Too many businesses are playing it safe right now, especially in a time when the environment caters to those that take risks. If playing it safe got you in trouble, then what makes you think that continuing to do so will help you navigate the social media waters? Right now, the new media landscape is like the Wild West…there aren’t any rules, and there are new guys taking over every single day. Speed...

By now you’re already tired of hearing about this Apple tablet and it hasn’t even launched yet. That’s how the hype machines work though, and there’s a marketing lesson in that. Jobs and Apple used social media to stoke the fire while still keeping the details a secret. They leaked details and provided very clear instruction on how those details could be used. The way they did it was...

I’ve talked before about how you can use social media platforms, like Twitter, to watch your back, but social media monitoring doesn’t end there. An effective social media campaign will also include the implementation of listening stations, which are essentially, a microphone placed in a crowded room that you can use to see how your brand is being talked about. Sites like Twitter make it easy because...

I wasn’t around when TV replaced radio as the primary form of entertainment in the home, but I can imagine what it must have been like. It’s a Passing Fad I’d bet that some people bought in 100%, while others kept waiting for the fad to pass. But, there were a few savvy entrepreneurs and business owners that saw the potential in TV advertising, and as a result, not only cashed in, but gained...

In 2010, I think we will see witness the social media buzz get louder and technology becoming more reliable, pervasive, and sophisticated. One year might not be enough time for social media to have become completely mainstream, but I predict it will be moving in that direction. New Becomes Commonplace In a few years, words like new and social will drop off…it will not be new media, or social media. It...

Some of you might know that I recently co-authored a book called Beyond Blogging, which launched on the 28th of December. The book was a success, and was plastered on blogs all over the web. All of that sounds good so far, but there’s a sidebar to this launch that a lot of people didn’t get to see. The part that felt for a time like trench warfare, even though on the surface it might have looked...