Grok Blog
March 22nd, 2012
Intros. They’re the lifeblood of networking – the currency of mavens. They are your route to angel money. Your entrée to sales meetings.
We couldn’t live without them.
But when misused, overused or abused they can diminish your personal brand, consume your valuable time and waste that of the relationships you value the most.
I would like to make the case for being judicious with your introductions. I would like to encourage you to closely guard your most cherished relationships. And in most cases I would heed Fred Wilson’s advice about the “double opt-in” email for intros – where you ask for permission before green-lighting an unsolicited introductions.
I give introductions frequently. I also request them for time to time. So please don’t view this post as recommending not to do introductions. It’s a simple reminder that whom you do introduction for and how you do them will have a great impact on your credibility with those relationships you’ve worked so hard to build.
via Why You Should Think Twice Before You Send That Intro Email.
Posted in Jobs, Recruiting, Social networking |
March 21st, 2012
After signing on some prominent editorial talent for its planned global business-news site, Atlantic Media has named a publisher to run the effort’s ad sales, marketing and e-commerce: Gawker Media veteran Chris Batty.The site will aim squarely at the editorial turf now owned by such players as The Economist and The Financial Times, but it will differ from many news sites on the ad side. It won’t, for example, sell the standard display-ad units that the online publishing industry has put so much energy into developing. And it will encourage advertisers to talk directly to its audience through sponsored posts, a growing but still atypical approach.”Let’s serve our advertisers’ communications goal as well and not just corral them into banner ads,” said Mr. Batty, who led ad sales at Gawker Media for six years.
via Chris Batty to Run Atlantic Media’s Planned Global Biz Site | MediaWorks – Advertising Age.
Posted in Advertising, Entrepreneurism, Leadership, Media Sales, Online Marketing |
March 19th, 2012
(Good for a laugh)
We’ve all experienced it. That sinking feeling that occurs when the job interview that was going so well suddenly goes off track. Maybe it’s the expression on the hiring manager’s face, or the awkward pause that ensues, but there is little doubt when it happens.
Common interview mistakes, of course, include bad mouthing your former employer, failing to adequately research the company or the position and just plain talking too much. Careerbuilder.com, a job posting site, publishes an annual list of interview blunders, including asking the hiring manager for a ride home or flushing the toilet during a phone interview.
via Dumb Things People Have Said During Job Interviews – Yahoo! Finance.
Posted in Jobs, Recruiting |
March 15th, 2012
Aereo, a bold new service that brings broadcast TV and DVR to your iPad and iPhone, started its engines in New York City today—and the results are mostly impressive.
As promised, Aereo lets “live TV meet the internet .. on devices you already have” for $12 a month, and requires no additional cords, buttons or antennas. The service simply requires a subscriber to enter a user name and password into its website and—voila!—all the bad television you can watch.
via Live From New York, It’s Aereo TV (For Now…) | paidContent.
Posted in Advertising, Media Integration, Video |
March 14th, 2012
Hyperconnected. Always on. These terms have been invented to describe the environment created when people are linked continuously through tech devices to other humans and to global intelligence. Teens and young adults have been at the forefront of the rapid adoption of the mobile internet and the always-on lifestyle it has made possible.
via Respondents’ thoughts | Pew Internet & American Life Project.
Posted in Media Integration, Social networking |
March 12th, 2012
Barry Diller, the billionaire chairman of IAC/InteractiveCorp. (IACI), expects his Aereo Inc. Web- based television service to be in 75 to 100 cities within a year after making its debut this week in New York.
Aereo, a $12-per-month service that lets users access broadcast TV on mobile devices, will begin telecasting on March 14. The company wants to expand rapidly after that, Diller said yesterday in a keynote address at the South by Southwest Interactive festival in Austin, Texas.
via Diller Sees Aereo TV Service in Up to 100 Cities Within Year – Bloomberg.
Posted in Media Integration, Mobile |
March 12th, 2012
For all marketing’s obsession with return on investment, it’s not used to set budgets, according to a new study.
A survey of 243 CMOs and other marketing executives found that 57% don’t establish their budgets according to ROI measures. Sixty-eight percent of respondents said they base their budget decisions on historical spending levels, while 28% said they go with gut instinct. And 7% said most of or all their spending decisions aren’t based on any metrics at all.
via Study Finds Marketers Don’t Practice ROI They Preach | CMO Strategy – Advertising Age.
Posted in Media Integration, Online Marketing |
March 12th, 2012
The Uneasy Relationship of Advertising and Startups
South by Southwest is the place where two worlds collide: advertising and tech startups. These two sides need each other, in theory. Yet in reality they remain far, far apart.
The oddity of SXSW is you have agencies and brands that are now fairly obsessed with startup culture while startups don’t like advertising. On the advertising side, startups have the appearance of vitality and change in digital media that both brands and agencies deal with every day.
via SXSW: Why Many Startups Ignore Advertising | Digiday.
Posted in Advertising, Media Integration, Media Sales |
March 8th, 2012
Is it really called work when so much of what you’re doing involves barhopping and barbecue? It is when you’re in Austin for South by Southwest.
This week, the annual South by Southwest Interactive conference—the five-day extravaganza where techies congregate to opine about social media by day and socialize over beer and brisket by night—kicks off. And it looks like it’s shaping up to be as big and busy (and boozy) as ever before.
via Heading to SXSW? 5 Trends to Watch | Adweek.
Posted in Entrepreneurism, Hyperlocal, Media Integration, Mobile |
March 8th, 2012
The more music Pandora streams for its burgeoning audience, the more it has to pay in royalties. And unless it can draw in more advertising sales to pay for those fees, the Internet radio site will continue to take a hit on its bottom line.
Founded in 2000 as the Music Genome Project, Pandora (P), which went public in 2011, has struggled to turn a consistent profit.
Shares tumbled almost 25% Wednesday, a day after the Oakland-based company posted a fourth-quarter loss of $8.2 million, or 5 cents per share, falling short of forecasts. Sales during the quarter also missed estimates, coming in at only $81.3 million, compared to Wall Street’s call for $83.1 million.
via Pandora stock falls 25%: Popularity is a double-edged sword – Mar. 7, 2012.
Posted in Advertising, Entrepreneurism, Media Integration, Media Sales |
