"You work too much." "You must be a workaholic." "Do you ever sleep?" "When do you take a break?"

Right now...

• Someone is caring for a very sick, little girl with leukemia.
• Someone is chasing down a very drunk driver.
• Someone is taking care of their dying Mother.
• Someone is cleaning out the kennel at a local shelter for the prevention of cruelty to animals.
• Someone is trying to fix a highway in the sweltering heat.
• Someone is counseling a child who has been molested.
• Someone is offering care to the people in Pakistan that are homeless due to the flood.
• Someone is running into a burning building to save a family.
• Someone is still rebuilding homes in New Orleans.
• Someone is helping a soldier deal with the loss of their limbs.
• Someone is answering the phones at 911.
• Someone is caring for the very sick and under-nourished people in the third world.
• Someone is dipping into their meager teaching salary to buy art supplies for their underprivileged students.
• Someone is trying to right a wrong.

I don't work hard. Odds are you don't work that hard either.

I half-jokingly tell people that I am "unemployable." The truth is, I have been that way since long before I owned my own business. Even when I was an employee of a company (small, middle-sized and large), I always acted in a highly entrepreneurial way. The clock wasn't something I watched. I was busy trying to ship (to get things done). Why do something for most of your waking hours that makes you miserable? It's easy for me to say that. I'm lucky... right? Maybe I am now (depending on which side of the grass you're standing on), but I was always this way - even when I didn't have a job or any money in the bank (in fact, I was in debt).

Forget your job.

I'm not sure when that little nugget got planted in my cerebral cortex, but I never really took a job (and when I did, it didn't last). I was always looking for the work I was meant to do. I preferred to be on death's door of desperation than take a job that I knew I was going to hate, or take a job just because the money made the most sense. It's not an easy thing to say (or do). Many of you reading this may have family members and bank loans that are depending on your ability - each and every week - to bring home the proverbial bacon (and I fully understand that predicament), but I just wouldn't/couldn't do it. Good on you for going at it like that, I've never been able to.

Don't think about your job. Think about the work you were meant to do.

OK, someone, somewhere blessed you with this day off. Do with these 24 hours what you will. I prefer to take an hour (sometimes two) every single Labor Day to ask myself this one question: "are you doing the work you were meant to do?" Knowing if you have the right answer is pretty obvious. I don't consider being the President of Twist Image hard work. I don't consider doing close to 80 speaking events every year hard work. I don't consider Blogging hard work. I don't consider Podcasting hard work. I don't consider writing my business columns for the Montreal Gazette and Vancouver Sun every other week hard work. I don't consider writing or marketing business books hard work. I don't consider all of my contributions to industry associations and charitable organizations hard work. I love it. It is a pleasure. It is - without a doubt - the work I was meant to do. I also weigh my work against the amazing types of people I listed above. They motivate me to keep on doing what I love to do, because I am in awe of people who work so selflessly. They do the type of work that I could never imagine doing myself. I respect that beyond comprehension. On the other hand, I think about people who have a job and treat it like a job, and I always think about this: "they're trying to make it to the weekend... I'm trying to make it."

So, as I wish you a very happy Labor Day, I'll also ask you this one question: how hard do you work?

Tags: blogging business book business column charitable organization clock watcher entrepreneur entrepreneurial industry association job labor day labour day marketing montreal gazette podcasting sleep speaking twist image unemployment vancouver sun work workaholic writing

Episode #218 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to. This is also episode #35 of Media Hacks.

For this Labour Day weekend we managed to get C.C. Chapman, Hugh McGuire, Christopher S. Penn and myself on a call to discuss everything new and happening around all things media (and yes, new media). One of the core topics was how the Internet is dealing with the real-time Web and the implications this is happening across the media channels. So, yes, we're talking about newspapers, television and a world where everyone and anyone is an eye witness reporter. We also dive into a discussion about how apps are becoming a world where suddenly it looks more like a thousand AOLs blossoming verses an open Internet as we have know it to date. Enjoy the conversation...

You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via iTunes): Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast #218.

Tags: advertising bite size edits blog blogging blue sky factory book oven cast of dads cc chapman chris brogan christopher s penn content rules david usher digital dads digital marketing facebook facebook group hugh mcguire in over your head itunes julien smith librivox managing the gray marie mai marketing marketing over coffee media hacks new marketing labs online social network podcast podcasting six pixels of separation social media 101 social media marketing strategy trust agents twist image

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (BitCurrent, Rednod, GigaOM, Human 2.0, the author of Complete Web Monitoring and Managing Bandwidth: Deploying QOS in Enterprise Networks), Hugh McGuire (The Book Oven, LibriVox, Bite-Sized Edits, Media Hacks) and I decided that every week or so the three of us are going to share one link for each other (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person "must see".

Check out these six links that we're recommending to one another:

1. Google(graphic) - Google's Acquisition Appetite - Scores.org. "I'm a fan of things that help us understand the world clearly. This infographic from scores.org shows the acquisitions Google's made over the past few years, with several useful dimensions: why they acquired the company, the price they paid, and how much impact it's had on their business. It also shows that the company hasn't been idle; Google's practically a second exit strategy in the Valley." (Alistair for Hugh).
2. Cream, Sugar, and a High-Speed Connection - The Smart Set. "Seven years ago, Wired ran a piece on Wi-fi being a condiment like ketchup and sugar: free with your purchase. That day has arrived, but not because companies like McDonalds decided to offer it as an incentive. Hotels still charge outrageous amounts for bandwidth (the fancier the hotel, the more expensive the bytes - a perfect example of price elasticity  if ever there was one.) But free wifi has becoming ubiquitous broadband, just an iPhone or Android away. Has free Internet run its course as a marketing ploy?" (Alistair for Mitch).
3. Russia in color, a century ago - Boston.com. "Picture this: The year is 1910. There's a man, named Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (born in 1863), sitting on a stone in a riverbed in the Caucasus Mountains. He's a photographer. He's wearing a grey wide-brimed hat, mustaches and well-trimmed beard, a dark suit, the kind of suit fashionable in the early 1900s. He's holding a bamboo stick in his hands. It's the summer time... Imagine what that man looks like, a hundred years ago. Now go look at these photos. Report back." (Hugh for Alistair).
4. Google's Earth - The New York Times. "William Gibson on Google." (Hugh for Mitch).
5. Danny And Annie - StoryCorps. "When I think about the Internet, this is what I hope the Internet will always be. I'd love to be able to put into words what this video is about, but I think the first comment from Katie Armstrong says it best: 'This is such an incredibly powerful piece. Their love is...wow...it's what I've always imagined love to be. Thank you so much for sharing this. I can't stop crying!'" - I have also embedded the video below. (Mitch for Alistair).
6. Neal Stephenson And Greg Bear Launch First Digital 'Social Book' - Digital Arts. "I'm not even going to editorialize on this as Hugh and I have batted back and forth the concept of 'what is a book?' Here is what this news items says: 'The two authors released the first chapter, along with artwork, a map and other materials of The Mongoliad on Wednesday. Stephenson and Bear will release new chapters of the speculative fiction novel, set against the Mongol invasion of Europe in the 13th century, in weekly installments, according to a press release. New chapters will be available on the web and on handheld devices, starting with Apple's iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch. The authors will collaborate with readers through Pulp, a participatory publishing tool from Subutai, a publishing technology company with Stephenson as its chairman. Five other authors, as well as artists, fight choreographers and other experts, will contribute to the book. 'Pulp is what Gutenberg would have come up with if he hadn't jumped the gun and released 600 years early,' Stephenson said in a statement. 'Kindles and iPads were little better than expensive drink trays until we came up with this.'" (Mitch for Hugh).

Now, it's your turn: in the comment section below pick one thing that you saw this week that inspired you and share it.

