Some people don't know this - yet - but on January 1, 2007, the powers that be (for most of us, that's a demographic nestled somewhere in the 13-30 range) declared that "www" would no longer refer to the "world wide web". It would now refer to the "Wild Wild West". The good news is, everyone gets a gun. Well, everyone with a computer, and the implication here is that - when it comes to communicating - there are no rules of engagement and the best idea wins.

For people in advertising, public relations, traditional or guerilla marketing, or any kind of promotion that uses the Internet (formerly the Web), this change makes official the seismic shift we've all been feeling for a long while. It also gives us license to stop falling back on overused phrases (I won't use them here, because I'm as guilty as anyone, but let's just say the words 'brand,' 'sponsor,' 'content,' and 'entertainment' have served their purpose), and sell our souls.

Having just turned 40, I've concluded that selling one's soul is a good thing, by the way. Sales is what drives a free-trade economy, and if the rest of the world can have those, why can't the U.S.? So selling isn't the issue: finding the right buyer, now that's where it's at.

As Jim Gartner's new campaign for Monster.com attests, we pour our souls and our passion into our work. We happen to live in an age where our ability to share that passion is unlimited (the fact that I've steered you to both Jim's bio and his new ads in one sentence is just one convenient example).   

So let's challenge one another this year, to find the right audience for our talents, and then to 'sell out" - to exploit every creative inspiration that finds its way into our minds, to do more and talk less (unless, like me, you're a lucky bastard and it's your job to talk), to hit the ground running, not from art, but after it.

Let's start yesterday. And let's shoot to kill.