Jun 112015
 
Mary Meeker's Internet 2015 Report

Mary Meeker released her annual State of the Internet report at last month’s Re/Code conference. As usual it was chock full of interesting stats, this year expanding to almost 200 slides. I wrote about her previous State of the Internet reports in 2012, 2013 and last year. In addition to the quality of the research, […]

May 262015
 
Primer on Social Media Advertising

Last October I wrote about differing views on how social media advertising should be conducted. My take on the debate between leading social media practitioners Maddie Grant and Jay Baer drew a lot of views and a number of excellent comments on LinkedIn. To some degree Maddie and Jay were talking about B2C brand advertising, […]

May 112015
 
Cosmetic Work on the E46 M3

This past week I took care of some needed items on my 2006 E46 M3. Since I purchased the car late last year, I’ve looked forward to getting the front bumper repainted and a few other cosmetic issues attended to. The front bumper needed to be repainted because it had rock chip pitting, clear coat […]

May 072015
 
Crivelli Wine Dinner

This week Gabriele and I attended a wine dinner at River Bend Bistro, a favorite neighborhood spot. The featured wines were from Crivelli, a producer specializing in lesser known varietals from Monferrato, in the Piedmont region of Italy. Crivelli wines are distributed by Downey Selections, and owner Brennan Downey sat with us for dinner. Downey […]

Apr 242015
 
Stop Talking About Yourself When Marketing

Does you company know the kind of information prospects want to receive from you? According to a survey released last month by research firm Market Connections, many government contractors talk about themselves rather than share information government buyers are seeking. Titled the Federal Content Marketing Review 2015, the report is a good read and available […]

Apr 202015
 
E46 M3 Spring Checkup

Late last year I purchased a 2006 E46 M3. It was maintained extremely well, but there were a few things I looked forward to doing on the car. Now that the long winter season is over, it’s time to get to work. This weekend I changed the oil, swapped the tires side to side, checked […]

Apr 062015
 
Dinner at Le Diplomate

This weekend we caught up with some old friends over dinner at Le Diplomate. This relatively new French place in the Logans Circle area of DC has received a lot of good press and it was on our list for places to try. So when my best friend’s wife picked it for his surprise birthday […]

Mar 172015
 
Requiem for GigaOm

The technology publishing company GigaOm closed its doors last Tuesday. As a consultant working in the technology space for many years, this news really struck me. Back in the day I’d occasionally pitch GigaOm for my technology clients. You really had to know the space to have any chance, which I always respected. And way […]

Mar 022015
 
Why Are Some People So Enthusiastic About Old BMWs?

Good question – why are they? This was the title of a conversation thread started recently on Bimmerfest.com. The conversation crystallizes perfectly the gulf of understanding between old school BMW enthusiasts and the majority of new BMW purchasers today. The original poster (OP in forum lingo) cannot fathom why anyone would be excited about an […]

Feb 232015
 
The Placed Byline -- Earned or Owned Content?

When putting a marketing effort together, it’s important to understand how various types of content contribute to the overall campaign. I’ve written previously about the PESO acronym for content types — Paid, Earned, Shared and Owned. This way of looking at content makes it easier to distinguish the different types and how they complement each […]

Feb 162015
 
Pinot Noir for a Healthy Lifestyle

A fantastic source for information on Pinot Noir is The Prince of Pinot, published by retired physician William “Rusty” Gaffney. Since retiring from his practice in 2001, Dr. Gaffney has written the PinotFile, an online newsletter exclusively devoted to Pinot Noir. As a retired doctor, Gaffney has long been interested in research attempting to document […]

Feb 072015
 
The Principles of Quality Content Marketing

Here’s one of the best, most succinct videos I’ve seen defining quality content marketing. It was done by a former client of mine, George Stenitzer. A few years back Tellabs, a manufacturer of telecom and optical networking equipment based near Chicago was a major client of mine. I have telecom experience so I enjoyed the […]