Free Advice

Here's a fun site called Free Advice, which is put together by TanJab.  It's a site that interviews people, soliciting them for free advice.  Mine is below.

Free Advice #24 - Tony from Brave New Media on Vimeo.

Enjoy.

Tony

AdGrinder on TechZulu

Here is an interview I did with TechZulu at the Mashable event at Rubicon Project in July. A lot of thanks to Martine, who did the interview, and Efren Toscano of TechZulu for making it happen. It's a good explanation of what we do.



Tony

Going To NME

Glad to say that I'll be at the New Media Expo in Las Vegas, NV on Friday and Saturday.  I'm looking forward to attending with my business partner, Josh Paul, talking about AdGrinder.com and some of the ways to work it into people's podcasts.

If you're going to be there, drop me a line or call me at 818-237-5200.  I'd love to get together with you at the convention, at dinner or at the slots...ok, the craps table.

See you then.

Tony

Being An Entrepreneur Is Not For Everyone

Adversity:

a state, condition or instance of serious or continued difficulty or adverse fortune.

Thanks to Merriam-Webster for that definition.  Building a start-up has a lot of this.  I would more categorize it, however, as a feeling of, "Damn it!"  That's a pretty good phrase for moments in the start-up world.  You have great ideas, and lack the cash to implement them.  You have the perfect product, but not enough partners to make a significant impact yet.  You have this internal drive, but you still can't get every door opened.

The reaction to adversity is the difference between the entrepreneur and the wannabe.  The wannabe feels the adversity and complains (oft times loudly) at the unfairness of it all.  The entrepreneur recognizes the adversity, then gets back on the phones, back to the networking, rewrites the code, stays up late, re-examines their position, focuses their attention, gets on the phone again...lather, rinse, repeat.

The reason for this is simple: Vision.  The true entrepreneur (which can only be measured by spirit, and not by money) can see clearly that, while there may (will!) be adversity ahead, that nothing about it is permanent.  Go back and read the definition for yourself.  It is nothing more than a encapsulation of a specific moment in time.  It also says nothing about defining you, only about defining that specific moment in time.

It is not the adversity that defines us, but how we indeed react to it.  That is why some of us are entrepreneurs and some of us are not.  It is not about the success or failure of the enterprise, but what we learned from the experience and how we audited ourselves.  And, in the event of "failure", how long it took us to get back up and start again - with the wisdom that our last effort taught us.

Being an entrepreneur is not for everyone, but it is for me.  I am not smarter, better or tougher than anyone.  Far from it.  I simply recognize that this rough spot is followed by smooth water - I just have to know when to keep paddling the boat or when to let it sink and swim the rest of the way.  Or, if I'm really smart, build a better boat.

Tony

Back To Austin For SEM for SMB

Clear the calendars, and come back to Austin.  Once a year, for SXSW, just wasn't enough, so I am heading back to Austin July 16th and 17th to take part in SEM for SMB - which is specifically geared to help small and mid-sized businesses learn better how to effectively market, brand and reach their goal clientele in the online space.

I'm proud to be running the panel on Online Marketing for 2009 and Beyond.  It's going to be a great exploration of not where we are now, but theorizing and focusing on what is coming next.  Who's on the bleeding edge, how does the content creator find the technology or style that is right for them, how to get out of your comfort zone - just honest conversation from thought leaders on the panel, and those in attendance.  

What this isn't is another panel where a few people drone on for 45 minutes and no one learns anything.  For our panel, Q&A is everything.  Get the conversation going in Austin, and keep it going all year long.  

I hope to see you all there.  And if you don't see me at the convention, it just means I'm at Stubbs...or The Salt Lick...or Iron Cactus...or Magnolia Cafe.  You'll find me at those places as well.

Tony

AdGrinder is waiting for you

It's a really great thing.  My company, Aweli, is done with being private and has release the AdGrinder beta to the public.

AdGrinder is a web based tool that allows for the creation of a 15 second video commercial in about five steps and in less than three minutes.  Once an ad is built, you can build a campaign and place your ad throughout the Net.  Choose your keywords, you daily budget, the length of your campaign and the area codes you want your ad to be seen in.  You can find out more by going to the site at AdGrinder.com/blog.

This is really fun stuff.  Taking an idea to fruition is, in a word, thrilling.  In addition to building ads - and being able to monetize your content, regardless of its viewership! - the blog is also going to be a place that discusses advertising practices.  What works, what doesn't, and why.  The focus of the blog is to put together smart people who have been through it, smart people who are in it, and smart people who want to learn how to do it right before they step in it.

We will also be looking for guest blog posters at AdGrinder.  If you are interested, be sure to drop us an email at business AT adgrinder DOT com.

More to come....more great great things to come.

New Place, New Things

Moving.....it's just as lacking in fun and excitement as you think it is.

I can finally say hello to LA, at lease for the short term, as I go after some fantastic new business opportunities in a myriad of spaces - social media, new media, existing businesses - as well as seeing what new thing I can get in to.

Then there is the return to radio. This week I should be finalizing a new radio show that will be weekly, not daily like my previous show. Also, this show is not a political show, rather it will be technology culture show with a focus on what works, what doesn't, and why. There really is nothing like it on radio today, and I hope to be able to announce when we launch in the very near future. Oh, and there will be some politics.....but, you kind of knew that, didn't you?

I can't tell you how good it feels to be living out of a home instead of out of boxes. I look forward to more posts and more conversations. In the meantime, you can always find me at:

Twitter - tonykatz
Jaiku - tonykatz
LinkedIn - tonykatz
On The Web - tonykatz.com
Business - aweli.com

Take care.


Tony