Damn. Can't sleep. I must share a true story:
During my fertile years, I made a point of having my annual PAP smear, pelvic and breast exams, and getting my pills refilled, at a local women's clinic which also provided abortions. I thought they needed my support.
Every weekday morning, women seeking access to the clinic's driveway had to pass a group of 5-10 dedicated sidewalk protesters, mostly retirees and mostly Catholic, who stood quietly by, held up signs, and prayed their Rosaries. No big deal.
Free speech, free assembly, and they stayed on the public side of the property line. Occasionally one of the group led the Rosary with a megaphone. Again, free speech. Stressful and annoying to listen to for hours on end, but it's their right.
But the real circus was on Saturday mornings, when local fundamentalist churches sometimes brought out protesters by the busloads. They were well-armed with megaphones and powerful lungs, and shrieked at women entering the driveway: "DON'T KILL YOUR BABY." They sometimes attempted to block the driveway and used cameras to intimidate women entering the clinic. Women had to run a formidable gauntlet just to enter. So the clinic had escort volunteers and a security guard for the weekends.
Anyway, women would go there for all sorts of reasons: abortions, birth control pills, pelvic exams. But of course it was assumed by the Conservanazirepubliscum that each and every woman was cheerfully marching in there to terminate her pregnancy, so they shouted at women on a regular basis: "DON'T KILL YOUR BABY!"
But one Saturday morning I realized that they were only shouting at PARTICULAR women.
I pulled in for my exam appointment and to have my pills refilled. I drove past the screamers, drove up the driveway and into the large parking lot in the rear, safely surrounded by private property.
A moment later, another, younger woman pulled into the adjacent parking, space: she was attractive, tall, slender, lovely ... and African- American. While I gathered my things, she got out of her car. I called out, "be careful, those guys are whacked. Be sure to lock your car." She did so, and walked toward the clinic's entrance. I could hear the crowd singing "Jesus Loves the Little Children," but I noticed something -- they did not scream directly at her. In fact, they glanced at her and completely ignored her. She entered, and the door closed behind her.
I was about 20 steps behind this young woman. But as my WHITE baby-makin' hips approached the door, the screams began in earnest: "DON'T KILL YOUR BABY! DON'T KILL YOUR BABY! PLEASE COME TALK TO US! WE'LL ADOPT YOUR CHILD!"
I had started to open the clinic door, but my blood boiled. I let go of the door, and I marched to the foot of the driveway. I went nose-to-nose (just on the clinic's side of the property line) with the Alpha Screamer. I made a theatrical gesture of clearing out my ears, and snarled, as I pointed behind me: "I didn't hear you say that to the woman who entered before me! Or did I have wax in my ears and I missed that?"
He did not respond, but resumed yelling "PLEASE DON'T KILL YOUR BABY! WE HAVE WET MOTHERS! WE CAN ADOPT!"
This time I shouted back: "You didn't answer my question! WHY DIDN'T YOU URGE THAT BLACK WOMAN NOT TO HAVE AN ABORTION? WHY DIDN'T YOU OFFER TO ADOPT IT? YOU DON'T WANT BLACK BABIES, DO YOU?"
I was again ignored, and screamed at not to kill MY imaginary baby.
So I said, "What if I wanted to keep a baby? What if I didn't want to give it up for adoption? Would you help me then? Would you help pay my bills? And help me finish college?"
Again, I received no answer, just more shouting.
I whirled on my heel, flipped them all a double-handed bird, and marched into the clinic. As I approached, I noticed a couple of people peeking out the door.
In a much, much calmer voice, I asked the packed waiting room (about 50/50 black and white): "How many of you African-American women were screamed at not to have an abortion?"
Not a single hand went up.
Then I said, "How many of you white women got screamed at?"
EVERY HAND went up.
I said, "Fucking racists. They want white babies, and they want us to GIVE them to them to brainwash. They don't care what happens to black women or black babies." Then I sat down.
This spurred a discussion about the venomous sexism and blatant, undisguised, shameless racism all rolled into one big, stinking shitpile of hatred and herded into church busses. The KKK in Jesus T-shirts. Two busloads of 'em. EVERY SATURDAY. Most of the women there were in tears. One of their male companions bolted out the door to give the screamers a piece of HIS mind.
