Bredemarket

Is There a Calculator On That Slide Rule?

(Imagen 4)

Once again I’m painting a picture, this time of two people: the IT chick, deftly wielding her slide rule as she sizes up hardware and software, and the finance dude, deftly wielding his calculator as he tabulates profit, loss, and other money stuff. Each of them in their own little worlds.

Despite the thoughts of Norman Marks in his post “Cyber is one of many business risks.”

“Many years ago, my friend Ed Hill, a Managing Director with Protiviti at the time, coined the expression ‘there is no such thing as IT risk. There is only business risk.’”
“The [Qualsys] report reveals a persistent disconnect between cybersecurity operations and business outcomes. While 49% of respondents reported having formal risk programmes, only 30% link them directly to business objectives. Even fewer (18%) use integrated risk scenarios that consider both business processes and financial exposure.”

I admit that I often draw a clear distinction between technical risk and business risk. For example, the supposedly separate questions regarding whether a third-party risk management (TPRM) algorithm is accurate, and what happens if an end customer sues your company because the end customer’s personally identifiable information was breached on your partner company’s system.

So make sure that when your IT chick wields her slide rule, the tool has an embedded calculator on it to quantify the financial effects of her IT decisions.

Is There a Calculator On That Slide Rule?

Painting a Picture: The Content Challenges of a Biometric Chief Marketing Officer

(Imagen 4)

If this reads odd, there’s a reason.

Imagine a Chief Marketing Officer sitting at her desk, wondering how she can overcome her latest challenge within three weeks.

She is a CMO at a biometric software company, and she needs someone to write the first two entries in a projected series of blog posts about the company’s chief software product. The posts need to build awareness, and need to appeal to prospects with some biometric knowledge.

So she contacts the biometric product marketing expert, John E. Bredehoft of Bredemarket, via his meeting request form, and schedules a Google Meet for the following meeting.

At the scheduled time she joins the meeting from her laptop on her office desk and sees John on the screen. John is a middle-aged Caucasian man with graying hair. He is wearing wire-rimmed glasses with a double bridge. He has a broad smile, with visible lines around his eyes and mouth. His eyes are brown and appear to be looking directly at the camera. He is wearing a dark blue collared shirt. While his background is blurred, he appears to be in a room inside his home, with a bookcase and craft materials in the background.

After some pleasantries and some identity industry chit chat, John started asking some questions. Why? How? What? Goal? Benefits? Target audience (which he called hungry people)? Emotions? Plus some other questions.

They discussed some ideas for the first two blog posts, each of which would be about 500 words long and each of which would cost $500 each. John pledged to provide the first draft of the first post within three calendar days.

After the call, the CMO had a good feeling. John knew biometrics, knew blogging, and had some good ideas about how to raise the company’s awareness. She couldn’t wait to read Bredemarket’s first draft.

If you are in the same situation as the CMO is this story, schedule your own meeting with Bredemarket by visiting the https://bredemarket.com/mark/ URL and filling out the Calendly form.

Remember how I warned you that this post was going to read odd? In case you’re wondering about the unusual phrasing—including a detailed description of what I look like—it’s because I fed the entire text of this blog post to Google Gemini. Preceded by the words “Draw a realistic picture of.” And here’s what I got.

Imagen 4. I’m not on the screen, but I like the content ideas.

Imagen 4. With the bookcases. And I’ve never had a beard.

The Source of Bredemarket’s Content Creator Questions 1-3 of 7

(Imagen 4)

Perhaps you’ve seen Bredemarket’s ebook “Seven Questions Your Content Creator Should Ask You.”

If you didn’t already know this, I took the first three questions, in order, from Simon Sinek.

Regarding Sinek’s three questions, see the HubSpot post “3 Key Marketing Takeaways from Simon Sinek’s ‘Start With Why.’”

These three questions, as well as others—there are more than seven—form the first part of Bredemarket’s engagement with its clients. I ask, then I act.

I ask, then I act.

If you would like to learn more about Bredemarket’s marketing and writing services, visit my “Content for Tech Marketers” page at bredemarket.com/mark.

