Organic Marketing: The Future of Advertising

The old order of marketing and advertising is falling by the wayside. The future of advertising is not tomorrow, it was a few years back. And if your company is not on it now, you are way behind the curve.

There are examples all around us of the new way to advertise. Some big (and fashionable and cool) companies are doing it. They are laying the foundations and showing everyone how it is done... Let me repeat that: They are showing everyone how it is done! Yet 95% of the companies see it but do not copy or follow or, well, maybe they "just don't 'get it.'"

These businesses are like dinosaurs. I reckon that when that huge-a*sed asteroid hit the earth several millions of years ago, the brontosaurus were standing there and, weeks and months, after the temperature had dropped dangerously low, they began to think, "Gee... It's getting awfully cold..."

Do you think the dinosaurs thought, "Maybe I'd better move to where it is warmer?" Nah. They didn't. It may or may not have helped. But certainly standing there and doing nothing, or doing the same thing they had always done, wasn't a good option.

My God! If I had a few dollars for every company I see everyday standing, there doing nothing, or doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, I'd be a millionaire! (Maybe only a million yen because I hate going outside too much, but you get the idea!)

The old way of advertising:

Talk to people in suits and give them money. They run a full-page advert in a newspaper. It says, "That's a great place to eat steak. It is soooo delicious!" Cost of this advertising: $5000.00 or more.

Joe Happoshu sees the ad. You see the ad. Do you go there? Nope. Why? No one believes this sort of advertising anymore. 

The new way of advertising: 

Your friend at the office says to you one day, "Say! Have you tried that new steakhouse on the corner? It's really good." Do you go there? Yes. you do. Why? Because you believe your friend. Cost of this advertising: Zero.

There's an old saying: "Credibility is very hard to get. It is even harder to buy."

So why does your company continually try to buy credibility?

The new way of marketing is to build a reputation by using organic methods to spread the word of mouth. Organic means that we use Social Media and blogs and we tie up other (cool) companies and make a mutually beneficial marketing programs that are very low cost and gets the word of mouth buzzing. It must be organic; it must make sense to the public... People interested in one aspect of the marketing will be drawn to another if we fit the pieces of the puzzle together correctly. And bloggers (that people like your friend in the office read) write about you.

Sure, sure... Your company and staff (and your advertising agency) pay lip service to blogging and Web 2.0 and 3.0, but if you were to actually sit them down and explain to you a concept like Web 3.0 I'd wager a donut that they can't do it and I'd wager a year's worth of donuts that they DON'T do it. 

The problem with most Japanese companies is their advertising people are so stuck with the old way of doing things, they just can't get their head around concepts like Web 3.0... Web 3.0!? You kidding me? Look at most company Internet web pages and you'll see that they are stuck with Web 1.0 concepts. Concepts that are nearly ten years old!!!

As a funny aside, I was mentioning to someone how it is a waste of money to buy advertising on the Internet to have a paid ad at the top of the page for results for a Google search. The guy told me that they were spending ¥2 million yen (about $25,737 USD) per month on that.* Inside, I cringed. I told him that he could do the same thing for free (it requires effort though) and he told me that he "had a good engineer." I told him that there is a big difference between an engineer and a blogger...

Stop for a second and think about that logically! Thinking that an engineer could be good at advertising and marketing is just laughable if you stop and consider it... If you are running a big company and spending a big budget on SEO or banners ads for top results on Google searches, then I ask that you do, STOP RIGHT NOW and think about that for a few seconds!

You have an engineer running your advertising and marketing promotions for the Internet? Quick questions? Do they blog? Do they Facebook, Twitter or do any other Social Media? And, the killer question; This person is in charge of your company public image and face on the Internet; would you be comfortable with that person speaking in front of a crowd of, say, 1,500 people? No? Then why in the hell do you believe this person carte blanche for the Internet where there are 500 million people?

Sounds pretty dumb, doesn't it? You'd be surprised at how often I see this everyday. In fact, this is not the exception, it is the rule. Any questions why business is down?

The new way requires ideas, creativity and effort. It doesn't require geeks who have poor social skills or huge sums of money to be thrown to wonks with stale ideas or your own company marketing people sucking a lot of air through their teeth. 

They require ideas and creativity. Here's one I arranged last year:

A major pizza chain wanted to promote their New York pizza and their new online ordering system. They've asked me for ideas. I have given them many so far. This was the idea I gave them this time:

Order a pizza online and get the chance to win a vacation for two, business class to New York for 5 nights in a 5-star hotel.

Simple. 

