I seem to be full of advice for CEOs this week. First, I was quoted—along with a bunch of other agency leaders—in an article on iMedia called "A survival guide for startup agencies." Then, I was interviewed on Ceo2Ceos.com on "How do you adapt behavior as you shift focus?"

Now if I could just practice what I preach, I'll be in great shape. 

Here are some nuggets of what I had to say...

In these lean times of economic turmoil, budgets are being slashed to ribbons yet project scopes continue to be loaded with every new shiny tactic. With this obvious disproportionate distribution of funds to workload, something has to give.

Unfortunately, one of the first activities to get the "boot" is copywriting.

When I showed up for Arianna Huffington’s keynote at ad:tech in San Francisco last week, I expected to hear about her vision of the online publishing industry and the role of advertising in it... Should people pay for content? Was the iPad the answer to solving her industries woes? Blah. Blah. Not that I have a poor opinion of the world’s sexiest media mogul (sorry Oprah), but this was a conference called “ad” + “tech” after all.

Instead, I was inspired...

Social media is funny. This week I saw an @ message on Twitter from @bradmblake, who is a very nice guy, but someone I've never met before. Blake was quoting me saying something that sounded like something I'd say, but I had no recollection saying. I asked Blake about it and he directed me to a LinkedIn profile for Dave Hallerman. Turns out that Dave, an analyst at eMarketer (also a very nice guy, also one I've never met), had quoted something I that I said on Twitter a while back in a presentation he made in Boston.

Now I have two new friends and something to write a blog post about. 

A new disturbing trend has been infiltrating what was once an idyllic utopia populated with alien invasions, monsters, zombies, and incredibly fast hedgehogs. Yes, I'm talking about the world of gaming.

Two weeks ago, I did an audio blog post about what I think Pepsi has done wrong—and right—that has led to it losing its #2 spot in the Soda Wars to Diet Coke. I've also written out a version of the post for those of you who don't have headphones at the office.

So, what is Pepsi's challenge?

Happy April Fools Day. Anyone get you yet? If not, log on to LinkedIn today and take a look at the people you may know. It's only 10:30am on the West Coast and the April Fools marketing gags are starting to roll in....

(And how to get it back.)

About four years ago, I saw @ev speak at a Commonwealth Club event in San Francisco (that's co-founder Evan Williams to the untwitterized out there). Evan was astoundingly candid about the technical problems and downtime that led made the Fail Whale part of our cultural lexicon. 

"It's amazing we've been so successful," he shared.

This morning I attended an event put on by Oxford Economics, a "global forecasting and research consultancy" that does work for companies like SAP and Accenture. CEO Adrian Cooper addressed the crowd with a presentation on the Challenges to a Sustained Global Recovery. He provided a detailed analysis of the most dire threats to the global economy and the impact they could have on GDP of the United States and other nations around the world.

You're probably wondering right about now, "So, are we screwed or what?"

Keep reading...

My lawyer's nephew is working on his Masters degree and asked if he could interview me about leadership for a class he is taking. The questions he sent over were thought provoking for me, so I thought I'd share my answers here.