The Profit Prophet

This is an interesting development about how what was old is now new again... Let me see if I have this right... Ukraine buys almost all its energy (natural gas) from Russia.  Revenues from natural gas are a primary source of Russia's income. Because of the recent disagreement between Ukraine and Russia, Russia is raising the price of natural gas it sells to Ukraine. Ukraine is almost broke and cannot afford the increase in the natural gas price because it would be forced into bankruptcy.   President Obama just announced the United States is giving Ukraine $1 billion to assist in paying for the higher priced natural gas it buys from Russia.  So, the United States is actually giving Russia $1 billion because in reality, the money is just passing through Ukraine. The first question: Has Putin figured out a way to raise the price of his natural gas sales and make the U.S. pay for the increase?  Next question: Was he really in the KGB or was he a actu...

Here is an article by a Jewish Rabbi from Teaneck, N.J. It is far and away the most succinct and thoughtful explanation of how our nation is changing. The article appeared in The Israel National News, and is directed to Jewish readership. 70% of American Jews vote as Democrats. The Rabbi has some interesting comments in that regard. Rabbi Steven Pruzansky is the spiritual leader of Congregation Bnai Yeshurun in Teaneck, New Jerse y. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "The most charitable way of explaining the election results of 2012 is that Americans voted for the status quo - for the incumbent President and for a divided Congress. They must enjoy gridlock, partisanship, incompetence, economic stagnation and avoidance of responsibility. And fewer people voted. But as we awake from the nightmare, it is important to eschew the facile explanations for the Romney defeat that will prevail among the chattering classes. Romney did not lose because of the effect...

Please forgive me, but this was written in November of 2008, but is still true today. It tells of how marketing can make the difference of failure and success in a presidential election. I hope you will head the lessons learned in your marketing plans. So, like it or not, marketing your message is really, really, important.   Now that I have had a little time to digest what just happened in this historic Presidential race, I cannot help but notice how much marketing and messaging played in selecting our 44th President. I am not saying that the organizational skills, enthusiasm, and funding did not help. They most certainly did. But what was the catalyst that got all that good stuff going for Barack Obama? It was marketing and messaging. Maybe the best candidate did not win. Maybe McCain was more qualified, had more experience, and was more centrist. But it was Obama who was better able to determine what Americans perceived of this abilities than McCain. The difference ...