‘The Marketer Who Went Off Consumption’ is my year-long blog-as-a-book experiment in why we choose to consume, or not.

Here is the equivalent of a book blurb –

Why would a twenty-something, single, eligible, IIM-educated, upwardly mobile marketer on the corporate fast-track in India’s business capital decide to go ‘off consumption’ for a year?

Will a year off consumption, not buying anything that isn’t a necessity, leave him ill-equipped to handle life and work in Mumbai?

Or, will it leave him with invaluable insights into what drives us to consume, or not, into the nature of consumption, into human nature itself?

– and here is the story so far –

We derive our identity (and our happiness) basically in four ways — from the things we own, from the experiences we have, from the people we relate to, and from the meaning we create. These four elements are arranged in a “hierarchy of identities” that is not only different for each one of us, but also changes for each one of us over time.

When I passed out of IIM Bangalore six years back, and had some money for the first time, buying and owning things were important to me, if only to prove to myself that I could afford to. So, I set up a full household, acquired costly tastes, ate out five nights a week, and played host the other two nights. Basically, I spent the next six years spending as much money as I could, to make up for not having enough in the previous twenty one years.

Then, one day, I realized that I had run that race (with myself) and it had left me tired. I had already bought all the things and experiences I wanted, and even some I didn’t really want. I couldn’t really buy what I wanted anymore, because the things I wanted now could not be bought. My hierarchy of identities had changed; creating meaning, relating to people, and having life-changing experiences were more important to me now than owning things. So, I decided to stop buying things I didn’t need, go off consumption for a year, in the hope that a year of austerity would cleanse my soul.

Then, three and a half months into my experiment, I realized that it was not enough to not buy things that I didn’t need, when I already owned so many things that I didn’t need. So, I decided to keep only the things that I need and give away everything else.

To find out what happens next, subscribe to ‘The Marketer Who Went Off Consumption’, in a feed reader, or by e-mail –

— and if you my experiment moves you, do spread the word around.

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I’m totally delighted to announce that I have been selected as the Yahoo! Fellow in International Values, Communications, Technology, and Global Internet for 2008-09 at The Institute for the Study of Diplomacy (ISD) associated with The Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS) at Georgetown University.

The fellowship is funded by the $1 million Yahoo! Fund on International Values, Communications Technology & the Global Internet, which was established at Georgetown University by a gift from Yahoo! Inc. There is only one such position open for each academic year and I’m the second Yahoo! Fellow.

The Yahoo! Fellow is chosen from applicants drawn from the government, corporate, non-profit and academic sectors with interest in BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China). Two graduate students from the Master of Science in Foreign Service (MSFS) program at the SFS are also selected to as Junior Yahoo! Fellows to engage in research associated with the Yahoo! Fellow. Part of the research done by the Yahoo! Fellow is also incorporated into the MSFS program as guest lectures, special seminars, case studies and/ or course modules.

My research will focus on how social media in BRIC countries will develop differently from the first world countries and the implications this will have on how individuals and institutions in these countries engage with social media. Some of my posts in the ‘Flat or Not’ series are a precursor to the research I’ll be doing during my fellowship.

I must tell you, by the way, that Dr. Irene Wu, who was the Yahoo! Fellow for 2007-08, has set impossibly high standards for me.

First, she has a really impressive background, both in terms of academic credentials (B.A. from Harvard University and Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University) and work experience (Director of Research in Federal Communications Commission). As the Yahoo! Fellow, Dr. Wu not only did some excellent research on how technological change transforms political power, but also taught a course in the MSFS program at the SFS. If that doesn’t sound impressive enough, this will — Yahoo! co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Jerry Yang attended Dr. Wu’s research presentation. And, yes, her book on telecommunications policy reform in China is being published by Stanford University Press.

Phew! If I manage to do half of all that during the ten months of my fellowship, I’ll think of my time as well-spent.

I had applied for the fellowship way back in March (thanks to Juliana) and Georgetown University confirmed my selection almost two months back. While most of my online and offline friends already know about it, I was waiting for my J1 visa to be issued before I made a formal announcement on my blog.

No, I haven’t left my job. The Tata Group, like always, has been good to me, and given me a sabbatical. But I will have to leave my lovely house (sigh!) and give away or put away the overwhelming number of things I own.

