"Now let me see if I've got this right."Whenever someone says those words, it's a sure sign that (a) they have got it totally wrong (b) no matter what you say, nothing is going to change their opinion. However, when the question is posed by mother, it adds a new dimension to the concept of futility.
"You say your blog is a commercial blog, right?"
'Yes Mater. Partly funded by advertising and a showcase for the core services of my business." That will fix her I thought.
"O.K. I'm with you."
Success!
For about 0.3 seconds.
"So your idea is to make money by writing about things few people want to know about, done by people no one has ever heard of, with names no one can pronounce, in countries that few people know where they are, and which probably didn't exist or were called something else when I was in school".
Naturally she had the whole concept wrong. I was about to tell her that as soon as I had figured out why, when she started again.
"If you want my opinion, not that you ever take any notice anyway, you always do what you want. Doesn't that seem counter productive to achieving desired outcomes."
When she talks like that I know she has been reading my copy of Business Review, on the john again.
"To an amateur it may seem that way Mater, but one would not expect the layperson to understand the underlying strategy behind such subtle marketing techniques".
Get out of that one mother dear!
"Bollocks"
"Tis not".
"You need sports news, celebrity gossip, that sort of thing. Real news".
"If people want that sort of information there are lots of other avenues for them." I knew that would get her on the ropes.
"Yeah I know. There is a name for that sort of outlet too."
This should be good I thought to myself.
"And what are such outlets called Mater?" I asked with a snigger.
"Profitable" she replied.
One day I will show her the hundreds of dollars I have made with Google Adsense. March 8, 2013 seems like a realistic goal. Good job I'm the marketing brains in the family!
***
Tomorrow the training articles will resume and also the regular Monday feature, "Country Focus". Moving through the alphabet we have now reached "D" so tomorrow I take a closer look at.....Djibouti
Wherever you may be - be safe!
Photo: Sydney Entertainment Centre
