Don Narcisse was the Warren Buffett of Canadian Football. His performance numbers over a long career speak for themselves. A small receiver (5′9″), Narcisse began his career in the CFL with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1987 after being cut from the St Louis Cardinals. The rest was history. Here are some of his stats after a 13-year football career: 216 games, 919 receptions, 75 touchdowns, 12,366 yards 8 – 1000+ yard seasons, 2 – 900+ yards seasons 34 – 100+ yard games Led CFL in receptions (123) – 1995 With numbers like this, he is first,…
Selected by zackmiller
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New Rules of Investing
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Don Narcisse, Ponzimonium, and Professional Athlete Investors
16 Nov 2009 | 4:57 am -
Murdoch on Sky News on the WSJ.com
10 Nov 2009 | 2:06 amInteresting interview with Rupert Murdoch himself on the WSJ.com, Google, and premium content. Here’s TechCrunch’s take on what Murdoch has to say: Murdoch told his own Sky News that he might start blocking Google and other search engines from giving searchers full access to articles on the Wall Street Journal’s website, WSJ.com. Asked whether he realized that Google was sending his news site a ton of traffic, Murdoch responded, “We’d rather have fewer people coming to our Websites, but paying.” -
Insiders vs. Outsiders: Why Raj Rajaratnam is no Martha Stewart
26 Oct 2009 | 5:45 amMartha Stewart was a billionaire in 2001. She floated her own media firm, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, on the New York Stock Exchange in 1999 and witnessed her stock price double just on the first day it began trading. Her T.V. shows combined with magazines and a home furnishing line were just hitting their stride. She was the queen and dominated the smart, simple and fresh themes that she presented in her suggestions for lifestyle, cooking, and organization. Unfortunately, calamity stuck and Stewart went from champ to chump literally over night. According to the U.S. Securities… -
kaChing goes kaching with new money management fxn
19 Oct 2009 | 5:53 amkaChing announced yesterday (rather quietly — strange) that they have indeed — after months of discussion — launched their investment management arm. What that means is that investors can open up an Interactive Brokers account to mirror the activities of portfolio managers on kaChing. From board member Andy Radcliffe who posted on kaching’s blog yesterday: We now enable you to “invest like a Genius” in your real brokerage account. On kaChing, a Genius is an investor who, not surprisingly, earned an Investing IQ greater than 140, built a track record over more… -
Where the Wild Things aren’t: mass affluent leaving brokers
15 Oct 2009 | 7:56 amInteresting data regarding mass affluent investors coming out of the Spectrem Group, as reported by Investment News today. According to the study: only 22% of mass affluent investors — those with a net worth of $100,000 to $1 million — now rely on a broker as their primary financial adviser, down from 30% just one year ago. Independent advisors picked up some of these defectors as clients, but most just appear to be going it alone. This shift represents the first time in the eight years that Spectrem has tracked this data that brokers were not the primary option for mass affluent…
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WSJ.com: US Business
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Exxon Renews Leases in Nigeria
20 Nov 2009 | 8:01 pmExxon ended months of negotiations with Nigeria by renewing three oil leases for fields the company operates in the country. -
AIG Trustee Sought Exit, But Will Remain
20 Nov 2009 | 7:59 pmOne of the three trustees who oversees U.S. taxpayers' nearly 80% stake in AIG recently said he wanted to quit his post, but was persuaded to stay on. Separately, the government is seeking possible candidates to add to the insurer's board. -
Hershey Trustees Back Cadbury Bid
20 Nov 2009 | 7:48 pmThe trust that controls Hershey is pushing it to launch a rival $17 billion bid for Cadbury that would include more cash than Kraft's offer. -
Morgan Unloads Crescent
20 Nov 2009 | 7:41 pmMorgan Stanley closed the book on its disastrous $6.5 billion acquisition of Crescent Real Estate Equities by handing the keys to lender Barclays. -
Weak Power Demand Dims Outlook
20 Nov 2009 | 7:13 pmElectricity sales remained weak in the third quarter, prompting speculation that the sluggishness could persist even after the U.S. economy rebounds.
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WSJ.com: Markets
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ECB Takes Step Toward Crisis Exit
20 Nov 2009 | 8:00 pmThe European Central Bank announced its first active step to unwind the stimulus measures it has used to support the financial sector since the global crisis last year. -
More Stocks May Not Make a Portfolio Safer
20 Nov 2009 | 7:36 pmNot putting all your eggs in one basket is the most basic principle of investing. It also may be the hardest to get right. -
Looking to Energize Returns?
20 Nov 2009 | 7:22 pmShare prices have plunged and payouts have slowed, but some analysts say investors should reconsider jumping back in. -
Dollar Revels in Continued Risk Aversion
20 Nov 2009 | 7:09 pmThe euro recouped some of its overnight losses against the dollar late Friday morning as investors adjusted positions ahead of the shortened U.S. Thanksgiving holiday week. -
Penn Virginia, MTS Systems Fall
20 Nov 2009 | 7:06 pmSmall-cap stocks fell for Friday and the week, led downward by the energy sector. Among Friday's decliners were Penn Virginia, MTS Systems and Wet Seal.
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Financial Times - US homepage
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Medvedev criticises United Russia political practices
21 Nov 2009 | 7:35 amRussian president Dmitry Medvedev harshly criticised Russia’s hegemonic United Russia political party for allowing dirty election practices at the party’s annual congress in St Petersburg, calling its methods ‘backwards’ and saying it must ‘get rid of bad political habits’ -
Hershey weighs $17bn bid for Cadbury
20 Nov 2009 | 4:24 pmThe charitable trust that controls Hershey has encouraged the US confectioner’s management to pursue a $17bn bid for Cadbury, topping Kraft Foods’ hostile $16.2bn offer -
Barnier set to win EU financial role
20 Nov 2009 | 3:30 pmMichel Barnier, former French foreign minister, is set to be put in charge of the EU’s single market, in a contentious move that followed a night of political horse-trading over top jobs in Brussels -
Arrests made in €10m match-fixing probe
20 Nov 2009 | 2:39 pmPolice and sport officials have dismantled a criminal ring suspected of unprecedented match-fixing and betting in European professional football -
Closing credits roll for Oprah
20 Nov 2009 | 1:05 pmA tearful Oprah Winfrey said she had decided ‘after much prayer and months of careful thought’ that the Oprah Winfrey Show would finish in 2011
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Reuters: Business and Finance News
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Bank of America CEO Lewis may delay retiring: report
20 Nov 2009 | 8:33 pmNEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis has said he would consider postponing his retirement if directors need more time to find a successor or smooth the transition to the next CEO, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. -
Delta says SkyTeam could invest more in JAL: report
20 Nov 2009 | 8:13 pmNEW YORK (Reuters) - The chief executive of Delta Air Lines Inc says the SkyTeam alliance of global carriers would be willing to invest more than its proposed $1.02 billion in Japan Airlines , the Wall Street Journal reported. -
Time Warner, News Corp reported interested in MGM
20 Nov 2009 | 8:03 pmNEW YORK (Reuters) - News Corp, Time Warner Inc and Qualia Capital LLC are interested in buying Hollywood's Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio, home of the James Bond movies, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. -
GE-Vivendi talks over NBC Universal stalled: report
20 Nov 2009 | 7:38 pmNEW YORK (Reuters) - Talks between General Electric and Vivendi over the future of NBC Universal have stalled, the New York Times reported on Friday night. -
Stocks could sputter with Black Friday eyed
20 Nov 2009 | 6:14 pmNEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks could sputter next week as volumes dry up in holiday-shortened trading and with a slew of economic reports likely to illustrate the recovery is still fragile.
