I’ve written about Donald Trump before. I’ve made comments on politicians. I’ve held my ground in arguments. I’ve been wrong and I’ve been right—and I’m not sure which was which.

And at the end of it, I am less sure of what candidate I support. I am less certain of a villain or a hero. I know people I respect who will talk my ear off about how Donald Trump is the only one worth anything--the only one upfront about things. I’ve heard and read people who believe Hillary is the only option. Who think Trump is the problem.

I’ve also heard people say things about Bernie, about Ted, about Jeb--about all of them.

And still...I have no idea. I hear all about the upcoming election, but hear almost nothing useful. My Facebook is nothing but political ideologies shouted and Pokémon Go jokes and pictures of people I don’t see often.

And you want to know what? That’s the problem. No, not my Facebook. The ideology of it. The rampant ranting of rhetoric and self-righteous biased reasoning.

I had to go out of my way, out of my way, to find anything concrete about the actual policies and ideas of the candidates. And I had to have it explained to me by a YouTube video because it’s the only source of information I trust to have a smidgen of bipartisan interest.

I live in the South, so it’s more Republican. I live in Clearwater, so people have their culture and lifestyles affecting their opinions. And I cannot blame them, and I can’t really get mad, but I am mad.

It’s a popularity contest, sure. I understand. I get it’s all about the marketing. But can we please be more about marketing the actual policies? How will politicians affect my taxes? Or the rights of people? Or the actual price of what they say they want to do with our country?

No hypotheticals and false promises. No flat lies. I am part of the group supposed to be the next wave in influencing how our country and world shapes: the next generation.

And it should be easy to know these things. It shouldn’t be rare. It’s a cornerstone of our country’s political process. It’s the policies that matter, and we need to be marketing that fact. Not who or who may not be a jerk.

---
If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com

It’s a well-known idea that if you are a business, you want a web presence. And it is a lesser-known idea that if you want people to see your web presence, you need to produce new content. The local shops of Clearwater, the Kara Lynn’s Kitchens of the world know this, and use it. They create Facebook accounts and keep them updated.

And this is all well and good, though sometimes companies want to take this kind of marketing even further, and they also create videos or articles about their company.

And this is also grand. Good marketing. Great marketing.

But here’s the problem. A lot of people are doing this. A lot of companies are doing this. So you can still end up finding your creations buried beneath other people’s products and content.

It’s the media overload all over again. But there are a few things you can do to try to rise above it. Simple things to help ensure quality. And some of this may seem rather obvious, but we are talking about the internet here: so let me go over basic steps to make sure your stuff is ahead of the curve.

1.    Have Good Grammar

If it’s true of dating sites, then it is certainly true of companies. People, on some level, judge grammar. And a big obvious error is a sure way to get a browser closed before they have a chance to see what you sell.

2.    Don’t Just Be a Sales Pitch

Yes, you are in the business of selling things. But people will avoid a sales effort from a mile away. We live in a culture overloaded with people trying to sell things—so always try to avoid blatant acts. Tell us positive news your company’s been up to or write an interesting article related to what your business does. Don’t always roll out the “buy now” wagon on the first sight of a potential.

3.    Be A Little Warm and Fun

There’s a reason all companies in dystopian fiction are these joyless and monochrome places: because no one wants or likes that. Even Apple and Google, these massive money-making giants who rule the world, still make their ads and content and business persona fun. A place where customers and employees are happy to work and shop.

4.    Be Consistent

So many things are improved by consistency. Exercise, practice, and content creation. You may, if you’re very lucky, acquire people so enamored with your content they wait for more. And it will be in your best interest, and your fan’s best interest, if you keep getting the content out at a regular rate. At a predictable rate.

---

Now these are only a few tips. There is much more to learn here. No matter how much stuff is in the media landscape, things do float to the top. You can float to the top.

In the end, it just comes down to good marketing.

---
If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com

Is social media too distracting? Well, here’s what I have to say about it...

...

...

...

...

...

Sorry, I was just checking my Facebook. What was I talking about? Oh, yeah. Social media. Being distracting. And all that.

Okay, so all joking aside, yes, obviously social media is a big sucker of time and productivity. We spend so much time looking at what our friends are up to, and not what we ourselves are doing. It’s a byproduct of the infinite expanse that is the internet. It’s also so ubiquitous you probably just did it right before reading this article.

Now, the P.R. of this is an odd duck. Because you can hear all sorts of arguments fired at the average person for how they don’t “look up” from their phone enough. And yet, at the same time, we are more connected, more aware, more understanding of the human condition—or at least what friends are up to on the day-to-day.

