Tag Archives: Business

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Taking over the world – Facebook’s agenda may not be your agenda

With more than 700,000 members, one should be wary of calling Facebook a closed community. With the objective of connecting the world – limited only by political agendas – Facebook’s agenda can be seen as an anti-privacy agenda.

Consider Open Graph. At first glance it appears to be a boon to those who use Facebook to communicate with those who friend or like. However Facebook is a business. Never forget that Facebook is a business. So the value to Facebook of Open Graph is its value to aid message mongers – not-for-profit and for-profit alike.

If privacy is important to you, do not post on the Internet – ever. If you want an Internet presence, but want to protect your privacy, don’t join Facebook, or any “closed” group with a population greater than that of the United States of America.

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Content Marketing: Three Books, One Review

Content Marketing Book ReviewsGet Content, Get Customers: Turn Prospects into Buyers with Content Marketing

Joe Pulizzi and Newt Barrett are the co-authors of this 2009 book. Joe runs the Content Marketing Institute. He lectures around the world on the subject and produces an enewsletter with tips and ideas for content marketers. This book is much like his blog, full of great content delivered in such a way that I felt like I joined a conversation half way through. If you want to know what content marketing is, I suggest you peruse Joe’s blog, which is current.

Content Marketing: Think like Publisher – How to Use Content to Market Online and in Social Media

Rebecca Lieb wrote this 2012 book. If you have a print background and are trying to shift into online marketing, this book will make sense to you. It may be the place to start if you’ve been hiding your head in the sand hoping that online marketing would go away.

Content Chemistry: An Illustrated Handbook for Content Marketing

Andy Crestodina wrote this 2012 book. Google Andy, you’ll discover that he takes his own advice. Always a good sign. You’ll find his twitter handle, Google + account etc. Of course, using his name as the keyword phrase is not a best practice. He makes a sound case for doing some detective work to identify the keyword phrases that will deliver traffic and with the right content conversions.

His book really is a how-to book, with charts,lists, exercises, and a chemistry analogy that had my hyperventilating until I read it. If like me you skipped chem in high school, do not fear. Andy’s analogy makes sense when you read it. As does his book from front to back cover.

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When did being right fall out of fashion?

I have been reading Susan Cain‘s outstanding book Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can’t stop talking. Every human resources department should have a copy on the shelf that is well-thumbed. Workshops should be conducted for leadership teams that are overloaded with extroverts. Yes…that means you!

She makes the point that introverts can have the right answer to a problem, yet, because the answer is delivered without fireworks or PowerPoint, it is overlooked, ignored or rejected. In a world of teams and creativity by committee, being correct has become less and less important.

Cain writes about quiet persistence, a trait found in Asian cultures. She quotes Albert Einstein who admitted, “It’s not that I am so smart. It’s that I stay with a problem longer.”  The drawback to quiet persistence is the steamroller style of leadership that makes the wrong decision due to a lack of patience. Quiet persistence implies a time frame to reach the optimum answer.

A thread running through Cain’s book is the importance of a middle ground. Introverts need a little flash; extroverts a little patience. Meeting in the middle just might put being right back in fashion.

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Traffic: The Tourist’s Unknown

Heron Cove, Six Mile Lake, Muskoka

Heron Cove, Six Mile Lake, Muskoka

My mental image of visiting Mumbai is streets almost impassable with traffic. Rush hour in LA, sitting in traffic going nowhere, is something I would plan to avoid on a trip to Southern California. I don’t drive in London. I have driven in Manhattan, although I don’t recommend it. Traffic is unavoidable during urban holidays.

Last Saturday as I drove south from Cottage Country I was reminded that traffic is an unknown variable when planning a visit to a new region. The reminder was bumper to bumper northbound traffic – three lanes of it – beginning at Barrie, ON. The traffic had not let up when I exited the 400 at King City.  That is a distance of 60 km!

I had driven that northward route exactly one week before. I didn’t experience traffic that dense, although I did experience rain showers so intense that my windshield wipers couldn’t keep my window clear! One week later, the weather was perfect. Sunny, bright and cool – perfect cottage weather.

This is my final Cottage Country advisory. To avoid traffic when heading north from Toronto, travel earlier on the weekend. If you reach Barrie by 9 AM at the latest, you should avoid the worst of the traffic. Or travel during the week. Southbound on Sunday night should be avoided and early Monday morning during the summer.

I hope to meet you in Cottage Country one day.

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#K-cup Guilt

My circle of acquaintances includes many folk who have spent a lifetime saving the planet, or at least portions of it. They have educated me to understand that every personal choice has a global impact. Through their examples I am learning to make Earth-friendly decisions. But sometimes I fail. The resulting guilt takes the edge off a beautiful day.

Five K-Cups

Five K-Cups (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Octogenarian‘s need for a modicum of  independence is as important as her pill regimen. That independent feeling keeps the flame alive within her. To that end I seek solutions to age-problems that allow her to continue her routine, yet keep her safe. Boiling water in a kettle for tea has become an issue. The kettle is too heavy when filled with water, and she doesn’t have the mobility to move from the sink to the kettle’s base when the kettle is full.

Purchasing Keurig‘s K-cup beverage brewer has solved the problem. I fill the reservoir in the morning, and she can make herself a tea or coffee any time she wishes without risk. Mission accomplished.

However, it doesn’t take much thought to realize that producing a piece of plastic garbage every time a coffee or tea is made is not a good thing. Therein lies the guilt. I have chosen to enhance the Octogenarian’s quality of life – and keep her safe – rather than save the planet.

The new CEO of Shell, the Netherlands based oil company, has chosen to stop all Arctic drilling. That is a decision that will benefit the planet. I am certain of this and applaud Shell’s leadership. Yet…there will be negative consequences. Less revenue entering the economic stream of the Far North; less grants for not-for-profit projects – are two that come to mind.

Doing the right thing is always a compromise. Every choice has a consequence. Even the best choices have negative consequences. Just as Great Big Sea sings, I wanna be consequence free.