New Powertools March 27, 2007
Posted by Christine in General Interest, the writer's life, tools.add a comment
After installing two new power-toilets in my apartment last weekend, this weekend I purchased an entirely different power tool: a brand new laptop. Best of all, I have according to some people crossed over to “the dark side”, i.e I am the proud owner of a MacBook. I have to disagree with the critics though; it has been a long time since I have had to much light in my life. The sheer excitement I have felt in the past 24 hours over my pending productivity jump is worth the purchase price alone!
Apple knows the impact it has on people though; while friendly, the Apple staff was unable to give me any sort of incentive to buy the computer. No laptop bag, not even a shiny red cover I ended up getting anyways.
Other critics have accused me of “paying $50 for a piece of plastic”, I knew this person would react that way so I chose not to tell them it actually cost $69,….plus tax.
This post was actually prompted by my new discoveries of this toy’s capabilities: I just found out that I can view all windows just be pointing an arrow. Apple is truly superior! Although they really lost some point on the stinginess, giving something away would have made my purchase so much more enjoyable! Even if it is a silly little thing, people get a kick out of getting something for free (or seemingly free).
Anyhow, although Apple should learn to be more uniform in their policies (they say they can’t give away anything, but at the Apple store in Japan a good friend of mine received a free bag, as well as a free iPod shuffle with his computer purchase!), I am really excited about my new power tool.
Saving Money by Spending it March 14, 2007
Posted by Christine in writing.add a comment
We’ve all heard the saying “to make money you have to spend money”, or “with money you can make money”, and countless others along the same lines.
They are true, but why then are some businesses so reluctant to spending a little to make a lot?
Recently I attended a conference to build some connections and strengthen old ones. While I am not one to directly insult people, there was one booth where I felt compelled to state the obvious: their slogan was beyond cliche, and the general presentation and text was just awful. I said it much more mildly though, I’m Canadian so I am tremendously conscious about being politically correct…
The response was a dry “well, the industry is cliche too”. At that point I just made my quiet exit, I was not in the mood to educate the unwilling. Amazing through, because one hour of consulting could have made sure their booth was not empty, which was the reason I said-what-I-said in the first place. The two gentlemen remained relatively alone throughout the day, likely not even wondering why.
Along the same lines, I read an article recently written by a fellow copywriter. He stated that a client he helped paid him around $6000 for three direct mail pieces and a new marketing strategy. Furthermore, the client “lost” a little money with the specifics of the new strategy.
As a side note, I prefer to think of this concept as “invested” though. However, the business acquired 45 new clients as a result of this new strategy, resulting in over $100.000 in revenue. Not bad, for a roughly $9000 total investment at most!
It proves my point: look at what you are spending now, and ask yourself if you are spending it wisely. If you honestly don’t know, and you are just printing a brochure because the competition is, then have someone else give you some advice. By changing your spending patterns, you may not even need to spend more, you may end up saving money. Now isn’t that a novel idea?