Tags: alistair croll android apple bitcurrent bite-sized edits complete web monitoring digital arts gigaom google great links greg bear gutenberg hugh mcguire human 20 infographic ipad iphone ipod touch kindle librivox link linkbait managing bandwidth mcdonalds media hacks neal stephenson publishing pulp rednod russia scores sergei mikhailovich prokudin-gorskii social book storycorps subutai the book oven the mongoliad the new york times the smart set vimeo wi-fi william gibson wired

Is it a Facebook page? Is it Twitter? Is it posting a video to YouTube? What about creating a Blog? What is the best way to grow an audience?

As someone who sits in corporate boardrooms or presents in front of large audiences, that has to be the number one question: what should I be doing online that will help me grow an audience and build a community? The truth is that there is not a specific platform or channel that is the right answer. The truth is that you need a strong strategy that defines the types of content you would be best at producing, what the overall business objectives are, and a whole swath of other questions that will lead you to the optimal tactics.

But, there is one thing...

As you build your own spaces and places on the channel and platforms, always remember that the "build it and they will come" model won't work. The best way to grow an audience and build a community is to make yourself a valuable member of the existing communities. Figure out where the dialog, conversations and feedback around your area of interest is happening and be present and accounted for there. All of the time. As much of the time.

What does that look like?

• Follow the key people on Twitter. Interact with them. Retweet the good stuff. Become an ally.
• Leave comments on their Blog. Not platitudes, but real content. Add value. Push the conversation. Get everybody thinking.
• Like the Facebook pages that are relevant to you. Don't stop there. Add comments, share content and let people know that you care.
• Find relevant articles, news items and videos... and share them. Don't share them on your spaces, offer them as gifts to the existing community members on their pages and platforms.
• LinkedIn is another great resource to find "similar others". There are some amazing groups there as well as people asking interesting questions. Be helpful on LinkedIn.
• Use Google Alerts for some of your industry's main keywords. It's a fertile ground to discover new places to share how you think about your industry and meet new people who are discussing the same things that interest you.

You get the idea.

Give and give abundantly. We tend to naval-gaze a lot when it comes to Social Media and these digital media channels (for more on that: Confessions Of A Narcissist), the people who are the most successful are not spending their time focused on their own channels and platforms. The people who are the most successful are the ones who are out there, sharing, contributing, collaborating and adding value in other people's places.

Now it's your turn: how active are you in other people's places?

Tags: audience blog blog comment business objectives content digital marketing digital media facebook google alerts linkedin online community online strategy online video publishing social media twitter youtube

It's back-to-school week... what are you planning on learning this year?

The other morning, I watched the pitter-patter of feet drag their way back to school. The brand-new schoolbags scratched by the pavement, the half-tied shoelaces, and the general sluggish malaise can be best summed up in three words every child despises: "Back to school." Many professionals give off that same sluggish malaise every Monday morning as they wrestle their way through rush-hour traffic to make it to the office while daydreaming about the chance to go back in time and spend the day at school, learning, kicking the empty drinking boxes around the schoolyard - and, lest we forget, the two-month summer break.

Most people leave university with a degree and do not look back.

Some pick up a non-fiction business book here and there, but most would rather spend their free time away from the office in front of the television watching 30 Rock or surfing the Web for LOLcats. Beyond heading down to your favorite bookstore, it has never been easier to read and learn from some of the great business books out there. Amazon just released its latest version of the Kindle, the iPad is amazing for books, but (as I am learning) nothing beats having multiple iPhone apps that allow you to download and read books on both the iPhone and the iPad (I'm currently running the Kindle, iBooks and Kobo apps.)

In the spirit of everybody heading back to school this week (and, yes, we're talking about you, too!), here are 10 recently released business books to get you back in learning mode (in alphabetical order):

1. Brains on Fire - Igniting Powerful, Sustainable, Word of Mouth Movements by Robbin Phillips, Greg Cordell, Geno Church and Spike Jones (Wiley). If you don't follow Spike Jones on Twitter (@spikejones), you should. Brains on Fire looks at word-of-mouth marketing in the social media generation. This clearly written (and fun) book breaks through the clutter of mass media and helps businesses understand the value of one consumer and how he or she can tell your story for you.
2. Business Model Generation - A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers and Challengers by Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur and more (Wiley). This features perhaps one of the most beautiful layouts for a business book. With more than 35 contributors, this is more of a roadmap than a textbook that looks at how business models are created, and how to free your organization from linear and traditional thinking.
3. Extra Lives - Why Video Games Matter by Tom Bissell (Pantheon). You're going to think very differently of your kids if all they do all day long is play xBox. After reading this book, you may wind up joining them. It turns out some our greatest leaders in the future may well be the hardcore gamers of today.
4. The Future Arrived Yesterday - The Rise of the Protean Corporation and What it Means for You by Michael Malone (Crown Business). The virtualization of the corporation is a reality. In other words, you may not be working from a cubicle for much longer, as wireless technology and more portable computing devices flood the marketplace. What does this mean for business? Read this book and find out, because, trust me, you don't want to be the last person standing without a chair in this very real game of musical chairs.
5. Macrowikinomics - Rebooting Business and the World by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams (Portfolio). Even though this book is slated to come out only next month, the buzz is high for the follow-up to the best-selling Wikinomics. In Macrowikinomics, Tapscott and Williams look at the new business models and social innovations from companies that are leveraging our new digital tools, channels and platforms to make the world a more prosperous and sustainable place.
6. Marketing Lessons From the Grateful Dead - What Every Business Can Learn From the Most Iconic Band in History by David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan (Wiley). While it may not be a great idea to drink the green Kool-Aid at the corporate picnic, it turns out there are many lessons businesses can learn from how the legendary rock band built its audience, changed its business model and turned people from reasonable human beings into diehard Deadheads.
7. MicroMarketing - Get Big Results by Thinking and Acting Small by Greg Verdino (McGraw-Hill). Marketing seems to be about "the big idea" (just watch an episode of Mad Men), but maybe the real winners are the companies who think small. Verdino is on to something with his first book, which looks at the many little things that take a great brand from here to there.
8. Open Leadership - How Social Technology Can Transform the Way You Lead by Charlene Li (Jossey-Bass). Li's first book, Groundswell, put hard data against the power of online social networks and social media. In her second book, she looks at what it takes for a corporation to maintain control of the brand (both internally and externally) by leveraging social technologies to open up and transform the organization from within.
9. The Referral Engine - Teaching Your Business to Market Itself by John Jantsch (Portfolio). Jantsch is the champion of small businesses. His first book (named after his successful blog and podcast, Duct Tape Marketing) helped companies enjoy a champagne marketing experience on a beer budget. In his latest, he helps us understand that importance of referrals and word of mouth as the primary business driver before mass media advertising and PR.
10. The Upside of Irrationality - The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home by Dan Ariely (HarperCollins). If you ever wondered why large bonuses make CEOs less productive or why revenge is so important to us as human beings, then Ariely's second foray into behavioral economics is the perfect fare. The author of Predictably Irrational is back with another thought-provoking book that includes humor and insights that will make you the highlight of the next networking event you attend.

Don't forget what Mark Twain said: "I've never let my schooling interfere with my education."

Which recently released books are on your back-to-school reading list? Please share with the rest of the class...

The above posting is my twice-monthly column for the Montreal Gazette and Vancouver Sun newspapers called, New Business - Six Pixels of Separation. I cross-post it here with all the links and tags for your reading pleasure, but you can check out the original versions online here:

• Montreal Gazette - The stuff I didn't learn in school -but I did read about.
• Vancouver Sun - Back-to-school business reading.

Tags: 30 rock alexander osterwalder amazon anthony d williams back to school behavioral economics bookstore brains on fire brian halligan business book business column business model generation business reading business section charlene li crown business dan ariely david meerman scott deadhead don tapscott duct tape marketing e-book education extra lives gamer geno church greg cordell greg verdino groundswell harpercollins ibooks ipad ipad app iphone iphone app john jantsch jossey bass kindle kobo learning lolcats macrowikinomics mad men mark twain marketing lessons from the grateful dead mass media mcgraw hill michael malone micromarketing montreal gazette newspaper column online social network open leadership pantheon portable computing portfolio postmedia predictably irrational protean corporation reading robbin phillips small business social innovation social media social technology spike jones the future arrived yesterday the referral engine the upside of irrationality tim bissell twitter vancouver sun wikinomics wiley wireless technology word of mouth xbox yves pigneur

There is a reason why traditional media professionals will have a hard time making the transition to a new media world.

