Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Castings

Here's a podcast of an interview by Aldo Casteneda of Andy Dale. Good to hear two of the deep thinkers (also writers and talkers) in the Identity Gang.

The Because Effect, cont'd

Because Wyndham Hotels made broadband free for guests, (surprise!) more people used it — and, presumably, were more likely to stay at a Wyndham hotel. (That's the case with me, even though there's no guarantee that I'll find free broadband at a Wyndham. Just the possibility of free broadband can be a tie-breaker.)

In other words, some hotels (especially, by some odd quirk of the trade, low-end chains) make more money because of broadband than with broadband. Herein lies the secret to many a business model, folks. Including blogging, because of which far more money is being made than will ever be made with it.

Not that making money with blogs is a Bad Thing. I'm not saying that. I'm saying it's always easier to think with than because; but that there's often much more money to be made because of than with.

Think about that. It might make you some money.

Meanwhile, as Jim Thompson said somewhere back there (me too), the pay-broadband business at hotels will soon be regarded as a pay-toilet business.

Bonus quote:

There are thousands of reasons why people write blogs. But it seems to me the biggest reason that drives the bloggers I read the most is, we're all looking for our own personal global microbrand. That is the prize. That is the ticket off the treadmill. And I don't think it's a bad one to aim for.

Hail

Back in the mid-Seventies, my friend David Manning wrote a book called "She Would Have Been a Taxi Dancer But He Couldn't Hail a Cab." I reviewed it (favorably) for the Durham (N.C.) Herald-Sun. I can't find anything about it on the Web, but somehow a search brought up David. Nice to see he's doing well.

Perhaps this explains something. Or nothing.

A lot more men than women listen to online radio.

Help has arrived

... via the wiki Blog Social Software and Cluetrain Consultants. Instigated and illustrated by Hugh MacLeod. Fave entry so far:

Christopher Locke: Co-authored The Cluetrain Manifesto, but haven't read it yet. One of these days soon. Nowadays I just complain a lot about the state of the universe (see URL). I also blog at NetSquared.org. I do the odd bit of consulting when the larder gets low: dirty deeds done dirt cheap. Call me in Boulder CO USA...

On NetSquared Chris just wrote this (and more) in reply to another post:

In a technologically perfect world, a blogger is like a well-oiled machine. Never tires out, never stops posting, never gets sick. In a human world -- which let's assume for the sake of argument we're still in -- bloggers are... well, human.

So far the list includes more from Canada and the U.K. than from the U.S. I'll take that as a Good Thing.

Reflections

Amazing sunset this evening, after three days of rain. Couldn't decide which of these photos (taken over the pool in our front yard) was the best shot, so I put all four up.

For every retraction there's an equal and opposite traction

The latest Better Bad News: STEALTH MARKETER INFECTS ORDINARY SMALL TALK WITH BRANDED CONVERSATION SPAM.

The customer needs to know what the company thinks. Even if it's awful...

If you are a BuzzAgent, you can get help. Now. From the BuzzAnon Recovery Program.

Funny stuff. Dig.

Market to marketing producers: go consume yourselves

Tim Jarrett runs down nine quotes from humans resisting the "consumer" label.

Then there's this, posted on Cluetrain in early 1999: