Who Owns Your Blood?

I remember when my son was born, I was so curious that I asked to see my placenta. The doctors and nurses refused. Flatly. They told me it was disposed of. Keep in mind this was minutes after his birth. Not hours. Not days.

Those of you that know me, know my friend John. John is a red-headed giant. He is also a retired Army officer with a rare blood disease that is eating his lungs. He has to have an infusion each Wednesday that costs $6000. The disease is rare and the medicine is very expensive. The hospital in his home town calls him each Wednesday morning, to make sure he’s going to be there, before they mix the medicine.

In the process of investigating John’s disease, the doctors found that his body makes too much blood. Isn’t that interesting? Too much blood.

Once a month on his Wednesday infusion day, the hospital removes a pint or two of blood. For a while they were doing this AFTER the infusion. One day, John asked them if it wouldn’t be smarter to remove the blood BEFORE the infusion so it didn’t remove the medicine they had just infused him with. After that, the nurses removed the blood first. No one had thought of that.

Bear with me.

One day John asked what the hospital did with his pint or two of blood they removed. Through quite a few questions, he found out the hospital was sending his blood to a specialist in New England – and charging this specialist $500 to “handle the shipping”. $500. Must have been a pretty special shipping container.

John was surprised they hadn’t asked him for his permission. Wasn’t it his blood after all? It turns out that since they were supposed to be burning it with all the other bio-hazards, it was considered trash and they could do what they wanted with it – until John asked what they were doing with it. He asked them to stop sending/selling his blood to the specialist in New England.

Some of you may think that in the name of science he should continue sending his blood. Some scientific breakthrough may occur that could save others with this same rare disease. I would more strongly agree – if the hospital had simply asked John’s permission. The blood was/is John’s very personal property – not the hospital’s. His permission should have been granted before anything was done with his blood – let alone selling it for a profit.

After hearing this, I wonder what happened to my son’s placenta. Was it sold for research? Was it truly destroyed? The curious reaction from the doctors and nurses led me to believe that it wasn’t simply destroyed.

It’s important to ask questions – and find truthful answers.

$88 to clean my teeth.

I just spent half an hour with my dental hygienist. I was charged $88 for the experience of having someone else clean and brush my teeth. Granted there was a fluoride treatment too. The dentist didn’t even stop by to say hi.

I would have rather had a nice pedicure. It would have been less expensive and more fun.

The Music Industry HAS to be making money.

In 1976 I bought an album by Michael Franks called the Art of Tea. I heard the song Popsicle Toes and fell in love with Franks. I played that album out. When cassettes came out, I first copied the album, and then (remember the tape pooling inside your tape deck?) bought the album on cassette. Again, I played that cassette until it was just about worn out. I delayed doing it for as long as possible, but when CD’s came out, I went ahead and bought the Frank’s CD too.

OK, you’re probably thinking this chick is dumb. In my defense, I’m sure you’ve probably done the same thing.

You’re starting to get the point. When MP3 music came out and we could purchase individual songs and full albums – guess who bought more music? I know, I know – I could have made recordings on my own the entire way – and lost resolution each time. Can you imagine what that music would have sounded like by now?

I’ve bought the exact same music four times. You can’t tell me the music industry is hurting by a few people sharing music – or downloading illegal songs. I understand copyright protection, and agree it is important. I think the next new technology should be able to tell how many times I’ve purchased a song and download it for me for free – for the rest of my life.

The US Postal Service Goes On Sale

Starting July 1, 2009, the United States Postal Service is offering a sale on postage. This is the first time I remember anything like this happening in all the years I’ve been in business. For “qualified Standard Mail” they are offering 30% off postage. This discount ends in September 2009.

“Standard Mail” is the new term for what used to be “Bulk Mail.” You must mail over 250 flats or letters (this includes postcards – which can save you even more in postage cost) and the mailing needs to be prepared according to Post Office specifications. It is simplest to use a mailing house such as JK Creative.

This is a great opportunity for businesses that are even thinking about a direct mail piece to their customers. Or a sales piece to potential new customers. If you want a great direct mail design that will get noticed, call us and we’ll get the process started.

