So who’s going to Blogworld in November in Los Angeles? Guess who’s keynoting it? And guess what – Entering code PETER on this registration page will save you a TON of cash on registration. Seriously. It will, on TOP of the early registration discount. Go register now, and we’ll have a massively good time in LA.

When I boarded my flight Wednesday morning from Denver to Houston to connect to a flight to Asheville for my speech on Thursday, I tweeted out a question. I said “I’ve got roughly five hours in the air today. How can I help you? You’ve got 45 minutes to respond.” And people did! So briefly, here’s what people asked, and my answers: @andreahrizk said that she needs exposure about a shortage of interactive talent in the advertising industry, and included a link: http://imediaconnection.com/content/28737.asp – I think she has a point – Small interactive ad shops can’t offer the same “possibility of instant riches” that tech startups, whether they be in a basement or in the Google offices, can. As such, [...]

When I speak at conferences catering to small businesses, I usually show up an hour before the conference starts. I check in, but don’t pick up my own badge. Instead, I scan the badges already spread out, and grab someone else’s – usually someone who runs a small business. I’ve been Jon Michelson, Tyrese McHale, and my personal favorite, Gordon Brown (not that one), all of whom own small businesses, and all of whom are looking for the magic bullet that will convince them that social media actually works for them – will actually make them money, will actually help them sell product, and isn’t the next BS thing they hear about every day on the radio, on TV, and [...]

This is the first in a series of posts on how to be taken seriously. Each post will focus on a specific concept, and the five ways to be taken seriously within that concept. This post has to do with backup plans and timing. Last week, during the 854th NYC storm of the month, I had to get out to San Diego to keynote a conference. Knowing there was going to be a storm, I made a backup plan. I booked the Continental 8:45 EWR-SAN, then booked the Continental 2:45 EWR-SAN as a backup, pretty sure the 8:45 would be cancelled. And of course, it was, and I was all like, “It’s cool, I’m on the 2:45.” And it was [...]

Have you seen something like this floating through your social media data stream recently? “Who wants to sponsor me to go to Overrated Conference 2011?” “I need a sponsor for my blog. Anyone?” “Who wants to send me to ABC for the WXY meetup?” Just look around. They’re everywhere. Seems that everyone with any social media presence, no matter now small, has glommed onto the “Sponsor me!” bandwagon. Unfortunately, 99.9% of those requests won’t ever get looked at, let alone acted on. Why? It’s simple, really. You want to be sponsored? You better damn well be sponsorable. What does that mean? What do you mean “I’d better be sponsorable? That’s not even a real word, Peter!” It’s a real word, [...]