Ho Hum Productions connects pay-for-performance Direct Response campaigns with per-inquiry Media Outlets, aggregating TEN additional revenue channels historically not available. All of these are trackable through one channel or vendor. Our technology makes it easy to integrate  TV, Radio, Print or Online pay-for-performance campaigns into website, mobile, email, social media, blog, video and other targeted channels of revenue opportunities. This will help you to deliver the highest-quality callers to advertisers. Utilizing real time reporting brings management of the marketers pay-for-performance campaigns to the forefront of their business model, generating additional unfound revenue for the marketer and increased commissions for the Media Outlet.

CALL ROGER TODAY! @714-927-0495 for more information about this exciting opportunity.

Facebook has over 500 million active users and Twitter has over 190 million. There are currently 126 million blogs on the internet and  it’s growing daily. There is no better time than now to start reaching out to your potential customers.

Facebook fan pages let businesses interact with customers and prospects while Twitter is a great tool to converse with prospects, provide customer service, and drive website traffic.

If you are looking to start from scratch or to increase your fan base and leads, we have custom packages to help you reach a broader audience to communicate with and grow your business exponentially.

Social media should not be daunting or tedious. We can show you how it can be done effectively by setting up your social profiles for you and providing you with a complete social media marketing campaign.

Inbound Sales Network creates and leads powerful social media campaigns that will intelligently rocket your traffic, promote your brand and grow leads and sales with maximum ROI to give you a feeling of power and imprtance in the marketplace.  

Process

Social media to us is about three things: driving business, making your company more human and approachable, and laying important groundwork for online success in the future.

Gone are the days of “surfing” the web.  These days we’re living it.  We don’t get online to read passively rather than sitting back and simply observing, we’re fully engaged, reading, writing, interacting, sharing, and participating.  And for companies trying to reach their customers online, that changes the game in a big way.  In the past, when it was a one-way street, your provided information and tried to get it in front of the right audience. Today you have to understand deeply the internet is woven into the fabric of your customers’ lives, and make the constant feedback look that is social media work in your favour.

Right now, a conversation is going on…

• That conversation has your old customers talking to your former employees, while investors and prospective new customers review the conversation to help them make “informed” decisions about what to do next. Are you engaged in that conversation?
• That conversation provides fertile ground to establish the roots that will support the growth of your online brand. By engaging in the conversation and leaving links back to your website, you are not only providing new points of entry into your site, but you are raising your visibility and credibility in the eyes of the search engines. Are you engaged in that conversation?
• That conversation is ripe with opportunities for being a fly on the wall and monitoring the discussion so you can join in when people are talking about the topics and buzz words that make them a perfect fit for your product or service. Are you engaged in that conversation?

And oh yeah, search engines now get that too.  This means that if you want to position your brand effectively in the search results, you have to get involved in the social conversation.

We harness our understanding of user behaviour; social networks, brand conversations, and role that they play in the search engine results to develop social media strategies that help our clients better engage with their customers and, as a result, drive more business online.  Our approach isn’t to spend $100K to produce a video that we “hope” will go viral.  Instead, we follow calculated, organized methods that are easily deployable, manageable, and ROI-focused.

Every social media marketing solution is different, depending on the client’s brand and where it sits in the social conversation cloud. Common elements include blog creation and strategy development, outreach programs, brand and social sentiment analysis, social profile development, widget strategy and creation, influencer audits, and social advertising. Everything we do is track able, all of it is measured against the ultimate goal of driving revenue for your company.

Results

Your brand finds its voice, and that voice gets heard. Conversations start happening. Recommendations get passed from one person to hundreds. Positive, honest, user-generated information starts filling up the search results pages. Your frequency, reach, and yield grow; your website traffic skyrockets.

Smart social media marketing doesn’t just find you customers; it turns customers into true brand evangelists.  What could be better?

Our approach is timed to meet your objectives. The bottom line is that your results are guaranteed. To explore our methodology and discover how many clients just like you have been delighted, arrange your free consultation today!

