Marketing, Music, Poetry. Science
The lover I still seek
is better than me.
Infinitely small and large,
She has been where I am before,
Where they gave her trophies she wouldn’t accept.
But you can see them in her eyes.
The answer to everything is in her now
and at no other time.
She is always slightly out of reach.
The only thing she doesn’t know
is that she is too good for me.
And that’s why I haven’t found her yet.
-Craig Hordlow
craighordlow.com
You’re often in love with strangers,
And still too young to recognize
That none of your fantasies
Have ever become real.
The strongest emotions you feel
Are for those with whom you’ve interacted the least,
The places you’ve never gone, and the things you have yet to do.
With a promising future ahead of you,
You expect nothing from the present.
But someday you will be arrested by your first wrinkle,
And feel old in a bar.
You will no longer look hopefully into the future,
But woefully into the past.
I’ve been to the bottom and back.
Sometimes I leave because they kick me out,
other times I get enough sense to leave on my own,
but mostly I can’t remember why or how I left.
Usually I have to take a cab home,
and get my car in the morning.
I’ve been to the bottom a lot
sometimes I spend days there.
I take smoke breaks outside the place
which is how I’ve met friends…good friends
though I never know when I’ll see them again.
I carved my name in the bar stool,
change has fallen out of my pockets and is still in the couch.
There is a lot of me there, at the bottom,
but I only leave pieces of me
I won’t need when it’s time
to go back up.
You can tell a true lover by the gifts they give.
When you only get them on occasions,
dutifully,
when millions of people probably got the same thing,
Love is coerced.
The true lover finds you gifts
randomly, accidentally;
the world is the gift shop
for a museum about you.
She brings them to you
in cupped hands,
like a child who has found a lightning bug.
The cuff-links you didn’t know you need,
the poet you love
who just wrote a new book,
a small notepad that fits in your pocket
because you love to write.
The occasion is always,
the reason is just because.
The gifts are the reflection of your presence
in your absence,
and you will never throw them away.
Most people know that Amazon, Walmart and Instacart have paid search placements on their websites. However, you may not know about their involvement in programmatic, display, social media and Google Shopping. It is crucial for PPC marketers to understand this because retail media (a.k.a. commerce media) is driving customers to retail sites that can transact multiple brands and items in a single transaction. This is especially true at retailers that hold everyday essential items, providing a path to regular visits, both online and offline. Elizabeth Marsten, VP of commerce strategic services at marketing firm Tinuiti, shared her insights on the […]
Craig’s Discussion of Study The study below, “Bioelectric Control of Metastasis in Solid Tumors” is one of many that establishs that the immune system’s control of solid cancers is fundamentally bioelectric. I also include a discussion about canine Neosporosis – if your dog has this (mine had it), I suggest you skim through some of the first few sections to get the fundamentals for the dedicated Neosporosis section. When I studied molecular biology and biochemistry at the University of Oregon, we were trained to think of physiology in the typical antigen/antibody or as chemical reactions. Bioelectricity was not, and still […]
Haven’t we learned Clint Ober’s lesson? We’re electrical first and foremost. Ober demonstrated the central role electrical grounding, or lack thereof, has with chronic inflammation. He argued, with the evidence on his side, that the inflammation epidemic started roughly when humans started wearing insulated rubber soles on their shoes. Linking Drugs to Alzheimer’s Eclipes Chronic Inflammation History If chronic inflammation continued for years, causing oxidative stress, which affects protein folding (as discussed below in AD patients), any link a drug might have in the small window of time running up to the symptoms is myopic and naive of this fundamental […]
I cataloged and classified corporate marketing positioning and delivery (creative treatments) over a roughly 35 year period. I did this as both research for a book I began writing and haven’t finished, and to serve as a “cheat sheet” for marketing classes I taught. A great marketer is deep enough to have profound insight into human nature, but shallow enough to use it for financial gain. My inner Mr. Hyde Positioning Strategies As AL Ries and Jack Trout established, Positioning is the image of a product in the mind of the consumer, and is expressed relative to the position of […]
Frequently releasing single songs might be easier than you think. We’re living in the age of singles. As music streaming has grown in popularity over the past decade, it’s taken the single-song format along for the ride. While a full-length album shows you’re serious about your music, the digital single is an indispensable tool in an artist’s belt. Singles are especially useful for new artists, when potential fans have the choice between a 45-minute album smorgasbord or a 3-minute appetizer. When they just want to find out what you’re all about, they’re going for the bite-size sample nine times out […]
Optimize your YouTube channel to grow your audience The first big question about promoting your music on YouTube is: why? Why do the work of creating a channel, optimizing it, and building a brand on YouTube? The answer: 2 billion. That’s how many users log into YouTube per month, accumulating billions of video views each day. And that number only counts active accounts, not people who watch videos on the platform without a Google account. According to a 2019 Dataportal study, 79% of Internet users say they have a YouTube account. That makes it the second most popular social media […]
A look back on music in a tough year Look, 2020 sucked. That shouldn’t be a controversial take at the end of a year with a seemingly endless string of challenges, setbacks and generally terrible news almost every day. The global COVID pandemic hit nearly every industry square in the jaw, with workers in numerous fields out of work due to temporary (and in some cases permanent) closures. The music industry didn’t avoid the blow. With touring ceasing entirely for most of 2020 and the foreseeable future, countless venues have closed their doors for good. Artists who have relied upon […]
Your guide to maximizing your music revenue everywhere These days, there are more ways for musicians to make money from their work than ever before. In the modern era, downloads and streaming have become the new “traditional” revenue sources; that is, the ones most artists are familiar with and know they can earn money from based on use of their sound recording and composition. But a new term was needed to define the way to collect revenue from even newer, non-traditional sources. That new term is monetization. How is monetization different from other ways of making money from music? This […]
Have you ever heard actors talk about the difference between acting in a play versus acting in a film? Actors will often talk about how they have to exaggerate their movements and facial expressions on stage in order to get their point across. While on the other hand, an actor in a film can use very very subtle changes in their expression to make a connection. How is singing for live streams different than singing at a concert? If live shows are Broadway, then live streams are film. During live shows naturally you have to project more. But, when you’re […]
How to prepare for your band’s photo shoot Good photos are a key part of your promotional toolkit as a musician. Whether you’re using these photos for social media, album artwork, your Spotify profile, or getting press, your next band photo shoot should yield a variety of images that are: High-quality Visually compelling Reflective of your current style Most importantly, your musician photos should feel like YOU! To help you prepare for your next musician photo shoot, I spoke with celebrity photographer Josh Telles. I’ve had the pleasure of being on set for countless shoots with Josh (in addition to […]
CD Baby artists can access Spotify Canvas to add looping visuals to your songs Spotify Canvas is a feature that allows you to upload 3-8 second looping videos for each of your tracks on Spotify. CD Baby is really excited to get you access to this visual branding tool on Spotify, because it has proven to draw listeners deeper into the music. Spotify claims that beta testing of high-quality Canvases increased: track shares by an average of 145% playlist adds by 20% streams by 5% and profile visits by 9% Given that video can stir a more immediate and high-impact […]
How to monetize all your music on YouTube YouTube monetization is a vital source of money for many musicians — and it’s just ONE of several important forms of music revenue from YouTube. What are those different revenue sources? How is that money generated on YouTube? And how do you collect it all? Read on! Optimize to monetize Before we get too far into the topic of monetization though, it’s worth mentioning that in order to maximize your revenue opportunities on YouTube, you’ll want to make sure your house is in order. Check out “How to Promote Your Music on YouTube” if […]
