Here’s an amazing story of a guy that discovered how to basically make money out of thin air, or fresh soil that is. You see I used to know this guy. Lets call him Tom. Tom sold dirt. That’s right, he sold dirt fresh out of the ground. It all started when he began leasing a vacant lot not far from my house. While passing by I saw his beat up truck sitting there with Tom beside it, drawing lines in the ground. I couldn’t figure out what he was up to but he certainly had a plan. A few days later I couldn’t believe it when I saw a huge pile of dirt now sitting in the middle of the lot. Now, when I say huge, I am not talking about a few feet tall. No, this heap was at least the size of a small house, just sitting there.

About 3 years ago I got really angry with something that Wolf Blitzer said on CNN, and I canceled my cable. At the time everyone thought I was crazy. well actually everyone still thinks I am crazy, but not as much as back then. Because now a days services like Hulu and Netflix are slowly carving away at cable television’s stronghold. Despite the fact that these companies are obviously following a much larger trend, it seems at times it has been an uphill battle.

So, doesn’t it seem that if you were one of the few startups pitted against the largest media industries in the world you would do everything you could to tie up revenue leaks? You would think so, but that doesn’t seem to be the case for Hulu.

You might already know that I hate advertising. I think ads are bad marketing, bad at monetizing, and bad for branding. So then you might be asking yourself why do companies like Google do so well with Ads? The success of Google’s ad program is due in large part because they have positioned their ads along side their user’s intentions. For example if I go looking for a new set of wheelchair tires, Google will show ads that match my intention. Google’s ads are positioned to be an integral part of their service. Now don’t get me wrong, it often seems that Google is expanding their ad program to an almost obnoxious level, but at least their model still fits the medium.

Last week I talked about how marketers should leverage culture to promote brands. Today I would like to talk about why we also can (and should) change culture.

As I watched the video above I couldn’t help but ask myself, “Is marketing changing culture? Or is culture changing marketing?” Or in other words, are these ads changing our perception of beauty or is our perception of beauty changing the ads? I still don’t have the answer, but maybe it;s a little bit of both.

In the end it doesn’t really matter, the bottom line is that the concept of “ideal beauty” has been around for a very long time. However, that doesn’t mean that it has to continue, and as marketers we have a unique ability to make a difference. Because as marketers we, in part, define culture.

Back in November I shared this image on Google+. Chris Brogan, re-shared it and then 370 others followed suit! It is by far the most popular thing I have posted on Google+. Also, in April I blogged about how a piece of my content went viral on StumbleUpon, which as of today has gained over 1.2 million visitors.

Every time a piece of my content goes viral its completely unexpected and leaves me asking, why? I could just ignore things and go eat hot dogs, but, as a marketer its my job to answer that question.

Recently Jared Keller tried to answer this question, and in my opinion did a great job. Keller tells us that the secret to virality isn’t structure or social tools but rather the inherent culture of the given online ecosystem:

Once upon a time there was a commercial printing company. Of course this wasn’t just any company. This particular company was once regarded as a leader in its region, often winning awards for excellence. However, as time passed technology evolved and changed not only the process of printing but also the consumer demands. Needing to respond to these changes, the owner of the company upgraded their production capabilities by purchasing a digital press. In layman’s terms a digital press is similar to a giant computer printer. With it, a company can produce the same high quality printing that a large commercial offset printing press can but at smaller quantities and directly from a computer or workflow server. Digital presses not only allow for companies to streamline the production process but they also open up new avenues for more customized products such as variable printing.

Oh yes I can already hear the champagne bottles popping! Happy new year! 2012 is going to be an amazing year! Have you made your resolutions yet? If one of them is to be a better marketer then I have a secret strategy in store that is sure to get you started on the right foot!

Some define marketing as a process which creates wealth. So if you want to get better at marketing then you need to get better at creating wealth. I am a big believer that practice makes perfect so how about start creating some wealth right now for an organization that needs it? No I am not talking about SEO or social media. I am not talking about PPC or conversion optimization.