They do NOT put their pants on the same way....

Have you ever heard someone try to knock a celebrity or athlete down a few notches from their pedestal and try to "normalize" them by saying, "He (or she) puts his (or her) pants on the same way I do?" These days the internet seems to exist solely for the purpose of proving them wrong. There's TMZ, thousands of celebrity gossip blogs, a site dedicated to the best and worst celebrity restaurant tippers, and my personal favorite, the "Backstage Pass" page from thesmokinggun.com. Seriously, 80's hair metal band Poison, A CASE of condoms? For ONE stop on the tour?

Turns out Major League Baseball players have as many strange contractual demands as other celebrities. Just substitute condoms and brown M&M's backstage for a bulldozer and an apartment complex in Memphis.

Further proof that celebrities do not put their pants on the same as you and I. They have it written into their contracts and riders to have someone do it for 'em.

Weird baseball contract clauses

If a celebrity said it, it MUST be true!

The past few days have pretty much gone exactly as I suspected following the premiere of Nike's new Tiger Woods commercial. SHOCK! OUTRAGE! DISGUST! AND NIKE MONOPOLIZING THE TALK AROUND THE WATER COOLER JUST AS THEY HOPED!!

If you're looking for that kind of discussion on here, you'll have to find another blog, message board, talk radio station, etc. I'd like to approach this from an entirely different angle. Specifically, how many pairs of Nikes did you feel compelled to go out and buy just because you saw Tiger Woods endorse them for the first time since the scandal? And more specifically, how many pairs of Nikes (or bottles of Gatorade, or Buicks, etc.) did you buy BEFORE the scandal just because Tiger appeared on TV to tell you you should?

I dare say not too many who read this will ever admit to having bought a product based on the words or appearance of a "celebrity", and at least one online column within the past week argues that celebrity endorsements are worthless but concedes that there is a mountain of evidence that suggests otherwise. I think we're all smart enough to know that major corporations wouldn't bother continuing to do megabuck deals with major celebrities and athletes if they didn't.

For the sake of full disclosure, I have spent almost 20 years in radio, and I have done dozens of live commercials over the years. And yes, I got paid for most of them. In EVERY instance, however, I never endorsed any product or business I did not truly believe in. I also never believed in the fact that any listener would sample or use a product regularly just because I told them to. If anything, I was making the listener aware of a particular product. For those who were already aware but had yet to try the product or visit the business, I was letting them know I found it to be worth their time and effort to give it a shot. Hopefully my honesty in endorsing a product is what convinced people to try it, but there may also have been a few people who tried it simply because I told them to do so. Along those lines, Paul Harvey's longevity in the business was, in large part, because of his gift for selling a product. The man convinced you that he believed in a product to the point he'd refund your money himself if you didn't like it.

I'm not convinced that celebrities can convince us to vote for certain politicians, but we are all lying to ourselves if we are bold enough to declare that Tiger's latest commercial didn't shock us.......and then remind us the soles of our old Nikes were starting to wear out and we really needed to run to the sporting goods store and get those new ones NOW! Tiger might not have had a direct effect, but as long as the cash register is ringing, he definitely has an indirect effect. The latest commercial, crass as it might be in its message, would have never made it on the air if Tiger's endorsement was "worthless".

Passing of a legend......

Just found out about the death of former NFL great and "Little House On The Prairie" star Merlin Olsen. Sad to hear it. I think you would agree that an appropriate gift for the family would be an FTD floral bouquet :-) Only those over 35 will get that.

A nice set of Tweets :-)

Now that I have your attention, this is nowhere near as provocative as the title would indicate. If you're reading this blog, you are a participant in social media and probably understand its value. While it seems like everyone with a laptop, blog, and/or Facebook page is trying to make a quick buck by declaring themselves a social media "expert", that's like declaring one baseball team the winner after three innnings. It's still an emerging beast, and the Bill Gates of social media has yet to be determined.

That being said, social media can be a very valuable cog in your marketing wheel if you use it properly. Since launching my eBay store (shameless plug: The House of Cards), I have used Twitter and Facebook to provide an unmistakable boost in sales. I'll use this blog post to help you navigate Twitter to boost your own sales of baseball cards, widgets, or whatever, but I strongly encourage a presence across ALL social media outlets including any niche message boards and partnerships with other blogs.

To build a successful Twitter page that drives traffic to your business:

• THINK PUBLIC SERVICE, NOT HARD SELL! - What you're selling is certainly the reason you're there, but don't make it the only thing you're about on Twitter. No one likes the "car salesman" approach. Load your Twitter page with links to relevant content, the latest news re: the product you're selling, and anything else you think your audience and customer base will use and associate your brand with. You're building a community, not a database.
  
• USE IT AS A TWO WAY CONVERSATION! - Twitter can provide the ultimate immediate feedback tool for your customers to talk to you. Be willing to listen, and be willing to hear the hard truth about the things you're doing wrong and change them. Customer loyalty goes through the roof when they feel like they have a voice and vested interest in your product.
  
• MAKE EVERY WORD COUNT! - Remember, you only have 140 characters to get the word out. URL shorteners are your friend!! I prefer bit.ly, but there are several others out there. Use every last one of those characters. Edit, and re-edit. If you're really good and can say it effectively in 100 characters, use hash tags (#baseballcards, #ebay, #verabradley, etc.) to enhance the chances that users will find your posts and Follow you to provide additional potential customers.
• GET RETWEETED! - One of the most effective ways to enhance your Twitter experience is to create a buzz among your Followers and casual users. Don't be afraid to be humorous, spontaneous, and spur of the moment to post something that might get picked up and spread like wildfire. DO make sure, however, that the post is relevant and on topic with the message of your business's page.
  

As I said, I am by no means a social media expert, but as an unemployed media guy just trying to make his way the only way he knows how in this economy, Twitter has provided a proven traffic builder for my eBay business. I hope this info proves useful and you are able to implement a few of these things successfully. You're welcome to take a look at my Twitter page, Follow me if you like, and provide any constructive criticism on how I could be doing it better and creating even more business!

Best of luck with your own businesses!! There's room for everyone out there.....even in this economy.