ktoddstorch @ business thoughts

Being Digital

Getting stuck in the Atlanta airport for a few hours gives me some time to pay attention to my blog...

A lot of my thought process (and a lot of my client's) has to do with building a digital strategy.  What caught my attention was an article on Internet News entitled "Is There Money in MySpace?".

As most of you know, News Corp paid over $500M for MySpace and of course, they want to recoup their investment...fast.

Read this article and see the challenges they are facing with monetizing one of the fastest growing websites out there (as well as the largest memberships).  They are NOT intending on making back their money on selling banner ads...

As Tom Parish has been saying, 'it is a wonderful time to experiment'.  The tactics are very interesting and keep your eyes on the strategies, because they will continue to expand/contract/change.

[read]

The Long Tail

Over the weekend I picked up Chris Anderson's book, "The Long Tail".  I knew the book was coming out, because he has broken through and gotten "hit" status from the mainstream media (ironic!) with his economic theory.

I posted about his Wired article back in October of 2004 (along with a bunch of others!) right when my interest was very high about podcasting.

Expect to hear a lot more from the mainstream media about this "Tail".

Amazon link.

Google Ups the Ante...ROI solutions

In the world of Internet advertising, accountability and results measurement is what has so many interested in shifting dollars from "Old Media".

Google has upped the ante with their 'Cost Per Action' AdSense pricing model.  Whether this is in response to click fraud or a genuine interest in providing a ROI solution, it should get your attention.

From the AdAge article:

Google yesterday revealed details of its test with unnamed advertisers. "We are currently testing a cost per action pricing model to give advertisers more flexibility and provide publishers another way to earn revenue through AdSense," The online giant said in a release. "We're pleased with how the test is progressing."

[read] via AdAge

Advertising outside of airplanes

As you know, I've been traveling quite a bit with my new job.  Flying, being in airports, pulling around luggage and the scheduling of flights is just something I enjoy.  Don't know why; I just do.

Leaving D/FW last week made me wonder about all of those buildings that surround the airport.  Why haven't they sold the roof tops to advertisers?

Think about it...

• there is plenty of space within a few miles of the airport for a message
• how many millions fly in and out of major airports each year?

Could there be a business model for an aggregator that could "lease" up the roof tops surrounding major airports and sell this to advertisers? 

I know my brother's church (one of the fastest growing in the country) has their website on top of their building to attract web traffic.

Anyone know of this going on in your city?

The World is Flat...

Thank you to Dave Presher for recommending this book to read a few months back.  If you haven't heard of this book, or if you have and haven't read it yet, do so today!

This is a must read.  Why?

• China should scare and excite you
• India should scare and excite you
• America should scare and excite you
• Your profession is in jeopardy
• Help educate your children for the upcoming world economy
• Why Politics do matter

Thank You Peter Drucker!

"Concentration is the secret to all economic success"
                        - Peter Drucker

I read this quote today and it hit home.  Let me first say, that I have been feeling mighty guilty about my lack of blogging, but I do realize, that I have had to concentrate on my current priorities.

So, what have been the priorities?

First of all, a new job and career.  I've been on the road almost every day since May 11th (Tampa, FL, Myrtle Beach/Florence, SC, Atlanta, GA, Washington DC, Nashville/Knoxville, TN sor far).

We are also renovating the downstairs of our home.

Ok, the new job.  I have joined an amazing company call The Center for Sales Strategy (CSS). I am a Senior Consultant working mainly with TV stations, newspapers and radio stations.  My job primarily is to help organizations develop sales management, sales people and sales (read "About CSS").

I work from home and travel to my clients.  It is great to be officing out of my house and I've been on the road a ton meeting clients and learning from other consultants.  Bottom line, this is a perfect job for me.

All the while I've been traveling, the family has been "camping" in our own house.  We had to move out furniture from our downstairs in order to put in hardwoods, remodel the kitchen with granite counter tops, do a bunch of paint and just generally make a ton of dust and mess of the house.

Tara's been handling this chaos great while I've been out of town and we both know it will be great...when it's finished.

Thanks for sticking around and I'll be back to blogging.  I've just been concentrating...

 

I Am the Underblogger...

Yes, I have fallen off the blogging train.  Not forever, just for the moment.

