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Some of the First Businesses to Have Mascots

The concept of mascots to help promote businesses and drive up profit margins is as old as businesses themselves. In the United States some of the first mascots to be used by businesses were: – The Quaker Oats Man (The Oldest Dating back to 1877) – Aunt Jemima – Uncle Rastus (Cream of Wheat) – Uncle Ben (Rice) – The Campbell Soup Kids – The Morton Salt Girl – The Sunmaid Raisin Girl – Sailor Jack and Bingo (Cracker Jacks) – Mr. Peanut (Planter’s) – Betty Crocker – Elsie the Cow (Borden)

Historical Business Mascots and Controversies

Many of these icons have become household names and are easily identified by Americans and many people from around the world. Historically, some of the mascots listed above became very controversial and had to undergo a transformation. Aunt Jemima became associated with slavery and a negative connotation of a subservient role of female African Americans. The company removed the headscarf and dressed Aunt Jemima in more fashionable clothing. Uncle Ben and Uncle Rastus (Cream of Wheat) underwent some revamping, but none as drastic as Aunt Jemima. Uncle Rastus was originally a woodcut likeness and evolved into that of an unnamed waiter from Chicago. Many people had issues with the term Aunt and Uncle being used for the African American mascots. This was used often to refer to mature African Americans by whites and held a negative connotation for several years.

Mascot Transformations to Keep Up With the Times

Not all mascot transformations by businesses are due to controversial reasons. Betty Crocker has been through eight transformations over the years. Largely the transformation is to keep her looking fashionable and resembling women of today. Also, her current incarnation is such that it is almost impossible to tell what race or nationality she is.

The Sunmaid Raisin Girl had her inception back around 1915. She was based off of a young girl in California. It originally was a picture drawn of her. The updated version is a computer graphic of the original with a few differences, but it is still based upon the original girl.

Mr. Peanut has pretty much maintained his identity over the years. He’s underwent three transformations. Also, he has maintained the monocle, cane, and white spats.

Modern-Day Business Mascots

They may not be the first businesses to have mascots, but they are certainly some of the most popular. The Pillsbury Dough Boy came of the scene in 1965. He has become synonymous with warmth, happiness, and good feelings about baking. Over the years has likeness has been replicated into: banks, cookie jars, salt and pepper shakers, stuffed toys, greeting cards, keychains, and kitchen utensils to name a few.

Cereals, especially those targeted at children, have many well-known mascots. Snap, Crackle, and Pop, Tony the Tiger, Lucky, and Captain Crunch are all household names children and parents are familiar with. These mascots have also undergone transformations over the years with generally an updated drawing of the cartoon mascot.

Some of the most well-loved business mascots have been the brain child of Geico car insurance. The Gecko has been running for several years on and off as their signature mascot. Also, the cavemen they featured became so widely popular that a sitcom featuring them was started.

Where Business Mascots are Heading

As technology changes the way business is conducted and marketed, so will the need for changes in mascots. Mascots are now on the Internet to help promote products, services, and political campaigns to name a few. The Internet mascots may have a virtual reality feel to them or resemble people. Often they are computer generated characters that have a cartoon or anime quality to them. Many are designed to be thought of as cute and instill positive feelings about products.

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The Shaggy Dog is a black and white 1959 Walt Disney film about a youngster who is turned into a sheep dog by a magic ring. Aside from its comic merit, it is noteworthy as being the first Walt Disney live-action comedy ever made. A testament to its appeal is the number of remakes and spin-offs based on this source material.

The Shaggy Dog most famously starred Fred MacMurray as Wilby’s father, Wilson. MacMurray had enjoyed a run of success in the late 30’s and throughout the 40’s, straddling the fence between likeable rubes and hardboiled heels. One of his more unforgettable roles was that of Walter Neff, the insurance salesman in Billy Wilder’s 1944 classic Double Indemnity. By the early and mid 50’s, however, MacMurray had experienced a dearth of suitable roles. The Shaggy Dog was essentially, and reluctantly, his second wind. The success of the film launched MacMurray back into the limelight and led to his being cast in The Absent-Minded Professor, Son of Flubber, and, perhaps most famously, in the long-running television show My Three Sons.

The plot follows the adventures of Wilby Daniels, played by Tommy Kirk, a teenager perpetually misunderstood by his father, Wilson, played famously by Fred MacMurray. Wilson thinks his son is out of his mind due to the number of crazed, and dangerous, inventions the young man creates. On a whim, Wilby and his cohort, Buzz Miller, played by Tim Considine, escort a new French exchange student, played by Roberta Shore, to the local museum. Once there, Wilby is separated from the others and stumbles upon Professor Plumcutt, played by Cecil Kellaway. The professor lectures him about the legend of the Borgia family and their shape-shifting ways. Incredulous, Wilby accidentally finds the Borgia ring, wherein he reads its inscription, and is transformed into the French student’s Old English sheepdog. The crux of this transformation and misadventure is the fact that Wilby’s father “hates dogs.” Wilby and Buzz are soon involved in a case of espionage centered on the French exchange student, Francesca, who turns out to be more than meets the eye.

