Tuesday, March 3, 2020
The Best Marketing Tips From 9 Top Influencers - CoSchedule Blog
The Best Marketing Tips From 9 Top Influencers Blog This year, sent teams to two of the largest marketing conferences in the world:à INBOUND and Content Marketing World. Together, they attracted nearly 30,000 marketers.à To make the most of it for our teams, and our lovely readers (you!), we asked some of the smarterst marketers in attendance: What is your single biggest marketing takeaway from this yearââ¬â¢s conferences? They did not disappoint! In this post, Iââ¬â¢m going to share some top takeaways you can put into action by the time youââ¬â¢re done with your next cup of java âËâ¢Ã¯ ¸ The Best Marketing Tips From 9 Top InfluencersTop Influencer Takeaways From 2018 INBOUND and Content Marketing World Table of Contents: Kathleen Booth of Impact Andy Crestodina of Orbit Media Ian Cleary of Razor Social John Hall of Influence and Co. Ann Handley of MarketingProfs Anna Hrach of Convince and Convert Julia McCoy of Express Writers Alex Schofield of Wistia Byron White of WriterAccess What Are These Conferences? Before we dive in, it may be helpful to know what these conferences actually are! If youre unsure, no prob. Created and hosted by Hubspot, INBOUND is the largest marketing conference in the world, with nearly 25,000 registrants. And Content Marketing World, created and hosted by Content Marketing Institute, is the gold-standard of content marketing conferences. Loving Boston and #inbound18 ðŸâ ðŸâ ðŸâ If youre here, swing by for some goodies and say hi ðŸââ¹ @pic.twitter.com/KHfn5XAs8J Jordan Loftis (@jordan_loftis) September 5, 2018 INBOUND features big-name keynotes like Alex Rodriguez and Scott Harrison. But the nitty-gritty marketing talks are found in hundreds of breakout sessions scattered around a giant convention center (that looks like a spaceship). I have a Ph.D. in failure, but a Masters in getting back up. I choose to focus on the latter. ââ¬â @AROD #INBOUND18 pic.twitter.com/g6AENF4jRA Jordan Loftis (@jordan_loftis) September 6, 2018 Content Marketing World is similar, with keynotes from the likes of Tina Fey. However, its razor focused on content marketing - as the name implies. Cleveland Rocks! Stop by and say to these handsome devils at #cmworld. You might even get a signed #10xMarketingFormula book! @njellering @EricPiela @garrett_moon @k_n_elson pic.twitter.com/tvFFTMMhqH (@) September 5, 2018 Each conference has value in its own right. Now, here are nine takeaways from top marketers and brands on the heels of these notable conferences. How To Use Medium For Brand Lift And Reach First up, I spoke withà Kathleen Booth, VP of Marketing atà Impact, at INBOUND. She talked about the nature of Medium as another channel in your marketing. Heres what she said: When Hubspot looks at their audience and reach on Medium, 87 percent of the people they reach are not in their contact base. Thats total brand awareness! Add to that, Medium is one of the only places on the internet where long-form content can go viral. Medium has a specific use case: brand lift and reach. But to be successful on Medium you have to work the algorithm. For example, right now, you have to get 50 people to clap within the first 24 hours to simply get on bat. If youââ¬â¢re writing stuff people donââ¬â¢t want to share, youââ¬â¢re not going to get any traction. Medium is a discovery platform. To me, this was a fascinating take on the content platform. Really, it almost turns Medium into another social network. So, if you have a Medium blog, like our 10x Marketing channel, consider digging into what makes great content spread there. And think of it as a brand lift and reach platform. Medium is one of the only places on the internet where long-form content can go viral@WorkMommyWork Write Down Big Goals, Focus On Helping Others, And Remove Distractions From Your Life Next, we caught up withà Andy Crestodina, CEO of Orbit Media, after Content Marketing World. Now, we talk to Andy as much as we can, as hes one of the smartest marketers we know. The one thing that stuck out for me (and Ive found myself talking about) was from Joe Pulizzis big-picture keynote about goals. I didnt know this, but Kung Fu legend Bruce Lee, wrote down his goals in a letter to himself. He committed to becoming an international martial arts superstar, making $10,000,000 and giving the most exciting performances to his fans. Joe suggests we all do the