Jul 302013
 
E39 M5 Wheel Damage

Last Saturday I was feeling particularly good about my 2002 M5. Over the past few weeks every fluid (minus power steering) has been refreshed  on the car. Brake, coolant, oil, transmission and differential fluids have all been replaced. I had just removed an old and faded clear bra from the car the week before. Then a […]

Jul 242013
 
Now That's Quality Content

Every week I work with clients to produce high quality content for their online properties. It’s not easy consistently producing content that accomplishes business objectives via thought leadership rather than overt promotion. When done well, a content marketing strategy can deliver most of the benefits of a traditional PR campaign. These include brand awareness, closer […]

Jul 222013
 
Clear Bra Removal on My E39 M5

This weekend I tackled clear bra removal on my BMW M5. The bra had come with the car, and over the past two years had become dingy looking. It had been on the car since at least 2009. I had removed the small pieces of film on the front of the side mirrors first as […]

Jul 172013
 
A More Creative, Social Paywall

I’ve been a subscriber to Esquire for many years. I really enjoy the quality of the writing, though I took the magazine to task for a poor QR code experience back in 2010. Clearly Hearst, parent company to Esquire, is continuing to experiment with ways to monetize content online. Last week MediaBistro and John Battelle […]

Jul 142013
 
E39 M5 Northern Virginia Owners Redux

Recently I got together with a group of local E39 M5 owners in Fairfax, Virginia. I’ve gotten to know most of them in online forums, and this was a repeat of a meet we had back in late 2011. One of the best things about owning a BMW is connecting with fellow enthusiast owners. Everyone […]

Jul 102013
 
Brilliant Content Marketing Tactics -- Where's the Sales Component?

Part of my consulting role to clients is keeping an eye on marketing trends. While doing that recently I found an excellent presentation on B2B content marketing trends produced by the UK based agency Velocity Partners. The deck outlines five trends, which the authors call “Beyonds,” showing how B2B content marketing is evolving.  Tactically these […]

Jul 032013
 
Differential Oil Change on the E39 M5

Over the weekend I did an oil change on my E39 M5, and I also changed the differential oil. This is an important and often overlooked fluid change. The E39 M5 differential is a limited slip differential, allowing for different amounts of power to be directed to the wheels based on driving conditions. The car […]

Jul 012013
 
Washington Post Wine Club Interview

Today WashingtonExec published my latest Wine and Dine column. Last month the Washington Post jumped into the wine business with a new wine club offering. The combination was intriguing, but it wasn’t immediately clear to me why the Post launched this business. So I reached out to a media contact for more information. In my […]

Jun 262013
 
Twitter API Changes

Have you noticed some of your Twitter applications failing recently? On June 11 Twitter retired the original version of its API, the one used by countless third party applications to present Twitter information. The Twitter API changes have been going on for over a year — here’s an August 2012 PC World story with good […]

Jun 222013
 
A Discussion on Managing LinkedIn Groups

This week I had the pleasure of interviewing Roger Johnson. Roger is founder and President of Newswise, an online news distribution service for journalists and the public. He also manages the PRwise group on LinkedIn, a group I’ve belonged to for over four years. I’ve been impressed with the volume and quality of discussions in […]

Jun 192013
 
The Upcoming BMW 2 Series

Early reports and images are emerging about a new line of BMW cars, to be christened the 2-Series. Starting next year, they will slot in between (naturally enough) the entry level 1 Series and the 3 Series, BMW’s most popular line and the majority of its sales here in the U.S. (Starting in a few […]

Jun 162013
 
Premium Cabernet Sauvignon Showdown

As readers of this site know, I don’t think you need to pay a lot for a good wine experience. The definition of “a lot” can differ of course. My definition of that term translates into spending $20-30 to get a very nice bottle of wine sufficient for most occasions. However, there are times when […]