Just the other day I got into a debate with a seasoned traditional journalist about what the new media means. This individual is still in a highly coveted and well-respected position, so I was surprised by their core thesis as to why we can't trust new media. Ultimately, it boils down to the cold, hard fact that new media shows little to no signs of accountability. Traditional media (newspapers, magazines, radio and television) check their sources. There is a process to how news is created, curated, edited and then produced for mass consumption.

The Internet is an equalized place where any one lunatic's opinion resides on par with those of the professionals.

Afterall, you can't trust anything you read on Wikipedia, but you can be fairly certain that what you're getting out of The New York Times is accurate. Is WikiLeaks the future of media or pure evil? It's an easy debate to get sucked into. It's easy to start discussing how often the respected traditional media gets it wrong (check out Regret The Error by my good friend, Craig Silverman). It's easy to look at the owners of these large media outlets and make a direct correlation between their political leanings and the partisan slant of their media outlets. It's easy to say that the mass populous needs us (because without us they will believe anything and everything). It's easy to not like, respect or understand something that threatens your very vocation.

We are moving from a world of fact to a world of opinion.

Maybe that is the new reality. Maybe that is the new truth. Maybe we are moving from a world of "fact" (as traditional media had delivered it) to a world of "opinion" (where Blogs, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and more act as a platform to spread ideas, but it's incumbent on the reader to check the sources for themselves). There were always three sides to every story (and a couple more beyond that), so in a world where any one individual can publish a thought in text, images, audio and video instantly (and for free) to the entire world, we are in dire need of a new definition for the words "media," "journalism," "credible source" and more.

That is a paradigm shift.

What if society has already dictated this creed? What if society is fine moving from this world of fact to a world of opinion? Who is the mass media to say to us that a book review in The New York Times is any more credible or relevant to us than the one that Sarah from Carefree, Arizona posted to Amazon? Are the masses too stupid and lazy to make up their own mind?

What's good for us, being fed the truth through mass media or the masses of opinions from all over the place or a hybrid of both?

Tags: amazon blog book review content craig silverman credible source editing facebook journalism journalist magazine mass media media outlet media professional new media newspaper platform politics publishing radio regret the error television the new york times traditional media twitter wikileaks wikipedia youtube

Is Mad Men a true representation of how great creative happens in Marketing?

In a typical Mad Men episode, research comes back saying something plain about the insights surrounding a brand. But the creatives, led by a cape-wearing Don Draper, rage against the machine and follow their gut instinct to create breakthrough creative that could have never happened had the team followed what research was telling them. It's the kind of Americana story that we all love to hear: those who won't follow what "The Man" is telling them, coupled with that burning desire to express themselves and put one's genius out into the world. It's a story as warm as apple pie and baseball (or maple syrup and hockey, depending on your chosen country). And - as with everything - there are always two (or more) sides to the story.

Creatives in marketing have to constantly grapple with what research and strategy is bringing to the table.

Most of the time, the research "lies" or isn't able to define any true insight that will ignite the creativity towards the red carpet at Cannes. Web analytics has come a long way, and actually being able to see what consumers are doing (and the ability to even know why they're doing it) gives us more insight than even the best creative brief can. Despite all that real data, marketing professionals en masse can't seem to wrap their heads around it. In fact, if you look at the majority of online campaigns - even the ones that are taking home the Cannes Lion Cyber award - they are not leveraging even the basest web analytics to optimize and adjust the campaigns based on what consumers are actually doing.

The left brain doesn't like the right brain. The right brain doesn't like the left brain.

Both sides of the brain (and the entire body that goes along with it) are being stubborn... and stupid. The truly amazing creative directors of the near future (will the next Alex Bogusky please stand up!) will be the ones who realize that you can't have one without the other. Prior to the maturation of these web analytics tools, it made sense to buck the trends from research and push creativity out of your subconscious on to Photoshop, but now there's no excuse not to change, adjust and optimize the creative process to use these metrics and analytics as a way to be many times more creative.

Think about this from a primal angle. If the analytics told you - in plain numbers - that when you use the color red instead of green you get a 20 per cent better conversion, what would you do?

Some traditional creative directors might see this as a limitation, but others might argue (myself included) that knowing this key piece of information -- and being able to overcome it -- is the true definition of creativity. Avinash Kaushik is the Analytics Evangelist for Google. He has a tremendously popular blog on the topic of Web Analytics, and he is the author of two best-selling books on the topic (Web Analytics - An Hour A Day and Web Analytics 2.0). Upon broaching the subject of dealing with creative teams when web analytics are in play, he pointed me to a post of his titled, Experiment or Die. Five Reasons And Awesome Testing Ideas.

As Avinash puts it:

"It is less risky to try big and bold things online than it is in the offline world of faith-based initiatives. So why not let your creativity soar? Why not let all of your ideas democratically flourish? Why have HiPPOs (Highest Paid Person's Opinions) second-guess and make decisions? Why not think of awesome insane crazy magnificent things? With web analytics and marketing optimization tools, anybody can construct a quick test. Why are marketers so afraid to let their customers tell them what works? Testing is awesome for all of us (both the qualitative and quantitative people).  I love showing creative people that one thing the analytics can help do amazingly is to help them focus on what's important and what to fix, rather than just going by what you think is wrong or where to focus on to get the biggest bang for the buck."

Thinking like this requires a fundamental shift in how we create our creative.

Instead of the creative brief leading to production, we are well into an era when, prior to final production, we can test multiple variants in-market, follow the analytics and optimize the campaign. From there, we can launch the campaign and still have the humility to know that it might change, adapt and even be redone based on how it performs.

Why don't the majority of advertising agencies do this? What are we so afraid of? Why do our egos hold us back?

In the end, would that episode of Mad Men have been as exciting if Draper and his team listened to research, followed the analytics and put out creative that just simply worked? The story may not be as exciting, but it does line those corporate pockets and provide bottom-line economic value to the corporation it serves. While it may not be a story worthy of it's own hit television series, it is a great story.

It is also a story that is well worth pursuing if we're looking at bringing marketing to the C-suite.

And that is what this is all about: marketing deserves to be an integral part of the corporate head table, and the sooner creatives embrace web analytics, the sooner everyone will be able to truly blend world-class creativity with mind-blowing results. These are the kind of campaigns that will get the real attention they deserve. These are the campaign of the future.

Now it's your turn: what do you think about the place of creativity in the age of web analytics?

The above posting is an article from Applied Arts Magazine. I cross-post it here with all the links and tags for your reading pleasure, but you can check out the original version online here:

• Applied Arts Magazine - Creativity In The Age Of Web Analytics.

Tags: advertising campaign advertising research alex bogusky analytics evangelist applied arts magazine avinash kaushik business column cannes cannes lion cyber award creative creative brief creative director creative process creatives creativity don draper faith based initiatives google hippos mad men marketing marketing optimization marketing professional multivariate testing occams razor online campaign photoshop strategy web analytics web analytics 20 web analytics an hour a day

As Twitter evolves and grows, the etiquette and "rules" change, morph and evolve along with it.

Recently, a very influential person on Twitter sent me a direct message saying that they were insulted because I had thanked a few people for retweeting one of my tweets, but I forgot to thank this individual. They were even more insulted because the people I had thanked were actually retweeting this individual's tweet (and not mine).

I suck at Twitter.

I sort of knew that before (more on that here: The Trouble With Twitter - Confessions Of A Twitter Snob), but as the platform grows, I'm getting even suckier at it. I find it hard to follow everyone back. I don't like following companies or brands that I am not in love with. I rarely thank anyone for retweeting my content. It takes me forever to respond to direct messages. People often ask me questions, but by the time I respond they've usually forgotten what their question was in the first place. I tend to be on Twitter when most people are busy enjoying their lives, etc...