In 1976, Disney produced a sequel to The Shaggy Dog, entitled The Shaggy D.A. It followed the adventures of a fully grown Wilby Daniels, played by Dean Jones. It was a relative success, but never lived up to the appeal of the original. In 1988, this was followed by a made-for-television third installment entitled The Return of the Shaggy Dog.

In 2006, Disney released a very loose “remake” of the original feature with an entirely different story and characters, unrelated to the original trilogy. It met with modest success. As a tie-in with the theatrical release of the 2006 film, the original 1959 movie was re-issued in the United States as a special DVD entitled “The Wild & Wooly Edition.” This new edition featured two versions of the movie: the original black and white version and the newer colorized version.

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I’m sure you want to have a business that lasts for the long haul. There’s a lot involved in running a business, but you want to run it to make money day in and day out maximizing your profits while minimizing your work load. One way you can to this for the success of your business is by building an opt in email list. You can talk to just about anyone who is doing well online and they will tell you that building an opt in email list and monetizing it effectively often becomes their bread and butter.

So now you’re all pumped up and ready to conquer the world with your new found knowledge. You start to apply all the techniques to build that powerful list but… after all the time you’ve put in to make it work… it doesn’t. You’ve built it up, but it still doesn’t make you any money like everybody says it should.

Unfortunately you could even be losing money because the cost and maintenance to building an opt in email list are more than the profits that you receive from the unresponsive list.

Well you keep saying to yourself that everybody says, “The money is in the list”, but you are just shaking your head saying this is bull and doesn’t work. So you give up on the idea of building an opt in email list and go on to other things.

Even if you are resisting the idea of trying to build a targeted email list, DON’T. This needs to be a major piece of your business and a vital part of your success. Just be determined to learn it the right way and not give up until you are successfully building and properly monetizing your list. You will look back and really be glad that you did.

So what are the challenges holding you back from building an opt in email list? I’m sure you’re already aware that there are many factors that are involved in successfully building an opt in email list and then monetizing it correctly. Other’s have written whole courses and books on the details of this subject, but for the purposes of this article, I’m going to explain how you should be thinking even before you use any list building techniques. If you don’t have these certain approaches, when building an opt in email list, all the techniques in the world won’t help you.

Before even starting a list, like building a house, a solid foundation must be laid for the whole structure to stand for years to come. The foundation of building an opt in email list has 3 mindsets. If you apply these in your list building from the get go, you will greatly improve you chances of building an opt in email list the profitable way.

1-Focus on quality and not just quantity.

It’s been proven over and over again that a smaller quality subscriber list will always out perform even a huge list with low quality prospects. Your mindset has to be to approach building an opt in email list with the addition of only quality prospects. It can be more difficult to do this, but in the long run you will be ensuring your long-term success, versus having to waste you time and eventually dump a list that doesn’t produce.

But again it’s going to take more work in building an opt in email list that’s effective and profitable. This article isn’t about the how’s as much as the mindset or thinking that you use to approach your list. Again if you stick with the proper mindset you will have success.

2-A second mindset is talking to each person on your list on a one to one basis. Many people make the mistake of communicating on a mass scale as if they were in front of a huge group of people giving a speech. Try not to take this approach

Just be personable and when you are writing an email you are writing it for just one person. You want them to feel that you are there for them (of course you should be) and you really want to help them. They are on your list for your expertise and help you can provide them. Never give the impression that you are too big and important for your prospects.

If you really do this, you will create a win-win situation for everyone.

3-Take the time to put together the optimal system to attract your perfect subscriber. Then you can direct your marketing efforts to drive prospects into this winning subscriber funnel.

I’m sure you know McDonalds. Who hasn’t… I’ve probably eaten there 100’s of times in my lifetime. Well Ray Crock the founder of McDonalds developed a restaurant that was efficient, great quality and a real money maker. He kept tweaking it and developed a system that anyone could reproduce, if they followed his plan. He franchised it and now you have McDonalds all over the world having the same great success, because the system was a winner before rolling it out on a mass scale.

It’s absolutely a waste of time to just haphazardly pull prospects from anywhere, thinking they will eventually act on your offers. They won’t and you’ll be frustrated. It takes some work to building an opt in email list the right way, but it will be well worth it.

Some final words to wrap thing up. Building an opt in email list is done one person at a time. Don’t try to talk to everyone, but focus on being personable and talking to one person at a time. Actually imagine they are sitting right next to you and you are talking to them. That’s the feel they should have when you are communicating with them. Don’t try to fake it. Be yourself and don’t try to act like you’re a big company. Even if you are a big company, don’t act like it. You will have more response when you are personable and treat your subscriber or customer like you care.

