mattcarolan

Random Thoughts for the Week or So

2009-12-12T02:28:00.012-05:00

Today I'm trying something new. Just random thoughts from the week or whatever time period my mind chooses to work in, about things in business. In preparation, perhaps, for my forthcoming podcast. Ok, here goes:

Tiger Woods: Moral questions aside, the most massive marketing meltdown in my lifetime. A veritable explosion of Pompeii. Some economist will surely calculate the economic losses of the "Tiger Episode" on the PGA Tour, television commercials and maybe escort services. A follow up joke about economic stimulus is unnecessary.

***

Doing strategy for a client, I had one of those revelations that are so obvious after the fact, but just keep jumping out in your brain. Strategic, value selling: a.k.a., selling as a "strategic" partner. It requires so much marketing collateral support to improve the odds of success. You can't go upsell if you don't have things to support that. Not simply promoting a product, but as the very upsell or value add to an existing solution. Yet, how many marketers have this much knowledge? And how many sales trainers drive home the importance of such collateral tools, in fact? (Especially if even marketing isn't thinking about it.) None that I've seen in corporate America. Ever.

***

Speaking of which, I have always been trained to ask questions. In every company I ever worked in, they wanted me to be a leader. Spent lots of money on training me, in fact. But what occurred to me was the delta in almost every company between what they train and the culture they maintain. If you are supposed to be a strategic consultant within your own company, know the risk: you may ask questions that will challenge the boss's own knowledge, putting him or her in a bad light. Even at the level of executing simple project management methodologies! Initiating a project means asking the champion questions. And they may not know why they want an initiative. The may not have access to data or metrics that drive their decision. They may not care about that, or the shareholder money they are wasting. (My last company or two.) You may have been told by your company to do more than execute. But adding value like that puts you at political risk. Diplomacy and tact are important. Show that you are after the value, not someone else's job.

***

Working as a consultant now, I am challenged to do my own business development. It seems, that at a certain point in life, particularly if you crave independence, or if circumstances force it upon you, you must become a sales person yourself. It's inevitable. It frightens people. But if you have a memory in your brain, and the ability to synthesize your life's experience, the idea of selling your own value should not be so hard. Unless you fall in to the shoemaker's children syndrome: You can tell other people how to do things, but you can't do them for yourself.

How Do You Like Your Adversity and Thrills?

2009-10-08T08:37:00.008-04:00

I read in the Wall Street Journal this morning how credit cards are essential to small businesses survival. And I thought, ugh, the weight of debt. Then another thought occurred to me:

You have a choice in your work and professional life: a steady feeling of "security" with occasional concentrated doses of adversity during layoffs (being an "employee"), or a steady feeling of adversity with occasional concentrated doses of thrills (being an entrepreneur.)

At least that is how I have experienced both.

I spoke to a very dynamic venture capitalist lately who noted that her willingness to endure the "high wire act" of entrepreneurship began after her divorce. A feeling of liminality that she got used to, I suppose.

It helps to know I'm not the only one who feels disoriented at times. Until I start wondering if my disorientation is as legitimate or praiseworthy or well-earned. :-)

Video Apps Dazzle, But They're Just Another Channel to be Managed

2009-09-29T08:20:00.015-04:00

As I work on more video projects, particularly for online, I am apt to track the interactive video platform providers. I have some experience from my days with Symbol Technologies and Motorola evaluating small, custom video platforms (sometimes with no CMS behind them, oy!) to larger, varied providers such as Accela, Vignette, WebCollage, Feedroom and Brightcove.

Interesting how in this marketing spot from Brightcove, they are positioning themselves as the Windows platform of video. Hundreds of developers, they claim, add additional value to the platform with bolt-on applications.

The applications allow things such as links to Wikipedia and related video (from an Apture application, for example) to embedded commentary and more.

All these apps make the front end look shiny.

My question is, however, based on my dreaded experience with CMS: What's the back end look like? How cumbersome does all this get?

My experience with integrated marketing leads me to ask: what do we do with these varied additional channels and how do we track their usefulness?

