I don't know about you, but we have never tracked with the rest of the economy. Like, all the way through the 90s, as the Internet bubble was blowing up, we strolled along at a little better than break even. We used to look around at the ridiculous spending, and read the press about the unprecedented wealth development, and wonder where all this new wealth was, because it certainly wasn't falling into our pockets. In the late 90s and early ots, we had friends who were making wheelbarrows full of money doing branding for high-end real estate developments up in…

As we approached Y2K, we MacIntosh people had a joke about Microsoft. "Everyone's in a panic, because Microsoft didn't plan on 2000 following 1999." Ha-Ha-HA. Anyhow, the whole panic of the Y2K "virus" created a short-term bubble in the demand for software developers (and consequently in the earning capacity of software developers). Everyone was in a race to find and fix all of the date sensitive bits and pieces of all the software in ... the ... WORLD! It had to be done, and it had to be done now, before the clock struck twelve and who-knows-what-will-happen. So, for about…

Just a snippet here. While it's fresh on my mind. You can debate right into the night, like undergraduates in a dorm room, about whether a marketing initiative is successful just because it generates sales. We can have that debate, and I will take both sides and win both. But there is one thing you cannot debate: A marketing initiative that does not (eventually) generate transactions is NOT successful. And, marketing that costs more than it generates is not marketing. It's art. And who wants to pay that kind of money for that kind of art?Strategy. Concept. Execution. Transactions, baby.

In the digital universe, lists win. It's just a fact. If you want readers, you make a list. Top five third basemen in the minor leagues. Top 100 death metal albums. Top three swimsuit models. Top six most memorably annoying moments of this reality TV season. Check. Check. Check. Check. Check. So, in the interest of doing what all the cool people do, here is a list of reasons for lists in social media.1. A list gives us a sense of hierarchy. Winners. Losers. Tweeners. Gives us something to relate to. Someone to root for. 2. A list creates a…