• I’m over Twitter. Don’t get me wrong -  I still have it, I’m still collecting followers, and I still throw up a new tweet when I write an article.  But other than that, the twetals have fallen off the twose.

In case you live in a cave, or are my wife, Twitter is  “a  free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read each others’ updates, known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters, displayed on the author’s profile page and delivered to other users - known as followers - who have subscribed to them.”

<– I KNEW Mr. Rogers was always after the Giant C*ck!

In noob terms, Twitter is like your Facebook status. Followers are kind of like your friends…but the ones you don’t really give a shit about or know personally.  Yeah, I mean the kid in high school in the cool crowd that picked on your when his friends were around but was nice to you when he was alone . Dick.

[Read the rest of this entry...]

Been a while. Miss me? Nah, me either. <hug> 

When it comes to business, I’m cool, collected, professional, prepared, and able to make tough decisions at the drop of a hat.  Of course I am wrong sometimes, but I’m right more often than not, and I always have a plan B in place should that happen.

But when it comes to my own life and my own businesses, I’m a bit more complex (I think that is the PC word substitution for F*d up).  I am interested in SOOOO many things, that choosing the “right” path is always very difficult for me.  Combine that with the fact that I am a born slacker, and often the wheels of progress are carved into a square.

[Read the rest of this entry...]

I’d like to introduce you to a buddy of mine who is going to be our first guest publisher.  His name is Chris Thompson and he is the COO of Invidia Group, a firm that specializes in online marketing and lead generation. 

<– Sadly, this is not him.  But can read his bio here. 

I recently sent him an email asking about HTML vs. TXT emails and some ideas for a new campaign that I am working on.  I used to do quite a bit of email marketing, but have been out of the loop for a while, so I wanted to know what has changed.  His response was so verbose and thorough that I decided to turn it into an article for the site.  No sense in me hoarding the info and not passing it on to you guys. [Read the rest of this entry...]

As promised, the guest editors are here! 

Our first post is going to be from Chris Thompson.  Chris and I worked together a while back with Rich Schefren, one of the big name IM gurus.  He was then the marketing director and responsible for organic traffic, CPC, CPA, and business development.  Like me, he has since moved on.  Unlike me, he is now a fancy-pants COO at the Invidia Group. 

Chris is the human equivalent to his dog, a giant bull mastiff.  He is physically huge (one of the few people that dwarf me), looks quite intimidating, but underneath is probably most likely to sit on your lap and lick your face - I personally had to swat him on the nose with a newspaper on more than one occasion. [Read the rest of this entry...]

I’m a marketing strategist. I can do execution, but it’s not as fun for me, and honestly, I’m not as good at it.  Lots of people like to hold marketers in higher regard if you are a strategy or “big picture” guy, but I don’t think that’s really fair.  Yes, strategy does take a bit more experience than execution, and most at some point were executionalists themselves, but I really don’t think one is any more important than the other.  

If you don’t have both types, your marketing still sucks, so it don’t really matter who does what. 

<– Photo: Bilk. Beer and Milk.  While most strategy problems are far more subtle, this product is proof that fantastic execution is useless without a good strategy… and also that Japanese people are just weird.) 

  [Read the rest of this entry...]

Subtitle: The science behind why you suck… and finding a happy medium.

Over the last few days I have been talking to an old partner who is now a fancy pants director at a big consulting firm in charge of growing a new division. 

As we discussed how his marketing funnel is tiered and contact points of different classes of prospects, I immediately noticed that my discussion went straight towards the metrics of each group.

  [Read the rest of this entry...]

I was watching the daily show the other night where Jon Stewart lambasted the “expert advice” of  CNBC and Rick Santelli specifically on his “Fu&c the homeowners” rant on Wall Street. Pretty funny. Don’t need to watch the whole thing. A few minutes should give you the gist.

And I agree with Stewart for the most part, but having been a real estate broker myself at the height of the flip ‘n greed phase, I’m also a bit in the “fu*k the homeowner” camp too. 

  [Read the rest of this entry...]

I just wanted to drop a quick note on the blog to let you hooligans know that we have a new web site in our expanding army!  While you guys were twirling your thumbs, we have been spending hours day(s) creating a new site.

http://www.shortbushumor.com

Remember the name, it’s gonna be HUGE!

  [Read the rest of this entry...]

I’ve just returned from a doctor’s appointment and I thought I would share an uncomfortable story with you. Hopefully I can entertain you at my own expense while sharing a important lesson about using humor inappropriately. Let me add that while this may tickle your funnybone, I can assure you, my bone was altogether un-tickled at the time.

[Read the rest of this entry...]

Yes, crazy demand is a problem that you want to have.  But when you are in the trenches, there is nothing fun about it (Well it is for me, but I’m a freak). Things are going crazy, you are going crazy - You are simply too busy to think, never mind think strategically. 

In this phase, it will seem like everything has gone to shit - Probably because it has. 

I would love to be able to write an article that shows you how to meet demand across any industry, but the truth is, there are so many case specific scenarios that this post would be better fit for a hardcover book, than a few page blog post.

[Read the rest of this entry...]