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Month: August 2019

The Problems with Paying Writers with “Exposure”

Generally speaking, exposure alone can be worth it. The television show Shark Tank provides easy evidence of that. For any not inclined to immediately click out of this post, the linked inc.com article breaks down just how beneficial an appearance on the show can be to a business that has a product to sell directly to consumers, regardless of whether the business hooks a “shark” as an investor. Bombas socks, for instance, got passed on by every investor on the show, but nonetheless saw their sales skyrocket. I even looked into buying a pair, but just can’t bring myself to spend quite that much on socks; even so, I’d have never even known of Bombas if not for the Shark Tank appearance, and the stats evince that the same applies to many other people. 1 More importantly to many other buyers. And that’s just one example of many from the inc.com article. In many of those cases, the owners of the business come out ahead by not getting an offer, since they get an increase in revenue without having to relinquish any of their business interest (at least not since Mark Cuban killed ABC’s previous policy of demanding a percentage of any company’s equity or royalties in return for just appearing on the show). READ MORE

Movie Review: HEARTS BEAT LOUD

As long as it’s executed at least fairly well, I’m a sucker for a sweet, sentimental story, or anything with just the right amount of too much melodrama. I have been for just about all of my adult life, I think. Asian action flicks, ghost stories and small, well-acted pictures with big, warm hearts; those all probably have the shortest distance to travel to get on my good side.

Needless to say, Hearts Beat Loud worked for me. You cast Kiersey Clemons, Nick Offerman, Toni Collette, Ted Danson and Sasha Lane all in the same movie and make them persistently pleasant people, you’re not going to give me much to dislike. Oh, and there’s a welcoming looking bar that serves as the setting for some important moments. I can’t resist a welcoming bars as well, fictional or otherwise. READ MORE