same by writing down our goals, focusing on helping others, and removing distractions for our lives. Great advice for marketers. Great advice for everyone. Thanks, Joe. There you have it. Write down big goals, focus on helping others, and remove distractions from your life. Its interesting that often, doing the job of marketing well means pairing your ambition for growth with a desire to be truly helpful to your audience. Write down goals, focus on helping others, and remove distractions @crestodina Content Optimization Is As Important As Content Creation Ian Cleary from Razor Socialà reflected on just how hard it is to stand out. Tactics like SEO arent innovations, theyre necessities. And 84 percent of peopleà expect brands to do content marketing. To stand out, Ian suggests focusing on optimization as well as attraction. He says: The number of companies investing in content marketing is increasing every year, so its becoming increasingly challenging to get onto page one of Google. Were not even in the race unless we produce high quality content, but we also need to focus more on the optimization of this content and promotion. Optimization includes optimization for SEO, but also includes areas such as optimization for readability, as well as attracting people you need to keep people on your site reading your content. In addition, we also need to invest more time in promoting content organically and through paid advertisement. No matter how good the content is if youre not investing the time in the promotion you wont get the value from it. Ian hints at a simple content marketing framework that works incredibly well: create, promote, optimize. Create content people love and search engines understand. Then aggressively promote that content through paid and organic channels. And finally, dont neglect] optimizing it for the long haul. No matter how good content is, without promotion, you wont get the value from it @IanCleary Dont Be A Copy-Cat Marketer John Hall, co-founder of Calendar and advisor toà Influence Co., knows a thing (or twelve) about content marketing. Influence Co. uses smartly-placed content marketing to help clients become influencers in their fields. Heres what John said on the heels of CMW: I think the biggest focus at Content Marketing World this year was what companies can do as a differentiating factor so that your customer sees you differently than others in the industry. Whether it be my talk on increasing distribution, or Jay Baers talk on Talk Triggers,à or another speaker, there were clear hints of being unique with marketing tactics and not just copy others. I think that stood out to me as something for brands to focus on moving forward. Around , we call unoriginal tactics copycat marketing. While you can certainly get inspired by other brands doing things right, copy-paste marketing jobs will give diminishing returns. Why? Because if everyones doing it, your brand looks like everyone elses. What can companies do as a differentiating factor, so your customer sees you differently? @johnhall Great Content Marketing Imagines The Extraordinary In The Ordinary Ann Handley is one of our favorite marketers, and is the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs. She reflected on one of her favorite talks, and how its impacting her brand: Dewitt Jones talked about imagining the extraordinary in the ordinary. To me, great content marketing does that, too: It takes sometimes pedestrian tactics and elevates them. I spoke about in my efforts to retool Total Annarchy, my own newsletter (AnnHandley.com/newsletter) and called out what I see others doing really well with email newsletters. (Most companies are missing the boat completely on them.) (And I say this with love in my heart.) It takes everyday customer questions and sincerely tries to deliver the best answer it can to them, to become that trusted resource. Mitch Joel, Dorie Clark, and I talked about that in our panel on Longform Content (the Long Tales, as Mitch cleverly titled it!). Robert Rose talked about this too. It takes the ordinary moments of business and elevates them into stories that resonate. On the heels of John Halls advice that we take unique paths as content creators, Anns advice is interesting. Instead of trying to go 180-degrees from the norm, she suggests elevating even the pedestrian tactics like newsletters. And how does a marketer do this? By developing trust and answering real customer questions