Todd Lyden

Look, I understand that there is some concern that if you have a website as a small business (or any for that matter) you ought to make sure that you have a "mobile-friendly" version of the site. In case you haven't heard,  Mobilegeddon is Coming! Google is changing their search algorithm today to prefer mobile-ready sites. This makes sense considering the crazy amount of traffic that virtually any website is going to get from a phone, tablet etc versus the traditional desktop or laptop. However, before you imagine asteroid explosions on your SERP that would make Michael Bay jealous. Calm down and realize... YOU PROBABLY DON'T HAVE A WEBSITE. ( At least according to most website builders. ) I suggest it is true based on empirical observation... most just don't have a website. 50% 60% 70%... it varies, but I'd guess it is always been high. There are a metric ton of small businesses that have ZERO website. Sure, they might be on Facebook, etc-...

I have not written like this in a while, but I had to document my reaction to yet one more "NO, THIS is the PROBLEM with Twitter" blog post. What finally set me over the edge was a "reaction to a reaction" blog post by Mack Collier here. His post was a response to Gary Vaynerchuk here . Wow. I REALLY can not believe we are hearing the same inter-webs pap for the last TEN YEARS? Yes, ten years of hearing the same complaints, same problems, same same. To Vaynerchuk, I say thee: why invest in something that has ESSENTIALLY been the same "group chat" tool it has been since day one. Sure, there are some ups and downs based on who came and went, or how Twitter helped something some time, or heaven forbid, it was the ONLY place that celebrity posted that thing that time. They can enact some algorithms like Facebook to make it more palatable, less of a firehose, but it was ALWAYS a firehose with ZERO privacy and always noisy, always competitive. Heck,...

Mr. White, I'd like to take a moment of your time to explain why there is a fairly decent chance you will not get my business again. It is not because your company provides poor product. I LOVE your HD DVR. My family has enjoyed your satellite based television service since 2007. As your customer service reps always reminded me, I always felt like a valued customer. That was until I decided to no longer be a customer. This had NOTHING to do with your service or product. In seven years and one move from one house to another, we loved having you. However, this past year we made the mistake of bundling your services with a well known internet service provider. The deal was good, but the ISP was terrible. We were locked into an internet provider that was terrible. We suffered through it but as soon as we could unbundle and then replace the ISP, we jumped on it. The only other decent internet provider in my area offered an insanely good deal on internet and television service...

I Wow! Nearly two years, a documentary, and documentary series later and I am back to talk about Dave Grohl after I reviewed the Foo Fighter's last album, Wasting Light . This was an exciting prospect. Fresh off the success of "Sound City," Grohl announced this passion-project, where the Foos would tour different studios in different cities all over the US to show off the auditory capacity of our great nation. I can't speak to the documentary aspect, but the tidbits I've seen have shown that Grohl definitely has a place (with his film makers) as a documentarian. However, does the album that came as a result of the documentary suffice as a Foos album? Let's go track by track: 1. "Something from Nothing"  from Chicago This sounds like it should have been two songs and makes for a great theme to the "show." As a Foo's song, it is a bit all over the place and almost feels like they were just trying to give everyone something t...

Before a scandal derailed him as a TV chef and cookbook author, I really loved Jeff Smith's show and line of books under his "Frugal Gourmet" title. I always loved the oxymoronic title... How could a "gourmet" be "frugal?" Mind, blown! I come not to remember a foodie, but to address some concerns raised by my internet friend Laura Click in a recent blog post . I mention Jeff Smith because Laura goes after "cheap" social media marketing agencies. I work with start ups and small businesses and see how troublesome marketing dollars are for them in general and specifically when we get into the wild west of social media. I want small business owners to get into a frugal mindset... if you REALLY don't have the money for a marketing budget, especially as a startup, then you need to think FRUGALLY. 1. Find someone who will give you the tips and tricks without the cost. There are plenty of people who will take a look a your busines...

I had never heard of John Hively before. But I was looking for a quote about aging and found this: “It's easy to grow old if you haven't grown up” Wow... I'd not heard this one bit of my psyche put so succinctly before- but thank you Mr. Hively. I turned 40 last year. That sentence does not cause me any great emotions except to wonder the same thing I have told folks for pretty much the last twenty years. "I can't believe that the world has allowed me to enter the adult workspace..." From the moment I felt the freedom of not living under parental control and being loose in the world, I have hardly felt a day like I belonged in it. This isn't to say I have not learned your rules and adapted to how to "be an adult." I never felt like Peter Pan and wanted to stay young, but I always felt like I had pulled something over on the rest of the world. Like a kid who stayed up too late for the first time. That realization that I could...