(Update: In fact, I’m giving away everything I own to one lucky reader.)

My tickets are not done yet, but I’ll be in Washington DC in the second week of August, after a week’s detour to Chicago to meet a friend. So, if you are in Chicago or Washington DC, do send me an e-mail and we’ll meet up. If you are in Washington DC, and know of a furnished one bedroom apartment for up to $1500 a month, walking distance from send me an e-mail and we’ll meet up. If you are in Washington DC, and know of a furnished one bedroom apartment for up to $1500 a month, walking distance from The Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, do ping me, and you’ll have my undying gratitude.

Finally, if you are in India, and dropping into Mumbai in July, do give me a call at 9223366624 to meet up. The going away parties start this Saturday and everybody’s invited.

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‘The Marketer Who Went Off Consumption’ is my year-long blog-as-a-book experiment in why we choose to consume, or not.

If you haven’t yet subscribed to ‘The Marketer Who Went Off Consumption’, you should subscribe to it now, for free, in a feed reader, or by e-mail.

Yesterday, my first interview for ‘The Marketer Who Went Off Consumption’ was published in Indian daily Hindustan Times.

The interview was published on the front page of the Delhi edition –

– and the city section in the Mumbai edition –

One interesting thing I learned yesterday is that different editions of a newspaper may publish different versions of a story.

The Mumbai Edition published the full story — see text below — complete with my rules and URL.

The Delhi Edition published a much shorter version of the story — also available online — but it was on the front page and I’m not complaining at all.

The Simple Life

Marketing professional Gaurav Mishra has embarked on an intriguing experiment: a no-frills, no-indulgences, low-consumption life

Riddhi Shah, Mumbai
riddhi.shah@hindustantimes.com
Sunday, April 13, 2008

Imagine never being able to eat out; not even a vada pav at the station. Never being able to go shopping for clothes or for gadgets. Or being able to go to the movies. Imagine not using a car or a taxi, walking as much as you can and taking the train. And having to do all the housework yourself.

Sounds like your worst nightmare? For 28-year-old Gaurav Mishra, it’s just an average day in his life. Not because he’s living a life of poverty; in fact, he’s an assistant general manager at one of India’s leading automobile companies.

But for an entire year, Mishra has set off on an experiment to go “off consumption” - which, by his definition, means that he won’t buy anything unless it’s a necessity .

“I got tired of trying to equate happiness with consumption. I’d bought so many clothes, books, DVDs and immersed myself in luxury I had success, I had money, but . didn’t know the purpose of my life,” says the Patna native.

His yearlong experiment, he says, is an attempt at finding a way to lead a simpler life. “Besides, I’ve realised that people getting tired of consumerism is going to be a big trend. And as a marketer, it’s a trend that I want to study I’m hoping this year will give me insights into what marketers need to prepare for in the future,” says Mishra, who holds an MBA from IIM-Bangalore. And like any good marketer, he also knows the latent potential of his unique experiment - Mishra is waiting for that big book deal to come through even as he writes about his daily experiences on his blog (www.gauravonomics.com). Necessity or not?

Whenever he tells people about his experiment, says Mishra, the first question is always: how does one define a necessity? But he deliberately refrains from a concrete definition. “Part of the point of the project is to figure out what exactly constitutes a necessity. That’s one of the insights I’m looking for,” he argues.

In the three weeks since he’s given up consumption, he’s already learned enough about marketing and the future of consumerism to fill a few chapters of his book: For in- stance, he says that even if he’s given up McDonald’s burgers, he’s still buying relatively expensive muesli because he considers the latter a necessity. So, he concludes, “Health food will continue to grow as a segment even if fast food doesn’t.” Or, he relates, “Because I can’t go to restaurants anymore, I’m beginning to experience the absolute lack of public places in the city It would . be a great marketing tactic for Barista and Café Coffee Day to position them selves as free spaces rather than exclusive cafes.”

He’s also tapping into the increasing populari ty of the ‘swapping economy’, after being forced to look for alternative accommodation instead of a five-star hotel the next time he travels on business. “I signed up for something called couch surfing, in which people offer their couches to strangers for free. Such free or barter arrangements promise to be a huge thing in the future,” says Mishra.

