelligent and pithy writers of our times is reassigned due to idiocy in management. Read James’ blog to get the details. Cancel your Strib subscriptions, now!

To cancel your subscription,

call (612) 673-4343 or
1 (800) 775-4344.

read more | digg story

Comments(0)

I think this is worth a mention, so here it is:

“The Letter Project is simple. You ask for a letter, I mail you a letter. That’s it. The project is currently open* to anyone wishing to participate. Please be advised, I have a lot of requests to fulfill and can only write so fast (my penmanship is poor enough as it stands.)”

-RICK SCHRAGER

This is from the first paragraph of The Letter Project. Take a look.

Comments(0)