I’m feeling introspective today. These are realizations to which I can point and say “Yep, that’s where I changed”: It’s not all about me. Successes, failures, perceived snubs, etc. are never solely my own. Share credit, accept blame, assume the best of people (a continuing struggle for me, but hey, I’m working on it). Mistakes [...]
Portent moves downtown
So, here we are: Downtown. Smith Tower. At first, I started this post with “When I started my company…” Then I slapped myself. This isn’t about me. Here’s what this move is about: A great team creating growth Portent’s been truly firing on all cylinders for a while now. I’m very hard on myself, and [...]
And So Are the Days of Our Tukwila Lives…
Today, Portent is moving to the Smith Tower. But before we can say hello to downtown Seattle, we have to say goodbye to Tukwila Life. If you’re unfamiliar with the phrase “That’s Tukwila Life” – it’s the motto of the city of Tukwila, where Portent has made it’s home for the last ten years or [...]
Why Google Is Not Going Away: On AllThingsD
Forbes published an article this week explaining why Google and Facebook could disappear in the next 5 years. I, uh, beg to differ. I wrote my thoughts on the subject in an article published on AllThingsD. You can read it here. Give it a read. I think Google will be around for a long, long [...]
10 ways to get into big trouble in marketing
Base your campaigns on the ‘average’ customer. Only follow the data. Never follow the data. Skimp on content. Wait for perfection (hint – you’ll never get it). Leave design to designers (hint – you need to know about it, too). Leave development to developers (hint – see above). Micromanage. Use empty controversy as an outreach [...]

The 113 Best Google Tricks, Easter Eggs, April Fool’s Day Jokes and Pranks
At first Google was just a search engine; then it started to get funny. Now, Google tricks, or “Easter Eggs,” lurk behind every Google search. The right keywords or an “I’m Feeling Lucky” search will often lead you to odd and awesome Google jokes. And Google Easter Eggs aren’t just in Search, you can also [...]
On Techcrunch: How the IPO Ruined Google
OK, I don’t think Google is ruined, but it sure seems like they’ve become increasingly weird since their big IPO. I wrote a piece about it, and it just went live on Techcrunch. Read it here.

4 ways clients are like cats
First off, I’m a cat person. I want to make that perfectly clear. It’s a high honor if I compare you to a cat. So saying a marketing agency’s clients are like cats is very favorable. In Portent’s proposals I compare my employees to rats. So really, clients are coming out way ahead. A quick [...]

The big merger
No, Portent didn’t merge with another company. But we just finished merging my blog, Conversation Marketing, into the Portent web site. From now on, you can find all the same stuff I used to write on Conversation Marketing here, instead. Why’d I do it? Let me count the reasons: The rest of the team at [...]
Tomorrow’s free webinar: “Advanced” link building
Tomorrow I’ll be talking about ‘advanced’ link building. The term drives me insane, since most folks use ‘advanced’ to mean ‘I give you lots of advice, but I do not add any links.’ So, I’ll go over real-life advice for building links, including some fairly geeky stuff, like: Log file analysis Using Google Webmaster Tools [...]