Many companies know about social media. They know they want to use it, but they don’t know what, or how, or why. Without a plan or a goal in mind, social media results will just fall flat.

Now that it’s 2011, more and more companies are finding the need to use social media. And yet, some still don’t know why.

My suggestion: Stop thinking about Social Media as MEDIA. It should really be called Online Interaction. Accounts are created to strengthen the communication with customers. Yet, companies are creating accounts without thinking of how to get the most benefit from it. A marketer would never say, “We need to be on TV,” without knowing what kind of ROI would justify spending that much money. Before jumping into the latest fad of Online Interaction, take a minute to map out the purpose for being online, be it to establish dialogue with those already engaged with the brand, or to provide customer service to those seeking it.

And, while trying to figure out the purpose, establish goals for what being online will accomplish. Is there a desire to have comments posted about what is posted? Will there be an opportunity to talk with the consumer in order to establish dialogue? If Web traffic is increased, what should these new visitors do on the company site that will result in a positive return for being online? Let this new online interaction be an open door to further the consumer experience.

Once the purpose and goals are set in place, share it with employees. Let employees talk about it on their own online accounts. If there is a strong purpose with clear goals in place, but poor promotion of the online existence, then results will be weak. This may sound silly, but an online interaction continuously feeds off of, just that, interaction online. And the more that fellow colleagues can develop, the better the results.

 
Establishing a strong presence online is an ongoing process. Companies cannot create an account and leave it, hoping that friends, followers, and fans will continue to build. This is done through a constant stream of discussion. Once that has been established on the big three (Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube), explore new ways to connect with the audience. The age of Social Media is only 6-7 years old, so the “right” way for a soft-drink company may not be the best way for a shoe company. By experimenting with different sites (GoWalla, Digg, Flickr, Friendstr, Groupon, etc.) the online interaction may prove even more suitable than Facebook.

Social Media isn’t new, and is always changing. But having a plan, setting goals ahead of time, and letting fellow employees participate will increase the results of your social media efforts.

One of the most common mistakes advertisers make
Advertisers that want to achieve scale should move away from testing narrow audiences segments or small populations. These types of test often produce results that are not replicable across multiple inventory sources or at larger volumes. In many instances it’s beneficial to start with a broad base and narrow down your focus as this will lead to larger populations, more sustainable results and potentially some unexpected positive returns against audiences you would have never found if you targeted too heavily from the beginning.

HOW TO GET YOUR PSA ON THE AIR

When it comes to follow-up, you just can’t skip it. After you send out your PSA, you can do an immediate follow-up call to see if it came through. If you don’t have the time to call right away, call three to five days later. Don’t let it get buried on a desk. See the sheet entitled How to Follow-up for more tips on how to conduct your phone calls.

Target your efforts at those radio stations whose audiences are most likely to be inter­ested in your message or news story.

Try to customize your PSA to the type of station or listener. For example, reach out to some children’s stations, like Radio Disney if your performance show is kid-friendly, and make that come across in your PSA.

Make sure the length of your PSA is around 30 seconds or less when read out loud.

- SAMPLE RADIO PSA -

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact xxxxxxx@xxxx.com800-111-1234

PSA for CHURCH HARVEST PARTY games ▪ prizes ▪ food ▪ ALL FREE

Don’t miss this YOUR CHURCH’S annual Harvest Party this Halloween night! There will be fun games, great prizes and food, ALL FOR FREE! Bring your kids out for a evening of fun and games in a safe environment. Remember, YOUR CHURCH’S annual Harvest Party is this Halloween evening from 6-9pm at 1234 Main St. Call 800-111-1234 for details. ###

TIPS

Make sure to read your PSA out loud. Does it sound like something you would hear on the radio? Is the headline catchy enough to gain the attention of a Promotions or Program Director? This is important as it will set your announcement apart from the others and get it picked up from the pile. Listen to how other PSA’s sound when read by the DJ’s on the air. Try to write yours to sound similar.

