Friday, April 10, 2020
New Partnership
Cush Media LLC has partnered with SOFT Smiles LLC to create Highly targeted Oral Health related training and information. From CE classes for CNAs and Dental Hygienists to information about COVID-19 to research and updates Cush Media and SOFT Smiles will provide the most up to date information. Please go to www.softsmiles.com or Soft Smiles Facebook for Cush Media more information.
Saturday, October 5, 2019
Now Comes Digital
Digital was THE game changer. We didn’t know it when it started but my goodness how life has changed. That 40 pound TEAC Reel To Reel has become Pro-Tools and Q-Base, software that allows a musician to record studio quality sound from his/her bedroom. Unlimited tracks and unlimited mixing and effects followed quickly.
I went through many stages of digital over the years. But first there was just the music. Listening and performing has changed dramatically but it was always about the music. I remember the joy of sitting in my basement, with my huge headphones on, and marveling at the way Pink Floyd’s “One of These Days” raced back and forth from headphone to headphone, ear to ear, seeming to travel right through my head. I would listen to it over and over. I remember trying to get my mom to listen to the Saxophone solo in “Us and Them” she just brushed it off as Drug music. Elvis Presley it was not.
Multi-track stereo Long Play (LP) records were a thing of beauty. Much better than the 45’s we started with there were 10 – 13 songs on these records. We actually went to the record store to purchase the records. The best record store was the locally owned store with the guy who knew every record and artist in the store. You could sit for hours and talk to this guy about music. Who had the better guitar solo in Hotel California? Which was a better concept album Tommy or Quadrofenia? Who was the better guitar player Eric Clapton or Jeff Beck? Who had the first guitar distortion on a record? Did Rock & Roll spring from the Blues or was it a melting pot of Blues, Country, Jazz and Blue Grass? What guitar did Jimmy Page play on Stairway to Heaven? This guy had all the answers or opinions. The local music store, sadly, has gone the way of the Betamax.
Great memories but back to digital. From analog we moved from digital recording onto tape to digital recording onto your hard drive. This seemed to happen very slowly, like a glacier. Then all of a sudden digital exploded. Enter the development of the MP3 file format. The sharing of files across the internet had been possible prior to this, but files were generally either too large to be realistically exchanged or of too low a quality to serve any real purpose. With this pioneering digital format, however, the wall holding back true online musical collaboration came down, and this field took of with alarming speed. Then Napster happened and everything changed again. The music industry shut down Napster but many look-alikes followed. Digital was truly on its way. Next Portable Digital. Since Napster and then ITunes, Streaming has taken over. Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube Music and many others. Just by saying Alexa Play some Chicago Blues I can listen to the Best Blues Music ever created. Many are cutting the Chord over the last 10 years. Sling, Tivo, Roku, YouTubeTV have allowed people to cut the cable & TV Satellite chord. Sirius & XM Radio have allowed people to listen to whatever music they want in their car or on their tablet.
Ric Cushenan, MBA, is CEO of Cush Media. Ric has over 25 years of Marketing music performance and sales experience with Newspapers, Targeted Publications and Search Engine Marketing.
Cush Media, www.cushmediaonline.com is a full service on-line marketing company. We specialize in web site development, SEO, SEM, Social Media, Behavioral Targeting, Tracking through on-line analytics and Jingles.
I went through many stages of digital over the years. But first there was just the music. Listening and performing has changed dramatically but it was always about the music. I remember the joy of sitting in my basement, with my huge headphones on, and marveling at the way Pink Floyd’s “One of These Days” raced back and forth from headphone to headphone, ear to ear, seeming to travel right through my head. I would listen to it over and over. I remember trying to get my mom to listen to the Saxophone solo in “Us and Them” she just brushed it off as Drug music. Elvis Presley it was not.
Multi-track stereo Long Play (LP) records were a thing of beauty. Much better than the 45’s we started with there were 10 – 13 songs on these records. We actually went to the record store to purchase the records. The best record store was the locally owned store with the guy who knew every record and artist in the store. You could sit for hours and talk to this guy about music. Who had the better guitar solo in Hotel California? Which was a better concept album Tommy or Quadrofenia? Who was the better guitar player Eric Clapton or Jeff Beck? Who had the first guitar distortion on a record? Did Rock & Roll spring from the Blues or was it a melting pot of Blues, Country, Jazz and Blue Grass? What guitar did Jimmy Page play on Stairway to Heaven? This guy had all the answers or opinions. The local music store, sadly, has gone the way of the Betamax.
