Christopher S. Penn – Marketing AI Keynote Speaker

Blog

  • For the Public Good – Pseudoephedrine and Phenylephrine

    Ever heard of these two drugs? Pseudoephedrine and Phenylephrine. One is a vasoconstrictor, the other a vasopressor. One is a precursor chemical used to manufacture methamphetamines, and that’s where the trouble begins.

    A bit of history: pseudoephedrine has been used for years as a nasal decongestant. It’s effective in temporarily relieving congestion and stuffiness, and works well for a lot of people. Unfortunately for pseudoephedrine, it can be reduced using a variety of chemical methods to form methamphetamine, a potent, addictive drug. As a result, legislation passed in 2005 has restricted the sale of pseudoephedrine, and many retailers, drug manufacturers, and distributors have substituted phenylephrine in their cold remedies.

    What’s the problem with this? At least for me, and for others, phenylephrine is ineffective as a decongestant. I’ve tried it a number of times, and it has no effect whatsoever on me. Why? According to Wikipedia and subsequent sources, phenylephrine doesn’t activate a norephedrine response in the body, and is metabolized by monoamine oxidase through ingestion, with up to 2/3 of the drug being broken down before it gets into the body. The net effect? Phenylephrine doesn’t clear a stuffy nose for me, making it a waste of money.

    So here’s the question: does the public good of reducing the supply of pseudoephedrine for potential misuse outweigh the cost of a drug which has questionable effectiveness? Does the mitigation of potential criminal activity balance out with increased discomfort from illness?

    If you buy a decongestant containing phenylephrine, don’t be surprised if it doesn’t have the same bang for the buck that pseudoephedrine-based decongestants did.

    Side tip: even though it’s marketed for treatment of allergies, drugs like loratadine (marketed under the name Claritin) are also helpful for suppressing the histamine response for colds, and is effective for me against a stuffy nose. Disclosure: I work in student loans, not medicine or pharmacy. I have no expertise in this stuff at all besides what works for me – consult someone who’s actually qualified before self-treating with drugs.

    Side tip 2: even though directions for making methamphetamine are readily available on the internet, I’d suggest taking a course or two in organic chemistry first. Using the directions available, you’re more likely to blow yourself up than make something that will give you a high. It’d be like giving you this set of directions for making a cake: flour, sugar, milk, eggs, water, cocoa powder. Mix and bake. Good luck actually getting a cake out of that.

  • This is why I have a personal blog…

    … because even though this post is loan-related, it definitely doesn’t belong on the company’s web site.

    Senator Charles Schumer, you’re an idiot. Specifically, you’re an idiot for proposing legislation that will provide a bailout for homeowners facing foreclosure, according to the Washington Post.

    “We will be proposing significant amounts of dollars,” Schumer told reporters after being asked if a large federal bailout may be needed.

    More from your colleagues:

    “We’ve heard one heartbreaking story after another of borrowers with limited incomes being sold mortgages they could not afford,” Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said at a briefing on Capitol Hill.

    Full stop. Reality would like to have a word with you, then possibly bitchslap you. Unless a mortgage broker forged a signature on a loan document, the borrower signed for the mortgage. If they didn’t sign for it, then that’s fraud and they’re not liable for a penny of the debt. If they did sign it, but didn’t understand what they were signing, that’s not fraud, that’s stupidity.

    Lesson the first: never sign something you don’t understand. Ever.

    Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn, said he would call for a summit on Capitol Hill soon “to try to work out a process for providing relief to homeowners.”

    Senator Dodd, you’re added to the list of idiots.

    Why? Because when you execute a bailout on bad debts, guess who gets the money? Not the homeowner. Not the poor grandmother and the other sob stories you’re trotting out. The banks get the money. You’re essentially proposing to funnel a billion or so dollars straight to the loan portfolios of Citibank, Wells Fargo, Chase Manhattan, and other lenders, and I’m sure they’re very happy with your idea. In fact, I’d be willing to wager that they’ll repay the favor with some campaign funds.

    Wait, let’s go check.