with insight and value. Great content marketing takes the ordinary moments of business and elevates them into stories that Get One Big Idea In Motion Next, we caught up with Anna Hrach, a strategist at Convince Convert. She touched on something every marketer should note in this age of endless channels, strategies, and opportunities: It is so easy to fall in love with every amazing idea presented at Content Marketing World. But, as many of us know all too well, its also just as easy to feel completely overwhelmed and get a bit of analysis paralysis with those same ideas when you get back to the office. Instead of trying to tackle it all at once, sit down and figure out whats going to be the easiest AND most impactful to implement. Get those ideas in motion first, then go down the wishlist. Start with what will make a difference, and work your way out from there. Its so easy to catch shiny-object-syndrome. But prioritizing one big idea at a time is such sound advice. When you try to do everything, you often end up doing nothing. Start with what will make a difference, and work your way out from there @annabananahrach Trustworthy Marketers Will Cut Through The Noise Julia McCoy, course educator and CEO at Express Writers, attended CMW this year (and actually wrote a fantastic takeaway piece on it). My favorite takeaways from CMWorld 2018 (theme: Game On) would be these two points. The first - what Robert Rose said when he took the stage before the first keynote: There is a new player coming into the market: Trust. He said that trust is Player 2 in todays marketing, and hes 100% right! More and more people are looking for that trustworthy brand or marketer in the middle of all of the noise. My second favorite takeaway would have to be what Joe Pulizzi, my all-time favorite content marketer, shared in his keynote: Marketing success only takes three things. Record, Repeat, Remove. Marketing fails when our recorded goals arent big enough; when there is not enough repetition; and when we do not clear the garbage that stops us from achieving our goals. Joe shared that the minimum time was 9 months, average 18 months or longer, of implementing content to see success. These were some major takeaways that Ive been sharing on Twitter, LinkedIn, and internally with my staff post-CMWorld 2018. Julia gave us two tips for the price of one! Trust and process. Focus on building deep rapport with your audience, and remember that content marketing is a very long-term game. More and more people are looking for that trustworthy brand or marketer in the middle of all of the Get Started With Personalized Video Next, I chatted with Alex Schofield, an Account Executive at Wistia, at INBOUND in Boston, MA. The Wistia team obviously eats, sleeps, and breathes all things video marketing. So its no surprise their team had advice on doing it well. Coming out of INBOUND, our biggest recommendation for video marketing in 2019 and beyond is to start (or continue) creating personalized videos! 90% of customers say video helps them make buying decisions, and given how easy it is to record a video on your phone or with a tool likeà Soapbox, thereââ¬â¢s no reason not to add personalized videos to your tool kit. Using video to answer FAQs, offer a promotion, or just simply say thanks, will help you nurture leads through the funnel. This advice around using video in the sales process is not only a fantastic idea, but its also a great way to breakdown the classic sales-marketing silo. Given how easy it is to record a video on your phone, theres no reason not to add personalized Know Thine Audience, And To Your Own Persona Be True Finally, Byron White, CEO of Writers Access, deepened the theme of building trust by knowing your audience inside and out. Byron said: Good content marketing is all about building a relationship with your audience, so get to know the whole of their parts! What kinds of media do they inhale in their free time? Are they Mac or PC people? Caregivers with crazy schedules or data nerds with a penchant for baseball?à A holistic approach can often help you layer in unique details and interesting angles to your content strategy that makes your approach feel that much more personal to your target audience. Who is your audience? What do they care about? How can you uniquely help them? These are fantastic questions to answer about your personas. And when you do, youll find your strategy can nearly write itself!
