August 2010
1 post
My second job... →
And arguably the one I am best at, “World’s Greatest Horsey” Permalink | Leave a comment »
July 2010
8 posts
The Best Way To End The Day! →
Permalink | Leave a comment »
“The act of actually creating something vs. sitting around and consuming content...”
– Mitch Joel (via Instapaper)
“I think this is why I have a entrepreneur mindset. I want to control my destiny....”
– C.C. Chapman (via Instapaper)
“I had created the rule many years ago, early into my job at Intuit, and quite...”
– Avinash Kaushik (via Instapaper)
“Facebook is your life’s newspaper, the rest of the web is the wild wild rest.”
– Sanders Says: Facebook world VS Real Web World (via Instapaper)
Family Vacation To Mohonk Mountain House
See and download the full gallery on posterousFor Grandma’s 80th Birthday! Posted via email from Michael Schechter’s Posterous | Comment »
My daughter shows off that she can draw her...
Posted via email from Michael Schechter’s Posterous | Comment »
1 tag
The (social networking) world according to Gordon...
America’s Best Jewelers forum The (social networking) world according to Gordon By Michelle Graff July 06, 2010 Oklahoma City—Dan Gordon is a retail jeweler who also maintains a blog, controls two Facebook pages, manages a duo of...
June 2010
2 posts
1 tag
You don't need a social media strategy - From...
“You don’t need a social media strategy - You need a brand strategy that leverages social media. Don’t get off the brand strategy just because there’s a new communications channel, that’s how you lose the plot as a brand. Technology is the tail, not the dog.” Wow. He’s spot on. I saw this back in ‘97 when companies had to quickly create an...
1 tag
Check Out The Gen-Next Jewelers Column in JCK...
Social Climbing By Michael Schechter This story appears in the June 2010 issue of JCK Magazine. How to Tweet, Friend, and Blog Your Way to Bigger Business In this day and age, the two most common words on every retailer’s lips are social media. There’s a lot of talk out there, but are you truly taking advantage of the opportunities afforded by this technology?...
May 2010
3 posts
1 tag
We're the same, we're the same, we're... from Seth...
Take a look at just about any industry with many competitors—colleges, hotels, sedans, accounting firms (especially accounting firms)… The websites bend over backwards to be just like all the others. You can’t identify one hotel website from another if you delete the name of the hotel (unless there’s a beach or a snow-capped mountain in the background). Sometimes, we try...
1 tag
A Fascinating Look At The Numbers Behind Social...
Yesterday, Erik Qualman (the author Socialnomics) released an updated version of his very popular YouTube video on Social Media stats titled: Social Media Revolution 2 (Refresh). Here are some of the more interesting Social Media stats: Facebook tops Google for weekly traffic in the U.S. 1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media Facebook added over 200...
1 tag
Kaity's super dooper automatic pop holder!
Patent Pending Posted via email from Michael Schechter’s Posterous | Comment »
April 2010
10 posts
1 tag
Why jewelers shouldn't get into e-commerce - From...
Let me explain why selling online would be the equivalent of selling our souls. First, if we begin to train our customers that it is just fine and acceptable to buy online, we will eventually be sending them to the lowest-priced online retailer, and we jewelers are not all designed to be that low-priced operation. Simply put, if you list prices on your sites, you will be pushing customers away...
1 tag
Having a drink with Trace and Davidafter the end...
Great times with good people! Posted via email from Michael Schechter’s Posterous | Comment »
1 tag
The Relationship Behind the Sale - From Danny...
Sales is Service is PR is Service is Marketing People are emotional beings. We live by how we feel; act on how we’re acted upon; respond to how we’re treated. All our decisions are based around our emotions, which is why we’re emotional marketers. Think of any business transaction you’ve had as a customer. The best ones will remain in your mind for all the right reasons, and chances are you’ve...
1 tag
Why Smart Jewelry Show Attendees Should Come To...
Download now or watch on posterous IMG_3212.MOV (3002 KB) Let Matthijs Braakman from Instore Magazine tell you why everyone attending the The Smart Jewelry Show should join Gen-Next Jewelers tonight at Riva on Navy Pier at 6 PM. The first 100 people will receive two drink tickets and a unique networking opportunity (weather permitting!) courtesy of the...
1 tag
Future12 Elements
WHATEVER INDUSTRY NICHE THEY OCCUPY, they are increasingly called upon to navigate a changing retail environment influenced by the Internet, and they tend to seek each other out in an effort to share and learn. The jewelry industry is a fragmented momand-pop kind of industry with a certain way of thinking about business,” says Russell Kwiat, a 30-year-old partner with Kwiat. “We...
1 tag
Interested in the facts and stats behind twitter?...
Twitter has 105,779,710 registered users. It gets 300,000 new users a day. About 60 percent of them are coming from outside the U.S It receives 180 Million Unique visitors a month. And 75% of traffic comes from outside of Twitter.com Twitter now has 175 employees. 600 million search queries a day(!) 100,000 twitter apps out there. via thenextweb.com Thinking about using Twitter for...
1 tag
The Key to Social Media Success is Just 2 Letters...
