Finding the “next big thing” doesn’t mean growing your business incrementally or having new product lines that are profitable.  The history of software and Internet companies is littered with highly successful one-trick ponies whose corporate success hinged on the lifecycle of the one product category they came to dominate.  Then they found the next big thing in the market for office productivity desktop applications when they introduced Microsoft Office.  Google Books and Google Products threaten to sell Amazon’s e-commerce business down the river. MORE >>

You can find Digital Activism Decoded: The New Mechanics of Change on Amazon now. From Amazon: Editorial Reviews. Product Description. My chapter is on the Digital Divide. Review. This book is useful for the average reader interested in the phenomenon of digital activism, as well as digital activists like myself. T]his comprehensive guide to the growing phenomenon that is digital activism will allow us to closely examine our work, our methods and our goals. –Esra a Al Shafei, Director, Mideast Youth. This is excellent work and certainly a much needed contribution. MORE >>

Amazon. Prior to breaking the news, Wal-Mart was already one of the few companies that could compete with Amazon online. But after unveiling how it plans to do so—by fulfilling online orders in its own stores—Wal-Mart became Amazon’s first serious threat. The irony is that Wal-Mart will fulfill these orders using Amazon’s own in-store locker strategy. Wal-Mart has the significant advantage of already having 10,000 retail locations—something Amazon can’t currently compete with. For Clearly Amazon and Wal-Mart have different product sets. MORE >>

went to Amazon’s website and found these little gems, all available at no cost and easily sent to your Kindle in one simple click. Outside of some public domain classics, finding free Kindle books on Amazon can be a challenge, but it pays to look hard.  You can start by reviewing the top 100 Free Kindle books on the Amazon website. In addition to the five free books above, you can find other marketing books that can be downloaded and sent to your Kindle or other book reader at no cost, at a variety of sites other than Amazon.  All Employees Are Marketers. MORE >>

This week LivingSocial, the leading Groupon daily deal competitor, ran a deal for $20 gift card on Amazon for $10. The Great Amazon Gift Card Giveaway will likely be heralded as the second most important day in the history of LivingSocial. It's the day that Amazon invested $175 million into LivingSocial not so long ago. wrote about this over at Marketing Pilgrim and at the time I discussed the implications of this move by Amazon. But you must think about the fact that LivingSocial is now backed by Amazon, who has a market cap of $82 billion. by Frank Reed. MORE >>