ktoddstorch @ business thoughts

Netflix and TiVo Combined- Still Alive!

When something makes this much sense, people will work very hard to stop it (Hollywood) and to make it happen!

Wall Street knows it is smart as well...TiVo's stock jumped 7% today on this news.

[read] via Yahoo! News

[read] via engadget

Tom Peters - 100 Ways to Succeed!

Love him or hate him, Tom Peters throws it all out there (and in your face!).

He is now blogging away and has a very good way to drive traffic back to his blog with his 100 Ways to Succeed. Look for new ones each day.

I didn't see a way to read all of them as a category (hint: Tom, you should do this!), but maybe its his way to get you to scroll through all of his postings.

[check out] his blog

WiFi Networks for Entire Cities - Here It Comes!

Blogged about Philly earlier in the month and its only a matter of time before this is SOP.

THIS IS A BIG DEAL! BIG, TIPPING POINT KIND OF STUFF!

Imagine your entire city a WiFi hot spot! What kind of changes could happen? To your work life, to your personal life, for those less fortunate.

The possibilities are endless.

Attention Dallas, anyone home?

[read] via BusinessWeek Online

Ask for the Order!...STOP WASTING TIME

How many times to you get "kinda asked" for something? By coworkers, friends, clients, etc. Of course, in our personal life, there are many factors that we are sorting through when we need something, but even that is a waste of time. If someone wants something from me or needs something, just ask.

Now, in the business world...get to the point. Email has caused even more problems for sales people due to its informal nature. We went through this with the invention of voicemail. Remember going to training classes on "How to Leave Compelling Voicemails"?

Bottomline, get to the point. Why are you calling/voicemailing/emailing me? Why should I (the listener/reader) be interested?

Peter Davidson points all of this out by including what is wrong with an email he received pitching him about a new book. Very interesting and timely.

[read it]

"TiVo-Proof Advertising?"

I'm a "2 clicker" during the commercials. One click is too slow and 3 clicks is a bit too fast to perfectly catch the start of the program after the commercial break.

I play a game in my mind to see if I can catch the message of the TV commercial I just skipped. Which got me thinking...do the Creative Ad Agencies test their commercials on TiVo? They should!

With no sound and fly by frames, what could catch the viewer's eye? Phone numbers, logo placement, etc. Believe me, my eyes are fixated on the TV while I'm blowing through the commercials, so, play my little game and make a TiVo-proof commercial!

The cheese is moving...2 clicks at a time; in my house.

Word of the Week

Ok, its 2 words so don't get jumpy on me.

Thank you!

Not only do you need to show appreciation to your customers, but you need to say this to your employees and co-workers.

Who has helped you? Did you give them credit for their work? Words speak very loud, especially these 2 words.

Thank you!

If you say this a lot already, write a personal note and mail it to them. You'll be very suprised how little this is ever done.

Thank you Wal-Mart

I had a great experience yesterday at an Office Max store. I'm looking for a specific poster-size frame, so I dropped by Office Max during lunch.

As soon as I walked through the automatic doors, a rep said hello to me and asked if he could help. Told what I was looking for and he said they didn't carry the size I was looking for, but should probably try Target.

Ok, this isn't earth shattering, but not long ago, I would of walked aimlessly through the aisles, searching for my frame and when I did find someone to help me, they usually were clueless, had to get a manager involved, or would tell me 'I'll be right back'...ugh.

I give Wal-Mart the credit for this new Consumer Experience. They are the masters at making you feel welcome to their all-encompassing mega-whip (at least for me...) stores.

Either Office Max has purposely trained their employees, or is it that I've gotten so used to horrible customer service when shopping?

Thoughts?

Do You Have a Heartbeat? Read This!

This hit home.

Make a difference to someone today in your workplace or home.

That's my whole tease.

[read] from Paul Allen

The Music/Cellphone Revolution is Coming...

Just posted Death to Radio? early this morning and now, Peter Davidson has this posting about new partnerships with Sprint/Audible.com for their cell phone customers and Yahoo and MSN's plans for music downloads via Instant Messaging.

This is just the beginning!

Peter writes:

There are lots of reasons to think about the implications of this:

Your Business Will Be Effected - Regardless of what business you are in this revolution will bring new ways of doing almost everything. We're seeing hints of this with the impact of the RIM Blackberry.

You Will Be Able to Do Things Differently - We all want to find new ways to work smarter not harder. To say that advances in cellphone development are time saving efficiencies is incorrect. What is correct is that life with these hyper capable devices is profoundly different. We will all have to adapt.

Your Kids, Friends, Employees Will Do Things Differently - The fastest to adapt will be the young people. If you hope to stay connected with your kids and or your young employees you need to understand the new power that is shifting to mobile devices.

Besides all of that most of this stuff is just plain cool!

[read] Peter Davidson's thoughts

Death to Radio?

It had to of felt similar to this when a newfangled device call "television" came on the market...

We have so many ways for consumers to spend their time instead of listening to radio. Nowadays, we have the Internet, XM/Sirius, TiVo, PlayStation, iPods, etc. that will supposedly kill radio.

I don't believe it, but, the new technology that has got my ears perked is hard drives in cell phones.

Think about it...put a hard drive that can carry .mp3's, record video programs, stream the Internet via GSM/GPRS and you have a category killer, if... you integrate that into the automobile. And I mean seamlessly.

Make it where anyone just drops their phone into a cradle on the dash and BANG, instant connectivity. Not just for us early adapters and tech-heads, but for Mom's taking their kids to school and everyone that carries a phone.

Have you noticed that AT&T and others networks still using CDMA-like networks are trying everything (promotions: free phones!, unlimited nights!, free long distance!) to get you to switch to their GSM/GPRS network?

They need you on these networks to sell you data packages and to drive revenue quickly...not to mention have the largest subscriber networks to strike deals with XM, Sirius, Napster, iTunes, etc. for content...

Just wait...its coming...

However, radio has such an opportunity with great local, relevant and timely content. No cookie cutter formats, but lifestyle content that has passion.

[read] what Paul Allen has to say.
[article] in pcworld.com

Thoughts?