Just now I wanted to find out what the most up-to-date odds were for Big Brown to win the Belmont Stakes.
So, I searched "Belmont Stakes Odds". The surprising thing is that no gambling sites have search campaigns including that search phrase. It's three hours before the race.
Seems like a missed opportunity.
Click the image on the right for larger screenshot.
By the way, he's a 2-to-5 favorite -- meaning you'd have to bet $500 to win $200.
Enjoy the race.
Lulu is one of the neatest services I've seen in a long time, and I have been meaning to talk about it
for a while.
What is Lulu?
Lulu provides short-run manufacturing of books for self publishers, among other things. It basically allows anyone to write and create a physical, paperback book. In addition, Lulu provides services for reviewing content, editing, formatting, and promoting your book.
The Pros
The Cons
Feedback/Insight
Have you or someone you know used Lulu? If so, let me know. I have been thinking about writing a basic guide to marketing for a while and Lulu seems like the perfect route for it.
Any feedback you have would be much appreciated.
Which one are you, a thinker, a tinker or a tanker?
A thinker develops theories, thinks about the "big picture" and strategy, but isn't a hands-on person.
She doesn't like the trial and error method.
The tinker has many hobbies, likes trial and error, and she likes variety.
The tanker gets things done. The tanker takes out the garbage while cooking breakfast and gets the kids to school, in 45 minutes flat (33 minutes with no traffic). The tanker has processes they've built over time and they work, for her.
Does your view of yourself match up with your actions? Does your job match up with your style?
Tonight is Oscar night. It's party time for many. 
I thought I'd pass along a link to an interesting Oscars article, title "Oscars by the Numbers".
Also, here's a link my post from the past about the PR value of winning an Oscar.
Happy New Year. 
Being that it's New Year's Eve, I am thinking about some things I want to accomplish in 2008.
I understand this is a selfish post, as it mostly pertains to my goals. However, I am interested to hear what goals other people have, so please share them in the comments. If there is any information I can share related to yours I'll be sure to do so.
I think that writing goals down (and posting them online apparently) with steps on how to achieve them is a good way to stay on track.
So, allow me to share some personal and professional goals 2008.
Professional Goals
One of my (professional) goals in 2008 is to grow my network of interesting and talented professionals in the Twin Cities.
To do this, I am going to actively participate in trade organizations, networking events and meeting new people on a day-to-day basis.
Another goal of mine is to take on freelance marketing projects in 2008. To do this, I am going to launch a personal Web site -- www.craigrentmeester.com -- complete with a portfolio of past work and information about my personal/professional background.
Hopefully, those two goals will complement one another.
Personal Goal
A personal goal I have is to do at least six days worth of big mountain skiing in 2008. To do this, I am going to take a trip in February to Colorado. Hopefully, I'll be able to take another long-weekend trip next Fall to either Montana, Utah or California.
Hopefully the weather cooperates :)
What are your goals for 2008? How will you reach them?
Here is a link to an interesting article I read earlier this week and meant to link to sooner. It is from Search Engine Watch.
If you don't read their blog already, I strongly recommend it. It usually has useful tips and data regarding (obviously) search engines.
It’s likely that your ad or article
will get flipped past or skimmed over. 
People rarely read magazines and newspapers cover to cover. Rather, they'll scan headlines and articles for articles and topics that are relevant to them.
What does that mean?
Use great, eye-catching images.
Write in small, digestable chunks.
Use lists and bullet points when possible.
Here is a good reference article that I found about writing on the web.
To keep things light, I figured I would dig up some renditions of theme songs.
Not only are these performances fascinating, they go to show how catchy theme songs can actually be.
Good work guys.
I'd like to say thanks to those of you who visited this blog, posted insightful comments and shared links. It's the users and contributors that make it worthwhile.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Craig
In media relations, the person to contact is the editor. Depending on the size of the publication, and especially at daily newspapers, it will likely be the editor a particular section (National, Local, Sports, A&E, etc. )
When establishing contact with an editor, or journalist, it's important to know what you can expect and what your media contact will expect. Here's brief list of items to prepare for journalists once they've decided to move ahead with story on your organization
Company History - View an example.
