Headline

Computerworld reported today that vinyl record sales doubled in 2008 , setting a record for records that hasn't been broken since the turn of the century. In contrast, CD sales are down. Way down. According to the article, the primary reasons for this are two-fold: vinyl records have better sound and the album art is in great demand.

This article went on for three pages quoting "industry observers" about how music enthusiasts are rediscovering vinyl records as a source of warmer sounds and cover art that "you can hold in your hands". They tout how a new generation is discovering vinyl for the first time for the same reasons.

Sure, there is some validity to the two reasons given. The music does sound warmer, fuller, and richer, an argument many purists have given to justify their resistance to the more sterile sound of a digital recording on CD. This is also why a few recording studios still use older equipment to capture the sound.

No doubt album cover art is just that - art. I will admit I purchased an album or two in my day more for the cover than the music enclosed within.

However, nowhere in this article does anyone mention the most obvious reason for the uptick in sales of analog recordings.

Oh, come on now, seriously. I think everyone knows the REAL reason vinyl is making a comeback. It's DRM free.

You can say what you will about the reasons CD sales are down and the big labels can believe what they want, but the primary reason CD music sales are dying is because of DRM. People pay through the nose for music these days and for all the money they pay they want to feel as though they really own them, not like they are standing at a Jukebox every time they want to hear their favorite tunes.

Which MP3 tunes sell better, those with DRM or those without? Apple knows this. Independent artists know this. The RIAA still doesn't get it. They think everyone is a criminal. In reality it is the recording industry cartel who are the criminals, because they are trying to squeeze every penny they can from music fans in the name of the copyright and in so doing are choking themselves.

Until the recording industry figures out a way to lock down music on vinyl records sales will continue to rise.

If that does happen, don't be surprised if the 8-track makes a comeback.

I was reading a post in the computerbusiness group on Yahoo! this morning by Brad at Aspen Computer Services called The Economy and Elephants. He was discussing Steve Kaplan's book Bag the Elephant!: How to Win and Keep Big Customers. The "elephant" in this respect is the large client. The concept is that obtaining a couple of these big spending accounts will provide a steady revenue stream for your business, allowing you spend less on administrative overhead such as marketing to new clients, invoicing and collections.

In the past this was every small computer consultant's dream: land a couple of big ones and your business is set. But times have changed.

The current situation with the economy has created uncertainty in the marketplace; even the largest elephants are no longer immune to its effects. Layoffs are occurring everywhere within large corporations and many companies in the enterprise are scaling back or cutting tech spending in 2009. If you rely on two or three large companies to keep yours profitable and you lose revenue from one, how would that impact your business? Unless you have alternate streams of revenue, it could be a serious blow to your bottom line.

This is where the old adage of "putting all of your eggs in one basket" rings true. While 'bagging the elephant' is always a great boost to your business, to rely solely on the elephants to make your hunt a success is risky business.

This is how a lot of investors lost their life savings. They relied solely on the stock market, their 401(k) or their pensions for their retirement nest egg instead of diversifying their savings in a number of different venues. When the stock market took a nosedive and the banking industry began to meltdown, many of them lost it all. Those who diversified were hurt as well, but they were able to take the blow.

In these uncertain economic times, we need to be ready for anything. Bagging the elephant won't necessarily help much anymore. If the elephant is becoming lean it could be more trouble than its worth and if it is sick, lame or even dying, instead of an asset, it could even become a liability.

In his post, Brad considered this himself and suggested that diversification may be a better alternative. I agree.

We are currently running a four part episode of The Force Field podcast on The State of the IT Industry. While the discussion primarily centers on how the current economic situation is affecting IT service providers and how they think it will impact their businesses in the coming year, we do talk about how to deal with the prospect of a downturn in business.

In Episode 29 Patrick Palmer told us what he was doing to market his services to a broader client base. In Episode 30 Kris Crispell stressed the importance of keeping up with the latest technology with continuing education in IT. The guests made suggestions in each interview that I think are good ideas to consider, but the one thing they all mention is the possibility of diversifying.

There are many new and emerging technologies entering the marketplace and  this translates into new opportunities for staking a niche in the delivery and support of new products and services, and possibly creating a niche in new areas of IT.

Even if you are not particularly interested in entering these new arenas, it is still advisable to check them out for possibilities. The truth is that in this day and age, under current circumstances, sticking to business as usual may not carry you through the rough spots to come. Sure, the more clients you do have for a specific product or service the better, but as the economic climate changes and consumers react to it, their needs and priorities may change as well. If you are not prepared to meet them, they will find someone who can.

Ever since the first episode was released in the summer of 1996, the Force Field has been a labor of love for me. A lot of time and effort goes into the production of each show and almost as much time and effort goes into the promotion and distribution of it. Although it has been over two years since the initial launch of the show, the topics discussed in the early episodes are still discussed among IT service providers in forums and news groups today and are still relevant to current issues and trends in the industry. Even the very first shows are still downloaded and listened to frequently.

Of course, all of this costs money. I have been producing the show on an advertising model and although it does help, it really isn't enough to justify the long hours that take me away from my family and provide for them. Realizing this, I decided to do two things.

 First, I am going to revise the format and distribution method of the show. Second, I am going to re-release the older shows to follow this new format.

Beginning February 2009 the show will be released in two versions. The first version will be as you know it now, with news, views, reviews and interviews in the same format as before. It will also remain FREE, supported by advertising.

