Victims of domestic violence are often in a pretty bad way by the time you come to know them. Surprisingly one out of every four LGBT persons are battered by their partner. Here is a good definition from The Network La Red a Boston, Massachusetts based organization that advocates for victims of abuse:

What is abuse?

Abuse is a pattern of behavior where one person tries to control the thoughts, beliefs or actions of a partner, friend or any other person close to them. It can include physical, emotional, sexual and/or economic abuse. While some folks who are abused fight back, abuse is never mutual. Domestic abuse happens in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and straight communities and crosses all social, ethnic, racial, and economic lines. An individual’s size, strength, politics, gender presentation, or personality does not determine whether s/he can be abused or an abuser.

Sadly, in a report from October 27, 2005 by the GLBT Domestic Violence Coalition and Jane Doe, Inc., found that 57% of GLBT Domestic Violence victims become homeless(you can download a copy of that report from this link HERE).

If you happen to find yourself in that situation or know of someone who is the one thing keeping them in an abusive relationship maybe not knowing they can go someplace safe and not have to live on the street.

The Network La Red is a place to turn in those situations. You can reach them at The Network/La Red Hotline, 617-423-SAFE (7233) v 617-338-7233 TTY, and speak with a staff member or a trained peer volunteer, You can also go to their web site for help by clicking to The Network La Red HERE.

Economically China represents a wonderful opportunity to reduce the costs of goods being developed and a market for new goods. But when it comes to Christianity, it’s not welcome at all. Please read this story about Zhang Rongliang being imprisoned at this link HERE or at Radio Free China at this link HERE.

Is this a commercial market with no soul in China? I’ll be the first to confess I am not an economist. But I do live in a (mostly) free market system in the United States. What do I think makes our system works? A few pieces really but they work together, sometimes painstakingly slowly, but they appear to work together none-the-less. Those pieces are:

• A (mostly) free market (for commerce, thought, social ogranization and communication)
• Democracy of government
• A social system that enforces the rule of law where people won’t behave morally or ethically
• Some ingrained sense that ethics and people matter (imperfectly even; with a chance to change people’s views where they don’t)

I don’t pretend it’s perfect. For example, Morwen posted at Gentilly Girl a report that made me furious regarding the doctoring of a plan to develop Category 5 hurricane protection across the state of Louisiana. The doctoring was done, inexplicably, by the White House! (you can read her post at this link HERE). So no, we aren’t perfect. But what we have does seem to work and has stood, for now at least, the test of time.

But certainly you have to take a pause when you buy that $25 chair at the local shop and it’s been made in China. I love the low cost goods and in my professional work the pressure to “go to China” for manufacturing is very high. Still, reports like the one on Zhang Rongliang have made me pause as I reach for that inexpensive dress. In this country I can usually (though not always) work for change. In China, I fear that may not be possible. A free economy is only part of what it takes to have a free country. You must have freedom of thought too and trust that your people, though they will voice an opinion, love their country enough not to tear it apart but to see it made better.

Have you ever thought about your job in the negative sense being positive?

I can here you saying to your screens now over your latte’s “Becki, lay off the sauce”. Hey, I’m serious here!

Let’s take a look at some recent examples then you tell me, are negatives in marketing really positive in disguise, or do they go too far to get attention?

Culprit #1
As reported in the June 12, 2006 Wall Street Journal, the Dixie Chicks are postponing as many as half the 42 dates announced for their coming “Accidents and Accusations” concert tour that was reported to start on June 21st. The article digs into some apparent disagreement that the band is having with it’s traditional fan base (country music) as it finds it is having more broad appeal, in Europe of all things. The key thing I want to highlight though from the article is this; they are getting press and visibility and that for free due to the bands friction. I wonder how many people are being reached to think about or to investigate the Dixie Chicks who might not otherwise have? Sounds like a negative win to me.

Culprit #2
Who would think the “Fresh Maker”^(TM)“, Mento’s Candy, would cause such a stir. As if you didn’t get enough zip from your rum and cock, two enterprising “inventors” have come up with a mentos and coke for a smashing good time (see story about them at the Boston Globe here). In a nutshell, the two invented a way to make geysers out of combining Mentos the candy with Coca-Cola. The result is quite explosive as you can see on this video of the event at this link HERE. Do you know what Mento’s did when they heard of this rather unusual use of their famed candy? They put the video up on the Mento’s main web site! That’s right. Instead of sueing the inventors or issuing a press release that such use of Mentos is improper, they highlighted it. Guess who’s got lots of sweet mindshare from what might have been a negative message on what to do with their candy? Mentos of course.

What does this all mean?
Well some types of negative marketing are good and working with it can actually draw more people, eyeballs, minds and money to you rather than push them away. So what negative things have happened to your company’s message that could actually be a positive? Have you reacted to embrace or embellish the negative to advantage your company, organization or group or have you tried to distance yourself, and why? These lessons work for non-profit and for-profit companies alike. Look carefully at those negative messages though. Like magnets with opposite polls set together the negative message may bring positive results to your bottom line.

(negative photo courtesy of Saudi Photo, via Creative Commons License)

I’m not exactly a pro when it comes to customer service but of this much I am sure, when a customer is angry, it’s always better to listen to them. Angry customers will say things to harm you, maim you and generally make you feel bad. They may be mostly wrong BUT their hearfelt and raw input is just the thing you need to make your business, service or organization of any kind more customer responsive and successful. It’ll hurt in the short term but help you in the long term.

Some companies can’t hear that though, and so resort to bizarre means to shield themselves from the customer onslaught and then mask it as being more attentive to the customer. The primary means of this is either technology that makes it appear (at least statistically) that you are getting better service or by offshoring and throwing poor souls trained only to follow a script at the problem.

I think the best most recent example of how not to hear your customer’s though is found in this post at the Inquirer about Sutton & East Surrey Water. In their own words:

LONDON’S second-leakiest water company has installed paradigm shifting leading edge award winning new technology that promises to do absolutely nothing to help the poor, dehydrated suckers who make up its customer base.

You can read the story for yourself by clicking HERE

(super cute photo courtesy of Shopping Diva used under Creative Commons License)

Ar de ar mate and hoist the jolly roger your bound to set sail for fun with Dead Man’s Chest!

Pirates of the Caribbean, Dead Man’s Chest is a really fun movie. I liked the original, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Curse of the Black Pearl and was hooked on Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), the Undead crew and the man who most embodies what a pirate is (in my opinion) Captain Barbosa (Geoffrey Rush). Pirates of the Caribbean, Dead Man’s Chest, is no slouch either.

The movie begins with Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightly) being served a summons for their arrest in helping Captain Jack Sparrow in the first film. Through various means (that I shant reveal less the movie be spoiled) Will and Elizabeth escape to find Jack in order to clear both their names. And here is where things get interesting as both Will and Elizabeth are thrust into the midst of Captain Sparrows grave misfortune; he owes a blood debt to none other than Davey Jones, himself cursed and the Captain of the Flying Dutchman. Jack must figure out how to pay off this debt while Elizabeth and Wil try to figure out how to clear their own names. Sound straight forward enough? Well it might be except this is a pirate movie.

Ahhhh pirates. You can’t trust them, or can you? One double cross and surprise leads to the next as personal vendettas are intertwined with others. It seems you can’t trust anyone.

The movie starts a bit slow and picks up the pace gradually until the finish. Ahhh the finish, it will surprise you and is the best bridge to a third movie I’ve ever seen. Well worth seeing, mate!

(Photo courtesy of Venturout Photos, used under Creative Commons license)