September 2011 | Six Pixels of Separation - Marketing and Communications Blog

September 30, 2011 9:57 PM

A Basic PR Blunder That Most PR Professionals Make... Constantly

Public Relation professionals do the darndest things. Some background first: I practiced journalism, worked in communications and did a stint in a PR agency before shifting full bore into marketing and communications. My journey (which includes this Blog) has also... Read more

September 30, 2011 8:52 AM

Google Zeitgeist 2011

This is the one event that I hope I never have to miss. Last year, I was fortunate enough (re: I have no idea how it happened!) to get invited to Google Zeitgeist in Arizona. Zeitgeist 2011 took place from... Read more

September 29, 201110:25 PM

What Does Eight Years Of Blogging Get You?

Eight years ago on this day in 2003, I started Blogging. Here's some basic info about what has transpired in eight years here at the Six Pixels of Separation Blog: over 2700 Blog entries, over 20,000 comments and over 270... Read more

September 28, 2011 4:32 PM

It's Not Marketing

Confession time. A few months ago I found myself on a long flight with nothing to watch. I had already seen the many Hollywood blockbusters along with the documentaries and news specials that were being shown on-board. In a moment... Read more

September 27, 2011 8:29 AM

The New Business Traveler

While it's nice to think that Skype, WebEx or Facetime removes the need for business travel, nothing could be further from the truth. Granted, if all you're having is a status meeting, those can easily be replaced by technology, but... Read more

September 25, 2011 7:27 AM

What Happens After The Conversation Online?

Episode #272 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to. Joseph Jaffe is widely regarded as one of the top Marketing Bloggers (Jaffe Juice) and Podcasters (both Jaffe... Read more

September 24, 2011 2:13 PM

Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #66

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see? My friends: Alistair Croll (BitCurrent, Year One Labs, GigaOM, Human 2.0, the author of Complete Web Monitoring and... Read more

September 24, 2011 7:26 AM

Keep Yourself Alive

Who will protect your rights, your opportunities and your privacy online? Do you think that it's the role of government? Is it the corporation's responsibility? Should Google and Facebook be securing your privacy online? Technology, connectivity and the great untethering... Read more

September 23, 2011 8:10 PM

Fighting Cancer

It was beautiful and perfect sunny day on August 25h, 2010. I was flying from Montreal to Toronto for a business pitch (ironically, it was the Canadian Cancer Society). I was happy with life - family, business and community were... Read more

September 22, 201111:34 PM

9 Glorious Truths About Creating Great Content

Marketers don't like to make mistakes. People don't like to make mistakes. Content has become a core ingredient in the Marketer's recipe for success. The challenge is that creating great content is like creating art: it's not a perfect science... Read more

September 20, 2011 6:38 PM

The Value (And Waste) Of Twitter

I often feel like I suck at Twitter. Besides the fact that I'm not all that comfortable with the public back and forth of platitudes, handshaking and baby kissing that I feel diminishes the authentic tweets from brewing to the... Read more

September 20, 201110:21 AM

What New Media Must Learn From Comics

The comic book industry teaches us many lessons about New Media and the new consumer. Are you familiar with the comic book, Superman - Red Son? It was released in 2003 to critical acclaim and became a nomination for the... Read more

September 18, 2011 7:54 PM

Jeff Jarvis Shows Off His Public Parts

Episode #271 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to. Jeff Jarvis has a sharp tongue. Meaning: he is opinionated and often right about how New Media intersects... Read more

September 17, 201112:06 PM

Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #65

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see? My friends: Alistair Croll (BitCurrent, Year One Labs, GigaOM, Human 2.0, the author of Complete Web Monitoring and... Read more

September 16, 2011 9:09 PM

Marketing - A New Dawn

Is this just the natural evolution of Marketing or is this a complete revolution? It doesn't matter anymore. If this is an evolution, we have evolved. If this is a revolution, the revolution is over. The Internet is (clearly) not... Read more