Just 2 Letters The difference between “selling” and “helping” is only two letters, but the gap is in reality, much larger. The best – and most effective – social media programs aren’t based on promotions and message distribution. Instead, they revolve around removing friction and uncertainty for potential or current customers. It’s about marketing sideways, not marketing head-on. Nationwide...
1 tag
Kaity wanted to take her baby for a walk!
Posted via email from Michael Schechter’s Posterous | Comment »
1 tag
How One Jeweler Is Leveraging Social Media To...
via nationaljewelernetwork.com If you haven’t seen this article from National Jeweler, give it a read. I wont bother recapping the details, but unquestionably the local advertisement shown above is in poor taste and the team at R.F. Moeller should have approved the creative. However the bad ad is not what I found interesting and about the article. What caught my attention is the way that...
1 tag
Congratulations To GNJ Executive Board Member Josh...
Joshua Weinman, former president of Tache Diamonds USA, has accepted a new position at Firestone after 15 years with Tache. Weinman’s new position, vice-president of diamond division and strategic acquisitions, is responsible for heading the certified diamond business worldwide. Weinman is also the current chairman of the Diamond Council of America, and co-founder and board member of...
March 2010
16 posts
1 tag
Jewelry Shoppers: The Next Generation - From JCK...
Dan Gordon, of Samuel Gordon Jewelers, in Oklahoma City, thinks jewelers need to be more transparent. “Our industry is so guarded, so trying to hide everything,” he says. “We’ve got to let it all out there, not continue to hide stuff, which the industry has always been about. You’ve got to give everything away for free as far as intellectual property-you have to give...
1 tag
Subit Your Designs To The Women's Jewelry...
‘WJA’s DIVA Design Competition is open for entries! The Women’s Jewelry Association DIVA Design Competition is now open This year’s theme, New Dawn, reflects the competition’s focus on a new decade, new techniques, new materials, and the new woman of today. Judging by a panel of experts will be completed by May 1 with winners notified in early...
1 tag
What Is Your Approach To Jewelry Design?
via thenextweb.com While this statement on Apple’s design philosophy is a bit harsh, it left me wondering how designers in the jewelry industry approach their work. So here are a few questions for all of you jewelry designers as well as some of you jewelry retailers and manufacturers. What is your design philosophy? How do you want your designs to be perceived by your customers? How...
1 tag
JCK Events Twitter Conversation With Megan...
Join us on Tuesday at 3pm on Twitter @JCKEvents for our Conversation Piece with Megan Meinerding, Vice President of Client Services for Fruchtman Marketing! via facebook.com An interesting experiment for how the Jewelry Industry can use Twitter. Tune in today at 3pm ET and you are sure to learn a thing or two from Megan! See more Jewelery Industry News at the Gen-Next Jewelers website ...
4 tags
Karl Rove's book vs. REWORK - what the American...
via 37signals.com Officially the best “Attack Ad” ever! Simply brilliant advertising from the creative folks at 37 Signals. If you haven’t picked up Rework, it is well worth the read (as is their previous book, Getting Real). Posted via web from The Digital Tail
1 tag
Oscar Recap: Can I Please Get Some Bling?
As exciting as having 10 best picture nominations may be, I’m still a sucker for the red carpet - and more specifically THE JEWELRY!! (no surprise there) The trend was clear this year - small, intricate earrings and bracelets. Unlike past years, there wasn’t huge diamond jewelry everywhere you turned. Although Carey Mulligan did not shy away from the WOW factor with those cascading...
2 tags
Women's Jewelry Association, Inc. - WITK 2010...
via wjamarion.memberlodge.com The Women In The Know conference is being held by our friends at the Women’s Jewelry Association this Friday, March 12th at FIT in New York City. Click the link above to see the entire schedule of amazing speakers! Read more Jewelry Industry News on the aaaaGen-Next Jewelers Website Posted via web from Jewelry Industry News and Insights from Gen-Next...
1 tag
Fifth graders sing Phoenix, 'Lisztomania'... -...
via mikehayes.posterous.com Love when 5th graders take on top 40 and win! Posted via web from Michael Schechter’s Posterous | Comment »
1 tag
Game Changing Innovation - Tom Fishburne
via tomfishburne.com Does this strike a chord with anyone else, or is it just me? You can read the whole article at Tom Fishbure’s site, but I tend to think the cartoon says it all… I for one think that we will see some game changing innovations this year, I just hope we know what to do with them when they appear. How about you? Do you think that 2010 is going to be a game...
1 tag
The Social Media Cheat Sheet
via feedproxy.google.com Just getting started in Social Media? Here is an easy to read resource on the strengths and weaknesses of many of the most popular Social Media sites. Read the full article at Drew’s Marketing Minute. Read more Out of Industry News at Gen-NextJewelers.com Posted via web from Jewelry Industry News and Insights from Gen-Next Jewelers | Comment » ...
Kaity Kong!
See and download the full gallery on posterous Posted via email from Michael Schechter’s Posterous | Comment »
2 tags
MJSA Expo to host series of free seminars in NYC -...
