$10 for Crying Out Loud

November 23, 2009

Outbrain is a company I like a lot. It has a seemingly simple product that provides some very useful functionality: content rating and recommendations for blogs. Follow the easy installation instructions and Outbrain will allow your readers to give your latest post a 1-5 score. Then, based on Outbrain’s massive database of reader tastes and […]

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The Serendipity Effect in Social Media

November 9, 2009

When the web first started becoming paramount in how people consumed news, there was a lot written about the dangers of information “narrowcasting” and how it would result in a populace that knew little about what happening outside their own limited sphere of interest. Traditional print newspapers and magazines were lauded because by their very […]

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“Good Enough” Product Management

October 29, 2009

Why has the Flip video camera (and now its key competitor the new iPod Nano) been such as a roaring success? An article in the September issue of Wired suggests it’s part of a technology trend to build “good enough” products. In terms of growth (if not total numbers), the little Flip is beating the […]

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7 Reasons Why You Don’t Need to Blog Every Day (and Maybe You Shouldn’t)

October 14, 2009

I’ve always felt that I’ve been an under-performer when it comes to updating my blog. Unlike some of my more prolific colleagues, I’m in general  a once a week poster, both on this blog and my personal site. I like to take my time, collate references, and create a thoughtful 800-word essay. I suppose it […]

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Addicted to Email (and Why That’s Important for Marketers)

October 9, 2009

We all feel like we’re addicted to email sometimes. Now along comes someone to tell us why. New York Times reporter Matt Richtel, interviewed on the NPR program On The Media, explained that in psychological terms, there is something called “intermittent reinforcement” – “that’s this idea that if you put a rat in a device […]

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Consumers Really, Really Don’t Like Behavioral Tracking

September 30, 2009

Following up on my previous post, it appears that consumers are not so happy with behavioral tracking on the Internet. According to a new survey from professors at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California at Berkeley, two-thirds of Americans object to being tracked by advertisers. And if those consumers learn exactly how […]

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Casinos, Behavioral Tracking and You

September 29, 2009

I was listening to an old episode of one of my favorite NPR shows and podcasts, Radio Lab. The topic was how we choose and it featured a fascinating and highly disturbing story that has relevance to anyone involved in the Internet today. It turns out that in the world of gambling, the casino chain […]

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Entrepreneurs: Not What You Think

September 22, 2009

As I entered my late 40s, I began to despair that I had passed my entrepreneurial “prime.” After all, aren’t the biggest successes software geeks barely in their 20s. Gates, Jobs, Zuckerberg. I founded my most recent startup, Bloggerce, at the ripe old age of 45. But a new report entitled “The Anatomy of an […]

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Why the New iPod Nano is a Game Changer

September 10, 2009

There was lots to like in yesterday’s iPod announcements from Apple. But the most important was the addition of a camera and video functionality to the venerable iPod Nano. Apple practically invented the MP3 market and continues to dominate player sales. The iPhone changed consumer’s perceptions about what a fully-featured smart phone must include. Now […]

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Simple and Effective Intro Videos

September 7, 2009

My colleague and friend Jay Bailey has launched RapidFire Video, a new company that creates simple but effective “intro” videos for startups and more established companies. The basic idea is that a straightforward, lightly animated short can quickly convey a company’s message without requiring a huge upfront expense. Think of it as a calling card […]

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