Fact Sheet - View an example.
Logos - Print (300 dpi) and Web (72 dpi). dpi = pixels per inch.
A person that is available for comment. Preferably, someone with clout that manages or leads the department that the article is covering.
Product/service Information
Contact Information
Milestones and Awards, etc. - This may already be covered in the company history depending on the design.
For publicly-traded companies, the journalist or editor will want to financial results for the past fiscal year, the company's stock symbol and which Index the company is listed on.
Other helpful things to provide are recent press releases, if they apply to the story angle, and links to other coverage you've received in the past three months. Journalists do not want to rerun a story that someone else has already done.
In return for doing this work, gathering these resources and making people available for the media, you're ultimately guaranteed nothing. News controls the media.
However, you should expect to be notified by the publication if a story doesn't run that was expected to.
Here is a fluid list of stories that publications often run.
Business Profiles
Business Issues
Case Studies
Columns
Interviews
Seasonal articles
Sidebar
How-to articles
Interviews
Op-Ed
Personality Profile
Human Interest
Essay
Exposé
Photo Essays
Letter to the Editor
Reviews (Products, Services, Movies, etc.)
If you have additions that you'd like to make to this list, feel free to do so in the comments section.
Another thing that newspapers often do is run a picture with a caption, but no story. This works especially well for things related to weather or a time of the year.
It allows people to submit their photos to the newspaper and for organizations to submit photo news releases.
I am posting this poll to find out what users think about widgets and third party add-ins and how they affect a Web site.
For example, widgets are like the translator in the upper right corner of this blog.
Add-ins would be considered the search box that have on the right-hand side of this blog, which is sponsored by FreeFind.
I am interested in seeing the results.
Please vote only once and feel free e-mail a link to this page.
Personal Branding Magazine released its second issue yesterday. As such, I thought I'd make my article available at no charge.
Credibility in the Application Process
By Craig Rentmeester
The job hunting protocol has changed. Five years ago, when
Friendster was the social network of choice, online resumes were not widely
used. Today, as most people are aware, online resumes, phone interviews and in-depth
background checks are commonplace. To succeed in today’s world, with more
frequent job and career changes, one must be familiar with the interviewing
process, and how it relates to their personal brand, more than ever.
This article is written assuming the worst case scenario; your
brand, and network of contacts, is extremely underdeveloped. You haven’t taken
the time to develop tools that work for you professionally, such as
professional profiles, association memberships or, my favorite, a blog. Below
you’ll find advice regarding online resumes and gaining entry into a company
when your network can’t help.
Online Resumes
As a recent job hunter myself, I think online resume
submissions are a pain. Yes, it makes it easy for a company to collect hundreds
of resumes efficiently. However, there is a downside that doesn’t come without
consequence to the candidate. One downside of online resumes is the lack of
standards from one company to another. Some organizations require you to build
a resume within their site. In my opinion, there aren’t many companies worth
doing this for. It takes too much with too little guarantee that you’ll make it
through to someone with hiring authority. Also, file formats can leave
candidates looking ridiculous. At a job interview for a position that involved
marketing and graphic design work, my resume looked as if it were designed by a
six year old. There was no alignment whatsoever. I was appalled when I saw it.
Luckily, I corrected the mistake by handing out resumes that I printed out
beforehand.
File formatting problems occur when companies don’t accept
files in PDF format, even though it is the universal way to send and receive
documents. As any frequent computer user will tell you, Mac and PC users alike,
Microsoft Word’s .doc format can play tricks with formatting.
Another thing that I dislike about online resume submission
is that each candidate’s resume ends up looking roughly the same. Any
risk-taking possibilities are minimized when resumes must be submitted as MS
Word documents.
