Advertising is not sales and sales cannot cover the ground that advertising covers. They're not mutually exclusive. They need each other to make the equation work.

This is why, in periods of economic expansion, few salespeople, businesses or ad agencies consider themselves brilliant. Yet, in periods of economic contraction, such as the times we are currently living in, poor results are always the fault of other factors, and the ad agency is always the first one on the chopping block.

The kneejerk reaction of discontinuing advertising efforts when sales are declining is human nature for most business owners. I don't know who coined this phrase or where I read it, but cutting off advertising to save money is akin to trying to slow or stop time by not wearing a wristwatch. We always tell our clients, "if you don't talk about yourselves you'll be forgotten." Advertising reminds the public that a business is in existence, is viable, and is doing good work. Advertising can entice, inform, persuade, and motivate a sale, but then it's up to the salesperson to ask for that sale, follow up and close the sale.

In a nutshell, use effective marketing to draw the clients in, find out what they want, give it to them, and then follow up with an excellent sales force. But don't expect advertising in and of itself to do the all of the work.

The word is spelled correctly, but a reversed exclamation point is missing right before the letter "E" in "Excelente". The story in this month's newsletter highlights how The Register claims it cannot reproduce the tilde or curled mark over the letter "N," another special character within the Spanish language.

Here's why this really fries my bacon. Typos in English are unacceptable, why should they be acceptable in Spanish? Many people think that to reproduce special characters like accents, tildes or reversed punctuation, you have to have a special keyboard or software program. Not so. The keyboard operator simply has to know the correct keystroke combination to produce the symbols. Any standard U.S. issue computer keyboard will do.

A reversed exclamation point is produced by simply holding down the option or alternate key and pressing the number 1 key. It's that simple.

When I received a call from writer Bonnie Harris indicating that Lynn Hicks - Business Editor for The Register - had shown interest in writing a story about Hispanic marketing and its impact on business in central Iowa, we were ecstatic. This was the profile we had been waiting for.

But, after reading the comments made by State Representative Dwayne Alons (R) in the article, I have one question to ask: Why does Hispanic marketing have to become an "issue"?

Today's piece in The Register reads, "...Alons, a leader in passing Iowa's English-only law, said companies that advertise in Spanish are discouraging Hispanic residents from learning English - which isolates them further." The article goes on to quote Alons, "I would prefer to do everything possible for better assimilation of all minority groups."

Here's the deal. Latinos are NOT assimilating, they are acculturating. Assimilation is the process of replacing one's culture (in this case Latino culture) with another culture (in this case the American culture). Acculturation is the process of acquiring another culture. This means Latinos are unlikely to abandon their culture. Language is a big part of culture. So in producing bilingual materials, marketers are ensuring access to information, regardless of where on the language curve an individual may be (monolingual to bilingual).

The article continues with Alons stating "In the best interest of how America has been founded, it would be better to help these people assimilate so they can do their business in English and deal with the vast majority of Americans who are here." It's natural to worry about language preservation. Yes it's true, Latinos speak Spanish. Relax. Latinos also know that English is the key to getting ahead in the U.S. Just take a look at English as a Second Language (ESL) class enrollment across the U.S. - there's a waiting list everywhere. Do you honestly think marketing materials in Spanish are the equivalent of a nanny state for Latinos in America?

Alons goes on in today's article to state, "Businesses just see this type of marketing as a way for more revenue. I wish they would think it through a little more." Let me see...that's right, that's why we call it marketing. Because it's business. And marketing to Latinos makes sense because it opens up a market comprised of more buyers of products and services in our community. The products and services that our firm helps to market to the Latino community here in Iowa and nationally enrich people's lives, offer opportunities to get connected, educate or offer choice. In doing so, the Latino community gains access and benefits and our clients profit, which in turn bolsters the local and national economy.

I discussed the article over the phone this morning and received an insighful comment from a colleague who wondered if places like California and Chicago went through this sort of growing pain when their business communities started to market to their respective Latino populations. I bet this was also true for them. I hope I'll get to see the day where Hispanic marketing in Iowa is a common and an uncontested everyday occurence as it is in places like Chicago, California and Texas.

