Walk the Talk

We’ve been interviewing a number of local PR agencies lately, and I have to say, for the most part, it has been a disappointing exercise. They talk and talk without truly understanding that this is the equivalent of a job interview, and we expect them to be at the top of their game. [...]

Your Video Says A Lot About You

If you’ve seen some of my tweets from the weekend, you know I was in Las Vegas for a tradeshow. Normally, I would have flown Southwest. This time, however, US Airways provided my transportation.

There were no major issues. We successfully took off and landed without incident in both places. Always a [...]

Paperwork and Legalese

Sorry about this, but I have yet another issue concerning moves. Following on yesterday’s complaints about our electric company, today I take issue with the real estate industry.

We sat there in the room with a stack of papers two inches thick in front of us to sign. The closing agent explained briefly what [...]

Passion and Lessons Learned

On Monday, I wrote a piece focusing on what Apple is doing from a business perspective to out maneuver PCs. My intention was to stay out of the PC versus Mac debate. In fact, I wanted to take a neutral position. Instead, my statement that “neither one is truly better than the [...]

Make It Important to Them

While attending a conference this week, there was some discussion about how to bring other people along on projects, particularly when you need them for your success. I immediately thought of a post I wrote last month called “Our Own Bias”. Then, I saw this post, titled “Brand confluence beats brand influence” from [...]

Underdoing It at Overstock

I wonder if the good people at Overstock.com really have a message about who they are and what they represent. Their initial ads focused on a women sexually describing that it was all about “the O”.

Now, they apparently have some state of the art delivery system so that nothing gets between you and your [...]

Some Ads Miss the Mark

National advertising campaigns don’t come cheap. The concept, production, placement and associated commissions add up quickly. Even a pure cable TV run will end up costing in the hundreds of thousands. So, if you are going to make that kind of investment, you want an ad that makes sense, gets the message [...]

Review of “Just Enough Anxiety”

I had the opportunity to read Just Enough Anxiety by Robert H. Rosen while traveling last week. It’s a thought-provoking book and a must-read for anyone in or aspiring to enter the management ranks.

What I liked about it:

It forces you to look in the mirror and consider your own anxiety issues (especially those that [...]

How Well Do You Know Your Audience?

Last week, Next Great Thing reported on their Global Youth Survey: Social Media (which I found via PSFK). While the survey’s intent is to show “how young adults are communicating online, around the world”, the results also show that we may not know who it is we are targeting online.

One key result (quoted from [...]

Our Own Bias

We have certain biases about what we do, the products we sell and the organizations we represent. It’s only natural. We get so involved in it because we live it every day. But we assume that since we feel or believe a certain way others should as well.

“This is such an important [...]