Success may come unexpectedly, but it’s rarely accidental. Alexander Fleming might not have been looking for penicillin, but he was running lab experiments. Roy Plunkett was trying to create a better refrigerant when he stumbled upon Teflon. Play-Doh was supposed to...
Is the hashtag going the way of the Dodo? Angela Brown pointed me to the news that Twitter is toying with the idea of doing away with hashtags. I sympathize. Every social media platform is adopting hashtags. They are becoming a new frontier for keyword stuffing. Even...
When I tell people that I read 100 blogs a day, it’s not about making myself into Wonder Woman. (Of course, she is pretty awesome.) I read a lot of blogs to keep up with industry trends, to update my skills and know-how, and to be what my mom calls “an educated...
We’re awash in data, but can we tap it wisely? Author Phil Simon wants to help. Simon understands data. His last book focused on demystifying Big Data; his new book focuses on how savvy companies are using data visualization tools to “understand [data], interpret it,...
My friend Angelo probably doesn't know it, but he helped me find my online voice. We were standing on a line to get our photos taken at an AdWeekDC event shortly after the 2008 election. Panelists from LinkedIn, Facebook, and MySpace had just finished talking about...
What does it mean to “be human”? I didn't wake up this morning and decide to tackle the meaning of life. Actually, though, this video about people who want to go to Mars (a one-way trip) is an unexpectedly fascinating look at that issue. I’m talking about brands, and...
A colleague shared an old post (not his) in a Google+ community with the provocative title, “How I Made $5,000 a Month as a Paid Blogger.” The author had written 58 posts in one month, including 22 for BNET and another 12 for Entrepreneur. Doing a little math, this...
Do people know how to contact you? You're probably nodding, "Well, doh." Check anyway. Check your Web site, your business card, your stationery, and all your social profiles to make sure the information is up-to-date and the links are accurate (and working). If you...
Socrates would have been a great mentor. (No, I haven’t pivoted this blog from business to philosophy, so bear with me.) Want to propel your business forward? Then you can’t beat the Socratic method. Wikipedia defines it as “a form of inquiry and discussion between...
The game is afoot! (Hey, how often do you find a reason to quote Sherlock Holmes?) I’m excited to announce that I have been selected as a judge for the 2014 Small Business Book Awards. Now in their sixth year, the awards recognize the best books from the previous...