Blog Stuff
Thu, May 10, 2007 at 5:21 PM in Useless Info Saturday we had a moose in our back yard eating the grass. This video of the wily beast was shot from our back deck by my wife.
Thu, April 26, 2007 at 6:11 PM in Business Blogging Since I gave up the Fight Club blog to Matthew Prestwich, I've been blogging infrequently here, and more often at my blog for physicians in cosmetic medicine, Medical Spa MD. Three blogs was just too much, especially since I've still got to make all of the links on my daughters blog at Pony Tail Club. She's on a Mac and can't pull up the WYSIWYG on squarespace.
Even with the infrequent postings, this blog is now at 5000 unique readers a month. But the real surprise is that Medical Spa MD is going to go over 16,000 uniques and 1,200 RSS feed subscribers, most of which are physicians. Yowza. It's growing at about 25% month over month.
But the interesting thing is the content. Medspa MD gets between 5 and 35 comments a day.
Take a look at this post on Dermacare Medspa Franchises and Laser Clinics which currently stands at 500+ comments. It's become a watering hole for that whole business and the corporation under discussion, Dermacare, sent me a cease and desist letter. That blog has prompted a flurry of corporate emails. Interestingly, the Dermacare franchisees forward them to me.
American Laser Clinics, Sona and Radiance Medspas are other medical spa business I've discussed that didn't fare too well. I've been contacted by a number of lawyers who wish me ill and send me nasty writings. But there are others, Thermage for example, who want to get in front of those doctors in a positive way.
But the real reason that the readership has grown so fast is that I'm posting information on medical spas that you just can't get anywhere else.
Almost all the information available to people interested in vertical niche markets is advertising or promotion that comes from companies with an interest in 'spinning' the information. Then along comes someone on the inside. That has real appeal for those seeking real info and not advertisements. It's like Al Reis says, "If you can't be first in a market, create a new market so you can be first in that one."
Perhaps I'll be able to figure out how to monitize the traffic. 10,000 physicians in cosmetic medicine a month ought to be worth something.
Ain't technology great.
Thu, April 19, 2007 at 6:21 PM in Philosophy Like everyone else, I've been watching the news about the Virginia Tech Massacre.
I was watching Larry King last night and one of the guests was the owner of the pawn shop where Cho purchased or picked up the weapons he used in the killings.
He talked about a completely normal and legal sale.
The owner came across as a calm older guy running a business and when he mentioned he'd received nasty calls and emails and that he'd run a background check and nothing came back so there was nothing he could do, my reaction was that he was completely blameless...
Sometimes I read news from other countries. In reading about these killings on the BBC, I came across the following paragraph that caught my attention.
John Markell, the owner of the Roanoke firearms shop really have wanted to sell Cho the 9mm Glock if he had read some of these pages? After all four guns sold from his shop had already been reportedly involved in other homicides.
Evidently John Markell has sold the weapons that have been used in five separate homicide incidents with at least 36 people dead. (32 at VT and four others.) That's quite a record. I wonder how much money his pawn shop has made from the sale of those five weapons?
Sometimes it might be good to question whether you're really contributing to society in a beneficial, not just blameless, way.
Tue, April 10, 2007 at 8:38 PM The only blog I have that pays for itself is the one I write for doctors in cosmetic medicine. I've decided to see if there's not a way to consolidate this verticle market and create an income stream from the 14000 unique monthly readers.
Anyone need a skin typing spectrophotometer for your medical spa?
I posted this page for a high cost product that's a really nice addition to any clinic that needs to skin type. (I plan on adding other products to a page for medical spa products and services.)
So if you're in need of a site to buy a device to measure how much melanin your dermis has... now you know?
Tue, April 10, 2007 at 8:24 PM So I've got a few blogs going. There's this one, Pony Tail Club (my daughters), Kid Agent (my sisters), and Medical Spa MD, my blog for docs in cosmetic medicine.
I was blogging hot and heavy there for a while. Then I got a small amount of burn out and this site's postings dropped to zero for the last two months along with Fight Club Dinners. Say La Vie.
Previously I offered the Fight Club Blog to anyone who might be interested in taking it over. Matthew Prestwich won that coveted position so he'll be posting over there. I'm actually anxious to see what he'll write since he's been reading a number of Utah bloggers including Josh over at MWI and Paul Allen's blog. I know that mail boxes will be among the topics. I've also extended an invitation to FC so if Matt's incredibly interesting you'll be able to meet him there.