The second version will be a premium edition with added content, longer segments and NO commercial advertising. It will be available in MP3 and higher quality audio formats for download at .99 cents per episode.

During the last two months I have been working on a project that launches today. Two months of  planning and six weeks in production and deployment have culminated in the release of The Force Field Podcast Premium Edition Volume 1 , a collection of the first six episodes of The Force Field podcast.

This premium edition includes:

• Original archived News and Comment segment


• three to six minutes of additional content in each episode
  


• A brand new segment produced specifically for each episode


• Remastered audio


• No ads
  

The Premium Edition is available in mp3, Ogg Vorbis and WMA formats your listening pleasure. This episode is also available for purchase on CD mastered from the original show master (not compiled from mp3 release recordings).

There were some recorded phone calls and interviews in these first episodes that were not the best quality due to poor connections and limited resources for recording some telephony transmissions. However, the audio on these recordings were edited and remastered for acceptable quality under the circumstances.

One particular remastering that worked out well was with Episode 3 in which I talked with Dave in Alaska. I had a lot of trouble with the interview in post production due to the poor connection and when the show was originally released had to be pulled and re-released again because the  audio levels were so weak listeners simply couldn't hear Dave. Even after several reworks it was still very weak. This always bothered me.

I now have tools to "fix it in the mix" somewhat and when I was working on the Premium Edition used the technology now at my disposal to give it another try. You can only do so much with bad audio but the call is much more audible and cleaner than it was before. You can now hear Dave without fiddling with the volume throughout the show. I was impressed with results.

To launch and distribute the new compilation we also launched The Force Field e-Store . The e-store was part of the original concept for the portal and a very basic version of the store was tied to CafePress for The Force Field Official T-Shirt, mugs and other gear but the full shop was never actually implemented. While it is still in beta and isn't fully branded (I simply haven't had the time) it is functional. I will tweak it in time.

The Force Field Premium Edition Volume 1 is now available. individual episode tracks can be purchased for .99 each per format and the complete six episode volume in mp3 format should be available within the next day or so for $4.99. You buy five and get one free in that deal.

The CDs should be available shortly and will be sold both individually and as a full 3 CD set. Each CD contains two episodes. The CDs are $4.99 each and the complete volume is only $9.95 plus $2 shipping within the continental US.

While the Premium Edition is not free, it will have value added content that is not present in the free, ad supported version. The Premium Edition is also commercial free. Did I remember to say that The Force Field Premium Edition has no ads? Yes, I did. So before I get lynched by my listeners let me tell everyone that The Force Field podcast is still free and it will be free. All I am doing is offering another version with extra toppings for just a little extra. Ninety nine cents isn't much but it could help keep the lights on.

You can visit The Force Field Official e-Store here .

Yesterday I received an e-mail from Robin Robins with some exciting news. She just discovered a new form of marketing in the world of web 2.0 that is surely to become big. Really big. So big, in fact, it could be THE next big thing in internet marketing.

Robin Robins discovered Twitter.

Now, if you don't know who Robin Robins is, she is what some VARs and others in the IT Managed Services and consulting business would call "an IT marketing guru". Robin is president of Technology Marketing Toolkit, Inc., which sells, of all things, The Technology Marketing Toolkit , a nicely structured and pricey system to help IT service providers market their IT businesses.

In the world of marketing for IT, Robin Robins has become a familiar name. Google her name up and you'll find links for Robin and her company all over the page. Mention her name in a professional IT forum or newsgroup and most respondents will at least have heard the name, which is a good thing, since it proves she does know something about marketing. After all, if you can't market yourself successfully with your own system, how can you sell it to anyone else?

Okay, now, that just made me go "hmm".

I met Robin at an ASCII conference a few years ago. The day long event was an introduction to Managed Services and Robin conducted a seminar on, of course, marketing Managed Services. After the seminar I spoke to her about marketing for IT service providers and invited her on The Force Field to discuss the topic with listeners. (It was just after I launched the show and I wanted to expand on the topic covered in Episode 5 - Marketing Your Business ). She was very gracious but I never heard back from her after that so it is likely she probably forgot all about me and The Force Field as soon as we finished talking at the ASCII event.

She and her staff do bombard me with e-mails about her latest seminars and other events. I have responded to these e-mails on occasion at what is supposed to be the official e-mail address for responses, but they are never acknowledged. She may be a guru at marketing but she needs to work on those responses if she wants to market with Twitter.

I am not dissing Robin at all. There is value to what she has to offer, although what she charges for it is way out of my budget. She also recognizes the marketing potential of something when she sees it, as she said in her e-mail to me below:

"Hey Rick,

Have you heard of Twitter?

This is going to be BIG in the online web 2.0 marketing world. If you want to see what this is all about, check out my "tweet":

http://twitter.com/home

To find me, type in my name...

"robinrobins"

While you're there, set up a free account and join me!

Robin"

Now that Robin  has discovered this new form of communication and its potential as a marketing tool, Twitter has officially arrived.

Okay, I'm kidding.The truth is, it's been here for awhile. A lot of companies use it already.   Small businesses like mine know it. Even a few large corporations that are normally slow on the uptake know it. The odd thing is that some of the marketing experts whose services people pay a lot of money for and who are supposed to stay on top of all this stuff are just now starting to figure it out. For a marketing guru that's not good karma. 

Robin, where have you been? "This is going to be BIG"? It's already big. I've considered you a bit of an IT marketing guru but as far as recognizing Twitter as a tool to market your business and network with clients, you're late to the party.