Summer of Planting Grass Seeds

So far this summer, I have been working on my "pondering" of ways of marketing TOOLS ..My Test Tips..& Video Diary. I am often reminded of the spiritual lesson in the movie, Field of Dreams..."If you build it...they will come." Well I've never thought for a moment that all I had to do was create something..and it will be a home run(another baseball tag.) Even a little bunt would be nice...but it doesn't work that way. Just like writing and creating is a process....so is spreading the word about the baseball field of dreams you have just constructed. It is a process...it is a way...a thought...a hunch...a plan...a moment of inspiration...a moment of frustration and exhaustion......remembering relationships..making requests...and most importantly....knowing the difference between taking chances and taking action. I better get back to planting more grass seeds..right field is looking a little patchy.

Making Re-connections

I was googling an old friend's name the other night...and accidentally came across another friend....his name is Ray Cerimele...I first played original acoustical music with Ray back in Youngstown, Ohio in 1975-76...did our first coffee-houses at YSU. As I read Ray Martin Cerimele's MYSPACEMUSIC page, I noted my name listed by Ray as someone important in his life. I didn't realize that and was deeply moved and swept up in many memories. After sending Ray an email greeting, I heard back from him the next day. We hope to speak this weekend. It has been way too many years since we talked. Ray viewed my Video Diary & All Along the Way music videos...and watched as my family aged through these years. I realized the power of the internet at our fingertips to reconnect with old friends. But I realized even more, the power of friendship itself. An encouraging friendship that spawned and launched two young blue-collar italian-american boys...sons of steelworkers...grandsons of immigrants... musical dreams...dreams that ultimately shaped both our lives..led us to new places far from Steel Valley...where we planted new roots..made the best of opportunities...yes...for better and worst...our early musical dreams changed both our lives.

Education

I have been educating myself lately about car repairs and marketing our website creations..the two aren't neccessarily connected...yet they can be...learning to diagnose and repair a car problem and a commercial venture..are not that different.....both can be costly and quite the adventure...

I have been finding the irony in many things these days. As previously noted, Panasonic re-licensed an old song of ours a few months back...picking up where we left off many years ago. They have recently brought in a major marketing consultant named Joseph Jaffee and his company, Crayonville. They made some changes to the site...produced and posted a podcast..it's like a commercial..but much more..it was real..the narrator pulls you in..she is one of us..it even features VIDEO DIARY half-way through it..it was a total surpise for us..they just forwarded the link.

Tonight, I searched the web and found Joseph Jaffee's website. I then proceeded to learn much about the new era of marketing and social media. As I learned these many new things from Mr. Jaffee(cool English accent..I assume it's real)...I was painfully made aware...of how much I DIDN'T KNOW. Thank you, Mr. Jaffee...I needed that! I wonder if he works on old GM cars?

Spreading the word....

Just completed the revisions of our My Test Tips page. Now to spread the word. In other news, the Panasonic site, LIVING IN HIGH DEFINTION, is being revamped and better marketed. You can visit both sites from www.paintedeyesenterprise.com

Strong parrallels to draw. It is one thing to create something to sell...it is another thing to create interest in something to sell..and yet another thing to sell it.

Ready..set...

Thank you again..Thom Flora...for all your help in getting My Test Tips up and running from our site...now the new challenge...spreading the word about our product...already I have encountered from traditional news sources..."Well...we don't usually do stories about this kind of thing....until it's a rage..." Makes sense doesn't it? Not really. Another of life's weird Catch22 examples. So we'll continue to try to get the word out everyway we can...I'll keep planting my young seeds in good soil....pray for a little sunshine and rain...keep tending to my garden...and keep dreaming of new things to plant...because...anything is possible...

Life's Road is a Circle.

Over the past few months, I have concluded once again that life's road is not a straight line...but a circle. In late August, I had emailed a former contact at the Panasonic Co.,(I wrote a couple of jingles for them in the early 1990's) and invited him to check out our new website. He emailed back and shared that he was moved by the things I wrote about Dad, in TOOLS. He then shared that he had recently lost his father over the past year. I mailed him 2 complimentary CD copies of TOOLS, and asked that he pass a copy on to his former supervisor, as I mention the relationship with Panasonic in TOOLS(Chapter-Humility).

The very day he had earlier given the copy of TOOLS to his former supervisor, now a corporate VP, a strategy meeting was proceeding in Manhattan. The ad agency for Panasonic proposed that the final cap to their year long campaign development to help Panasonic launch a web based interactive community called, Living In High Definition, needed a song. The VP took out the CD he had earlier received..and shared that I had written their Olympic commercial in 1992...a young ad exec went to my website...clicked on the YOUTUBE video of another song, and said..."That is it!" Unfortunately, that particular song is co-published by SONY MUSIC. Undaunted, the Panasonic VP simply said, "Tom has another song called, VIDEO DIARY, that will work even better." After 14 years had passed since we last worked together, he called me that afternoon, and we renegotiated our license. As part of the deal, he wanted copies of my own home videos. So..over the next month, I truly created a "VIDEO DIARY," for them. Go to my website...

http://paintedeyesenterprise.com/ODAT/home.html

Clearly, this would not have happened if I hadn't written & recorded TOOLS or built a website this past summer...and made a fun YOUTUBE video of ALL ALONG THE WAY.(Co-writer-Don Henry). So many threads..so many people to thank.....starting with my friend, Mark Montgomery, for bluntly asking me.."You do have a website?" ...when I didn't. And thanks again to Thom Flora..for designing and re-designing my website.

And most importantly, thanks Dad...you continue to touch my life.....even in death........Love to all...Tom O.

1st radio interview

Thank you, Vince Camp, of Clear Channel Group, for the recent interview on Nov.30. It was great to share some time and love with my hometown of Youngstown, Ohio. You were gracious and friendly, and put me at ease when talking about TOOLS and both my folks. Thank you.