Ever think about what it means to be free? On this week shortened by our observance of the 4th of July holiday, I figure it's worth a neuro-cycle or two. I'll start by offering my sincere thanks to all our men and women in uniform for your sacrifices.  



Now, the concept of "freedom" can go in a lot of directions, but I'd like to spend a second talking about freedom of choice. One of the beauties of life in this great nation is that we get to choose: What to write... What to read... Where to live... What to drive... Ultimately, a lot of your and my freedom comes down to choosing how to spend our money. After all, isn't economic freedom really just the ability to use our time and ingenuity to create buying power, and then wield that power to get what's most important to us?

All that wonderful freedom creates a challenge, though, when it comes to effectively communicating with those free-willed (or is it willy-nilly?) consumers as they gleefully make their local choices. As business people, we want to *influence* those choices. We want those emancipated masses to choose... well... Us. But they're all thinking about themselves, and making decisions based on their individual values and preferences. So what actually compels each consumer to act -- to pull out his or her wallet and part with their hard-earned money? That, too varies immensely.

The way I see it, Balihoo's Local Marketing Automation platform is *entirely* about that freedom and variety: We provide the marketing software tools and services that enable national brands to maintain precious brand integrity while simultaneously empowering local affiliates (dealers, distributors, franchisees, etc.) to execute the marketing that is most likely to entice the unfettered consumers in their neighborhood to actually buy something. We literally make it easy for local marketers to grow their business by getting consumers to choose them. That, my friends, is a beautiful thing...

Balihoo. We're all about freedom. And we wouldn't have it any other way.

God bless America.