05.13.10 | posted by btrandolph

the facebook dilemma - damned if you do

I realized why I was torn. making all my information available to anyone? so not good. making my information available to businesses that want to sell me stuff in order to save us both time? golden. don’t get me wrong. I still think facebook’s privacy shenanigans stink, and I worry about the potential for abuse with younger consumers. but I think the instant personalization concept is an enormous win for businesses and [read more...]

04.08.10 | posted by alice

improved rapportive is an essential gmail addon

rapportive, a plug-in for gmail, provides background information from the social web about people with whom you correspond. new updates bring the product closer to being an essential tool for many gmail [read more...]

03.31.10 | posted by btrandolph

Facebook Killing 'Become A Fan,' Embracing 'Like' (via ClickZ)

According to a confidential e-mail sent to ad agencies today, the social media site will change the “Become A Fan” button to read “Like” within the next few weeks. why does this matter? It marks another step in facebook’s transformation from a purely social entity to one with more commercial [read more...]

01.19.10 | posted by btrandolph

everyone's a local (somewhere)

the buzz keeps getting louder. web 2.0 is not only making the world a smaller place – it is making it easier to find out about and interact with people and businesses in your own backyard. here’s some of the smart phone applications that are making it [read more...]

01.11.10 | posted by btrandolph

cleanup in aisle 5 - shopping comes to facebook

you know it had to happen. back in december, a national retailer introduced an offer exclusively to fans on its facebook page. how is this different from what foursquare is doing? it’s not about where you are [read more...]

12.20.09 | posted by btrandolph

social marketing: apples to apples

the social media gospel preaches ‘teach, don’t sell.’ how does this play for clients whose business is selling? how do we balance the desire for quick results with longer term [read more...]

11.02.09 | posted by btrandolph

double take: sharing and social media

the other week I noticed some roiling of the placid waters of social media love. some random blogger was “lifting content” from assorted web x.0 luminaries. when does sharing stop being [read more...]

10.19.09 | posted by btrandolph

foursquare.com: how soon is now?

strange and wonderful things happened this past friday night. I indulged in a rare upscale treat. I qualified for a meaningless award. and I saw evidence that the future of marketing as I envision it is coming to [read more...]

10.14.09 | posted by btrandolph

how the web should work (and did in this case)

I love seeing live music. but now I find that I’m just not getting out the way I used to. that changed a bit in the last few weeks, thanks to social [read more...]

09.24.09 | posted by btrandolph

can sales and marketing be facebook friends?

customers have far more ability to research vendors and their offerings than in the past. moreover, the information that prospects are receiving is not static – it’s a dynamic, constantly growing pool including data from far more sources, especially peer input. what should marketers do to [read more...]