Sunday, February 16, 2020
Understanding customer service Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Understanding customer service - Essay Example While these moments keep occurring within a business, capturing these moments remains essential in enhancing business performance. The identification of such moments therefore becomes essential in reacting to the moment of truth presented to a businessperson. Jan Carlzonââ¬â¢s moment of truth focused on instances when businesspersons came into contact with customers. While the customer remains the most influential stakeholder to the success of business, this might not be the only moment of truth. Coming into contact with customer, however, remains a significant moment because the business becomes enabled to learn about the perceptions of the customer (Carlzon 1989). Understanding these feeling and perceptions remains essential in making customer service better. Within service focused businesses, this aspect of contacting the customer remains essential as the customer consumes the services directly. Within a manufacturing industry the instances of making such contact become increasingly limited. Customers rarely have direct contact with the company and the moment of truth could be encountered through the products delivered. Encounters with realistic experiences enable visualization of experiences based on the perceptions of other individuals. Companies can improve their performance through addressing various issues occurring within a moment of truth, by initiating essential changes into business operations. Not all interactions with customers could be defined as moments of truth. Increased focus on customer interactions could provide misleading information regarding the expectations of other people regarding the business products and services. Business products can enable business customers to make decisions regarding company products or services. Moments of truth can be established through analysis of company performance, based on the vision and mission of the company. This aspect defines
Sunday, February 2, 2020
Business analysis of Guajilote Cooperativo Forestal, Honduras Essay
Business analysis of Guajilote Cooperativo Forestal, Honduras - Essay Example As a business enterprise, Guajilote Cooperative is a socially oriented not-for-profit organization of illiterate farmers who serve the market of furniture makers by providing low-priced, high-quality mahogany lumber. The cooperative does not seem to have any sufficient strategic direction beyond the good intentions of its original project proponents, the USAID (the foreign aid agency of the United States government) and COHDEFOR (the forestry development service of Honduras), to develop a sustainable model that can be imitated by other national parks for social, environmental, and political motives. Strategic direction is lacking because there are no specific plans to assess the cooperativeââ¬â¢s strengths and weaknesses and how these can help address the opportunities and threats it is currently facing. The cooperative needs a strategic plan because without one, it may lose its viability as a business enterprise and collapse from the external and internal pressures that similar organizations face when dealing with the market. This strategic direction that will allow Guajilote to continue to exist and compete in the marketplace is also known as the organizationââ¬â¢s competitive strategy, a concept that we define below. Without a strategy, the cooperative can fail as a business venture and a model project, causing serious social consequences: the shortage of mahogany lumber; the return of its members to a life of poverty; dashed hopes for Honduran farmers in other parts of the country who want and expect the project to succeed; and many other imaginable political, economic, and social costs. The strategic plan begins with an assessment of the enterprise and its business environment, and there are three popular tools we can use: the SWOT analysis (Andrews, 1971/1987; Ansoff, 1965; Chandler, 1962), the PEST(EL) analysis (Steiner, 1979; Andrews, 1987), and Porterââ¬â¢s Five Forces model and
Saturday, January 25, 2020
Discrimination against women in the world
Discrimination against women in the world The world is facing many problems that are demolishing its unity, forcing the process of making a better world harder to achieve. One of the most devastating problems yet to be solved is the womens rights against discrimination. Discrimination, according to Cambridge Universitys dictionary is the act of treating a person or particular group of people differently, especially in a worse way from the way in which you treat other people, because of their skin colour, religion, sex. Discrimination against women is a type of gender discrimination. According to the Australian Office of Anti-Discrimination Commissioner (OADC) gender discrimination occurs when someone is treated less favourably than another person because of his or her gender (Justice, 2009). Womens discrimination is a series problem, it is just not a discrimination