Then generous readers came through. Operating expenses are now covered until the end of May 2001. We will not continue to write and create new material for Unquietmind if we can't even recover enough for web hosting fees. Buy 'war on drugs' or 'totalitarian burger' stuff, or donate a buck or two through PayPal. Few of us would relish taking the time and energy required to grow, build, craft and hunt everything that would be necessary to live without the cooperation of others.
Marketing is somewhat of a no-brainer when the object is a necessity.
But when goods and services in the same class compete with each other, and also compete with completely different classes of nonessentials, marketing becomes a combination of the dark arts and menacing sciences. Effective advertising can be positively dangerous to the bank accounts of those with little willpower or little arithmetical acumen. Much of what happens from one day to the next is unplanned and unforeseen. Although many advertisements are designed by someone who presumably knows how to get the attention of the masses and motivate them to buy, individuals are different from each other. Even the best ads with the right combination of words and imagery can only draw a limited amount of interest, precisely because they are designed for the masses.