Stealing the Sun

(Imagen 4)

I am going to publish a lengthy blog post on strategy development on Monday, and I’m trying to keep it a serious affair.

But as I worked on one part of the past, I found myself trying to work in song references.

But rather than break up the flow of the serious Monday post, I will instead work all the references into this Sunday post and be done with them.

Because the Monday post is serious and deals with important topics such as threats to corporate revenue.

Let’s say that my messages about being afraid of competitors stealing from you have resonated.

Whether they’ve been caught stealing or not.

And you know you have a content black hole.

Not a black hole sun.

But how do you fill it?

Good question.

I will answer it Monday.

Then we’ll all get rich.

So I Did a Thing

(Imagen 4)

I be startin’ somethin’ Saturday afternoon.

Meta Mutters

The Meta properties are great for driving engagement, but Meta’s odd and untimely application of its rules can be maddening.

I was checking my personal Facebook account this afternoon when I noticed a “Profile has some issues” message and clicked on the “View details” button to see why my profile had a gold restricted minus sign.

When I clicked on the button I found a list of 11 issues encompassing my personal profile, the Bredemarket page, and the Bredemarket groups.

None later than April 17.

I discussed THAT encounter with the Metabot in my Bredemarket post “Defeating the Metabot to Share Whistic’s Survey Results.” As far as I can tell, my grievous violation was this parenthetical statement:

“(And one more key finding. Read the article.)”

I got flagged because Facebook said my content could “trick people to visit…a website.”

We removed your post. You figure out what happened.

But even after removing the parenthetical comment I got flagged again.

Eventually I just posted a link with no text on Facebook, and since that time have studiously avoided posting calls to action on Facebook posts.

But this past issue remains a present issue because my account is restricted…and I’m supposed to do something about it. But without a DeLorean I’m not sure what. I can’t remove the offending posts since Facebook already did so.

It turns out that Wendy Wilkes wrote about this in late July.

“Many users are seeing this today — it’s caused by old posts flagged by Facebook’s system, not recent activity….

You’re not alone — it’s happening to many!

#FacebookIssue #ContentCreator #StayCalm “

So I guess I will just hang tight and see if it auto clears.

And remind myself again that Facebook is not a dependable platform. That’s the message we’re supposed to get from this…right?

Today’s Acronym is PIA (Privacy Impact Assessment)

(Imagen 4)

(Part of the biometric product marketing expert series)

Do U.S. government agencies simply run roughshod over your privacy rights?

Not exactly.

Government agencies are required to issue Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs) for their projects.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation alone has issued over 60 PIAs.

For example, here is the PIA for CODIS, the Combined National Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) Index System (CODIS).

And if anything needs a PIA, it’s CODIS, since it potentially contains your personally identifiable information…and the personally identifiable information of your relatives.

The PIAs themselves are detailed. The CODIS PIA includes 8 sections with 19 pages of questions and responses. For example, here is the response in section 8 regarding privacy:

The type, quantity, and sources of information collected by FBI CODIS are necessary to identify crime scene offenders, missing persons, or unidentified human remains, or to link multiple crime scenes. Such information is only further disseminated for these purposes. Moreover, NDIS does not store State Identification Number/Universal Control Number or otherwise collect, handle, disseminate, or store contributors’ names. Therefore, CODIS DNA profiles and pedigrees can only be matched to a named individual by the submitting Criminal Justice Agency forensic laboratory, independent of NDIS.

The privacy risks associated with the collection and maintenance of FBI CODIS information are inaccurate information, unauthorized access, and unauthorized disclosures.

The privacy risks associated with the access and use of FBI CODIS information are unauthorized access, unauthorized (or overly broad) disclosures, and loss of data.

The privacy risks associated with the dissemination of FBI CODIS information are the risks of unauthorized disclosures and loss of data.

The risks of unauthorized access, unauthorized disclosures, loss of data and inaccurate information are mitigated by the quality assurance standards promulgated by the FBI pursuant to the Federal DNA Identification Act. These risks are further mitigated by the system, physical access, network-infrastructure, auditing and quality assurance controls, as described more specifically in Sections 6.1 and 6.2, which are in compliance with FIPS Publication 199, as applicable.

