Truckvertising

Almost exactly a year ago, I asked the question on this blog why trucks aren’t used more for advertising. All that empty space, those rolling billboards capturing countless eyeballs…seems like a no-brainer.
Yesterday, while enjoying dinner with my extended family in a bayside restaurant, I saw one way a company is doing this – NJMobileMedia.com has [...]

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My Kids don’t “get” Twitter

You know all those stats that talk about how the younger generation doesn’t “get” Twitter, or use it much.
Yeah. True.
My teens don’t understand me (how’s that for a role reversal!) They think about the little messages, but what they don’t “get” is the people.
They simply can’t figure out that I really like you folks. That [...]

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Ask the Right Questions

Quick – think of businesses that have imploded in recent years. What names come to mind?
A lot, unfortunately. Enron. AIG. GM. And loads of others.
All of it could have been avoided if these businesses were founded on the right answers to three simple questions. Questions that, if rightly asked and answered, will save any company [...]

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Bring it!

If you travel, you know that horrible feeling when you’ve forgotten stuff.
Here’s a handful of stuff you should put together in a travel kit that ALWAYS goes with  you:
1. A spare smartphone charger
2. A compact umbrella
3. A pair of sunglasses in a hard case
4. Some gum and/or mints
5. …and, if you’re going to a conference, [...]

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Free (Starbucks) is Good

I saw last night that Starbucks had published an on-line coupon for FREE pastry (with a beverage purchase) this morning. In fact, they even have a smartphone-friendly version if you don’t have a printer. Nice.
Being a bit tech-geeky, I decided to find out if there was a Starbucks in the vicinity of this hotel in [...]

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Nutella Newfella

On Monday night, for no apparent reason, discussions on Twitter seemed to zero in on some confection that a number of folks are seriously addicted to – Nutella.
Now I admit that I’ve seen this term tossed around before, but the rhapsodic descriptions made me, a Nutella virgin, rather curious about what the rage was all [...]

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Everyone’s an Influencer

It’s tempting to look at the A-list bloggers, the uber-Twitter users, the people with massive followings, and say, “That’s an influencer!“
True – as far as it goes. But what do we say about everyone else?
The same thing.
Yes, someone with a big network and large reach has outsized potential influence because of the audience size. But [...]

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Feed People

If you’re involved in Social Media/Networked Communications as a marketer or businessperson, one of the key questions you ask yourself is: How can I add value to my community?
Take that question and look behind it to see this (more important) query: What are the unmet needs that I can address?
Always, a big need is targeted [...]

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Lipstick on the Management Pig

I had too much time in the car yesterday, so I was thinking about something that comes to mind a lot.
Cognitive dissonance.
Yes, I’m a little strange, but that’s not news anymore. I analyze a wide range of topics, which is both fun and confusing at times, and which can lead to…well, cognitive dissonance. When you [...]

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No Robots, Thank You

“You’ll either take responsibility, or you’ll take orders.” The Wayne Morgan quote showed up in my tweetstream Sunday morning (thanks, Susan Young), and I promptly retweeted it, because it underscores a very important truth.
No one should aspire to be an order-taker – at least, not for any longer than necessary.
As a child, you are subject [...]

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Zappo’s “heels” the Barefoot Executive

UPDATE: See end of this post for a major news update. The REAL reason why Zappo’s was acquired by Amazon!
In a masterstroke of brand protection, Tony Hsieh of Zappo’s, the Internet’s most famous shoe store, has bought out his main competitor, The Barefoot Executive for an undisclosed sum and a social network to be named [...]

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What’s in a Name?

Today, I received an unsolicited e-mail from a company looking to introduce themselves. Since this company at least was positioned somewhere near my sweet spot of interest, I went to the website to find out more.
And found a great way NOT to introduce yourself:
What’s in a name?
When we were thinking of what to call ourselves, [...]

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Crashable Mashable

A few weeks ago, I noticed a behavior that I had frankly not seen before – my Firefox browser started to crash. Firefox has always been stable in my experience (note: using a Dell laptop) and I found this to be perplexing.
I noticed that it happened just after I clicked links in Twitter, and furthermore, [...]

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