Damn you Mr. Allen Estrin! The “damn”, however, is not full-throated. He deserves a modicum of blame for this March’s “going postal” moment.
For those unaware, Mr. Estrin is a co-founder of PragerU. His expert understanding of the entertainment industry transformed a stagnant social media venture into a raging success. One of his suggestions launched PragerU into the cyber-stratosphere.
When PragerU was obsessed on producing their “quality” five-minute videos, Mr. Estrin suggested that they needed to apply the “Hollywood” model to the venture. In essence, only one-half of the so- called University’s budget should be dedicated to making great content. The other half would be committed to promotion. In the movie business, promotion costs often match the production expense.
Taking this concept to heart, PragerU began using their budget to buy promotion. This genius move dramatically increased their content’s consumption.
My Dark Past
I too am familiar with marketing. Over the years I have spent well into six figures on marketing. With respect to my budget, I regularly meet with the vendors who address my business’ needs.
Beyond traditional advertising buys, I have seen its dark side- the deception. My favorite marketing scam was from a company that actually “fake” prospective clients. The firm, to show numbers, had people call our offices to make inquiries. After trying to chase down a number of these leads, it became obvious that something bogus was going on.
To sum up, marketing money must be spent cautiously.
High on Ambition?
Having both crafted a nice March post and being curious about boosting engagement, I decided to “blaze. I wasn’t going to get high. Rather, it was to employ the blaze WordPress promotion- a marketing venture.
For $35 for a week of ads, thoughts of Mr. Estrin’s wisdom shook the credit card out of my wallet. Enticed by advertisement’s projection of impressions and clicks, I started a 5-day campaign.
At the beginning, I was impressed. My campaign had to get “approved.” After the approval, the promotion went lightning fast. Within a day, I got a massive response of 109.85 thousand impressions and 133 clicks. This somewhat close to the promotion’s projection.
The whole thing became suspect on the campaign’s second day. After the first day, there was a precipitous click drop off. The following campaign days had the clicks fell flat. Nothing, nada. I found that it amazing how promotion delivered the stats and dropped off. I had booked five days. I was deprived my second time at the buffet! There would be no second chance at the carving station.
The massive amount of clicks were also problematic. None appeared appeared to ever click to review the blog’s other content. It was a simple “click and run” job. Out of the 133 clicks, none of them had any further interest in the blog content. Likewise, no one signed up to become a blog follower.
In that moment, I went postal! A sobering postal. I was not mad at the problematic promotion. Rather, I was mad at myself. I got stung again. I knew better. Ouch! How much rage could there be over $35.00?
After the questionable campaign, I explored the location site of the impressions. It was Tumblr. I opened an account and even posted an article.
Shortly, I even got a follower request. With this, I got excited. Was this a success? My new follower, upon further review, turned out to be a “bot”. A cheese shaped bot! OMG! Such madness!
March Posts
To work off 2025 Project goals, I tackled the Book of Esther. The AI Feedback (Editor) on this one was quite entertaining. Puns have yet to become embraced within AI. Humanity’s only job in the future may be as a Pundit.
The Ten Commandments Project exploration of the political nature of the Decalogue eventually leads to religion. The reality is that religion plays a role in matters of both individual and societal sin.
Project 2025 goal continued with a venture into the Book of Chronicles. This post address the notion of being “under God.” The concept, in secular terms, is a means upon which individuals can relate to each other. If we all have the same creator, we are all have some rights which emanate from such a relationship.
Having worked as a publisher, Bill Murray’s insights into the accuracy of journalism was both funny and poignant. Journalists are an interesting breed. On a daily basis, their work is never subject to legal-level scrutiny. Weak second hand evidence can be content.
The Second Book of Chronicles illustrates the absurdity of saying there is a separation between politics and religion. They are intertwined. Religion can promote politics and politics can promote religion. In this post, the Passover presented as an opportunity for the Judean Kingdom to bond with other Israelite tribes.
This post is a reflection of living in a 24/7 world. In cities, working is non-stop.
The hatred of Elon Musk parallels the deifying of Luigi Mangione. Horrific conduct is alleged to be justifiable. In this instance, leftist power ambitions justified abandonment of climate change belief. In doing so, the left has officially abandoned the issue.
Reading a variety of materials is a great source of blog material. I was reading a book on writing and came across Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from the Birmingham Jail. it was a perfect vehicle for addressing the topic of justice.
BTW: This was the post I marketed. Lots of bots enjoyed it!
This post was personally revelatory. The Sabbath laws strongly suggest the “community” nature of the event. Was the Sabbath intended as a communal event? Thus, in the Decalogue, was the Sabbath commandment intended to be more than an instruction to an individual?
The Ten Commandments’ Project posits that the Commandments are part of a larger scheme. The overall goal is societal sustainability. This concept was heavily commented upon by the Prophets. Essentially, there are three rails of societal health, in truth, in justice and in righteousness.
As such, striving to strike high marks in all three categories is a society’s ultimate goal. The means of achieving such goal is worthy of debate. There are many solutions and voices. This post tackles how the “truth” impacts a nation.
Some stories need no embellishment. This was one of them.
Having watched two great scholar Malka Simpkovich and Bezalel Porten lecture the two other Israelite Temples is amazing. Those permanent structures, I thought would make a great topic when discussing the portable Tabernacle.
Be well!! Please like, follow, comment or share
The Ten Commandments Project 