At a recent #Momobo event where start-ups pitched mobile app ideas to a panel of VCs it occurred to me that while Apple has sold millions of iPhones, no 2 of these mobile devices are alike -- because no 2 device owners are the same. Every iPhone owner has downloaded and arranged their favorite apps in a unique way.

This made me wonder: could I tell just by looking at someone's home screen who they are and what they do? Could you?

Let's play.

See if you can successfully match these 5 – a Social Creative Director, Mom/Designer, UX Designer, Biotech Product Manager, and IT Director – to their corresponding home screens.

(download)

Click here to download:

iphone-home-screen-challenge-FwbgelBihlpmymxAarDd.zip (199 KB)

A) Social Creative Director

B) Mom/Designer

C) UX Designer

D) Biotech Product Manager

E) IT Director 

Answers.

 Home screen 1 belongs to the IT Director

Home screen 2 belongs to the UX Designer

Home screen 3 belongs to the Mom/Designer

Home screen 4 belongs to the Social Creative Director

Home screen 5 belongs to the Biotech Product Manager

How many did you get right? What tipped you off? Was there 1 app that gave it away? How many did you get wrong? Was there too little information to figure out who owned each screen?

Did you find it strange the Mom/Designer (who also happens to be a marathoner) had no apps in her dock area? “My kids are constantly goofing around with my phone. The other day they took all my apps out of my dock. I haven’t had time to move them back.”

Why does the IT Director have so few apps on his home screen? He likes to keep his home screen simple and his professional identity under wraps. His second screen is much more revealing.

What about you? Have you loaded up your home screen with your favorite apps? Or do you use your mobile phone’s default home screen? What do the choices you’ve made say about who you are and what you care about?  

Pinterest hysteria is peaking. Yet plenty of folks are still scratching their heads wondering why we need yet another social platform.

Here's why:

Using Pinterest, I shared this colorblock clutch from Target with 195 followers by "pinning" an image from the site (with a price) on my Pinterest "a la mode" board. My fashionista friends were able to click on the image to deep link directly to Target.com and buy it. BOOM!

If I were to share the same clutch via Facebook or Twitter, I'd need to add 3 pieces of info before sharing. The photo, a description, and the link.

And because all of my Facebook friends and/or Twitter followers might not be interested in Spring fashion trends, I’d need to either create a list of recipients or choose a preselected list. That's a lot more work for me. And a lot more room for error.

Pinterest has one other thing going for it. Everyone who follows my "a la mode board" can repin the clutch so everyone who follows them can buy it.

1 pin. 195 followers. Exponential sales.

Who’s using Pinterest? Women. Lots of women. And some men.

 BTW, it is beyond insulting that some bloggers & journalists phrase it this way: "Pinterest is just for women". My response: how does the fact that women are early adopters of Pinterest diminish the power of the platform or those using it? Women are not a niche. We have serious buying power in this country. That's why more and more brands are coming on board. Pun intended.

If Pinterest is driving sales in droves – and it is – why the kerfuffle over copyright infringement? I’m a writer, not a lawyer. So I won’t offer a legal opinion. I will say this: brands who let me share their products via other social platforms likely see the dollars and sense in letting me drive sales through Pinterest. Because every time I pin, it’s more than just free advertising. Every pin is a personal product endorsement -- improving the chances that every pin will result in a sale.

That’s the point of Pinterest.

Pinterest: Bathrooms I'd like to pee in

Meetup: Let's get together IRL on Monday at 7PM to pee

Groupon: 50% off a place to pee near you

Paper.li: Who Peed Where, Why, and How Daily is now out

The Advertising Copywriting group I belong to on LinkedIn has been lit up for the past month over whether you need to have digital experience to be a digital writer. Much consternation and conversation has been generated by Steve Spence's topic of discussion:

"For the love of God will people stop asking for 'Digital Copywriters'. If you can write copy it doesn't matter a flying fandango what medium you work in. I'm sick to death of this idiot pidgeonholing" (sic)

Many of the commenters complain "good writing is good writing". Which, they argue, is why ad agencies should hire them even if they've never written a website, iMedia unit, Facebook app or tweet in their life. 

Some of these writers claim the title of "digital copywriter" was likely created by self-serving youngsters trying to carve out a niche for themselves. They firmly believe agencies and marketers should look past their lack of digital experience (in spite of the fact that as senior writers, they are likely expensive). IMO, they're conveniently skirting the real issue, which is: the medium matters.

I'm not the only one who thinks so. As another group member put it (I'm paraphrasing here): many skilled writers just don't get it. Digital is a competency easily learned, but there are many who simply aren't changing with the times and actively developing new skill sets.