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DealBook
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Ron Paul Defends His Plan for Fed Oversight
20 Nov 2009 | 3:26 pmDefending himself against critics, Representative Ron Paul of Texas played down concerns on Friday that his amendment to give Congress sweeping new oversight powers over the Federal Reserve would compromise the central bank's political independence. -
Hershey Considers a Counterbid for Cadbury
20 Nov 2009 | 2:59 pmHershey is considering bidding for Cadbury, a proposal that would top the $16.7 billion hostile bid from Kraft, people briefed on the matter told DealBook on Friday. -
Morgan Stanley Reaches Deal on Barclays Loan
20 Nov 2009 | 11:24 amMorgan Stanley is handing over Crescent Real Estate Equities to Barclays Capital, winning forgiveness of a $2 billion loan that financed its acquisition of the real estate business in 2007. -
BofA's Ideal Chief: the One Who's Leaving?
20 Nov 2009 | 10:02 amRichard X. Bove, the outspoken bank analyst, believes that the best person to lead Bank of America is the man who's leaving the chief executive post. -
CF Claims 3 Seats on Terra's Board
20 Nov 2009 | 8:48 amCF Industries announced Friday that all three of its nominees were elected to the board of rival fertilizer maker Terra Industries, potentially ending an 11-month takeover battle.
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Random Roger
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The Big Picture for the Week of November 22, 2009
21 Nov 2009 | 5:04 amSomething to ponder.This came up in various places earlier on during this event but is worth thinking about again.Simple question; historically when do the biggest bounces in stock prices occur?While I have opinions as to what will happen the bigger thing is making sure to not get caught off guard by the things that potentially do the most harm. A decline, even if it were to be big would not do the most harm. What would do the most harm is panicking in the face of a decline.The realistic consequence of riding a big decline all the way down is that you have to wait for it to build back up. The… -
ETP Utility and Silliness
20 Nov 2009 | 5:08 amFirst utility. IndexIQ is coming out of the gate as a bit of an enigma. The new Merger Arbitrage ETF (MNA) at first glance seems odd to me. There have been several articles already that have ripped it up for not really being an arbitrage product and I will say I don't get why shorting the broad market against long positions in takeout targets is the best way to go but clearly they did not get a crappy result from the backtest and decide "well even though the backtest is lousy we'll run with it anyway."But that is not what I wanted to talk about. IndexUniverse has reported that IndexIQ has… -
Risk Assets And Other Greenback Fun
19 Nov 2009 | 5:06 amYves Smith from Naked Capitalism had a particularly meaty post earlier in the week about the current affairs of the US dollar. Of most interest was the following one-liner;But one difference this time is now the dollar, rather than the yen, looks like the best funding currency, and the dollar is a deeper market, so the scale of potential damage is much greater.The size of currencies has come up a couple of times during this event in terms of certain countries (like Iceland and Switzerland) simply not being big enough to bail out their banks if they needed to. This context though is new, to… -
Death Blow ETFs
18 Nov 2009 | 11:21 amKelly Capital launches 100x leveraged ETFs | ETF ExpressI'm trying to be the first to coin the term Death Blow ETFs. LOL. Read the link above, these things are 100X levered. The symbols are SINK and SOAR. Death Blow ETFs, you (may have) heard it here first. -
What Was I Saying?
18 Nov 2009 | 5:19 amThe other day I made a passing reference to the fact (hope?) that there would be some new ETP launched as the year winding down was a busy time. Well there have indeed been several interesting product launches that we can talk about.First up is First Trust with the Smart Grid Infrastructure Fund (GRID)--the symbol is GRID; nice. As an amusing anecdote before talking about the fund I was asked to go on CNBC for a segment about Smart Grid stuff a few weeks ago but had to decline because about all I could have said was that I think a smart grid is better than a dumb one; ahem.Anywhoo GRID is an…
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footnoted.org
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Did Semitool CEO have to say goodbye to planes for deal to happen?
20 Nov 2009 | 8:07 amEarlier this week, Applied Materials (AMAT) announced that it was acquiring Semitool (SMTL) in a $364 million all-cash deal. As we’ve footnoted before, Semitool had an interesting side-deal with CEO Ray Thompson that had the company leasing several planes and an aircraft hangar from separate companies owned or controlled by Thompson. Given Semitool’s size, the arrangement, which in 2006 had the company paying Thompson $3.2 million, seemed a tad excessive. Fast forward to yesterday, and this SC 14D-9 filed. Here’s the relevant part: Semitool leases two airplanes and an… -
Lehman’s bankruptcy slideshow…
19 Nov 2009 | 8:01 amYesterday, there was a hearing in New York over the Lehman bankruptcy where Lehman CEO Bryan Marsal, who we’ve written about several times over the past year (see here and here). The big headline out of yesterday’s hearing was Marsal’s statement that claims against Lehman could top $1 trillion since the number of claims already top 64,000 and are valued at $824 billion. The other big headline is that a reorganization plan would be in place by the end of March 2010. As part of yesterday’s hearing, Alvarez & Marsal presented this slideshow which was filed as an 8K… -
The Saga Continues at Boston Scientific Corp.
