Eight Things I Hate About You

I like this from David Koretz of MediaPost - it's actually eight things he hates about himself, but the thoughts there....

1. Getting friended on Facebook after a business meeting. Can we please preserve the last ounce of formality that is left in business? I can live with you wearing jeans to our meeting, but save faux friendship for faux friends.

2. Writers and bloggers that need to use "in full disclosure" in their articles. This is the bizarre combination of someone with enough self-awareness to know that they are doing something wrong, but insufficient dignity to stop doing it. If you need to issue a disclaimer in your article, don't write the article.

3. People who start sentences with the phrase "to be honest with you." It is the fastest way I know to convince the other person you are full of crap.

4. Competing with your BlackBerry. Whether in a meeting, or on a dinner date, leave your BlackBerry at home (or at least in your pocket)! It is the fastest way to demonstrate to a client or date that you are "not that into them."

5. People that wear Bluetooth dongles in their ears. I have said it before, and I'll say it again: put the dongle down.

6. Consultants. When will you finally learn that their interests will NEVER be fully aligned with yours? Consultants try to maximize their fees (as they should), not maximize your ROI. It is not the consultant's fault, though. It is the fault of the person hiring them for not acknowledging what team they play on.

7. Using CTR to measure success. The notion that it is better to focus on the wrong metric rather than no metric is asinine. Focusing on the wrong metrics ensures your staff will not be successful. Brand advertisers should be measuring for brand impact, and performance advertisers should be measuring revenue. Nobody benefits from CTR as a primary metric.

8. Anyone who still believes ad networks actually sell "blind." As long as there is a financial incentive to disclose your brand, you will never have blind ad networks. You will only have companies that commoditize your inventory.