• ONLINE SPIN
    Are You Leaving Your Team Out On A Limb?
    Among the explainers -- executives, teachers, commentators, analysts -- we talk with authority about our fluid landscape, constantly re-constituting ecosystem and the fragmentation of media itself. But, do we respectfully understand the impact of such constant change for those on the frontlines, executing the day-to-day work within our businesses?
  • ONLINE SPIN
    The Unscalable, Unbeatable Power Of Personal Attention
    In a world of robots, spambots, autoreplies, emails with magically pre-populated first-name fields, there is almost nothing more insulting than to say, "I care about you so little that I've delegated management of our relationship to a computer program." Our defenses are up, and what they are up against is automation. What melts these defenses is attention. We are powerless against someone coming at us with open eyes and open heart, someone saying to us through their words and their actions and their choice of medium: "I see you, I know you exist, I know you are a unique human …
  • ONLINE SPIN
    Assets or Opportunity: Which Should Drive Your Growth Strategy?
    Ever wonder why some companies were successfully launched -- and why others failed? Why one idea gets traction and makes billions -- and another struggles and eventually dies? I do. I've spent the past 20 years working at the intersection of old and new media. In that time, I've watched entrepreneurs launch a lot of great digital companies. Most of them were not offshoots of legacy businesses. I've also watched incumbent companies launch a number of disastrous ventures based on their existing assets and see them miss the opportunity to create or own many, many successful companies.
  • ONLINE SPIN
    The Holding Companies Will Be Launching Sales Rep Firms Within 2 Years
    Here's a crazy idea to think about: What if the large agency holding companies start to get into the publisher rep business? Hear me out on this before you pass judgment; it's not as crazy as it first sounds.
  • ONLINE SPIN
    When Media Buying Fails Marketers
    The search continues for universal metrics that will define new-media success. Meanwhile, there has been a noticeable trend in digital media buying towards something that doesn't work; I like to call it The Frankenstein Plan, and it's a monster.
  • ONLINE SPIN
    The Dog Years of 2010: A Personal View
    Around the new year, most of us endeavor to summarize things. It's tricky. We speak of dog years and all that goes on in our industry within a single year, often practically bursting at the seams with activity. I have a few things to share with you regarding my own dog year(s) of 2010. I put myself out there in business, in shared ventures and in love -- and I almost cannot believe how much has transpired. May the snapshot provide some light and even some entertainment.
  • ONLINE SPIN
    Three Short(y) Rules for Successful Online Campaigns
    Consider the laugh track: we see it for what it is, we know it exists solely to provide artificial social proof that the content we're watching is funny, and yet we laugh anyway. We laugh because we are human -- and our humanity explains why the following three rules drive success in online campaigns:
  • ONLINE SPIN
    A Tumultuous But Tantalizing Future For Local Media
    Newspaper ad revenues continue to decline. Local broadcast and local cable finished the year strong, thanks in large part to an unprecedented political spend. Groupon, the two-year-old social couponing service, apparently turned down a $6 billion dollar offer and is rumored to be talking to bankers about an initial public offering that could value the company at $10 billion to $15 billion. Has the local media scene ever been crazier?
  • ONLINE SPIN
    What's Happened To The VCs?
    I recently read a report that broke down the trends in venture capital investments from 2010. I was most intrigued by the fact that venture capitalists appear to be laying off early-stage investments and focusing their efforts on later-stage companies, leaving the early stage and seed investments to the ever-expanding world of the Angels and Super Angels.
  • ONLINE SPIN
    What Can Quora Answer?
    Quora is all the buzz with the digital early-adopter crowd. At first glance, Quora doesn't appear all that different from other question and answer services the Internet has spawned, and yet there is a seeming groundswell around its usage. The largest appeal of Quora early on has been the unparalleled quality and qualifications of those industry leaders taking the time to answer others' questions. The value of insights like this seem to be without question. But the question everyone who has used Quora -- well, how about instead of me answering it, I just offer up the second answer on …
« Previous Entries