Great memories but back to digital. From analog we moved from digital recording onto tape to digital recording onto your hard drive. This seemed to happen very slowly, like a glacier. Then all of a sudden digital exploded. Enter the development of the MP3 file format. The sharing of files across the internet had been possible prior to this, but files were generally either too large to be realistically exchanged or of too low a quality to serve any real purpose. With this pioneering digital format, however, the wall holding back true online musical collaboration came down, and this field took of with alarming speed. Then Napster happened and everything changed again. The music industry shut down Napster but many look-alikes followed. Digital was truly on its way. Next Portable Digital. Since Napster and then ITunes, Streaming has taken over. Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube Music and many others. Just by saying Alexa Play some Chicago Blues I can listen to the Best Blues Music ever created. Many are cutting the Chord over the last 10 years. Sling, Tivo, Roku, YouTubeTV have allowed people to cut the cable & TV Satellite chord. Sirius & XM Radio have allowed people to listen to whatever music they want in their car or on their tablet.
Ric Cushenan, MBA, is CEO of Cush Media. Ric has over 25 years of Marketing music performance and sales experience with Newspapers, Targeted Publications and Search Engine Marketing.
Cush Media, www.cushmediaonline.com is a full service on-line marketing company. We specialize in web site development, SEO, SEM, Social Media, Behavioral Targeting, Tracking through on-line analytics and Jingles.
Sunday, September 15, 2019
Digital Recording
When I first started recording my music I had a Reel to Reel, Teac 4 track, with Simul Sync. This 40 pound piece of equipment allowed me to have 4 tracks on a single piece of tape. I could lay down; guitar, lead vocal, harmony vocal and lead guitar or bass. It was the latest technology. Simul Sync allowed the tracks to sync up which was a problem because the recording heads were in slightly different locations.
The next step in technology was the 4 track cassette tape recorder. Instead of either lugging the Teac around or having everyone come to my house, we were able to bring the 5 pound cassett recorder wherever we went. This upgrade from the reel to reel took about 10 years to hit the market place. There was very little ability to modify the recorded sound and it was still only 4 tracks. More channels and tracks came out relatively quickly.
As with many other media Digital changed the game. According to Wikipedia the history of digital recording looks like this:
• In 1937, British scientist Alec Reeves files the first patent describing Pulse-code modulation[1].
• In 1943, Bell Telephone Laboratories develops the first digital scrambled speech transmission system, SIGSALY[2].
• In 1957, Max Mathews of Bell develops the process to digitally record sound via computer.
• In 1967, the first digital tape recorder is invented. A 12-bit 30 kHz stereo device using a compander (similar to DBX Noise Reduction) to extend the dynamic range.
• In the 1970s, Thomas Stockham makes the first digital audio recordings using standard computer equipment and develops a digital audio recorder of his own design, the first of its kind to be offered commercially (through Stockham's Soundstream company).
• In 1970, James Russell patents the first digital-to-optical recording and playback system, which would later lead to the Compact Disc[3].
• In 1972, Denon invents the first 8-track reel to reel digital recorder.
• In 1979, the first digital Compact Disc prototype was created as a compromise between sound quality and size of the medium.
• In 1979, the first digitally recorded album of popular music Bop 'Til You Drop by guitarist Ry Cooder is released by Warner Bros. Records. The album was recorded in Los Angeles on a 32-track digital machine built by the 3M corporation.
• In 1982, the first digital compact discs are marketed[4], and New England Digital offers the Sample-to-Disk option on the Synclavier, the first commercial hard disk recording system[5].
• In 1990, digital radio begins in Canada, using the L-Band[6].
• DVD players begin selling in Japan in 1996.
What I know is that I first came into contact with Digital in the late 80’s and early 90’s. We who grew up with the reel to reel, scoffed at the new technology. We turned our nose up at the sound quality. We refused to move on. We learned quickly.
The first digital recordings were still recorded on tape. Next post we will talk about the next generation.