But still, aren’t we a tad robbed of old interactions? I can’t really ask most people what they’ve been up to lately because I can see the pictures. We share our lives and thus have less to share in person.

A meeting for coffee at Starbucks on Cleveland St. loses a lot of its luster when in ten minutes I can know all the significant things you did in the last few days—before you even get there.

But, you do have people who don’t post to Facebook or other social medias, and those people are now somehow odd, and “other”. Not being able to find someone on the internet is a concerning thing, not a comforting thing.

So, we’re encouraged to post pictures of that one trip to a concert in Tampa, or the Clearwater Beach meetup from last week—less we seem like nothing is going on in our lives.

Which is not good P.R. for anyone. It’s another example of the overwhelming wave of media we all produce and consume, even if it’s not as obvious as when it comes to movies or television.

And sadly, unlike some of the other articles I’ve written, I’m not sure what to do about the situation. Pick a side, I guess. Be a Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube user to the core, or feel the subtle disconnect from the rest of humanity.

---
If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com

Some of you might not like me by the end of this article. I’m willing to accept that. Though, honestly, you should know some of this already—I should not be shocking anyone here.

In this world, there are several universal facts. Two of which are these:

• People always want to improve aspects of themselves. Weight is common.
• If someone had something work for them, they will try to pass it on to others.

And thus, we have today’s topic. The fad diet. The promised land of losing weight. The easy way.

I don’t know where I found this quote, and I think I’m paraphrasing, but I find this thought to be more and more accurate:

“The only weight-loss solution we will not accept is normal diet and exercise.”

I had a bit of an epiphany when I read this, and later on in my life I found this to be the exact truth. Because it was the only way I lost weight.

Now, that doesn’t mean people won’t try the other “techniques”. I cannot tell you how many magazines I’ve seen in grocery stores like the Publix on Gulf to Bay or in Clearwater Plaza advertising how one celebrity or another lost some amount of weight in no time at all. And the internet is full of the “one food you should never eat” and the “miracle food that burns off pounds.”

Just for fun, I looked over some of the more extreme fad diets and then backed away slowly as the words “Werewolf Diet” and “The Five Bite Diet” appeared on my screen.

Now, I’m actually in favor of the more sensible dietary ideas like Paleo or Vegetarian-but that’s because those diets don’t inhibit that many food options and they don’t involve things like eating cotton, or drinking nothing but odd lemon juice mixtures for several days.

I’m sorry to say those do not work—and shouldn’t work. Losing weight is not easy. Yet again, I’m sorry. Calories in must be less than calories burned. Protein and vegetables are king and queen. It’s the only way.

And don’t trust anyone advertising to you anything else.

---
If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com

Are you walking around Clearwater looking at your phone? Are you in Pinellas Park searching for Pokemon? Are you at Clearwater Beach trying to get one with a CP of 500+?

Because we all are. It’s Pokemon Go. It’s the game that in a little more than a week at the time of posting is changing the world.

Who knew Nintendo would be the ones? In hindsight, I suppose it was obvious. They always were making the products that shaped so much of the gaming landscape—so why not the real landscape? It worked for Apple.

And I could go into all the cool new things Pokémon Go is doing for the average person, but over at Buzzazz.com my cohort Paul already did an awesome article on the subject.

So, instead, I’ll do what I tend to do in these articles: show you how this has some serious marketing potential. Because, when you already have this many people playing, and a built-in fan-base like Pokémon, we all stand to have a little benefit.

Are you a business owner per chance? Well, you could be a gym, now couldn’t you?

Let me break this down in case you haven’t already played. In Pokemon Go, there are locations called “gyms” and us Pokémon trainers are in a constant contest for ownership of them. Red team, blue team, and yellow team all seeking domination.

And to fight in these gyms, you have to get close to them. And it appears this was part of Nintendo’s plan all along. More foot traffic can equal more sales.

It’s augmented reality, geotagging marketing. And Nintendo seems like it will be offering it to businesses soon. But even if you can’t get it personally, there’s still perks.

PokeStops and gyms are locations players are incentivized to go toward, and if you happen to set up...I don’t know...a food stand or something in that area, well, Pokémon trainers have to eat, now don’t they?

In fact, I think people are already doing this. Like I said, it changed the world in like a week. So maybe you should get in on it too.

Collect all the marketing potential. Catch all the customers.

---
If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com