I am still on this kick about advertising. I was thinking last night ... very few forms of traditional advertising impact me any longer. I have successfully eliminated them from my life. Let's take a look ...

Television ... Thanks to DVR, I can fast forward through many commercials ... or check email, get something to drink, go to the bathroom, etc., etc.

Radio ... I listen primarily to stations that cannot accept advertising. If I do happen onto a commercial station, I usually change stations if they start running a lot of ads.

Newspaper ... I never have seen the ads in newspapers and that is even moreso the case now that I view the newspaper on line and can just skip over the lower half of each page, where the ads reside.

Billboards ... It's been a long time since billboards have really been recognized by most folks as a viable advertising medium. You do not have much time to get your point across. Most billboard advertising today is "awareness" advertising by non-profits. That's because they are usually only looking for "impressions" and are not measuring effectiveness.

Magazines ... I indeed may see an occasional magazine ad though I am pretty good at skipping over them. The premium cover placements may be most likely to be noticed. Also, compared to many people, I have probably been slow at switching to reading magazines on line where the ads can be filtered a bit.

Newspaper Inserts ... The first thing to get chucked whenever I get the newspaper is all that "stuff" in the middle of it. I never give it a second glance.

Internet ... I tend to ignore most (but not all) banner ads. I have blocked pop-up ads. I do not look at paid search engine results as much as organic results.

Email ... All filtered out by spam and virus filters.

Direct Mail ... I am a big one for deciding from the outside of an envelope whether to open it or chuck it. I often chuck it. I need to keep the trash can nearby when I sort through my mail. I open only that mail which seems to have an immediate positive impact on me.

Telemarketing ... I screen all calls with Caller ID.

Websites ... The internet is where I research things I may want to buy. The attractiveness and ease of the website goes a long way in determining how long I will spend on it. When I find a product on the internet I am interested in, I will usually search to see if I can find reviews from people who have bought it before. Funding positive reviews will dramatically impact my purchasing decision.

Point of Purchase Displays ... I really very rarely go into traditional retail stores any longer. Most of my shopping is done online from specific vendors. I am probably more like to buy "impulse" items from the local coffee house or restaurant than I am from a traditional retailer.

So, there you have it. I am what I would call largely immune to advertising. For me, companies better have good websites and it is great if I can find reviews or testimonials by past customers.

The point is, to reach me, advertisers now have to find me where I am at, both physically and mentally. They can no longer just throw a message out there and expect me to receive and "see" it. If they can reach me through personal contacts that I have, that is wonderful.

The times, they are a' changin'.