Trademark Policies and Twitter

I started Buzzgrinder.com back in 2001, but failed to snag @buzzgrinder a few years later, and now someone was sitting on it.

Since I owned the trademark to my blog (you did get your band / brand / company / blog name trademarked, right?), I was able to file a claim with Twitter. The Twitter Trademark Policy page is pretty straightforward, so it was easy to get my claim started.

After I submitted the proper trademark info and swapped a few emails with Twitter, I now have control of @buzzgrinder on Twitter. The whole process took a few days, and was quite painless.

Use WordPress, Get more Traffic to Your Website

If you’re running a small business and your website carries a product and you’re burying that product on a page named product_2.html, you’re missing out. With a few simple SEO practices you’ll get more traffic to your website.

Take an evening and install WordPress. Upload a photo of your product, title your post something very basic, like “NAME OF PRODUCT – MODEL,” make sure you include the name of the product and model in your post a few times, then hit publish. Continue reading →

Just Ask

On the phone the other night a friend gave me some simple advice; just ask. I can ask my way across the entire country for a place to sleep for a few days, but I have difficulty in asking for simple things that don’t involve fold-out couches and a place for my tooth brush.

Today I asked for help a few times. Some requests worked, other didn’t. I’m sort of feeling these days if I’m not throwing out requests, asking for help, or putting myself into some uncomfortable situation then I’m not really trying hard enough.

Forget Branding, Just be a Good Person

What a night! Just finished talking to the last ppl. 98% of the crowd stuck around to chat. 5am my legs feel like spaghetti but I love life.

— Johnny Cupcakes (@JohnnyCupcakes) January 22, 2012

I saw Johnny speak at NYU once, not long after I heard of this “Johnny Cupcakes” thing. I was curious. I had yet to buy any of his goods, but I had to see what he was about. Continue reading →

What’s the most entertaining thing you can build?

In response to ycombinator’s “Kill Hollywood” appeal, I propose:

We’re funnier / smarter / more creative than you think, so let’s get off our collective asses and start making shit. I bet everyone of us has, at one point, been involved in some sort of funny “oh my good, that should have been a SNL skit” moment. Or a seriously intense debate with someone where some good happened. Or you did something… well, you DID SOMETHING.

Get it out there. Continue reading →