In my recent consulting with several comedians looking to build an online presence, I’ve heard three of them utter virtually the same exact line to me when talking about goals: “I want to get a million views on YouTube.” With all excitement in their eyes, hoping that I can unveil the magic bullet secret to achieving the success they’re shooting for, I gave them practically a 180 degree answer that throws them for a total loop: “I don’t know about you, but my landlord doesn’t take YouTube hits for rent.” Sure, it may make you feel all warm inside when your stupid video goes “viral” and amasses 600,000 views in a week. But that and a $1.50 buys you a cup of coffee. Even if

A great little documentary was just released by Pokerstars about Randy Lew, one of their newest “pro” team members. I remember playing on tables with him there about 4-5 years ago and his success story is no surprise to me whatsoever. Started small. Refined his game. Moved up slowly. Refined his game some more with adding more tables. Then scaled up dramatically once reaching optimal profitability. This is especially telling since it bucks the typical trend of almost every high-limit poker star competing today – who usually builds his/her bankroll through huge tournament scores and/or backing agreements. They can be at the top of the world one month and then by the end of the year

Here’s the latest episode of the uber-capitalist Free Market Anarchy podcast co-hosted by Nathan Hangen and yours truly. (For more, definitely go ahead and subscribe via iTunes.) Apple recently announced a subscription billing option for app developers. This means that new developers can now charge monthly fees for access to content, but it also inserts Apple as a highway, where they charge a 30% toll to anyone that wants to use it. Is this good business sense, and does Apple have a moral, or even legal obligation to take care of the developers in their ecosystem? Rhapsody stands opposed in an act of defiance – will others join in? Who’s right, and most importantly, is this

When you see the term “social media” written in the mainstream press as this awe-inspiring, ground-breaking, radical shift in the connected human consciousness (their buzzwords, not mine) – do you roll your eyes and sigh apathetically? When you hear a marketing rockstar ninja expert use the word engage about 84 times in a 7 minute interview, do you vomit in your mouth just a little bit? When you wake up in the morning to find 163 new blog posts, 326 Facebook updates, 831 incoming tweets (not including the redundant aggregation of each individual one on 74 other social platforms) – do you smell a pungent odor emanating from this landfill? Do you get the sense that social media is

Bloggers are inherently self-made entrepreneurs – rogue entities living the internet lifestyle on their own island. Loving the ability to succeed completely on our own, it’s important though to admit that help may be needed to reach our goals. If you’re willing to do this, maybe you’re the perfect candidate to build a powerful blogging alliance. At this point, you must think I’m crazy to suggest that you don’t know it all. You’ve been blogging for a whole 5 weeks, so you obviously have all the answers already. Why would you want to collaborate with competitors in your field? Of course you don’t. It would be silly to actually help your mortal foes. I’m not suggesting that whatsoever.