The risk of inaccurate information is also specifically mitigated through the identity verification process performed by participating Criminal Justice Agency forensic laboratories to confirm a potential match. The identity must be confirmed prior to the disclosure of any personally identifiable information to the law enforcement entity who submitted the DNA sample.

Lastly, notice is provided as described in Section 5.1.

Publish That Blog Post Now

(Imagen 4)

Publish that blog post now. Why wait?

Unless you have no intention of ever publishing anything. If that’s the case, it would be a waste of your time to read another word of THIS blog post.

OK, who is left?

Maybe there’s another reason you didn’t publish that blog post yet.

Perhaps you never wrote the blog post in the first place.

If that’s your problem, I will now provide you with the Bredemarket 42 step process to generate that blog post.

I kid, of course. You only need two steps.

Ask.
Act.

I ask, then I act.

Bredemarket is expert at both asking and acting, equipping my clients to get the right message out and to do it now.

Not six months from now.

If it’s winter, your “heat wave” blog post is no longer timely. Imagen 4.

After all, I’m incentivized to perform your marketing writing with both accuracy and speed. I want your approval…and your revenue.

So go to my “Content for tech marketers” page, read about Bredemarket’s services, and book a free 30 minute meeting with me to discuss your content needs.

Content for tech marketers: https://bredemarket.com/mark/

Differentiate: Don’t Make Cracker Barrel the Same As Every Other Reataurant

(Cracker Barrel, Rialto, California)

You’ve probably heard me rant about companies that fail to differentiate.

But what’s worse are the companies that have clear differentiation, but then dump it to be just like everybody else.

Take Cracker Barrel.

Changing the look and feel

Despite their manufactured nature, they clearly present themselves as a place with an old-time retro feel.

Their menu pays homage to Southern cooking, even if you’re eating at a Cracker Barrel in California or Connecticut.
The store features country music, Moon Pies, and records…sorry, vinyl.
Even the walls are covered with decorations that reflect the past. In California, that means citrus crates, plus farming implements and sepia-toned pictures.

Well, one of the items above is changing.

“The Tennessee-based company, known as much for its tchochkes as its Southern fixins’ like chicken fried steak and grits, has tossed the kitsch that drew generations of diners in favor of booths and crisp white walls.”

A move which gives the New York Post to describe the new look as “sterile.” A good word in healthcare, and maybe a good word in a restaurant kitchen, but not in the dining room.

So why do it? Because:

“CEO Julie Felss Masino admitted the chain is ‘just not as relevant’ as it used to be.”

Ah, RELEVANT. If you maintain a retro look that your competitors don’t have, you’re not relevant.

But what will Cracker Barrels become with white walls, no rocking chairs, and no Burma Shave signs?

Yawn.

A fast (food) lesson

McDonald’s learned about customer indifference the hard way. Throwing the old look into the dumpster doesn’t please people.

Years ago when I was growing up, McDonald’s was easily identifiable by its huge golden arches on the red and white striped buildings.

McDonald’s, Downey, California. Photo by Bryan Hong (Brybry26) • CC BY-SA 2.5.

But then McDonald’s decided that the 1950s-1960s look was no longer relevant and shifted to square brown buildings straight from an industrial park.

But today?

McDonald’s is making its customers happy by building huge restaurants with huge golden arches again. One is being built in my local area in Upland at Foothill and Benson. You may know Foothill Boulevard as Route 66. There are two existing golden arches restaurants on Foothill near Euclid in Upland and near Archibald in Rancho Cucamonga.

How are you differentiated?

So what happens in 2035 when some old man is telling his grandkids how cool Cracker Barrels USED to be?

You’ll have a new CEO ordering the high-traffic restaurants to cover the walls with farming implements again.

And maybe your technology company is in a similar state, sounding just the same as everyone else.

Ask yourself WHY your company is great and your competitors suck.

And emphasize your differentiators.

Bredemarket can help. Talk to me.

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