18 Nov 2009 | 8:56 amWhen we posted on Nov. 12 about the flurry of margin calls at Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX), there was no way to know that the pace of involuntary stock sales would continue. As a historical recap: Michelle noted in her post last week that company co-founders Peter Nicholas and John Abele sold off over 30 million shares of BSX stock last fall; they sold millions more shares of the stock earlier this year. Fast forward to this month…. Between Nov. 5 and the evening of Nov. 12, Nicholas sold 750,000 shares of company stock involuntarily due to margin calls. (The sales are documented in… -
Overstock’s odd filing…
17 Nov 2009 | 7:54 amThis morning, a certain sub-sector of the financial blogosphere is abuzz over the press release that Overstock.com (OSTK) put out late yesterday announcing that they had fired its outside auditor, who had just been hired earlier this year, and were filing an “unreviewed” 10-Q. Here’s a snip, which starts with a quote from Friedrich Nietzsche: ll things are subject to interpretation; whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth.” — Friedrich Nietzsche. Although PwC had given us eight years of fine service, after we filed our 2008… -
Denbury stretches limits of Powerpoint…
16 Nov 2009 | 8:11 amEarlier this month, Denbury Resources announced that itplanned to buy Encore Acquisition (EAC) in a $4.5 billion deal (according to the press release) or $3.25 billion deal (according to the WSJ). We’re not sure which number is more accurate, but we do know that the Powerpoint presentation that Denbury filed as part of an 8K on Friday, stretches the limits — and no doubt, most people’s patience. We don’t think we’re being overly fussy here, but it just seems that when a Powerpoint starts to approach the size of a 10-Q, there’s something very wrong here.
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Smartbrief: Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association
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Pelosi says transaction tax would have to be global
19 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm-More- -
Curious about what you might have missed out on at SIFMA's Annual Meeting 2009?
19 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pmSome of the most prominent people in financial services addressed an audience of senior executives at SIFMA's Annual Meeting -More- -
Geithner faces pressure from lawmakers
19 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pmTreasury Secretary Timothy Geithner faced calls for his resignation at a meeting of the Joint Economic Committee. -More- Institutional Investors Predict the 2009 Market Close. Read the NEW findings from TheMarkets.com's latest survey, launched to institutional investors in 22 countries. Findings also include a detailed look at investor sentiment as it differs across regions. Get your free copy of the report here. -
Fed examines whether banks have enough capital to cover risks
19 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pmAs asset prices worldwide soar, the Federal Reserve is looking into whether major banks have the capital to withstand a signi -More- -
BofA's CMBS touted as another positive sign for market
19 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pmA recent $400 million sale of commercial-mortgage bonds by Developers Diversified Realty helped reopen the securitization mar -More-
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Smartbrief: The Financial Services Roundtable
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Mortgages in trouble reach 14% in U.S.
19 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pmAbout 14% of U.S. -More- -
Treasury to sell warrants in Capital One, JPMorgan Chase
19 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pmThe Treasury Department plans to auction off its remaining investments in JPMorgan Chase, Capital One Financial and TCF Finan -More- -
How do you think the housing market will perform in 2010?
19 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pmCheck your inbox for the Financial Services Roundtable SmartBrief Year-End Report on Dec. 8 and 15. -More- -
BofA's CMBS touted as another positive sign for market
19 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pmA recent $400 million sale of commercial-mortgage bonds by Developers Diversified Realty helped reopen the securitization mar -More- -
Buffett turns to Wells Fargo, JPMorgan to fund railroad takeover
19 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pmWarren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway turned to JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo to arrange an $8 billion loan for its bid to tak -More-
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JD Supra Securities Law
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Don't Get Used By Usury Laws By Lee Potter, Duane Morris
20 Nov 2009 | 5:43 amContributor: Duane Morris LLP [View: Profile | Documents] -
IRS Issues Final Regulations Regarding Annual ISO/ESPP Reporting Requirements
19 Nov 2009 | 7:14 amContributor: Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP [View: Profile | Documents] -
FDIC Extends Securitization Safe Harbor and Portends Further Securitization Reforms
19 Nov 2009 | 1:02 amContributor: Morrison & Foerster LLP [View: Profile | Documents] -
Fenwick Employment Brief - November 17, 2009
18 Nov 2009 | 8:54 amContributor: Fenwick & West LLP [View: Profile | Documents] -
SEC Proposes Regulation of Dark Pools
17 Nov 2009 | 11:42 pmContributor: Morrison & Foerster LLP [View: Profile | Documents]
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I Will Teach You To Be Rich
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Time management: How an MIT postdoc writes 3 books, a PhD defense, and 6+ peer-reviewed papers — and finishes by 5:30pm
19 Nov 2009 | 11:30 pmI’m always on the lookout for “hidden gems,” or people who are doing remarkable work that the whole world hasn’t caught on to, yet. Today, I asked my friend Cal Newport to illustrate how he completely dominates as a post-doc at MIT, author of multiple books, and popular blogger. How does he do it all? Cal writes one of the best blogs on the Internet: Study Hacks. His guest post shows how you can take I Will Teach You To Be Rich principles — plus many others — and integrate them into a way to use your time effectively. Below, you’ll learn: How to use… -
Behind the scenes: I was on the Today Show last week
17 Nov 2009 | 11:11 amI flew to New York last week to appear on the Today Show. Here’s the clip: Interesting things to note: Green rooms are the best places to meet people. I walked in and Maya Angelou was sitting there. In hair/makeup, Marissa Mayer and a bunch of other interesting people were there You enter NBC through a totally unmarked door, not the conspicuous 30 Rockefeller entrance you’d think They steam your shirt/coat, do your hair/makeup, and have lots of food available to eat before going on air. But nobody eats anything Camera operators came into our studio literally 15 seconds before… -
The Money Diaries: The 25-year-old single mom who writes bad checks
8 Nov 2009 | 4:54 pmToday is another post in the Money Diaries series, which is based off New York Magazine’s Sex Diaries. We’ve collected stories from real people about their spending habits over seven days, anonymized them, and posted them here. Today’s entry is by a 25-year-old single mother. This woman’s spending is definitely troubling — she spends 8% of her take-home pay on self-described “bad habits,” including cigarettes and writing bad checks. But be careful: It’s easy to say, “Why don’t people just SPEND LESS??!” without understanding the full… -
WTF happened last night? Oh yea, my server got CRUSHED
6 Nov 2009 | 12:16 amListen, if you tried to access my webcast last night, you probably didn’t get in, and I am REALLY sorry. I have literally never seen as much traffic as last night — not even when I was on the FRONT PAGE OF YAHOO.COM. At 6:50pm, I logged onto my webcam and finalized everything At 6:55pm, I logged into my blog to add a link to the webcast URL. By this point, my server had slowed to a crawl At 6:56pm, over 1 person/second was trying to access iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog At 7:01pm, we had my webhost on the phone attempting to resolve the issue It took until 7:21pm to completely fix… -
Live webcast tonight: Psychology techniques + live answers to your questions
4 Nov 2009 | 11:40 pmThe webcast is over Tonight (Thursday, 11/5), I’m doing a live webcast to show you 5 psychological techniques to change your financial behavior. You’re learn how to trick yourself to save and earn more using powerful techniques I haven’t mentioned anywhere else. After showing you the new psychological models, I’ll do a Lightning Talk to answer YOUR questions. I’ll also answer questions about the Boot Camp. I want to pack this full of information in 30 minutes, so here’s what I’m covering… 7:00pm – 7:10pm: 5 Psychological Techniques to…
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eMarketer Articles
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Focusing on the Core Customer Experience
19 Nov 2009 | 8:01 pmKevin Ertell Vice President, Retail Strategy ForeSee Results -
Data on Twitter Decline Stacks Up
19 Nov 2009 | 8:01 pmTweeting no more? -
Context Matters More Than Ever for Canadians
18 Nov 2009 | 8:01 pmKarin von Abrams eMarketer Senior Analyst -
Coupons Boost E-Mail Open Rate
18 Nov 2009 | 8:01 pmClicking, not clipping -
Deep Brand Engagement Creates Customers
17 Nov 2009 | 8:01 pmFrom awareness to consideration, purchase and recommendation
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ReadWriteWeb
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Weekly Wrapup: Google Chrome OS, Obama's Twitter, Blogging Statistics, And More...