If it were just about delivering cool to the customer, then additional apps are a no-brainer. But you do have internal processes and internal resources to be mindful off.

Just something I like to keep in mind, to keep my app lust in check, during these dazzling presentations.

Value Creation is on the Ground, Not in Washington

2009-09-18T15:58:00.011-04:00

I'm not the world's greatest entrepreneur. But participating more actively this time in entrepreneurship than ever before, during this economic downturn, is teaching me something I never realized before, when I had a merely abstract understanding of and respect for the creative energies of the free market.

Value creation is damn hard work.

The government's "value destruction," in the mismanagement of wide swaths of the economy; from regulated and politicized finance (easy, printed money, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, etc), heavily mandated health care, the rampant inflation of government-funded education and tax and pork barrel energy policy, and the value destruction wreaked, are causing millions to lose their jobs, re-evaluate their value, and seek new work or ventures.

They are out there, with me, each day, attempting to navigate the marketplace and renegotiate their value. I see it in my friends running agencies. In my networking meeting with entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. And in my own sales or "business development" meetings.

And it is at that level, not in the rarefied air of Capitol Hill, where the economy is being resurrected. I feel it in my bones at the end of each day.

I have talked to more people, interviewed more and done more new types of work than ever in my life.

And I have a new respect, at the gut level, for the "underemployed" millions who are grinding it out every day in this marketplace, exploring, questioning, negotiating, and ultimately creating new value, which will eventually re-ignite this economy.

Not to mention the millions of experienced entrepreneurs and venture capitalists already out there unlocking similar new value.

Anyone with an ounce of entrepreneurial experience has to watch the bluster and baloney of Washington about who is at fault for our downturn, and feel in their very guts that these people are not only full of it, but that they probably haven't worked very hard at much of anything in their lives. Except rhetoric and vilification. In that they are highly skilled. And there seems to be a market for it.

But it's not where the real action is in this economy.

A Great Video about Success

2009-09-06T10:34:00.005-04:00

A great video, with a simple, inspiring message about success.

Where Are the Visual "Amplifiers" for My Mobile Device?

2009-08-24T09:19:00.019-04:00

I'm taking the train today, and bringing my BlackBerry Storm. I would have liked to read a PDF that I downloaded about sound reinforcement equipment. But I'm not going to try, even though the BB has a decent touch screen.

If they invented headphones to solve the problem of amplifying portable, personal sound, and now they've even got MP3 playing sunglasses (see image) can similar "visual amplifiers" be far behind?

Actually, they already have, I suppose. But I don't want to wear wired-up, clunky things like these glasses.

When is somebody going to invent cool, unobtrusive Bluetooth-type sunglasses that double as enhanced mobile device monitors? To magnify the imagery I want to see as the mobile phone becomes my primary computing device.

It would really be the primary device then. Glasses like that could shake up the category entirely. (I used to think Laser Projection was the answer, and in some cases it might be, but you still would be in need of a surface all the time.)

Maybe these glasses could even have sensors on them like they have in the new cars today (that alert you if you're too close to another vehicle, while you're distracted or falling asleep) so you could surf the web while walking! (Just kidding.)

Actually, that's the next phase, the RoboCop-like computer assisted visual display.

I'd pay something for either version of those. But it's got to be "cool."

I bet they're closer than we think.

Personal Data Integration Tools Raise the Quality Stakes for Everyone

2009-08-23T10:48:00.009-04:00

The data stream integration powers of my new BlackBerry Storm (the best buggy phone I've ever owned), and the Flock Social Media Browser have captured my imagination.

I get messages from many sources (email, text, images, chats) in one interface in BlackBerry. While mobile! It has raised the stakes on the quality of inbound messages. With so many alerts going off, I've been more diligent than ever about unsubscribing from spammy newsletters and more.

Likewise I'm noticing with Flock that it is empowering me to integrate a variety of social media I had previously considered marginal. Such as Bebo.

As I return to these social media and run them side by side with other social media, the stakes are raised on differentiation and quality. What does each of these sites offer me that I don't have already from other sites, or the integrative functionalities of the browser itself?

