Ok, so I could come up with some wild marketing analogy to go along with this clip. But I'm not going to because Ligers, ladies and gentlemen, speak for themselves...

http://view.break.com/438567 - Watch more free videos

Posted by James at 07:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I recently got my invite to try out the social video site Seesmic in it's alpha stage. After watching the activity there I started wondering what the hell Seesmic was all about. I mean, it was like a lot of people posting 30 second video clips and basically having conversations through the clips. Very strange.

Yesterday I put up my really lame first video post (no need to embed it...it's lame), and much to my surprise I quickly had a response from another Seesmic user saying hi. Here is the video response to my video from Dan Light:

Pretty neat. I like that video is moving from this big, formal thing to an impromptu, conversational format. Seems like a good way to make some new friends/contacts...from what I can see there are a number of well connected folks taking part in the Seesmic conversation.

If you have interest, you can sign up to be put on the list for invites to the alpha here. I think it took a couple weeks or maybe a month to get my activation code.

Posted by James at 07:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm trying to get my quick and dirty video making skills up to snuff so that I can shoot some video at an upcoming event. With that in mind I decided to shoot a video of the dinner I prepared tonight. Ladies and gents, prepare for Japa-Dog, Denver style.

If you are wondering where the idea came from, I learned about Japa-Dog from the Vancouver episode of No Reservations.

Posted by James at 10:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Get the details from Jalopnik. Nice job Leo Burnett (make sure you check out their site...very cool).

Posted by James at 08:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

So if you walked out to your car and saw this post-it note on your car's mirror, what would you think?

Well for Kristi, who did get this note on her car today, she thought someone had run into her car. Totally freaked out, she walked around her car looking for damage. Nothing. So then, being a woman, in a dark parking garage, she got a little freaked out and worried.

So she got in her car, called to tell me what was happening. We figured she should call and find out what was going on in case her car was broken somehow, so she did. A few minutes later she called me back and told me who left it there. You know what it was?

A FREEKIN' SMART AUTO GLASS TRYING TO DRUM UP BUSINESS!

Unbelievable. Is putting cryptic post-it notes on people's cars and tricking them into calling your company really a good marketing plan? NO. Kristi didn't appreciate it, I didn't appreciate it, and you ladies and gents shouldn't appreciate it.

So let's fight back, eh?

If you have a blog, and you would be so kind, please make a post (it can be super short) that talks about what Smart Glass did to Kristi. If you'd like to voice your dissatisfaction directly, you can reach Smart Glass by calling 303-296-0809.

Thanks in advance for your help. Let me know if you write a post and I'll link to it from here.

UPDATE: Looks like we are getting some traction her. Check out these posts about Smart Glass:

• Kristi's Smart Glass Denver post


• Megan's Smart Glass Denver post


• InsureMe Agent Blog's Smart Glass Denver post


• The Consumerist's Smart Glass Denver post (check the 67+ comments!)


• Jack's Smart Glass Denver post


• DrunkBunny's Smart Glass Denver post


• Brofax's Smart Glass Denver post

Posted by James at 06:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

If you are working on something totally mindless:

a) Welcome to the club, and
b) Here is a download of a great conversation between Seth Godin, Tim Ferris, Chris Anderson and John Jantsch you can listen to so your brain doesn't continue to rot in your head.

You are welcome.

(Source)

Posted by James at 09:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

And then there is Pontiac. A brand that can't seem to get any traction. And you know what? I think I'm starting to understand why.

You see, Autoblog recently pointed out that, even two years after it was discontinued, the Pontiac Aztec sold 25 new units in 2007. At first glance you might think, wow, after two years they are still selling Aztecs? That's good right?

Wrong.

You have to think what that symbolizes. That means that there are Pontiac dealers out there who are still showing a car that may very well have been the lowest of low points in modern car design. In the process the dealers are reminding everyone who walks on their lot why Pontiac is struggling in the auto market. Yeah, they might have sold a few Aztecs, but how many sales did they lose by keeping those beasts sitting around, stinking up their new product line?

If your brand is in trouble, find out the cause and do what you can to correct and distance yourself from it. In Pontiac's case, they should round up every "new" Aztec that is left, pay the dealers for them, and quietly donate them to a needy organization...and then never mention the Aztec again.

You gotta lose the losers to save your brand.

Posted by James at 06:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I wrote about this at work, so check the post there, but hopefully your business plan isn't like this...

Posted by James at 06:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ugh.

