Future of Marketing

I have a lot of friends and colleagues who are marketing gurus and might like to spend an hour at a virtual marketing conference next week.

The Future of Marketing features 60 leading thinkers sharing key insights in 60 seconds each. The event is free and you certainly won't get bored with the speakers shuffling through that quickly.

If you decide to attend or get the transcript tomorrow, Tuesday Nov. 16, let me know what you think.

Put Down That iPad

A few people I know freely admit that they are "addicted" to technology. They get cravings and, eventually, the shakes when they are away from the computer or smart phone for more than a few hours.

I used to share the malady. But I've been able to temper my addiction in recent years. I don't always do it, but I can log off at the end of the work day now and not feel compelled to check email or Facebook until the next morning. (I'm sure that not having a smart phone helps in this regard.) When I took a week-long cruise last summer, I had no trouble ignoring the siren call of the on-board Internet lounge.

But what if you need help prying yourself away from the pretty screen? Check out Offlining, a movement to "highlight America's ever-growing addiction to technology."

The offlining movement was founded earlier this year by a couple of advertising and PR guys. The idea is to get people to log off at certain times, especially family dinners or gatherings. Their next big push is No-Device Thanksgiving. Presumably, people who join the movement will abandon their BlackBerries and iPads in favor of the traditional knives and forks on Turkey Day.

Of course the irony here is that the movement is taking place - where else? - online. I got a press release touting the founders' facility with Twitter and their growing number of fans on Facebook.

That seems a tad ironic. But I see their dilemma. You can't reach addicts unless you're willing to hang out in crack houses.

Best. Truly. Yours.

I had an editor years ago who was - to put it mildly - difficult.

Generally, I'm ridiculously easy to work with and rarely object when an editor makes word changes or cuts to my stories. But when this woman edited my work, I knew that a tussle would ensue. Let's just say that she didn't want the facts to get in the way of a good story. Her versions of my work often read more like creative writing. It was my job to reel her in and try to preserve the truth.

Anyway, you'd hardly expect me to emulate this person - right? But I did adopt one of her habits: She signed all her email with "Best." This was back when email signature files were just becoming ubiquitous and I was wrestling with how to sign off on correspondence.

Sincerely? Fondly? Good luck? Another editor used "Cheers," which is perky and rather British, but not always appropriate for my purposes. I know a business writer who made "Success!" both her catchphrase and her sign-off.

After some thought I followed the "Best" trend, figuring it is contemporary, professional and cordial, if a tad dull. Then the other day, I got an email signed simply "XOXO," which took me back a bit, considering I don't even know the signee.

Here's a fun discussion of email signatures and what they say about you and your business.

From The Archives

Certain columns of mine have taken on a life of their own. They may have been posted or printed years ago, but they turn up again and again online.

I'm glad that people find these columns evergreen, and believe that their information and advice stays relevant and useful over time.

Here's one oldie but goodie that I refer to in conversation all the time because it came out of a unique idea. I was really happy to see it reposted by a small business website just this week.

What's The Word?

When I ask business owners to tell me what their company does, in a nutshell, they often stumble, hem, haw or guffaw.

Eventually, most read off or stumble through a recitation of a formal "mission statement" that they've cooked up with their marketing team. Since it's typically a string of oddly related, formal words incomprehensible to the average reader, I usually have to boil down what they do by myself.

It's amazing to me how few CEOs can succinctly and spontaneously say what it is their business actually does.

That's why I like this one-word mission statement, proposed by a long-time Internet marketing source, Todd Miechiels.

It got me thinking about what one word would best encapsulate what I do writing about and for entrepreneurs. Explain? Encourage? Nurture? Advocate? I'll have to think about it.

What one word best describes your company or personal mission in life?

Sad Reality

I've been incredibly fortunate to see my way through this horrid recession and most of my friends and loved ones (though not all) have similarly been able to stay afloat.

But not everyone has been so lucky, by any means. This week, I answer a question from a former small business owner who not only lost his bagel shop in Claremont (the long-time local favorite Tasty Bagel) but also pretty much his whole life in the past couple of years.

Interviewing people like this really bring home a few things: The tragedy of our economic downturn; the crushing damage that a sliver of greedy, short-sighted individuals unleashed on "the least of these" in society and how fortunate those of us who've escaped ruin really are.

Ice Creamery Says Thanks

One California small business shows how big an impact access to credit - made possible by the 90% loan guarantee in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the ARRA or stimulus bill) - can make.