My God, I think, who then is the competition for each of these sites? Not just other sites. But third-party application developers on each of these sites, and the like for the browsers. Plus a whole bunch of other people I'm not even able to comprehend at the moment, but will be sure to wow me in a few years, uh, make that weeks.

My God, I also think. I better be a power user myself if I am to keep up with the changes, and advise people on how to use this stuff for themselves or their business.

Cool, mind-boggling, intellectually challenging stuff!

Additional Thoughts on the "Marcomm Problem"

2009-08-09T13:20:00.008-04:00

An additional thought or two on the "marcomm problem" described in the previous post.

When I was trained in management of creatives by the Harvard Management Mentor at one of my old jobs, I remember specifically a discussion in that online training about "divergent" and "convergent" as aspects of corporate creative.

"Divergent" is a term for pure creative imagination.

"Convergent" is the process of bringing the creative back in line with real business goals.

What I have learned in my time in corporate marcomm is that the tools I describe in the previous post: data, project management, change management, etc. are tools of convergence.

It's not immediately apparent that they are, because they feel like the bailiwick of engineers. But you can't converge the divergent by sheer charisma or will power alone. I've seen people try, but it just doesn't work. For one, you are always surrounded by too many stakeholders for that.

I relish the challenge of balancing the creative and the more data-driven, analytical side. It's an opportunity to grow, and experience all sorts of additional enhancements to your thinking.

To Solve Problems, Marcomm Organizations Must First Admit Them

2009-08-08T08:08:00.014-04:00

I recently had a chance to consult on some marketing collateral documents for a major corporation. If you've been around the marcomm game long enough, you get used to spotting certain things; revealing signs of an organization suffering from budget and time constraints. This engagement was no different.

Some things I take note of when I see a document now:

Does the document immediately show you what the value proposition is? I mean, immediately? Quite often the answer is no. The reason is because to do that you have to have a great marriage of content and design, which the aforementioned constraints don't allow.

Most collateral is often copy heavy, packed with politically crafted paragraphs designed to appease product marketing teams internally.

The marketing managers creating the collateral, when they are not fending off such political intrusions, are juggling multiple roles, and have little expertise in crafting quality documents. They are writing their own first draft, or at least playing subject matter expert for a freelancer who knows little about the business.

The manager is also often playing junior graphic designer, raiding the corporate image repository, if there is one, or just their neighbor's or partner's collateral for some images. They don't commission unique photos or illustrations.

What things like this often underscore are the need for a skilled marketing services organization in house. But many marketing executives struggle to quantify the value of such organizations, and those skilled and product-knowledgeable employees are often the first against the wall when the layoff firing squad assembles.

So, what can be done? Well, a truly tech-savvy design firm can fill the void. But these firms have to market themselves well and show their value to executives, and cannot do that if the executives themselves don't have an ROI mindset and create a feedback loop.

And there's the rub, which I've seen all too often in marketing. It is too full of creatives who don't balance the other side of their brains. You have to focus on balancing creative excellence with data -- in the interest of fostering the creative and helping it survive.

You also have to be disciplined in marketing -- adopting the best practices of project management -- and many marketers are not. Isolated already from the customer, they are awash in internal politics that warp their messages. If you cannot prioritize and say no in marketing, seek and win change management consensus and managerial champions, you are doomed to failure.

To prioritize however, you have to have the courage to put the boss on the spot. You have to get him or her to know their business and communicate it to you. And you have to do that in a way that is diplomatic, yet effective.

That's why, as we read in marketing publications like BtoB magazine, the average CMO lasts just under 2 years. Because even their bosses don't know or can't communicate their priorities.

The challenges of marketing are highly personal, demanding a great deal from people. And a lot of people just get burned out because human limitations play themselves out in these high-pressure environments.

The first step to solving a problem, however, is admitting you have a problem. And most marketing organizations remain in serious denial.

Digital Good Samaritanism

2009-03-03T10:50:00.006-05:00

I've heard it said that you can learn a lot about a person by how they treat people who they think can't do anything for them.