I started volunteering as a clinic escort after that -- I'd been through non-violence training, but I was also belted in a martial art and not afraid to use it to defend myself or another if I absolutely had to.
When Operation Rescue came to town, the same observations were made by all clinic volunteers: minority women did NOT get yelled at to give up their precious bundles of joy for adoption. But EVERY white woman was body-blocked and otherwise interfered with as she attempted to enter the clinic. All of us clinic defenders came away bruised simply by body-block contact with those lunatics (the idea is to surround the woman and get her safely inside). I had bruises even though I had worn motorcycle leathers for the job.
My Granny used to call such hypocrisy, "The Devil in a Sunday hat." Wise words, those.
So...this throws another bag of Ugly into the fray. Sexism and racism. A desire for total control over women, and for a permanent underclass. It makes me so sick I can't sleep. Didn't get any sleep last night either.
Y'all, "The Handmaid's Tale" really is coming if we al don't get off our butts and DO something.
For progressive and tech savvy business-to-business companies, traditional marketing techniques like entire departments dedicated to cold calling potential clients have largely been retired to the trash folder. Instead, these companies are rapidly embracing technologies and practices aimed at increasing productivity, using social media more effectively, and providing engaging and informative content to potential clients. For a deeper look at these trends shaping B2B marketing in 2011, read on.
Quantifying Value Creation
If you’re looking to make your case to another business, come with lots of data, says Keith Pigues, co-author of Winning With Customers: A Playbook for B2B. You’ll need to quantify your value to customers in terms of dollars and cents, something known as “customer value creation.”
"Many organizations are finding that some of the more traditional customer satisfaction or customer loyalty measurement systems like ‘net promoter score’ are falling short when trying to provide a real financial measure to companies to help them understand exactly, 'how much more money am I making doing business with your company verses Company B or C?,'" says Pigues.
To accomplish this, companies are looking to third parties for help. Among them is Chicago-based Valkre, a technology provider that specializes in helping companies customize and match sales solutions to specific customers, implementing marketing strategies that increase a company's online visibility, and creating daily management plans that use mainstream technology.
Valkre founder Jerry Alderman agrees that the next evolution in B2B marketing involves businesses attempting to understand how the services they're offering truly impact the bottom line of their customers. Valkre has created a new metric, called the differential value proposition or "DVP", which measures the amount of increased profit that a customer can bring in by doing business with one company versus another. Unlike net promoter score, the DVP percentage metric was designed for use specifically within the B2B industry.
Targeting Online Identities
Whittling down to the individual buyer will increasingly be the objective in online B2B marketing, even in terms of broad awareness campaigns, says Steven Woods, the Toronto-based CTO of Eloqua. Instead of generalized marketing initiatives, companies are beginning to analyze the online behavior -- also known as digital body language -- of individuals involved in the B2B industry in an effort to pinpoint the specific buyer whose needs best fit the services of the seller.
Through the collection and analysis of data, companies are discovering ways to link varied online "handles" across social networks to a single individual they wish to target for marketing purposes. "The vanguard will see a lot of people in 2011 figure out the identity management challenge and be able to understand ‘you’ across those identities and understand how your activity on Facebook, on Twitter, on LinkedIn, and the various social properties indicates your buying intentions," says Woods.
The goal is to cater marketing content to customers depending on where they are in the buying process. To accomplish this, Tableau Software, a Seattle-based seller of B2B software, uses a method of "scoring" visitors that come to their website. The more that users visit, the more their scores increase, allowing the algorithm to filter them into the programs within the site that speak to their interests. Thus, Tableau targets customers based on their online behavior rather than the demographics provided by their firm or industry.
"The trend of 2011 is that marketers are as interested in delivering relevant content to relevant people, as they are to stopping the delivery of irrelevant content to irrelevant people," says Elisa Fink, Tableau's vice president of marketing. "We don't want to be spammers. Every engagement with a company is really an engagement with a person."
Getting Creative with Content
In terms of the content being delivered, B2B companies are encouraging members of their technology departments to build their personal brand and further the recognition of their company by becoming "expert" bloggers and content creators.
"The winning marketing skill set that is going to be very much recognized in 2011 is not going to be the creative copywriting, artistic skill setm," says Woods. "It's the person who understands numbers, analytics, data, workflow, the operational skill set."