against a minority (with all do respect to all minorities). It is impossible to realize our goals while discriminating against half the human race Kofi Annanà [ 1]à . Annan described discriminating against women discriminating against half of the human race which rely on how important the role of women in the progressing of the human race. The problem of discrimination against women was officially addressed to the world through the first couple of years of the establishing of the United Nations (UN). Women inscribed their identity as holders of rights in the founding documents of the UN-the UN Charter (1945) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) the Convention of Civil Rights to Women (1948) and the Convention on the Political Rights of Women (1952) (Jain Sen, 2005, pp. 12-13). Many countries and nations have issued legislations against discrimination, and specifically against gender or sex discrimination. One of the most notified acts against discrimination is the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 by the British Parliament. Many countries and nations have acts against discriminating women; however, women are still being discrim inated before the law (Franciscans). Discriminating against women is not just discriminating against a person it is discriminating against families as well; who would want the mother, the sister or the wife to be discriminated at work, at school or at club under no reason but solely because of the gender. The purpose of this essay is to examine the act of discrimination against women and demonstrate on how women suffer in the social life, the political arena and the workplace, and the education. Moreover this essay will adjudge the previous solutions to overcome the problem of discriminating women due to their gender held previously decades ago by countries or nations, and why they did not reap what they have sown. Ultimately, it will propose a solution on how to surmount the problem of discriminating women, because women should not be discriminated due to the prejudice against their gender. Women play the part of half the human race if they were less competent or reliable than men and do not deserve equality God would not let them share every role with men. Womens discrimination is much far from being a local issue in a certain part of the world. Women suffer from discrimination, violence and sexual harassment because women most of the times are thought to be less competent than men because of their physical structure. Women are not only discriminated in the developing countries because of the lack of sophistication, women are also being discriminated in the developed countries. Discrimination against women in the UK is deeply ingrained, a government report concludes as cited in (Barriers still in womens way, 2005). The UK, one of the most important and developed countries that plays a major role in the world issues, has a discrimination problem against women which is described by a governmental report to be deeply ingrained or firmly held that it is not likely to be changed. Thus it is a problem that needs more that attention to be solved. According to the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Data shows that discriminato ry practices against women exists and dominates in almost all parts of the world (2008). Therefore, we do not need each developed country telling a one that is not that the developed country is free from discrimination or it is in very small ratio that discrimination hardly can be found. Statistically according to figure 1à [2]à , the ratio between the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and the developing countries does not gap critically; life expectancy is more in MENA than in the developing countries while it decreases in the other areas. The world needs all countries and nations help because it is not a one nation problem it is a problem that we all command. Figure Women social life is covered by many kinds of discrimination. Women in social life suffer from many daily-life appellations, especially in the Middle-East other than the West. In the Middle-East women are classified by their relationship status other than by her contribution to the community. While searching for life partner men get repelled from divorced women. In the process of searching, most of the men search for virgin girls whether those men have previous relation or not. Divorced women are treated different than married women. Whereas single-mothers most of the time do not marry after their first marriage because men do not want extra burden or responsibility. On the other hand single-fathers easily can get married most of the time as there is no social norm against them to re-marry. Single mothers do not refuse to marry, however, they are refuted by the men how are seeking marriage. Divorce is more costly for women than men. The most common impact of divorce on women is the f inancial insecurity it creates, increasing the possibility of poverty for them and their children. Data show that after divorce, women experience a 73 percent loss in