But it’s only early days. There are another 344 days to see through, and he foresees, “The biggest problem promises to be my social life. I’m worried about how I’ll continue to relate to my friends if I can’t go to a restaurant, a movie or a bar. Right now, they’re still willing to come over or meet me for a walk, or cook for me when I visit them, but at some point it’ll become too much of an effort. What will I do then?”

And of course, there’s the problem of maintaining a love life – how does a 28-year-old take a girl out on a low-consumption date? “So far, I’ve been creative and gone to Juhu beach once and cooked dinner twice, but at some point I might run out of options,” Mishra confesses.

There are other possible roadblocks. While cleaning and cooking doesn’t seem like much of a chore right now, there’s always the possibility of coming back to a dirty house, and getting desperate enough to ask his maid to come back.”

For right now though, Mishra is focusing on make the project as much of a public spectacle as possible. “It’s a way of keeping myself in check. The more people know about it, the bigger fool I’ll make of myself if I fail to see this through,” he says.

It’s not going to be easy, of course. “I’ve completely taken out all comfort food from my life. Even something as simple as eating ice cream is a problem. So,” jokes Mishra, “I’m just going to have to be happy all the time.”

Mishra’s Laws of Low Consumption

- Only basic groceries, toiletries and household items are allowed.
- Eating out and going out for paid entertainment are not allowed.
- Buying clothes, accessories and gadgets is not allowed, but repairing and borrowing them is.
- Buying books, music, or movies is not allowed, online or offline.
- Mass media are not allowed.
- Household help is not allowed.
- Buying gifts is not allowed, but giving and receiving gifts is.
- Consuming what he already has is allowed. He will only replenish if necessary.
- Work is sacrosanct; he will not let his experiment interfere with his ability to work.

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After the runaway success of ‘The Age of Conversation’ — it reached #262 in books and #36 in business and investing books on Amazon — it’s time for ‘The Age of Conversation 2.0: Why Don’t People Get It?’

There are three reasons why ‘The Age of Conversation 2.0: Why Don’t People Get It?’ is likely to be even better than the original ‘Age of Conversation’ –

1. It has 275 authors, instead of 100, and the author list is a who’s who of the world’s best marketing and social media thinkers.

2. The theme of the book is a question — ‘Why Don’t People Get It?’ — that social media enthusiasts often ask themselves. With 275 answers to the question, the book is likely to become the reference source for understanding ‘Why Don’t People Get It?’

3. The contributions/ chapters will be focused on eight sections related to the broad ‘Why Don’t People Get It?’ theme of the book. With 275 authors, each section will have enough depth, and all the sections will fit together to provide multiple perspectives on the question of ‘Why Don’t People Get It?’

Here is the complete list of the 275 authors of ‘The Age of Conversation 2.0: Why Don’t People Get It?’ –

Adam Crowe, Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob Carlton, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Bradley Spitzer, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Clay Parker Jones, Chris Brown, Colin McKay, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Cord Silverstein, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Goldstein, Dan Schawbel, Dana VanDen Heuvel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Darryl Patterson, Dave Davison, Dave Origano, David Armano, David Bausola, David Berkowitz, David Brazeal, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Emily Reed, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, G. Kofi Annan, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Graham Hill, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, J.C. Hutchins, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeremy Middleton, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, Joe Talbott, John Herrington, John Jantsch, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Flowers, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kris Hoet, Krishna De, Kristin Gorski, Laura Fitton, Laurence Helene Borei, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Barnes-Johnston, Louise Mangan, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Marcus Brown, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Mark McSpadden, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Hawkins, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Monica Wright, Nathan Gilliatt, Nathan Snell, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul Marobella, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Beeker Northam, Rob Mortimer, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Cribbett, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tiffany Kenyon, Tim Brunelle, Tim Buesing, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Longhurst, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem

Watch out for ‘The Age of Conversation 2.0: Why Don’t People Get It?’

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‘The Age of Conversation’ Collaborative Book

‘The Age of Conversation’ is a one-of-a-kind collaborative book conceived by Drew Mclellan and Gavin Heaton -

- 100 authors. We’re a few but need more.
- The overriding topic is “The Age of Conversation” — where you take it is up to you.
- The items are short - one 8.5″ x 11″ page — it can be words, diagrams, photos (again up to you) If it is words - about 400, give or take a couple.
- We write it quickly and get it out there. We publish electronically.
- We make it available online for a small fee and we donate 100% of the proceeds to Variety — the children’s charity.

