Random Blog Posts

Random

Like any nerd worth a damn, I like to plan for the zombie apocalypse. I know whose house I’ll go to (he has guns and edged weapons). I know what vehicles I’ll take (bicycles, duh). I know my weapon of choice (a shovel – perfect for the spearing brain smash). But I have a new… Read More

Random

I’m jumping on the bandwagon. I’m surfing the trend. I’m grubbing for 15 seconds of fame by reporting the biggest news of the last 24 hours: Twitter is replacing stars with hearts But I’m different. I’m… special. My spies have the inside story. And they brought back 11 possible reasons for this bold change of… Read More

Random

I periodically fire potential clients. It’s hard to walk away from the revenue. But clients hire Portent for our advice. It’s also hard work with clients who ignore that advice. And that kind of relationship typically starts with more than one of these statements: “I just want to crank out blog posts.” Basically, they’re hoping… Read More

Random

This is what I said at Portent’s 20th-anniversary party. It’s also a kind of open letter to my team. For posterity, I’m posting it here. If you really want to know what we’re all about, this is a really good place to start: 20 years ago when I started Portent, as my accountant filled out… Read More

Random

Today Portent is 20 years old. I forgot until another Portent-ite reminded me. Which is painfully typical. Like a lot of CEOs, I tend to focus on the bad areas for improvement and mistakes instead of the milestones. We’re having our big party next week, but for today I’m going to: 1. Break protocol and… Read More

Random

I’m a life optimization addict. So I work really hard to be more efficient at my computer. I focus on four activities: Writing Selecting text, switching apps/tabs Starting applications, opening folders Menu navigation It may be a teeny-weeny bit utterly compulsive, but last month I measured the total time saved based on average time per… Read More

Random

I’m trying to become a more positive guy. So instead of a post like ‘10 things that make me weep for the species,’ or ‘10 reasons I want to swallow an HDMI adapter,’ I’m going with things I’d like to hear. Woo hoo! It’s Positive Monday! Note: These are my bad habits, too. I write… Read More

Internet Marketing

I’ve worked at Portent for 14 years now and this is my first blog post. You might ask yourself, “why now?” “Why does he start with this subject?” The answer is that nothing in the past 14-plus years has been more exciting, more inspiring, and maybe even more important than the recent technological advancements that have allowed us… Read More

Random

Ah, the handoff. Passing a task along to a co-worker seems simple: Send a quick e-mail, or say, “OK, all yours” and you’re done. Wrong. That’s the kind of handoff that sends everything swirling down the potty. There’s a right way to do handoffs. I did a SlideShare about how I approach handoffs. Have a… Read More

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You’ve heard me rant about strategy vs. tactics, and why tactics-only business relationships are getting marketing agencies fired. I’ve realized it’s a much bigger problem than that. If you look at the last 15 years, the drive to ‘productize’ services has ripped the guts out of any business that is paid for an individual’s craft… Read More

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We got challenged! Some colleagues challenged Portent in the Ice Bucket challenge. Here’s the video: We changed it up. Here’s why: ALSA has now raised $111 million. That is freaking fantastic. It’s a great cause. 5,000-6,000 people are diagnosed with ALS each year, impacting tens of thousands of people. 30,000 or more Americans live with… Read More

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This is a broader, hand-waving bit about Net Neutrality. If you want to see how it might affect small businesses, and what you can do to mitigate the problem, read Josh Patrice’s post. The debate about Net Neutrality isn’t as clear-cut as some would have you think. Here’s how Tim Wu defined it back in… Read More

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Shortest. Career change. Ever. It’s me, Ian! I’m back as CEO of Portent after six months as Chairman and Principal Consultant. I’m damned happy about it, too. Here’s why: We hit our goals. Steve came on board to get our business house in order. Frankly, I suck at that. Steve is great at it. He… Read More

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I’ve done some pretty awful presentations in my career. Here, I’ve pulled them all into a single, truly horrifying ‘ultimate’ slide deck. First, I pull them all together. Then I do the same presentation again, with annotations explaining where I goofed and how to avoid it.

Random

Today, Portent is 19 years old. It can now legally drink in Canada. I’ve screwed up a lot of stuff. But we’re still here, so I’ll give myself a small pat on the back. Clearly, we’ve done something right. If I could tell 26-year-old self 10 things to improve Portent’s first 19 years, here’s what… Read More