I've taken lately to networking with folks I've not met before, looking for full-time employment in this down economy. Usually I am referred to them by another friend. I connect with them on social networks, and share their resumes with those I think can help out.

I do it because I think it's the right thing to do. Because it is a kind of digital Good Samaritanism. We are finding these unfortunate souls on the digital highways and byways instead of the literal ones.

If anything will mitigate the disasters of this current economy, which I fear will get worse, it is the low-friction digital highway. Information flows much more freely than it did in previous depressions or recessions. That is a good thing. So, help out a soul you find there if you can. It's really not so hard to do.

What Can Facebook Do?

2009-02-05T08:29:00.006-05:00

Facebook turns five, and still can't figure out how to make a profit. (Well, I for one click on the occasional display ad. In fact, I think, they are better targeted than on some other sites. But I have not purchased anything. Hmm.)

I can't tell them how to run their business, but if Facebook is so popular, why not sell branded, ironic merchandise like t-shirts and stuff to bolster the bottom line? Why not some strategic partnerships with other brands? Why not relaunch that disastrous tracking thingy again, but explain it to the public this time with an opt-in?

I don't know, there are a million ideas I'm sure. The key would be to do some research and test them, right? So why is it that with so many of these cool, explosive new sites, the only thing we ever hear from the inside is "they're still trying to figure it out"?

Article Touts Twitter for Job Searches

2009-02-02T11:56:00.003-05:00

Interesting read. Add Twitter user name to your resume, and microblog interesting information and job search inquiries. Why not. Another social network to rely on, right?

Story of My (Marketing) Life

2009-01-29T19:48:00.015-05:00

According to this news report, there is a telling study by the Conference Board; which is also the story of my entire career in marketing:
Wah - Marketing Execs Struggle with ROI Measurement.

Recommended remedy: What Sticks: Why Most Advertising Fails and How to Guarantee Yours Succeeds

Video Illustrates Mind-Boggling Global Change

2009-01-24T10:24:00.009-05:00

A friend passed this video along with fascinating facts about global changes and the development of information technology. I wanted to pass it along as well.

You may note that India and China seem to play a large part in this video. Some people worry about these countries based upon bulk or intelligence. I don't. I follow the philosophy that the more people, the more minds to solve problems. Good for India and China, so long as they, the United States and other countries encourage freedom, risk taking and innovation.

What I take away from this is don't expect anyone else to deal with the pace of change but you. Continue to educate yourself and your children. Never stop growing, because, as this video notes, the world won't wait for you.

You Need Management to Keep Your Projects "Sexy" and On Track

2009-01-03T13:22:00.020-05:00

Interesting article here on project management in a matrixed organization. Very importantly, the author notes the importance of proper estimation of time so you can maintain buy in from team members - who might already be time crunched working on a number of projects.

So long as one is considering the importance of various pieces of the project management methodology, one might also consider the importance of management's ongoing championing or support.

I recently told a fellow project manager on a crumbling project: "I remember when this project used to be sexy." Why is it no longer sexy? Management has bailed. Other subjects have come up and none of them dial into conference calls.

It's a perfect recipe for creating cynicism in an environment, where people keep their heads down and just ride out their projects with no commitment and no drive for excellence. Sadly, it's also a recipe for no professional accomplishments on the resume and work without fulfillment.

If projects are initiated or run without that management support, you cannot get other stakeholders to buy into the changes to their processes that will take place. It's a very depressing scenario, which I've witnessed all too often.

You've got to "manage up" in such circumstance - reminding management if necessary of the sunk costs, the original purpose/benefits of the project, etc. Whatever it takes.

Image used under Creative Commons license courtesy of perhapstoopink.

Lessons from Washington in Poorly Defined Credit Market Bailout Plan

2008-12-02T11:17:00.009-05:00

Interesting to note that the government-appointed expert overseeing the Treasury Department's "rescue" of the credit markets has noted that the government has not clearly defined the problem to be solved. (see paragraph three in this story.)

