Ahead of my talk at Inbound 2016 this November in Boston, I participated in Inbound’s series where they ask their speakers what they read and how they consume media. I did this in 2014 as well. Back in 2014, I was a little more philosophical, recommending both the Bible and Baruch Spinoza. I was more […]
Category: Books
6 Prescient Maxims on Advertising from 1918
In 1918, Claude Hopkins published Scientific Advertising. It's written with so much certainty, and yet 95 years later, we're still just realizing or grappling with some of what Hopkins knew to be the absolute truth back then. Now, much of it was dated. This is a book that, tactically, is about mail orders and […]
Can’t Buy Me Like: The Exclusive Post2Post Blog Tour Interviews with Bob Garfield and Doug Levy
Bob Garfield, one of my favorite writers and critics analyzing the advertising and media fields, has a new book out with Doug Levy, Can’t Buy Me Like. Bob and I are pretty close. Okay, we’re not best friends who go out to grab truffle fries after the upfronts or anything like that. But, unlike most […]
Pop-Up Shop Pops up Yet Again (Thanks, Rushkoff and TechCrunch)
I've had this odd feeling of déjà vu this month, especially as I discover that my first job out of college was at a tech startup that proved to be well ahead of its time. In 2000, I worked as technical writer, and then a marketing writer, for a startup whose main product was Popupshop.com, which […]
The Next Book You Need to Read: To Sell is Human
I'm a fan of the author Dan Pink. I interviewed him more than 10 years ago for eMarketer about his book Free Agent Nation. A Whole New Mind was revelatory. Johnny Bunko didn't do much for me, but I do remember reading it and recall the gist, so that's something. Despite loving his work overall, […]
A Meta Review of a Meta Review of My Review of Return on Relationship
Ted Rubin and Kathryn Rose wrote a book. I wrote a book review. Chuck Kent wrote a review of my book review, comparing it to a review by Drew Neisser. Really, I just wanted to write a meta review of the meta review of my review of Ted's book just to write the headline above […]
Book Review: Return on Relationship by Ted Rubin and Kathryn Rose
Ted Rubin was kind enough to share a copy of his new book Return on Relationship, which he co-authored with Kathryn Rose. I’ve known Ted for years and have learned quite a bit from him, whether through seeing him present at several conferences or catching up with him one on one. He is undoubtedly one […]
The 11 Minute Version of “The Honest Truth about Dishonesty”
Dan Ariely, one of my favorite authors and social scientists, just shared an 11-minute animated video of his talk on his book "The Honest Truth about Dishonesty." I love that the video gets into an especially salient point for consumers, marketers, and mobile commerce: If you think about it, we're becoming a cashless society. We're […]
Just a Thought: Humility
Christopher Nolan is an Irish poet and author who suffered from dystonia, though he managed to defy odds and get his voice – and incomparable style – shared with the world. In his autobiography Under the Eye of the Clock (written as a novel), my favorite moment was a brief thought on humility. He was a […]
Just a Thought: Marginal Costs
In a new series here I'm tentatively entitling "just a thought," I'll share one piece of good advice or thinking from a great book or article. Here's Just a Thought from "How Will You Measure Your Life?" by Clayton M. Christensen, with James Allworth and Karen Dillon. The book, written as a sort of 'last […]