This Is My 8th Year of Blogging
Today, you are reading my 800th blog. It’s been more than eight years of finding marketing morsels to feed to the “hungry beast” (which is my blog). 
If you have a television background you understand the “hungry beast.” It consumes content at an alarming rate. And when the newscast is done or the ads have run, they are all off to the universe of space. But right after each show or newscast is completed, the clock starts on the next one. The beast tummy growls.
If I put all the blogs in a book, it would take approximately 13 hours to read. I’ve been blessed with an industry that is full of change and innovation. The topic easily fills the weekly need.
So thank you for reading. I appreciate the support, ideas and feedback. Here’s to the next 100 and another interesting year in marketing. Together, we’ll keep the hungry beast at bay.
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle. After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant. He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.” Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.” One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College. Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board. Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.