I'd welcome your thoughts on this blog entry and some dialog on this story.

I told Joann - my riding buddy with me on the trek - "there he is" and just floored it. I sped up my bike from 16 to 21 mph. I don't remember the speed after that. I locked my gaze on a pair of very familiar legs. The entire time, I yelled at everyone in my way, "to your left," "coming through in between," "coming through, coming through!" There was a fleeting moment I thought I wouldn't make it, but I pressed on.

Then, one of the LIVESTRONG riders non-verbally asked if he could come through and I let him pass. Right after that, he allowed me to speed up and once I did, I saw a clearing on the right hand side of the road. I knew if I took the chance, I would be slingshot into the right position. So I sped up again and before I knew it, I was looking right at Lance Armstrong.

I said, "Mr. Armstrong, welcome to Iowa." He enthousiastically said, "thank you." We then talked about how we had shaken hands last January at the Greater Des Moines Partnership's annual diner. I mentioned having handed him my business card and then he looked at me and if as something had clicked in his mind, said "yeah!" He might have been trying to be nice, but I'm choosing to think he was sincere and did remember the encounter - who knows.

I then said "I hope you have a great ride today and good luck with the team on the Tour the France." He said "thank you." Then I said, "say hi to Alberto Contador" (the current leader of the Tour de France and Discovery Channel team rider - a team which Armstrong partly owns). He smiled and I fell back, not able to keep the pace any longer.

I couldn't believe it. I pumped my fist in the air, screamed out loud and slowed down. Other riders approached me and asked if Armstrong was in the pack. Joann finally caught up and said, "you were caught up in some kind of vortex. You just took off."

She was right. It was amazing that I recognized Armstrong right away and took off immediately. It was amazing that I didn't crash and managed to respectfully and safely approach the front of a pack of 30 riders riding peloton style together.

Fitting that this dream of a ride should lead us to Dyersville, home of the Field of Dreams.

Oh and for the record, I RODE WITH ARMSTRONG!

Here's why I RAGBRAI.

I've seen just about everything on RAGBRAI, but today I saw so many touching things. Today, all of the sudden, out of the corner of my eye, I see this man just pedaling his heart out. I looked down at his legs and noticed he was working with two prosthetics. That's RAGBRAI. It's all about Iowa and people who love cycling.

Joann Schissel will join me tomorrow to complete the remaining two days and I'm sure I'll have some funny things to note about what we'll see while pedaling from Independence to Dyersville. Check back soon to learn about our travels. LIVE from RAGBRAI XXXV.

Tailwinds forever.

Experience – This equates to the number of years the firm has been involved with Web design and programming, their specialty, and their range of expertise in what the site will need now and in the future to remain relevant. The best determinant of experience is to look at the number and quality of sites created by the firm and to ask lots of questions. Diversity in a developer's portfolio is a good attribute, because it shows their understanding of a variety of needs across different industries.

Approach – This relates to the Web development firm's process. Will you receive a truly custom site or a variation of a template that looks like someone else's site? This is a key element affecting price variance. It's a larger endeavor to create something from scratch, than to modify something off the shelf. Is the developer using proprietary code? We've heard stories of business owners who just wanted their business to be online and rushed into the development of a site without knowing what they were purchasing. Consequently, their sites were developed using proprietary code, which means the developer has a stronghold on the site and the customer will have to start from scratch to develop a new site if they decide to part ways with the original developer. Is the site organically optimized for search? Good programming makes provisions for this and utilizes safe and recognized tactics to rank and optimize sites for search. Experienced Web development firms also know the difference between organic and paid search optimization and help their clients make the right decisions when it comes to implementing and managing their paid search programs.

Design vs. Programming - Web design and Web programming are two different disciplines. The best marriage occurs when the designer and programmer are under one roof. Outsourced programming may be cheaper, but also puts communication during project development at risk, which has the possibility of increasing the project's cost overall.

