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So, how rich are you?

Yes, the stock market is in the toilet.  Yes, it takes $70 to fill up my car instead of $25.  Yes, tomatoes are really expensive right now.  And yes, this year we have to drive for a vacation instead of fly.  I’m definitely feeling the economic “crunch” and I’m worried about the stability of my industry.

Yet I am still among the richest 1% of people in the world.  Check this out:

Global Rich List, built a few years ago by an agency in London, allows a user to input heir yearly income and see exactly how they compare with the rest of the world.  Take a minute and try it, please…the results will surprise you.  Most importantly, I hope that it can serve as a reminder to all of us of exactly how much we have, and how when we give a little it makes a huge difference to those who are in great need.

I’ve been privileged to travel to several different countries with the purpose of helping out those less fortunate, and it is truly sobering to realize how much even the poorest people in the US really have (and perhaps more importantly, have access to).  Things like clean water, decent healthcare (in the US even the uninsured are required by law to be treated for major illnesses), access to a free education, and a myriad of halfway houses and government programs do offer a wealth of opportunity for those in need.

All poverty, even extreme poverty, is relative.  The richest of the rich in one country may be the poorest of the poor in another.  But if you’re a destitute individual in the US, it doesn’t help you very much to have someone remind you what the slums in Kibera are like, or exactly how little some people subsist on in Calcutta.  But relative to everyone who is suffering in this world, most Americans are (relatively) really well.

So give, internationally or domestically, to help alleviate the suffering of those around the world who are greatly in need.  If you think you can’t afford it, check out Global Rich List and think about how much even cutting a small luxury from your life could really help someone out.  Google “Poverty” if you need some ideas of where to give - some great organizations are using search engine marketing  - just check the right hand column.

It’s usually a lot of fun for me when a new client website launches.  There is so much that goes into it, from the initial sales effort, to ongoing consulting, creative work, development, quality testing, etc., etc., that when it finally goes live one gets an incredible feeling of accomplishment (and sometimes a healthy amount of relief).  For the past several months, I’ve had the pleasure of working on changehappensindegrees.org - a funky site that is the beginning of a campaign focused on saving energy and money for a lot of people.  The site is targeted at homeowners, who can reduce the amount of money spent on annually on energy bills by up to $500 simply by using their ceiling fans and thermostats correctly. 

Hunter Fan recently commissioned several independent studies that confirmed with facts what many assumed to be the case - you can raise your thermostat in the summer, and lower it in the winter, if you’re properly using a ceiling fan to keep yourself comfortable.  This saves energy and money while you feel basically the same level of comfort in your home.  These studies caught the attention of celebrity environmentalist and successful actor Ed Begley, Jr., who agreed several months ago to endorse the campaign and who has begun a media tour in support of Look Up.  What Ed, and everyone else involved in this project, is excited about is that unlike installing expensive solar panels, or reinsulating your home, using a ceiling fan and thermostat is something that most people can do with little trouble.  It’s a small step that most can take to positively impact the planet and to save themselves some money.

We will be adding several interactive modules, including a region-specific home energy savings calculator, throughout the year, so I’ll keep everyone posted.

A beautiful fall vista from the Blue Ridge Parkway

Fall colors on the side of a mountain in the Blue Ridge Range

I had a great time this weekend shooting fall foliage.  Sometimes when you’re in a business development, management, or strategy role, you get too far away from the creative process.  At least that’s the way it works for me.  This photo is another reason why I really love the area that we live in…if I lived in the middle of LA or Chicago I’m sure I’d find different and exciting images to make, but I really think Appalachia offers limitless opportunities. 

I used some of my new filters to make these images, and I’m highly impressed with both products.  The top image was taken using a of these images used some great filters that I highly recommend.  The top image was taken with a Singh-Ray Graduated Neutral Density filter, and the second image was taken with a Tiffen Circular Polarizer.

“Depression 2.0″ is the catchy term being used to articulate our current fiscal crisis.  I’m not exactly sure where it originated, but it certainly fits the bill in all but one respect.  The “Depression” part is accurate, as there are so many historical indicators that seem to be repeating themselves a la 1929, as this excellent Time article points out.  And I find the “2.0″ aspect of the moniker especially relevant (although very 2006) , because the web makes things so much more interesting for everyone involved.

Also, by most accounts, interactive companies are thriving in this downgrading economy.  Certainly, there are exceptions, but for the most part, marketers are keeping budgets the same for next year or even increasing their spend on interactive projects.  The reason?  I think it has to do with the most important aspect of interactive marketing that has evolved over the past several years.

Interactive marketing is, when executed properly, measurable.  Just look at any Ecommerce site.  With sophisticated (and in the case of Google, free) analytics tools at every agency’s disposal, it’s becoming easier and easier for a marketing executive to plainly articulate the return on their marketing dollar.  It’s something that everyone can understand, “If I spend $10 here, I can on average get $30 back”.  That’s the kind of work that sells itself.  Of course, anyone in the industry knows that it takes the time, energy, and attention of some very talented people working under pressure to pull that off, but when you have the numbers on your side it’s any easy sell.

Finally, unlike the poor folks back in 1929, the access to information is so much greater.  We can get up-to-the-minute reports of exactly how screwed up the economy is at any given time.  We don’t have to wait for our neighbors to knock on our doors to tell us that there’s a run on the local savings and loan.

However, it never ceases to amaze me how, with all of the knowledge of our current world and of our history we have, people still behave quite predictably and ignorantly of the past.  Once again, Americans have overspent, over-borrowed, and lived it up now at the expense of the future, and Americans are hoping the government will bail us out.  I can’t help but wonder if a little more crisis wouldn’t help us all slow down a little and cause us to be thankful for what we have.

Just keep the dollars flowing to responsible interactive companies in the meantime.

Update from Fuse:

“This report just crossed my computer from Marketing Daily.  It indicates that internet ad spends were up 15.2% in the first half of 2008.  No doubt this is a part of a trend toward increased online spending and a steady move away from the more traditional advertising channels. With the economy in its current mode, customers will demand and desire the ROI metrics that their internet marketing spend can provide.”