Bread and Things and Lisa Biggs

When Farmers' Market started up again on Wednesdays and Saturdays a couple of weeks ago, we looked for Lisa Biggs because we love her rye bread and sourdough bread and giant chocolate chip cookies. But we could not find her. Today we found out from Sheila the Salsa Lady that Lisa had opened a shop just a block off the Square, just two blocks from our office. Lisa and her husband had been remodeling the shop in January and February, and had been open for business this month. Who knew? So we went over and shot some pix so that Lisa could issue a press release to the Baxter Bulletin so that all the bread lovers in the Twin Lakes area would know.

Kettle Corn deCommoditification

Recently we have been talking with Danny Watson about Global MicroBranding the kettle korn he makes. But there are in Google about 2,000,000 sites listed for kettle corn, in Technorati about 5000 posts. Kettle corn is a commodity. No sh*t, Sherlock! Anybody can buy the mushroom popcorn to make it with. NSS! Anybody can buy the equipment. NSS! Anybody can start a business selling kettle corn. NSS!

Then we read Hugh Macleod's post on BCR Yachts, "the more geeked-out your blog, the more frichin' yachts you will sell." And then we realized that the real story is Danny Watson's story, and that he is the Global MicroBrand. We think he should start a blog titled "No Sh*t Sherlock".

Peggy Freeman, LMT

Peggy Freeman has her shop, Natural Healing Alternatives, about 20 yards up the street from us. Peggy is a Reiki Master/Teacher and EMF Balancing Technique practitioner, teacher, and supervisory teacher, and does distant healing among other things. She does not stand out from the crowds in Santa Fe, Sedona, or Mt. Shasta, she has avoided the crowds completely by moving to Mountain Home, AR from Arizona. What a story she must have, what a great opportunity for Global MicroBranding.

The Heart of Wal-Mart

Last August 27th, Hugh Macleod posted:

So I believe the biggest issue my peers are facing at the moment is, how the hell do we free ourselves from the commodification of everything around us? How do we find our own version of "Bespoke"?

You must come to Arkansas, the Natural State, the home of Wal-Mart, and find the Heart of Wal-Mart (it's back by the tv section), and undergo the Supreme Ordeal, so that all may have the Elixir of Stormhoek!

Stormhoek Heroic Journey

We were thinking about Global Microbranding Stormhoek 100 Dinners when Bill flashed on a diagram chalked on the blackboard about forty years ago by Fr. Gerard Lair at Delbarton School and the word "monomyth". We googled for it and found it here. It seems the 100 Dinners is that sort of journey. Jason might find a helper in New Zealand, Hugh might find one in New York. Once past the Threshold of Adventure, more helpers might be found in Helena and Burlington. But where, oh where, will they find the Supreme Ordeal and Apotheosis?

Rene & Oksana Pavilionis

Today we had a delightful lunch with Rene & Oksana Pavilionis at Topper's College House. We sat out on the porch under umbrellas and heard the charming story of how they met in Warsaw and kept in contact by phone for a year. As Seth and Hugh say, "the future of marketing is being able to create stories other people will want to tell."

Global Microbranding Stormhoek 100 Dinners

Hugh Macleod created a cool Dinner Banner for the 100 Geek Dinners which we've added to our sidebar, and Jason at Stormhoek has set up a cool way to plot your Stormhoek dinners. The game is afoot!

Our Very Remote Corner of the World

Jason of Stormhoek in an update on 100 Dinners says they want a very remote kick off:

We are thinking about where to kick off the first dinner: You know the one with the dancing girls, jeroboams of sauvignon blanc, caviar, grilled springbok,etc. New York, LA and San Francisco are out, I think. It's just a bit too obvious. We were talking about it today and we were thinking that we'd like to do it somewhere remote. Very remote.

We don't usually think of Mountain Home, AR being very remote, but it would create a story other people would want to tell!

Beyond the Tipping Point Indeed!

In the last couple weeks we have talked with a strolling violinist, a cookbook writer, a natural healer, and a kettle corn maker who all have one thing in common -- the need for Global MicroBranding. As Hugh Macleod puts it:

We have entered an age where anyone who wants to make a living above minimum wage will have to get used to the idea of building and owning their own "global microbrand".