The pizza chain got a great 2-month campaign and visibility and buzz at no cost to them (I was paid a small coordination fee). The airlines? The hotel? They got their name, photos and advertising on 17.5 million flyers delivered to people's homes; 7.8 million menus inserted into newspapers; 3.8 million direct mailing to subscribers of the pizza chain; 250,000 flyers on boxtops delivered with pizzas to customers homes; top page visibility on the pizza chain web page which receives over 12 million unique views per month. And write-ups in major Japanese magazines as well as a huge buzz campaign on Twitter and Facebook. 

Cost to airlines and the hotel? Zero. Simply the cost of providing the gifts.

Not only did all three of these entities enjoy a great promotion that was organic (Makes sense, right? Everything is New York related) This campaign ran for two months. If you do an Internet search for this campaign in Japanese you'll will find over 606,000 results. Those results are almost all bloggers and mentions on Social Media about the campaign.

If any these entities arranged this promotion through Dentsu or Hakuhodo, it would have cost them at least $100,000. I arranged it for about 1/20th that price.

This campaign did not require any email registration or any actions by the end users at all. They didn't even need to order a pizza! All they needed to do was go to the website and become a member of the online ordering service that the pizza chain has started. No purchase necessary.

In spite of the fact that nothing was necessary to join the contest, purchase or enroll, the pizza company had over 16,000 direct email inquires from end users. Throw that in with the word of mouth promotion from innumerable bloggers and Tweets and you have a killer promotion. That is an awesome result!

Am I bragging? Well, thank you. Yes, I am. 

Is your company missing the boat? If you are in Japan, I'd wager that you are. It is funny that Japan is so technologically advanced yet we find that so many companies do not take advantage of all the tools available.

Is is laziness, fear or the hesitation to take responsibility? I'm not sure but some people are really blowing it for their employers. Don't believe me? Here's a recent article that talks about how a whopping 40% of Japanese companies don't even use Twitter. Of course, Twitter is a small part of the puzzle (and, actually, a very minor piece of a bigger puzzle) but the fact remains that such a high profile FREE media is not being utilized by Japanese companies shows that this is just the tip of the iceberg of a bigger problem.

Are you going to do something about it? Or is sucking air through teeth the best way to get the job done?


* = Advertising strategies do need to change with the times. Internet click ads had a click through rate of 3% when the idea was fresh and new in the 90's... By 2003 it was down to .28% ... Today? Last I saw, about two years ago, it was something like 0.07%.... And yet, it is still one of the most expensive methods to advertise. Go figure. 

Get a Top-Quality Professional Logo for Yourself or Your Company for $200 (USD)

People who read this blog often (thank you) will know that I am a member of many online communities. I do that because it is a good place to see what people are writing about SNS, Social Media, and Social Media Marketing (SMM). It is also a good place to see what the old school people are doing to try to make themselves look as if they are up on the Internet and the new media.

Guess how much this logo cost? A total of $200 (USD) Incredible? Read on.

It is pretty easy to pick the people out who are still stuck in the old ways at these "Marketing Online Professionals" communities. They write things like,

For this reason , I am convinced that SM works ONLY when being integrated inside a marketing plan, together with media placement, PR, promo, direct marketing and CRM. 

It is painfully obvious that the guy who wrote this is an old-school advertising guy posing as an "Internet and Social Media" expert. He laments the fact that his Social Media Marketing (SMM) plans fail consistently. He is trying to convince us - but more likely he is trying to convince himself - that the old way is vital.

In some ways he's right. The old media is vital if my product is targeted to to the 45 ~ 70-year-old crowd or if my product or service is for everyone in the family from the smallest kids to grandpa and grandma (think Disneyland, etc.) But when your product /service is for the under 40 crowd, I think you'd have to consider long and hard about spending a cent on old media... In many cases you would not be doing your client any favors to recommend spending huge budgets on TV or radio. I wrote about that in detail here and here.

Earlier today, I went to a different online professionals community and was so surprised to find people saying things like "First things, first! You must hire a professional to do your company logo!"

Of course a good logo is a must... But coughing up a few thousand dollars to hire a professional? And this advice coming from a community that calls itself, "Online Professionals"? Hmmm... Why would the people who are supposedly sold on online business be pushing the old-school ways?

Perhaps hiring a big-bucks professional will be necessary down the line, but I think us Internet types should try to use our creativity and brains before we just throw money at the problem like people used to do....