Over 100 of the world’s leading marketers, writers, thinkers and creative innovators responded to their call, resulting in a unique one-of-a-kind project, which first became an e-book, then a self-published book on Lulu, and now a potential best-seller on Amazon.

I was fortunate to be a part of the project and I’ll always look back at ‘The Age of Conversation’ as my first book.

Three Reasons You Should Buy ‘The Age of Conversation’ on Amazon Today

Now, all of us are trying to push ‘The Age of Conversation’ to the top of the Amazon best-sellers lists through another path-breaking collaborative project — The Age of Conversation Bum Rush –

With the infinite amount of social sites and connections on the web… the idea is to generate as many touch points around the web as possible so that it will be hard not to spot the Age of Conversation activity.

Before I tell you how you can help, here are three reasons you should buy ‘The Age of Conversation’ on Amazon today –

1. You’ll be the proud owner of a one-of-its-kind collaborative book with insights from over 100 of the world’s leading marketers, writers, thinkers and creative innovators.

2. You’ll help a good cause because all proceeds from the book will go to Variety, the children’s charity.

3. The book, and the bum rush to promote it, is a live case study on social media collaboration. By participating in the project, you’ll become a part of the social media history.

Now that you have made up your mind to buy your copy of ‘The Age of Conversation’ on Amazon, here are three other ways in which you can help us –

1. Ask your friends to buy ‘The Age of Conversation’ on Amazon today itself.

2. Blog about ‘The Age of Conversation’ and ‘The Age of Conversation Bum Rush’.

3. Share the Amazon link for ‘The Age of Conversation’ on social media sites like Digg, StumbleUpon, Del.icio.us, Facebook and Twitter.

All the authors and well-wishers of ‘The Age of Conversation’ will be grateful for your help.

‘The Age of Conversation’ Author List

Here’s a complete alphabetical list of the contributors with links to their blogs -

- AJ James

- Amy Jussel from ‘Shaping Youth: Media and Marketing’s Influence on Kids’.

- Andy Nulman from ‘Pow! Right Between the Eyes!: Andy Nulman’s Blog About Surprise’.

- Ann Handley from ‘Marketing Profs: Daily Fix’.

- Anna Farmery from ‘The Engaging Brand Blog’.

- Arun Rajagopal from ‘Arjun Rajagopal’.

- Becky Carroll from ‘Customers Rock!: A blog about how businesses make their customer experiences rock!’.

- Bob Glaza from ‘One Reader at a Time: Why not bite off more than you can chew?’.

- Bob Hruzek from ‘Middle Zone Musings’.

- Brian Reich from ‘Thinking About Media’.

- Cam Beck from ‘ChaosScenario: Providing information, insight and commentary on marketing in a new age.’

- Carolyn Manning from ‘Thoughts & Philosophies: Business thoughts, business philosophies’.

- C. B. Whittemore from ‘Flooring the Consumer’.

- Cedric Giorgi from ‘Carnet Web de Cedric Giorgi: Don’t Be Famous, Be Useful!’.

- Chris Corrigan from ‘Parking Lot: Cultivating an open space worldview in everyday practice’.

- Chris Newlan from ‘Talking Point: Sharing ideas and encouraging debate on media and public relations trends’.

- CK from ‘CK’s Blog’.

- Colin McKay from ‘Canuckflack: It’s about public relations, marketing, retail quirks, government communications and oddities’.

- Connie Reece from ‘Every Dot Connetcs: Connection through conversation’.

- Cord Silverstein from ‘Marketing Hipster: Understanding the Relationship between the Marketers and the Market’.

- Craig Wilson from ‘Sticky Advertising: Make your advertising sticky’.

- David Armano from ‘Logic+Emotion: Creativity, insights, ideas’.

- David Berkowitz from ‘Inside the Marketers Studio - David Berkowitz’s Marketing Blog’.

- David Brazeal from ‘JournaMarketing: Doing great journalism to sell your ideas, your organization and even yourself’.

