Last week I heard that BzzAgent was offering space in its offices to entrepreneurs, start-ups and those out-of-work.   The offer and the BBJ story link were widely re-tweeted. This isn’t the first story I’ve heard recently about companies/individuals “bunking together” during these tough times.  Noobpreneur had a post earlier this month about how small businesses could collaborate in order to survive.  Meanwhile, every list of Twitter Tips and Twitter Rules reads like they are written by overzealous Boy Scouts — be nice to everyone, be helpful,  add value, follow people back (except for the spammers, of course.) (more…)

When you are what you sell — as most services are — you often find yourself being asked to help out.  Which is totally cool — I really don’t have the financial wherewithal to make big donations to my favorite charities or my friends’ projects, but I can help out, applying my expertise in PR/marketing and social media. (more…)

I have a deep and abiding sense of deja vu.  I’ve been here before. Today, it’s Twitter; in 1994, it was the Web. (more…)

I’m now further sub-dividing my time on this planet and I have to blame it all on being a bad board member. (more…)

Title aside, this is more of a book recommendation for marketing people.  Read The Drunkard’s Walk, How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Leonard Mlodinow.   A terrific discussion on randomness, chance and probability, this book can help marketers understand how numbers can be used and misused. (more…)

Watching TV and saw the Verizon FIOS guy doing his shtick — he reaches into the old mail box, pulls out a letter and talks about how no one will need to go to the video rental store any more.  “And let’s have a moment of silence for the poor video rental store…” Silence.  “Ok, that’s enough.” (more…)

Was reading the Sunday Boston Globe this morning.  Love “The Word” by Jan Freeman.

Something in this week’s column makes me wonder if some of the language transformation we are seeing might be the fault of new(er) tools in a writer’s arsenal? (Yes, I know they have been around for years but I am of the opinion that, except for some notable examples, language evolves rather slowly.) (more…)

I read a lot.  My husband reads a lot.  My kids read a lot.  Our house bulges with books.  It is entirely possible to be killed by a collapsing pile of books in our house.  I figure we single-handedly kept particular bookstores afloat as long as we could.  (Sadly, Lexington, MA recently lost its two downtown bookstores — I guess we weren’t buying enough books lately.) (more…)

I used to be on the PR and marketing contests judges circuit.  You judge one contest and you get asked to judge for another one.  I did a stint with the Bellringers, PR News, the “Anvils” and a couple of local contests, including the NYC PRSA.  Huge amount of fun; lots of reading; great opportunity to learn. (more…)

I’ve been told that common sense isn’t common.  I used to think that everyone understood certain basic truths in business.  They don’t. (more…)