It is a very one-sided mindset. And in my opinion, quite dangerous and short-sighted. You might as well just tie me to a chair, force me to watch your ad, and wrestle my wallet out of my hand. Is that how to create a happy and loyal customer?

For a moment, flip the equation around. Rather than “target” someone else, what if you became the target? And what would it take to make yourself a highly valued target or someone that was sought after?

If your product or service or expertise isn’t worth talking about, why is that? Perhaps you haven’t yet figured out what makes you special. Or worse, you don’t even care.

So take a moment and look at Convert and change the focus. Change your strategy to teach your happy loyal customers (a.k.a. the converts) to be your marketing megaphone. Step back and wonder, “why would they want to refer me business?”

I believe that marketing is no longer just outward bound. In fact, it has always been bi-directional. The Internet just gave people the simple tools to extend “word of mouth” to tap into the “wisdom of the crowds.” Most companies are just starting to understand or grasp this, which is why social media in business is booming.

So the answer is simple: marketing is about conversation. If your product, service or expertise isn’t worth talking about and you aren’t talking, you are invisible.

Be visible and start talking. (Post your comments below.)

This got me thinking: Did he just post 18 ideas for startup companies? Yes, I think that he did.

So, what ideas do you have for mixing contextual data? And how can this be delivered on mobile devices, like the iPhone or the Android platform?

Post your thoughts in the comments.

As he points out, over delivering is hard. Really hard. In fact, it can be hard just to deliver consistently.

The key is developing your system for delivering. Run the system over and over again. Refine the system. Improve your results over time and develop good habits. Then push farther.

But not everything is going to go smoothly. So make sure that you are engaging your clients in conversation about your services. Clients are much more understanding of your mistakes when you are openly engaged.

When you try to hide your imperfections, your clients can smell it. And then everything starts to smell bad to them, even if it is fine.

Trust is very fragile. But if you can make good on your promise and then go farther, your clients will reward you with powerful testimonials.

I agree, it is too much. Why has is gotten so loud? The answer is simple: Web 2.0 enables conversations and the more people and businesses that come to the party, the louder it will get.

So how do you deal with all of the noise? Listen for the echoes from the crowds.

I think that you have to start trusting the noise rather than trying to sift through it. The genuinely great ideas, articles, events, products, companies, people, etc. will naturally receive the votes of the crowd and create a “virtual echo” that is powerful enough to hear beyond the first post.

So consider your experience. If you subscribe to RSS feeds, don’t try to read everything. Skim the lists and then search for interesting posts across all of your feeds. Don’t try to catch up if you get behind. The good stuff will stick around thanks to the wisdom of the crowd.

(I got some strange looks at first, but I’m used to that by now.)

See, the whole point about books with interesting ideas is that you share them. Once you have read it, you pass it along. Let the idea spread. If you ever decide to read the book again, buy another copy and then pass it along again. (Rinse, repeat.)

Good ideas get better when they spread.

Squidoo concept: Everyone is an expert on something.

How can Squidoo benefit you? By creating a “Lens” on a topic, perhaps what your business sells, you position yourself as an expert. And it also can improve link popularity if the lens links back to your site or blog. My suggestion is to browse around on Squidoo, create an account and claim your lens.

And for a few more thoughts on this, The Unoffical Apple Weblog has this comment.

And then Seth Godin has this to say about how to spend $20 million.

Author Seth Godin’s Really Bad PowerPoint post on this topic hits the nail on the head.

Business Week has a great article about how Steve Jobs is a master at giving presentations. He doesn’t use PowerPoint, rather a program for the Mac called Keynote.