The elephant in the room is: why did so many traditional writers fail to embrace the future? Why didn't they see the digital writing on the wall? Advertising is an insecure industry at best. Why didn't they make more of an effort to stay current? 

I am a not at all young writer who has written radio, TV, print ads, brochures, direct mail, posters, packaging, event marketing, t-shirts--you get the idea. For each medium, I learned to adapt my writing. Likewise, I went out of my way to learn how to write effective and engaging websites, Facebook apps, blog posts, videos, tweets, iMedia, etc.

My advice to ad writers who want to stay in the biz is: stop blaming employers. In a market where there's a flood of qualified applicants, employers have the right to hire those who have digital experience. And stop blaming agencies. They don't have the time or money to train you in the rules of digital, mobile, and social.

Stop blaming younger writers. Stop blaming the economy. Instead, put the energy you spend blaming others into becoming more digital. Or find yourself a new career.

 Now that Facebook has rolled out Timeline, some updates, photos, and links I posted long ago have come back to haunt me.

Gone are the days when I can post something provocative and count on it falling off the Newsfeed the same day (if not the same hour) it appears.

Years of content—some of it not entirely tasteful—are spread out before me. And before my future employers.

If, as Mashable suggests, Facebook becomes the go-to site for curious employers and clients, I’d better at least give my social persona a once over to make sure I’m reasonably presentable.

How about you? Will you manicure your Timeline to make yourself more attractive? Will you go even further and give yourself a compete Facelift, deleting dorky status updates, references to drunken behavior, and suggestive or misleading photos like this one of me cozying up to someone who my friends know for a fact is definitely not my husband?

Brands have been talking about embracing an Always On strategy for a long time. Now, some are actually doing it -- responding in (almost) real time to customers and events. Which is exciting. And terrifying.

At the big digital ad agency I work at, Always On means we no longer have months of meetings to build consensus, focus group ideas, or get everyone in Legal onboard. We have a day or three at most to come up with awesome ideas that can be executed instantly.

Some creatives are better at this than others. If I could pick anyone to help me make something out of nothing in no time flat, I’d choose Tina Fey for her awesome powers of improv.

Read “The Rules of Improvisation That Will Change Your Life And Reduce Belly Fat”, from her ridiculously funny book, Bossypants, and you’ll understand why. 

In an Always On world, it's no longer enough to collaborate. You have to improvise. The first Rule of Improvising is you have to AGREE, to say YES to any hair brained idea anyone on your team throws out. The second Rule of Improvising is say YES, AND. Agree and then add something of your own.

Why would you be so agreeable when you could say "No, we can't do that", "No, that's not in the budget" or my all-time favorite "No, I like my idea better". Because an idea that you stumble upon together is likely to be stronger than the idea you would have as individuals.*

I wish every creative at the immense digital agency I work at could be sent directly to an Upright Citizens Brigade improv class** to learn how to be truly and fully Always On.

I also wish all you Agency big shots looking to hire creatives who can take the Always On heat would  stop talking to HR and pick up your own copy of Bossypants and memorize the part where Tina says you need to mix up the types of people coming up with these ideas. Some cerebral, organized "Harvard style" people mixed with some visceral, wacky free thinkers. e.g. Conan O’Brien & Chris Farley.

That's what I wish for. That, or a gig writing for Alec Baldwin.

*Tina Fey, in her Google interview wth Eric Schmidt

**Who thinks Finance will approve this expense?

A friend of mine needed to put together a social media strategy for a client and doesn’t know where to start. She reached out to a handful of people and can you believe it, every person she contacted turned out to be a Social Media Guru. <ironic wink goes here>

To her untrained ear, they all talked a good game. But not one of them had hands-on experience putting together a basic social media strategy, much less implementing it over time.

So, how can you hire someone who can help you find your way through the jungle of social media platforms and purposes vs someone who wants to learn on your dime?

Turn up your bullshit meter and listen closely to their sales pitch. These geniuses told my friend things like “it's all about controlling the data." “I can guarantee you an increase in sales.” “Measureable ROI? No problem.” Yet, not one of these so-called social media kingpins would share their methods or plan of attack beyond high-level generalizations.

Here’s the thing: getting started in social is not rocket science, as you know if you’ve ready any of my posts. The trick is to do it right from the start and to continue to fine tune what you're doing.

So before you hire a "Social Media Guru", turn your bullshit detector way up. Then look for someone who 1) has actual experience 2) doesn't promise you the moon 3) shares what they know in plain English 4) and asks questions like: what do you hope to accomplish? how can I help you make a business case for social media? what does ROI mean to you? do you have the resources to maintain an active social presence? 

I've read that this crappy economy has put more men out of work than women. And some unemployed men have given up looking for work to become stay at home Dads.

