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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), 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, among others.

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 Racer 5 and Dogfish Head, master Japanese gardens, xeriscape, politics, and music.

email charles at vendorcloud@gmail.com

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“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 [...]

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 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 each [...]

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 [...]

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, [...]

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 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 is on [...]

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 [...]

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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