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Charles L Martin's Blog


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Charles L Martin has spent a lifetime experiencing hard won sales and marketing battles in the fashion (7th Avenue), film (Hollywood), food & beverage (Worldwide), and social marketing (SoCal) industries. He enjoyed working as an assistant to Liz Ortenberg (Claiborne), Tommy Hilfiger, and producer Scott Rudin, among others. He has worked for Esprit, D.F. Sanders & Co., more than 25 other A-List actors and producers, Rhino Chaser's Beer, EarthLink, United Tranz Actions, OpenTable and now LivingSocial, which is the coolest gig around.

The concept of Anticipation Marketing is his specialty. He loves marketers and sales hacks. He loves (or dislikes) your company. His rants on hotheadblog.com may inspire you. They may ignite you. Either way, it's all good. Follow Charles on Twitter @vendorcloud

Charles is a 4-time marathoner with a 3:58 PR. He also enjoys loads of time with his awesome family as well as advocating in modernist architecture, fine wine, craft beer, master Japanese gardens, xeriscape, politics, and music. email him at vendorcloud@gmail.com .

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Sales Acumen

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No One Cares About You

Friday, July 31st, 2009

True. Seth hits it on the mark.

The art of saying no

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009

A friend recently suggested I learn to say no more often. It’s an art for sure. Even Tony Blair’s in on the effort to filter more and lead more by saying no artfully and gracefully. This week one of his quotes is heavy in Twitter rotation. He said “The art of leadership is saying no, [...]

3 Months Free Clear Membership

Tuesday, May 12th, 2009

I love my Clear membership.  I used it in two airports last week that didn’t have Clear and it’s funny to watch the TSA squiggle when they don’t recognize but ultimately have to take my card as ID. The folks at DFW TSA told me that they will be up and running by Fall.  LAX [...]

Sales as a professional profession

Monday, April 27th, 2009

Great piece sent over by @bcbcbc today from the New York Times and Ben Stein on salespeople and their craft. Agree all around. Sales guys rule. We’ve always known we’re in the catbird seat. We suffer the pain for a company in wait.  We live the crush of a never-ending sales cycle that basically ends [...]

Chipotle’s new online ordering falls short

Saturday, April 4th, 2009

I ordered last night from Chipotle’s new online ordering system.  We love their food.  It’s always good. Simple, but good.  It’s a nice respite from the usual Friday night Mexican restaurant fare.  No margies though. I ordered online by going through a simple interface that let me name each order for the appropriate person. I [...]

End of month closings

Saturday, March 28th, 2009

Back to the sales gig. It’s March 28 and like any sales guy, I am hoping for a few new hits before we pull the curtain on the month.  The economy isn’t that bad if you have the right tools.  We are seeing a level of interest but across our company, no giants have signed [...]

There’s still room for all of us

Monday, February 16th, 2009

If you can unplug the co-ax (and I recommend you do) you can get away from the down down downer of CNN and all the rest.  Their job cut counter is getting kind of ridiculous. I was on a con call today with my auto homies and I spoke of a dealer group that I [...]

Coldplay Rules and Don Draper’s Marketing Prowess

Monday, February 9th, 2009

If you saw the 60 minutes piece on the HH’s favorite band Coldplay, you saw a closeup of their band “rules” – or at least the rules to album making sanity for a giant band.  Judging by the drek of The Fray’s new one (and 16 tracks to boot), they don’t have any rules. There’s [...]

Today’s the day

Monday, January 12th, 2009

Today’s the day. I don’t know what today is going to bring but it’s the day that I effect change in all the things (98% of what we encounter, every day) I can control. Are you ready?  Are you going to close the deal, finish the punch list, or complete a project? Why not? Today’s [...]

The new economy will bring about death for mediocrity and birth for innovation

Tuesday, December 9th, 2008

That’s a good thing.  Something the HH has wished for.  Now, businesses and their half-baked, live on a shoestring and deliver bad service business models — will die. I sort of feel bad for the employees that are working for companies like this, but then I don’t.  As someone that’s worked alongside mediocre business owners, [...]

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