Content versus tactics

The growth and effectiveness of your social media presence should be based on interesting and relevant content, not on tactics.  Regardless of platform, content is what keeps your audience engaged.  Whether it be a blog, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Tumblr, television, movies, books, articles, public speaking, etc., content is what matters.  Yes, some platforms are far more effective in getting your message out because they are appropriate and better purposed to your particular message; however, if the content falls short, no tactic will help.

Personalizing technology

If you're like me, it's easy to get carried away with your smart phone apps.  I tend to try out a lot of technologies and applications; I'm a serial beta user and smart phone apps are no exception.  That said, my "simplicity" DNA kicks in every week and I routinely purge those things that I don't use, need, or want. 

Through all the technology noise, the most useful smart phone app for me is the Google Reader.  I catalog what I want to read in the way that I want to read it...period.  Any RSS feed reader will do the same trick, but I use the Google Reader (since I use it on my laptop anyway and my smart phone runs on Google's Android OS).  The beauty of using a feed reader is that I can consolidate my favorite sites and blogs in one place, eliminating the need to go to each individual app.

There's nothing new to using a feed reader, they've been in our online world for a long time, so its extension into the mobile app world makes sense.    

Resurrection of manufacturing in the U.S.

I've come to the conclusion that the re-industrialization of the U.S. economy (read: bringing back manufacturing and manufacturing jobs) cannot be accomplished through current business and government leadership - they have all failed.  So, I propose a new route based on creativity, self reliance, and the abandonment of the idea that U.S. firms can't produce quality goods at competitive prices. 

The current manufacturing model of outsourcing isn't a sustainable construct nor is the mindset behind it.  This article from Manufacturing & Technology News gives a glimpse of the misguided and dangerous economic philosophies driving policy and business. 

We can reinvigorate manufacturing in the U.S., but only if we get rid of the stale business and political leadership that chooses a path of self interest and decline.  I'll be writing more on this subject over the coming year.