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

December 31, 201110:31 AM

Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #80

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

December 30, 2011 3:31 PM

How To Deal With The Haters

I have no idea how to interact with the haters. I spent over a decade in the music industry reviewing artists for weekly and monthly magazines and newspapers. In all of that time, I rarely reviewed artists I didn't like... Read more

December 29, 201112:56 PM

The Year Of Mobile? Sounds Like The Month Of The Smartphone

Are smartphones now mass? By the sounds of the MediaPost article, Santa's Surprise: Smartphones Go Mass (published yesterday), it's definitely moving in that direction... rapidly. This is one of those moments when the Marketing industry must give pause. We're not... Read more

December 28, 2011 2:37 PM

Two Great Questions

Whether you're about to interview someone for a job or heading out to a networking dinner... Here are two questions about business that will either take someone completely off guard or engage you - head on - in a deep... Read more

December 27, 2011 7:47 PM

The Five Business Books That Shaped 2011

Read. Read. Read. Blog posts are great. So are Twitter, online newspapers and magazines and the occasional Podcast, but if you really want to deep-dive into a topic and spend more than a grazing moment with it, you have to... Read more

December 26, 2011 3:53 PM

The Paradox Of Leadership

When you're right, you're a hero. When you take a misstep, you're a goat. There's an often discussed paradox of leadership that attempts to quantify which trait is more important for business: being the first or being the best? The... Read more

December 25, 2011 4:35 PM

How To Be A Marketing And Sales Lion

Episode #285 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to. Are you ready for some tough love? I often find that that brands have millions of questions about... Read more

December 24, 2011 2:31 PM

Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #79

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

December 23, 2011 7:35 PM

Simple Tricks

We tend to over-complicate things. Don't we? For years I have suffered through terrible sinus infections (sexy, I know). It got so bad many years back that a doctor recommended surgery. Well, I had the surgery and it was either... Read more

December 23, 2011 9:04 AM

What Will Future Marketers Think Of Us?

That is the question that consumes me. I not only see the new forms of Digital Marketing as an opportunity that no Marketing Professional should waste, I often wonder if I am doing everything I can (and - in the... Read more

December 22, 2011 8:24 PM

The Value Of Focus

"When do you have time for all of the things that you do?" How often do you get asked this, exact, question? People who seem to be doing a lot of things often get asked this question. It is the... Read more

December 20, 2011 9:57 PM

Where The Consumers Are

Consumers are not just people who see media and advertising. In my first business book, Six Pixels of Separation, I recount the story of a friend who was looking to launch a retail endeavor. They were spending countless hours scoping... Read more

December 20, 2011 8:16 AM

A Different (Unique And Perfect) Gift-Giving Guide

Chances are that you're still scrambling for some of your last minute gifts this holiday season. I usually leave the hardest to shop for last (plus, I'm a firm believer that were it not for the last minute, nothing would... Read more

December 18, 2011 1:02 PM

Brand Against The Machine

Episode #284 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to. Brands act like machines because brands are not people. That seems obvious enough, but John Morgan is here... Read more

December 17, 201112:37 PM

Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #78

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

December 16, 2011 8:42 PM

We The Media

Everything you say (and do) is being recorded and will be judged in the court of public opinion. Put aside how you feel both politically and philosophically about the Occupy Wall Street movement and take a few minutes to watch... Read more

December 15, 2011 9:46 AM

Expand Your Marketing Horizons

The Art of Marketing is coming to Toronto on March 5th, 2012. I'm very excited to announce that The Art of Marketing full-day leadership summit is happening in Toronto on March 5th, 2012. As you can see by this year's... Read more

December 14, 2011 4:23 PM

Getting Over The Lazy

How will brands and agencies adapt? You wind up seeing/reading a lot of content online around this time year that speaks to the coming years and what brands and agencies should expect in terms of disruptions, predications, new channels and... Read more

December 13, 201112:11 PM

How to Recover From Social Media Blunders

Brands and popular individuals have done a great job of mucking up their reputation via Social Media. It's something that is not going to end anytime soon, either (sadly). Whether it's a Weinergate or Kenneth Cole choosing a bad time... Read more

December 12, 2011 9:49 PM

Force And Friction

The more actions you force on the consumer, the more friction you cause. There was talk a awhile back about forcing people to give up their email address to have access to content. I've seen this executed many ways. In... Read more

December 11, 2011 7:47 PM

The Value, Cost And Time Of Creativity

Episode #283 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to. This is also episode #19.20 of Across The Sound. Joseph Jaffe is widely regarded as one of the... Read more

December 10, 2011 9:18 AM

Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #77

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

December 9, 2011 8:43 PM

The New Disruption

When digital mingles with our physical lives, everything changes. I'm a bit of a bookworm (#nerdalert). I'm doing my best to read one book every week (but failing miserably). The way I buy books has changed dramatically in the best... Read more

December 8, 201110:20 PM

The Best Response

It's getting harder and harder to respond back to everyone. I often send out tweets, Blog comments or Facebook messages thanking people for leaving comments on this Blog, retweeting my tweets or linking to me (and my content) in one... Read more

December 7, 2011 9:11 PM

Hurts So Good

What do you do when a brand is so good no matter how bad it treats their customers? While on vacation, I frequent a particular restaurant. It's a basic health food restaurant (salads, smoothies, sandwiches, etc...) and everything is fresh... Read more

December 6, 2011 8:47 PM

You Are The Company That You Keep

It's a question of scruples: is what you do off of the company's time any of the company's business? It's hard to answer "yes" to that question. We're entitled to do (and be) whoever we want on our own time... Read more

December 6, 2011 6:51 AM

Is Your Flinch Response Holding You Back?

Does your flinch response still protect you? Tony Blauer is a a world-class close-quarters combatives instructor who now spends his days training law enforcement, military and civilians in his personal defense system (Blauer Tactical Systems) based in San Diego. I... Read more

December 4, 2011 7:08 AM

A Conversation With David Meerman Scott

Episode #282 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to. Is there a way to ride on the coattails of a major breaking news story for your brand's... Read more

December 3, 2011 9:06 AM

Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #76

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

December 2, 2011 9:24 PM

Social Media And How We're Botching The Best Part

You can measure everything online, so why aren't we? eMarketer published a news item today titled, 2012 Trends: Social Media Metrics Take Center Stage. The beauty and promise of the digital channels is that Marketers can measure, track and play... Read more

December 2, 2011 8:22 AM

Innovations In The Idea Economy

The Idea Economy is all about education. Personal digital learning is a reality. How we adapt, nurture, embrace and create this reality will be one of our biggest challenges. This is the message of Tom Vander Ark. Today, Tom was... Read more

December 1, 2011 8:46 PM

The Line

What happens when great Marketing creative goes bad? It's the oldest story in the advertising book: the agency will blame the client for getting too involved in everything from the creative brief down to the casting, and the client will... Read more