The Audiobook Version of the Book about My Career

The Audiobook Version of the Book about My Career

Advertising, Branding, Business, Direct Marketing, Marketing, Social Media
In June of 2022, I published my professional autobiography, 20 Jobs, 20 Lessons - a Long, Strange Career in Marketing, from Junk Mail to Social Media. In January of 2025, I'm publishing the audiobook version of this book, recorded by my professional voice clone created by ElevenLabs. I can't tell you how excited I am to put this audiobook out there, which ironically, goes a long way towards reinforcing my point about Lesson 12 in my book, "Embrace Technology Now." When I spent about two years or so writing this book, I never could have imagined I would be able to create a recorded version of it in only about two weeks. But thanks to advances in #AI, specifically ElevenLabs' founding in 2022, here I am able to drop an…
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Episode 194 of Bob Cargill’s Marketing Show (Podcast) – Teaching, Running, ElevenLabs, Rustic Marlin and More

Episode 194 of Bob Cargill’s Marketing Show (Podcast) – Teaching, Running, ElevenLabs, Rustic Marlin and More

Boston, Branding, Business, Marketing, Social Media
In this episode of my podcast, Bob Cargill's Marketing Show, I catch you up on some of what I've been doing the last few months, including teaching marketing at two universities in Boston, hosting the Bob Cargill's Marketing Road Show conference in Boston in early November, using AI (ElevenLabs) to record an audio version of my book, Twenty Jobs, Twenty Lessons - a Long, Strange Career in Marketing, from Junk Mail to Social Media and more. I also share a couple of good marketing-related stories, one about seeing this ridiculously awesome "selfie station" in front of a store, Rustic Marlin, at Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston, and another about an ad I heard recently that inspired me with the words, "The World Revolves Around You."
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Everybody is Putting on a Show Nowadays

Everybody is Putting on a Show Nowadays

Advertising, Content, Marketing, Music, Social Media
Can you believe it? That's an actual headline on musicradar.com on November 14, 2024. And I've seen that same story elsewhere, too. It's making the rounds because it's a very big deal, it's a very significant milestone, a watershed moment. Now, what does that have to do with marketing, advertising, social media and content creation? Plenty. Let me explain. So, for musicians, recording and sharing music is easier. They can put out more of it less expensively, and that's what they're doing. There's a ton of music out there. A surfeit (as opposed to a dearth) of music is out there. But the same goes with content in general. So, marketers, advertisers, social media people, business people in general, we can take advantage of that fact by creating more of…
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Does Your Business Have Its Own Selfie Station?

Does Your Business Have Its Own Selfie Station?

Advertising, Boston, Branding, Business, Marketing, Selfies, Social Media
You might call it a chair. Or a bench. In 2024, when it's right in front of a store, I would call it a selfie station. I would call it brilliant. I would call it an opportunity for this store, Rustic Marlin, to attract more prospective customers into their store and perhaps increase their sales. It's a great idea. Especially with all the stickers, in this case, emblazoned on it that say, #Boston. It's something a lot of different brands and businesses could take advantage of themselves. Think about it. This bench is located in a crowded tourist destination in Faneuil Hall Marketplace. Lots of people are walking by on a regular basis. They might want to sit down and relax. They might need to take a break for a…
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Bob Cargill’s Marketing Road Show on November 8, 2024 (1-8 PM)

Bob Cargill’s Marketing Road Show on November 8, 2024 (1-8 PM)

Boston, Marketing, Social Media
Come one, come all. Come to Bob Cargill's Marketing Road Show, an exhilarating, enlightening half-day conference on the latest trends, techniques and technologies in marketing and social media for businesses of all shapes and sizes, hosted by renowned industry thought leader and subject matter expert, Bob Cargill, and featuring an all-star cast of successful experts and authorities in the field. From panel discussions to keynote presentations, there will be a huge handful of incredible speakers to listen to, but there will also be lots of time for some serious networking and just plain having fun. Education. Entertainment. Food. Drinks. Music. Pics. You'll get all of that and much more. You'll get to experience a conference like no other, the long-awaited sequel to Bob's first ridiculously awesome Marketing Road Show held…
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What’s Your Personal Brand?

What’s Your Personal Brand?

Branding, Marketing, Social Media
Think of your favorite movie star, rockstar or superstar athlete. What comes to mind? What's your impression of them? That's their reputation. That's their personal brand. After all, your brand is not what YOU say it is, it's what OTHER people say it is. What do people say about YOUR personal brand? Well, to even be thinking of you, they have to be hearing from you and seeing you on a regular basis, either here on social media, or on TV, on a streaming service, on the radio, on stage, wherever. That's step one. That's implied. Then, of course, everything that comes to mind, everything they are thinking and saying about you is, ideally, positive, is, yes, ridiculously awesome. So, what comes to mind when people hear YOUR name? That's…
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A Great Sign for Lyrik Back Bay in Boston

A Great Sign for Lyrik Back Bay in Boston

Advertising, Boston, Branding, Business, Marketing
I have no idea how many new commercial developments are built in Boston every year, and I hardly know the names of any of them, but I know quite a bit about this big, new office, hotel and retail development. Lyrik Back Bay. Sure, it's situated on Massachusetts Avenue between Boylston and Newbury Streets over the Mass Pike in the Back Bay neighborhood, so it's hard to ignore. But it's some of the street-level signage that really caught my eye, not necessarily the unique location punctuated by two tall buildings that will house a citizenM hotel, the LEGO Group's new US headquarters and CarGurus. Seeing a line - er, a lyric, I should say - from the Led Zeppelin classic, Stairway to Heaven, especially caught my attention, admittedly because I'm…
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Nike’s Great, New Ad, “Winning Isn’t for Everyone”

Nike’s Great, New Ad, “Winning Isn’t for Everyone”

Advertising, Branding, Marketing
Am I a bad person? That's the question that Willem Dafoe, as narrator, asks in the great, new Nike ad entitled, "Winning Isn't for Everyone." Am I a bad person? In this ad, he's asking that question on behalf of a team of superstar athletes, incredible, iconic personal brands in the world of sports like LeBron James, Serena Williams and others. This is a great ad because of its storytelling and filmmaking, because it is both inspirational and motivational. This ad is an example, if you ask me, of advertising without advertising, of commanding your attention before you even realize it's all about Nike, not the athletes. "Winning Isn't for Everyone," of course, but it is for those who are willing and able to make that commitment to excellence. And…
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You Are A Rock Star

You Are A Rock Star

Boston, Branding, Inspiration, Marketing, Motivation
Students and colleagues, family and friends, neighbors and even complete strangers, everyone should know what it feels like to be a rock star, and that includes you. To feel like a rock star is to feel that you are invincible. It is to understand what it must mean to have all the fame and glory in the world. It is to do everything you do with a lot more confidence and determination and a lot less fear and trepidation. It is to imagine people looking up to you and cheering for you, shouting out your name at the top of their lungs. That's why I tell anyone within earshot that they are a rock star. I want them to be smiling. I want them to be happy. I want them…
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