Travel Tip: Finding Starbucks When On the Road

As a native New Yorker, I’m used to seeing Starbucks on every street corner. But this morning, during a business trip near Dallas, I was having trouble finding a local Starbucks. And I didn’t have WiFi or GPS handy to lead me to the mother ship. Here’s how I solved my liquid panic attack.

Using R&D to Battle the Recession

The US economy is (A) in a recession or (B) near a recession. Either way, things aren’t so great. Yet Nine Lives Media Inc.’s first-quarter budget included two major Web site launches: The VAR Guy and MSPmentor.

We’re not stopping there. Despite the economic storm clouds, our second quarter budget includes a third site launch and new investments in multimedia. And we continue to attend targeted events that will propel our business forward. Here’s a bit more about the strategy.

Can Blogs Become Billion Dollar Businesses?

Before I launch into a rant, I want to be clear: Amy and I don’t consider Nine Lives Media Inc. a pure “blog” business. Yes, we build and launch blogs. But ultimately, we use many types of media to generate an ongoing dialog between high-tech companies and their targeted audiences.

Certainly, blogs are important to us. We’re passionate about them. But there’s a difference between Nine Lives Media Inc. and the bigger tech blog providers like TechCrunch. While TechCrunch has broad high-tech readership, our sites are designed to go narrow and deep on specific niches. Which strategy is smarter?