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When operating trade show booths, it is very important to have a promotional plan in place. Without one, the promotional aspect of the business can be complete and utter chaos. That is certainly something you don’t want. You want a plan where everything is organized because nothing works without some kind of order. That is why there are processes to virtually everything and trade shows are definitely not an exception. There is a process to setting up the booth and there needs to be one for promoting the booth as well, so a promotional plan must be put in place.

Promotion is the biggest part of your marketing. You have to promote your booth before the show, at the show, and even after the show. So many trade show exhibitors do not have a solid plan in place that takes care of all three of these areas. The reason is because of the budget. Some believe that they cannot do such promotion on their budget. It is true that money will decide how much promotion can take place, but the budget can serve has a good guide as to what can be done and how much of it can be done. A little is definitely better than none at all. One sale can be the difference between making money and not making money, so every little bit helps.

When creating your promotional plan, it is a good idea to have a theme in mind that can be remembered by those you are promoting to. This should become a significant part of your promotional plan. You want to determine who it is you need to target and you may even want to consider having different approaches for the different types of people you are aiming for. You want to do such things as broadcast faxes, direct mail, PR sponsorship, advertising, and utilize the internet as much as possible. Of course how much of this you do depends on your budget, but try to touch each area at least a little bit so that you can get the word out in many different areas.

When using such methods as direct mail, you want to make your mailing stand out from the rest that ends up in the mailboxes of potential customers. You don’t want them to glance at it and automatically think, “Junk mail.” This means your money is going to go straight to the trash. Also, in any of your marketing approaches, you want to provide your prospective customers with an incentive to check out your business. Everyone has busy lives and sometimes an incentive is the only thing that is going to bring them to you. You also want to highlight what is new in your business because people take an interest in things that are new versus the old. People are always eager to learn about those things that are new, so be sure to provide them with the information they crave.

Also, sending press releases into local newspapers is a great way to get exposure. Public relations are very cost-effective and are very successful when generating sales and inquiries. That is why you want to send catchy and newsworthy press releases to the local papers that focus on what is new with your business such as a new product.

Another part of your promotional plan should be to have everyone trained and ready to communicate with anyone and everyone that walks up to your trade show exhibit. This means customers, press, and whoever else shows up. By having your people prepared, promotion can be consistent, organized, and successful.

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People love to learn about other people, and interviews are an effective way to accomplish that learning. Successful interviewing is not simple, but there are basic steps you can take to make sure your interviews are successful and that you come up with interesting, useful information about those you interview. Here are five such basic steps, whether you are doing an in-person interview or a remote interview by telephone or email:

1. Prepare as Much as You Can in Advance. This should be obvious, but often it isn’t. You should go into the interview knowing as much as you can about the person you are interviewing. Especially, you should know what their likes and dislikes are, what may especially anger or irritate them, and what your audience most wants to know about them. You use this information as a tool to shape the content and flow of the interview. Depending on the type of interview and the preparation time you have, of course, your advanced preparation may be limited. Do the best you can.

2. Establish Rapport With Your Subject. Try, if possible, to meet with your subject prior to the actual interview and show them you are friendly and that you are genuinely interested in them. Part of this step involves putting your subject at ease about the physical layout and surroundings of the interview, i.e., where you will sit or stand, where they will sit or stand. If you are planning to tape or videotape the interview, try to make your subject familiar and at ease with the technology you are using.

3. Control the Flow of the Interview. You are the one doing the interview and you need to move through it using the questions and very brief comments you have prepared ahead of time. Don’t let the subject feel they are going to control the interview with a personal agenda when you have objectives you need to accomplish. (Look again at Step 1.) At the same time, be alert for unforeseen or unplanned information that may come up during the interview. Don’t miss out on something good because it may be unexpected. Be in control, but be prepared to “go with the flow” if the flow looks good. Your goal is to part with the subject knowing you got what you needed, and to appreciate any bonus that come along.

4. Part on the Friendliest Possible Terms. Make an effort to be courteous and express appreciation for the interview. This will leave the door open for any follow-ups, as well as create good networking opportunities for additional interviews with people your subject might know. Never kill a potential future lead with a bad attitude or ingratitude. Always try to end the interview on good terms.

5. Get All the Spelling Right. Yes, you read that correctly. It is amazing the number of common words and “obvious” names that can be misspelled when you write up the interview. If your subject is well known, this might not be much of an issue. But even well known people have lesser known friends and family members. Don’t let spelling those names trip you up. How do you get the names spelled correctly? You ask, of course. Even “famous” people appreciate the professionalism and concern you show by asking to get the spellings correct. Don’t let inattention to spelling details ruin your good work.

Successful interviewing and interviews may not be simple, but can be fun. With a little care and attention to these five basic steps, interviews can be well done and professional. Around the world Steven E is known as a highly successful publisher, entrepreneur, speaker, coach, mentor, and best-selling author. The Team Publishers program, that he helped to develop, is the publisher of the Wake UpLive the Life You Love best-selling book series with over 12 million stories in print. Steven E is also featured in the movie Pass it On!

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