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Charles L Martin's Blog

Charles L Martin has spent a lifetime experiencing hard won sales and marketing battles in the fashion (7th Avenue), film (Hollywood), beverage (Worldwide), and financial industries (SoCal).

His clients, past and present, include Liz Claiborne, Tommy Hilfiger, Esprit, D.F. Sanders & Co., more than 25 A-List actors and producers in film, Rhino Chaser's Beer, Signature Nannies, among others. By clients, he sometimes means "bosses" and sometimes "clients".

The concept of Anticipation Marketing is his specialty.

He loves marketers and sales hacks. He loves (or dislikes) your company. His rants 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, Stella Artois, and Craft Beers like Craftsman and Dogfish Head, master Japanese gardens, xeriscape, politics, and music.

email charles at vendorcloud@gmail.com

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  • The brand room

    « Previous Entries

    “Rush” to pay it forward

    Saturday, October 24th, 2009

    I just ran the requisite 3 miles this morning.  My shoes felt like 25 pound barbells tied to my feet.  Definitely not getting enough TLC on the running game.  But will.
    I loaded up the ipod with new (old) Rush that I hadn’t really examined since maybe junior high.  That’s what we called middle school when [...]

    Fedex’s Free Resume Offer — no thanks

    Monday, March 9th, 2009

    What’s wrong with this picture?
    FedEx announced today that they will print 25 resumes for free for any job seeker so in need.
    As discussed before, the resume is dying a slow death. The idea of sending the information electronically or through the long tail (like how this blog basically represents who I am) is the way [...]

    The Hothead Pro Bono Challenge

    Saturday, February 28th, 2009

    As I’ve posted recently, this is a great time to lend your skills to those that could benefit from them the most.  I’m not talking about writing checks.  We all have skills writing checks unfortunately.  I’m talking about paring off 2% of the time you dedicate to your workday, your coffee ritual, or your family [...]

    Fresh & Easy Reneges on It’s Coupon Program

    Thursday, February 12th, 2009

    Many of you know my love for good companies, good service and an overall new and useful take on something old and tired.
    Grocery stores fit this model. I shop almost daily for this household’s groceries and I can easily tell you how much a certain family staple costs at each store. I scan [...]

    Some marketers just can’t help themselves

    Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008

    Wandering around the web and bumped into this little ditty from Frontier Airlines. 

    Playing with words and phrases and changing the spelling is cute, but then they go and add a tag line that adds even more angst. Ya… I get it… it’s supposed to relate to their animal mascot.  Any great advertising professor would cut this to [...]

    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, I [...]

    31 Gifts for the Holidays

    Sunday, November 23rd, 2008

    There are only 31 days til Christmas.
    As a nice closing to the year, the hothead will share 31 gifts of news, information, discounts, and advice to get your 2009 off to a money saving start.
    Here’s the first.  The secret code for 40% off any Hertz rental.  Add in your AAA number and you’ll get more [...]

    Get ready for deals

    Tuesday, November 18th, 2008

    For the first time in many years we are going to see deals that redefine “free” in stores across the country this holiday season. I was at a nearby mall in the past days and was able to receive 65 and 70% reductions overall at major stores JCrew and Martin & Osa. This [...]

    Sticky, Tricky, and Quickie

    Monday, September 8th, 2008

    This is a new formula I devised for media marketing.
    Sticky — get yourself into all aspects of the audience you are selling to.  YouTube.  MySpace.  Cover songs to make your way into the hearts and minds…
    Tricky — Buy CDs or Books 100% similar to your product and resell on eBay at full price.  See other post [...]

    Try this new site for party music

    Monday, June 30th, 2008

    If you don’t care who sung “Tequila”, then you should check out DPM Records.  My day-job boss invests in this company and it has promise.  They’re leaning on the long tail pretty hard and have begun to find their niche.  I’ll review the site more thoroughly later, but get a few songs and see how [...]

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