Brooks Van Norman.com

Thoughts For 2012

Brooks Van Norman — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 16:50:01 +0000

Hard to believe it’s been a year since my last post. But isn’t that what happens? We get busy with other projects and before you know it a year goes by? I remember wishing my uncle happy 65th not long ago and he said “Please stop reminding me… these birthdays are coming with increasing frequency”. [...]

New Years Resolution Or Dis-illusion?

Brooks Van Norman — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 05:25:56 +0000

So … Ok, I admit it…this isn’t exactly the most uplifting title for what is supposed to be a positive subject. But the reality is that too many people are talking about making commitments they can’t or won’t achieve. Make no mistake, I am all for change and positive thinking. But when people I care [...]

You Can Afford To Advertise On TV

Brooks Van Norman — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 21:14:07 +0000

This has been a medium that I’ve been watching for a while. As a huge fan of web video, I think that we’re just scratching the surface in terms of how far web video is going to go. Is the world of search marketing dead? No…but but the world of search engine optimization and search [...]

Lessons From The Original Apprentice

Brooks Van Norman — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:25:52 +0000

You do remember the Apprentice, right? It's hard to believe that it was seven years ago season one aired on NBC. I remember being there with Traci during the filming of season three and walking by the Trump tower - thinking about the show and what it meant to entrepreneurs all over. As they say - time flies - It seems like yesterday I remember Donald Trump choosing Bill Rancic, an internet entrepreneur from Chicago, to be his right hand man for a year.

Is Someone Selling Your Email Address?

Brooks Van Norman — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 21:04:03 +0000

Do you ever wonder if a website you’ve subscribed to has sold your email address? I do often. And even though email is being slowly replaced as a communication medium by Twitter, Facebook and other tools, recently I’ve been getting way more spam that usual. So how do you track who is selling your precious [...]

Canadian Olympic Gold

Brooks Van Norman — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:51:11 +0000

The 2010 Olympics exceeded everyone's expectations, including mine. It was an event for the ages and I'm so glad to have been a small part of it. Our athletes all did a killer job. It was one of the best Canadian hosted events I can think of - a thousand times better than Expo '86! These Olympic Games were so well done - and for the first time in my life - I saw fellow Canadian display their love of our country in a way that I've never seen before: with unrestrained passion and bravado.

Snowshoeing In The Sun

Brooks Van Norman — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 01:15:57 +0000

This is one of those posts where the pictures really tell the whole story so much better than words can. However, there are a few thoughts that I must share about last weekend’s snow shoeing at Crystal Mountain. First – there’s nothing like getting outdoors after a long week of staring at a computer monitor! [...]

Avatar is a whole new category of movie

Brooks Van Norman — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 00:06:01 +0000

There’s no question in my mind that Avatar has changed the game in the film industry. As of this writing, the movie is something like the 4th largest grossing movie ever….and many are predicting that it will become THE largest grossing movie in history. I would have to agree. What’s more is how much of [...]

When Businesses Fix Themselves

Brooks Van Norman — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 22:20:18 +0000

It was just before Arnold was elected Governor that he said something about all the “expertise” in Sacramento government that existed, yet the state was still running in the red. The point of what he was trying to say is that “experience” does not equal success. Obama used the same argument, Google has used it [...]

Need a Caricature?

Brooks Van Norman — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:18:59 +0000

I found this the other day…actually it found me. It’s a service called “get my caricature” put out by this guy Tracy Childers. I don’t know Tracy and am not sure how he got my email address. Anyway, I like the idea because it appears to be a quality service that can really humanize people [...]