Maybe we're all still getting used to how real-time chat in 140 characters really works... and it's not so obvious/easy?

The hardest part about all of this is that I am actually trying. I spend quite a bit of time on Twitter, and I'm constantly trying to post relevant content and context about Marketing, but I can never seem to really get my head above the wave and - more often than not - I feel like I'm barely treading water. Beyond apologizing profusely to this individual with a sincere mea culpa, I also wondered...

What do most people think of thanking those who retweet their content?

So, I hopped over to Twitter and asked. It turns out I'm not alone in my thanking suckage. That being said, the responses ran the gamut from "I thank people publicly for every retweet" to "there really is no point in just thanking someone for a retweet." The general sentiment expressed back, was that most people don't thank others for retweets because they feel that it clutters up the twitterstream. Beyond that, a lot of people agreed that while they do not thank people for retweets, they make sure to respond to every question asked of them.

So, what do most people think about thanking those who retweet their content? Here's what I learned:

• People do thank for retweets, but claim they do so because they don't have that many followers, and it's fairly easy.
• People try, but think they fail at it (like I do).
• People try, but say that they only do it hours after it first appeared and they often get a message back saying, "thanks for what?"
• People don't do it publicly but send that person a direct message (sometimes).
• People don't publicly thank for any retweets.

There were also these tweets of wisdom:

• "I always think 'Thank you' but I don't always type the words." - via @MegMathur.
• "Not if it just a RT, I treat it as a little gift. If RT with a interesting comment then I reply w/comment. But not a thanks." - via @avinash.
• "A better way to thank someone for RTing you is to RT something interesting of theirs. Sometimes I DM them instead." - via @aussiegoldy.
• "I try to acknowledge near 100% of nice direct comments, but retweets only upon occasion. (Though I obviously appreciate!)" - via @tom_peters.

Now, it's your turn: what do you make of all of this?

Tags: 140 characters aussiegoldy avinash avinash kaushik brand content direct message followers following marketing megmathur publishing retweet tom peters twitter twitter snob twitterstream

Episode #217 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to. This is also Across The Sound episode #8.20.

Joseph Jaffe is widely regarded as one of the top Marketing Bloggers (Jaffe Juice) and Podcasters (both Jaffe Juice in audio and Jaffe Juice TV in video). He is the author of three excellent books (Life After The 30-Second Spot, Join The Conversation and the newly minted, Flip The Funnel). Along with that, he is currently one of the chiefs over at the Social Media Marketing agency, Powered. A long-time friend (and one of the main inspirations behind the Six Pixels of Separation Blog and Podcast), we've decided to hold monthly conversations, debates and back-and-forths that will dive a little deeper into the Digital Marketing and Social Media landscape. This is our eight conversation (or, as I like to affectionately call it, Across The Sound 8.20), and this one focuses on the if we're really having any semblance of a conversation at all in Social Media, or if Marketers have done a great job of selling the invisible (once again). Enjoy the conversation...

You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via iTunes): Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast #217.

Tags: across the sound advertising bite size edits blog blogging blue sky factory book oven cast of dads cc chapman chris brogan christopher s penn crayon dave winer david usher digital dads digital marketing facebook facebook group flip the funnel hugh mcguire in over your head itunes jaffe juice jaffe juice tv join the conversation joseph jaffe julien smith leo laporte librivox life after the 30 second spot managing the gray marie mai marketing marketing over coffee media hacks new marketing labs online social network podcast podcasting powered six pixels of separation social media social media 101 social media marketing strategy trust agents twist image

How did we all become so self-involved and to what end?

Have you ever been in a place where you wind up disgusting yourself (just a little bit)? While floating through the Intertubes today, it struck me how narcissistic most of my true engagement is.

Here's what I am seeing:

• Google News Alerts set-up for my own name, my company, my Blog, etc...
• Twitter is run through Tweetdeck where I have alerts set-up for my own name, my company, my Blog, etc...
• Beyond that, most of us are busy on Twitter really only connecting to those who are either sending us an @ message or a direct message.
• Facebook. If Facebook isn't about narcissism, what is? The first thing I look for? Who's saying what about me?

Beyond that, we all do little narcissistic things like an ego search on YouTube, flickr, LinkedIn, and all of the general Search Engines. Every once in a while, I'll hop over to the Ad Age Power 150 to see how this Blog ranks. I'll do that over on Technorati as well. Let's not forget the general web analytics from the Blog, or pumping my Twitter name into Klout to see what's what.

Me, me, me, me, me... blech!

I don't like this. I can't stop this. It would only be half-funny if that was the end. In thinking about it just a little bit more, there are many other spaces, places, channels and platforms where I'm doing the old narcissistic waltz. If you think this makes me sound a little insecure, you're not alone (I think it does too). On one hand, it makes sense, as it's important to know who is saying what about you and the brands you represent. On the other hand, the true destination for most of our online endeavors really are the new media equivalent of the biblical statues that were presented as deities. These digital shrines that we create to ourselves. The photos are almost as unrealistic as our expectations that we'll get some semblance of happiness from all of these digital ego boosts that we live in.

Too bad the portals are dying.

Prior to online social networks and Social Media, we would start off our online journey at a destination or a portal (think Yahoo!, AOL, etc...). Now, the portal is a personal portal. Most people's homepage is now their Facebook or Twitter homepage.

What have we become?

Tags: ad age power 150 aol blog blogging digital shrines ego surf facebook flickr google google news alert klout linkedin narcissist narcissistic new media online social network personal portal portal search engine self-involved social media technorati tweetdeck twitter web analytics yahoo youtube

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (BitCurrent, Rednod, GigaOM, Human 2.0, the author of Complete Web Monitoring and Managing Bandwidth: Deploying QOS in Enterprise Networks), Hugh McGuire (The Book Oven, LibriVox, Bite-Sized Edits, Media Hacks) and I decided that every week or so the three of us are going to share one link for each other (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person "must see".

Check out these six links that we're recommending to one another:

1. A Textbook Example of What's Wrong with Education - Edutopia. "This piece looks at how school textbooks are purchased in the US, and how a strange combination of Gerrymandering, industry consolidation, and book budgets are letting fringe special interest groups redact American history. I came across it in my research into the coming collision of tablet computing, education, and teachers' unions." (Alistair for Hugh).
2. Modernist Cuisine - Book Excerpt. "I'm a bit of a food nut, and I devoured (pun intended) books like Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking.  But now Nathan Myhrvold of Microsoft has taken it to a new level entirely. His Modernist Cuisine is a five-volume compendium, a rethinking of L'Escoffier with modern science added in. They recently released this fascinating excerpt which shows the cutaways, high-speed photography, fiber optic cameras, and other techniques they used in the text. Of course, at $500 for the book, this 20-page PDF is probably the closest I'll get." (Alistair for Mitch).
3. Roads Gone Wild - Wired.com. "I love this kind of story. It appeals to my innate sense that in modern civilization we often break things when we try to fix them. This is about the Dutch traffic engineer, Hans Monderman, who brings safety to the roads by removing all the signs. I'm not quite sure what the wider message is, but I like it." (Hugh for Alistair).
4. The Accidental News Explorer - Daylife. "Mitch and I are both newspaper and magazine junkies. We're old-media maniacs wired for new media - and we've had hours - maybe days - of conversations about what a great news start-up would look like. We still don't know, but every time a new and innovative take on news creation or consumption crosses my radar, I send it along to Mitch. Forthwith: The Accidental News Explorer app for the iPhone, which curates good content and throws in a dash of serendipity. I haven't played with this app yet, but I expect Mitch and I will be arguing or complaining about it soon over lunch." (Hugh for Mitch).
5. Jurassic Web - Slate. "This is a very charming and terrifying piece. It's one of those moments that make you realize, 'wow, technology has really changed and can we even call this stuff technology anymore?' The truth of the matter is that we weren't really doing much of anything with the Web back in 1996... and doesn't that feel like yesterday?" (Mitch for Alistair).
6. How Authors Really Make Money: The Rebirth of Seth Godin and Death of Traditional Publishing - Tim Ferriss. "If you think it's hard to shut-up Hugh and I when we discuss newspapers and magazines, you don't want to be around us when we talk book publishing. It's probably annoying to people who are just sitting near-by. While I ranted about Seth Godin's recent announcement that he would no longer be publishing books in a traditional fashion (more on that here: You Are Not Seth Godin), Tim Ferriss (the best-selling business book author of The 4-Hour Work Week) wrote this killer (and long) blog post about how books are created and sold. Tim always brings sparks and sharp wit to his content, and this Blog post is no exception." (Mitch for Hugh).