Lots of great things going on and it is taking up lots of my time and attention.  So, with that, a few things that I will be catching up on soon:

• Race report for GC 1/2 Ironman
• My new job
• Why installing hardwoods in your home sucks
• Adjusting my training schedule with my new travel schedule

Go Buy This Book! The Tour by Dave Shields

Back in June of 2005, I interviewed Dave Shields, the author of The Race.  I found Dave through an article in a cycling magazine about his book, found his website and I was hooked on his writing.

Dave has finished the sequel to The Race, aptly titled, The Tour.

Why you should be interested in this book:

- you've read The Race
- you are a cycling fan
- you are interested in the Tour de France
- you are a Tour de France freak!
- you would like to know about the behind the scenes activities of a pro cycling team
- you enjoy reading "page turner" books

The Tour continues the story about Ben Barnes and his quest to win the Tour de France.  The way this book reads, you feel like you are in Ben's shoes the whole way.  The battle to make a name on the team, the in-fighting between coach and owner, the struggles and pain of the stages; it is all here.

I nearly read the entire book in one night and I wouldn't be suprised if you end up finishing it in one sitting.

As you can tell, I highly recommend this book.  If you haven't read The Race, pick them both up; you won't be disappointed!

Be sure to check out Dave's blog as well here.

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tags:  dave shields | the tour | the race

I Can Not Wait for This!

Google Calendar will be here soon!

Check out the screen shots here.

Thanks Terry for the heads up!

Slacking Around...

Yes, I know you are going to think the title of this post has to do with my blog posting...and you may be right...

I'll get into why my posting have been way off at another time (everything is fine, just focused in other areas).

Today started great with breakfast with Bren of Slacker Manger.  I was joined by my brother Terry and two of Bren's co-workers for a great visit and first face to face meeting.  Bren is a "blog god" and wonderful person.

Bren, thanks for looking me up during your conference visit!  Hope you got to see more of Dallas than just Addison!

Subscribe to his feed here.  Believe me, it's worth it.

Google Changes Everything for Radio

File this one under "why didn't I finish and post it"?  I saved this draft on 12/31/05 at 7:12am.

I'm sure you have to have heard about Google's acquisition of dMarc Broadcasting on 1/17/06.  I truly believe that this is just the start of even more changes in the broadcasting industry.  Be prepared for big, organizational and operational changes.  I purposely left the post unfinished so you could see where I left off...shame on me!

**original draft post below

I believe that Google is one of the biggest threats/opportunities to/for Radio.  Google is keen.  Google is local.  Google is global.  Google is omnipresent.

Ok, what the heck am I talking about?

Google can provide a way to:
1)  cut costs drastically
2)  market/advertise a station very inexpensively

There are many directions and thoughts that I can go on this post, but I'm going to limit it to just a few thoughts.  Let me start from #1 above.

Cut costs drastically
Now, this is a threat to those that work in radio (like me!), but a huge opportunity for a radio station and company.

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tags:  google | dMarc

A New Google Toilet?

No, Google isn't unveiling a new toilet for your home, but there is some strong speculation about a Google Cube.

This device looks like a pretty interesting way to secure the rising demand of PC/TV media.

Come to think of it, why wouldn't Google have a toilet that interfaced with your health insurance company and physician?  Wow, now that's an Orwellian thought...

[read]

Thanks Terry for the heads up.

 

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tags:  google cube | george orwell | 1984 | home media

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to All

Wishing you a wonderful Christmas and holiday season this year.

I appreciate all of you that have made reading this blog a part of your day and week.

Have a wonderful holiday!

Verizon's Committment to Podcasting

Verizon Wireless began their podcasting with the LG 9800 Podcast. 

According to producer and host, Greg Cangialosi, there will be 'more podcasts coming in January around some of Verizon's new products and services'.

Hmm...could that be VCast stuff or the new Motorola Q?  Looking forward to them Greg!

You can subscribe to the podcast with this link.
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tags:  verizon | podcast | greg cangialosi

LASER's Everywhere

  LASER 
  Originally uploaded by K. Todd Storch.

Is something wrong with my radar detector, or is there massive use of laser frequency's on the road now?

In the past week, my radar detector has been going crazy with its "LASER" reading.

Hmm...this would be pretty cool if it was a WiFi detector, but I have no idea what is setting this off.

Any thoughts?

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tags:  laser | radar detector

Firefox Issue?

I love the Firefox browser.  It kicks IE's tail.  However, I've been having some memory issues since upgrading to v1.5.  I don't know if this is Firefox's issue, so I would like to know if anyone else is having issues.