    CHARLES E. SCHUMER (D-NY)
Top Industries

The top industries supporting Charles E. Schumer are:
1 	Securities & Investment 	2,507,200
2 	Lawyers/Law Firms2,009,721
3 	Real Estate 	1,529,498
4 	Commercial Banks549,249
5 	Misc Finance 	$534,248

    And for some names…

    CHARLES E. SCHUMER (D-NY)
Top Contributors

1 	JP Morgan Chase & Co 	129,800
2 	Merrill Lynch127,000
3 	Bear Stearns 	126,400
4 	Citigroup Inc111,550
5 	Morgan Stanley 	$109,500

    I call bullshit on you and your bailout of your financiers. This is payola, plain and simple, disguised as an appeal to a middle class who won’t see a dollar of your proposed aid to them – but they’ll pay it out in higher taxes. What about you, Senator Dodd?

    CHRISTOPHER J. DODD (D-CT)
Top Industries

The top industries supporting Christopher J. Dodd are:
1 	Securities & Investment 	1,552,013
2 	Lawyers/Law Firms749,472
3 	Insurance 	697,458
4 	Real Estate504,941
5 	Commercial Banks 	$403,700

    Again, I call bullshit, but let’s dig once more…

    CHRISTOPHER J. DODD (D-CT)
Top Contributors

1 	Citigroup Inc 	196,550
2 	Bear Stearns186,350
3 	United Technologies 	157,950
4 	American International Group121,378
5 	St Paul Travelers Companies 	$105,800

    Nice to see your legislation will fatten the profits of your supporters at the expense of my wallet.

    Go take a long walk off a short pier. If you ever wondered why America doesn’t trust you, this is why. Payola sucks, no matter how you slice it. I swear, I’m going to find that C-SPAN video of your speech on the Senate floor and put a big-ass “This appeal for more government misuse of tax dollars is brought you you by these fine banks which would like some free money…”

    Disgusting.

  • PodCamp NYC Presentations

    For those interested, these are my slide decks from 4 of the 6 sessions I did at PodCamp NYC.

    As per all things PodCamp, these are released under the Creative Commons 3.0 US by-nc-sa license.

  • Why I'm a Session Madman

    A few people asked me why I presented so much at PodCamp NYC. Here’s the simplest reason: I get too comfortable. By that, I mean it’s not only human nature, but very much in my own nature to hang out with people I know and enjoy being with. At an event like PodCamp, that’s bad. Very, very bad, because it means I’m not taking the opportunity to meet new people. My way around this, my mindhack if you will, is to do lots of sessions on different things and see who shows up, then meet them. Based on the sheer volume of emails in my inbox waiting for replies, I think the strategy is working. Hello to all of my new acquaintances and friends!

  • Action is all that matters

    Action is all that matters.

    The podcasting world has been obsessing about metrics lately, and I thought I’d pitch my two cents in as a podcaster whose show makes a fair bit of coin in the world of student loans. Here’s the rub:

    Action is all that matters.

    Forget audience size. Forget CPM, PPC, Adsense, and all of the monetization strategies that are being bantered around, because unless you’re already a highly successful web entrepreneur with a large web-based audience, these strategies will largely waste your time.

    Why? Most advertising models are based on mass media. They’re holdovers from the radio and televison broadcast days, when there was no clickstream, no digital tracking. You slapped up a billboard in Times Square or ran an ad in the Washington Post, and they told you how many people roughly might see it, and charge you a rate based on those numnbers.

    Those numbers are largely unhelpful. Why? Because podcasting is a high engagement, narrow band communications mechanism. If you want mass media audience sizes, then go work for the mass media and use the existing, established tools that work in mass media systems. Podcasting is not mass media – it’s niche media.

    Here’s a question: if you sell Gulfstream airplanes and you want to reach your goal of selling one every two years (which will feed a family of four and house them VERY nicely), how many audience members in your podcast do you need? The answer is: one that buys a plane from you every two years. If you have 100,000 listeners or viewers and none of them buy a plane, you effectively have no audience for monetization purposes. If you have 5 listeners and one buys a plane from you every six months, you have all the audience you’ll ever need and then some.

    Action is all that matters.

    I sell the services of the Student Loan Network. That means that my audience listeners need to get connected with our services. If I have 100 listeners and 99 are customers, my podcast is a success. If I have 1,000,000 listeners and none are customers, my podcast is a failure.

    What if you don’t sell airplanes or loans? Find something that fits your audience well and pays decently, and if you can’t find anything, either start a podcast in one of the industries that pays well, or find a different model to pay the bills and put food on the table. At PodCamp NYC, I mentioned during the marketing session that you already have over 10,000 advertisers at your disposal through affiliate programs, or pay-per-action. Instead of trying to sell artificial sweetener on a technology show, sell technology on a technology. It will better suit the needs of your audience, and will likely put more food on your table.

    Why don’t content producers like the affiliate program model? Simple – it pushes the responsibility for sales to the content producer. If your program sucks, but you’re getting paid on impressions (CPM), then you will still possibly earn a few bucks. However, if you work in the affiliate model, your audience will likely never buy a product from you and you won’t make any money at all. That’s why advertisers are willing to pay more for affiliate programs versus other forms of advertising – the risk has been offloaded to the content producer.

    Make a podcast that rocks the house. Make a podcast that inspires your audience to become a real community, to lend you their trust and appreciation, and then judiciously connect your community to products and services that are a great fit, and you will make frighteningly good money.

    Action is all that matters.

  • Twitter Updates for 2007-04-07

    • can someone tell me where chris penn is? its kristen. im lost. #
    • VON Editing photos and video from a fantastic night at PodCamp NYC. Hidden gem so far: Natalie Gelman. #
    • Flickr set for PodCamp NYC so far. https://www.christopherspenn.com/youve-discovered-the-missing-link/ #
    • Headed to the 39th floor in search of coffee. #
    • Sky Lounge only open at 7:30. Headed to Lobby. #
    • VON PodCamp NYC. At my booth on the second floor. 10 minutes to showtime. Sponsors have stuff worth stealing. Amazing. #

  • Twitter Updates for 2007-04-06

    • I just fell into a 10 foot hole of water in front of my house. Some damn fool ran over a fire hydrant. Flood everywhere. #
    • @DonnaPapacosta: I bought 20 sharpies and 1,200 post-its for the mashboard. PodCamp NYC will be Twitter 0.0. #
    • This is what happens when an SUV meets a fire hydrant. https://tinyurl.com/2bcysu #
    • Beginning work on session for PodCamp NYC: LinkedIn Power Tips. 9 AM Saturday, Village Room, 4th Floor. #
    • VON Heading to lobby for SLATE group at PodCamp NYC #

  • Twitter Updates for 2007-04-05

    • Heading into second life to see if the Student Loan Network tent is set up. #
    • @LDpodcast: need any assist? #
    • @DougH: any last minute publicity tips for PodCamp NYC on the cheap? 1,100 registrants. #
    • @ChrisBrogan: I look forward to killing you soon. #
    • FAP505 rendering now, uploading soon. Working from home today, found a great new way to set up mic and home studio. Almost as good as work. #
    • Hmm. Libsyn down? #
    • Photos and screen shots of settings for home studio setup. https://www.christopherspenn.com/youve-discovered-the-missing-link/ #
    • Can’t even open ftp.libsyn.com oh well, uploading show to web server for the day #
    • @Audio: Libsyn web upload worked, but slower than FTP, sadly. #
    • @LynetteRadio: Typically, between 60% – 75%… #
    • @JackHodgson: anyone’s game at this point, but PodCamp NYC rapidly becoming the hottest ticket in town Saturday. Way cool, little scary. 🙂 #
    • Can anyone help put some bogus, goofy listings to test our new classifieds site? https://www.campusx.com Thanks! Feel free to be funny. #
    • Planning to wear original flavor PodCamp Boston organizer shirt for PodCamp NYC. #
    • @Audio: freakin’ awesome, man. I’ll buy one. I’m selling PodCamp NYC tickets on the site, too, for $0. #
    • Hmm. Google Desktop for the Mac is out. https://desktop.google.com/mac installing now to test it out. #
    • @BucketJen: that’s a mighty large bucket of integrity. You must have listened to today’s show 🙂 #
    • headed to coffee with crayon if SL behaves. #
    • talking about Besy Buy Geek Squad in SL – why? If you need help, will you even get into SL? #
    • Promoting idea of Coffee with Crayon RL this Saturday #
    • Back from Coffee with Crayon. #
    • Google Desktop for Mac just as slow and resource intensive as GDesktop for PC. Time to uninstall. #
    • @andycaster: it uninstalls quickly and cleanly, that’s redeeming, right? #
    • Editing Financial Aid Newsletter, getting ready to launch April issue to 850,000 readers #
    • Testing PLEASE IGNORE. https://www.StudentLoanConsolidator.com #
    • @Rocketboom: Ellie: roll cameras! #
    • @Rocketboom: Ellie: no, but you’re that person’s meta-that-person. #
    • @chrisbrogan: forwarded to LinkedIn. PodCamp NYCers: should I do a session on LinkedIn? #
    • Writing disclosure statement about which student loan companies I own stock in. Total value of all stock combined: $40. #
    • @nlaspf: Social media resume here: https://cspenn.googlepages.com sample only, not job hunting. #
    • Finished up Bum Rush the Charts presentation #
    • headed out to forage for food. #
    • Eating garlic noodles, listening to PodCamp NYC Sponsorcast. #

  • PodCamp NYC – How to Find Me

    Chris Brogan started the meme, CC Chapman continued it, so here’s my contribution – how to find me at PodCamp NYC.