As I suspected many times, these online communities are often places where old-school advertising agents try to gain credibility as "Internet" and "online experts"... But they actually don't really do either (always ask any self-proclaimed "Internet" and "Social Media Marketer" for a list of their blog URL's and Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, U-Stream, Mixi (in Japan), etc, accounts. That's an easy way to pick out the frauds).

Click here and read at bottom for tips on how to pick out the poseurs.

I know many a small to medium business owner who has hired a professional and spent a few thousand dollars only to wind up with a handful of designs and they didn't like any of them. Foolish especially considering the fact that new businesses must watch out for every single penny and paper clip!

Well, now my friends, there is a solution! It is a company called Logomyway.

Logomyway is a new service that started in April 2009. At Logomyway you make a logo design contest and get 1,000's of artists to compete for your business... You pay nothing excepting to the winning submission. The cost can be as low as $200 (USD). You decide the winner's prize fee.

My company, "Universal Vision" logo... $200! Excellent!

Hiring a professional designer right off the bat is old school. It is also the easy way to do things for salaried employees who have no problem spending the company money... They wouldn't recommend this is it were out of their pocket. The people people who were so quick to recommend throwing away $1,000 ~ $2,000 were from an online professionals group! I'm surprised that anyone would suggest the old way without investigating the new and exciting things going on online. Try Logomyway.

http://www.logomyway.com/

I have no investment nor business relationship with Logomyway whatsoever but have used it twice  and recommended to three other people who have used it. Everyone has been more than thrilled with the results... One friend was so happy because the professional that he had hired before - and paid well - gave him designs that weren't that good... He was worried that he was going to be out another $1,000 when I introduced him to Logomyway... The result? He spent $200 and got a killer logo.

And, if you don't like any of the logos... You don't pay!

All hail the Internet!!!!

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Keywords:
Logo, Logomyway, SNS, Social Media, SMM, old media, Japan, Mixi, Internet, Facebook, Twitter, blog, online professionals, Marketing Online Professionals, YouTube, Online Marketing, Universal Vision, Mike Rogers, Marketing Japan, U-Stream, Mike in Tokyo Rogers, 

Write Down Your Goals to Achieve Them!...

"Life is difficult as it is so let us be good to each other." - C.S. Lewis

Today, I'd like to take a moment to highly recommend a book that has helped me greatly since the first time I read it and that is Brian Tracy's Goals!

I write down my top 10 goals everyday! Inspired by the author of Goals! Brian Tracy (I also recommend another Tracy book, Focal Point)

In Goals! Tracy talks about how, if you are to succeed in life that you need to write down your goals in order to be able to achieve them. "Sure!" Everyone thinks this but I know few who actually do write them down. Trust that writing them down does help your sub-conscious to actually remember and activate your  brain to achieve the goals you set forth for yourself.

I write down my goals everyday in the morning when I wake up and, not only does doing so help me to achieve them, it also helps me to relax and stay much more focused. Who doesn't want to stay more focused in this day and age when our "in-box" includes, for most people, several e-mails accounts that are constantly filling up as the day goes by and consistently altering our priorities? Or an Internet world filled with Social Media like Facebook, Mixi (in Japan) and Linkedin accounts (among others) to attend? Twitter and Pick, are no longer for just sending messages to your friends, but they too, have been co-opted into the business world and your boss orders you to use them, or blogs and SNS, to get the company message out...

How in the world can anyone get ahead of the pile in the "in-box"?

The book promises that you will "Get everything you want, faster than you ever dreamed." Sounds like grandiose claims but let me point out that writing down your goals and purposes is like having a sort of road map to where you want to go. When you write them down, they enter your subconsciousness, they cause your inner brain to focus upon the Law of Attraction. If you do not write down where you want to go - if you do not have a map - then how will you know where you are going?

The publishers write:

Why do some people achieve all their goals while others simply dream of having a better life? Bestselling author Brian Tracy shows that the path from frustration to fulfillment has already been discovered. Hundreds of thousands--even millions--of men and women have started with nothing and achieved great success. Here Tracy presents the essential principles you need to know to make your dreams come true.

Tracy presents a simple, powerful, and effective system for setting and achieving goals--a method that has been used by more than one million people to achieve extraordinary things. In this revised and expanded second edition he has added three new chapters addressing areas in which goals can be most rewarding but also the toughest to set and keep: finances, family, and health.

Using the twenty-one strategies Tracy outlines, you'll be able to accomplish any goals you set for yourself--no matter how big. You'll discover how to determine your own strengths, what you truly value in life, and what you really want to accomplish in the years ahead. Tracy shows how to build your self-esteem and self-confidence, approach every problem or obstacle effectively, overcome difficulties, respond to challenges, and continue forward toward your goals, no matter what happens. Most importantly, you'll learn a system for achievement that you will use for the rest of your life.

