The Beginner’s Mini-Guide for Starting a Successful Online Business: First, you need to evaluate your personality type and make sure you have the chops to self-police, self-motivate and self-discipline.

Speaking of metaphors, I have one for my social world. Response Magazine coined me a ’social butterfly.’ (I’ve always been pretty darned gregarious.) So this series of blogs, as well as my new outlook on social marketing revolves around the amazing butterfly. I am inspired by the thought of changing the way I think and do my job of direct marketing, into an ugly “snake-salesman” type of job, to an elegant, free flying insect that pollinates the flowers that make this world a better place to live in…

This past Friday, I was interviewed for Internet Retailer Magazine’s March issue. The story is something like, “How to Leverage Social Marketing for Retailers.” During the interview, I was asked if I thought that it was ethical to have one of my staff members using a pseudonym for our social marketing efforts. My answer is, “100% YES!”