This means women are now in the majority in the workforce and more men are taking care of the kids and the home—the job my Mom friends call the best and worst in the world.

So how are newly minted breadwinner Moms feeling about their new role? The ones I know are struggling. 

They're conflicted. On one hand, they’re happy their husbands get to spend more time with the kids and to gain newfound appreciation for the demands of parenting. But they also resent that their husband is no longer earning an income. More than one of them has said that this is not what she signed up for. She thought she and her husband would be sharing the financial burden. 

The truth is, being the sole source of income for your family--whether you're a Mom or Dad--is scary.

What's going to happen to these families? And to these marriages? As the economy continues to sputter, households will continue to be turned upside down. And my friends will continue to be put to the test. I'm hoping they'll find ways to renegotiate the most important social contract of all--their marriage contract. But I'm a little worried.

How about you?

Moms who have picked up the financial slack—when you and your husband decided to have children, was this part of the deal? Are you feeling duped? Or are you resigned to being the sole provider?

Stay-at-home Dads—how do you feel about your Baby Daddy status? Is your wife supportive? Are you loving it? Or are you wishing like hell you could get your old job back?

At a blogher11 "Vlogging U" session yesterday, the entire audience applauded a conference attendee who shared a tip about how to keep your video content—and your audience—on your blog.  Pardon my French, but that’s a load of crap.

YouTube is the #2 search engine. Only Google has more drawing power. So unless you’re Huffington Post, limiting your readers’ ability to watch your content is limiting your reach.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t let readers watch your video content on your blog. Or that you shouldn’t try to monetize that content via ad impressions.

But if your goal is to reach the greatest number of people with your message (which will ultimately increase your content’s value and your value) stop thinking of your blog as the center of the universe and start thinking of it as a jumping off point.

So let people watch your video (and all of your related videos) on YouTube. Distribute your content to where they already are instead of making them always come to you.

Blow up the walls that separate your blog from the rest of the digital world and you may just blow up your readership—in the best possible way.

It's #HireFriday when the Twitterverse shares tips and leads with jobseekers.

I've written before about why everyone should be on LinkedIn. And I will keep repeating myself until people stop asking me if it's worth their time.

LinkedIn is the go-to resource recruiters and employers use to locate talent.

And not that you need another reason, but here's 1 more:

It's a great way to stay in contact with former colleagues you don't like enough to Facebook with but who may be useful to you in the future. 

Speaking of the future, if you're one of those "rebels" who still refuses to join LinkedIn, WAKE UP.  There's only a kiddie pool of work out there and the high dive platform is getting more crowded every day.

Having a complete LinkedIn profile (with photos, recommendations, etc.) will help you come up in search more often and give you a shot at being the first into the water.

Any questions?

I cringe every time I hear about a creative brief with "Viral" in the title. "Viral video", "viral social program" or "Viral Facebook app".

Advertisers don't make things "viral". People do. It's only when people discover something so funny, sexy, weird-ass, or ingenious that they're compelled to share it like mad and as a result, it becomes viral.

The best advertisers can do is create something that's probably out of their comfort zone and hope it will become a sharing phenomenon.

Here are couple of things that are keeping folks up at night and interrupting their work day. (Click on each caption to learn more).

Notice that there's only 1 advertiser.

People posing as they take a dip.

Black Metal Vegan Chef videos.

Here's a question I'm asked often. "I want to get Brand X started in social media. What should we be saying in _____________" (fill in the blank with the social platform du jour).

My response: "say nothing". 

Until you know what your customers are saying and where they are saying it, do yourself a favor. Save yourself some embarrassment by spending at least a month doing nothing but listening.

You can hire a company to do this for you. Or you can take a DIY approach by setting some Google alerts and searching the social platforms you think your customers are using, like Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, Quora, etc. 

Keep your ears open and your mouth shut. Then spend some time thinking about what you've learned. What do your customers care about? How can you provide value? If you've done a good job of listening, you'll know what to say and where to get started. 

Here's a thought: what if we laid a foundation of solid understanding with our clients before we tried to pitch them a digital/social initiative? What if we stopped being vendors and started being thought leaders?

Clients are paying us for our expertise.

So yes, we need to simplify our presentations as much as possible. But when they still say "digital/social is complicated", it's our job to remind them (respectfully) that it's easy to shout via TV commercials and print that "our product is the best and you should buy it". But getting to know your customers and what they want is harder.

Why? Because relationships are complicated. But in the long run, you get out of them what you put into them.

What could be simpler than that?

A word of advice to advertisers who want to build a closed community for your customers. Don’t.

If you really want to hear what your customers are thinking, don’t demand that we connect with you in an environment you control. I, for one, don't want to take part in a behind closed doors conversation where you can shut me down if you don't like what I have to say.