21 Nov 2009 | 5:00 amIn this edition of the Weekly Wrapup - our newsletter summarizing the top stories of the week - we report on President Obama's (non)-use of Twitter, take a look at the past decade in the media industry, review the latest statistics about blogging, question if Oxford Dictionary should've chosen "unfriend" as its word of the year, and more. We also check in on our two main channels: ReadWriteEnterprise (devoted to 'enterprise 2.0' trends and products) and ReadWriteStart (dedicated to profiling startups and entrepreneurs). Sponsor Subscribe to Weekly Wrapup You can subscribe to the… -
3 Great Light Blogging Tools Compared
20 Nov 2009 | 4:35 pmOnce the service for those serious enough to pay for the privilege to post, TypePad recently released a free "Micro" service. The company made the decision to offer a free product realizing the demand for a platform more formal than Twitter and less formal than Wordpress or Typepad's original product. ReadWriteWeb compared TypePad's Micro against 2 other leading light blogging tools. Below are our thoughts: Sponsor TypePad Micro: In addition to being able to blog via email, iPhone app, "Blog It" bookmarklet and the general WYSIWYG dashboard, this tool also allows users to cross post to… -
An iPhone Visualization App That Syncs with the Cloud
20 Nov 2009 | 3:50 pmRoambi announced a pro version of its iPhone application this week that syncs with Salesforce.com and other cloud-based services or on-premsie sales environments. It's a visualization application, providing mobile workers with a pretty cool way to see sales information. Integration is by far one of the most significant trends we are seeing in the enterprise space. It's a wave, really, marked this week by Salesforce.com and its move to turn the Force.com development platform into a service that makes all of its applications social. Sponsor A good example of this trend are small companies like… -
8tracks to Launch Playback API and Developer Program
20 Nov 2009 | 12:00 pmIt appears that the time for freemium music services in the US has passed. Earlier this week streaming music site Imeem sold to MySpace for under $10 million dollars while laying off a large number of staff. For a company with all four major record labels signed, more than 15 million uniques a month and well over 5 million tracks in its catalogue, it came as a sobering blow to the industry. While many companies move to a subscription model, 8tracks continues to forge along in what some describe as a convenient loophole. As of this weekend the company is publicly launching its API for Boston's… -
Memento: Protocol-Based Time Travel for the Web
20 Nov 2009 | 11:45 amThe Web constantly changes and evolves. That, of course, is what makes the Internet so exciting, but it also means that finding older versions of a website is hard. The current push towards the real-time web is making this problem even more apparent. Memento, a project based at Old Dominion University, wants to make it easier to access older versions of a web page without having to go to the Internet Archive. To do this, the project is using a relatively obscure feature of the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP). Sponsor The Memento project wants to give browsers a 'time-travel' mode.
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Mashable!
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GrandCentral Website Shuts Down Next Month: Download Your Data and Contacts
21 Nov 2009 | 9:26 amGoogle has already transitioned GrandCentral users over to Google Voice, and now comes the final step in that move: Google is shuttering the GrandCentral website and telling users to download any old messages and contacts they have on that site. The GrandCentral site will be closed on the last day of the year – December 31st – and a further reminder will be sent before that date. In a mail to users today, the company advised: The GrandCentral website is shutting down – GrandCentral is now Google Voice. Dear GrandCentral User: We’re writing to let you know that we will… -
Tila Tequila Continues Her Ustream Video Meltdown [LIVE VIDEO]
21 Nov 2009 | 1:19 amSocial media is a double-edged sword. Due to its unfiltered nature, it can be a powerful promotional tool. However, it can also publicly expose our problems. Former reality TV star Tila Tequila is an unfortunate but prime example. Some backstory: Tila Tequila is one of the most popular artists on MySpace, was the subject of an MTV reality show, and most recently filed assault charges against San Diego Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman, which were subsequently dropped. Fastforward to Wednesday, November 18th. That night, Tila had a very public meltdown on her Ustream page. She waved around a… -
UNDERDOG: Google Android Smashes Apple iPhone in Reader Vote
20 Nov 2009 | 9:20 pmWe’ve been matching up popular web services, applications and mobile apps against each other in heated one-on-one battles here in our weekly Faceoff Series. Last week Microsoft Office bested Google Docs in a head to head race for the title of office suite champion. This week we turned our attention to a rather timely battle being waged on the mobile front, between Apple’s still wildly-selling iPhone platform and Google’s slower to boil Android mobile operating system. Apparently the latter has been gaining some ground, resulting in our first unexpected upset victory in the… -
Fido Factor Finds Dog-Friendly Places in Your City
20 Nov 2009 | 7:31 pmThis post is part of Mashable’s Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. Name: Fido Factor Quick Pitch: Fido Factor is a dog-specific local search and review site and iPhone app built for dog owners. It’s a “Yelp for dogs.” Genius Idea: We dog owners love our canines: it’s really that simple. We raise them, feed them, play with them, sleep with them, and fall in love with them. We want to… -
Droid Does: A Price Drop
20 Nov 2009 | 4:04 pmWhen it was released earlier this month, the retail price for the Motorola Droid was $200 for new activations on Verizon. Although Verizon is staying firm with that price point for now, it appears that some of its retailers are not. Specifically, Amazon and Dell have both cut prices on the smartphone to $150 and $120, respectively. The news comes just one day after news broke of price cuts by online retailers on other devices not named iPhone: the Palm Pre and Pixi. Of course, the device cost shouldn’t really play a huge role in consumer’s decision given the total costs of ownership for…
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ProBlogger Blog Tips
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Why Nobody Cares About Your Blog
21 Nov 2009 | 5:40 amA Guest Post by David Risley Except yours, of course. ;) However, there are a lot of bloggers who feel this way. You write. You write some more. You don’t feel as if you’re getting the traction that you want. What’s going on? There is plenty to be said about issues like proper market selection, search engine optimization and other tactical things, but let’s go deeper. In fact, let’s go deeper than most bloggers really think about when it comes to their blogging. Are You Talking At Or Talking To Your Readers? If I walked into a crowded mall, went into the food… -
Speech Recognition for Bloggers – The Ultimate Guide
20 Nov 2009 | 5:45 amSpeech recognition technology has come a long way in the last few years – in this in depth, informative and inspiring video which Jon Morrow (Associate Editor of Copyblogger and Co-founder of Partnering Profits) shares his first hand insights into speech recognition for bloggers. Jon does all of his blogging via speech recognition so he seemed like the logical guy to ask to cover the topic – in the video (I’m glad he agreed). In the video Jon makes recommendations of software, hardware (the hardware is key) and even demonstrates how he uses them in his everyday blogging. The… -