One of my goals are to become a multi-millionaire. Laughable? Maybe. But at least I have a road map and I am consciously working on that everyday... 

And I really do have proof! I have evidence that Tracy's philosophy and ideas in Goals! work.  I have shown myself that actually writing down goals are critical to achieving them. And my proof stands in something that, for me, is much more important than the Rat Race and making money: it's being the best dad I can be. 

It used to be my #1 priority was, "To make $15,000 a month..." then, one day, when I got a flash of irritation at something my son did - then thought about that flash later on - I realized that the most important thing for me was not money. By far the most important thing for me was to be a great dad. 

Now my #1 priority goal that I write everyday is; "I am a kind, loving and patient father and husband today and everyday" (with today's date added).

Folks, trust me. This really works! Since starting this habit, I have caught myself several times with a flash of irritation at my son - that  before would have caused me to get angry or upset and maybe raise my voice - but since I started writing down everyday my goal of  being patient and kind, my mind recalls that goal immediately and has killed that flash of anger instantly its tracks. 

Why ruin what could be a good learning opportunity and great memory with an out burst of irritability? What for? Life is too short to be getting upset at the small stuff all the time. 

As the great writer C.S. Lewis wrote in Chronicles of Narnia, "Life is difficult as it is so let us be good to each other."

Try reading Brian Tracy's Goals! Write down your goals everyday. You'll be glad you did. 

(This article was inspired by a meeting I had with a most interesting fellow named Roger Marshall. Thank you, Roger!) 


Also read: 

Pocket Notebooks: The Secret of Millionaires and People Won't Listen! 


One Easy Step To Becoming a Better Parent and More Successful at Life 

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keywords: Pick, C.S. Lewis, Twitter, SNS, e-mail, Goals!, Blogs, blogging, Youtube, U-stream, Brian Tracy, Narnia, Facebook, Mixi, Linkedin, Japan, SNS, Internet, business, Japanese, priority, Social Media

Japanese Ministry of Finance to Japanese Public and Bond Holders: "You are bankrupt! But don't worry!"

Wolf Richter is quickly becoming one of my favorite writers on his blog entitled, “Testosterone Pit.” Today he’s got a post that just shows us that Japan could be doomed sooner than imaginable. From Zero Hedge: Japanese Ministry of Finance to Japanese Bondholders: You’re Screwed!

This has got to be the icing on the Japanese cake. The otherwise bland website of the Japanese Ministry of Finance, more specifically the FAQ page on government bonds, has been catapulted to stardom on Facebook and Twitter. Not in a good way. As you flip through the MoF’s website, page after page, you will mostly see zero Facebook likes and zero tweets. Social media and the MoF ignore each other.

But go to the FAQ page, skip down past the categories of Budget, Taxation, and Tariffs to item 4, Government bonds. Under the second group, skip past Tax questions for individuals, Miscellaneous (Is it a crime if I make a copy?), Price and yield questions, and Coupons to the infamous question 5: “In case Japan becomes insolvent, what will happen to government bonds?“

Tweeted 1,652 times, liked on Facebook 3,828 times!

 

The question is asked, "If Japan goes bankrupt, what happens to our bonds?"

Answer: "The Japanese government will take responsibility. Don't worry!"

The MoF website isn’t some blog to be ignored (at your own risk) but the official voice of the most important ministry of the most indebted country in the world, whose debt will reach 240% of GDP by the end of this fiscal year. The country borrows over 50% of every yen it spends, and it spends more every year. With no solution in sight. Other than more borrowing. Certainly not cutting the budget, which would be too painful. It wouldn’t be enough anyway. Even cutting the budget in half would leave a deficit. And the recently passed consumption tax increase? It will raise the tax from its current 5% to 8% in 2014 and to 10% in 2015, way too little to deal with the gigantic problem, and years too late. Yet it won’t kick in unless GDP grows at least 2% per year—which has practically no chance of happening.

No, there is no longer a good solution. And everyone knows it. 

Read the rest at Zero Hedge

US Mass Media Guilty of Lying About Trayvon Martin Shooting - Deliberate Attempt to Incite Racial Tensions or Race Riots?

UPDATE AT BOTTOM!


Today's blog post is about a very recent incident and a set of timely articles about one of the most disgraceful examples of false reporting of the news I've ever heard in my life, the Trayvon Martin shooting. 


