Ever since the tragic events last week in Japan, I’ve read a ton of blog posts and tweets from companies who are “donating” to the rescue/rebuilding efforts there. In no way would I ever scoff at the notion of charity, but almost every single one of these glorified PR releases has a social media-enabled “condition” to pledge. For every “like” on our Facebook page will we donate… All of our proceeds the next week from our iOS app… If we get over 1000 tweets of the message we will… Go fuck yourselves. This is so unbelievably disgusting, it defies every bone in my body not to fly to each and every office of these companies and kick someone in the nuts. Well, what if you

So, I haven’t posted here on the blog in 4 days. Wait for it… Wait for it! I’m incredibly sorry and apologize to all my 12 readers, but I’ve been… Hold on, it doesn’t even matter. You probably haven’t noticed any difference, right? For all you know, I did write three blog posts over the weekend – but you scrolled right past it in your RSS reader. Boy, I definitely would sound quite arrogant if I professed my heartfelt apologies thinking I was somehow an integral part of your life. Actually, I should be the one upset. How important are you that I can disappear for a whole 4 days in between posts and you don’t even bat an eye. How egotistical and uncaring of you! Am I

I’m too lazy to write a blog post today. Frankly, I’ve just been too busy. Over the weekend, I brokered several joint venture deals, spoke at 34 different conferences, had 107 coaching calls, set up Wordpress blogs for the entire nation of Burkina Faso and conducted a 15-hour webinar on the subject of brevity. Ok, who am I kidding? I obviously spent countless hours on Twitter while checking my blog stats every three minutes. Do you realize how much work it takes to talk about all the great things you’re planning while never actually doing it? It’s exhausting! That’s why I’m leaving the job to you. Let me know your thoughts on whatever niche this blog is about. Let me

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.

“The customer is always right.” It’s a business cliche that has been around for ages. While it’s debatable whether the accuracy of this exact statement is true, it definitely highlights an omnipresent point that cannot be refuted. Your customers are your business. Without them, you’d be out of business. It’s a no-brainer that any business or anyone involved with making money should treat their customers like gold. They’re the ones paying your bills, feeding your family and hopefully, maintaining your comfortable lifestyle. There’s no question it’s important to care for them, nurture them, provide support, foster a relationship, communicate and establish a continued positive

Hanging Out: to socialize with your friends, whether it is of your choosing or not; most of the time the term is used to refer to a type of fun. After the initial allure wears off, we all come to the realization that it is indeed hard work to succeed as a blogger. We start focusing more on serious business-building efforts, putting in long hours to create helpful content that inspires others to seek us out. Our to-do list keeps growing exponentially as more ideas pour out from our minds. We attack each task with a sharp knife, inching closer to what we perceive as the holy grail. Getting our hands dirty, we promote our work hardcore using tools to spread the word and position