I typically leave my home computer all the time.  One of the programs that stays open is Firefox, but since upgrading, Firefox will begin to hog up my system memory and cause my system to chug through mud.

Once I close the program and reopen it, no problem.  I'm beginning to see the same thing on my work laptop, so there must be some correlation.

Anyone else having this issue?  Looks like Paul is having some issues as well.  Suggestions?

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tags:  firefox | system memory

I'm Not Surprised...

From the "you've probably already heard about this" category...

Podcasting is the New Oxford American Dictionary of English's "Word of the Year".

No surprises here. 

I went back and checked and my first post about podcasting was over a year ago on December 3rd, 2004.

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tags:  podcasting

Verizon FIOS is Installed

FIOS is officially installed in my house (the Quest is complete!).  After issues with the installation team actually showing up, the mission is complete.

I'm getting speeds of around 4.5Mbs downloads vs. the 5Mb down/2Mb up stated speeds.

It took about 3 hours for the installation to be completed.  First, they had to install a battery backup in the garage.  Then, they ran CAT5 wiring from the unit to my office.  From there, they connect to a router and then my computer.

I went back and rerouted into my wireless router for the home network and voila!  I'm up and running.

Side note:  Verizon; you have to get your act together with the installation company.  After completely missing the day and time of the first installation, with no phone call that they weren't going to make it...I had to call myself and gripe out your company to get someone to install it during the window of time you promised me on the rescheduled day.  Just unacceptable.

In fact, this has happened to 2 other residents that I know that have decided to switch as well.

Believe me, I will be requesting a free month's service and expecting it.

www.flickr.com More of K. Todd Storch's photos tagged with verizonfios

 

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tags:  verizon | fiber optic | verizon fios

Txt msgs r grt!

Do u txt?  U need 2!  Why? (Ok, I'll start typing correctly now...)

I've been using text messaging quite extensively lately.  Let me explain a couple of ways that really have been helpful for me.

1)  Work:  this is a great way to communicate short, quick messages.  For example, I'll stay connected with people I work with on daily, simple things like:  when I'll be back in the office; call me on my mobile phone; I'm in a meeting, I'll call you right back.

2)  Photos:  same thing with friends and my wife as the first one, but also for photos using my Flickr account (more explanation below)

3)  ToDo lists:  keeping track of simple "to do" list items throughout the day with my Gmail email account (how to explained below)

Ok, don't know about Flickr?  Find out now!  I've been taking quite a few pictures with my mobile phone and sending them to my Flickr account.  What I have done is set up a "filter" in my Gmail account that every time I send a photo from my phone, Gmail automatically files it in a "Pictures" subdirectory and automatically forwards it to my Flickr photo account as a private picture (no one can see it but me).  Then, when I have some time, I'll title the picture and add tags and move it to a public photo album.  This is a great way to take pictures during the weekend of the kids or everyday things that you normally wouldn't.

As far as my "to do" list, Gmail is really an awesome tool when you start using the Filter functions.  What I've done is set up a filter that when I send a text message to my email address, it files it to a subdirectory I've set up called "ToDo".  Then, I've got one place to find these.  For example, I weigh myself every morning as one of the metrics in my Training log.  I just txt message the # to my ToDo folder while I'm getting ready in the morning, then later in the day, I'll update the log.

Gmail allows you to use a "+subdirectory" just before the "@" sign of your email address to categorize to your heart's content.  If you are in sales, this could be a great way to keep track of new prospects when you are out of the office.

So, r using txt?  If so, let me know how!

[help with Gmail filters]
[my Flickr account]

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tags:  sms | text messages | lifehacks | flickr | gmail | productivity | lifehack

Blogging, Guilt and Life

As you know, there have been limited posts from me.  My evenings and weekends have just been extremely busy and I haven't been able to focus on putting my thoughts/questions/rants down lately.  I do have plenty of notes in my Moleskine on what I want to discuss, so part of my system is still intact!

Some things on my mind that I want to address:

• Gmail is an amazing resource
• I'm really getting into using Flickr
• There are plenty of services that I would like to have that text messaging and RSS could solve
• ESPN continues to impress me with their understanding of branding
• TiVo seems to be waking up
• How long will there be a market to pay $1.99 for TV show episodes via iTunes?
• Please add your name to the Business Thoughts Frappr map!
• Running in my 3rd marathon this weekend
• TV, Radio, XM/Sirius; the marketing game is changing quickly

Much more to come.

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tags:  tivo | gmail | flickr | espn | itunes | frappr