Now, the mass media has been guilty of some very bad and false reporting in the past but they've generally had the excuse of being fed the wrong information by the government or by other sources (if that is an excuse for not getting off their a*ses and doing their jobs by doing some actual research and fact checking!) This time they have no excuse. This time the mass media intentionally and deliberately falsified the news. Today's blog post should make your blood boil with how dishonest and irresponsible our mass media has become. 

It's a recurring theme of my blog and writings. I've written many times about how you can't believe anything that you see or hear on the mass media. In: Japan Nuclear Disaster Update & Strong Criticism of Western Media Sensationalism I wrote:

Remember my Golden Rule about TV: "90% of everything you see on TV is bullshit; the other 10% are commercials."

Actually, it astounds me that people do accept what what the media says as gospel truth. Don't forget that this is the very same media that told us 3 years ago that Swine Flu was going to kill more than 50 million people worldwide. This was the same media that told us that the USA had to invade Iraq because of Saddam's nooklar weapons. This was the same media that told us that SARS also was a killer virus that was going to wipe out entire populations. This was the same media that told us that Bird Flu was going to do the same.

As of today, worldwide deaths from Swine Flu: 82. No nuclear weapons for Saddam (if he had any, do you really think we would have invaded Iraq?). Worldwide deaths from SARS: 100. Worldwide deaths from Bird Flu: 80. Don't even get me started on Man Made Global Warming!

Of course unless you've been asleep, or in a coma, for these last 20 years you'd know that the mainstream mass media is dying yet they'll do anything to keep their ratings up and keep the sponsorship monies coming in. At least with SARS the mass media had the excuse to claim ignorance! 


And now, back to the Trayvon Martin shooting, but before I go on, let me say that if the shooter, George Zimmerman, is found guilty of murder then he deserves the heaviest penalty under Florida law. But, as is the case in a supposed civil society that is guided by laws and not the rule of vigilante as, ostensibly the USA is, he is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law...


How, until now, the news media has handled this incident is an absolute disgrace. I know, from working with the mass media, that far too many people who work in these places have no qualms about lying, and I can understand (sort of) them being ignorant about things like SARS and "deadly flu bugs" but this case today surprises even me It should infuriate any thinking person; the American news media have been caught red-handed lying and making up false information and editing the tapes of the police 911 call concerning the shooting of the black youth Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman. The very taped phone conversations that supposedly paint the shooter as a racist NEVER HAPPENED!

"Never let a good crisis go to waste" - Rahm Emmanuel Obama's former Chief of Staff

It seems that they are intentionally stoking racial flames. For what purpose is anyone's guess!... Or is it?... Stay tuned as I did find one theory and will share it with you in a moment.... But first about the false information...


As some of you may know, this killing has been painted as a racially motivated killing. The biggest piece of evidence that this was a racially motivated killing is a recording of the phone call to police emergency 911 whereby the shooter, George Zimmerman, is supposedly quoted as saying, "This guys looks like he's up to no good. He looks black."


Well, now we find out that this conversation never occurred! Karl Denninger over at the Market Ticker has the scoop in: NBC is the Skittle Network - Are you *****ed off yet? You will be:

NBC News is being excoriated in some circles – with competitor Fox News Channel leading the charge – for selectively editing audio of the 911 call placed by George Zimmerman just before he killed Trayvon Martin.

Yep.   They got caught too. 

In the NBC segment, Zimmerman says: “This guy looks like he’s up to no good. He looks black.”

The full version, though, unfolds like this:

Zimmerman: “This guy looks like he’s up to no good, or he’s on drugs or something. It’s raining and he’s just walking around, looking about.”

911 operator: “Okay. And this guy, is he white black or Hispanic?”

Zimmerman: “He looks black.”

WTF?! A television network actually editing and altering a police recording to further a hidden agenda!? Who decided on this? That person and the program director and producer should have been fired immediately or even before this ever aired. Nazi Germany's Joseph Goebbels would have been proud of this fakery.

Goebbels

But, really, why am I surprised? I shouldn't be. The news (in bed with the government) lies about everything. They lied about World War I, World War II, Pearl Harbor, Vietnam War, SARS, Swine Flu, Bird Flu, Iraq, Libya, Kony 2012, Iran, Ron Paul, GMO, Afghanistan, etc., etc. I could go on for as many years as there are days of the former American republic....


But to edit recorded messages to push an agenda to spark racially motivated hate in the USA now and at this time? There are some very sick and evil people in charge of our government and the mass media. 