Now, it's your turn: in the comment section below pick one thing that you saw this week that inspired you and share it.

Tags: alistair croll american history bitcurrent bite-sized edits book publishing complete web monitoring content daylife education edutopia gigaom great links hans monderman harold mcgee hugh mcguire human 20 iphone app lescoffier librivox link linkbait magazine industry managing bandwidth mass media media hacks microsoft modern science modernist cuisine nathan myhrvold new media newspaper industry on food and cooking publishing rednod seth godin slate tablet computing teacher's union textbook the 4 hour work week the accidental news explorer the book oven tim ferriss wired

The majority of independent online video content being created is mostly unwatchable.

I'm usually not that critical of online video (and, I'm the first to admit that I am guilty of creating some of this unwatchable content as well), but as the Internet matures, grows and brings in new audiences - specifically those interested in the more professional/business aspects of the channels and platforms - something has got to give. Do I mind when someone I know and admire just riffs off of their built-in laptop video camera? Well, it depends on who that person is and how relevant the content is. Do I ever think that the content adds to their credibility? Hardly ever. Sadly.

Video production is a beast unto itself.

A great way to get your feet wet in upping the quality of your online video production would be to pick up Steve Garfield's recently released business book, Get Seen - Online Video Secrets To Building Your Business. There are a handful of things anyone can do to up their online video production. Regardless of whether or not you like the whole "shaky cam" thing, it's important to acknowledge that quality video is hard to produce. It requires a mix of skill sets and it takes some time to get good at it (and a whole lot longer to be great at it). The challenge is that the tools to create those quality videos have become super cheap, so when those two clash, we get hit with a smorgasbord of unwatchable content that can often diminish someone's credibility in market without them even knowing it.

Here are 8 ways to produce online video that will not kill your credibility (from someone who knows nothing about it):

1. Audio balance. Whenever there is more than one person speaking, please ensure that everyone's level is equal prior to publishing your final piece. All too often, I have to watch the video and work my volume control like I'm doing a final mix on Pink Floyd's The Dark Side Of The Moon.
2. Microphones. Skype headsets, external mics, etc... all sound hollow and tinny. While ambient noise can be interesting, in video these very cheap mics really do make the production come off as unprofessional. Figure out what works best (clips-ons, booms, whatever), but if it's impossible to enjoy the content from an audio standpoint, the addition of video will not improve the experience.
3. Eye contact. It's hard and awkward to speak into a camera. That's why great broadcasters make the money that they do. Take some media training or do some pre-publishing practice runs. Letting your eyes wander, not looking into the camera or not being one hundred percent comfortable makes the viewer uncomfortable too. I'd love to say that online video is not mass media broadcasting, but the public has been trained, so we're not going to change the world at this point.
4. Speak. Way too many "ummms" and "ahhhs." It takes practice not to stammer and stumble over words. Don't just read off of cue cards and don't try to improvise either. Find a healthy balance by writing out a script, but knowing how to speak it instead of just reading it.
5. Backgrounds. Do you really think that recording in your basement with a broken bookshelf in the background or cat pee stains on the couch is screaming, "hire me!"? Find a nice/neutral looking background to record.
6. Lighting. There's a reason television and movie studios spend so much time and energy on lighting. While you may not be able/want to produce your video in such a sterile environment, pay attention to lighting, shade and reflections. A well-lit video can make the experience go from ho-hum to holy-wow!
7. Shifting. If you're sitting down, sit still. The amount of shifting, rocking back and forth or moving up and down to adjust your position is not only highly annoying, it comes off as highly amateur.
8. Edit. Think about how you can better edit your final product. Keep the information tight and be ferocious with what makes it to the final cut. The audience will thank you for not wasting their time or letting the content wander too far off of topic.

I'm no expert.

I don't produce videos (personally). I'm just an avid viewer and lover of content and information. With that, I tend to be fairly forgiving of a lot of the video sins that are committed because I appreciate that people don't have a lot of time, budget and skill to make their content broadcast-worthy. Most other professionals won't be as kind and forgiving as I am. The expectation - from a professional perspective - is that everything you publish helps elevate your credibility (even if it's just a little bit) with each new piece of content.

Great online video is like great art: It's almost impossible to define, but you know it when you see it. What are you seeing?

Tags: audio broadcaster broadcasting content credibility editing get seen independent online video information lighting mass media microphone movie studio online video online video production pink floyd publishing quality video shaky cam skype steve garfield television studio the dark side of the moon video camera vimeo youtube

All companies have one goal: to make money. Strike that. All companies have two goals: to make money and to make even more money the next year. This means that they all must be evil.

All eyes were on Google and Verizon the other week when they bandied together to create a stance on net neutrality and the future of the wireless space (more on that here: Pay Attention To The Future Of The Internet Today). A lot of the conversation and commentary fell back on Google's informal corporate motto, "Don't be evil." Some people question - due to both the size and revenues of Google - if that is even possible anymore.

Aren't all companies evil?

I don't know where I heard this statistic (and it's probably more folklore than hard evidence), but someone once told me that about two-percent of the world is evil. The real bad folks. The rapists, molesters, murderers and thieves. Those who seek out to do harm to others. We need to be vigilante to not let those types of people touch us, but we have to be careful that we do not become overly paranoid in the process. I've had the pleasure - as an agency owner, journalist, author and professional speaker - to work with a very diverse group of brands from many different industries. Some of those industries include big pharma, wireless carriers, cable companies, airlines, consumer packaged goods, retailers and beyond. Those industries - in specific - are often cited as being evil. The kind of evil where all they care about is making money on the backs of their customers without care. Could these companies do more in terms of charitable work for their communities and the overall environment? Of course they can, but all of us could do a whole lot more.

How much are you tithing?

If you take a second to look up the definition of "tithe" on Wikipedia, you'll quickly realize that a "tithe" is not just a donation. It's actually, "a one-tenth part of something, paid as a (usually) voluntary contribution or as a tax or levy, usually to support a religious organization." Are you giving ten-percent of everything your earn away to charity? Don't answer that. The point is that a company is made up of people. Those people need to lead by example. The company (or government) isn't going to do this for us... we have to lead.

Back to evilness.

In all of my journeys I (like you) had my own preconceived notion about these big, bad industries and - upon getting to know the people within the organization - I've learned a very important lesson: these are all good people. They love the brands they represent. They are trying to do great work. The have family and friends that love them and that they love. They want to do more. They want to share more. They want you to see how good they are and the work they do. They want to make sure that the work they are doing matters.

Greed is (or can be) good.

For years critics demonized Bill Gates because as Microsoft was growing into a behemoth he was not as charitable as hoped, when - in reality - his personal philosophy was to keep his head down, grow the business beyond belief and then do some amazing things that would truly change the world. Mission accomplished (more on that here: Warren Buffett, Bill Gates ask billionaires to give away wealth). Is Bill Gates evil? Was Bill Gates ever evil? Chances are you don't get that big, powerful and rich by making everybody happy all of the time, but think about the people you interface with everyday... are they evil?

Do no evil.

We're quick to demonize industries (like Marketing or airlines). We're quick to demonize corporate leaders. We're quick to demonize quite a lot. The next time you're feeling like that, head over to LinkedIn and look to see if you're connected (in some way) with someone at one of those companies or industries. Better yet, ask you're following on Twitter or Facebook if anyone works for that industry and company. Connect with them (either online or in real life).