Denver's NBC affiliate, 9 News, has an amazing ability to add innovations to their website that manage to annoy much more than they inform (kind of like their morning show). The latest example of misunderstanding how to translate offline promotional methods to online is this totally awesome page that popped up after I clicked through a story on their homepage...

I'm sorry, but if you are going to run a survey like this on your website, here's some suggestions:

• Ask one or two questions max...anything more is intrusive
• Remember that you are interrupting a process that is not normally interrupted, act accordingly
• Ask yourself if the information you are looking for is worth the inevitable drop-off of users from your site
• ALWAYS PROVIDE A WAY TO SKIP THE SURVEY - THIS IS A NO BRAINER

So there you go 9News...remember that the web isn't TV. You can't force us to do anything we don't want to do...and if you try we know where else we can go to get the exact same news stories.

And if you're taking suggestions, take the STUPID rollover functionality off of the NIMBUS weather thing on the top of your homepage, Make it clickable like everything else on your site...if I open that thing on accident one more time I'm going to come down there and egg your building.

Yeah, egging is how I roll.

Posted by James at 07:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Something to keep in mind when you wake up every day:

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

- Mark Twain

Thanks and congrats to Leo at Zen Habits.

Posted by James at 06:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The people over at The Denver Egotist, Denver's de-facto haus of all things kühl in the adver-world, have an opening for a new Egotist. That's right folks, you could be a part of the Egotist team and get your opinions/writing in front of all of the most important adver-people on the Denver adver-market.

Yes, "adver" is my favorite prefix...if you don't like it you can adver-bite me.

Where was I?

Oh yes - essay contest. So yeah, if you want to get on the Denver Egotist all-star team, all you need to do is write up why you would be a great Denver Egotist and submit it to the[at]denveregotist.com. Make sure you read up on the rules and regs right here.

Seriously, if you are trying to make a name for yourself in the Denver market, this would be a great opportunity. Word on the street is that all the directors at Denver ad agencies bow down to the clan of the Egotist.

Posted by James at 07:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A few months back, BusinessWeek did a total make-over of its magazine and the changes were quite noticeable. At first I was a bit thrown off by it all, but over time I got used to it. Aside from occasional oddities (like the use of drawings of photos while using captions that would fit only pictures in a recent article on ICE immigration raids) things seem to be looking quite good at BusinessWeek.

A great example is the layout pictured below from a recent article on the stealth oil giant Schlumberger. Something about the black and white photo along with the text layout and the use of red for the larger text and page number just make my eyeballs happy. Check it:

Nice, eh?

Oh, and if you want to hear a little more about Schlumberger and how it fits with the idea of Professional Service Firms, check out this post from Tom Peters.

Posted by James at 07:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Let's face it. We bloggers are not traditional media. That's why we've been successful and that's also why we fight for respect from most everyone. Catch 22, blah, blah, blah.

So some of the fun loving folks at Gizmodo decided to pull a prank and use an electronic device to turn off TV screens at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas and make a video of it.

Yeah, it was over the line. And yeah, it was funny.

But hey, people will be people, and the punks of the journalism world (that's the bloggers for those who aren't following) are going to piss people off. But the actions of the Gizmodo folks shows the beauty and the beast that is bloggers operating in the "real world."

We're going to fuck around, we're going to mess up, and hell, we might embarrass you.

But guess what?

We're also going to give the people what they want. We will entertain. We will inform. And we will get the eyeballs that you can't get by being another traditional journo in a sea of frantic, frightened, and confused traditional journos.

Live with it. It's the new reality.

You should check out John Biggs' post on this blogtoversy to see why I decided to write this post which may or may not be fueled by 40 ounces of OE freedom. Here's a taste:

Maybe it’s important they don’t understand this simply because many of these noble savages post pithy and exciting stuff and report on rumors and problems that most companies want to keep under wraps. And then you have a few who turn off a bunch of TVs or puke on a sales guy. While I’m sure editors at Business Week rarely have to sprinkle out sawdust in the break room, they are looking to emulate our style if not our traffic. Unless they’re willing to accept the risk of an asshole move with the promise inspired ones, they’ll be sunk. And unless bloggers are ready to act their age and use their skills, energy, and position to help consumers and not piss of PR folks, they’re also sunk.

P.S. The blogger who switched off the TVs did get banned from CES - an appropriate response from the CES squad. But remember what Snoop Dogg says - "You got to pay the cost to be the boss."