And on top of this, to throw fuel on the fire, idiots like Spike Lee actually used Twitter to Tweet out the home address of the parents of the shooter (Actually he is so stupid that he tweeted out the address of the wrong people the first time!) What do the parents of the shooter have to do with this event? Nothing! This after the Black Panthers put a $10,000 reward on George Zimmerman's head!


Folks, these sorts of actions are crimes that used to be called "inciting violence" and both Spike Lee and the Black Panthers who made these calls need to be made to pay for this. They should be arrested and put in jail awaiting trial. I don't care if they are black, white, hispanic, purple or what.


Denninger goes on with some very astute observations that make me proud of someone who takes everything they see/hear on the mass media with a healthy dose of skepticism (I wish the average person did too). He continues with a very interesting question that you can try to answer for yourself:

Trayvon Martin was allegedly out at night, on foot and in a rainstorm getting iced tea and skittles. Ok, here's the address where the altercation took place from the police report:

2381 Retreat View Cir
Sanford, FL 32771

Now go to Google Maps and type in that address. (Here: http://bit.ly/H5EPC5)

Next, find me a convenience store -- you know, a place to buy skittles and an iced tea. Just type in "convenience store" in the "Search Nearby" box.

Where's the closest one and how far is it on foot?

In a rainstorm, for a bag of skittles and can of iced tea, both ways?  Possible?  Sure.  Plausible?  That story ought to be able to be checked, and rather easily -- all convenience stores these days have video recorders.

So has anyone checked to see if indeed the deceased hiked the anywhere from 2-4 miles to and from one of the half-dozen convenience stores in the general area (none closer than about a mile on foot, incidentally, and all somewhat of a pain in the ass to get to due to what appears to be a limited access highway -- 417 -- between the location and the stores which would force you to walk quite a bit further than you could go "as the crow flies".)

These are pretty basic questions.  In fact the closest convenience store is a Murphy USA; to reach the others north of the location (the ones south are a LOT further) you'd have to walk past it, so it's highly likely that's the store -- if the story of going out for Skittles and iced tea holds up.

That is an excellent question and it deserves much attention. 

I like them too but I'd never walk 2 ~ 4 miles in the rain to buy a pack... Would you?

But this post is not to perform detective work. This particular post is, once again, a full frontal assault on the mainstream mass media, especially TV, and once again proof of what I've always said, "You can't believe anything you see/hear on TV."


The mass media in the USA (and Japan) today are propaganda channels for the government. This incident should prove as just one more piece of evidence towards that fact.


"But why would the mass media fake information like this? For what purpose?" You ask? I can tell you two off hand: They need a crisis to keep up ratings. Riots and violent demonstrations make great TV. Great TV makes for high ratings. High ratings makes for profitability. If you don't think the TV news won't fudge the reports for a more sensationalist effect in order to make more money, then I have a TV station on top of a bridge to sell you. 


And two, it's all a part of the Military-Industrial-Media complex. 


What does the Military-Industrial-Media complex have to do with his? Consider this next article. On Lew Rockwell just today this appeared featuring a guy who predicted this sort of racially inflamed incident would be used by the Obama administration in 2012 in order to get re-elected... The final sentence gives you the motivation for the theory, "Does anyone expect the President to successfully run on the economy, health care, tax cuts, or budget reductions?"


From Lew Rockwell: Powder Keg: Rap Song Charges 'White Man' With Murder: 'Strap on your AK's Let's Start a Riot':

Flashback to August 16, 2011, when we published a White House Insider report detailing the possibility that the Obama administration would incite race riots in the build up to the 2012 Presidential election:

Via The Ulsterman Report:

Insider: Yes. It’s in place and underway – being developed. Further developed. It’s gonna – gonna tie it in with the unions somehow. I don’t know exaclty how – just that’s included in it. It will be an all out campaign on race. The goal is to completely mobilize the Black vote while shaming an even greater number of white voters into not opposing a second Obama term. They are gonna get out the guilt vote man. The guilt vote!

Ulsterman: Obama…Democrats in general, already get the Black vote – most of it.

Insider: They want all of it. Every last one. Then bring in the Hispanic vote, tie them up in this race issue as well. Republicans want to toss you out. Obama wants to bring you in. They hate the color of Obama’s skin just like they hate the color of yours. Hey White America, you aren’t part of that group who hates non-whites are you? If not, you better get out and vote for Barack Obama.

Ulsterman: That sounds overly simplistic and insulting to voters. You really think something like that would actually work?

Insider: Hell yes-yes… it can work. It’s not gonna come so easy as it did in 2008, but that’s why they plan to ramp it up – the race issue.