Ric Cushenan is President/CEO of Cush Media. Cush Media is a full Service online marketing company with Search Engine Marketing, Jingles, Behavioral Targeting and tracking of results. Go to www.cushmediaonline.com for more information
The next step in technology was the 4 track cassette tape recorder. Instead of either lugging the Teac around or having everyone come to my house, we were able to bring the 5 pound cassett recorder wherever we went. This upgrade from the reel to reel took about 10 years to hit the market place. There was very little ability to modify the recorded sound and it was still only 4 tracks. More channels and tracks came out relatively quickly.
As with many other media Digital changed the game. According to Wikipedia the history of digital recording looks like this:
• In 1937, British scientist Alec Reeves files the first patent describing Pulse-code modulation[1].
• In 1943, Bell Telephone Laboratories develops the first digital scrambled speech transmission system, SIGSALY[2].
• In 1957, Max Mathews of Bell develops the process to digitally record sound via computer.
• In 1967, the first digital tape recorder is invented. A 12-bit 30 kHz stereo device using a compander (similar to DBX Noise Reduction) to extend the dynamic range.
• In the 1970s, Thomas Stockham makes the first digital audio recordings using standard computer equipment and develops a digital audio recorder of his own design, the first of its kind to be offered commercially (through Stockham's Soundstream company).
• In 1970, James Russell patents the first digital-to-optical recording and playback system, which would later lead to the Compact Disc[3].
• In 1972, Denon invents the first 8-track reel to reel digital recorder.
• In 1979, the first digital Compact Disc prototype was created as a compromise between sound quality and size of the medium.
• In 1979, the first digitally recorded album of popular music Bop 'Til You Drop by guitarist Ry Cooder is released by Warner Bros. Records. The album was recorded in Los Angeles on a 32-track digital machine built by the 3M corporation.
• In 1982, the first digital compact discs are marketed[4], and New England Digital offers the Sample-to-Disk option on the Synclavier, the first commercial hard disk recording system[5].
• In 1990, digital radio begins in Canada, using the L-Band[6].
• DVD players begin selling in Japan in 1996.
What I know is that I first came into contact with Digital in the late 80’s and early 90’s. We who grew up with the reel to reel, scoffed at the new technology. We turned our nose up at the sound quality. We refused to move on. We learned quickly.
The first digital recordings were still recorded on tape. Next post we will talk about the next generation.
Ric Cushenan is President/CEO of Cush Media. Cush Media is a full Service online marketing company with Search Engine Marketing, Jingles, Behavioral Targeting and tracking of results. Go to www.cushmediaonline.com for more information
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Marketing your new Web Site
You have created your web site and now business will just start to flow your way right. Not so fast….. Now that you have a web site how will potential customers find you?
You can put your URL on all your marketing material and business cards. But that reaches people you have already been in contact with somehow. What about all the other people who don’t know that your business exists. Your web site developer has built your web site to be searchable, relevant and geo-targeted. Your site is registered with the Search Engines but how do you get potential customers to your web site.
There are a number of ways to accomplish this. The next few Blogs will go into detail on the following:
Traditional Media – Placing your web site address in traditional ads on TV, in the Newspaper, on Radio or Billboards.
On-Line Advertising – Using the traffic generated by the content of another site to drive traffic to your web site. Examples include; Newspaper or TV Web Sites, Yahoo or other destination sites, on-line magazines, online trade publications and newsletters and coupon sites like Valpak.com. Ad types include banner ads, Big Box Ads, interactive ads, Video ads, and site sponsorhips.
Search Engine Marketing – This includes Search Engine Optimization and Pay Per Click advertising on Google, Yahoo, Bing and other Search Engines.
Social Media – creating sites on Facebook, LinkedIn, Myspace, Twitter and other Social Media sites. There are also many opportunities to advertise on these sites.
Joe Marchese who writes for Media Post says “Social media is not its own discipline in marketing, as much as a new skill set required for every other marketing discipline.”
Ric Cushenan is CEO of Cush Media. Cush Media, www.cushmediaonline.com is a full service on-line marketing company. We specialize in web site development, SEO, SEM, Social Media, Behavioral Targeting and Tracking through on-line analytics.
You can put your URL on all your marketing material and business cards. But that reaches people you have already been in contact with somehow. What about all the other people who don’t know that your business exists. Your web site developer has built your web site to be searchable, relevant and geo-targeted. Your site is registered with the Search Engines but how do you get potential customers to your web site.