News & Advertising Transforms

After 150 years of providing news to the Pacific Northwest, my hometown newspaper The Seattle Post Intelligencer printed their last paper edition and switched completely to an online format. Across the country newspapers are closing down. The Rocky Mountain News and The Tucson Citizen are gone. Locally the Hannibal Courier Post has stopped Monday publications to save money.

While radio continues to try to provide news coverage, cash strapped stations are relying more on pre-produced news combined with limited local coverage. Listen carefully and you’ll find that our newscasters are giving opinions and commentary on social stories rather than focusing on hard facts and real news.

According to Nielsen ratings – a group that closely monitors our television consumption – NBC, ABC and CBS (in that order) are still pulling viewers with cable news coming on strong. Network television has responded to falling rating points by becoming entertainment focused. As the trend to entertain grows, we can no longer rely on our news providers to give us unbiased fact-based news that is relevant and newsworthy. In fact, with enough money, you can buy placement on any network television news, and have your own “news” show.

The changes we are seeing are due to the fact that traditional forms of advertising don’t work as well as they have in the past. Decreasing advertising dollars to newspaper, radio and television are lowering the budgets for quality programming and news. There is no longer the cash flow to pay for reporters, compelling programming and in depth coverage of important events.

As we move to the Internet as our main news source there is plenty to think about. One of the great things is that we now have control over what news we want to receive. I can set up my news feeds to provide me with topics that interest me, such as Supreme Court decisions, technology news and science. One of the scary things is that you have to make sure where the “news” is coming from and who the sources are. In this age of instant communication, it’s easy for everyone to log on and provide “news”.  Some newspapers are based solely on blog content from volunteer writers. National reporters have been publicly exposed for making up stories, sources and statistics.

I see the Internet as a continually growing source of all news, advertising and entertainment. New televisions have connections for your computer. With a fast Internet connection you can watch your favorite TV shows and listen to the music you love online. Watch advertising continue to grow online as well. If you don’t have an online presence now is the time to move in that direction.

Ten Tips

Ten Tips for Better Marketing

1. Trust what attracts your attention in print, mail, radio, web, etc. you know what you like or dislike about what you see and hear.

2. Keep a scrapbook of your competition’s ads, direct mail pieces and broadcast ads. On each of them keep notes about your reactions and first impressions of them; after all advertisers have only a moment to reach their audience.

3. Be sure your benefit to the consumer is the most prominent feature of your marketing efforts.

4. Keep a scrapbook or log of your own marketing efforts. Maintain information on the results of each effort; such as: how much did it cost, when did you do it, for how long and how many responses or coupons were redeemed.

5. Make sure your image is consistent with your business and business philosophy.

6. Make sure your message is clear. Make your business name, location and phone number highly visible.

7. Make sure your message hooks your target audience immediately.

8. Make sure your message is true.

9. Make sure you can deliver on everything you’ve promised.

10. Make sure you can inventory it, market it, deliver it and still make a profit.

Working in the Heartland

You’ve all read the headlines and heard the media talk about how our economy is in big trouble and millions of American businesses are hurting. I have a few thoughts on business and our economy. The first thought is that our media is working harder and harder to “make” stories happen – the more sensational the better. I believe that some of our problems are being trumped up to make a lively sound bite. The second thought is that I’m glad I work in the Midwest. Having been born and raised in Seattle, and working in advertising agencies on the East coast, I’ve experienced the highs and lows that are felt on the coasts that are not felt in the heartland. The business climate in the Midwest is more insulated and stays more stable. Finally, every business has a slow time at some point in the year – that is the natural cycle. Instead of wringing my hands and worrying about what to do (yeah, I admit, I used to do that), I like to take that opportunity to move my business forward in some way. Whether it is refining my internal systems, installing better software, or ramping up sales and networking. I think a slow time is the perfect time to jump ahead and be positioned for greater growth when business picks up again… and it will pick up again.

Breakfast in bed

Welcome to Pooleside. Featuring thoughts on business, culture, trends and marketing.

I took the photograph above when I was in Italy. It was so nice to have breakfast in bed…such a decadent reward for working hard. Looking forward to my next trip and relaxing with breakfast in bed again soon. I recommend it to everyone…the working hard part too.