Welcome to “The Pond,” the whimsical domain of Mike Frey, the Chief Visionary Officer of Paradux Media Group. In his blog, “Beyond the Pond,” Mike extends a warm welcome to fellow enthusiasts, offering a unique blend of musings that reflect his diverse interests and, undoubtedly, captivate yours.

As the Chief Visionary Officer, Mike Frey brings a wealth of experience and a distinctive perspective to his blog. A brief introduction by Mike himself sets the tone—a friendly greeting inviting readers to dive into a space where curiosity, passion, and a touch of humor converge. “Beyond the Pond” is more than a blog; it’s a portal into the mind of a visionary who explores topics that resonate with him, hoping to strike a chord with his audience.

Expect an engaging journey through the realms of Media, Ducks, and Golf—themes that may seem disparate at first but come together seamlessly in Mike’s narrative. The blog is a canvas where each post paints a vivid picture of his interests, and the casual yet insightful tone creates an inviting atmosphere. Whether you share a love for media intricacies, have a soft spot for ducks, or enjoy the laid-back elegance of golf, “Beyond the Pond” promises something for everyone.

Mike’s writing style is a reflection of authenticity, offering readers an unfiltered glimpse into his thoughts and the stories that pique his curiosity. This blog is a testament to the idea that, in the world of Mike Frey, there’s always something interesting just beyond the pond. So, whether you’re a media aficionado, a duck enthusiast, a golf aficionado, or simply someone seeking a refreshing perspective, step into “Beyond the Pond” and let Mike guide you through a delightful exploration of his captivating world.

Always Be Willing To Learn

Life is all about learning, and if you are not learning then you are not living. Paradux Media Group has grown immensely over the past 18 months, consistently adding new features and departments so our clients can truly have an all-in-one advertising agency. With the explosion of social media and all the other marketing possibilities…

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Buy Local Ramblings and Thoughts

There have been numerous amount of ‘buy local’ campaigns over the past couple years.  Many of these campaigns have been economic driven as people have seen a lot of long standing local businesses disappear due to the economy. Project 3/50 has used social media well to spread their philosophy of shopping local.  Last year over…

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What Does Google+ Mean To The Local Business Owner

So you are a business owner, maybe a small brick and mortar store.  Over the past year or so, you developed a business page on Facebook.  You’ve invested  time in posting and replying to posts, worked hard to built ‘Likes’ and done what’s necessary to develop a relationship and engage with your community on your…

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Google + DO We Need Another Platform?

Will Google + be the ‘real’ beginning of social media fragmentation.  Facebook and twitter the two main players in the social media field are different enough to appeal to different individuals.  I do not look at these two  outlets as competing against one another as much as offer completely different was to communicate and receive…

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Let Us Not Forget What Social Media Is About

While many of us in the agency and media business write and try to come up with a calculation for a business’ ROI in social media let’s not forget the real benefits of social media and just how kind and generous people and businesses can be. On social media day our business page posted what…

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Twitter Rules, Let’s Not and Say We Did!

Why must we attach so many rules and expectations to what we do? Every day people seem to install new rules of how we should tweet.  If we all followed the same rules and tweeted the same way how boring would that be?  Isn’t the boredom from traditional media what helped create and drive us…

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Facebook ‘Likes’ Harder To Come By

Facebook ‘Likes’ aren’t as easy to come by as they were two years ago.  Back when few businesses were  taking the plunge, it seemed that all you had to do was pop a Facebook page and getting hundreds of ‘Likes’ right away was a pretty easy thing for a local business.  For me a couple…

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No Tiger Means Twitter Stream Instead of Talking Heads

photo credit: Brian J. McDermott It is the eve of the US open.  As a society we seem to have a fascination with knocking people off of their pedestal, gawking at a car accident, seeing a train wreck, which is exactly what the US Open tends to do.  Men who make the game look so easy…

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Putting and Advertising Both Can Drive You Nuts.

There are many life comparisons that can be drawn to golf, advertising is one.  I am happy with most of my golf game; my ball striking has never been better, lessons from our pro certainly helped with that.  Last year I began to lose confidence with my putter.  It began last fall with the club…

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The Groupon Effect

While there is plenty of debate over Groupon, this blog is not going to be dealing with “does it train consumers to only buy things at 50% off,” but rather, to talk about one particular client that we have that    just recently did a Groupon and their results. While a lot of Groupons you…

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Finally A Birdie For The PGA With Social Media

For 13 years the PGA Tour was a bit like the Facebook of sports.  Not because they were innovative or cutting edge hell they wouldn’t even allow you to enter with your cell phone to one of their events, no it’s because they had Tiger Woods.  Who for the most part of 13 years was…

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Local Newspaper vs Social Media

Well that just wouldn’t be a fair fight now would it?  It would fall under the proverbial saying don’t bring a knife to a gun fight.  This is part three of a series comparing what business owners may be familiar with marketing their business in with something they may have questions or reservations about. For…

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Television vs Social Media

In part one of my comparisons of traditional media marketing comparisons, we looked at Radio vs. Twitter. In Part two we’re going to compare Television and Youtube.  From a business owner and marketer Television is best known to make stars and images.  As a business, Television is best used in your marketing plan to create…

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Radio vs Social Media

The title is a little misleading as it’s not really pitting one up against the other as much as trying to point out more of the similarities.  A lot of small business owners invest in radio every month.  These same business owners scratch their head and wonder what or how does social media fit into…

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Talking to No One

I’ll always be a softy for radio.  I spent too many years in the industry for it not to be in my blood.  I sometimes wish it would go away, it reminds me of that old football injury that makes it hard to move in the morning but you wouldn’t trade the pain for the…

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Can We Teach an Old Media New Tricks?

It seems that traditional media has learned a little over the past 15 years with the announcement that The Washington Post Company has officially launched its full-service Facebook marketing and advertising agency SocialCode. The agency will offer Page management, app development, social commerce, fan monetization, message testing, and advertising through Facebook’s Ads, but they still…

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Facebook Friends Come In All Shapes and Sizes

Everybody has a different need and use for facebook.  We have friends who look at Facebook as a place to contribute, me being one of those.  I rarely go two days in a row without making a post, and depending on what’s happening will generally make one to three posts in any given day. We…

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Sorry Old Friends I’ve become a Facebook Snob

What’s happened to our friends who aren’t on Facebook?  I often wonder, and it seems as though I’ve just lost track of them.  It used to be that we would keep in contact with our rolodex of friends through our rolodex.  Call, catch up, sometimes the calls would be too frequent and others not frequent…

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Social Media Lessons from the BCS

It seemed as the most dominating presence during the BCS National Championship weekend was social media.  If you’re still wondering or questioning if your business should be involved in social media, you weren’t in Phoenix this weekend.  I was a lucky Duck fan to have enjoyed the experience of attending the BCS National Championship, in…

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