PAIN to PROFIT$: The 2024 State of Marketing Report, Pittsburgh Goes Full 'Purge' Mode, And The Fall of American Right Media

$TREET $MART$ 
8 Things I Have Learned About Marketing

Here are my eight takeaways after 16 years in business:

1. Most people quit their marketing in the 1st or 2nd quarter of the development stage.

2. After approximately four quarters of iteration, you move out of the startup stage of marketing and into the growth and expansion phase.

3. Like business, marketing is an infinite game.

4. Lean start-up principles applied to marketing = results.

5. The build, measure, learn, iterate, and repeat method will perpetuate. The game is infinite; eventually, every lead channel runs out, and every algorithm changes.

6. We grossly overestimate the impact of marketing in the first year, and we undervalue 3-5 years of consistent marketing efforts. Stacking the channels, building, measuring, iterating and repeating

7. A business owner who stops marketing to save money is equivalent to someone who stops a clock to save time.

8. There are no silver bullets, only hundreds of golden BBs. When stacked together over time, they create a complete marketing strategy.

PUL$E
Rethinking the Thin Blue Line

The alarming decline in individuals aspiring to join the police force in cities like Pittsburgh and Baltimore is not just a local issue; it's a harbinger of a broader societal shift. The "tipping point" we're witnessing speaks volumes about law enforcement careers' changing perceptions and realities. With Pittsburgh's police ranks potentially dropping below 700 officers by 2025 and Baltimore losing nearly 300 officers in a year, the challenge transcends mere numbers​​​.

This shortage is symptomatic of deeper issues: low morale, burnout, and a perceived lack of support from political leaders and the community. Compensation remains a significant concern, with officers in Pittsburgh earning salaries that barely rose over 18 years, prompting many to seek better opportunities elsewhere. Beyond the pay, the profession's risks have been deemed too high a price for the rewards offered, influenced heavily by high-profile instances of police violence and the ensuing public scrutiny​.

These challenges reflect a crisis of confidence in policing as a profession, signaling a pivotal moment for societal reflection. Why has a career once considered noble and desirable become so undervalued and unsupported? The answer lies in a complex web of societal expectations, economic realities, and a dire need for systemic reform.

BRAND DAMAGE
The Dividing Line for American Right Media

You may have seen the weekend’s news of popular conservative journalist Candace Owens “parting ways” with the Daily Wire.

Just two days after this segment aired on Owens’ YouTube channel, the news broke.

In the fallout from the news, far less reaching conversations are starting to take place among pure bred American conservatives, Christians, and free speech absolutists where they are calling into question the authenticity of recognized conservative media outlets, chief among them being the DW.

Right now at the heart of the American right lives the question of whether or not conservative pundits, journalists, and politicians will be truly America first, upholding the principles and practices that have made her the powerful nation that she is to date, or will they make exceptions within the conflict of their personal interests?

It’s a telling question in what seems to be a national plea for integrity, honor, courage, humility, and leadership.

For context, the rift between Owens and the Daily Wire, most notably co-founder Ben Shapiro, started last year when Owens called into question what appeared to her to be blind support for Israel from the Capital and conservative news outlets.

Owens exercising her First Amendment right as an employee of an organization that has historically stood against far-left censorship tactics did not go over well with her now former bosses, with Shapiro taking to making public statements calling her a “disgrace” and questioning her intelligence. The two went back and forth on X and over the months that followed, Owens continued to double-down for a wide reaching and rapidly growing fan base that is longing for people who are not afraid to ask questions in light of the things they see happening with their own eyes.

We can be sure there were also conversations behind closed doors.

Nonetheless it culminated with the weekend’s news of the split. And it’s not the split that has people talking but the glaring hypocrisy at the center of it.

Between the DW, Fox News and a few other stalwarts folding under the nation’s current political climate, conservatives with common sense, and particularly Christian conservatives who are not ashamed to be wholly America first, are grappling with who truly aligns with them on principles thru and thru.

The beauty of capitalism and the ‘undefeated nature’ of the internet can leave us sure of two things.

Candace Owens isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

And second, the same isn’t guaranteed for outlets like the Daily Wire if they continue to ignore the conversations that are being driven by customers.

Take notes for the sake of your business.

Xcelerated Performance
Lesson on Entrepreneurial GRIT from a DRUG addict (8 minutes)

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• The United States is Threatening to Isolate Israel as War Efforts Continue.