September 16, 2011 7:39 AM

6 Websites That Deserve Your Attention

What is a Blog? I have no idea anymore. News websites now run on WordPress while Blogs tend to look a lot like news websites these days. Regardless, there are six online destinations that constantly grab my attention. If all... Read more

September 15, 2011 9:25 PM

The Marketing Industry

You can't have a strong business without a strong community. Personally, I've lived by that motto since I first got involved in business. Marketers frequently struggle with issues - from how to get more clients to how to keep those... Read more

September 14, 2011 9:40 PM

Thinking About The True Tools Of Change

The first step to understanding New Media is understanding the tools of change. In 2009, I attended the O'Reilly conference, Tools of Change for Publishing in New York City. Now, I'll be giving a keynote address at the upcoming Tools... Read more

September 13, 2011 6:33 AM

Kickstart Your Own Economy

Can you test the market for a product without ever producing it? CW&T is a self-described, "teeny design studio in Brooklyn" that is basically a two-person operation - designers Che-Wei Wang and Taylor Levy. I have a certain kinship with... Read more

September 11, 2011 7:01 AM

Is There Too Much Baloney In Social Media?

Episode #270 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to. Jason Falls is a New Media pro. He's proud to call himself a Social Media Consultant and he... Read more

September 10, 2011 8:16 PM

Employees That Spend Too Much Time Online Are Stealing

It's called, "Time Theft," and it's becoming a bigger and bigger issue. There have been all kinds of shenanigans by lazy employees throughout the history of business (currently, I have the image of George Costanza napping under his desk from... Read more

September 10, 2011 2:55 PM

Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #64

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see? My friends: Alistair Croll (BitCurrent, Year One Labs, GigaOM, Human 2.0, the author of Complete Web Monitoring and... Read more

September 9, 2011 8:44 PM

The Fleeting Value Of Content

Most content screams into an empty universe. It's nice to create content with the intent of reaching a broad and targeted audience, but it's becoming harder and harder to do this. No matter how good the content is. Yes, the... Read more

September 7, 201110:13 AM

Do Some Good. Right Now. Today.

I'm a parent. I've got two kids. Life changes when you have kids. The truth is that life changes when you become an uncle (or an aunt) or when you have kids in your life. Prior to that experience, you... Read more

September 6, 2011 6:53 PM

The New Gatekeepers

Blogging did many cool things to our world, but the coolest thing it did was remove the Gatekeepers. The first time I heard the word "gatekeeper" it came out of Seth Godin's mouth. The idea that we (us, the audience,... Read more

September 6, 2011 2:16 PM

The Evolution Of Apps

Is everything moving full circle back to the Web? It's hard to get excited about something called, HTML5, but if you're in the business of media, marketing and/or advertising, you should be excited. Very excited. The past few years have... Read more

September 4, 2011 8:41 PM

Podcasting + Advertising = Beancast

Episode #269 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to. This is also episode #39 of Media Hacks. If you have never heard an episode of The Beancast... Read more

September 3, 2011 7:25 PM

Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #63

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see? My friends: Alistair Croll (BitCurrent, Year One Labs, GigaOM, Human 2.0, the author of Complete Web Monitoring and... Read more

September 3, 2011 7:14 AM

Draft And Burn

We can sometimes forget how easy it is to blast off a message in the heat of the moment. One of the biggest drawbacks to these digital channels is that it's hard to understand the emotion that happens behind a... Read more

September 2, 2011 3:52 PM

Getting The Social Customer To Buy

Shopping is a social act. We'd like to think that it's the perfect fit for Social Media. Is it? Between us friends, I've shifted and changed my presentations on Digital Marketing in the past few months. It has moved away... Read more

September 2, 201111:54 AM

The Myth Of Reciprocity And The Social Life Of Brands

I follow you. You follow me. Right? No. Not really. If you dig deep into the dynamics of relationships, conversations and engagement on Twitter, you'll quickly discover two camps: Those who will follow back anybody and everybody. Those who only... Read more