This ain't the Huxtables Bobble.

Posted by James at 08:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Ever since Hugh MacLeod decided to put more work into GapingVoid.com and his personal brand, things have really started to pay off for GapingVoid readers. The blog is fun to read again, insightful, and new cartoons are making their way onto the blog regularly.

Need an example? Try out the latest post, Beware of Turning Hobbies Into Jobs.

Hugh, thanks for getting back on to the blog train. We all appreciate it.

Posted by James at 09:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A ran across a list today from Yahoo! Hot Jobs that listed 5 hot business careers you don't need an MBA for. The list?

1. Event Planning
2. Public Relations
3. Advertising
4. Web Designer
5. Search Engine Optimization

You gotta dig it when your career makes a list like that.

Is anyone else noticing that all of these jobs have a lot to do with marketing? I guess salesperson/accountant/finance guy just don't count as "hot" these days. Or do you need an MBA to do those jobs? I'm confused.

[Update: Looks like SEMPO has put out a study on what search marketing folk get paid on average. If you're curious.]

Posted by James at 08:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Sometimes when street art and mainstream advertising intersect, the results can be gruesome...gruesome in a good way! Exhibit A - the work of the suddenly famous Decapitator.

Check these shots of to see the before and after pictures of the Decapitator's AdBusting goodness....

Before

After

Check out more pictures here.

Yeah, it's gross, but it takes another blah ad and makes it into something truly remarkable. Not sure if this the the remarkability that Seth Godin was talking about in the Purple Cow. :)

This might be an extreme example, but I'd say this, if you are cranking out the type of AdverPollution that would be more interesting post-decapitation, maybe you should try a bit harder, eh?

Big up to the Egotist for the link.

Posted by James at 08:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

...especially after Christmas break. Check it.

Posted by James at 08:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hugh MacLeod has been talking about "social objects" for a while now, but I had a hard time wrapping my head around the concept. A couple of his recent posts have cleared things up for me, and if you are trying to sell/market anything, you should hop on the social object train. Read the posts here and here.

As social marketers like to say, it's all about the conversation...or is it that it's all about the people. Either way, getting people to talk about your product is key - which is what social objects are all about.

Also, I wanted to point out my favorite marketing quote ever -

"Advertising is a tax you pay for unremarkable thinking.” - Robert Stephens, founder, Geek Squad

All I can say is that it's nice that there is so much unremarkability in the world (job security and all) :)

[Thanks to CreativeVictuals for pointing that one out]

Posted by James at 07:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

During the New Years weekend the Travel Channel pumped the hell out of the new season of Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations" and also made sure to point out Anthony's new blog on the Travel Channel website. Tonight I visited it, and I hate to say it was a major letdown.

Don't get me wrong, the one post (YES ONLY ONE) was perfect - classic Bourdain. But there was only one post, and it was from December 17th. I mean, the Travel Channel is using valuable advertising to pimp a blog that looks abandoned before it reached its second post? Why?

I get what the Travel Channel is trying to do, but at this point it looks like some "corporate blogger" pushed blogging on Anthony, he reluctantly wrote a post and is now avoiding posting again or replying to any of the 72 comments left by excited fans.

The lesson here is just because someone is a great writer, and just because blogs are a great outlet for writers, it doesn't mean that every writer is going to be a great blogger. It takes a certain type of person to blog well. Someone who wants to express themselves with or without direct compensation, someone who is dedicated to blogging and someone who is interested in interacting with the people who want to interact with them.

Bourdain is a great writer, but as far as I can tell, he's no blogger. No matter how bad the blog guru at the Travel Channel wants him to be. (And if you're reading this blog guru, let me tell ya, I've been there and I feel for you).

Of course, I'm hoping he proves me wrong...I'm still a Bourdain fanboy, blog or no blog.

Posted by James at 07:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

A lot of businesses have websites and most of them have no clue how to use them to make sales or generate leads. Even if a site has proper optimization techniques used on the site itself, it is very important to have links pointed to the site to get it ranked well in the search engines.

Of course getting great links to a website can be challenging, but usually small businesses don't need great links to rank well for less competitive terms, just good ones. So how can you get good links to your small business site? Norvax, a competitor of my employer, has a really good list of 27 Free and Cheap Ways to Get Valuable Links to Your Site that is worth checking out.

You got to figure if the list is good enough to link to my employer's competitor's website, it has got to be good.

Posted by James at 07:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)