I saw an interesting article in the NY Times this morning, called Innovative Minds Don’t Think Alike.

It’s about why an increasing base of knowledge tends to results in less functional products and services. The concept is this: “it’s nearly impossible to look beyond what you know and think outside the box you’ve built around yourself”

This has been a pet peeve of mine for the longest time. As consumers…sometimes we don’t notice it, sometimes it’s irritating, sometimes we’re enraged by it, and for me, I frequently find myself taking my business elsewhere (having concluded that…if a company wants my business, they’ll find a way to allow me to get what I need without killing myself). Here are recent examples from my own experience:
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In this world of “regurgitated content”, how does one stand out? Well, first of all, I think that it’s generally a good idea NOT to invest yourself in just absorbing and then restating what everyone else is saying. Unless you’re an amazingly entertaining writer, or have a demonstrable talent for taking certain subjects and reframing them in a highly compelling way…for the most part, I can’t imagine what you think you’d be contributing. The way it’s usually implemented, I would describe this as “the path of the unimaginative”. Look, we all share cool things we’ve heard. That’s only natural. But…when you mix in a personal agenda for profit, things get a little dicey. Isn’t that obvious? Maybe not. So, I’ll say it again. Mixing business with relationship-building has to be handled delicately. Why? Because it’s too easy for motives to become mixed.
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I stumbled across something yesterday that I found interesting, and even though I my knowledge and experience with it is somewhat limited, I felt it was worth passing on.

EVERYONE is on the hunt for better monetization options…and many/most of us have tried all the various options out there: AdSense, YPN, AuctionAds, WidgetBucks, AdBrite…ad infinitum, ad nauseum. Some of these are great…some not so much. From extremely poor click-though rates to extremely poor payouts…from unwieldy ad formats to godawful ad serving (yes, AuctionAds & ShoppingAds… I’m talkin’-a’-you…), this monetization game can be very frustrating. And many of the problems are at the system level…i.e., beyond the publisher’s control. So I’m always on the lookout for a better mousetrap.
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