There are a number of ways to accomplish this. The next few Blogs will go into detail on the following:
Traditional Media – Placing your web site address in traditional ads on TV, in the Newspaper, on Radio or Billboards.
On-Line Advertising – Using the traffic generated by the content of another site to drive traffic to your web site. Examples include; Newspaper or TV Web Sites, Yahoo or other destination sites, on-line magazines, online trade publications and newsletters and coupon sites like Valpak.com. Ad types include banner ads, Big Box Ads, interactive ads, Video ads, and site sponsorhips.
Search Engine Marketing – This includes Search Engine Optimization and Pay Per Click advertising on Google, Yahoo, Bing and other Search Engines.
Social Media – creating sites on Facebook, LinkedIn, Myspace, Twitter and other Social Media sites. There are also many opportunities to advertise on these sites.
Joe Marchese who writes for Media Post says “Social media is not its own discipline in marketing, as much as a new skill set required for every other marketing discipline.”
Ric Cushenan is CEO of Cush Media. Cush Media, www.cushmediaonline.com is a full service on-line marketing company. We specialize in web site development, SEO, SEM, Social Media, Behavioral Targeting and Tracking through on-line analytics.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
All Things Digital – Coupons Online
Taking a break from our current conversation about web site development and driving traffic to your web site. I wanted to take a step back and look at another opportunity to reach consumers online. Digital coupons are reaching people through the search engines and mobile applications. There are many competitors in this area already. Longtime printed coupon companies like Valpak and new online companies like Groupon are going after this market.
Groupon negotiates discounts on popular local goods, services and cultural events. Then they offer the deals to subscribers in a free daily email. The deals are activated only when a minimum number of people agree to buy. You can also log onto Groupon daily and check out the daily deal that way.
The Valpak Digital Network, a comprehensive digital advertising solution with over 150 affiliate sites, connects advertisers to consumers online and on-the-go. The Valpak Digital Network works with an advertiser’s direct mail insert to deliver customers from the digital world right to their doorstep. The offers are available through Valpak.com or by searching for coupons on Google or any of the other affiliate sites. Thousands of Buy one Get one free offers are available every day on the Valpak Digital Network. Check out the video below to see how the Valpak Digital Network works.
http://www.coxtarget.com/promo_videos/vpdn-subway-081810.html
Both products are available via mobile devices. Valpak has Smartphone apps. for I-Phone, Droid or Blackberry.
Online coupons are a great way to reach out to potential new customers with attractive offers that can bring them through your doors. Many of the listings also have a link to your web site which helps with offsite optimization of your web site.
Ric Cushenan is CEO of Cush Media. Cush Media works with small to medium sized businesses to develop their marketing through print and online media. For more information go to www.cushmediaonline.com
Groupon negotiates discounts on popular local goods, services and cultural events. Then they offer the deals to subscribers in a free daily email. The deals are activated only when a minimum number of people agree to buy. You can also log onto Groupon daily and check out the daily deal that way.
The Valpak Digital Network, a comprehensive digital advertising solution with over 150 affiliate sites, connects advertisers to consumers online and on-the-go. The Valpak Digital Network works with an advertiser’s direct mail insert to deliver customers from the digital world right to their doorstep. The offers are available through Valpak.com or by searching for coupons on Google or any of the other affiliate sites. Thousands of Buy one Get one free offers are available every day on the Valpak Digital Network. Check out the video below to see how the Valpak Digital Network works.
http://www.coxtarget.com/promo_videos/vpdn-subway-081810.html
Both products are available via mobile devices. Valpak has Smartphone apps. for I-Phone, Droid or Blackberry.
Online coupons are a great way to reach out to potential new customers with attractive offers that can bring them through your doors. Many of the listings also have a link to your web site which helps with offsite optimization of your web site.
Ric Cushenan is CEO of Cush Media. Cush Media works with small to medium sized businesses to develop their marketing through print and online media. For more information go to www.cushmediaonline.com
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Diving Traffic to your site using the Internet
Ok so we have built a web site, the site contains good relevant content, has easy to find contact information, is optimized, registered with the search engines and available for potential customers to use. We have had some success with traditional media driving traffic to the web site. Now we would like to take advantage of the internet to drive potential customers to our web site. Where do we start? There are so many possibilities.