In that report we noted the distinct possibility that the Obama Team would Incite Race Riots and attempt to Use White Guilt in 2012 Election:

A politician, especially at the highest levels, will stop at nothing to maintain their power. President Obama is no different, and considering that mouthpieces in his administration have repeatedly referred to unsupportive segments of the electorate as terrorists and racists, is it any wonder they are considering this strategy?

Does anyone expect the President to successfully run on the economy, health care, tax cuts, or budget reductions? 


I don't have any snappy cute remarks to make about this godd*mned disgrace. The only thing I can say is that if you believe what you see on TV and take that as gospel truth, then please.... Go back to your sleep or back to your coma...


They've got a special TV program on especially for the likes of you.


In my opinion, and as someone who has worked in the mass media for decades, I don't believe there is any place in journalism for these sorts of examples of malicious corporate propaganda.


UPDATE: The New York Times reports: "NBC News has fired a producer who was involved in the production of a misleading segment about the Trayvon Martin case in Florida." I wrote this blog post on March 31, it's now April 8. What the hell took NBC so long to fire that guy? And, if that producer is black, then I believe that the shooter, Zimmerman, could have a case against NBC news that his civil rights have been violated. If so, I hope he sues NBC for tens of millions of dollars.... And wins!

Beautiful Video of Hanami (Flower Views) in Fukushima Japan

Tomorrow is April 1st. The plums have already blossomed in Tokyo and we're having our annual hanami bash tomorrow. I've put the information on Twitter with tweets and on Facebook with, er, what-you-call-thems, so please come. Everyone is welcome!


Here's a breath-taking video of flowers in Fukushima with many views of "Hanami Yama" (Flower view mountain). Enjoy the beauty of Japan:

Too Many Social Media Parties - Facebook is Like Going to KMart and Gabbing With Strangers - It's Also an Invasion of Privacy

There's so many social networks. I won't name them, you probably know more than me. I use Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. From what I've seen, there seems to be way more social networks than we could possibly need.

When you stop to think about it, K-Mart and Facebook have a lot in common. 

I think they should call it "Facemart" or "K-book"

The good, bad and ugly part of these social networks is that they all seem like going to a Sears Department store or the flea market; there's so many different people there and you never know what you are going to see or who you are going to meet. Once in a while you might bump into an old high school friend or work aquaintance. 

In my case, I've never bumped into a high school friend. Perhaps at 55 (and I was one of the youngest in my graduating class) my peers don't use Facebook. 

It seems that most of us do not have enough self-control to keep our Facebook networks down to a few friends. I don't. May I make a lame excuse? I think some of us admit everyone who asks to be friends because of our job. I used to co-host an extremely famous and popular FM radio show. When people requested to be a friend, I don't think it would be prudent to say, "No!"

You might lose a listener. In this day and age, FM radio needs all the listeners it can get!

But these social networks have gotten out of hand. Imagine that all social networks are like parties your friends are having - it's kind of like New Year's Eve; John is having a party; Mary is having a party; there's a party at Rick's and there's another party at your favorite watering place. There's so many parties. Do you go around to all of the parties and have superficial conversations for one or two minutes with 4 dozen people or do you go to one party and have a good, deep, intelligent discussion with just two or three?

I think it is much better to have the conversation at one party with two or three people. That's why, right now, I'm trying to decide which social media networks to quit.

If people want to find me, I have this blog; I am on Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. I also write for Lew Rockwell. If you Google search, "Mike Tokyo" I am the top result. So I am easy to find.

Even so, with all these parties I am at, I still get invited to other "parties." I am flattered and thankful, but I always decline.

Recent parties I've been invited to are the Google friends (I haven't really looked but it seems like Facebook to me); I've also been invited to "parties" that are being run through other "parties!" What I mean is that I will be at Facebook and someone invites me to go to "Farmville," (I have no idea what that is) or some other social network (party) that I assume is some sort of computer game. I sit in front of a computer all-day enough as it is, the last thing I need to do is waste precious time playing computer games. Beside these invitations, I get ones asking to share my calendar and asking for all sorts of information.

I decline them all. Facebook and social media and the Internet in general is already too much of an invasion of privacy as it is.

On my Facebook account, I have more than a thousand "friends." I don't write that to brag, there's many people who have more than 5,000 "friends!" Of course, I don't have 1,000 real friends. I think I can count my real friends on my right hand... But, I like to think that, because of my work in radio and perhaps my writing on Lew Rockwell I have lots of "friends." 