But I'd love to chat, like and share around your products & services via Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, LinkedIn, Quora, etc., where others can also join our discussion.

Like most of your customers, I don’t want to be part of your community; I want you to be part of mine.

So unless you're a financial institution or a hospital that has regulatory and/or privacy issues, save your money. Instead of investing in another expensive website with community functionality, put your marketing dollars toward a well-thought out social media presence that lets you listen, connect and engage over time with your customers, in environments that we trust.

Bob Slate is dead. And I'm responsible. When Staples moved into Harvard Square offering everything from padded envelopes to printer cartridges to Kindles at prices Bob Slate can't match, I complained (as did most of my neighbors) that Cambridge was becoming "Gap-ified". But no one held a gun to my head to make me shop at the Big Box store. Just as no one forced me to order books from Amazon. Or to buy a Dyson from eBay. I'm guilty as charged. And feeling ashamed that when Bob Slate closes its doors for the last time at all 3 Cambridge locations, there will be no body to view; no funeral to attend and I'll know in my heart that I could've done more to save it. 

It reminded me of my theory that we military brats are soft-wired to be social. I wonder if a brain scan would show we're more empathic or somehow predisposed to be the social glue that holds our network together?

I'm no scientist. But I do know that I was social long before there was social media. As an Air Force "brat",  I've lived on 2 continents, in 2 countries, 4 states, on 1 island and god knows how many cities. All this moving meant I had to connect quickly and  keep those connections going long after I left a city or job.

It's no surprise that as soon as there was Facebook, I was on it. Likewise I was an early adopter of LinkedIn, Twitter, Quora, Delicious, flickr, migente, etc.

I rely on social media to stay in touch with my far-flung network. BTW, staying connected definitely has its perks. I always have a place to stay when I'm in Puerto Rico, Kaui, France, Montreal, Austin, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Columbus, Manhattan...

For me, the answer to the question: are military brats inherently "social"? is YES. Our nomad lifestyle "soft-wired" us. The technology just makes it easier to do what we've always done: weave our friends', familys' and colleagues' lives and interests together.

Of course, that's just one woman's opinion. So I checked with another military brat, Christie Cordes, who is what else -- an ad recruiter. Here's what she said "...as a child who moved all over the world, I immediately recognized the real power of social media, whereas others, were like 'oh please they're just Facebook friends, not my REAL friends, because real friends are in front of you and would disappear if they moved cities, not to mention countries'."

For Christie & me, location has always been irrelevant. And maintaining a real friendship has always been possible no matter what city or country you live in.

So here's to all the "brats" who believe that your real friends will stay connected to you as long as you stay connected to them.

Image c/o RSA Animate.

Click here to download:

facts_of_love.pdf (586 KB)

(download)

Click here to download:

facts_of_love.pdf (586 KB)

I can't get enough of PDFs from sites like GOOD.is that show which brands are spending big on advertising, who's who in the Mexican drug wars or videos that illustrate the value to society of investing in a 12-year-old girl.

So if you stumble across an awesome infographic, please feed my addiction and send it my way.

There's a saying that one man with an idea is a madman. But a thousand with an idea is a movement. Is that what's going on in Egypt right now? A movement? Or is it simply "chaos"? Wait a minute, I can't think of a revolution that wasn't chaotic? Can you?

The truth is, I don't really know what's happening there. I'm watching the sound bytes and reading the New York Times. I'm also keeping an eye on Tweetdeck, but the tweets are pouring in faster than even Evelyn Wood can read.

Something is happening. That's for sure. But maybe we should hold off labeling it as "chaos". Because sticks and stones might not break any bones. But words can influence outcomes.

Photo c/o Google Images/Creative Commons/MSoli

Fashionistas rejoice! Now you can be your BFF's stylist by creating a clothing collage of what she should wear to her interview, big date, or girls night out with Polyvore.com

Your friends get your fashion advice. And you get to pretend you're Stacy London. So what's in it for fashion designers? They learn from what you and millions of others in effect vote most "choice" and can stop production on what's quickly becoming bottom of the barrel.

Now the question is: which of your friends do you want to return the favor?

My husband just started a new job. So far, most of his colleagues are pretty welcoming. Which is unusual. Because New Englanders have a reputation for being "crusty" and only liking their "own kind". So if you're not "from here", you're an outsider -- unless a local vouches for you.

Which makes me wonder: does the average person use social to open the door to new ideas, opinions and relationships? Or to tighten the circle around those they already know?

How do you use Facebook? Is it strictly to connect with friends & family? On Twitter, do you exchange new ideas and learn from strangers who share your interests? When a friend of a friend who's in the same industry invites you to connect on LinkedIn, do you accept?

Where do you draw the line? Do you use social to expand your horizons or to mark your boundaries?