Once written, make sure to edit it carefully. Ensure that all of the information, times, locations and event information is correct. It would be a disaster to announce something and have the information be incorrect. Make sure to have at least one other person read your announcement to ensure it is ready.

FOLLOW-UP!!! If you want to be sure that your PSA is read on the air, you will most likely have to be persistent with the radio and TV stations. This is especially important in larger markets.

Long form interviews out-perform 30 and 60 second radio ads by a mile.

I conduct a natural radio interview on a topic and or product, designed to sound and feel exactly like an actual talk show interview.

I do these by phone using in-studio recording equipment that help me create a “natural” sounding show.

My 20 years as a radio host gives me a unique perspective. 

My experience and my voice familiarity with millions of radio listeners add credibility and a genuine and trustworthy sound.

We do the interview and make CD’s for the client and also place on the web for access.

We also provide the service of buying air-time on radio stations nationwide that allow for these programs.

We make a decent show, for a fee, and make the interview available to stations that will air the show.

The production and editing cost is $1500.00 for the first 1/2 hour and $750.00 for the second.

The list of radio stations that sell time is also available for a small fee.

Discounts are available for multiple shows on several products.

You may begin offering this now!

Roger Fredinburg

www.hohumproductions.com

DECISIONS! Adult Contemporary, Adult Hits, Adult Standards, Album Adult Alternative, Talk, News-Talk, News, Classic Rock, Classic Hits, Classic Country … The decisions are endless and we haven’t even started into day parts, hosts, days of the week, :60’s vs. :30’s vs. :15′5 vs. long-form, etc. Look, here’s what you need to know: this isn’t our first rodeo so why spend your resources with agencies who don’t know what makes DR RADIO work.

The challenge of listing the FATAL FLAWS in direct response radio is trying to reduce the number from about 50 to a handful. Honestly, this isn’t rocket science, but if you’re venturing out to try this on your own, you better have a strong stomach and a hefty ad budget. Still, it is doable if you keep the 4 FATAL FLAWS that doom a direct response radio campaign in mind.

FATAL MISTAKE #1: Faulty Testing Methodology

You have to know how to measure success by factoring-in multiple key factors. Here are the basics: a) How many calls you need to drive in per commercial

b) Avg. number of calls received for each sale (avg. closing ratio) c)Your avg. sale – including up-sells

d) Your profit margins (Gross income minus cost of goods, advertising and operating expenses) e) Your ad allowable (what do you have to earn per dollar spent in advertising to continue on the air) f) Drag sales (sales linked to previous spend that occur later over the internet or phone)

g) How ad variables perform against the standard

h) How do station formats, day part, ad duration, host involvement affect outcome i)Percentage of customers who accessed you via the Internet vs. 800 number j)Closing ratio on the Internet and how you are tracking and implementing lead capture

If you can’t answer these questions … hold onto your wallet, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

FATAL MISTAKE #2: Faulty Tracking

Once you identity your key metrics to success, you’ve got to track every ad dollar spent in order to optimize the media plan. Far too many direct response advertisers pour thousands into an ad campaign with little or no tracking in place. Tracking your media spend means utilizing sophisticated methods to capture call volume, website hits, referral sources and more. This is generally why toll free numbers are preferred for OR campaigns, but you can also accomplish reasonable tracking metrics with drop-down referral source menus (or enter your referral source or coupon key) if you are driving consumers to your website.

FATAL MISTAKE #3: Seriously Weak Creative

We can’t overstate this enough. Poorly crafted creative can flat-out destroy a campaign. The 4 fatal flaws of most ads are:

(a) Overlooking the primary selling points by being too close to your product to be objective. (b) Getting to much creative input from too many sources equals audio mud. Keep it simple!

(c) Trying to say WAY too much in a spot. Remember, radio listeners have the attention span of a gnat with A.DD., so don’t try to do everything in one commercial.

(d) Failure to change out creative frequently! We target every 3 to 4 weeks.