Now, seriously ask yourself if they are that much different from you and I? Are they evil?

Tags: airline industry author bill gates billionaire giveaway business cable company charitable charity consumer packaged goods corporate culture don't be evil facebook good people google internet journalist linkedin marketing microsoft net neutrality pharma philanthropy professional speaker retail tax tithe twitter verizon warren buffett wikipedia wireless

Industries that sell products which can be digitized are grappling with everything from revenue to new business models and the book publishing industry is no exception to this rule.

News broke over the weekend that famed Marketing thinker/doer and best-selling business book author, Seth Godin (Linchpin, Tribes, Purple Cow, All Marketers Are Liars, etc...) was going to stop publishing books "traditionally" (you can read the full news item here via The Wall Street Journal: Author to Bypass Publisher for Fans). The news hit Twitter like a brushfire (especially amongst Marketing Nerds like your truly). "The author of about a dozen books including Purple Cow said he now has so many direct customer relationships, largely via his blog, that he no longer needs a traditional publisher. Mr. Godin plans to release subsequent titles himself in electronic books, via print-on-demand or in such formats as audiobooks, apps, small digital files called PDFs and podcasts," stated The Wall Street Journal.

This is a lot bigger than Seth Godin and book publishing.

A couple of years back, a major consumer brand approached my agency, Twist Image, about developing an e-commerce platform so that they could sell directly to consumers. I've been in similar scenarios over the years, and I know that the major retailers don't love it when brands sell directly. When I prodded the brand on this point, their blunt answer was: "the retailers are constantly beating us down on margins and exclusivity. We're currently in a scenario where we're at the mercy of less than a handful of retailers and our margins are shrinking. If we don't start to have a direct relationship with our consumers, we're sunk."

An e-commerce website is not going to save them.

That brand is making the mistake of confusing "selling directly to customers" with "having a relationship with our consumers". Seth published a Blog post about his shift away from traditional publishing yesterday titled, Moving On, in which he writes: "The thing is - now I know who my readers are. Adding layers or faux scarcity doesn't help me or you. As the medium changes, publishers are on the defensive... I honestly can't think of a single traditional book publisher who has led the development of a successful marketplace/marketing innovation in the last decade. The question asked by the corporate suits always seems to be, 'how is this change in the marketplace going to hurt our core business?' To be succinct: I'm not sure that I serve my audience (you) by worrying about how a new approach is going to help or hurt Barnes & Noble. My audience does things like buy five or ten copies at a time and distribute them to friends and co-workers. They (you) forward blog posts and PDFs. They join online discussion forums. None of these things are supported by the core of the current corporate publishing model."

This isn't the future of publishing... this is the future of business.

I asked my literary agent, James Levine, about his thoughts on Seth's move. This is what he said:

• Fan base. Must be fanatic, very large, and inclined to read the author's works in digital format. This won't work right out the gate for authors whose main following is in print.
• Marketing savvy and support. Aside from being very smart about marketing, the author needs to have the staff in place to execute, execute, execute, daily, daily, daily. Many authors will underestimate how expensive and time consuming this is.
• Long term money goals. The author needs to be able/willing to forego the short-term guarantee from a publisher [known as "the advance"] and bet on long term sales direct from consumers (the per unit revenue to the author is much bigger when the author acts as the publisher).
• Platforms. It's important to realize that this approach will make the most sense for authors who make most of their money by speaking/consulting to business audiences. In this sense, books are a form of advertising for the more lucrative services provided by these authors.

I would add to this list...

• Editing. Seth touched on this in his Blog post. He said he would personally engage a world-class editor to help him sharpen the content and get it ready for "prime time."
• Sales reps. My guess is that Seth will also engage freelance sales representatives (probably one of the folks that the big publishers or book retailers let go as they downsize) to ensure that some of his content does make its way on to retail bookshelves (airport book stores and some of the bigger chains).

So, can every brand be Seth Godin?

The answer is "maybe." We tend to see this one act: "Seth leaves major book publishing behind." What we forget is the track record (twelve best-selling business books, as many speaking events per year as he would like to do, his own seminars, thousands of Blogs posts, free eBooks and more goodwill thank you can shake a stick at). This amounts to decades of doing tons of things (let's not forget about Squidoo) that all had him in direct connection with the people who will buy his books from him, talk about it to their peers and evangelize his always-brilliant thinking.

Can you really say that you have this kind of relationship with your consumers?

What Seth, The Wall Street Journal, the book publishing industry and the literary agents aren't telling you is that you can - in fact - be just like Seth Godin. These Digital Marketing channels are here for you (and they're free - if you don't count the time you need to put into them). In text, images, audio and video you too can publish how you think to the world... instantly. You too can share with others, build relationships and get your ideas to spread. You do not have to rely solely on mass media to help spread the word. And, you'll know in short order, if your idea has traction... and you'll be able to track how that idea spreads and connects.

In the end, you are not Seth Godin, but you can be.

You can also hear my audio conversation with Seth Godin that was recorded prior to the launch of his last book, Linchpin, right here: Seth Godin Podcast (Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast #181).

Tags: all marketers are liars audiobook barnes and noble book publisher book publishing brand business book business book author business model consultant customer relationship digital format digital marketing digitization e-commerce electronic book future business james levine linchpin literary agent marketer marketing marketing book marketing innovation marketing nerd mass media moving on online discussion forum podcast print on demand purple cow seth godin speaking squidoo the wall street journal tribes twist image twitter

One of the main tenets of Social Media was the reality that brands could join a conversation (to quote my good friend, Joseph Jaffe), but by the looks of things there aren't really any conversations happening at all.

It's not just Jaffe who pushed that idea out with his second business book, Join The Conversation. Many other Bloggers and Podcasters (myself included) have explained to brands that Social Media is a conversation and that they can either be a part of it or watch it from the sidelines (while also watching what the ramifications are of not participating in the content).

But, things have changed.

In the past few weeks, I've been on a personal journey of re-evaluating this Blog (more on that here: Comments And Conversations), while at the same time watching the evolving face of Facebook (more on that here: 500 Million), evaluating the growth of Twitter, and even how some of my favorite Blogs and Podcasts have been changing over the years. The net output of this research made me think one thought (and one thought only)...

There is not much conversation going on at all.

Here's what I do see:

• Blogs that have comments, with little back and forth. Some Bloggers respond to the comments and some don't.
• Those that do have comments, usually have no further comment from the person who left a comment in the first place. That's not a conversation. That's feedback.
• Individuals not leaving a comment to engage in a conversation, but simply to promote their own links or to chest-thump.
• Twitter doesn't really bring out a conversation. It's a great place to broadcast and get some quick tidbits, but let's face it, unless you're creating spiritual and motivation tweets, it's hard to have substance in 140 characters (or less - if you're looking for a retweet).
• Even in cool arenas like the #blogchat that takes place on Twitter every Sunday night, it feels more like everyone screaming a thought at once than a conversation that can be followed and engaged with.
• Facebook has some great banter with the wall posts and status updates, but it's more chatty than conversational and it's not an open/public environment.

None of this is a bad thing... it just is.

I can hear some Social Media purists say that these are the "new conversations" but I don't believe that to be true. Why? Because if you do look at platforms like Podcasting (ones done on platforms like Blog Talk Radio or Talk Shoe) and certain message boards, you do see instances that resemble a conversation (people do call in, expand on a thought and have some good back and forth banter), but the majority of "conversation" I have come across is nothing more than the posting of a thought with very little engagement beyond that.

And then, this happens...

Dave Winer (known as one of the Godfathers of RSS and Podcasting) is changing how comments happen on his Blog, Scripting News (which is also one of the first weblogs ever published on the Internet). In a post published yesterday titled, Proposal: A new kind of blog comment system, Winer writes: "I know some people think that blogs are conversations, but I don't. I think they're publications. And I think the role of comments is to add value to the posts. If you want to rebut a post, then you can create your own blog and post your rebuttal there. I've always felt this way about what blogs are, and in a similar way I feel Twitter is not a conversational medium. it is even more inappropriate to try to converse there because of the 140-character limit."