This can be accomplished via the company website, Twitter stream, LinkedIn discussion group, and even the employee’s personal blog.
Woods explains that part of this trend is a move in favor of less polished content and faster production times. In the past, all marketing materials were placed under intense scrutiny before anything was put online to represent the company. Now, personal engagement is en vogue, whereby the members of a company with active knowledge about products can engage in two-way conversations with clientele on the fly.
"[The content] might even have spelling mistakes in it. If it's a video, it might just be a very quick, ‘hey, here is how I tackle this problem, here is how I view the latest merger in the industry, or view this latest technological development,’" says Woods.
Some B2B institutions are also beginning to explore new approaches to their chain of command within marketing initiatives. In larger B2B companies, the IT department typically reports to the operations department because that's where the most money has traditionally been invested. According to Alderman, that is now changing. He points to a major player in the industry taking the approach of having their IT department report to their marketing department. By doing this, information regarding a business' technological holdings and services can be more accurately and efficiently marketed to potential clients.
As the Web 2.0 advances into a new decade, B2B marketing strategies will also continue to develop. Indeed, there are an increasing number of digital platforms, like social media, for marketers to explore. In 2011, the winners will be the ones that are best able to target their efforts to their customers’ online habits and interests, and provide true value – and be able to prove it – to users.
bench craft company
Robert Reich: The Real <b>News</b> on Jobs
On our current trajectory, the unemployment rate will continue to decline. But so will the pay and benefits of most Americans. The real story isn't about jobs, it's about the ever decreasing standard of living for the middle class.
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Bad news gets worse on Gulf beaches: 80 dolphins and counting. Posted Mar 5th, 2011 at 10:22 AM and seen. times. Only a few weeks ago, scientists were alarmed at the unusually high number of baby dolphins washing ashore on the beaches ...
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bench craft company
Robert Reich: The Real <b>News</b> on Jobs
On our current trajectory, the unemployment rate will continue to decline. But so will the pay and benefits of most Americans. The real story isn't about jobs, it's about the ever decreasing standard of living for the middle class.
Bad <b>news</b> gets worse on Gulf beaches: 80 dolphins and counting <b>...</b>
Bad news gets worse on Gulf beaches: 80 dolphins and counting. Posted Mar 5th, 2011 at 10:22 AM and seen. times. Only a few weeks ago, scientists were alarmed at the unusually high number of baby dolphins washing ashore on the beaches ...
AMERICAblog <b>News</b>: Military will keep stripping accused WikiLeaks <b>...</b>
News and opinion about US politics from a liberal perspective.
bench craft company
bench craft company
Robert Reich: The Real <b>News</b> on Jobs
On our current trajectory, the unemployment rate will continue to decline. But so will the pay and benefits of most Americans. The real story isn't about jobs, it's about the ever decreasing standard of living for the middle class.
Bad <b>news</b> gets worse on Gulf beaches: 80 dolphins and counting <b>...</b>
Bad news gets worse on Gulf beaches: 80 dolphins and counting. Posted Mar 5th, 2011 at 10:22 AM and seen. times. Only a few weeks ago, scientists were alarmed at the unusually high number of baby dolphins washing ashore on the beaches ...
AMERICAblog <b>News</b>: Military will keep stripping accused WikiLeaks <b>...</b>
News and opinion about US politics from a liberal perspective.
bench craft company
Robert Reich: The Real <b>News</b> on Jobs
On our current trajectory, the unemployment rate will continue to decline. But so will the pay and benefits of most Americans. The real story isn't about jobs, it's about the ever decreasing standard of living for the middle class.
Bad <b>news</b> gets worse on Gulf beaches: 80 dolphins and counting <b>...</b>
Bad news gets worse on Gulf beaches: 80 dolphins and counting. Posted Mar 5th, 2011 at 10:22 AM and seen. times. Only a few weeks ago, scientists were alarmed at the unusually high number of baby dolphins washing ashore on the beaches ...
AMERICAblog <b>News</b>: Military will keep stripping accused WikiLeaks <b>...</b>
News and opinion about US politics from a liberal perspective.
bench craft company
Robert Reich: The Real <b>News</b> on Jobs
On our current trajectory, the unemployment rate will continue to decline. But so will the pay and benefits of most Americans. The real story isn't about jobs, it's about the ever decreasing standard of living for the middle class.