How do you solve a problem you have not defined? Could it be that our esteemed financial genius from Goldman Sachs, Mr. Paulson, is counting on nothing more than good feeling to get things moving? Not the first time in the history of government such a tactic has been tried for sure.

One also has to wonder what media organs like the Wall Street Journal were reading (or not reading) when they endorsed this plan.

All this reminds me again of how very valuable my Six Sigma education was, and how much gratitude I owe to Symbol Technologies for providing it to me, because the method drives home the point that you must define clearly what you are trying to accomplish. Or, you will just waste time and squander precious resources. Which is exactly what is going on now in Washington and on Wall Street.

The Rise of Intelligent Matter

2008-10-23T01:35:00.015-04:00

Ah, how the Austin, Texas nightlife brings out interesting ideas.

While in that lovely city for Vignette Village, I had a fascinating conversation with my new best friend, Austin denizen, musician, and (former Motorola) "Internetologist" Len Hause.

Len is big on RFID technology. Over the course of a few drinks he held forth on the different ways in which RFID tracking devices could be embedded in everything from Austin nightclub tables (to record cultural history) to stone walls (to track wiring).

The key, Len noted, is getting in place the "service layer" to support the recovery of the embedded information left behind by generations of college kids, construction workers and more.

I mentioned to Len that it reminded me of my previous post, in March of last year, on something like this. See "Sense of Place, 2.0."

I pondered Len's provocative idea for the rest of the evening, drifting from rooftop bar to rooftop bar. As I gazed out across the glowing Austin skyline, it occurred to me that 100 years from now, the very same buildings, the clubs, the windows, the neon lights and more, could well be threaded through with strands of information and interactivity.

I wished I could jump forward in time to see Austin 100 years from now. If what Len says is true, we stand on the verge of a new era when mankind will again never use "dumb" materials to build anything.

I envisioned a young person strolling home from a late night of clubbing, 100 years from now, observed by a series of networks he or she has opted into. The building blocks of matter will never be the same.

Yes, there are security concerns that a free people will have to be vigilant about. But there is great potential in this. For personal security and solidarity delivered by contextual information, and a rich sense of history that will be captured.

How perfect for Austin.

How perfect for anywhere.

Photo used under Creative Commons license courtesy of "Stuck in Customs."

Durable and Non-Durable Comms

2008-08-06T07:39:00.008-04:00

Following up on the previous post I want to elaborate on this idea of what I would call "durable" and "non-durable" communications.

Corporate and executive comms people are often called upon to write up a quick email to the team, a PowerPoint presentation, or some other form of communication that may end up in some public company archive, but is usually forgotten soon after it is consumed (non-durable comms). Such communications are often long on vision and inspiration. They may also contain some current data.

On the other hand, I have not seen many communications people actively involved in the process of drafting up longer-lasting process control documents (durable comms). I recall only a minor role from my own experience in communicating processes for Europe's ROHS/WEEE regulations.

What makes such documents "sexy" from a business point of view? Not much, compared to vision and mission.

But, if you think about it, process improvement and control should be sexier. Consider this entry from Wikipedia about the Japanese philosophy of Kaizen, or continuous process improvement:

"[Kaizen] humanizes the workplace, eliminates overly hard work ("muri"), and teaches people how to perform experiments on their work using the scientific method and how to learn to spot and eliminate waste in business processes."

There is a powerful human element to the process of improving processes. Excessive labor is reduced. But more importantly, the worker learns to use higher powers of reasoning and improve their overall ability to relate to and manipulate their world.

This is an idea that goes back to the very beginnings of the Scientific Revolution, in the thinking of people like Francis Bacon. In fact, given Bacon's distaste for the "rhetorical embellishments" of classical thought, I think my own thinking on communications has taken on a Baconian cast.

Too bad that corporate comms people are underutilized in this area. How much more could process control benefit from powerful infographics, or a touch of metaphor and humor? It seems to me these two worlds are too far apart.

What do you think? Do you know of communications teams who help draft process control documents?

Writing Skills Prove Valuable in Controlling Processes

2008-06-22T01:22:00.012-04:00

Over the last few months I've been working with a team on a complicated global project. As part of the discovery phase, it turns out things are not as they seem. (Quelle surprise!)

