Yes, everything: movie stars, movies, musicians, rock stars, politicians, television shows, artists, heck, even toilet paper! Have you seen pictures of Marilyn Monroe before they packaged her? Lovely, but she wasn't Marilyn Monroe yet. Look at what was created with just some vision and know how.

                 "Don't go looking for atmosphere, bring it with you"

Innocent sounding, but given the source, it is  a powerful example of good philosophy and excellent marketing.

It's a quote from Geoffrey Holder. Remember him? He's the uncola nut guy. He's tall, like a genie, with a deep resonant voice. You can't mistake him for anyone else. Not only is he an entertaining and colorful individual, but from this statement, he seems to have a great awareness of how to package himself as an entertainer and artist. I'm pretty sure this pronouncement was spontaneous, but it does coincidentally dovetail into the image we all have of Geoffrey Holder as a performer. Maybe nature packaged him, but there is nothing vague about who he is or his professional image.  

To introduce it to the public, every smart idea needs to be packaged in some way. Sometimes the genius of an idea is in the packaging. That's how powerful packaging is. How fantastic is the pet rock idea without the support of packaging and then marketing? Both things are integral.The complete thing is integral.

We have been learning how to write good copy, how to make a clean, aesthetically pleasing website. That's presentation and packaging. After we package our product, we are learning to market it online, which involves SEO, paid advertising, and articles. Add to that, all the clever things that we discover on our own through trial and error. The whole process is dynamic and that's the fun of it. All the pieces can be changed and tweaked, rearranged, wrecked, then remedied.

Confession time. I've suffered from a degree of intimidation, but maybe only just a little bit. Must get it into my head that IM is not so drastically different from promoting products on land. That powerful little box, called a computer sometimes intimidates me.  You may or may not have the same issue. Guys, I am so looking forward to the time I am as comfortable with the "box" as I am with a paint brush and stick of charcoal. Do you think that will ever happen? I am two with technology. I'm a good sport though. Hanging in there.

That being said and gotten over with, whew... humbling, I love to play games. Do you like games too? Here's a pretend game for you. Imagine you have the next HOT product in your hot little hands, and it's up to you  to launch it, make it or break it. How do you feel? How are you going to handle it? Oh yes, online, offline.