Since it seems “Best Of” posts are a dime a dozen about this time of the year, I decided to try something a littler different and kicked this question out via Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

If you could sum up your 2010 goals in three words, what would they be?

The answers? They ranged from hilarious to witty to realistic to creative. Like me, you will probably find many of them inspiring as we wrap up the decade. You can check them all out below.

Oh and if you wanted a “Best Of” list, here you go (based on traffic) here are the The Rise To The Top’s Top 5 Posts Of 2009:

1. Top 10 Big Marketing Predictions … Read More »

I rarely do a local post, but as we head into, believe it or a not, a new decade, I figured it would be a good time to talk about the potential of The Gateway City.

First of all, I love St. Louis. My family is from here. I’m from here. Marcie’s (my fiancee) family is from here. Marcie is from here. I bleed St. Louis Blues hockey. I’m a big Cardinals fan and I painfully watch Rams games. St. Louis has a great theatre scene, arts community, attractions for kids (such as Six Flags), amazing local businesses (many under the radar screen), street festivals, a small town feel, our own local lingo “Where did you go to high school?” … Read More »

Many of you know, that we are launching RISE, a NEW daily web show starting Monday, January 4th (as well as a website redesign which explains right now why on TheRiseToTheTop.com some things may look a little bit “off”). I figured it would be time to take a quick break and give us all a chance to take off that awful holiday sweater to tell you a little bit more about it and why you might be interested in becoming a regular viewer.

#1: The Show Is Designed To Help You And Your Business With Marketing

The new tagline will say it all: “RISE: The #1 Non-Boring Resource For Marketing Your Business Like An Entrepreneur. Smarter, Faster, Cheaper.”

Why? Because … Read More »

RISE: A New Non-Boring Web Show For Entrepreneurs And Marketers Ready To Launch
Many of you know, that we are launching RISE, a NEW daily web show starting Monday, January 4th (as well as a website redesign which explains right now why on TheRiseToTheTop.com some things may look a little bit “off”). I figured it would be time to take a quick break and give us all a chance to take off that awful holiday sweater to tell you a little bit more about it and why you might be interested in becoming a regular viewer.

For the full article, make sure to click the link.… Read More »

As many of you know we are going through a BIG site redesign right now to launch RISE, a new daily web show for entrepreneurs and marketers on January 4th along with many other goodies.

In the meantime, the site might just look like a bit of a “mess” but don’t worry the 100+ articles and over 200 hours of videos aren’t going anywhere, we are just shifting the puzzle pieces around.

So, if something looks out of place, it probably is.

If something looks like it disappeared, it will be back.

Whew, in the meantime if you need to reach me, I’ll be spending LOTS of time on Twitter (@therisetothetop), Facebook Fan Page (facebook/risetothetop) and my Facebook page (… Read More »

I hope you enjoy this interview conducted by Phil Dobbie of BTalk Australia (CBS) where jumped into some more detail on my 10 Big Marketing Predictions For 2010.

Phil is a great interviewer and has a really cool accent. In this interview, we talk about what marketing in 2010 will “look like”, why I think content producers are going to rule the world and other marketing predictions and trends.

Here is a link to the original interview on Btalk.

Enjoy!… Read More »

Gary Vaynerchuk stopped into St. Louis last night on his Crush It Book Tour and gave an unbelievably passionate and “real” keynote at World Market.

This is 45 minutes of it. (Note: The file was REALLY big so I cut it down a little bit so it isn’t the highest quality but you will get the gist).

Of course Gary says, “Now I’m going to tell a story I’ve never told before” and my camera runs out of juice at the end. But I figure I’ll leave everyone in suspense.

Gary Vaynerchuk is simply a real good, good guy. He genuinely cares and his message is fantastic.

If you are a Gary rookie, you can check his Wine Video Blog… Read More »

Above is a clip from a segment I did today on Great Day St. Louis on CBS-KMOV 4 in St. Louis dealing with social media for kids and how parents can educate themselves and set policies.

I’m interested to hear your thoughts on this. How young is too young? Do you monitor your kids?

The key takeaway is social media is a GOOD thing. This isn’t an anti-drug or smoking campaigning. The few bad stories we hear are the exceptions, not the norm.

What are your thoughts on kids on social media?… Read More »

Stalking yourself and others has never been so easy and fun! We have all left digital footprints all over the web. Anytime you blog, or post something to Twitter or comment on a forum, you leave a footprint. Anytime your competitors issue a press release, or posts a video, they leave a footprint.

And more importantly, anytime someone talks, blogs, or writes about your company, it is all there on the web for everyone to see if they look.

While there are literally hundreds of tools for tracking and researching yourself and competitors online, here is a basic overview of some that will turn you into a sleuth in seconds. Best of all: They are all FREE (hooray!)

Note: Make … Read More »

It used to be you could get away with marketing a piece of crap.

Literally crap.

If you had enough money and bought enough ads, you could convince enough consumers that they needed and wanted your crappy product.

Now with this big social digital shift, the continued rise of social media, and one-way conversations becoming two-way, the crap no longer sells.

Never before has EVERY customer been the most important one. Every customer has a large voice and doesn’t need permission from a traditional media source, a letter to the editor or a customer service hotline to voice it(both good or bad). Blogs, social media, online content are all examples of word of mouth super-sized.

Love a product? Blog about … Read More »