Marketing Age magazine, which is published in Ireland, ran a profile of me in their July/August issue where I talk about my role within Edelman Digital, how I use RSS to keep in the know and trends in social networking - including Friendfeed. The article is not online. However, If you're interested, they have graciously given me permission to share it here. The full PDF is here or you can simply click through each of the images below, which are up on Flickr.
Lifehacker is one of my favorite blogs. So when editor Gina Trapani invited me to guest blog about how to be productive with social media, I jumped at the opportunity. Here's the intro and summary. The full essay is here.
Social media is the equivalent of digital food. It's nourishing, tasty and, for many of us, necessary. However, consume too much and you can get sidetracked and create larger consequences. The good news is you can participate in social media in a way that adds value to your life. You just need to know how to manage it so so that it does not devour your attention—the most valuable commodity of the digital age. Here are three simple steps I take.
Every day a new social network is born and yet another dies. This makes spotting digital trends and tracking them to be challenging at times. However, I have found a system that works really well called Open Files. It was developed by George Stalk at the Boston Consulting Group (an Edelman client). It's become the framework for my latest talk, which I have been giving around the world.
Stalk tracks trends by breaking them down into three distinct buckets - faint signals that are here and now trends with real consumer movement and business models, a watch list - new directions that are emerging but may not be ready for primetime, and hallucinations, flashes that, if you squint, might vanish.
You can read a description of the nine big trends in my Open Files and peruse my deck over on Authentcities, the Edelman Digital blog. The trends include:
Faint Signals: The Cut and Paste Web, The Attention Crash, Digital Curators, Super Crunching and Collaboration
Watch List: Living Room 2.0. and Geek Markterers
Hallucinations: Digital Nomads and Data Leaking
Photo credit: "A-Rod taking a practice cut" by Dog Company
Recently, I was interviewed by Kellie Kass from Simply Communicate for an in-depth business profile called "How Did I Get Here." In the article, I share something I don't think I have ever talked about before: how I apply deliberate practice in my never-ending quest for insights into digital media, marketing and online culture. I decided to write about it now because I became more aware of my habits and because I believe it can help anyone become more successful.
Deliberate practice - at least as a concept - is relatively new to me. However, little did I know it's something I have been at for years. Perhaps the same is true for you. Regardless of your passion, it's something that - when applied - is surefire road to success.
The basic idea isn't rocket science. Basically, anyone with just even a little bit of natural talent in a given domain can master it in about 10 years by methodically practicing the essence of their craft two hours daily (including weekends) and measuring their progress from one day to the next.
The concept was developed by Dr. K. Anders Ericsson at Florida State University. It's becoming popular in sports and business. It's a big reason why Tiger Woods, Alex Rodriguez and Warren Buffet continually get better. They practice on building their strengths every day in a meticulous way. (The links on their names cite relevant stories. The best piece I have read on the subject is this one from Fortune.)
In my case, I've actually been applying deliberate practice in my work for at least five years now, perhaps longer. I have been an online junkie going back 20 years. However, I only started deliberately practicing my study of the web and online culture in 2003. It just didn't dawn on me until 2008.
Every day for five years I have spent at least two hours a day, seven days a week (usually early mornings and evenings) trolling through 500+ RSS feeds on business, marketing, culture and technology. I then parse these observations into insights that I share here but also through other venues you don't see - like content for clients and our staff. Here's my trend graph from Google Reader.
In the last few months I have become a lot better at focusing my attention and measuring my progress. For example, I often look back at my posts from the last four years to see where I was right or wrong so I can get better at what I do. Two emerging influentials who I believe take this approach are Louis Gray and Chris Brogan. I reference them both in my interview with Kellie.
The takeaway here for you is this: if you want to be an expert at something (anything really), you can! It just takes time. Here's the formula: a) follow your passion, b) practice the essence of your craft in a meticulous, measurable way for two hours daily (for years), c) learn from data and adjust as you need to.
Last week I appeared on the Brian Lehrer show talking about my role with Edelman Digital and how I track trends. We cover marketing pollution and tips on how to manage information overload with desktop search, RSS, simplified GTD and the Gmail Personal Nerve Center.