Review This Blog – Man vs Debt
19 Nov 2009 | 5:46 amLast month here on ProBlogger we ran a community review on a reader’s blog. I posted a link to a blog with some comments from the blogger and then opened it up for readers of ProBlogger to review it. The response from the post was great. 120+ comments were left including some great advice. I also had a lot of emails from readers saying that they learned a lot by reading the suggestions of others – many wanted to see these reviews done regularly. As a result I’m going to try to do these reviews on a monthly basis – today we have another one. As a little bonus to… -
Warning: Watching This Video May Lead to Work! [But It'll Also Improve Your Blog]
18 Nov 2009 | 5:55 amWhat’s your blogging Vice? Most bloggers that I know have at least one – whether it be compulsively checking blog stats, constantly tweaking template designs, obsessing over plugins and widgets, spending hour after hour ‘networking’ on Twitter, becoming preoccupied with SEO and… even allowing ourselves to become consumed by learning about blogging…. and not doing much of it. The reality is that as bloggers there are many tasks that compete for our attention. Many of them are important and can bring a lot of life to our blogs but most of them can also become… -
13 Ways I Get Back into Blogging after a Vacation
17 Nov 2009 | 5:49 amYesterday was my first day back at blogging after a 10 day vacation with my family and on Twitter I commented that I was finding it a little hard to get my brain back into blogging mode. @Mikeachim responded by suggesting I write a post on the daily rituals that I use to get my mind into gear. I thought I’d take his suggestion and jot down a few notes – both as a way of getting my head back into blogging but also because looking at the tweets I received this morning it’s a problem many bloggers face. As my head is a little scattered today (as I readjust) I’m going to…
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Copyblogger
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The Art of the Paragraph
20 Nov 2009 | 6:11 amAnyone can write a paragraph, but not everyone knows how to write one that other people want to read. You’ve seen it: You open a book, and the whole page is one long block of text. Each sentence in the paragraph makes exactly the same point, said in a slightly different way, and you wonder why they didn’t just say it once and be done with it. Every paragraph is the same length (five lines, maybe?), whether it makes sense or not, and it gives the piece a monotonous rhythm. The paragraph makes a point without telling you why that point is important, and you can’t help… -
How to Persuade People to Accept an “Unfair” Offer
19 Nov 2009 | 6:36 amEver heard of Charley Hill? He seemed like an average, ordinary guy. He lived in a mid-sized town with his wife, two children, and a dog. He went to church on Sunday, coached Little League, and drove a pickup truck. He was friendly but quiet, the sort of guy you could walk by on the street without noticing. But appearances can be deceiving. Charley Hill was one of the most successful farm equipment salesmen in the Midwest. People would travel hundreds of miles to see Charley, even when there were plenty of dealers much closer to home. What did Charley have that other salesmen didn’t? Not a… -
Free Report: How to Become a Creative Entrepreneur
18 Nov 2009 | 8:58 amI’ve written another piece of extended content, this time for Lateral Action. Rather than sending you over there, I’ll just tell you about it here. It’s a free 31-page PDF report (don’t worry, it reads fast) called The Lateral Action Guide to Becoming a Creative Entrepreneur. It’s probably the most personal I’ve gotten about my history, but it’s still heavy on actionable, real-life examples. Here’s what you’ll discover: Why I quit my cushy law firm job and turned to online publishing. How I failed miserably. How I then succeeded miserably. How I… -
Landing Page Makeover Clinic #20: TantricSexforBusyCouples.com
17 Nov 2009 | 6:14 amThis is another addition to our ongoing series of tutorials and case studies on landing pages that work. Is it hot in here or just me? Diana Daffner and her husband want to help people find a renewed sense of joy and connection in their intimate relationships through tantra. Their business, IntimacyRetreats.com, offers couples retreats throughout the year, but realizing not everyone can attend a retreat, they also want to promote their books and media products. The URL referenced above is actually the “/shop page” off their main site. Diana would like to use the page as an… -
What I Learned From Writing 42 Guest Posts in 7 Weeks
16 Nov 2009 | 7:12 amBefore you get too impressed, hear this: I did it all in self-defense. Let me give you some quick background. I have extreme Tourette’s Syndrome, as Sonia noticed recently. Tourette’s makes people move or vocalize involuntarily and occasionally results in unspeakable awesomeness. My motor tics range from eye blinking to punching myself in the face to even stranger things. My phonic tics range from clearing my throat to hooting and yowling and snarling and slobbering and screaming like the Tasmanian Devil. Did I mention that I work in a quiet library? There are only a couple of things that…
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Logic+Emotion
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Why Serendipity Is Underrated
21 Nov 2009 | 7:03 amA nice reminder from Chris Brogan. I recommend watching the entire talk—it's only 10 minutes. Here's what you need to know: as an observer and active participant of the social web for several years, I've seen the power of serendipity influence how business gets done. Business leads coming in through Twitter because the person inquiring somehow stumbled upon you via the web and after following you for a while, they decided it was time to talk business. It's like life. Some of you reading this right now have done business because you sat next to a person on a plane and struck up a… -
KeepVid: Download videos from Google, Youtube, iFilm, Putfile, Metacafe, DailyMotion! [del.icio.us]
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Tweeting at the Speed of Scale
15 Nov 2009 | 7:59 pmOriginally posted on the CollaboratoryFrom a holistic perspective, we talk about the need for organizations to become more socially calibrated—able to adapt and respond to changes both externally and internally. The three areas where emergent outcomes can manifest are, participation with your customers, collaboration between your employees and optimization in the interactions/transactions between your business and its partners. Digging into customer participation, it’s clear that in a networked economy customers demand engagement, information, support and ultimately, value and ecosystems… -
Overcoming The Obstacles To Social Business
13 Nov 2009 | 8:06 amOriginally published on Harvard BusinessWhile social media often commands favorable media attention, the less often told story is that successful initiatives are rare to come by and that there are still a number of organizational roadblocks that managers need to overcome in order to make progress. Still, we are seeing signs of progress in the form of new efficiencies, more direct ways to connect with customers, and ways to make products and services better. From my experience working and talking with people in large, complex organizations, here are a small sample of obstacles to look for with… -
7 Visualization Groups On Flickr to Find Inspiration | FlowingData [del.icio.us]
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chrisbrogan.com
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The Serendipity Engine – Web 2 Expo Speech
