I'm going to add a new kind of posting. Sometimes I need a "reality check" on products or services--that is, I'd like to know what other people think of something I've found. (After all, what someone fifty-one years old thinks is cool, might not be cool.) Here's the first one: http://www.goowy.com/ This is a free [...]
By popular demand, here are the top ten lies of marketers. Actually, it was too hard to stop at ten, so this list is a dirty dozen. As my mother used to say, "How can you tell if a marketer is lying? His lips are moving." 1. "Our PR firm says it can get Walt [...]
My thanks to everyone who has linked to and evangelized this blog. As of this week, I'm in the Technorati top 50 with 3,450 links. (This fabulous graphic is from Hugh Macleod.) Some people are perplexed (perhaps even dismayed) with my high level of interest (aka, "obsession") in my Technorati ranking. I provide several explanations [...]
After a several month hiatus, I would like to return to my top-ten lies series. So far, I've covered entrepreneurs and VCs, Today's topic is the top ten lies of engineers. 1. “We're about to go into beta testing.” This is a meaningless statement because it doesn't matter when you go into beta testing--what matters [...]
My main man Steve Nipper pointed out this poem to me. There Is No Indispensable Manby Saxon N. White Kessinger, Copyright 1959 Sometime when you're feeling important;Sometime when your ego's in bloomSometime when you take it for grantedYou're the best qualified in the room,Sometime when you feel that your goingWould leave an unfillable hole,Just follow [...]
I just read some essays at John Sviokla's blog. He is the global managing director of Innovation & Research at DiamondCluster International, Inc. His bio is here: http://www.diamondcluster.com/People/BoardBio.asp?src=svioklaj My buddy Arthur Coleman pointed me to his blog, and John has three entries in his blog that you should read to gain a very interesting perspective [...]
I know a fair amount about evangelism and a little bit about blogging, so I've combined the two in order to provide some insights into the evangelism of a blog. Granted, I've only been at blogging for 120 days or so, but marketing is marketing, right?1. Think “book” not “diary.” First, a bit of philosophy: [...]
Many people have asked me why I was in Guatemala. Here's the answer. We adopted a baby boy! Soon we will be able to have a Kawasaki line when we play hockey (that's five players for those not familiar with the sport). Life doesn't get much better than this... You may see noticeably fewer postings [...]
Many people have requested my list of favorite books, so here you go. (I've sorted this list by author's last name, fyi.) Read long and prosper! I hope you find them as useful as I have. 1. Influence: Science and Practice. Dr. Bob Cialdini. You should already know how I feel about this book because [...]
I found a great hotel in Antigua, Guatemala named Casa Santo Domingo. I've been to a lot of nice hotels in my life, but this one ranks near the top for its integration of history, materials, and local flora. (Yes, it does have fast Internet access in the rooms.) What does this have to do [...]
Many people requested more examples of companies driving their competition crazy. I found six more for you. 1. When Security Pacific Bank merged with Bank of America many Security Pacific branches were closed. First Interstate Bank rented trucks and parked them in the lots of the branches that were closing. Then First Interstate employees in [...]
I've been getting lots of goodies lately, and I thought I'd break the mold of my blog and provide some product reviews. (Before the conspiracy and conflict-of-interest folks ask, I don't have a monetary interest in any of these companies.) 1. Yojimbo. This software enables you to create a free-form database of stuff. For examples, [...]
My buddy Bill Meade pointed out this article in the Economist to me: http://snipurl.com/womenworkforce Very interesting and eye-opening about the economic power of women. The Economist provides a day pass for people who aren't subscribers. The first paragraph of the story is: EVEN today in the modern, developed world, surveys show that parents still prefer [...]
I found a very good follow-up to my posting called The Art of Customer Service. This is by Doug Hanna, and the entire text plus some other postings about customer service are available here: http://snipurl.com/p3w5 1. Use their name. Though it may seem obvious, you’d be surprised how much of a difference addressing a customer [...]
I've been a blogger for a whopping 100 days, and it's been a delightful and educational experience. Some readers (Omer Trajman, in particular) asked me share my observations about my blogging experience, so here goes: 1. The more popular a person thinks he is in the blogosphere, the thinner his skin and the thicker his [...]
This blog entry is a response to a topic suggestion by Douglas Hanna. It covers the art of customer service, a subject that is near and dear to my heart. 1. Start at the top. The CEO's attitude towards customer service is the primary determinant of the quality of service that a company delivers. If [...]
FilmLoop creates “looplets.” The primary purpose of these looplets was to show a sample of the loop in order to encourage people to install the loop. However, looplets now have gained significantly more functionality. In essence, they are now an end unto themselves. This means that you can use looplets on web pages and in [...]
There are some books that are “must reads” for entrepreneurs; some for marketers; some for salespeople; and some for programmers. And then there are a handful that everyone should read. IMHO, one such book is Influence--Science and Practice by Dr. Robert Cialdini, a psychology professor at Arizona State University. This book provides insights that you [...]
Raindance Communications is putting on another free seminar. This time it's Darcy Rezac, the author of Work the Pond! Use the Power of Positive Networking to Leap Forward in Work and Life. Wednesday, April 12th 12 pm to 1 pm EDT http://roi.raindance.com/rndc/roi/upcomingEvents.jsp?lid=30538#s25 Here's a description: Studies show that a majority of people don't enjoy networking [...]
Several people have asked me for a blog entry about executive summaries. My colleague at Garage, Bill Reichert, wrote this explanation, and it's as good as it gets. Writing a Compelling Executive Summary By now, you’ve probably already read several articles, web pages—even books—about writing the perfect executive summary. Most of them offer a wealth [...]