Related Skillset - Vertically specific Web development firms tend to lack the marketing aptitude needed to market a site. Agencies bring a full spectrum skillset to the table including: copy writing and editing expertise, which translates into a site that doesn't just look pretty – it communicates directly and correctly to visitors. This is particularly important with ongoing maintenance, specifically in the "newsroom" area. In the case of our firm, we offer language services to create a Spanish-language mirror version of a site or to translate specific areas to expand the visibility of a site and penetrate other markets. Implementing new media to help integrate a blog or podcast into a site is another enhancement that can generate content and features providing a reason for visitors to visit a site often.

We thought it was a publicity stunt and that it would be a funny one. So come Sunday as I turned on the TV, the usual cartoon scheduled for the 9 p.m. timeslot was running But as I stared at the screen, I noticed a small rectangle on the bottom-hand left corner of the screen. This rectangle was about the size of two postage stamps. The movie was playing in it as a picture-within-picture! There was no sound, the picture was bad, but there it was. Hilarious.

Throughout the broadcast, characters from the movie would scroll on the screen and point to the movie box in the corner. What a way to generate buzz. Normally, people would be miffed at the stunt, but the fan base for the characters and their movie loved it. It's right in line with the sense of humor of the show and a great way to create anticipation on an upcoming release.

As you might expect, we can't wait to see the film here at the office. April 13th is just around the corner!

The body of work to be produced consisted of an event identity, a poster promoting the event, registration forms, print advertising design and placement and the design and production of a wearable item. Oftentimes, when a cause needs production assistance, we will call upon our vendors to donate services. This is one of greater benefits of working with an advertising agency for non-profits, since agencies can leverage their relationships with vendors to help promote the cause. In this case, we called upon one of our print vendors and one of our paper distributors (whom we purchase thousands of dollars worth of printing and paper each year) and they happily agreed to donate paper and printing services in exchange for promotional consideration on the materials. The non-profit organization was ecstatic. In all, the contribution between in-kind work and hard goods donated totalled approximately $8,000 per year.

Both the 2005 and 2006 events were greatly successful. Then March of 2007 came along and we didn't hear from the organization to begin planning. So I called our contact and left a message. A week went by with no reply. Then I called again and left another message. Needless to say, we received a registration packet the other day for the 2007 event which someone else had produced.

We're baffled. Were they unhappy with our service? Our calls and questions remain unanswered. We realize that the organization has the option of working with a different firm or vendor. That's perfectly understandable. But a phone call or message letting us know of their decision would've been nice. It's not only the professional thing to do, but the right thing to do.

The lesson to be learned here is – the most successful non-profit organizations are, at the end of the day, businesses. And their success as a organizations will depend on how well they run as a business unit. Courtesy and professionalism are part of the business equation, and appreciating vendors is a very important component of this.

Earlier in 2006, I had the opportunity to ride three days of RAGBRAI. Everyone who knows me well, knows that Lance Armstrong is my ultimate hero. So, when I heard Lance would be riding RAGBRAI, I was out en force in hopes of catching a glimpse or having the opportunity to meet him.

During the ride, as I ascended a particularly tricky hill, a small pack of riders passed me to the left. By the time I looked, I could only see that they were wearing LIVESTRONG jerseys. "That's cool," I thought to myself. Governor Vilsack had proclaimed the day "LIVESTRONG day" in honor of Lance and his cause and I thought the jerseys were the riders' way of honoring Lance. I smiled and kept pedalling.

I then approached a young rider and we started to chat. "Were you riding with Lance," he asked. "I wish," I replied. "I just couldn't keep up – he has to be going around 25 mph," he added. "Yeah right," I said, "you and Lance are tight…sure, sure." The young man looked me square in the eye and said "you see that pack in the distance, he's in the middle of the pack. I'm not kidding."

I didn't even thank him. I just took off. My mind connected the LIVESTRONG jerseys that had passed me on the hill and I accelerated and accelerated. I hit 23 mph and kept myself there for three miles. I could see the pack in the hazy, hot distance and then I just couldn't keep it up anymore. The pack slipped away. The timing wasn't right.

Alas, last Tuesday my dream of meeting Lance became true. My involvement with The Greater Des Moines Partnership paid off in spades. I was alerted prior to the public announcement that Mr. Armstrong would be the keynote speaker at the Partnership's annual meeting. I was able to secure golden circle seating and a ticket to the welcoming reception itself to meet Mr. Armstrong. I even had enough time to choose what I was going to wear and what I would say. And the timing was perfect.