    I’ll be arriving late Friday afternoon, probably an hour or two before the party at SLATE. I’ll be at the party at SLATE both nights, as well as supporting podsafe musicians with Natalie Gelman‘s concert at Stain Bar Friday night and Brother Love‘s CD Release Party Saturday night. Amidst all the activities, I’ll be doing some presentations, running around having fun, and trying to be helpful as best as I can for the largest PodCamp yet.

    • I will in all likelihood not be on Twitter that much.
    • I may or may not even have consistent Internet access.
    • If you’d like to get a message to me, email [email protected] or call the show’s hotline, 206-350-1208. I’ll be checking email for sure.
    • If you have my cell phone number – good luck. That damn thing does everything except actually function as a phone, and I swear that my shaver gets better reception.

    I will be sharing at these sessions:

    • 9 AM – Thinking Differently
    • 10 AM – Let’s Make Something in the Spirit of PodCamp with Chris Brogan
    • 1 PM – Podcasting 101 with Garageband on the Mac
    • 2 PM – Bum Rush the Charts case study
    • 3 PM – Marketing 2.1 – 7 tools you can use to market your show

    I’ll also be at the Student Loan Network booth on the second floor mezzanine at these times:

    • 7:30 – 8:30 AM – Setup and registration
    • 12 PM – 1 PM – lunch, hanging with Uncle Seth and Natalie Gelman playing live

    Please stop on by to say hi and enjoy what we’ve got at the SLN booth. There will be the usual corporate stuff like business cards, but we’ll also have:

    • The Mashboard: grab a sticky note and a marker, and Twitter offline on a big wall about ad-hoc sessions, meetups, ride board, etc.
    • Networking Bowl: Put 3 business cards in, take any 2 out, then go find those people.
    • DIY Business Cards: Forgot yours? Don’t have any? Draw your own – you might just reinvent your personal brand.
    • Jingles for Dollars: Uncle Seth and Natalie Gelman will be selling CDs at lunch. Buy a CD, and you’ll get a coupon for a 3 – 5 second personalized jingle for your podcast or company. Originally we were going to record them on the spot, but it’s going to be wicked loud there, so unless you want that live feel, I’d go for the coupon.

    If you want to say hi, please do. I don’t bite. I’ll be wearing my PodCamp Boston organizer shirt, which is depicted here:

    Slackershot: coffee in the mornings

    Finally, I want to give a huge shoutout to the organizers of PodCamp NYC. I’ve been following the evolution of this PodCamp since it was announced, and despite more than a few roadblocks (like venue change, etc.), the team of John C. Havens, Adam Broitman, Laura Allen, Eric Skiff, Jason Van Orden, Caroline Desrochers, and everyone who is pitching in to help have done a FANTASTIC job managing the chaos. The sheer number of people registering to attend despite it being a holiday weekend is a true testament to the power of this event and the work they’ve done in building the community’s trust in it to give up time for it.

    Oh, and be sure to print out the UnOfficial Guide to PodCamp NYC. I checked with Kinko’s and they wanted to charge $6,428 for 300 copies, so that was a no go.

  • PodCamp Europe

    PodCamp Europe 1Chris Brogan and I extend to you an invitation to hang out in Stockholm, Sweden, June 12-13, 2007 for PodCamp Europe. Jeff Pulver‘s organization, VON, is donating an enormous big room (or two) and we’re going to fill it with fun stuff and people – including you, ideally.

    As with all PodCamps, it’s free to attend (excepting PodCruise Miami, which is technically free to anyone on the boat, but you have to pay to get on the boat) and will provide a great community gathering place for podcasters, bloggers, and new media folks around Europe.

    Warning in advance to participants: I apologize for being American, and therefore functionally unilingual, though I think I can ask about the restroom (washroom/privy/loo) in a couple of languages. As we roll with the process, those of you in the international community, please help Chris and I with our unintentional but highly probable cultural faux-pas, like formatting dates incorrectly and other stuff. We thank you in advance for your help.

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