Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Birthdays ..Anniversaries ...Celebrations!


I have this fantasy about my upcoming Birthday the end of April.

I want to lean over a cake with 70 lighted candles and try to blow them all out with one breath.

The fantasy part is doing it with just one lungful of air.

Depending on where such a lighted cake was placed, we would have to turn off smoke alarms.

And crank up the air conditioning.

And have more than one person lighting the candles.

One to start in the middle while another works in from the edges.

With long lighted tapers.

And invite my nephew, a veteran fireman up in Maryland, to be there in full gear - just in case.

He tells me he has answered such calls before.

No doubt it would require a pretty large cake to hold that many candles.

Lots of leftovers?

Maybe there is a local restaurant that does this sort of thing?

Any suggestions?

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Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Hey ...Ads Really Work!

It started with FREE ads on Craigslist.

Then I checked The Post and Courier and it's offer of free classified ads (on items less than $500/5 lines of copy).

I was comparing freebies....and making $20 and $40 sales!

Yesterday, the paper took the lead when a buyer paid me $250 cash for a claw foot tub and drove off with it on his trailer.

The CL people let you run free pictures with your free ads and the P&C does not give you free pictures in print.

BUT... the paper will also place your free ad online at http://www.charleston.net/classified/. For free.

Then I thought, why not create another blog that combines pictures and copy and then list that link in all the ads.

So, I did. Please take a look http://classifiedsale.blogspot.com/

My observation so far: the newspaper has a definable local audience with circulation numbers while online is an unknown number of unknown ages/incomes people. Combining the best of each makes for a good marketplace.

Just after I finished my pictures/ads blog site, I got a call "Say, I'm interested in that modern desk you have advertised today in the paper...what color is it?"

I directed him to the blog where he could SEE what color it was, how it was shaped, how the chair matched, picture it in his office, etc.

He called back and suggested I change the ad to say "computer table" instead of "desk."

I did.

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Tuesday, February 10, 2009

In The Eye Of The Beholder....

Because my blog often mentions things of a photographic nature, I am pleased to provide a link here to an eye-opening photograph. (Click on the title above)

Please do spend a few moments looking around this remarkable view of the D.C. crowd during the inauguration. Come in closer.

You can zoom in tight. REALLY tight. I mean "Big Brother is watching" tight.

High technology goes hand in hand with high resolution. The caption for this photo of the new President and the crowd says it was taken with a 1,474 megapixel camera. Wow.

My tiny digital camera saves pictures in an 8 megapixel file. I can enlarge these images pretty darn big. My first digital camera 5 years ago had a 2 megapixel. Today even cell phone camera have more than 2 megapixels.

Oh, and here's an update on the 19th Annual Blues Bash. Welcome back Beverly "Guitar" Watkins!

I saw her when she played Gage Hall 3 years ago just before she was diagnosed with lung cancer. She's now a 3-year survivor.

People marvel at her high energy when this 70-year old grandmother takes the stage with her guitar and rocks the house. Hope I'm that active when I'm 70.

(Oh, that's right. I turn 70 in April.)

She played the main library. She played the Recreational Center at IOP and she played the downtown Sticky Fingers. Everywhere the crowds were huge.

First time I've seen THIS counter-hopping scene calling out "Party of 5" tables at Sticky Fingers!

Hope all this is an indication of a successful "season" for the restaurants here in Charleston.

SEWE comes next.

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Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Making A List And Checking It Twice....

People tell me Craigslist is the WAY to go to advertise. In addition to being free, you can run photos with your listing.

I like the idea of showing a clear picture of what is for sale.

Looking over Craigslist, I see that many, many people have some really ugly pieces of furniture they're trying to get rid of.

Maybe it's like babies...YOURS looks better than anyone else's.

I thought I would go with a President Jackson approach: you bring me a crisp $20 bill and then you take your pick.


Well, $20 on selected items.

The bicycle would be $75-$100 (the tires ARE holding air and look good).

The 42" butcher-block dinette with 4 chrome chairs would be 4 Jacksons ($80) and it comes with an 18" leaf.

I have mixed feelings here. The paper background in my "studio" is the end of a roll of newsprint I got when I worked at The Post and Courier.

And using Craigslist means NOT using traditional print classified ads. But it would cost an arm and a leg to include a photo in a print listing. Hmmm.*

I would welcome ANY suggestions to make this alternative advertising work for me ... and avoid pitfalls. Anyone??

* An update: A buddy suggested I create a page with additional copy and photos to make newspaper ads work better, so I did and will include the link in those bare-boned ads. http://classifiedsale.blogspot.com

(As usual, click on the photo to enlarge for details.)

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