Another in the series “How to be Taken Seriously.” This time, we’ll focus on not being full of shit. I’ve got an exercise for you. For the next seven days, make a concerted effort to count how many people with whom you come in contact who end your conversation with “I’ll call you,” or “Let’s get coffee!” or “We should connect for a drink!” In two weeks, go back and visit the list you made, and see how many of them followed up on their suggestion. The answer will more than likely be “none.” We live in a world where 99% of the people you meet are full of shit. It just is. It’s not up for debate, it’s not [...]

As of October 25th, 2011 (Anyone tell me why October 25th is special? Specifically, October 25th, 1985?) shankman.com has a brand new look! Cleaner, faster, and much more relevant to what I do for a living. I’m excited about it, and I hope you are, as well! I’d like to give mega-props to Pete Czech, founder of the New Possibilities Group, for the incredible job he and his team have done on this rebuild. If you ever find yourself in need of some amazing technical work, you can’t do any better Welcome and enjoy! -Peter Shankman

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 [...]

I woke up on a random morning last week and did what I always do – Fed the cat, made coffee, stumbled towards the shower, and eventually, sat down at my desk, and launched Chrome with the five tabs I’ve programmed to open at startup. Two of those tabs are Facebook. Facebook.com, and my (I hate this term) “like page.” I go through the people in my network, then look at any posts or comments on the “like page,” and respond accordingly. This is a daily thing. I do it every morning, whenever morning happens to fall in the part of the world I’m currently in. This morning, though, something was different. I’d been invited to try Facebook’s new “Timeline” [...]

And I’m feelin’… So good. Some great personal news below this awesome George Michael video. Last June, 2010, HARO was acquired by Vocus, Inc. It was a great day, and the perfect culmination to an amazing three years of building the best PR repository in the entire world. In just under 30 months, HARO turned from something I’d send to friends into a game changer – something that thousands upon thousands of people relied on each day to get publicity, exposure, and grow their businesses. It was massive. Over time, I noticed that the number of PR firms using HARO peaked at “all of them,” and the number of small businesses using HARO kept growing at a rapid, rapid pace. [...]