Possibilities include:
• Banner ads on high traffic sites
o Newspaper web sites
o Yahoo
o AOL
• Pay Per Click programs
o Google
o Yahoo
o Bing
o Ask
o AOL
•Behavioral Targeting
oYahoo
• Off Site Search Engine Optimization
o Links
o Social Bookmarks
o Blogging
o Article Marketing
• Video sharing and Podcasts
o I-Tunes
o Youtube
• Social Media
o Facebook
o Myspace
o LinkedIn
o Twitter
Books have been written about each of these areas and we will not try and cover each one in that much detail. The next few posts will try and get you started with each of these areas. I will also provide resources if you are interested in finding out more. So let’s get started.
Ric Cushenan, MBA, is CEO of Cush Media. Ric has over 25 years of Marketing and sales experience with Newspapers, Targeted Publications and Search Engine Marketing.
Cush Media, www.cushmediaonline.com is a full service on-line marketing company. We specialize in web site development, SEO, SEM, Social Media, Behavioral Targeting and Tracking through on-line analytics.
Possibilities include:
• Banner ads on high traffic sites
o Newspaper web sites
o Yahoo
o AOL
• Pay Per Click programs
o Google
o Yahoo
o Bing
o Ask
o AOL
•Behavioral Targeting
oYahoo
• Off Site Search Engine Optimization
o Links
o Social Bookmarks
o Blogging
o Article Marketing
• Video sharing and Podcasts
o I-Tunes
o Youtube
• Social Media
o Facebook
o Myspace
o LinkedIn
o Twitter
Books have been written about each of these areas and we will not try and cover each one in that much detail. The next few posts will try and get you started with each of these areas. I will also provide resources if you are interested in finding out more. So let’s get started.
Ric Cushenan, MBA, is CEO of Cush Media. Ric has over 25 years of Marketing and sales experience with Newspapers, Targeted Publications and Search Engine Marketing.
Cush Media, www.cushmediaonline.com is a full service on-line marketing company. We specialize in web site development, SEO, SEM, Social Media, Behavioral Targeting and Tracking through on-line analytics.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Driving Qualified Traffic to your Website using Traditional Media
Once you have created an effective web site, every piece of communication your business produces should contain your URL. Whether you are creating business cards, flyers, billboards, in store advertising, radio, TV or print ads, all communication should reference your URL. Your web site has the most complete information on your products, services, specials and contact information so getting prospective customers to interact with your web site should be one of the main goals of your advertising.
During my career working in print advertising with newspapers and targeted publications I had a number of opportunities to put together campaigns that used print media to drive traffic to a customer’s web site. I found that using a print ad to drive traffic to a web site was very productive when combined with a call to action or offer advertisement. There must be a reason for the potential customer to go to the web site. Some of the most effective campaigns included:
• Special Offers
• Register to win
• Large Selection Online
• Free Estimate
• New Inventory
• Closeout special
Traditional media reaches a mass audience with your message. A percentage of this audience will be in the market for your product. If you are using traditional media to drive traffic to your web site the most important aspect is that the web site URL be an integrated part of the ad not just an afterthought. Ads that just have the URL listed at the bottom of the ad seem to be less effective in driving traffic than ads that contain a reason to view the web site.
The cost of traditional media may put it out of the reach of small to medium sized business. Next we will look at using the internet to target your marketing by geography and need.
Ric Cushenan is President/CEO of Cush Media. Visit www.cushmediaonline.com to see more information.
During my career working in print advertising with newspapers and targeted publications I had a number of opportunities to put together campaigns that used print media to drive traffic to a customer’s web site. I found that using a print ad to drive traffic to a web site was very productive when combined with a call to action or offer advertisement. There must be a reason for the potential customer to go to the web site. Some of the most effective campaigns included:
• Special Offers
• Register to win
• Large Selection Online
• Free Estimate
• New Inventory
• Closeout special
Traditional media reaches a mass audience with your message. A percentage of this audience will be in the market for your product. If you are using traditional media to drive traffic to your web site the most important aspect is that the web site URL be an integrated part of the ad not just an afterthought. Ads that just have the URL listed at the bottom of the ad seem to be less effective in driving traffic than ads that contain a reason to view the web site.
The cost of traditional media may put it out of the reach of small to medium sized business. Next we will look at using the internet to target your marketing by geography and need.
Ric Cushenan is President/CEO of Cush Media. Visit www.cushmediaonline.com to see more information.
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