What I realized in the process was that if my stakeholders are operating on certain faulty assumptions related to this project, variation and waste enter their workflows.

Fortunately, while not acting as the PM, my training as a writer has conditioned me to "capture" the details in my notes. And, with the help of a fast-moving layout person, I have managed to create written assets that will help wring the variation out of the process. Such as one-page pre-launch checklists and other process guidelines.

Writing is often seen as a "creative" function in an organization. One that provides vision and inspiration. But the other side of the coin is that good writing, especially when captured in a durable form that can help others think about their responses to certain situations, acts as a control on time and costs.

Having learned the importance of "process awareness" from Six Sigma, I naturally think this is a more helpful (and realistic) way to think about the communications function in any organization. What do you think?

The Comforting Patter of CNBC, WSJ and Bloomberg

2008-05-31T06:04:00.011-04:00

At Motorola's Holtsville office, CNBC plays all day in the cafeteria. I sometimes wonder why.

I guess it's what management thinks people are supposed to watch at breakfast or lunch. Business people should eat, breathe and sleep business, right?

After all, most of the coverage describes various facets of our big interconnected financial ecosystem. So, while munching your turkey sandwich, why not try to connect the dots between, say, Enterprise Mobility, ethanol, foreign inflows of capital, and all those intra-day stock charts.

Usually during lunch, instead, I read the Wall Street Journal Editorial Page on my Motorola Q. From it I get a quick, journalistically responsible snapshot of the pro-free-market zeitgeist. The only downside: I gave up on politics years ago. But the mobile Internet and the Journal have pushed me off the wagon.

Finally, for the drive home, there's the engaging Tom Keene and Bloomberg on the Economy. I feel morally obligated to listen to a radio program whose promos regularly begin with "Coming up next, the full hour with Nobel laureate . . . "

This is one radio host who wants to talk about more than the first three pages of morning paper. Keene's show prep includes reading, as he often describes them in his trademark gravelly voice, "magisterial tomes." I don't always follow the discussion well, but damn if this guy isn't trying to raise the bar! He makes PBS look like ESPN.

Whether or not I am engaged all the time, this daily patter, with eyes on the ephemeral, the daily, or the long term respectively, comforts me. The human ecosystem is doing what it is supposed to do. Market information is flowing; price signals are working.

I don't fear tyranny so long as conversations like these are carrying on. That is the greatest comfort of all.

Thoughts On Search Marketing Certification

2008-04-06T06:43:00.005-04:00

Just completed my first Search Engine Marketing Professional Association (SEMPO) certification, through the organization's Sempo Institute. As a reward, in addition to a nice paper document, they gave me a neat web badge -- see it somewhere on the home page of this blog.

The certification course was given through self-directed online training. While I knew a good deal of the content from my experience with my interactive team at Symbol Technologies and then Motorola, there were definitely new things to learn. At around $300 for SEMPO members and little more for non-members, I would recommend it as a way to improve your knowledge of SEO, Pay-Per-Click and Web 2.0 developments.

The only concern I have about the course was the quality of the review and test questions. Having given college exams for some time now, I would say the questions were often a little too focused on a term rather than the knowledge behind the term. Some were rightly challenging for sure. But some are worth reviewing for next time around.

What is the value of the certification? Knowledge for one. Professional recognition for another. If you are looking for a job in a major corporation, this definitely could be a plus for hiring managers who move in the circles of Search Engine Strategies and SMX, and are familiar with SEMPO. It shows you know that professional audience's concerns.

But what about small business or self-employment? My view is that the certification is reassuring to potential customers. It shows you are serious about the field.

Experience, however, is also very important. It helps to have worked on researching keywords, placing them in HTML and optimizing copy for example. If you need those additional skills, I would suggest you consider approaching an interactive organization or Search Marketing firm with your SEMPO certification and offer to freelance some of these tasks.

The next two courses in advanced search are more expensive. Over $1K each. But cheaper, for example, than the project management tracks I am pondering. And perhaps worth just as much in terms of knowledge. I'll be thinking hard about which to take next.