FATAL MISTAKE #4: Seriously Flawed Buying

Rates are important, but they’re only ONE part of a strategic and successful radio campaign. You’d be shocked how many agencies puff themselves up trying to convince you they gel the lowest prices around. First off, they probably don’t, but more importantly – if they’re THAT focused on rates, they’re revealing how weak they are in more important areas. Look, even if you decide to give this a shot yourself, give us a quick call and see if we can’t steer you in the right direction.

Ho Hum Productions Client Assurance

“Guaranteed Advertising Results”

For clients with decent sized ad budgets we are now offering a guarantee on results.

If a client uses our media buying service for radio, print and/or TV on a regular basis… We will now guarantee a pre-approved minimum response for our client.

How do we do it?

We have partnered with one of the worlds largest direct e-mail marketers.

Using only Opt-In e-mail addresses, we will “augment” a client’s buy with e-mail blasts, of up to 10 million e-mails for every $20,000.00 in gross ad buys.

These “blasts” are only to be used to shore up any deficiencies in response based on pre-determined criteria.

In other words, if a client needs a certain number of leads or responses based on a known conversion rate history, we will guarantee that number.

For approved clients we will work on a per-sale basis with e-mail blasts, but, only if they are a regular client using our media buying services.

So, ask your prospects and clients if they want to be partnered with us in this brand new unique advertising adventure, where their ad dollars are backed up with what we have tagged “Advertising Insurance”.

I can only accommodate about 6 or 8 clients, please be very selective.

Let me know!

Roger Fredinburg

CEO

www.hohumproductions.com

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

Call Roger @ 714-927-0495 for opportunities to advertise on the Michael Savage Show.

Call Roger @ 714-927-0495 for advertising opportunities on Citadel Broadcasting programs.

Call Roger @ 714-927-0495 for advertising opportunities on WorldNetDaily.com.

Call Roger @ 714-927-0495 for advertising opportunities with Breitbart.com.

CAll Roger @ 714-927-0495 for advertising opportunities on JewishWorldReview.com.

Call Roger @ 714-927-0495 for advertising opportunities on Newsmax.com.

Call Roger @ 714-927-0495 for advertising opportunities on Salem Radio Network.

Call Roger @ 714-927-0495 for advertising opportunities on the Glenn Beck Program.

Call Roger @ 714-927-0495 for advertising opportunities on the Sean Hannity Show.

Call Roger @ 714-927-0495 for advertising opportunities on the Rush Limbaugh Show.

Call Roger @ 714-927-0495 for advertising opportunities on Talk Radio Network shows.

Call Roger @ 714-927-0495 for avertising opportunities on the Dr.Laura Show.

Call Roger @ 714-927-0495 for advertising opportunities on The Laura Ingraham Show.

Call Roger @ 714-927-0495 for advertising opportunities on Money Talk.

Call Roger @ 714-927-0495 for advertising opportunities with Focus on the Family.

Call Roger @ 714-927-0495 for advertising opportunities on Imus in the Morning.

Have you noticed the shrinking size of magazines and other print publications? Is it due to less available content or fewer newsworthy articles? No! It is due to shrinking ad budgets. Advertisers are running for the hills as they pull back and slash their marketing budgets. The end result is formerly burgeoning magazines are now a mere shadow of their former selves.

To stay ahead of your competitors, especially when they are in full retreat, you need to keep your marketing momentum going. If you pull back, your customers may loose sight of you in the marketplace and possibly forget about you all together.

If you think that “hunkering down” is the way to survive this economic downturn, consider this:

 10 sure-fire ways to kill your small business

1) Stop Marketing and pretend that everyone knows who you are and what you sell.

2) Stop Marketingand fantasize that you have more important things to worry about in your business.

3) Stop Marketing and make believe  that your customers didn’t notice that you stopped sending your newsletter.

4) Stop Marketing and continue to tell yourself that your customers will never abandon you.

5) Stop Marketing and ignore all the potential new customers that would do business with you, if they only knew you existed.

6) Stop Marketing and stop thinking about what your competitors are doing with your customers.

