It is an aphorism that selling begins with customer knowledge. The customer, after all, is king -- or queen, as the case may be. May I disagree? It is the customer of the customer who rules, after all, isn't it? In other words, the starting point for successful selling online is deep audience insight. And here clickstream metrics cannot give you the answers. There is no substitution for audience knowledge and insight. You know, the kind of understanding that comes from actually speaking to them, listening to them, engaging in dialogue with them.

Technically speaking, the difference between evolutionary and revolutionary is just one single letter. When speaking of technology, however, the implications of each word are worlds apart. While an evolutionary product is a step forward from where you currently stand, a revolutionary product forges an entirely new path. It is different, bold, and risky -- and also has the potential to be highly rewarding. While the evolution in online advertising continues, we seem to be falling short when it comes to revolutionary ideas.

If your primary revenue stream is advertising, and you cannot afford a single salesperson -- you have a hobby, not a business.We are continually told that small publishers do not have the scale to sell direct. We are told that those publishers cannot create direct relationships with advertisers. We are told that they have to sell through ad networks. The popular notion that it is okay to not have your own salespeople is cute, idealistic, and totally wrong.

Being forced to listen to someone's cell phone conversation while standing next to them in an airport security line may feel like torture, but it's not life-threatening. Watching people pound away on their BlackBerry while you talk to them may kill your self-esteem, but it's not life-threatening. Dialing cell phones, sending text messages, or responding to emails on mobile devices while driving is killing thousands of people every year -- and as a medium, we could not care less.

Those of us raising teenagers are all doing our best to teach our offspring not to participate in risky behavior. We promise rides home from parties with no questions asked. We talk about safe driving practices, seatbelts, safe sex (OK, some of us don't talk about that), not to trust people they "meet" on the Internet. You get the idea. Being safe, or at least making smart choices about risk, is one of the key attributes of mature behavior. But every day, in the business world, we aid and abet risky behavior.

Growing up as a basketball fan in a couple of small towns in Iowa back in the '70s and '80s, my access to news and information about my favorite teams and players was limited to a handful of box scores in the local paper, a periodic feature story in Sports Illustrated and an occasional game on NBC. Fast-forward 30 or so years. Thanks to team Web sites, fan blogs and social media applications we now have access to more content then we could ever consume, and I love it! To get a behind-the-scenes look at what the digital revolution looked …

The real issue in display advertising has nothing to do with inventory. The real issue is intent. The fact that billions of page views go unsold each month is not, alone, an indicator of a supply problem. You have to first understand the quality of the supply.

The question "Did the ad campaign work?" sparks fiery debates, because we all have different takes on what "works" means. I contend advertising always works to a meaningful degree. Advertising is an investment that can be shaped into various instruments to accomplish multiple goals. Influencing the consumer is in that mix, but not the only ingredient to a successful communication plan, and not nearly the most important.

Anyone who has sold both print and digital advertising can tell you that there are differences between how each is bought and evaluated. As a rule, digital media is numbers and results-oriented, while print has traditionally relied on a more conceptual sell....

How social do we really want to get? It's a question I've been wrestling with as it relates to our company Web site and one that Jerry Seinfeld wrestled with as well. In a "Seinfeld" episode titled "The Kiss Hello," Kramer decides to post the photos and names of every tenant in the building to foster a friendlier living environment. The social experiment goes too far for Jerry's liking when he is greeted by a kiss on the cheek from every female in the building, and a solid lip lock from Kramer himself. Whether you're Cosmo Kramer in an apartment …