This topic of "Information trapping" is one I plan to write about more. This is becoming the most critical skill that information workers need to survive overload and The Attention Crash. This is especially true for all of us who are addicted to the social web. Enjoy. If you're scanning this in a feed reader, the video is here.
Spring is around the corner and so is the peak conference season. Here's a run down of events at which I will be speaking. Here's hoping that I get to meet some of you at these.
Euroblog 2008 (March 13-15 in Brussels)
This symposium features communication academics and professionals for a discussion of social media and the future of public relations. Edelman is co-sponsoring the event. I will be participating on a few panels. You can register here.
AdAge Digital Conference (March 18-19 in New York)
Great line up of speakers and case studies. This includes a keynote by Jeff Zucker, President and CEO of NBC Universal. I will be moderating a panel on "the next new thing."
PSFK Conference (March 27 in New York)
A day-long event dedicated to trends, ideas and inspiration. This includes a In a 'new guns' versus 'marketing gurus' debate on how the social web will change in 2008 and how companies can best leverage digital.
Features entrepreneurs, marketing professionals, consultants, founders, bloggers and venture capitalists and 1,000 participants talking about the future of the web. I will be a keynote speaker.
Mediabistro Circus (May 20-21 in New York)
A two-day summit about the digital platforms and trends that are changing media.
The IABC International Conference (June 22-25 in New York)
Features a great line up of speakers, including Nicholas Negroponte and Seth Godin.
On March 10 WIley & Sons is going to publish a new book by Michael Miller called Online Marketing Heroes: Interviews with 25 Successful Online Marketing Gurus. The book features interviews with a host of digital marketing experts, including yours truly.
Wiley has graciously approved the posting of the chapter that features an interview with me. It covers my background, thoughts on blogging, PR, digital marketing and my work at Edelman. You can download it here as a PDF.
Sound bites...
* Technology works best when it takes on a do-it-yourself character—and when it becomes free
• Google’s free search has replaced the PR professional’s traditional paid research tools.
• Generation Y is abandoning earlier technology, such as email, in favor of text messaging, instant messaging, and social network communication
• To take advantage of social networking, figure out where you andyour community overlap and how they want to communicate
• Going forward, the concept of community is the common element running through all online media and technologies
It's hard to be all things to all people. The good news is that you have options. Here are different ways you can subscribe to my content, should you choose to ...
My Frankenfeed - An aggregate lifestream of my Twitter tweets, AdAge column, blog posts (which includes my del.icio.us links) and whatever else I decide to add one day, all in one uber feed
Blog Only Feed - This includes my del.icio.us links, which get republished here nightly
Trimmed Micro Persuasion - Thanks to an enterprising Yahoo Pipes user you can skip my del.icio.us links and just get the essays
My del.icio.us links - and nothing more
My Twitter Stream - and nothing more
AdAge Column - my bi-weekly column and nothing more
Comment Feed - Track the comments here
Reply Feed - Responses to my Twitter streams, in-bound links to this blog. I may add my comment feed as well as a Google News search feed.
Blogging and other Web 2.0 technologies has had a significant impact on the lives of millions. However, none perhaps more so than on people who found new vocations and streams of income.
A new book called Blogging Heroes: Interviews with 30 of the Top Bloggers chronicles this through in-depth interviews. Lifehacker's Gina Trapani, TUAW's Scott McNulty and Dowload Squad's Grant Robertson are among those featured in the book.
The publisher has wisely allowed each blogger to post a PDF of the chapter he/she is featured in. Here's mine (PDF). The book is available for pre-sale on Amazon.
I apologize for the lighter than normal postings here this week. It's been a rather busy week for mid-August. I will resume regular postings tomorrow. In the meantime, here's a link to a piece I wrote for Wired: How to Run a Corporate Blog. In summary...
* Be passionate and add value
* Know where your bread is buttered
* Color in the lines
* Think before you post
* Have a thick skin and a sense of humor
Garrett Graff and I are quoted in this week's USA Weekend about starting a blog. Our tips:
Lifehack.org also had a great related post yesterday - how not to run out of blogging steam.
