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 [...]

With today’s big announcement that Vocus is acquiring iContact, I think it’s time to revisit the four ways to be hated because of your email marketing. There are a lot more, but follow these rules, and you’re off to a really good start. (Remember – I’m the guy who created a company that sends out 3.4 million double-opt-in, non-spam emails each month… So I kinda know what I’m talking about.) Realize – Email marketing without the right training is a way to screw up to a larger audience in a shorter amount of time. What’s so great about this merger is that you now have the tools to look at email as another marketing tool – not just something alone [...]

So I get an email today, criticizing me for congratulating the Giants in the HARO this morning by using the term “my NY Giants.” Apparently, I’m pompous and self-centered for saying “My” as opposed to “Our.” I responded that today, after an awesome win, I think everyone in NYC considers the Giants “theirs,” and more importantly, is that really the most important thing for them to worry about in their busy day? To which I get this vitriolic reply, stating that I’m completely full of shit, and that I’m nothing but a braggart, who should learn to be nicer to people. Me. I should learn to be nicer to other people. The guy who invites anyone to ask me any [...]

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” [...]