7) Stop Marketing and keep telling yourself “it costs too much” to advertise.

Stop Marketing and disregard the fact that marketing is an business investment, not an expense.

9) Stop Marketing and pretend that your customers will still believe that you care about them, even if you never tell them.

10) Stop Marketing and forget that NOW is the BEST time to advertise as all of the other IDIOTS in business have chosen not to.

There has never been a better time to tell the world that your business is there and what it does or sells.

Tell your existing clients you both appreciate and need them.

Announce to prospective new clients that you are ready and prepared to serve them.

Don’t let this great opportunity pass you by!

All advertising campaigns involve media buying. The best media buyers possess a highly specialized skill to understand customer experience and behavior. With this knowledge it is possible to know the best medium needed for a particular campaign. The savvy media buyer also knows and understands the criteria used to measure results, thus being better equipped to properly manage costs.

Important factors that are critical to the buying process are: costs, demographics, products, services, and goals. The buyer must fully understand that the best possible return on investment is reliant upon the resources available (i.e. television, radio, internet, print, etc.). Space and time are also elements of consideration for the most effective media buy.

There are two types of media buyers; General Marketing Media Buyers and Direct Response Media Buyers. The General Marketing Buyer works to execute plans put in place by media planners. They negotiate prices and create a to-do list based on the media plan. General Media Buyers are generally dependent on published cost guides.

The Direct Response Media Buyer is more independent, being well versed in negotiating a functional rate and obtaining a variety of media channels from the suitable stations. They follow the sales, making the necessary adjustments to the media plan. Direct Response Media Buyers work to fortify the results by using unique phone numbers to each station where they place advertising spots.

The following is a summary of the most important components of media buying:

Always buy TV and radio on a “tonnage” basis.

Establish your target market with the goal to reach as many people as possible in that specific market.

Always shoot to reach the most viewers with enough frequency to make an impact. This goal will be achieved by advertising to at least two of the four major TV stations (ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX. You should buy time on all four if rates are competitive.

Another alternative is to purchase time in specific programs, although this can come at a higher price.

Additional tips for Media Buying:

Provide a commission for small advertising companies and freelance media buyers; you can to give away up to 15% commission or throw in some other services for free.

Another possibility would be to setup your own “in-house advertising agency”. As long as you hire the right people, this will reduce the cost of all commissionable advertising you buy.

 Make sure that you hire only people who understand media and media buying.

RF

Job description

Media planners enable their clients to maximize the impact of their advertising campaigns through the use of a range of media. In order to ensure that campaigns reach their target audiences as effectively as possible, media planners combine creative thinking with factual analysis to develop appropriate strategies. They apply knowledge of media and communication platforms to identify the most appropriate vehicle for building awareness of a client’s brand.

Media planners work with the press, television, radio and new media, in particular the internet, as well as more unusual platforms, such as, for example, brand promotion on the sides of buses and taxis. Some agencies combine the role of planner with the role of media buyer.

Typical work activities

Media planners usually work on a number of projects at the same time, usually for a number of different clients. Typical work activities generally fall into two main areas, with levels of client contact increasing with seniority.

Preparation:

• working with the client and the account team to understand a client’s business objectives and advertising strategy;
• liaising with the creative agency team, clients and consumers to develop media strategies and campaigns;
• making decisions on the best form of media for specific clients and campaigns;
• applying detailed knowledge of media owners in a range of geographical locations;
• thinking creatively about ways to represent particular clients;
• undertaking research using specialist industry resources;
• researching and analyzing data to translate ideas into a quantifiable task;
• identifying target audiences and analyzing their characteristics, behavior and media habits;
• presenting proposals, with media and cost schedules to clients.

Implementation:

• recommending the most appropriate types of media to use, as well as the most effective time spans and locations;
• working with colleagues, other departments and media buyers either in-house or in a specialist agency;
• making and maintaining good contacts with media owners, such as newspapers, magazines and websites;
• managing client relationships to ensure respect and trust in your judgment;
• proofreading advert text and content prior to release;
• maintaining detailed records;
• developing evaluation techniques for your campaigns.

