I got an email this morning that even floored me, the most cynical person in the world. It came from a PR person who was pitching me a new product – A shirt. Yes, a shirt. Nothing special about the shirt, it was simply a new style from a new designer. But here’s what gets me: The subject line of the email was: “Hi! Can I borrow your audience?” (Insert blogging-car-skidding-to-a-halt sound here…) Can you borrow my… Hold up… WHAT? Can you “BORROW MY AUDIENCE?” Are you serious? OK. Not even taking into account the fact that my audience… IS AN AUDIENCE, and not, say, A SPATULA, no, you can’t “borrow my audience.” Let’s understand something – My audience is [...]

In the past 48 hours, I’ve seen no less than four front page articles from newspapers across the world, referring to the Instagram deal as “ushering in the age of mobile.” In other news, I’m going to write an article about the coming age of jet travel. Are you kidding me? The Instagram deal has NOTHING to do with “the age of mobile,” it has EVERYTHING to do with the age of CUSTOMER CHOICE. Mobile isn’t new. You think that just because we now have the ability to take crappy sepia toned pictures of crap, 24 hours a day, that “all of a sudden, we want to be a mobile society?” We’ve ALWAYS wanted to be a mobile society. The [...]

A bit over a month ago, I was contacted by Facebook, asking if I’d like to “merge” my “fan” page (I’m STILL not comfortable calling it that) with my “personal” page on Facebook, and turn my “fans” into “subscribers.” Facebook’s logic there was that I’d only have to post all my content in one place, and could determine which content was “public,” (i.e., subscribers, the world, etc.,) and which I kept only for my “friends.” I volunteered to give it a shot, even after being told there was no turning back – i.e., my “Fan page” would disappear, and I couldn’t bring it back. After asking a ton of questions (and to Facebook’s credit, the person who reached out to [...]

I’ve said it before – We don’t currently live in a world that regularly expects excellent customer service. In fact, with each passing generation, the customer service bar is actually lowered a bit more. Example: In the 50s, you’d drive into a gas station, and four uniformed attendants would rush over, each handling a different chore, from checking your oil, to pumping your gas, to cleaning your windows, and other basic automobile tasks. It was simply what was done. Can you imagine that? Four guys, waiting for you to drive in, and actually running to service you? I was driving to Atlantic City last week to give a speech, and stopped in to get gas. Because New Jersey is one [...]

Another in the popular “How To Be Taken Seriously” category. It all comes down to personal trust, whether you’re a one-person shop, a small business, or a multi-billion dollar corporation. As I’ve mentioned a few times already, I finally bought an apartment in Manhattan. Years of renting have come to a close as I signed close to 1,453 documents over the course of an afternoon in exchange for two lock keys and one mailbox key. I’m a homeowner. Yes, it’s scary as hell, with each day bringing up more scariness excitement than the day before. But the one thing that keeps me smiling is this: Because I own, I can create. Or, in less dramatic terms, I can mold my [...]