20 Nov 2009 | 1:33 pmThis is my favorite keynote speech yet. It’s just 10 minutes long, and I feel pretty good about it. You’ll recognize bits of my storytelling from the last several conferences tucked into here in a new way, I hope. Enjoy this video. (Can’t see it? Click here) -
How Much Time Should I Spend On Social Media
20 Nov 2009 | 5:33 amHow much time should you spend on social media? In some ways, the answer is: “how long is a piece of string?” And yet, you can set up some simple guidelines. They might be a bit different than you think. By the way, I’m writing these from a business perspective, but remember that I think of religion and nonprofits and all kinds of other applications as business-related, too. Here’s how I look at it: Social Media Time Management The way I’d do it is to break it up into 4 chunks, and then you decide the amount of hours to devote (2 hours a day is a minimum for MOST… -
Start a Moving Business – Overnight Success
18 Nov 2009 | 7:30 pmIn this episode of the Overnight Success series, I’ve got an idea about what makes one successful: moving. But it’s not what you think. If you can’t see the video, click here. What do you think? -
Stop Humping My Leg
18 Nov 2009 | 9:13 amDear people trying to sell me on something new: stop humping my leg. You know what I mean. You’ve seen dogs do this, right? That’s what it feels like when you jump on me breathlessly to share your new product or service when you don’t really much know whether I’m the right guy for your services. I was recently leg-humped at Web 2.0 Expo, by someone I like, and who I think is smart and has a lot of good potential. The thing is, I politely declined a demo, and he persisted. Immediately, I shifted to my back foot. I felt defensive. I rolled up my interest and tucked it… -
Prioritize Your Social Media Efforts
17 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pmThere aren’t enough hours in the day for all the chores that social media puts in front of us. The best writing I’ve found on how to manage your time in social media is via Amber Naslund’s social media time management series. Her efforts in crafting this should become a little ebook that you hand around to everyone. If you skipped over that link, go back, click it to open a new tab/window, and then read it when you’re done with this (or skip mine and read Amber’s- it’s that good). If you’re still with me, here’s what I want to say on the matter.
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Google Blogoscoped
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Did You Develop a Popular iGoogle Gadget?
20 Nov 2009 | 8:16 pmAre there any of you out there who developed a really popular iGoogle gadget? How did you manage to make it popular? Please share your story in the comments! [By Philipp Lenssen | Origin: Did You Develop a Popular iGoogle Gadget? | Comments][Advertisement] Want to advertise here? Your ad will show in the blog and feed. -
View Your iGoogle Gadget Stats in One Place
20 Nov 2009 | 8:15 pmGoogle released a Gadget Dashboard for iGoogle gadget developers. On this page, you can add gadget of yours by URL – for some, you may need to click on a link in a verification mail – and then see weekly stats, your gadget ratings and more. Note though that the stats only show you how often a gadget is loaded, but that doesn’t mean the gadget is used, too... because it just happens to be loaded when the iGoogle page loads, which may be because the user just wants to perform a search, or make use of a gadget not yours (your gadget may not even be in sight during page load,… -
Google to Test New, More Colorful (and Permanent) Sidebar
20 Nov 2009 | 3:15 amGoogle is rolling out a design prototype to some users which will have a permanent new pane to the left hand side. Within that pane, as the screenshot by Search Engine Land (with more coverage) shows, there will be sections such as “Everything”, “Images”, or “Video”, as well as related search queries and more fine-tuning options. Clicking “Images” switches to what Google internally calls the images “mode”, meaning the results will now consist of images. “By default, Google guesses at the modes it thinks are most relevant to… -
A Preview of Google Chrome OS
19 Nov 2009 | 5:57 pmGoogle has released Chromium OS*, the open source precursor to their Chrome OS (which Google says will be “ready for users” in a year). Google in a blog post explains that the Chrome operating system will be all about web apps, not traditional apps, so the “entire experience” takes place within the browser. Additional focus in Chrome OS will be on speed, as well as security; “Every time you restart your computer the operating system verifies the integrity of its code,” Google promises. They also mention that they “benefited hugely from projects like… -
On the Fight Over Control of the Web
19 Nov 2009 | 7:12 amTim O’Reilly argues that we’re heading for a web war – an ugly fighting over the control of the web, which goes against the web as an interoperable platform: [W]e’ve grown used to a world with one dominant search engine, one dominant online encyclopedia, one dominant online retailer, one dominant auction site, one dominant online classified site, and we’ve been readying ourselves for one dominant social network. But what happens when a company with one of these natural monopolies uses it to gain dominance in other, adjacent areas? I’ve been watching with a…
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Writing on the Web
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Making Readers Feel at Home: 10 Comfy Blogging Tips
20 Nov 2009 | 3:40 amHow long do readers stay on your blog? A minute? Two or three? Your site meter will tell you. It doesn't take long to read a blog post. And it's not the length of time that matters, it's what they do while they're there.Do they read more than one post, more than one page? Do they check out your bio, easily find related info? Do they see your subscription form and sign up to get email updates to your blog?Greet visitors to your blog as if they were visiting your home, welcome them in, offer them a comfortable chair, a cup of coffee, and ask them to stay a while. Ask them questions, ask them… -
Attract Clients: Publish Your Ebooks on Kindle
19 Nov 2009 | 6:15 amDo you have a book on Kindle? Why not? Did you know you can publish your books on Kindle for free, and sell them there? This is another great way to attract clients, get known, gain visibility and credibility. My husband has transformed himself into a novelist (Die Laughing, Future Schlock: 2047, and his 3rd novel will be Azteca) and while searching for publishing options, put his first book for sale through Amazon's Kindle store. It costs nothing to do this, it's great marketing, and so far he's sold several copies. So I wondered if it would be possible to make my ebook Content Marketing… -
What Can You Stop Doing? 6 Steps to Becoming More Profitable
18 Nov 2009 | 7:38 amWhat can you stop doing in your business? There's always too much to do, and if you're smart and ambitious, you're always on the look-out for new marketing tactics that will bring big results. But you can't possibly use anything new if you're overbooked, overworked, and out of time. Part of thriving in business has to do with keeping more of the money you make. How can you make your business more profitable? The best tools and tactics can't make you more profitable if you don't have time to learn and use them. You've probably already got too much to do. So what can you stop doing? How can… -
Wanna Be First? Save 75%? Join Patsi's Private List
18 Nov 2009 | 5:22 amName Email Join my private list and be first to get content marketing tips, save 75% off public prices, and attend teleseminars. More info here... -
How to Turn Your Blog Into a Content Genie...