In the media biz there is a strict "church-state wall" that separates the editorial and advertising sides of the house. They work together, but one cannot influence the other. If there's an ad for a consumer product in the same newspaper that has an article about a recall for it, that's life. In the US, this is designed to protect the freedom of the press.
In the online world, the story is no different. Editors and ad sales teams maintain very strict boundaries. In most media companies there's enough people and infrastructure in place to make this rather easy, though bumps do occasionally occur. Consider, for example, the recent tussle between PC World CEO Colin Crawford and Editor Harry McCracken over an editorial critical of Apple, a major advertiser.
However, for bloggers who accept advertising (podcasters and vloggers included), there often is no boundary. The publisher, sales director, editor, IT director and chief groundskeeper are the same person. Yet, lots of bloggers run ads - either on their own or with the help of a third party like Google or Federated Media.
Some more successful bloggers, like Michael Arrington, have surrounded themselves with execs to run ad sales. The San Francisco Chronicle wrote about this late last year. TechCrunch has figured out a system.
For the rest, most remain very ethical. So bloggers haven't run very afoul so far. However, you can be sure that many are hard pressed to write negatively about an advertiser who's generosity is allowing the family to go out for a nice dinner or two. Our desire to be credibile seems to be what keeps us honest.
Now the same thing can be said for me - or any employee blogger. My blog is ad free to avoid potential conflicts of interests. However, you might wonder how much of what I write here on my personal site is influenced indirectly by Edelman's clients or their interests. That's fair. Nothing is write is influenced directly, I assure you. Still, you might wonder how who I work for shapes my thinking.
Edelman has hundreds of clients, including many of the largest global brands in the world. My employer, like many other large companies with bloggers, is hands off. However, I personally try to steer clear of writing substantively about our clients because, no matter which way I go, someone will lose - the readers, me, my employer or the clients. Further, when I write about a client in passing, I will always mention that they are one (assuming I know about it - we're a big firm!).
This is how I walk the church-state line here - or at least attempt to. We're all making this up as we go and there will be bumps on the ride.
Still, this entire issue is only going to get more complex. It seems to me that there is an opportunity to establish an informal network of bloggers that acts as a buddy system of ombudsmen. What's your perspective?
You all will kill me if i mention the dreaded "T" word again, but I can link to this BW article about it, can't I? Pretty please?
Today I spoke at the AJAXworld conference and expo in New York. Internetnews.com has an in-depth write-up of my speech. During the prezo, I gave the page view three years to live. Further, I discuss why it's wise these days to focus not only on building out your own sites but how you shrink yourself into atomized content that will fit into other places.
During my visit to LA last week I stopped by Jason Calacanis' office in Santa Monica and we chatted for about 45 minutes on a range of subjects. He didn't shy from asking me the tough questions either (surprised? nah!). If you're viewing this in a feed reader, click here for the video. Jeremiah has a run down of the content including two "Rubelisms." One involves animals. iPod friendly versions are here.
As I mentioned a few months ago, Edelman and Electric Sheep conducted a Second Life business plan contest. The idea here is to find and fund the most promising initiative.
Today Electric Sheep and Edelman revealed the winning plan. It's a cool startup called Market Truths. Ironically, they conduct research and analysis system to help "meatspace" companies figure out what works and what doesn't in the the virtual world.
For more on Market Truths, check out Giff Constable's blog.
A bit of President's Day fun from my colleague Phil Gomes. He's telling the now bald Britney Spears that she can't team up with us. Incidentally, we all hung out recently at a company meeting and it felt eerily like Blue Man Group rehearsing without make-up.
In a move that's sure to be blog bait, Forbes has published its list of The Web Celeb 25 - the most famous online personalities. Congrats to all my friends who made the list, including Jason Calacanis, Michael Arrington, Amanda Congdon, Scoble and Jeff Jarvis.
In related news, I am proud to say that I made the Almost Web Famous B-list and not the unintentionally famous one. Apparently they missed the recent overwhelmingly positive reaction to my "let's kill social media from the lexicon" post. Now if Forbes can stop those annoying slide shows from automatically advancing on open I'd be a little happier! (via Jason)
Seriously, we should share this. Without readers there's no "fame." OK, back to my trailer.
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