Russ Page
Exploring the Art & Science of Marketing
Wall Street celebrates Spitzer’s vice
Mar 12th
Eliot Spitzer: forever known as the guy who gave into his carnal desires. It’s too bad because he was an early sounding board for many of the current financial problems that exist in the economy today.
He most notably pursued cases against companies involved in computer chip price fixing, investment bank stock price inflation, and the 2003 mutual fund scandal. He also sued Richard Grasso, the then-chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, who he claimed had violated his position after receiving upwards of $140 million as a deferred compensation pay package.
I don’t agree with all of his politics, but the guy was a bulldog when it came to fighting white collar crime, and Wall Street has got to be jumping for joy that he’s stepping down.
- In 2002 he won a case for stock price manipulation that resulted in nearly every large investment bank paying a total of $1.4 billion in fines. Ten firms paid fines to settle the case: Bear Stearns, Credit Suisse First Boston, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Chase, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Salomon Smith Barney, UBS Warburg.
- 2003 – More than $1 billion in fines paid for late trading and marketing timing from mutual funds.
- 2004 – Spitzer uncovers more than $50 million in royalties owed to musicians
It seems pumping $200 million into banks isn’t the only reason the Dow had its best day in five years.
Hiring: SEO Specialist and Web Developer
Mar 4th
We’re hiring an SEO Specialist and a Web Developer at Fifty Studio.
Email me if you’re interested.
Web developer should have:
PHP/MySQL Skills
ActionScript Skills
HTML/XHTML
CSS
Billboard Liberation Front “improves” an at&t billboard
Feb 29th
Interesting read: The Art and Science of Billboard Improvement
Marketing Tips on a Budget
Feb 27th
ConnectMagazine has an excellent article on marketing on a budget in the February 2008 issue.
I’d particularly like to highlight the section offered by Todd Wolfenbarger of The Summit Group because of the consulting nature of which he offered advice. He posed five excellent questions one should always ask when approaching a marketing/business problem.
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5 Internet Marketing posts worth reading
Feb 27th
I’m convinced even more. If you’re employed in public relations or traditional marketing, you need to start learning more about internet marketing. That being said, I gathered 5 articles from around the web that are well worth reading.
- 7 Ways to Use Keyword Analytics to Your Advantage
by Dave Bascom.
- The Matter of Page Rank
by Nelson James
- What should my AdWords Conversion rate be?
by Josh Steimle
- Copywriting 101: An Introduction to Copywriting
by CopyBlogger
- Analyzing your competitors’ back link strategies
Search Engine Journal
Detoxifying foot baths get love from KSL: PR Case Study
Feb 26th
KSL ran a story last night called “
KSL examines a controversial therapy – detoxifying foot baths,” but the problem is it doesn’t sound controversial at all. Frankly, one might predict a boom in business because of it. Here’s a few examples why.
“We have a lady that comes in that has fibromyalgia,” said the employee. “…She called the next morning and said ‘I just have to tell you I woke up this morning with no pain and I have not done that in years.’”
5 bad headlines for your enjoyment
Feb 22nd
In some cases, the articles aren’t that bad, but the headlines?
5 – Clinton Donors Worried by Campaign’s Spending. Solution: Stop giving her money. The White House is no place to sharpen your spending habits.
4 – Gore to U.S., China: Fix climate or else. Or else what? You’ll make another movie?
3 – Photos suggest FLDS contractors using child labor. It sounds like a real problem, but fter reading the story, one can’t help but feel the FLDS may be getting picked on a little with the encouragement of some bitter contractors in St. George.
2 – Some say local animals felt Nevada earthquake. That whole “some” line is always fun. They quote one person in the story. “When they went in to clean the cats later in the morning, they seemed louder and more stressed than usual.” Last I remember cats are always loud when you try to clean them.
1 – Ann Coulter’s Credit Card Denied At Florida Supermarket.
Isn’t Florida just a magnet for political controversy.
The New York Times has an ethical bankruptcy on its hands
Feb 21st
Remember this article from the New York Times?
Primary Choices: John McCain – The senator from Arizona is the best choice for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination.
via NY Times.
Yesterday, the Times ran a story questioning McCain’s ethics because of some ties to an attractive, blonde lobbyist. This was followed by a slew of news organizations questioning the Times’ decision to run the story.
The New York Times endorsed McCain for the Republican nomination on Jan. 25, when it was clearly working on this story and had the basic facts in hand.
via Huffington Post.
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