Are we seeing a new shift in Social Media? Are the conversations dead? Were they ever - really - alive? What do you think?

Tags: blog blog comment blog talk radio blogchat blogger brand broadcasting business book content conversation dave winer facebook join the conversation joseph jaffe message boards podcast podcaster publishing retweet rss scripting news social media talk shoe tweet twitter

Episode #216 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to.

This episode is proof positive that Social Media and the changes in the Digital Marketing landscape sometimes do happen with lightning fast speed. In late June, I had a  Skype conversation with Chris Treadaway who is the co-author of Facebook Marketing - An Hour A Day along with Mari Smith. Back then (less than two months ago), Facebook did not have 500 million users, nor had they announced Facebook Places and there were no Facebook Credits. A lot of our conversation was around the topic of how to use Facebook as a Marketing engine, and Chris was pretty upfront that by the time the book had been published, there was no such thing as the "like" button as well. Here is our fascinating conversation all about Facebook, Marketing, privacy and the speed of the online channels. Enjoy the conversation...

You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via iTunes): Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast #216.

Tags: advertising bite size edits blog blogging blue sky factory book oven cast of dads cc chapman chris brogan chris treadaway christopher s penn david usher digital dads digital marketing facebook facebook group facebook marketing facebook marketing an hour a day hugh mcguire in over your head itunes julien smith librivox managing the gray mari smith marie mai marketing marketing over coffee media hacks new marketing labs online social network podcast podcasting six pixels of separation social media 101 social media marketing strategy trust agents twist image

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (BitCurrent, Rednod, GigaOM, Human 2.0, the author of Complete Web Monitoring and Managing Bandwidth: Deploying QOS in Enterprise Networks), Hugh McGuire (The Book Oven, LibriVox, Bite-Sized Edits, Media Hacks) and I decided that every week or so the three of us are going to share one link for each other (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person "must see".

Check out these six links that we're recommending to one another:

1. The world's next 20 years on one slide - and it's pretty scary - From Poverty To Power. "This is the shortest link I've shared yet, but if you're curious, you'll dig into the provided link from John Beddington, the chief scientific advisor to the UK Government and Head of its Government Office for Science. He's pretty blunt: Can we provide food, water and energy to nine million people, sustainably, in the face of massive climate change?" (Alistair for Hugh).
2. How to Be an Ideas Factory: Loosen Your Grip on Your Creations - BNet. "This interview with Dave Stewart (of Eurythmics fame) talks about how to generate and present ideas. I like his assertion that you need to give up your ideas to see them flourish; there are some good video clips, too, and one of his recent projects - a collaboration with Heroes' Tim Kring called, Consipracy of Good, is a fascinating ARG." (Alistair for Mitch).
3. The Laws of Information Chemistry - O'Reilly Radar. "Jon Udell is a great writer about technology and society. Here he writes about 'information chemistry' and argues that part of our basic education - like chemistry, math and history - should include courses on how information works." (Hugh for Alistair).
4. Invasion - Esquire.com. "I'm violating my rule about not including articles from Instapaper's Editor's Picks (because it's just too easy to find great links from that list). I'm violating my rule because this is one of the most delightful bits of writing I've read in a while, about the great battle that so many of us suffer in silence: family vs. ant." (Hugh for Mitch).
5. The Web Is Dead? A Debate - Wired Magazine. "The Intertubes were clogged this week with shock and awe over Chris Anderson and his cover story for this month's Wired Magazine titled, The Web Is Dead. Long Live The Internet. Amidst all of the hysteria and cries for his resignation for such a salacious statement, Wired actually ran an awesome adjunct article called, The Web Is Dead? A Debate, that featured a back-and-forth between Anderson, O'Reilly Publishing's head honcho, Tim O'Reilly, and John Batelle (author of The Search). There are tons of gems in this debate that will have you agreeing, nodding you head and screaming 'amen!' aloud." (Mitch for Alistair).
6. Cancer journal: A happy birthday despite grim news - Health On Today. "Hugh and I often lament about the beauty that can be found in both words and how they can now be distributed through Blogs. We both agree that it's the different and personal content that really makes this platform so unique. The potential is there to connect and really tell human stories in a human way. This is one of them. This is the reason Blogs were created. If you do nothing else today, please read this... then go and spend some time with your loved ones." (Mitch for Hugh).

Now, it's your turn: in the comment section below pick one thing that you saw this week that inspired you and share it.

Tags: alistair croll alternate reality game ant arg bitcurrent bite-sized edits blog business book chris anderson climate change complete web monitoring conspiracy of good content creativity dave stewart education esquire eurythmics from poverty to power gigaom great links heroes hugh mcguire human 20 ideas information information chemistry ink instapaper internet john batelle john beddington jon udell librivox linkbait managing bandwidth math media hacks oreilly publishing oreilly radar oxfam publishing rednod science technology the book oven the search the web is dead tim kring tim oreilly today wired magazine writer

"What are we doing on Twitter?" "What are we doing on Facebook?" "What are we doing on YouTube?" You've heard these questions a million times in a million different meetings.

For the past long while, I have raged against those questions. To me asking "what?" is simply tactical. It's usually only asked because a competitor is doing something similar or because someone in the c-suite got handed a newspaper article that defined one of the Social Media platforms as the newest media darling and sensation. It's a dangerous route.

Start with "why?"

"Why should we be using Twitter?" "Why should we be on Facebook?" "Why should we be posting videos to YouTube?" When you ask "why?" you start thinking more about the strategy. You start thinking more about how this will tie into your business objectives and help the overall economic value of the organization. "Why?" is the strategy and "what?" is the tactical. If you've been playing along at home on this Blog, apologies for being repetitive, but it hasn't sunk in. eMarketer recently released a news item titled, What Makes Up a Social Marketing Strategy? (June 24th, 2010), which stated that, "52% of social marketers are operating 'without a game plan,'... Further, many that do have a strategy find it doesn't address all their concerns or fit their needs. The most common elements included by companies with a social media communications plan were resource-allocation guidelines for ongoing activities, registration of branded usernames on social sites and research into competitors' use of social media. To be sure, those are all critical components of an effective strategy, but they are only the beginning."

There's a bigger reason why brands and Social Media are having a hard time connecting and few people are talking about it.

Before jumping into Social Media, ask yourself this one hard (and very serious) question: does my brand fit into the culture of these platforms? It's a complex question. It's a cultural thing and sometimes brands think that they do fit when in reality, they're just the old guy standing at the back of the club by the bar waiting for the concert to end so that they can take the kids (who are moshing up front) home. They're not really invited. They're not really welcome. Everyone else there is just tolerating their existence like a necessary evil.

There are ways to engender yourself to these different cultures.

That's where a real Social Media strategy kicks in. When you can break down the brand and define how/why it can develop any semblance of a community within the specific platforms (and don't kid yourself, Blogs are very different from Facebook's culture and Twitter's culture is very different from LinkedIn's). So, in case you were wondering, yes, there is a Blogging culture and it's everything from personal journalizing to sharing information in a non-PR-ish kind of way.

People always want to preserve their culture (and there's nothing wrong with that).

In the end, I would argue that a Blog is not just like every other publishing platform either, because every other publishing platform isn't like any of the others. Think about how we culturally see YouTube versus Twitter. Yes, you can do things within them to change them and tweak them to make them unique or different for your brand, but they each have their own culture (language, audience, vibe, etc...). It's not always easy to define a culture, but once you're engaged in the channel, you can feel it. It's also not wrong (or unfounded) for those who Blog to want to encourage the culture of Blogging to push on and not become homogenized into something "other." Whether we like it or not, we do need these semantics and understanding of these channels and their unique cultures. Otherwise, what's the difference between a blog, newspaper, magazine, book, website, etc...? Afterall, they all just publish content. The difference is in their culture, how they operate and who they appeal to.