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

Call Roger at 714-927-0495

Phone 714-927-0495

P.O. Box 5243 CentralPointOR 97502

radioroger@aol.com

Ho Hum Productions

 Checklist: Creating A Sales And Marketing Strategy

Small business owners who are concerned about their sales and marketing capabilities could begin to see improvement by breaking down the term “sales and marketing” into discrete, manageable elements. You end up with a checklist that can be reviewed in order to prioritize areas needing improvement – a checklist that will serve as the groundwork for an effective marketing strategy.

MARKETS. How much do you really know about your current markets or future market? Why do your customers buy from you? What could you offer that would attract more non-customers? How can you sell to more of the profitable customers? If you add features or services, will people pay more for them or will they attract more customers? Are there bulk, institutional, industrial, or corporate markets beyond normal retail that you are ignoring?

COMPETITION. Who are they and why are they after you? What is the overall market trend and how are you holding up in terms of market share and profit position? How do you really rank against competitors? What substitutes are there to your products and how much of a threat are they?

POSITIONING. Where do your products/services fall in relation to the total market? Is this truly the position you want? Are you “all things to all people,” or should you move more toward a high-end position (charging a premium for a differentiated service), or a low-cost position (undercutting others’ prices but at a profit, due to high efficiency)? If you are truly “in the middle,” you should examine how well you’re doing regularly (with the help of a good accounting system)..

PROMOTION. Feel invisible? How can you change this? What promotion tools make the most sense to promote your products yet are consistent with the marketing image you want to project? How do you know if they pay off? Are you promoting on the Internet effectively?

PRICING. What is your pricing strategy? Are you charging for everything you do?

SERVICE DELIVERY. How well and how consistently are you delivering/producing your products/services? What people problems must be addressed? Do you really train people in their overall role and mission, How do you know your customer service is satisfactory?

STRATEGY. How can you build customer loyalty? How can you increase sales to existing customers (more frequent use or buys, selling a broader product line to them) or new customers (existing and new products)? How can you penetrate into new areas profitably? What costs can be removed without affecting the value equation?

MANAGEMENT. What risks exist today and which are on the horizon? What is the likelihood and impact of each? How can you reduce both? Are there alliances that make sense? Are there trade groups you should be in? Are there natural ties that no one is exploiting?

INFORMATION. What information is your accounting system giving you about profitable lines, costs, and margins? If “none,” why not fix it and start making better decisions? What advice can you get from a trade group or local retail association?

Obviously this is just a start for developing an effective marketing strategy, but suggestive. It feels good to be able to check “OK” next to some of these, but it should also be empowering to prioritize those few that need your attention.

Roger Fredinburg/Ho Hum Productions

Phone 714-927-0495 
P.O. Box 5243

CentralPointOR 97502

radioroger@aol.com
 Ho Hum Productions 

Press Release

McCain- Feingold repeal creates rush to reserve ad space for 2010 political season. Reserve your ad space in advance to assure your voice is heard this November. Call 1-714-927-0495 Now!

Ho Hum Productions , operated by national radio host Roger Fredinburg provides professional guidance and media buying services to PAC’s and other concerned companies and groups at NO CHARGE. Advance advertising schedules available now, hurry while space remains available..

·         Medford OR, January 23, 2010:  The pressure that will be placed on advertising inventories this summer and fall is self evident with the Supreme Court repeal of the unconstitutional free speech restrictions  suffered under McCain-Feingold. Corporations and groups are establishing their budgets now. Ad space will be limited. Please let Ho Hum Productions assist you in buying your allotted ad space now before it’s too late.

·         Call Roger Fredinburg at 1-714-927-0495 Now!

Make sure your voice is heard….. Ho Hum Productions

From Reuters: Supreme Court ruling could boost TV ad business
Paul J. Gough
Thu Jan 21, 2010 10:22pm ESTNEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) – The U.S. Supreme Court’s loosening of restrictions on political ad spending by corporations and others will bring some joy to hard-hit local television stations and make it even more likely that 2010 will be a record year for political ad revenue.