17 Nov 2009 | 4:07 amWhat's the difference between a blog and MyKnowledgeGenie? This turned out to be a great question yesterday in the interview with Milo Sindell, founder of the content-creating wizard. Think about it...visitors arrive at your blog everyday, and they read whatever you've posted that day. If they aren't in a hurry, they'll scroll down the page and scan a few other recent posts. Maybe what you've written this week is critical to your core message... or maybe not. Maybe you've gone off on a tangent and written something off the wall. Click...and bye-bye. (Photo credit: Shutterstock) First…
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Business Blogs: How to Build A Better Blog
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Business Blogging Tip - Niche Your Blogs (Video)
19 Nov 2009 | 6:56 amI'm often asked by new business bloggers if it's OK to write about multiple subjects on one blog. Mostly these are entrepreneurs, coaches and consultants who wear many hats and serve clients in multiple arenas. I can understand that the thought of more than one blog can feel overwhelming, especially when just starting out. Here's my response to that question... (Click here if you cannot see the video in your reader.) What's your opinion on this approach? One catch-all blog for all your business niches, or multiple niche blogs for your business interests? As a reader, what do you prefer?Get… -
Six Apart Launches TypePad Micro
17 Nov 2009 | 12:00 pmI've been hearing hints and murmurs about something new coming from TypePad for quite some time. Finally I got a sneak peak yesterday...TypePad Micro which launches today at noon Pacific Time. TypePad Micro, according to Chris Alden, CEO of Six Apart is......a new, completely free level of TypePad that is streamlined for microblogging. We see this new form of blogging emerging -- living between the short status updates of Facebook and Twitter and the full-length posts of classic blogs -- and we want to make that easy and fun with TypePad Micro. TypePad Micro is free, and comes with... A… -
Business Blogging Workshop - What do you want to learn?
14 Nov 2009 | 7:10 amI'm delighted to let you know I have been invited to be on the faculty for the next Niche Affiliate Marketing System (NAMS) in January. By all accounts this is a top-notch learning event with a stellar faculty (Jeff Herring, Kathleen Gage, Ellen Britt, Willy Crawford, Lynn Terry, Nicole Dean, and many more). This is the third iteration and I heard rave reviews by many colleagues about the previous event in August. So I was honored to be invited by the organizer David Perdew, to do several presentations on blogging. The difference with this event is that it is a 3 day workshop - no pitching -… -
Unscientific Poll Reveals 70% prefer text over video
13 Nov 2009 | 7:40 amReading the stats about online video you would think that consumption of video has totally overtaken text as the preferred way we all want our information.Not so, according to my informal and unscientific poll. Inspired by a post by Cindy King, I wanted to find out how people really liked to get their content: text, audio, video or other.As of time of writing this post 81 people took the poll. Here's how it breaks down by preference: Text - 70% Video - 19% Audio - 5% Other (not real clear what other is) - 6% And there are caveats. Many excellent comments were submitted and the bottom line is… -
Online Visibility Tip - Comment on Blogs in Your Industry (Video)
11 Nov 2009 | 8:34 amOnline Visibility Tip: While I was working on an article for Social Media Examiner, I was exploring the concept of outreach, or reaching out to others in your industry (aka commenting) to set the groundwork for more opportunities. This also applies to creating visibility for you and your business. While it may seem obvious and you've heard it many times before, most business bloggers do not spend enough time on blog outreach. The video includes three sources to find related blogs in your niche. [Click here if you cannot see the video in your blog reader.) I'm curious to know how often you…
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Liz Strauss at Successful Blog
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The Story Behind the Story….of SOBCon
21 Nov 2009 | 5:40 amToday’s guest post is from Terry Starbucker Terry Starbucker is a service company executive and a founder of SOBCon who writes about leadership, personal development, and social media in his blog, Ramblings From a Glass Half Full. He also shares his love of music and learning on Twitter as @starbucker Let me tell you a story…… In May 2007, there was a gathering at a Chicago hotel. 75 people hung out together for a weekend, and talked about their craft, their passions, and their lives. It turned out to be magical. Trust was high. Candor was abundant. Egos were checked at the door. There… -
My ass just tapped me on the shoulder.
20 Nov 2009 | 1:00 amTodays guest post is from Julie Roads. Julie Roads of Writing Roads is a professional copywriter (specializing in blog, social media and web writing) and a book & blog ghostwriter. You can find her at Writing Roads (her writing blog), Soc Media 101 (how-tos and tips for beginners) and The Daily Norm (a collection of interviews with abnormally magnificent people about their normal, daily lives). I’m standing on the other side of the abyss, the good side. And I wanted to let you all know that the ground here is high and dry, nearly heady. Because I read your comments carefully - and… -
Why Stuck?
19 Nov 2009 | 4:45 amTodays guest post is from Kneale Mann. Kneale Mann is a writer, a coach and a strategist. With 26 years experience, he consultants on communications, marketing and social media strategy in the private, hi-tech and public sectors. He is also an associate with CEPSM and a member of the TEDxOttawa organization team. We All Have Choices Recently, a friend sent me a copy of Rick Butts’ book “7 Choices”. In it, Rick talks about the time we work on us verses the time we work on what we do or getting customers or what we can offer. In the age of social networking, we can all create profiles and… -
Blogging Your Way Into The Real World
18 Nov 2009 | 5:59 amTodays guest post is from David Spinks. David Spinks is the Community Manager for Scribnia, where the world’s bloggers and columnists are reviewed by their readers. He also blogs at The Spinks Blog about business, young professionals and social media.” Starting a blog takes a lot of guts. Making that leap into the public eye isn’t easy! Even after you get started, maintaining a blog that doesn’t get much traffic or comments right away can be discouraging. It was right here on Liz Strauss’ blog where I got my first dose of confidence in my blogging career. Back in… -
Reaching through the Screen
17 Nov 2009 | 5:45 amThanks to Richard Reeve for supplying today’s guest post. Richard Reeve is an administrator at the Family Foundation School, a candidate for Analytical training at the C. G. Jung Institute of New York. He blogs at Catskill Cottage Seed. “And the Master said unto the silence, “In the path of our happiness shall we find the learning for which we have chosen this lifetime. So it is that I have learned this day, and choose to leave you now to walk your own path as you please.” Richard Bach, Illusions, pg.23 Liz recommended Bach’s book to me last month when we shared…
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PR 2.0
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The Social Media (R)evolution: Your Time is Now
20 Nov 2009 | 4:23 amSource: ShutterstockThe Future of the Social Web is here today and we’re learning that engagement is not a matter of if or when, but to what extent, how and what value can we deliver and derive from it. The Social Web is much more than a window into information and interaction, it is a completely transformative medium that is changing how we forge relationships, interact with one another, and distribute and discover information. In many ways, the online social revolution is reminiscent of the Industrial Revolution.Access to free and expansive media platforms and distribution channels has… -
On Twitter, What Are You Doing Was Always The Wrong Question