Asking Questions Alters Your Future

2008-03-31T23:38:00.003-04:00

Just not blogging as frequently as I used to these days. However, an important thought comes to mind based upon recent experiences.

Each day we are challenged to "qualify" our opportunities, just like a salesperson. Where can we add the highest value -- and get the highest value in return? That is a key question both personally and professionally.

When we fail to qualify by asking questions and challenging the relevance to business value, we have lost value for our business partners and diminished our futures. This latter part I feel more intensely than ever.

As a young person, I was only concerned with measuring my success against the expectations of my manager. I would simply execute and hope for the best. That is how you get a resume full of "capabilities" and not so many accomplishments.

Over time you realize that executing can be done fruitlessly, and there is a much stronger psychological -- and economic need -- to leave a legacy of value creation. That can only be done by first discovering how what you do will add value.

Managers are supposed to be trained in this -- so they can communicate it back to their direct reports. But I see many for whom this isn't even a consideration. Often times, they are driven by their own feelings of psychological pressure and fear of their managers and other "important" stakeholders.

So, we have to ask questions back. And sometimes say "no." In the interest, mind you, of creating a win-win outcome.

The more we can do that, the more successful we shall be.

A Pleasant Surprise Leads to Contemplation and Gratitude

2008-01-05T23:47:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I've written, after a hellish end to my wife's school year and busy holiday season. But a pleasant surprise came my way today in the email, provoking me to return to my blog.

The Data Shaping Solutions organization was nice enough to confer on me the title of "Data Shaping Certified Analytic Professional." It came about because of my contacts with the group via LinkedIn, which they initiated via my profile.

And although there are far more heavyweight "quants" in this group than I will ever be, it is a pleasant acknowledgment of my work over the last couple of years to incorporate a more data-driven approach to my work as an interactive marketer and communicator. More specifically, my Six Sigma training (plus my two other graduate degrees) qualified me for the group's distinction.

I have not yet completed my Black Belt; although Six Sigma continues to powerfully influence my thinking. As does my renewed interest in philosophy of science and mathematics. (See my second blog for more on that.) The spirit of Pythagoras, it seems, has breathed new inspiration into my career.

Indeed, when thinking about the serendipity of this certification (I did little to seek it out) I have to express appreciation and wonder at the power of the Internet itself, driven by data analysis and mathematics.

When I think about how many old friends and interesting new people I am meeting on the Web, via LinkedIn, Facebook et all; or how Pandora.com's Music Genome Project has filled my days with deeply personalized music, soothing me and helping me to think; how Firefox has been a revelation for me, how Blogger.com has allowed me to capture and polish my thoughts; or all the other little pleasant surprises I find in open source software, online storage resources and more, I can't help but recognize that my life has been truly blessed by powerful minds, many of whom I will likely never meet. And to think it all began with my childhood friend giving me a 286 computer with a 5-inch wide green screen.

Thank you big thinkers, mathematicians, programmers and more, wherever you are. You are changing so many lives, so quickly, for the better.

Fortune Article Outlines Social Networking Battle

2007-11-14T09:27:00.000-05:00

Here's a very good article from Fortune on the competing strategies from social networking's big brands.

What I find most compelling is the idea that Facebook is aligning advertising with branded utility and word of mouth. An "application" serves as an advertising vehicle, but does so in a way that the user finds unobtrusive and worthy of sharing. As a Facebook user, I like this a lot.

It shows you can never rest if you are going to innovate. Google, which revolutionized advertising with highly contextual ads, is already seeing a dangerous competitor emerge. Hence the move to "Open Social," as this article notes.

It's an amazing time to be in this industry, as every day, thanks to these innovative companies, something new, fascinating and useful to humanity comes along. It will be very interesting to see how it all shakes out.

SEO Tips from the Pros

2007-11-03T18:46:00.000-04:00

From the interesting WebProNews.com, here's a nice overview outlining the basics of Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

For an easy-to-read, more detailed overview, I recommend Search Engine Optimization for Dummies.