Eric Mann

  • Ten Reasons eReaders Will Never Replace Paper Books

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    Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love my eReader.  It holds almost 200 books so far (of which I’ve read maybe 20) and has space for several hundred more without even adding external media!  It’s truly a revolutionary device, but I would never go so far as to swear off my old-fashioned printed books.  Call

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  • Me, Too!

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    When I first started consulting, my boss talked a lot about “ante in” product offerings.  These are the kinds of things you are required to offer your customers in order to be taken seriously in the market.  With iPod and Zune leading the market, anyone else who wants to sell and MP3 player needs to

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  • The Accidental Consultant

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    A couple of summers ago, I found myself in the small office of a tech start-up asking questions about my ambitions as a consultant.  I had finished business school almost a year before, but my age still betrayed my actual skills as a marketer and started these kinds of questions with just about everyone I

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  • When Community Software Becomes Community Property

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    One of the most widely recognized social media applications in the world today is Facebook.  People use it for everything from email to event planning to entertainment.  You can manipulate your profile to display every detail of your life or nothing.  You can build an online profile to represent yourself in any fashion you want

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  • XML-RPC

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    Just to forewarn you, this might come across as a more technical post than I normally throw at you.  Still, I did something exciting last night that I wanted to share and perhaps educate you about. I built a custom XML-RPC server. And with that statement I know I’ve already lost most of you.  Rather

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  • Expediency

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    How quickly do you do your job?  I don’t mean shuffle papers, I’m asking how long customers have to wait to receive deliverable product from your office.  We live in a world where just about everything is available with the click of a button.  You order books online.  You order groceries online.  You perform in-depth

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  • What Constitutes Expertise?

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    The other day I was asked a very good question – “what makes someone an expert?” Considering web-based media is moving into newer fields and industries, it’s hard to define expertise along the lines of professional certifications and documented qualifications.  An expert accountant will have his CPA.  An expert manager will have her MBA.  A

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  • Make a Good First Impression

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    When building a new business relationship, about 50% of the legwork is done during the first handshake.  Your goal should be to make a good first impression, whether you’re the client or the consultant.  Taking five minutes to review your objectives for the meeting will help you keep your focus and make sure that first

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  • Coffee Shop – Part 1

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    Marcy It was a bright, sunny, beautiful day outside, and Marcy was just glad to be alive. She woke up, stretched, and poked at the cat through the bed sheets with her feet. He gave her an evil, half asleep glare and curled up again, just out of reach of her toes. Marcy giggled a

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  • Bread Run

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    Prompt: Your character goes to the grocery store, and on the way there meets someone/thing unexpected, which requests something that the character cannot give it. Hilarity ensues. Story: Two in the morning and I still couldn’t get to sleep. I sat up slightly and tried plumping my pillow for the hundredth time. It looked so

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