June 2010
13 posts
11 tags
How To Promote A Trending Topic
Now that there have been a handful of promoted trending topics on Twitter, I think it’s time for me to weigh in.
To start, I believe having a promoted trending topic in the first place is a too much like traditional media, in that it interrupts. Up until now, there was a part luck and part genius equation involved with going viral. Now that you can pay for these services via Twitter, I...
11 tags
Pet Branding
In Youngme Moon’s latest title, Different: Escaping the Competitive Herd, the Harvard Business School professor mentions a case study covering Sony’s robotic dog, AIBO (Artificial Intelligence roBOt, or “pal” in Japanese). The ability of the robot to follow commands isn’t what makes the case study remarkable; rather, it was the AIBO not following a master’s...
7 tags
DJs Understand Social Media
While many businesses and industries fail to get social media, I’ve come to find one sector of individuals who mainly understand it. Many of them never graduated with marketing degrees or anything social media related. They may even be inclined to tell you they graduated with a degree from Street Smart or Common Sense University. I’m talking about DJs and their tendencies to share...
6 tags
Make "The Wait" Less Boring
The iPhone 4 is dropping tomorrow, and if you read my Virtual Lines post from last week, or remember the past iPhone launches, you know there is going to be an insane line up of folks just dying to get their paws on the new “it” gadget. There are more opportunities as a result of the lines than meets the “i” (get it?).
If you have a product you think can be beneficial to...
9 tags
Offline Online Shopping
We shop online, sure, but how come we don’t shop offline online? Confused? Don’t be, here’s something I’d expect e-commerce based retailers to start doing soon.
How New York and other cities are not already blanketed by Wi-Fi hot spots is beyond me. But rather than look at this lack of connectivity as a burden, I’ll look at it as an opportunity for online...
10 tags
Regrets Only
Regrets only. It’s a mindset I’ve been using to help create content both on and offline. I think sharing this type of mindset can help others (maybe you) when it comes to getting content out; meaningful content, that is.
Regrets only means I do not particulary care if you don’t read my blog or don’t attend my events. I do however care for those who do read and attend. ...
11 tags
Virtual Lines
The upcoming release of the iPhone 4 has me thinking about how insanely long the lines will be for the early adopters who pre-ordered Apple’s latest “it” product. The formation of physical lines seems so 1995 with the technology we have today. Here’s an idea I came up with that just may work to resolve queuing up outside the Apple Stores the night before June 24th.
The...
9 tags
New Author E-Book Tips
Okay, so I’ve never written an e-book before, so it may seem alarming to some that here I am, giving tips on something I’ve never even attempted in the past. But, if I was to write an e-book as an author with virtually no following, this is how I would go about it. I know there has to be a slew of people just itching to write something to share, so maybe this will help.
To start,...
9 tags
Make It "Like" This
I think the process of becoming of a fan, or “Liking” a brand on Facebook is too simplistic. While I understand making processes simpler is of value (as opposed to more complex), I think the “Liking” process can be tweaked to enhance the segmentation of fans (or is it “likers?” - so awkward!) by adding one additional step before becoming a fan.
The additional...
8 tags
Focus on L, M & O
If you ask two people with the same job title at two different companies what they do at work, they are likely to tell you they do A, B & C and X, Y & Z. Six letters out of the twenty-six letter alphabet will describe what these two people do for a living. If we generalize outside of the two person example, we’ll see most people are doing A, B & C and X, Y & Z, so...
13 tags
The Intern Epidemic
Here is a post many will agree is long overdue. The number of interns and more importantly the percentage of interns in relation to an organization’s overall size has rapidly increased over the last several years. Perhaps the economic decay acted as a catalyst for the “intern epidemic,” or maybe it is simply because businesses are legally allowed to employ free labor, but,...
9 tags
Doing What You Don't Know
“When we write only what we know, we limit ourselves to territory we’ve already covered.”
The above is a quote from Steven Pressfield’s blog which I read no more than two minutes before I started writing this blog post. The quote is completely about creativity and how we create art. Rather than looking at “writing what we don’t know,” I’d rather...
13 tags
The Tipping Point
No, this is not a post about anything Malcolm Gladwell related or how Hush Puppies took over the world; instead, it is about about an unused method in which restaurants and bars can implement for their tipping/gratuity policy. In the 1980’s, you (and I stress you because I wasn’t tipping in the 80s, but maybe you were) would leave 10-15% of the bill as gratuity. Since the bottle...
May 2010
6 posts
9 tags
The Caring Mistake
Earlier today, I ordered a pizza to be delivered to my apartment. Oddly enough, the delivery itself spurred on today’s post, and not just because I was so hungry before the pizza, I could not seem to write one. When the pizza I ordered was delivered, the delivery guy did not have exact change, so I was semi-forced to give him the $20 in my hand and have him keep the change he nor I had....
7 tags
Twitter Advertising 2.0
Twitter has been reluctant to fully launch their advertising platform for all brands to use; instead, a handful of early adopters, like Virgin Mobile and Starbucks are the guinea pigs of the program to work out any snafu’s that may show up. By now, you’ve probably seen ads when you search trending topics or terms on Twitter. What you’re seeing is what I call Twitter...
10 tags
Show & Tell
When we were kids, we all participated in show & tell. It was a break in our stressful day from learning cursive and the fundamentals of math - it was a time to learn about the Venus Fly Trap and Canadian Money (or maybe A-Rab Money). You’d show something unique and educate your classmates about it. Such a simple concept, right? So how come many of us aren’t embracing show...
3 tags
My Background, Your Background
Above lies my current background for my Blackberry. If you get past my self-branding attempt, you’ll see a highly practical background for your phone. How many times are you exchanging your name and number with a new acquaintance at a loud club? Probably quite often, so this makes it a whole lot easier to exchange your info. Not sold yet? Fine, take the quiet and reserved type of person...
5 tags
DJ's Can Do This
Over the past year, I’ve found myself downloading more and more mixes and sets put online by DJ’s; so much so, I’d bet I have more memory taken up by mixes than individual songs on my iPod. It’s pretty practical to press play on one mix, go for a run and when the mix is done, so is your run! There are some DJ’s who clearly put in more time and effort with their...
5 tags
Don't Make This Twitter Mistake
If it isn’t every day, it is every other day I see people or brands trying to persuade others to follow them on Twitter. The best way to get followers is to engage with amazing content day in and day out; however, it seems like people and brands like giving things away to the 100th or 1,000th (or whatever number it may be) follower they get on Twitter. Let me tell you why this strategy, well,...