“The presumption of old media was that everyone in the audience saw every advertisement and that’s why ads were bought on the basis of the size of the audience. Size mattered. But today, what advertisers really want is verification that their ads reached the audience they were sold – not just in size but in relevance.”
Author Archives: Steve Mays
HuffPo link = big traffic mojo
We’re seeing major (for us) spike in traffic to one of our blogs from link on Huffington Post site. Radio Iowa News Director O. K. Henderson has been doing a super job of covering “town hall” meetings in Iowa. And breaking news, as she frequently does.
Blogs never went away
Yes, I am easily seduced. I admit it. I’m like a pillow, I keep the impression of the last person who sat on me. Twitter, Posterous… I love new stuff and tend to get carried away. I’ve posted her less frequently since I began dallying with these new tools. But, as Dave Winer reminds us (in a post to Robert Scoble regarding sale of FriendFeed to MySpace Facebook), I can always come home to momma.
“Our blogs are still there, as is the web and the Internet. They never went away just because we foolishly flirted with something fast and easy and seductive. Our blogs never went away, they’re still ready to share our ideas and connect us with others. We’ll go back to basics now, take what we learned from this round of innovation, and build it for real this time.”
I never got the FriendFeed bug but I can’t believe MySpace Facebook owning it is good news for users. But hey, if MS bought Yahoo! they’d probably screw up flickr, so…
The point is, my blog is mine. Nobody can buy it or mess with it. It’s my place to “write things down.”
Who’s watching the news?
I’m not really sure, but they must be a bunch of old fuckers, based on the sponsors of tonight’s NBC (first group) and ABC (second group) network newscasts.
- Ford Taurus
- Omnaris Nasal Spray
- Olay Body Wash
- Total Cereal
- Toviaz – for over-active bladders
- Imodium – for diarrhea
- Dr. Scholls – for tired old feet
- Advair – asthma and emphysema
- Spiriva – asthma and emphysema
- Lanacane – itch cream
- Olay Pro X – wrinkle cream
- Miralax – laxative
- Zyrtec – allergy medicine
- Ford Taurus
- Crestor – cholesterol
- Ford Taurus
- Toviaz – over-active bladder
- Friskies Cat Food
- ThermaCare – heat wraps
- One-A-Day 50+ for men
- Omnaris – nasal spray
- Levitra – erectile dysfunction
- Dove Moisturizer
- Plavix – poor leg circulation
Is that the most depressing list you have ever seen? Could there be one living soul under the age of 60 watching these newscasts? Is network news in trouble? May-be.
Creativity
Leo Babauta has a very good list of tips on how to cultivate your creativity. Here are a few of my favorites from his list:
- Shut out the outside world.
- Reflect on your life and work daily.
- Just get it out, no matter how crappy that first draft.
- Teach and you’ll learn.
- Drink ridiculous amounts of coffee.
- Write all ideas down immediately.
- Turn your work into play.
- Get lots of rest. Overwork kills creativity.
- Don’t force it. Relax, play, it will start to flow.
- Do it when you’re excited.
- Don’t be afraid to be stupid and silly.
- Small ideas are good. Don’t need to change the world — just change one thing.
- When something is killing your creativity, kill it.
- Most of all, have fun doing it.
If I might add one idea to this excellent list (be sure to check out the full list from link above), you have to be in an environment that will allow (better yet, encourage) creativity. I’ve been so blessed for most of my working life. I guess this means working for the right company or working for yourself.