Blog

I launched my blog in 2009 when I was wrestling with a midlife crisis. Since then, the digital world has changed so much. I was new to both Facebook and Twitter when I started blogging, and I was still rocking the BlackBerry for email. Instagram hadn’t launched yet. Podcasting and short videos are what the cool kids do these days, blogging is considered old fashioned. But I still find it the best way to share my thoughts and to profile people who inspire me.

I hope you’ll find something here that inspires you, or at least sparks a conversation. Some of my favorite posts are pinned to the top, scroll down a bit more to find the most recent, or check out the categories in the sidebar.


Marketing Monday: Does your marketing plan work with your sales process?

Marketing Monday: Does your marketing plan work with your sales process?

Marketing means many things to many people, but the traditional definition generally includes what products you’re selling at what price, in what place and with what promotions. Depending on your business, you might translate that to anything from what your slogan and logo are to what kinds of brochure or website you use to communicate with customers and prospects. However…

Marketing Monday: 5 tips for better out-of-office messages

Marketing Monday: 5 tips for better out-of-office messages

With Memorial Day coming up, the summer vacation season is approaching. Why WHY do you bother with an autoresponder email that says something like, “I will be away April 12-19.” ? OK. That’s good to know. But what do I do now? Especially if I have an issue that can’t wait? Here are my thoughts on a good out-of-office message…

When 23 seconds might be all that separated life from death

When 23 seconds might be all that separated life from death

We met a woman this weekend who ran the Boston Marathon. It didn’t come up until we’d chatted for a while at a party. She didn’t even bring it up, but after she casually mentioned that she’s a marathoner, I asked if she knew anyone in Boston. I was there, she said, before adding she’d finished just 23 seconds before…

Marketing Monday: When should your business express an opinion?

Marketing Monday: When should your business express an opinion?

I held off on Marketing Monday last week — it just didn’t feel right to talk about increasing your business when we were still learning the extent of injuries in Boston. Deciding if, or how, your business should respond to current events can be tricky business. Maybe it seems straight forward to post an expression of grief about the Boston…

Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name

Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name

I have a fantasy about being a regular at the perfect bar. When I walk in, I’m greeted with a big smile by a server who knows what I like. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQpL5ZLQHyw] Problem is, I’m not the kind of person who can easily cultivate regular status. I’ve read articles that give pointers on becoming a regular, with suggestions like: Go to…

Marketing Monday: Getting started using Facebook for marketing

Marketing Monday: Getting started using Facebook for marketing

By this point, Facebook has become so culturally ubiquitous that probably even the remaining holdouts who don’t have an account have at least seen it and are aware of the concept of the interconnected social network. But even those who are active personally might not know how to use Facebook for marketing. Sadly, it’s getting harder, as Facebook’s algorithm for…

SXSW, part II: Serendipity's role in success and how to cultivate it

SXSW, part II: Serendipity's role in success and how to cultivate it

Earlier this week I blogged about one theme I heard in digital marketing conversations at South by Southwest Interactive — authenticity — but the panel that really rocked me was about serendipity: Serendipity is a fuzzy concept that has a powerful effect on our lives. More than blind luck, it’s the product of lots of passion, insight, or proximity. As…

Marketing Monday: Be authentic, which doesn't mean phony authentic or with disregard for details

Marketing Monday: Be authentic, which doesn't mean phony authentic or with disregard for details

I recently returned from South by Southwest Interactive, a massive technology conference that takes over seemingly every square inch of Austin with growing numbers each year. While the marketing spending seems more pervasive — both Oreos and Game of Thrones sponsored pedicabs, as one small example — there’s still plenty of good content, ranging from 3D printing to the relationship…

Marketing Monday: Building your social media strategy, part II

Marketing Monday: Building your social media strategy, part II

When someone asks me how they get can more Twitter followers, it’s hard for me to give a straight answer. Not that I don’t know how to get more followers — there’s research showing, for example, that acting as a source of information instead of just talking about yourself will grow your audience. Hashtags help, as do including URLs and…

Would anybody want to run a business the way we run our country?

Would anybody want to run a business the way we run our country?

Frequently political candidates run on a campaign of running  government more like a business. Presumably they mean things like more accountability and focus on results, as opposed to, say, accounting scandals or taking risks that put the country’s whole economy in peril. Lately as I follow news out of Washington, from the fiscal cliff to the massive budget cuts called sequestration,…