I handed Mr. Armstrong my card and put our firm's services (in kind, of course) at the disposal of his cause. The next day, I received an e-mail from Doug Ullman, president of the Lance Armstrong Foundation. The possibility exists that we may help the foundation in its efforts to grow the LIVESTRONG army and to make the fight against cancer a national priority.

Timing is everything and there are no coincidences. That's what 2006 taught me. What did it teach you?

Oh yeah, I'll be out en force again for this year's RAGBRAI. I still want my chance to ride with Lance.

Even with all of our efforts, we can't guarantee to clients that a royalty-free stock image won't be picked up by another company with a competing product. Besides being embarrassing for advertisers, these duplications can make it difficult to tell brands apart.

Stock images are particularly appealing to companies like banks, insurance companies, and pharmaceutical firms that want to sell their products and service with broad, emotional imagery. We consistently counsel our clients to consider a custom photo shoot. While more costly than royalty-free stock, the fees associated with a full-day custom shoot will easily yield multiple images for long-term use, often at a significant savings over rights-managed photography. Custom shoots also offer complete creative freedom and allow for a true one-of-a-kind setup.

With no clear system in place to track the use of royalty-free stock and its purchasers, and more industries flocking to royalty-free as a cost-saving measure, the likelihood of image duplication becomes greater, and potentially more embarrassing. Custom photography also allows advertisers to build their own photo collections.

On September 15, USA Today ran a front-page story on another city starting to look a lot like Des Moines – Salt Lake City, Utah. This city's population, 98% white until 1970, is now becoming a mini-melting pot, with Hispanics making up 16.5% of the population.

In November, The Des Moines Business Record published a front-cover feature titled "Sights Set High" profiling Hispanic business growth and the issues surrounding Hispanic entrepreneurship in our city.

And to round out the year, Cityview highlighted Des Moines' Spanish-language radio stations in its cover story titled "¡VIVA RADIO!" The story profiled two of the city's highest-profile Spanish-language stations broadcasting in a 24-hour format.

I was excited and proud to see so much great mainstream press this year focusing on the very factors we try to make our clients aware of. These are: 1) the Latino population in Iowa is growing at a remarkable pace and this population is a viable purchaser of products and services of most every kind; 2) there are more ways than ever to reach the Latino population in Iowa and across the nation; and 3) marketing to the Latino population not only makes good business sense, but also positions and differentiates the companies that choose to market to this demographic in the right way.

A shape looking like this flying "A" has been abstracted, its negative space filled with three primary colors and positioned over the words "city of Ankeny" and the tagline "bringing it all together."

This made me try to think about what Ankeny's previous tagline had been (I don't think it had one) and how momentous it must be for a city to rebrand itself. This is not just a product, it's a whole city.

Iowa's new tagline is "life…changing," Puerto Rico's is "explore beyond the shore" – both of which I believe are strong. I don't know how I feel about "bringing it all together." It certainly leaves me wondering what "it" is referring to. And paired with a logo that reminds me of a file icon I see everyday just fails to create excitement.

A fairly detailed press release on the city of Ankeny's Web site reveals that "more than 60 residents, business decision-makers and community leaders, representing all walks of life, participated in focus groups in fall 2005" to provide feedback in generating the brand.

This is not an Ankeny bashing blog entry, to the contrary, Ankeny is an amazing example of what progressive cities with involved citizens can accomplish. I simply feel dissapointed that a city with so much going for it would settle for this branding package.

This piece was basically a mishmash of statistics on the growth of the population interlaced with a couple of Latino business owners, whom I'm sure had much better things to say than "yeah, this is gonna be great when it's done" to the camera. Sadly, that's all that made it to the final cut.

Here's what the story failed to report. The Latino Corridor, no relation or subset of the "East Village," is the section of East Grand Avenue just past the capitol building in downtown Des Moines. The corridor is a project that has been spearheaded by the Neighborhood Development Corporation, a non-profit entity who has brought contractors into the area respecting the historical nature of some of these buildings (some buildings are on the state's registry of historical places). This area will be transformed into a vibrant Latino business community.