One of the great things about Social Media, I believe, is that it forces companies to be more transparent. It pressures them to create better products and provide better customer service since their missteps will be broadcast in the social media community. But, how will we feel when companies start treating their customers in the …
Category: Business
Fan is Short for Fanatic
The San Francisco Giants fans were yelling like crazy, slapping high fives and jumping up and down. Two things in particular were amazing about this scene. The first was that they were sitting in the rain as they did this. The second is that they were not watching any game. They were sitting in the …
Leaving LiveWorld – Time to Stand on My Own
It’s time to go We just announced to my team and the rest of the company that I am leaving LiveWorld. My last day will be around the middle of January. My boss Peter Friedman and I are parting on good terms after I have worked for him for 13 and a half years here …
"Have a Nice Day"
It is quite possible that the cashier actually meant it, but her demeanor seemed to say “my boss makes me say this to everyone”. Granted I was no longer a cheery person myself by that time. I had walked over to Stevens Creek Chrysler to pick up my car which was having a new part …
"The 4-Hour Workweek" Review
So many people who I follow on the Internet had mentioned Tim Ferris’s “The 4-Hour Workweek” that I thought it was finally time for me to read it. Ferris’s book proposes working with a goal in mind, working less and spending more time on whatever it is that would be fulfilling for you, travel for …
BzzAgent – Creating Word of Mouth
If you have not heard of BzzAgent it is a company that gets paid by companies to create word of mouth advertising or buzz. I have been a BzzAgent for some time now but had not participated in any campaigns. But recently they had a campaign advertising a new burger (the Smokehouse Bacon Burger) at …
DYI MBA
You might get the impression from the books that I read that I am working on a “do it yourself MBA by mail” course. The truth is not far from that. As the chief technologist at a community marketing agency and in my previous endeavors I have lived through many of the triumphs and pitfalls …
Free Prize Inside, Purple Cow by Seth Godin
I just finished reading two books by the prolific marketeer Seth Godin: Purple Cow and Free Prize Inside. I had heard a number of people discussing Godin’s latest book and thought I would see what I was missing. Purple Cow is a battle cry to make remarkable products. It is a passionate plea that a …
Book Review – The Long Tail
I finally got around to reading The Long Tail by Chris Anderson, Editor-in-Chief of Wired Magazine. If you are not familiar with the “long Tail” concept (which seems unlikely) the basic idea is that while you can make a lot of money selling hit movies, music, books, etc, you can also make a surprising amount …
Made To Stick – Getting the Message Across
I just finished reading Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. In this wonderful book on communicating ideas so that people will remember them the author has 6 principles: Simplicity – Find the core or your idea, don’t bury the lead of your story Unexpectedness – Surprise will get people’s attention Concreteness …