ktoddstorch @ business thoughts

Word of the Week

Change
No one likes it, especially those that report to you.  However, nothing stays the same.  In fact, what are you doing the same this month (insert day, week, year...)  that you were last?

What should be different?  Your meetings?  A system?  A product?  A relationship?

When exercising, your body gets used to the training and won't respond like it used to.  This is why top athletes and those committed to results change up their training.

Get moving.  Get going.  Change it up.

Prescription Drugs...what a whip

I'm on a first name basis with our Pharmacist.  I've got 3 kiddos, so most of you know you spend a lot of time picking up prescriptions with kids.  That been said, I have to explain a quick situation last night that just irks me to no end.

My son needed a antibiotic after going to the Pediatrician yesterday.  Got to make sure he is well before all the family descends for Thanksgiving!  I run into Tom Thumb's pharmacy on the way home from work to get his medication.

The pharmacist really helped me out when she said, 'I just want to warn you, this is a non-formulary prescription, so your co-pay will be $50'.  Come on!  What is so special about a antibiotic that its off of the insurance's "guest list/holier than thou/extremely powerful" formulary?  Of course, there's no generic equivalent for this (an $8 co-pay, by the way...).

My wife pages the Pediatrician and explains and 10 minutes later, a generic antibiotic prescription has been called in and I walk out $8 lighter.

What's wrong with this?  I can't blame the Pediatrician because he is the medical caretaker of my son and he can't keep up with the prescription formulary.  Obviously, he was fine with another type of drug, so the one he prescribed wasn't necessary to my son's health.

The pharmacy probably lost money because of the helpful Pharmacist.  Not sure what the margins are on the $50 co-pay vs. the $8 co-pay, but sure seems like they would get more for the more expensive one.

The real issue is the "all powerful formulary" the prescription drug companies use.  If it isn't on this list, you are out quite a bit of money.

Now, I understand the whole R&D argument from the drug companies to recoup their costs, etc, but this was for a dang antibiotic that was easily replaced by another drug.

What a beating.  How many consumers would just of paid the $50 and went on their way?  Just doesn't seem right.

Hotmail vs. Gmail - Part II

In my first posting about these 2 email accounts, I mentioned that Hotmail "upgraded" my 2MB storage to 250MB of storage.  Ok, thank you.  Not nearly the 1GB that Gmail has given me for free from the get go, but this is good 'ol American competition at its best.

Now that my Hotmail account has been upgraded, I have to list out what sucks about Hotmail:
1)  constant "Server Too Busy" errors
2)  I've been getting a "No Document Selected" pop up when clicking on Inbox...huh?  I'm just trying to check my inbox!
3)  the amount of "Avenue A" spyware and ad pop ups if you are using IE.  Start using the Firefox browser to get around this
4)  the amount of real estate for Ads is increasing the load time of the pages

I have to say that I have been using Hotmail for years and for free email, it has been very helpful.  But now that there is Gmail, it just shows how much better it should of been and should be now.

This is just the first of the Google/Microsoft "wars".  Prepare for many, many more.

Thoughts?  Leave me a comment or email!

Word of the Week

Thankful

I know; its Thanksgiving week and I took the easy way out.  However, I've had some time to really reflect on this word the last few weeks with some trials that good friends of mine have had to face.

Are you truly thankful for your customers, employees, job, issues you face and opportunites in front of you?

Take inventory of what is important and feed it.  Nurture it.   Grow it.  Develop it.  Love it.

Convergence con't...U2's Bono says 'no money exchanged hands'

A very interesting read from USA Today discussing the U2/iPod convergence TV commercial.  What I was fascinated about was the Larry Mullen (drummer) and Bono's (singer) comments.

They obviously don't want to "sell out", but they are the best at reinventing themselves.

Seth Godin has covered this type of  "give it away free" marketing in the digital world as a way to make millions. 

[read] the USAToday article
[read] Seth Godin's thoughts

Blog Updates

There are some really good looking blogs out there.  I want to try and keep the blog clean and streamlined, but with so many tools and info available, it becomes a lesson in what not to put up.

I've added 3 sections on the blog:
1)  My Favorite Posts - these are the ones I'm proud of, feel like I was ahead of the curve or just like what I had to say!
2)  Most Popular Posts - these get the most comments and I receive the most emails about
3)  Blog Stuff - this is where I put the Bloglines/Feedburner subscription links, Technorati profile and site stats.  I'll end up adding an iPodder link here when I get around to it.  My "Blog Environment" section was getting cluttered, so I added this section on the lower right site of the Blog below the fold.

As I see more and more good examples, I'll tweak some more.

If you have suggestions, leave me a comment or email!

TiVo - Hmm...is this what I am paying for?

Lots of people upset and wondering how this whole "commercial skipping" abilities of TiVo and how the FCC wants to stop it.

The 2 main reasons I love TiVo are:
1)  watch what I want, when I want
2)  fast forward thru commercials, programming, etc.

It will be interesting to see what the outcome on all of this will be.  Will TiVo make more advertising $'s on these "banner ads"?  What role will the government play in all of this?

We've seen what a mess the music industry has become when you take away what consumers want...

Please, oh please, don't destroy a great concept and company!

[read] a great posting on TiVo's response via Engaget

Definately worth reading...

Any blog posting that includes the word FUBAR is worth reading.

This one especially by Mark Cuban...

[read]

Sirius Strikes Talent Again...this time its Mel Karmazin

Breaking News from Inside Radio

Mel Karmazin to Sirius Radio as CEO

He'll take over as chief of Sirius Satellite Radio - and is already swinging Wall Street attention to the satcaster. (The analyst who downgraded Sirius this morning may be re-thinking that.) There were rumors last Summer that Mel and Sirius had talked. Now he's coming aboard as CEO - joining his long-time star talent, Howard Stern. Look for the mainstream media to make a big fuss about this - maybe too big a fuss. Former Sirius CEO Joe Clayton remains on the board of directors.

Welcome "back" Mel.  It was only a matter of time.

[read] via FMBQ.com
[read] via Variety.com
[read] via Washingtonpost.com
[read] via USAToday

Sears to take on Wal-Mart?

There are so many postings out there on this $11B deal, so I'll keep mine short.

File this one under "you might as well try", but I don't get it.  Consumers could get even better pricing as Home Depot and Wal-Mart try to undercut them to death, but can they survive?  When's the last time you chose Kmart or Sears over Wal-Mart?  The only thing that interests me about Sears is their Craftman tools. 

Hmm...count on Home Depot trying to buy out that brand before Sears folds.

Good luck and we'll see you in bankruptcy court.  Wow, I'm cynical.

[read] via CNNMoney
[read] Tom Peters' thoughts...btw he agrees with me.  His words are just better than mine!