Author Archives: Jason McDonald

Your Business is Having an Existential Crisis – Writing a Business Value Proposition with Sartre as Your Guide | Marketing Philosophy

The connections between French existentialism and marketing seem absurd. Well… “absurd” is an existentialist concept, so we’re off to a pretty good start.

Bear with me. In this video I’m going to explain what the existentialist philosopher, Jean-Paul Sartre meant by his famous phrase, “existence precedes essence,” and why that idea has everything to do with writing a Business Value Proposition for your company. Continue reading

Social Media Marketing: Top Ten (Free) Tools & Tips for 2026

If social media is a “party,” then you are the “party thrower.” As a marketer, you want to throw engaging and exciting parties (largely via content marketing) on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube… even LinkedIn not to mention TikTok or even X. If you follow the party analogy, you’ll realize that just as people show up are your party for “food” and “entertainment,” on social media they show up (largely) to have fun. They want to watch that hilarious YouTube or TikTok video, that bizarre but engaging AI-generated meme on Facebook, and even when they are in “learning” mode on LinkedIn, girls (and guys) still want to have fun! How do you market on social media in 2026? Continue reading

Marketing Philosophy: A Google Review Solicitation Strategy that Doesn’t Suck (Too Badly)

What are reviews and why do they matter? Let’s look at this from a marketing philosophy perspective. The big picture – not just that marketers and small business owners love to complain about reviews. Google reviews. Reviews on Yelp. Amazon reviews. Pick your poison.

But why the entire review ecosystem feels like a swamp of hypocrisy. Fake reviews. Competitors gaming the system. Review gating. Super annoying pissed off customers slamming your business. Scammy reputation management companies. Meanwhile, the big tech companies threaten to ban you if you ask a customer to share their experience. Continue reading