What brands are learning is that they can't make that culture bend to their will. They need to work hard to live that culture and become an accepted member of the community - in an authentic way.

Do you think brands are up for this challenge?

Tags: blog blogging culture book business objectives communications content cultural culture economic value emarketer facebook linkedin magazine new media newspaper online community pr public relations publishing social media social media strategy twitter website youtube

When you think about the Internet, what do you think about?

Google and Verizon in the U.S. came together to propose a new direction for both the Internet and the future of wireless connectivity that seems to be ruffling many feathers within the industry and among media and technology pundits alike. Before diving into this complex debate on so-called Net Neutrality, ask yourself this: Should everyone who has access to the Internet be entitled to access each and every website, blog and Twitter feed equally - at the same speed without being blocked or denied access?

Before answering that question...

Consider a news item titled, Finland makes 1Mb broadband access a legal right (CNet - October 14th, 2009). "France, one of a few countries that has made Internet access a human right, did so earlier this year. France's Constitutional Council ruled that Internet access is a basic human right. That said, it stopped short of making 'broadband access' a legal right. Finland says that it's the first country to make broadband access a legal right."

If countries throughout the world are now considering broadband Internet access a human right, we need to be thinking about the issue of Net neutrality now (and, perhaps, in a very different light).

The best definition of Net neutrality came out of a New York Times article, Internet Proposal From Google and Verizon Raises Fear for Privacy (August 15th, 2010): "a policy that would prohibit Internet service providers from exploiting their role in delivering information to favour their own content, or the content of the highest bidders." To translate: those who own the digital pipes, tolls and bridges can assign different levels of pricing and speed of access to the Internet. And you thought a two-tiered health-care system was a contentious topic for debate.

What's been really irking the public is that Google - long a defender of Net neutrality and equal access for all, and a company known for it's informal corporate mantra of "Don't be evil" - is standing by their commitment to an equally accessible connectivity for broadband Internet access, but is now recommending that wireless connectivity be exempted. On The Google Public Policy Blog, Richard Whitt (Google's Washington Telecom and Media Counsel) states: "It's true that Google previously has advocated for certain openness safeguards to be applied in a similar fashion to what would be applied to wireline services. However, in the spirit of compromise, we have agreed to a proposal that allows this market to remain free from regulation for now, while Congress keeps a watchful eye."

Think about what these many technology, telecommunications and media companies now know about you.

Google accounts for close to 80 per cent of all Internet-based searches. It also accounts for more than 95 per cent of all searches done on a mobile device. Many mobile devices now use Google's Android operating system. This means Google knows every call you place. Google knows what you are searching for. Google knows which buttons you are clicking on. Google knows what your location is at any given moment. Let's not forget about those who also use their popular email application, Gmail, or those who use their Web browser, Chrome.

Privacy isn't just a problem for Facebook.

While Facebook and their privacy policies seem to be attracting the most media and public attention - because people don't realize that by becoming a member of their online social network, they are - in effect - giving Facebook permission to publicly publish the content they put on there, think about this: how would you feel if all of the searches you were doing online (or on your mobile device) were made either public or were being used to target you better with advertising?

Many people tell a search box things they would not ever mention to their own spouses, children or parents.

Net neutrality is not a political play. Net neutrality is a business play. Both Google and Verizon are businesses (as are all of their competitors). There is no longer a mobile Web and a broadband Web - there is one line of connectivity. Because of devices like the iPhone, BlackBerry, Droid and beyond, people are just connected and online. The technological advances won't finally lead us to a place where we have even faster broadband Internet access and an equally fast mobile Internet.

The endgame here is one line of connectivity, and the easy bet is on mobile.

Make no mistake about it, the real Internet of tomorrow is not the plug that runs from your computer into the phone jack or cable box. The real Internet is the untethered and wireless one. It's the same Internet that Google and Verizon are asking to be exempted from Net neutrality. This is a little bit like setting up speed limits in 2010, but only making them applicable to those with a horse and buggy.

So, what are you going to do about it?

*UPDATE: since the writing and submission of this article, Google has revised some of its views. You can read more about it here: Google fires back at net neutrality critics.

The above posting is my twice-monthly column for the Montreal Gazette and Vancouver Sun newspapers called, New Business - Six Pixels of Separation. I cross-post it here with all the links and tags for your reading pleasure, but you can check out the original versions online here:

• Montreal Gazette - Make no mistake about it: Net neutrality is a business play.
• Vancouver Sun - Not yet published.

Tags: advertising android blackberry blog broadband access business business column business writing cnet competition connectivity content droid facebook finland gmail google google chrome google public policy blog information internet internet access internet service provider iphone media company media pundit mobile device montreal gazette net neutrality new york times newspaper newspaper column online social network post media privacy privacy policy publishing richard whitt search engine technology pundit telecommunications twitter vancouver sun verizon website wireless wireline

How much value does the comments section of a Blog add to your Social Media experience?

Before even getting into the main thrust of this Blog post, let me - personally - state that I am well aware that this debate probably lived (and died) back in 2003. The truth is that (like you) I have my own opinions about how Social Media plays out in a corporate role. At a macro level, I don't think the model is something that anyone can template. I do believe that every corporation must have a unique Social Media strategy (one that is directly tied to business objectives and overall economic value to the company). I also believe that although the tools and platforms are agnostic regardless of whether you are a small, medium or large corporation, that the size of the organization does play a factor into what you can do (and how fast you can move).

Moving fast. Moving slow.

Here's my personal and corporate journey for this Twist Image company Blog (yes, in case you weren't aware, Six Pixels of Separation isn't just my personal playground, but the voice of our Digital Marketing agency) in three acts:

1. Act I - We started this Blog (originally called Multimarketing - Twist Image) in late 2003. The original impetus was to share our very personal stories. What we were reading, what were thinking, how we think differently, and why we think Digital Marketing is a critical piece of the marketing mix. The comment section was closed. We're in bootstrap mode trying to close business, and I knew I would let down the audience/community, but balanced that reality with the fact that the Blog would (mostly) be a "what's going on in our world" instead of a real conversation worthy of comments. Think: instant publishing versus community and conversation.
2. Act II - A couple of years later, we changed the name to Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Blog and opened up comments. The mindset at this point was: the Blog posts will be rich and have one thought (with - hopefully - a beginning, middle and end). The comment section becomes more of an, "ok, I've said my peace, what do you think?" type of area. In retrospect, it worked really well, and the comments always added perspective and balance (even without the back and forth).
3. Act III - Welcome to it... right now. In case you haven't been following along lately, I have become extremely active/vocal in the comments section. This is not an experiment or an anomaly. In a day and age when most people are abandoning their Blogs for Twitter feeds and Facebook updates, I've realized that this Blog really is an expression of my personal art, my thinking, my muse (yes, I love writing and thinking about Digital Marketing) and how Twist Image works. With all of that said, I do have thin skin, so I'm not looking for a fight, but rather a healthy conversation with some back and forth. So far, I am loving it. Instead of dragging me down into the minutia of a concept, I find that the comments and conversations are fostering new ways of thinking and they are inspiring more Blog post ideas ... and inspiring me to Blog even more.

There are no hard and fast rules.

As fast as Social Media is moving and evolving, the millions of Blog are - for the most part - a culmination of many individual opinions (and this Blog is no different). Some will argue that you should always have comments. Some will argue that you should respond to every comment. Some will be thankful just to have fresh content published on a frequent basis. Some will look at every post as if they're about to beat it up and mug it. Personally, I'm just looking for all of your thoughts so that they lead to a substantial conversation so that it leads to all of us being more inspired and smarter.

I hope you will play, learn and love along with me (and yes, it took me nearly seven years to figure this all out).

How much value does the comments section of a Blog add to your Social Media experience? What do you think?

Tags: art blog blog comment blogger blogging business objectives content digital marketing digital marketing agency economic value facebook instant publishing join the conversation marketing mix multimarketing online community online conversation publishing social media social media strategy thin skin twist image twitter