their former standard of living and men experience a 42 percent rise (Headlee Elfin, 1996, p. p.52). Not only divorce leave women socially downgraded it also leaves her in economical insecurity, and if a women is supporting a child the disaster will be doubled. According to Clarke-Stewart Brentano, divorced women make only five new friends in the first year of divorce due to the emotional damage of divorce (2006, p. 70). Women are more likely to have blighted social life than men after divorce. Nevertheless, society does not welcome divorcees leaving women in a dark corner of the society. Politically, women suffer from a great impact from discrimination. Women have been discriminated in the political arena, as the society gives the women politicians less creditability than men due to some ideas stuck in the minds that women are more likely to be secretaries other than being the boss. The media has a huge impact on such negative ideas, giving the women always as the soft secretary that has a model body shape and a voice that rhymes with music. According to Abdel-Wahabs film, he sketched a wife being a CEO in a governmental institution, while the employees of that institution do not believe that a woman can hold such a sophisticated position (1966). In that film the female CEO proves to her husband and to her employees at the end of the film that she is as competent as any male CEO that has ever held this position. This is the kind of media that needed to be seen today, not the ones that weaken the image of women and strengthens the stereotyping of them in politics and in workplace. According to Constance B. Morella a US Republican Congresswoman, who represents the Seventh District in Maryland, in politics (once elected) there is equity in terms of salary, but not in terms of leadership. Women are excluded from many issue areas and commissions where they might serve as cited in (Headlee Elfin, 1996). In the US congress the government cannot give smaller salary to women, of course or it would be contradicting its own policies out in the public, nonetheless, they do not give women the right of leadership as they might provide help to their country, the US- her country- deny the womens help in leadership. Unlike men, women pursue politics for the sake of issues and morals not for career advancement. The rejection of women being in the political arena gave them the opportunity to be more active volunteers than men, which gave them more than enough experience to successfully enter the political arena (Headlee Elfin, 1996, p. 26). Men do not have an e xtra brain that makes them excel in politics and likely women do not, hence, they are equal and should have equal political opportunities. Women went to work thus, affecting the mens jobs and the economy mainly because of money. Women worked because they did not have husbands as unmarried or divorced, or they had husbands who were in low-pay jobs. In 1994, 59 percent of married women were working for pay which increased by 19 percent from 1970 (Headlee Elfin, 1996, p. 3). As of discrimination in the work place, statistically, pregnant women suffer widespread discrimination at work, figures show, with almost one in 14 mums-to-be denied opportunities for promotion and one in 50 demoted (Pregnant Women; Discrimination at work, 2006). Pregnant women takes the largest piece in the pie chart according to discrimination, some of the pregnant women do not even get paid for maternity leave, while, some of them do not get promoted and some get demoted.
Friday, January 17, 2020
American Buffalo
On April 4, 2010, I was proud to see the play American Buffalo by David Mamet at our very own Meramec Theater, where the small cast of three performed within the confines of a little, rickety pawnshop that was cluttered with antiques. Within the play, Donny Dubow, the supposed owner of the shop, unknowingly stumbled upon a highly valuable buffalo nickel, which he eventually sold to a stranger for only ninety dollars. When he learned that the coin was worth much more, Don gathered his friends, Bobby and Teach, to plan a heist to get the coin back into their possession.Mametââ¬â¢s spectacular use of action and dialogue expertly exhibited all three characterââ¬â¢s unique personalities, but the story didnââ¬â¢t come alive until the second act. Donnyââ¬â¢s constant concern for Bobbyââ¬â¢s health made Don appear to be a good man, who cared for others more than he did himself. For example, when Bobby mentioned that he had skipped breakfast that morning, Don gave him a wad of cash and persisted that he bought himself some food. He even pressed Bobby to get something healthy to eat much like a parent would do to their child. He said, ââ¬Å"You canââ¬â¢t live on coffee, and you canââ¬â¢t live on cigarettes.Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. â⬠Even though the second line is a tad cliche, these lines show that Don is compassionate and that he truly cares about Bobbyââ¬â¢s well-being. Bobbyââ¬â¢s character obviously had some sort of mental problem, but there was never any talk about his condition. His idiosyncrasies and mannerisms exhibited his handicap without having one of the other characters simply blurt out the word ââ¬Å"retard. â⬠For example, Bobby had a difficult time processing simple questions and following along with everyday conversations.He would either reply with short, simple answers or proceed to stutter the word ââ¬Å"yeahâ⬠in a sluggish tone. His hands always remained jammed deep into his pockets, and he constantly stared down at his feet with his tongue jabbing into the inside of his cheek. Bobbyââ¬â¢s awkward body language and his somewhat childish dialogue was all the audience needed to see that Bobby was a little slow. Walter ââ¬Å"Teachâ⬠Cole appeared to be quite the opposite. His vulgar dialogue and boorish behavior revealed him to be a complete asshole. Every sentence that spilled from his lips was littered with curse words and a crude sense of humor that always seemed to put other people down. For instance, in the beginning of the second act, he barged in the door, shouting ââ¬Å"cock sucking fuck head,â⬠and when Don had mentioned one of his many acquaintances, Teach simply replied, ââ¬Å"guys like that I like to fuck their wives. â⬠Also, when Bobby was quietly sitting on a dusty ottoman in front of a large, lounge chair, Teach jumped into the chair and kicked Bobby in the back, sending him to the floor.Even though the elderly people in the front row didnââ¬â¢t appreciate his dirty mouth or crude behavior, I believe that Teachââ¬â¢s character was used to keep the audienceââ¬â¢s eyes glued to the stage much like an intriguing line or hook in the opening paragraph of a good story. Even though the characters in American Buffalo were unique and well written, the first act bored the audience with mundane dialogue. The actors took turns pacing back and forth through the piles of junk, sitting in random chairs that were scattered throughout the shop, and conversing over tedious everyday things such as breakfast or the chance of rain.I believe the majority of the dialogue was meant for the audience get to know each individual character, but it rarely seemed to ever connect with a major conflict. Don, Bobby, and Teach would ramble on and on about a card game that took place the night before or plan a heist that never actually happened. In an attempt to be entertained, the audience spent the majority of Act One watching Bobby slowly eat a piece of pie or stare aimlessly at the ceiling, even when he didnââ¬â¢t have any lines. The audience wanted action, and Bobby was the only one that delivered.Act Two was chock-full of intense action and deeply emotional dialogue. When the lights came on and the play continued, the sound of rain and a hint of thunder echoed throughout the room and Bobby entered from behind the audience with his hair wet and his jeans tattered. He began spitting out sporadic bursts of short sentences in between gasps for breath, which brilliantly exhibited Bobbyââ¬â¢s distress with some well structured dialogue. Teach suddenly grew hostile. He then slammed a metal lunch box over Bobbyââ¬â¢s head and proceeded to knock over tables of antiques. He even threw an old clock into the top of the front counter, sending bits of glass all over the stage. I understand that Act One may have been necessary to build the play up to such a climactic ending, but American Buffalo showed me just how effective a great ending can have on its viewers. American Buffalo has opened my eyes and shined a much needed light on my perspective of writing a first-class story. Itââ¬â¢s hard to believe that less than a week ago I viewed literature as purely a glorified way to play with words and bend my readersââ¬â¢ thoughts of the world, but American Buffalo rattled my brain and knocked some sense into me. It taught me just how short peopleââ¬â¢s attention spans truly are, and Iââ¬â¢m no exception. Act One nearly put me to sleep. Donââ¬â¢t get me wrong. David Mamet is a fantastic writer, who exhibited Don, Bobby, and Teachââ¬â¢s unique personalities through some extraordinarily lifelike dialogue, but real life conversations can be quite dull at times. People tend to talk in circles and repeat snippets of each otherââ¬â¢s responses. Drama and fiction arenââ¬â¢t real, but it is the writerââ¬â¢s job to make the story feel real while keeping people interested with some action and a compelling conflict. American Buffalo American Buffalo, the drama play of David Mamet revolves around three themes; friendship, success/failure and deception. To answer the question of how does American Buffalo present friendship as an absolute good, I have taken major help from answer. com displaying many instances where friendship, loyalty, and faithfulness have been the circle of attention. When American Buffalo opens, Don is lecturing Bob on the importance of committing himself to the ââ¬Å"businessâ⬠deal they have made; Bob is supposed to be watching the target of their robbery but has instead returned to the junk shop.Don tells him, ââ¬Å"Action counts. Action talks and bullshit walks. â⬠After Bob apologizes, Don protests, ââ¬Å"Donââ¬â¢t tell me youââ¬â¢re sorry. Iââ¬â¢m not mad at you. â⬠What the audience learns from this remark is that Don is genuinely interested in helping Bob become more astute in the ways of their own brand of business. (Answers. com) Donââ¬â¢s father-figure i nterest in Bob is implied through the advice he offers him on a number of topics.When he sends Bob to the diner to get coffee, he insists that he buy something for himself, since ââ¬Å"Breakfast is the most important meal of the dayâ⬠; later, he urges Bob to take vitamins. His most important lesson, however, is what he tells Bob about friendship: ââ¬Å"Thereââ¬â¢s lotsa people on this street, Bob, they want this and they want that. Do anything to get it. You donââ¬â¢t have friends this life. . . .