A Zenecist™ (my word) is someone who is “a light in the moment.” It’s also a soon-to-be retail and lifestyle hub, now in a soft opening as we ideate and source products.
My ‘second career’ after running a brand marketing and design agency the last 34 years, during the warmer months I’m a gardener locally on a part-time basis. I enjoy the work and offer essential gardening services from planning to planting to weeding, soil make-up/pH, and maintenance. I will have an exciting new offering in the kitchen-to-table table gardening space coming in early Fall. This system features a fully self-contained kitchen- or pantry-ready growing cabinet, now the rage in Europe.
Currently ZENECIST has two year-round components.
ZENECIST™ | High-Level. Laid-Back. Lifestyle.™ is an online retail business now under construction. Initially we’ll be testing products and different categories on an eBay store. As I learn, I’ll be building out the e-Comm module of this site, with a planned Grand Opening of ZENECIST™ online shopping scheduled for late 2024.
My goal with ZENECIST is to do some good, live an active lifestyle, and have some fun. Your insight, comments, and help are welcome as ZENECIST builds out. Add a comment to a blog post or go here.
Cheers! T –
PS: I also run my current Apple Music playlists in the sidebar: Spring, Summer, Fall & Winter (not an affiliate) for your perusal and amusement, and mine too.
April 2024 | Brand & Database Marketing | Background & Current Services
I am currently offering marketing and writing services including permission e-mail/database marketing and e-commence support in tandem to building out ZENECIST.
Your call/inquiry is welcome. Thanks, Tom Lanen (508) 951-0130 | Email
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OVERVIEW OF QUALIFICATIONS: THOMAS MARKETING SERVICES CORPORATION ERA (1989-2023)
(Edit: April 2024) If you’re a business owner ready to generate more revenue there’s no time better than now to kick-start your marketing to make it happen. It’s also absolutely the right moment to get out front and build revenue, momentum and brand equity–with more projectable results you can see, count and manage. Even if marketing isn’t your thing.
Why hire a fixed-cost marketing staffer or pricey agency, when I can be your go-to, get-it-done resource for a fraction of the cost? The only reason might be if you wait too long to engage my limited bandwidth, only now available after a 5-year contract as Director of Marketing for what became a 5-location retailer plus 4500+ product online store during my watch — and which netted my principal a nice endgame payday.
You see, I work especially well with business owners who don’tlove marketing but get they need it to grow, regardless of the economy. Those who want do-able options to sustain and expand their revenue streams. Well, I’m all about options. Because there is always an answer to the challenge at hand. Always. Even if you sometimes feel reluctant to gain more attention for yourself, and your business. That’s just natural.
“It’s not easy to run a business. Not everyone can do it.”
Ted Lanen (1926-2008) , Sales Engineer (Tufts EE), Owner, Leo C. Pelkus Inc., Wellesley, MA New England Manufacturer’s Rep, Emerson Electric/Wiegand
Just give me, Tom Lanen, a call and let’s have a confidential chat. Right now if you want. It costs you nothing — unlike inaction, which can cost you opportunity. 508 951-0130
If we’re of like mind and it makes sense to you, I can help get revenue-generating programs off your ‘to-do when I have time list’ and into the ‘done and kicking it column’ — fast. Because I’ve never been accused of lacking enthusiasm — and nothing gets me more fired up than working with good people ready to make a difference. And I’ve been told, more than once, my positive intensity is infectious — you know, in a good way.
A disciple of the P&G school of strategic brand marketing, my core strengths are in retail, consumer package goods (CPG), and technology sectors, including medical and healthcare. I also have a strong sense of the entertainment & hospitality categories having worked in customer-facing roles.
Projects have run the gamut of marketing strategies and tactics including branded content & writing, e-mail marketing, merchandising, and advertising & creative services for digital and analog channels.
I am well-versed in creating lead generation websites, and e-Comm shopping sites (Big Commerce, Shopify, Squarespace, WP, etc.) including user interface (UI/UX) strategies, design, imaging & content — even crunch-time posting and website population.
A Brand Is A Story & Its People, Products & Services–And Customers–Are Its Chapters.
A brand is anything but static. But if its core story–your vision–is tied to a strategic communications platform and a defined position, its tactics can be managed, measured, and executed to create revenue, momentum and equity, the sum of its parts greater than the whole.
Tom Lanen, principal, during the summer of 2022 at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, MA where he fully enjoyed the Season Pass his 20-something sons gave to him for his birthday – 34 shows!
My mission, in partnership with my principals, is to tell the Brand Story through process-driven and compelling content that engages and informs, while addressing the real issues of customers and constituents. And those who would be.
The story, and how it’s presented, create ‘comfort levels’ needed to make a purchase decision be it as small as clicking through to a sale or as large as a capital equipment acquisition. It also helps people believe what they know, which can be a real issue, and affirms and validates their comfort.
And it’s about helping people build the confidence needed to make your brand part of their own personal and professional brands. This creates loyalty, goodwill, and salable equity, a real valuation metric – and a significant element of any brand owner’s endgame.
Tell Me Your Goals & I’ll Give You Options. Affordable, Do-Able Options.