On Monday, MJSA is scheduled to present panels on topics that have grabbed headlines over the past year. “From Old Media to Social Media: Promoting Product in the 21st Century” will be moderated by Peggy Jo Donahue, MJSA’s director of public affairs, who will talk to a group of social media pioneers about how sites such as Facebook and Twitter have benefited and built their...
Study: Luxury consumers slowly return to jewelry -...
New York—A new W magazine study finds that luxury consumers are increasingly spending discretionary dollars on jewelry and watches, but predicts that going forward, affluent shoppers will select known brands and pieces that are classic and discreet. The study found that the recession hit luxury hard in the fall/holiday 2008 season, when 91 percent of the affluent consumers surveyed said...
2 tags
E-Commerce Sites Freshen Up to Grow Sales -...
Many respondents also plan on adding mobile site capabilities in the next two years, though about six in 10 say they have no plans for an m-commerce site. via emarketer.com Many jewelry manufacturers and retail jewelers that we have spoken with are starting to look at reworking their sites. This data from “Website Design Strategies and Tactics” February 2010 survey offers...
1 tag
Seth's Blog: Try different
The usual mantra is to ‘try harder’. Trying harder is impossible when you’re already trying as hard as you can. But you can always try different. via sethgodin.typepad.com If you aren’t reading Seth Godin’s almost daily blog, you should be! If you haven’t taken the time to read his books Tribes, The Dip and his latest work Linchpin, you should be! ...
2 tags
This Too Shall Pass - WATCH THIS NOW!!!
via popfi.com This may be the single most astounding music video I’ve ever seen. You often hear people talk about the need to create remarkable content, OK GO seems to do this and then some with their latest video for This Too Shall Pass. Seriously… Wow! Posted via web from The Digital Tail
February 2010
18 posts
1 tag
JA New York Winter Show opens this weekend
The JA New York Winter Show 2010, runs from Feb. 28 through March 2, 2010, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. In conjunction with the show, Jewelers of America (JA) has partnered with America’s Best Jewelers (ABJ), presented by National Jeweler Network, for a series of seminars in the JA Retail Learning Center, which is located on the show floor in the back of the...
4 tags
Remarkable Stats on the State of the Internet...
via feedproxy.google.com The current state of the internet (the good and some of the bad) in 2 minutes. Posted via web from The Digital Tail
3 tags
Stop Talking About Yourself - ChrisBrogan.com
Check your last 10 blog posts, your last 10 tweets. Are they all about you. Are they all about your products, your services, whatever it is you’re pushing? How many are about you versus those that are about others (either directly about them or empowering them)? via chrisbrogan.com It is likely that you have never heard of Chris Brogan, but we would highly recommend you start...
4 tags
Survey: Social media best for consumer feedback -...
This report, based on a survey of 1,614 affluent luxury consumers with an average income of $239,300, also reveals that some 78 percent of affluent consumers have at least one social networking profile, and that for most, that profile is on Facebook. The findings also show that contrary to popular opinion, the younger demographic is not the only one tapping in. Some 70 percent of affluent...
2 tags
A First Look at Apple's Massive Data Center -...
A first peek at Apple’s new data center in Maiden, North Carolina, shows a massive complex that demonstrates the huge commitment Apple may be making to cloud computing. According to Data Center Knowledge, the $1 billion data center is 500,000 square feet in size, nearly five times the size of Apple’s 100,000 square foot facility in Newark, New Jersey. The data center is...
3 tags
Why Simple Works - A Free Marketing Ebook from...
via dannybrown.me Disclaimer… I am an unabashed fan of Danny Brown. I am a long time reader of his blog and chat with him online from time to time and even though we’ve never met face to face, I consider Danny to be a friend. I am a big believer in what Danny is saying here… as marketers, we overload our content in order to sound like an expert and make it impossible for...
4 tags
Do Web Portals Have A Future? | Six Pixels of...
Do Web Portals Have A Future? Something big happened in the Digital Marketing landscape last week. In case you missed it, on Wednesday, February 17th, 2010, Compete announced that Facebook surged passed Yahoo! as the number two most popular website in the U.S. That’s big news, and most people focused on the numbers (nearly 134 Million Unique Visitors in January 2010,...
4 tags
Holy Crap! Facebook has passed Google
via inquisitr.com Slowly, but surely, it does seem to appear that Social is surpassing Search… Sure, this is only US stats, but it certainly indicates just how prevalent Facebook and social technology has become in our lives. Posted via web from The Digital Tail
1 tag
Resolutions for jewelers: This year, I will...
We all start out the new year with some great intentions. We say we’ll eat a little less, exercise a little more, set aside time for ourselves, and focus on completing a host of other well intentioned but no-way-am-I-ever-going-to-do-this personal goals. But how many of us actually take the time to prepare a few business resolutions? Real write-them-down kind of goals? May I give you my...
1 tag
Resolutions for jewelers: This year, I will...
Resolution #1 Focus on your core customer. Under no circumstances should a retailer say “I want to sell jewelry to anyone with a heartbeat.”via nationaljewelernetwork.com A great read from Ellen Fructman with a few suggestions we should all consider in the new year. Be sure to click the link above to read the full article on NationalJewelerNetwork.com Posted via web from...