- David Koopmans from ‘Business of Marketing and Branding: Making sense of Marketing and Branding in the Information Age’.

- David Pollinchock form The Experience Economist: Brand Experience Lab’.

- David Reich from ‘My 2 Cents: Musings on marketing, media, public relations and life’.

- Dr. Graham Hill from ‘Customer Think’.

- Drew McLellan from ‘Drew’s Marketing Minute: Where Strategy and Passion Collide’.

- Dustin Jacobsen from ‘Shake Gently: A Technologist’s View on the World of Advertising’.

- Ed Cotton from ‘Influx Insights’.

- Emily Clasper from Library Revolution.

- Emily Reed from Conformists Unite: Celebrating the unique and personal in business’.

- Faris Yakob from ‘Talent Imitates, Genius Steals: Some naked thoughts on brands, media, communication and technology’.

- Gareth Kay from Brand New: Thoughts on brands and communication’.

- Gary Schoeniger from ‘Innovation & Entrepreneurship: Insights, Ideas & Inspiration’.

- Gaurav Mishra from ‘Gauravonomics Blog: Gaurav Mishra’s Weblog on Marketing, Technology and Social Media ‘.

- Gavin Heaton from ‘Servant of Chaos’.

- Geert Desager from ‘Brandopia: Musings on marketing, communication and technology’.

- Gia Facchini from ‘Biz and Buzz’.

- Greg Verdino from ‘Greg Verdino’.

- Jamey Shiels from ‘Walk On: Interactive branding, new marketing and social media in the new world’.

- Janet Green from ‘Marketing Ideas Blog: Small Business Marketing Ideas’.

- Jessica Hagy from ‘Indexed’.

- Jim Kukral from ‘Marketing Ideas Online’.

- Joe Raasch from ‘The Happy Burro: Intelligent Facts. Brilliant Ideas.’.

- John La Grou from ‘Millenia Music & Media Systems’.

- Jordan Behan from ‘Tell Ten Friends: Marketing the will Start a Conversation’.

- Julie Fleischer from ‘Innovation Ecosystem’.

- Karl Long from ‘Experience Curve: The Experience Is The Marketing’.

- Katie Chatfield from ‘Get Shouty’.

- Kim Klaver from ‘New School of Network Marketing’.

- Kimberly Dawn Wells from Kimberly Dawn Wells

- Kofl Annan from ‘Annansi Chronicles: African Style Worldwide’.

- Kris Hoet from ‘Cross the Breeze’.

- Krishna De from ‘Krishna De’s Biz Growth News’.

- Kristin Gorski from ‘Write Now is Good: Words, Sweat & Inspiration’.

- Lewis Green from ‘BizSolutionsPlus: Featuring Solutions to Grow Your Business’.

- Lori Magno from ‘Moda di Magno - Blog for Stylish Living’.

- Mack Collier from ‘The Viral Garden’.

- Mario Vellandi from ‘Melodies in Marketing’.

- Mark Blair from ‘SMOBlog:A safari into the jungles of Social Media Optimization and Marketing’.

- Mark Earls from ‘Herd - The hidden truth about who we are’.

- Mark Goren from ‘Transmission: Content+Creative’.

- Matt Dickman from ‘Techno//Marketer: Exploring the convergence of marketing and technology’.

- Michael Morton from ‘Marketing Monster’.

- Mike Sansone from ‘ConverStations: Business Blogs as Conversation Stations’.

- Luc Debaisieux from ‘Mindblob’.

- Mitch Joel from ‘Twist Image’.

- Nathan Snell from ‘GiddleBits’.

- Nick Rice from ‘Strategic Design: marketing & branding thoughts by Nick Rice’.

- Nick Wright from ‘Vir(tu)al Marketing and Media: How is social media affecting the world of advertising?’.

- Patrick Schaber from ‘The Lonely Marketer: A discussion for the small business marketing manager’.

- Paul McEnany from ‘Hee Haw Marketing’.

- Pete Deutschman from ‘The Buddy Group’.

- Peter Corbett from ‘Blattner Brunner’.

- Phil Gerbyshak from ‘Make it Great! with Phil Gerbyshak’.

- Richard Huntington from ‘Ad Literate: Radical thinking for the brand advice business’.

