Are you data-driven, or mired in data? Sometimes it’s hard to tell. Oftentimes it’s a bit of both. The critical question: what fraction of the data you look at each day is actionable? If you look at the same reports each day or each week, ask yourself: are there steps I could take based on what ...

Two media pieces caught my attention over the weekend: 1. In the Sunday Business section of the New York Times (3/1/09), there was a profile of Marissa Mayer, Google's VP of Search Products & User Experience (i.e. she controls the look, feel and functionality of Google's pages), in which...

Two media pieces caught my attention over the weekend: 1. In the Sunday Business section of the New York Times (3/1/09), there was a profile of Marissa Mayer, Google's VP of Search Products & User Experience (i.e. she controls the look, feel and functionality of Google's pages), in which she reveale...

File this under the category of another great  web success story.  See the NY Times article, “’South Park,’ a Vision and a Payoff",â€� for the story about how Matt Stone and Trey Parker are doing the right thing. It’s all about the Content.  Build It And They Will Come. N...

This is Week Nine of a 52-week project/experiment in DIY marketing. Armed with nothing but a copy of the 2009 Grow Your Business Marketing Plan + Calendar and my bare wits, I'm applying the skills you need to grow a business in real time, day by day, and reporting on them week by week. You can f...

Sarah Evans is the director of communications at Elgin Community College (ECC) in Elgin, Illinois. She also authors a PR and social media blog and is the founder of #journchat. It doesn’t matter if you’re on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr; your online personality is not only part of your ove...

This is Week Eight of a 52-week project/experiment in DIY marketing. Armed with nothing but a copy of the 2009 Grow Your Business Marketing Plan + Calendar and my bare wits, I'm applying the skills you need to grow a business in real time, day by day, and reporting on them week by week. You can ...

I was just going through one of my forums and noticed something I hadn’t seen in a few years. A 3 year old forum post was brought back from the dead by a brand-new member of the site, whose comment had NOTHING to do with the discussion at hand. While his post was not any form of SPAM, it was w...

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the National Pastors Convention in San Diego and as a result I got to spend some face time with pastors from all over the country and talk to them (or remind) them about the value of a Christian camp or conference experience. I shared with them my belief tha...

In my mind...those are the six most powerful words in the English language. Recite a speech and folks will lean back and cross their arms. Give a sermon and folks will allow their minds to wander and their chin to rest on their chests. But say those six words (in that order) and folks will sit up an...