Ruling 5-4 in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, the court freed business, unions and nonprofits from some of 2002’s McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform law. The law had limited political spending by those groups within 30 days of a primary and 60 days of a general election.

Thursday’s ruling likely will mean hundreds of millions of dollars in ad spending, much of it just before Election Day, will flow to local broadcast TV. Projections for the 2010 elections by TNS Media Intelligence/Campaign Media Analysis Group say total ad spending could exceed the $2.6 million to $2.8 million spent the last two cycles.

“The decision means a new gusher of money for the TV industry,” Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said Thursday. “That’s good news for them in (economic) hard times.”

Thirty-seven gubernatorial races will be decided in November, including in such high-powered media markets as California, New York, Texas and Ohio. Twenty-one of those seats are open, meaning there will be competitive primaries in the spring. Add to that that one-third of the U.S. Senate and the entire House. One wild card is the economy, but Tracey said “it has the makings of a blowout year” for ad spending.

From MSNBC: 

The Supreme Court’s decision to loosen campaign finance restrictions on corporations means a tsunami of company cash is likely to flood through the political system, giving big firms and labor unions even more influence over candidates.

Thursday’s 5-4 ruling allows companies and labor unions to spend whatever they want to get their political message out to voters, striking down limitations that prevented company profits from being diverted into political ads. The ruling did not affect a ban on companies contributing directly to political candidates.

 From Bloomberg: 

Bloomberg
 
The U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C.
.WASHINGTON—A divided Supreme Court struck down decades-old limits on corporate political expenditures, potentially reshaping the 2010 election landscape by permitting businesses and unions to spend freely on commercials for or against candidates.

President Barack Obama attacked the ruling and said it gave “a green light to a new stampede of special-interest money in our politics,” particularly “big oil, Wall Street banks, health-insurance companies and the other powerful interests” that “drown out the voices of everyday Americans.” He pledged to work with lawmakers to craft a “forceful response.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican who has long fought campaign-finance regulations, hailed the court for a “monumental decision” toward “restoring the First Amendment rights of [corporations and unions] by ruling that the Constitution protects their right to express themselves about political candidates and issues up until Election Day.”

Some company executives and unions said they were ready to jump more directly into this year’s congressional campaigns under the new rules, but big companies may remain cautious about doing so for public-relations reasons.

 The long term effects of this are at best uncertain but it was made perfectly clear in President Obama’s State of the Union speech on January 27,2010 that he and the Democrats in congress were clearly upset by this ruling, pledging to write new laws designed to subvert the intentions of the court. I suspect that this years mid-term elections will be filled with all sorts of  ads from unions and corporations alike concerning all sorts of political candidates from both parties. Get ready for the landslide of political advertising to come.

                                                                                   Ho Hum Productions

“There was a man who lived by the side of the road. He was hard of hearing so he had no radio. He had trouble with his eyes, so he didn’t read newspapers. He didn’t own a tv, but he did sell good hot dogs. He put up signs on the highway telling how good they were. He stood by the side of the road and cried “By a hot dog mister?” And people bought. He increased his meat and bun orders and he bought a bigger stove to take care of his trade. One day his son came home from college to visit. The son told his father that the radio, newspaper, and TV all reported that there was a recession– a slowdown. The father thought, “Well , my son’s been to college, he reads newspapers, watches TV, and listens to the radio, he ought to know.” So the father cut down his meat and bun orders, took down his advertising signs and no longer bothered to stand out by the highway to sell his hot dogs. And his hot dog sales fell almost overnight. “You were right , son,” said the father to his son, “We certainly are in the middle of a recession– a slowdown”.

The point of this story is to state the need to continue to promote your business, especially in a recession. If you stop telling people you are there, you will, like the father, find out that we are in a recession.

To make 2010 a great year, you have to let the buyers know you are still there.

Ho Hum Productions