- Rishi Desai from ‘Gumptious Design’.

- Roberta Rosenberg from ‘Copywriting Maven’.

- Roger Anderson from ‘Modern Magellans’.

- Roger von Oech from ‘Creative Think’.

- Ron Shevlin from ‘Marketing ROI’.

- Ryan Barrett from ‘Cheap Thrills’.

- Ryan Rasmussen from ‘Collaborative Ideation’.

- Sandy Renshaw from ‘Purple Wren: Tools & techniques for business communication’.

- Scott Monty from ‘The Social Media Marketing Blog’.

- Sean Howard from ‘CrapHammer’.

- Simon Payn from ‘Effective Customer Newsletters’.

- Spike Jones from ‘Brains on Fire’.

- Stanley Johnson from ‘Brand DNA’.

- Steve Bannister from ‘SBannister’.

- Steve Roesler from ‘All Thimgs Workplace’.

- Steve Woodruff from ‘StickyFigure’.

- Susan Willet Bird ‘Smart Talk on COnversation’.

- Tim Jackson from ‘Masi Guy’.

- Toby Bloomberg from ‘Diva Marketing Blog’.

- Todd Andrlik from Todd and the Power to Connect’.

- Tom Clifford from ‘Director Tom’s Blog’.

- Tony D. Clark from ‘Success from the Nest’.

- Troy Worman from ‘Troy Worman’s OrbitNow!:Don’t wait for permission to succeed!’

- Uwe Hook from ‘Uwe’s Blog: Real Life 1.0 meets Web 2.0′.

- Valeria Maltoni from ‘Conversation Agent: Connecting Ideas and People’.

So, what are you waiting for?

Be a part of social media history: buy the one-of-a-kind ‘The Age of Conversation’ collaborative book on Amazon today and the proceeds will go to Variety, the children’s charity.

We started the day ranked #10282 on Amazon and ended it ranked #262 on books and #36 on business and investing books. That’s a jump of over 100000 ranks in one day!

On behalf of all the 103 ‘The Age of Conversation authors, I thank everyone who bought a copy of the book, or helped promote the book. We are deeply grateful to you.

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Why would a twenty-something, single, eligible, IIM-educated, upwardly mobile marketer on the corporate fast-track in India’s business capital decide to go ‘off consumption’ for a year?

Will a year off consumption (no eating out, no going out for movies or music or plays, no television or newspapers, no shopping except for necessities) leave him ill-equipped to handle life and work in Mumbai?

Or, will it leave him with invaluable insights into what drives us to consume, or not, into the nature of consumption, into human nature itself?

‘The Marketer Who Went Off Consumption’ is a blog in which I document my year off consumption. It is also a book-in-progress, in search of a publisher with a multi-million dollar advance.

Do spend an hour reading it, do subscribe to it, and don’t forget to tell me that you absolutely adore it.

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Maverick investor Guy Kawasaki has been involved in several interesting startups of late (Truemors), but Alltop is the one I really like.

Basically, Alltop has a number of sub-sites, or dashboards, focused on a narrow vertical. Each dashboard features the headlines of five most recent stories from 30-50 top blogs and websites for that topic. When you place the cursor over a headline, it displays part of the story so that you can decide if you’d like to read it.

You can think of an Alltop site as a “dashboard,” “table of contents,” or even a “digital magazine rack” of the Internet. To be clear, Alltop sites are starting points — they are not destinations per se. The bottom line is that we are trying to enhance your online reading by both displaying stories from the sites that you’re already visiting and helping you discover sites that you didn’t know existed. (link)

My favorite Alltop dashboards are Social Media, Twitterati, Egos, Career, Small Business and Venture Capital, but there’s something for everyone looking to discover (or track) great sites on a topic.

I was surprised last week to find that Gauravonomics Blog has been included in Alltop’s Social Media dashboard along with blogs such as Shel Israel’s Global Neighborhood, Jeremiah Owyang’s Web Strategy, ReadWriteWeb, Robert Scoble’s Scobelizer, Mashable!, Bokardo, Dosh Dosh and Publishing 2.0.

The really interesting thing about the dashboard is that it includes blogs from the entire spectrum of social media related topics, including social media marketing, social media design and social application d