For the people who have more than 5,000 friends, their accounts get locked and they can't add anymore friends. For some seemingly arbitrary reason Facebook locks your account once you pass 5,000. It seems absurd. If people have fun adding tons of friends that they don't know and will never meet, why not let them? What's wrong with having 50,000 friends? Or 250,000 friends? Or 10,000,000! You know that if there were a Justin Timberlake account, he could easily have a million friends! And that would be good. Perhaps if he were doing Facebook all the time, he wouldn't have time to record any new music to torture us with.

Anyway, no more than 5,000 friends on Facebook. So what do these people with more than 5,000 friends do? They make another account.

I think this social media and "friends" business is out of hand. Now, you and I both know that we don't have 5,000 or even 1,000 or probably even 100 friends. Some people, I think, use Facebook as a sort of "Rolodex" in the sky. Which is okay, I suppose and that sort of makes sense. Keeping track of business relations in a box of business cards is a pain. Which is why, I reckon, the folks who made Linkedin got started; they wanted to make a Rolodex in the sky. 

I've written before that I think Linkedin is a joke. Please refer to: How to make Six Figures a Year From Your Linkedin Account:

If Linkedin would clarify why we're here, kind of like 

Facebook does, that would clear a lot of confusion.  

Is Linkedin merely a place for unemployed men to be bragging to other unemployed men? Not hardly.

The truth is that Linkedin was designed for the gainfully employed to show their old high school girlfriend (who savagely dumped them just before the big year-end dance) that she made a mistake that she'll always regret because you - and only you - were the one who really loved her most (that b*tch!) When you understand that, then Linkedin makes sense. 

But I think Linkedin can survive if they simplify greatly and make their service as easy to use as Facebook. If they don't, they'll go bankrupt or get bought out by Facebook.

The problem with these social networks, like I said, is that there's too many of them; they are not personal at all; their net is cast too wide.

I think a good social network would be confined to a certain demographic of people - but then, how would they survive financially? Those would be something along the line of forums for those employed in a certain area of business or, for example, a social network just for people in the, say, flower arrangement art. That makes sense to me.

Going around to these social media sites and gabbing with people you don't know and will never meet seems to me, often times, a complete waste of time... Much like playing computer games.

Would you go to a K-Mart and stand around talking to people you don't know?  

Facebook seems to be getting the most popular in Japan (making my past predictions wrong). But Facebook, like I mentioned, is a total invasion of privacy. Never put personal information on your Facebook account. I even have the wrong birthday for myself. I suggest that you don't put your correct information on Facebook too! 

If you use social media and use it well, it can benefit you. But spreading yourself around to so any parties and having 5,000 friends means nothing anymore (well, actually, it never did). Having good conversations with close people or meeting new people through introductions is the best way. 

Most social media is missing that part of the equation and, hence, are becoming more and more impersonal and their own worst enemy.

Where the Action is... Are You Stuck With Out of Date Thinking?

It used to be that, long ago, you needed to be near the samurai warlord in order to wield any power; you had to be "where the action is." It used to be that way in the west too; if you weren't near the king or in the king's court, you couldn't influence any decisions and you had little power to influence society.

It has been this way for thousands of years; you either had to be near or in a seat in government or the church or you had zero influence in decisions that moved society.


It started changing in 1450 when Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press. As technology has gotten better and better, the ability to influence society and change people's lives has gotten easier and easier - farther and farther - away from the traditional seats and centers of power.


This is probably how the saying, "the pen is mightier than the sword" came into existence.


Still, all through the Industrial Revolution and even up until the last twenty years, being involved and being able to change an archaic system such as our political one has still required being in the center - but changing and influencing society as a whole, and being able to change how the average man and woman thinks and feels, has changed completely with the advent of the Internet.

Maybe Rasputin wasn't a really bad guy

I would submit to you that, today, you can change and influence society much more when you are not in the center. Just look at things like Anonymous taking down the Greek government sites, Wikileaks, the Twitter and the Occupy Wall Street Movement and the overthrow of governments in the Middle East for evidence of that.


The Internet has shown us the you no longer need to be in the center of action. You no longer need to be in the big cities in order to have a big influence and change things... You no longer need to be sitting at a desk or physically in that meeting... You can be far away and have a great impact. The Internet has become the great equalizer. The Internet allows everyone and anyone to be able to have some say, some control in what is happening. That's why it scares the hell out of the old center of power and that's why they are doing whatever they can to control it.


Many people think that they must be in the center in order to influence people, thinking and actions. In our modern day Internet, this sort of thinking is proving old fashioned and out of date.


Are you stuck with out of date thinking? Or can you free yourself?


Thanks to Paco Pil and Seth Godin for the inspiration for this post!