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.

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...

 

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!

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

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

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

The Quest for Verizon FIOS

Verizon FIOS is now available in my neighborhood!  Now, the only reason I know this is because I've repeatedly checked their website and made phone calls to the company.  What did they do with my email address that I gave them to "let me know when the service was available in my area"?

After numerous phone calls to Verizon, I finally got a person on the phone to order the product.  I needed to speak with someone, because I have local phone service with them and I was one of the first DSL customers in my city.  I wanted to negotiate a bundle package with them that wasn't available on-line.

Without even asking for a price quote, they said it would be $29.95 a month.  Now, this 5Mb/2Mb service is nearly $5 cheaper than I'm currently paying for 768k/128k DSL.  I also got my local service down over $15 a month as well.

Of course, they can't come and install the "battery backup" in my garage until December 12th, but I believe it will be worth the wait.

It really is amazing how inexpensive these services have become.  When WiMax arrives, what is going to keep from a few people getting this type of service and having it open for many to use in the neighborhood/city? 

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tags:  verizon | fiber optic | verizon fios

Away, but Not Gone!

Sorry for the delay in posting!  It has been very busy and there was no time in the evening for me to focus on blogging.

I have lots of notes to get back to my regular posts but I thought I would let you know about a new Business Thoughts venture (big words for a blog/podcast I am sponsoring)!

I am pleased to announce that Business Thoughts is sponsoring Zen and the Art of Triathlon.  Brett needed help with his bandwidth, so I stepped up as a sponsor.

This is a blog and podcast that focuses solely on the triathlete and the triathlete lifestyle.  I have been following Brett's work from almost day one and he is providing a great service, info and entertainment.  There is a very natural connection between triathletes and business, so the sponsorship makes a lot of sense, especially with my triathlon passion.

Brett and I have had great brainstorming emails for nearly a year and I even got to meet him and his wife face to face at a triathlon in Shreveport.

So, welcome triathletes and visitors from Zen and for all Business Thoughts readers, I invite you to check out Brett's work here.

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tags:  triathlon | zen and the art of triathlon

Who Needs to Talk?

Technology definitely has helped me the last few days that I have been unable to use my voice!

• Skype for IM's in the office and with my wife at home
• SMS with friends and other co-workers
• standard email of course

I found that I was using SMS and IM much more than in February '04 after my last surgery. 

Shout outs to old skool paper and pen as well.  You never left my side while walking around the office or at home.  Couldn't of done it with you!

Thanks Lifehacker for the heads up about Teleflip.  A cool service that allows you to email any mobile phone with just the phone number without needing to know the service provider.

Just send an email to [mobile number] @ teleflip.com to try it out for yourself.

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tags:  sms | skype | teleflip