Bad <b>news</b> gets worse on Gulf beaches: 80 dolphins and counting <b>...</b>
Bad news gets worse on Gulf beaches: 80 dolphins and counting. Posted Mar 5th, 2011 at 10:22 AM and seen. times. Only a few weeks ago, scientists were alarmed at the unusually high number of baby dolphins washing ashore on the beaches ...
AMERICAblog <b>News</b>: Military will keep stripping accused WikiLeaks <b>...</b>
News and opinion about US politics from a liberal perspective.
bench craft company
Robert Reich: The Real <b>News</b> on Jobs
On our current trajectory, the unemployment rate will continue to decline. But so will the pay and benefits of most Americans. The real story isn't about jobs, it's about the ever decreasing standard of living for the middle class.
Bad <b>news</b> gets worse on Gulf beaches: 80 dolphins and counting <b>...</b>
Bad news gets worse on Gulf beaches: 80 dolphins and counting. Posted Mar 5th, 2011 at 10:22 AM and seen. times. Only a few weeks ago, scientists were alarmed at the unusually high number of baby dolphins washing ashore on the beaches ...
AMERICAblog <b>News</b>: Military will keep stripping accused WikiLeaks <b>...</b>
News and opinion about US politics from a liberal perspective.
bench craft company
Robert Reich: The Real <b>News</b> on Jobs
On our current trajectory, the unemployment rate will continue to decline. But so will the pay and benefits of most Americans. The real story isn't about jobs, it's about the ever decreasing standard of living for the middle class.
Bad <b>news</b> gets worse on Gulf beaches: 80 dolphins and counting <b>...</b>
Bad news gets worse on Gulf beaches: 80 dolphins and counting. Posted Mar 5th, 2011 at 10:22 AM and seen. times. Only a few weeks ago, scientists were alarmed at the unusually high number of baby dolphins washing ashore on the beaches ...
AMERICAblog <b>News</b>: Military will keep stripping accused WikiLeaks <b>...</b>
News and opinion about US politics from a liberal perspective.
bench craft company
Robert Reich: The Real <b>News</b> on Jobs
On our current trajectory, the unemployment rate will continue to decline. But so will the pay and benefits of most Americans. The real story isn't about jobs, it's about the ever decreasing standard of living for the middle class.
Bad <b>news</b> gets worse on Gulf beaches: 80 dolphins and counting <b>...</b>
Bad news gets worse on Gulf beaches: 80 dolphins and counting. Posted Mar 5th, 2011 at 10:22 AM and seen. times. Only a few weeks ago, scientists were alarmed at the unusually high number of baby dolphins washing ashore on the beaches ...
AMERICAblog <b>News</b>: Military will keep stripping accused WikiLeaks <b>...</b>
News and opinion about US politics from a liberal perspective.
bench craft company
Robert Reich: The Real <b>News</b> on Jobs
On our current trajectory, the unemployment rate will continue to decline. But so will the pay and benefits of most Americans. The real story isn't about jobs, it's about the ever decreasing standard of living for the middle class.
Bad <b>news</b> gets worse on Gulf beaches: 80 dolphins and counting <b>...</b>
Bad news gets worse on Gulf beaches: 80 dolphins and counting. Posted Mar 5th, 2011 at 10:22 AM and seen. times. Only a few weeks ago, scientists were alarmed at the unusually high number of baby dolphins washing ashore on the beaches ...
AMERICAblog <b>News</b>: Military will keep stripping accused WikiLeaks <b>...</b>
News and opinion about US politics from a liberal perspective.
bench craft company
Robert Reich: The Real <b>News</b> on Jobs
On our current trajectory, the unemployment rate will continue to decline. But so will the pay and benefits of most Americans. The real story isn't about jobs, it's about the ever decreasing standard of living for the middle class.
Bad <b>news</b> gets worse on Gulf beaches: 80 dolphins and counting <b>...</b>
Bad news gets worse on Gulf beaches: 80 dolphins and counting. Posted Mar 5th, 2011 at 10:22 AM and seen. times. Only a few weeks ago, scientists were alarmed at the unusually high number of baby dolphins washing ashore on the beaches ...
AMERICAblog <b>News</b>: Military will keep stripping accused WikiLeaks <b>...</b>
News and opinion about US politics from a liberal perspective.
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