19 Nov 2009 | 10:18 pmWhat are you doing?Perhaps, Twitter asked the wrong question all along.In all honestly, who cares…it was really never about “what you were doing” that inspired your network to stay connected nor was it the siren for attracting new followers. We chose to follow you because you moved or encouraged us to do so – with every update.For many of the users on Twitter, the question that engendered a response and also also aroused a cultural movement was, “what are you doing?” It was a prompt that, for the most part, was taken quite literally. Its answer served as… -
On Twitter and Social Networks, Brands Benefit from Conversations
19 Nov 2009 | 4:40 amSource: ShutterstockA recent study revealed 20 percent of tweets published are actually invitations for product information, answers or responses from peers or directly by brand representatives. Now we learn that Twitter users are actively paying attention to brands on the popular information network.According to research conducted by Performics and ROI Research, about half of Twitter users who were introduced to a brand on Twitter were compelled to search for additional information.The companies studied the activity of 3,000 users of social networks in the U.S. Of those polled, 70% use… -
The Golden Triangle
18 Nov 2009 | 4:11 amSource: ShutterstockPrior to keynoting the PACA conference in Miami, Maria Kessler, president of the PACA Association, asked me if I had read a recent post by Fred Wilson entitled “The Golden Triangle.” We were deep in conversation as I was seeking an alternate title for my next book that identifies the divide between brands, information, and consumers and how we can, as social architects and engineers, build the bridges between people, contextual relationships, and technology. While “The Golden Triangle” isn’t a contender for the name of the next book, it did get me thinking.In… -
With Klout Comes Influence: How To Find Influencers on Twitter
17 Nov 2009 | 8:20 amThis is the uncut version of my latest post on TechCrunch…Measuring individual influence in Social Media is as coveted as it is elusive. While many tools claim to calculate authority, it is the definition of influence that requires clarification in order to grasp the relevance and differences of existing tools and services.For the sake keeping this discussion on track, let’s define influence. According to Merriam-Webster, influence is having the power or capacity to cause an effect.San Francisco-based Klout is no stranger to measuring influence on the Social Web. The company launched…
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Seth Godin
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Benefit of the doubt
21 Nov 2009 | 2:11 amIt's almost impossible to communicate something clearly and succinctly to everyone, all the time.So misunderstandings occur.We misunderstand a comment or a gesture or a policy or a contract.And then what happens?Well, if we're engaged with someone we like or trust, we give them the benefit of the doubt. We either assume that what they actually meant was the thing we expected from someone like them, or we ask about it.If we're engaged with a stranger or someone we don't trust, we assume the worst.The challenge, then, is to earn the benefit of the doubt. How many of your customers, prospects,… -
The amateur scientist (that's us)
20 Nov 2009 | 2:41 amMany people buy a car (probably their single biggest discretionary purchase) based on slamming a door, kicking a tire and judging the handshake of a salesperson.We choose a surgeon based on the carpeting in his office and a politician by his hair cut.During the first week of swine flu vaccines in New York, most parents (more than half!) chose to keep their kids out of the program.Interviewed parents said things like, "I'm not sure it's safe," and "I wanted to see if it affected other kids..."No mention of longitudinal studies or long-term side effects. No science at all, really, just rumors… -
Embracing lifetime value
19 Nov 2009 | 2:46 amIf you walk into a company-owned cell phone store to sign up for a contract, what are you worth?Given the huge gross margins at AT&T and Verizon and the standard two-year contract, I think it's easy to figure on more than $2000 in lifetime value.If you ran a business where a customer represented an additional $2,000 in profit, how would you staff? How long would you make someone wait? If staff costs $25 an hour, how long would that extra person take to pay off?Few businesses understand (really understand) just how much a customer is worth. Add to this the additional profit you get from a… -
Some books for November
18 Nov 2009 | 12:00 pmRandom thoughts from all over for those of us hungry for new ways to think. This month's list is here. The previous list was blogged in September. -
The reason they want you to fit in...
18 Nov 2009 | 2:03 amis that once you do, then they can ignore you.
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PsyBlog
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The Chameleon Effect
19 Nov 2009 | 9:52 amDoes mimicking other people's body language really make them like us? Self-help books, persuasion manuals and glossy magazine articles often advise that mimicking body language can increase how much others like us. But is it really true that mimicry causes others to like us, or is mimicry just a by-product of successful social interactions? Although it had long been suspected that copying other people's body language increases liking, the effect wasn't tested rigorously until Chartrand and Bargh (1999) carried out a series of experiments. They asked three related question: Do people… -
Self-Study Positive Psychology Courses
18 Nov 2009 | 6:27 amSponsored post: Positive psychology self-study courses available at Intentional Happiness How can you live a happier life? How can you discover your strengths and build on them? What is the case for hope and optimism? Dr. Robert Biswas-Diener, a happiness researcher and life coach, addresses these important questions in a workbook aimed at helping you understand and apply the lessons from the latest research in positive psychology. The Invitation to Positive Psychology workbook (PDF, $17.95) uses an engaging style to introduce the burgeoning field of positive psychology. This workbook,… -
The Psychological Immune System
12 Nov 2009 | 10:36 amWe get over bad moods much sooner than we predict, thanks to the covert work of the psychological immune system. One of the most incredible things about the human mind is its resilience. Let's face it, life can be pretty depressing at times, and yet people generally push on much the same as they always have, sometimes even with a spring in their step and a smile on their face. How come one day it seems like the world is going to end and the next there's hope? And how come our bad moods lift so unexpectedly, like a brick sprouting wings and disappearing into the clear blue sky? The reason is… -
Why Do People Bother Voting?
31 Oct 2009 | 5:17 amWhy we overestimate the power of our own vote. It might seem like an undemocratic question but it's one that's always plagued me: why do I bother voting? Most people know their own tick in the box is hardly worth it when weighed against the effort involved in getting registered and actually going to vote, let alone when weighed against all the other people voting. Quattrone & Tversky (1984) had a hunch that there was another, more complex psychological reason that people vote, to go along with the usual explanations. Not only, they guessed, do people vote because of their democratic duty… -
The Truth About Self-Deception
27 Oct 2009 | 10:56 amCan we pull the wool over our own eyes or do we see through our mind games? In theory the one person we should never, ever, lie to is ourselves. Surely lying to ourselves is counter-productive? Like calmly and deliberately shooting yourself in the foot or taking a hot toasting fork and plunging it into your eye? But look around and it's not hard to spot the tell-tale symptoms of self-deception in other people. So perhaps we are also deceiving ourselves in ways we can't clearly perceive? But is that really possible and would we really believe the lies that we 'told' ourselves anyway? That's…