From an Expert
To gain insight as to how candidates can stick out from a
pile of resumes, I got in touch with Sue Dorgan, assistant vice president of
human resources at M & I Bank. With 12 years of experience in human
resources, she provided advice and identified pitfalls that are useful to those
in the job hunt.
“Let the recruiter know that you have applied online and
give them the spelling of your last name, so they can look you up in their
applicant system,” Says Dorgan. “Then, let the recruiter know that you have
questions regarding the position and you would appreciate a return call.”
“Most recruiters will return your call,” added Dorgan. “When
they do return your call, inquire about the interview process and express your
interest in meeting with the recruiter personally to discuss your
qualifications, but don't go overboard and be pushy. The last thing you want to
do is have the recruiter get a negative impression of you.
Dorgan estimated that over one-third of the applications she
receives have spelling or grammatical errors.
“Online applications are even worse in terms of error ratio,
with approximately 50% having spelling errors,” said Dorgan.
In my mind, with all of the user-generated content on the
Web today, spelling and grammar are two things that aren’t taken for granted
anymore. YouTube, AIM and MySpace have exposed low quality writing skills that
many people possess today.
Spelling and grammar mistakes damage credibility and reputations, two pillars of any strong brand.
The In-Person Pitch
Assuming you’ve networked well enough to get your resume
forwarded on through friends, there will come a time when you don’t know
someone at company you’re interested in. Sometimes, the company will even put
“no phone calls, please” in the job posting itself.
How are you supposed to differentiate yourself, show
interest in the job, and get your foot in the door from applying solely online,
without knowing anyone internally at the company? You won’t. This company has
nothing invested in you or your network. Thus, the company has no reason to
think you’re any different from any other applicant. Once you’ve realized this
situation, it’s time to alter the odds more in your favor.
I suggest taking a page out of the direct sales playbook.
Show up at the company. Then, ask for five minutes with either the person
handling the hiring or the department manager.
Before doing this, you should find out the contact for the
position. It will help you get your foot in the door. Also, you should create a
data CD or DVD with your cover letter, resume, reference sheet and relevant
work examples. Use this disc as your leave behind.
This tactic won’t always work, but it can help you get past
the red tape that companies put up, for some reason, during the interview
process.
Another way to get a brief meeting, and some valuable face time, is to call and ask for an informational interview. Most companies, and professionals, will oblige. This can, and should, be done even when you’re not looking for a job. It helps grow your network and can help with landing a job in the future.
I’d recommend using these tactics if you’re looking to relocate to new area, out of state.
The Takeaway
So, to recap, the takeaway points of this article are to
follow up with companies you’ve applied to, proofread everything more than
once, and if your network can’t help you gain entry into a company, don’t be
afraid to show in person, prepared to give your pitch.
One of my beliefs is to be successful you need to make it easy for people to do business with you.
There are many ways to do this. I just had another first-hand (negative) experience this week.
The Situation
A lady (salesperson), whom ever I've never met nor talked to, called me to introduce herself and wanted to give me a rundown of the services that her company provided. She had worked with our company in the past and basically wanted me to add her to my metaphorical rolodex.
So, rather than wasting my time on the phone with her, I told her to send me e-mail describing their services.
I gave her permission to send bacon. Not spam. Bacon. E-mail that I don't want right now, but may have utility in the future.
She did.
Great. I have her contact info and 250+ words on what her company offers.
However, she didn't attach a Vcard to the e-mail.
(click on the small image on the right to view a sample Vcard.)
She took the experience from run of the mill -- what I wanted at the time -- to a pain the ass.
Lesson: Make it easy for people to rally behind you and get your contact info.
Here are some links for how to make a Vcard in Outlook and Outlook Express.
When I think of White Castle I think of love and affection.
Click on the image for a larger version.
If you're in the market for a slider or an engagement ring, the White Castle/Castle Jeweler is on the Corner of 32nd and Lyndale in Uptown, Minneapolis.
If you like this picture, then you'll probably like this Web site.
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