â⬠The implied end of this sentence ââ¬â ââ¬Å"is worth nothingâ⬠ââ¬â reveals the high value Don places on friendship and people protecting each other from what he calls the ââ¬Å"garbageâ⬠of the world.As the play proceeds, Bob is revealed to be a drug addict, frequently asking Don for money to support his habit ââ¬â which Don ââ¬Å"lendsâ⬠him, preferring not to press him for explanations. By the end of the play, however, Don forsakes his f riendship with Bob in the name of business ââ¬â an action which causes him a great deal of shame, since he knows he has failed to follow his own advice. The last scene of the play shows their relationship being rebuilt and Don trying to make amends for his doubting the strength of Bobââ¬â¢s devotion. (Answers. com)Like Don, Teach too seems to hold up friendship as an absolute good. He enters the play cursing Ruthie, a mutual friend, for making a joke when he took a piece of toast off her plate at the diner. Her remark of ââ¬Å"Help yourselfâ⬠causes Teach to rage at her for forgetting all the times he has picked up the check. Ruthieââ¬â¢s remark has hurt Teach because she has not lived up to the code of friendship that he assumes he embodies. (Answers. com) However, when Teach sees the chance to make ââ¬Å"real classical moneyâ⬠in Donââ¬â¢s robbery scheme, he immediately tries to talk Don into dismissing Bob.Hiding his avarice under the guise of ââ¬Å"good business,â⬠Teach convinces Don that Bob, although Donââ¬â¢s friend, is not a good candidate for such an operation: ââ¬Å"A guy can be too loyal, Don. Donââ¬â¢t be dense on this. What are we saying here? Business. â⬠When Don does remove Bob from the plan and their plot begins to turn awry, Teach suggests that Bob has betrayed them ââ¬â a false implication which, nonetheless, is believed by Don until the final scene of the play, when he realizes that it is he who has betrayed Bob in the name of ââ¬Å"good business.â⬠(Answers. com) References American Buffalo (Themes). (n. d. ). Notes on Drama. Retrieved May 17, 2008, from Answers. com Web site: http://www. answers. com/topic/american-buffalo-play-4 American Buffalo (play). (2008, April 6). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 08:43, May 17, 2008, from http://en. wikipedia. org/w/index. php? title=American_Buffalo_%28play%29&oldid=203659519
Thursday, January 9, 2020
Wednesday, January 1, 2020
The Promising Future of Chinas Economy Essay - 960 Words
The Promising Future of Chinas Economy If Chinas economy grows as fast for the next 20 years as it has for the past 14, it will be the biggest economy on earth: I feel that Chinas drastic improvements over the last 14 years are overwhelming, with their Real GNP growing at a rate of 9% a year, which means by, 1994, Chinas economy will match the performance of countries like Japan and Taiwan. Chinas standard of living has also increased, and the number of people who were considered absolutely poor decreased approximately 63%. I feel with the vast amount of people living in China, and the economic activity booming like it is, Chinas exports will continue to grow, as well as the standard of living. This willâ⬠¦show more contentâ⬠¦Market Splintering: l feel that China should allow labour to become freer, because this will allow workers to be better suited towards their jobs, and therefor they workers will be more effective. Infrastructure: l believe that China has to build a railway system, so it will not have the highest utilisation rates for freight traffic. l also believe that China should give incentives for students to enter higher education. Government Finance: l think that the government should stop making up for losses of state-owned firms, and stop paying subsidies to these firms and consumers, hence the budget gap would be more than closed. Why privatisation may not be needed: Privatisation in many cases may not be needed because the government supports many businesses and purchases their products. If the companys are open to the market, many jobs will be lost. If foreign ownership buys it up, many jobs will also be lost, as well as many profits and products. State owned firms are not ready for the market, because they are geared for the bureaucrats and not customers. They are more concerned with the welfare of the employees rather than efficiency. 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