• Permission-Based E-mail – Brand Communication Strategy/Platform, Copy, Email Formatting (via your Email Service Provider – MailChimp, Constant Contact, EMMA, etc.) Recent documented Open Rates averaging over 40% (industry average is 17% according to SpringBot ESP)
• Point-Of Sale – Art & Copy; also Large Format Printing
• Blogs – Research & Write/Post, create imaging and/or video, SEO: WordPress, Medium, etc.
• Website/Commerce Pages/SEO Copy – also populating and imaging via most CMS & Shopping Platforms: Big Commerce, Shopify, Squarespace, etc.
• Thought-Leadership Articles – Writing & editing based upon executive input
• Presentations – Video, Powerpoint, Speeches, etc.
My rate is moderate. Our first discussion is always on me. And I work to budgets – at the speed of retail. And, I take direction well.
If you engage me beyond a single project I can offer significant volume discounts, assuming available bandwidth. The longer we work together, the more efficient it gets. Cash discounts also considered.
Art and/or imaging will be quoted in advance or you can provide your own. I’m happy to work with your existing creative and marketing relationships and resources.
Need it done well and fast? You got it. I provide real value and measurable results. And, I can demonstrate it with metrics and documentation to prove it.
It’s really easy to work with me. I’m here to give you do-able and affordable options that can help make you more successful. Simple.
I’m Tom Lanen, and I welcome your call. Let’s talk a few moments on my nickel.
All credit cards and bank transfer (ACH/EFT) are accepted.
I might not have guessed it would come to this, and maybe the concept is more “evolved to this,” but as an older dual-brained adult I find myself at a funny crossroads of my life.
My metric/analytical side pushes me to make money, a pragmatic goal given my 401k kept us in home and college tuitions during back-to-back health challenges now a decade past.
And my creative side refuses to stop creating, albeit very differently than in the days of my agency roles.
Not that I’ve wanted to stop creating in an agency or brand function; I’d love to make money writing copy or blogs or even tech writing for clients as I have most all my career.
Here’s the thing. The cosmos says …
Read More on Deflector: this is a FREE READ on Medium.com’s paid blog portal
Hello & welcome to this week’s (week of 10.17.22) issue of Deflector™, the Art of Style & Well-Being for Men of Age™, a TMSC publication. This past 6 weeks I’ve posted On Style or On Being, each with thoughts and insights on how as active older humans we can lead a more satisfying lifestyle and mitigate some of the irrational aspects of aging. If you missed last week’s edition, On Being: Aging & Self-Doubt, you can read it here
My son first-born son John (left), celebrating his 30 birthday in NYC with his friend Kori, who’s in for vacation from Prague.
1 Reason This Will Be My Shortest Post Ever
Vol 2, №5
It’s been one of those weeks. You see, along with rethinking goals and content in Deflector and how I present it going forward (such as trying a video series), I’m celebrating the 30th anniversary of the first greatest day of my life.
The day my oldest son, John Thomas, was born.
Every year since, I always get this overwhelming feeling of near-euphoria, of extreme well-being when the sun is at this October declination and playoff major league baseball is on the TV. You see, we had a game on in the birthing suite, but damned if I saw I pitch; I only have some white noise audio of the announcers in the back of my memory.
Because front and center, well, a miracle. And at age 40, it filled me with awe. And to experience awe is to experience wonder. Absolutely breathtaking.
And easily the best day of my life, only to be matched by the second best day of my life, 5 years later, when my twins were born.
So, feeling these deep-seated emotions again, and not having to answer to a time clock, I’ve basked in the joy of it all, and didn’t try to fill my dance card too full. In fact, it’s been a holiday week for all intents and purposes. It’s been wonderful.
Read More on Deflector, the Art of Style & Well-Being for Men of Age, A TMSC publication hosted at Medium.com/Deflector (this is a Free Read friend link)
I was moved when one of my pals on the staff at the Xfinity Center gave me her pin (given to her by her boss) “46 in ’22” to mark my attendance at 34 of 39 or so possible shows this summer, one of my happiest ever. (They had 44 events at the venue including some graduations.)
How Being Called Out On Facebook Reminded Me I’ve Earned The Right To Be Here
Vol 2, №4
After last week’s post here I was called out on Facebook by a long-time acquaintance for “being so much into yourself (myself) it makes me sad.” It cut me to the quick, and my immediate reaction was swift and less-than-loving: I blasted him with what I really thought of him, a guy who’d bragged about his $millions inheritance (for whom I was happy at time); now a guy who monitors FB & IG all day, every day from what I can see. Of course, my next step was to de-friend him. I mean, I was so stunned by the hostile stupidity of his comment, it was the best ‘that’ll show you’ I could muster. He’d completely missed my intent to help make it easier for us ol’ guys to live our best lives.
I re-read my posts to see if he could be right; and sure, I write about my experiences but not in a boastful spirit. I reconsidered my posting voice. And then it struck me: did I really care about what he had to say about me? He’d not contributed in any way shape or form to the summer of love I’ve just experienced, nor to my happiness or well-being or that of my family at any point of our 30-year acquaintance. He was just part of a gang in which I’d felt a need to belong.
You see, as older adults it’s all too easy to feel minimized in a world geared to those in generations behind you; agism is not covert, it’s in your face and it can make you loose confidence in yourself. The need to ‘belong’ can ….
Read More on Deflector, the Art of Style & Well-Being for Men of Age, A TMSC publication hosted at Medium.com/Deflector (This is a Free Read Friend Link on Medium)