Fri, March 23, 2007 at 7:40 AM in Fight Club - CEO Network If you're not on the invite list and would like to be, call or email Ryan Money.
Wed, March 7, 2007 at 11:22 AM in Small Business My buddy Shane's new business for hair stylists, Studio Salons, is now open in Draper.
I was in the location yesterday and it's fantastic. It acutally made me want to cut hair. There are more pictures here.
If you know any hair stylists who are tired of booth rental or commissions and want to own their own business. Studio is a perfect fit. The Draper location is open now. The location on 4th South and 5th East will be open in a month or so.
This model is potentially disruptive to the entire salon and spa industry. We'll see how it goes.
Mon, March 5, 2007 at 11:26 AM in Fight Club - CEO Network Fight Club: Rand Bateman is an IP lawyer. Here's his last fight.
It was one of those days when you just don't feel well and you can't wait to go home. All of the sudden I felt a sharp pain in my left shoulder and realized one of the lineman from our high school football team had just punched me in the shoulder. He probably just meant it as a joke, but just sitting upright was about all I could muster.The next second was a blur. When my brain reengaged I was standing above him holding his desk in my hands like a bad pro wrestling move. He was staring up at me.I put his desk back and quietly sat down. As he got up off the floor the teacher turned and asked if their was a problem. "No problem," he replied.Fortunately my irrational action surprised him enough that he didn't wipe the floor with me. After that he was actually pretty nice to me.Rand
Wed, February 28, 2007 at 2:54 PM in Internet Companies So I finally made some money from a web 2.0 site.
A few weeks ago I uploaded some of my images to ImageKind, a 'print on demand' site for artists to show their work.
(I'd found them when someone had been hawking my unlicensed images. ImageKind responded immediately when I notified them and were much easier to deal with than I'd expected.)
Anyway, an image was sold, printed, and delivered. I got a check that didn't bounce. Great.
ImageKinds business model is like Cafe Press except that they're making their money from the framing. The artists have total control over pricing and whatever else they want. So someone bought a largish poster for $245 of a painting that's actually 5 by 6 feet and cost $45k. Not a bad deal for anyone.
I did speak with them about limited editions which are not currently possible. Trying to think of a way around that.
Thu, February 22, 2007 at 8:32 PM in Philosophy I just finished watching the Ghosts of Abu Ghraib on HBO. I missed it at the Sundance Film Festival where it premiered.Utah's
the most conservative state in the nation and generally supportive of George Bush and the War on Terror. Personally I'm not a fan. I'm even less of one now.
The stories of abuse and torture that have come out of Abu Ghraib disgust me as an American. How could they not. While I'm all for killing the right people, I find it deeply troubling that America has allowed itself to be led by people to whom getting caught is what makes a practice wrong. American should watch this film.
And of course there's this: A U.S. soldier was sentenced to 100 years in prison Thursday for the gang rape and murder of an Iraqi girl and the killing of her family last year.
The Geneva Conventions expressly prohibit torture and outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment... But George Bush not only defined prisoners in US custody as not being covered by the Geneva Conventions, but that torture would now become part of US policy.
The photo to the right is one of the previously unreleased images released in February 2006 by SBS in Australia, showing a man covered in excrement forced to pose for the camera. I'm surprised that being forced to stand naked in front of your captors while covered in shit doesn't make the list of torture on the Times article below. This sure looks like an outrage upon personal dignity.
The New York Times, in a report on January 12, 2005,reported testimony suggesting that the following events had taken place at Abu Ghraib:
- Urinating on detainees
- Jumping on detainee's leg (a limb already wounded by gunfire) with such force that it could not thereafter heal properly
- Continuing by pounding detainee's wounded leg with collapsible metal baton
- Pouring phosphoric acid on detainees
- Sodomization of detainees with a baton
- Tying ropes to the detainees' legs or penises and dragging them across the floor.
From a Sundance review: Over and over we're told that "the gloves are off" in the fight against America's enemies. Ghosts of Abu Ghraib is an essential declaration of the truth behind that cliché: Taking the gloves off is no guarantee the job will get done; it is a guarantee that you'll get your hands dirty. I can only hope that as many people as possible can see Ghosts of Abu Ghraib before April 15 and tax time roll around: This is what we have paid for with money, this is what American soldiers will pay for in blood, this is what our children will pay for as nations around the world perceive that America has gone from a defender of liberty to a swaggering thug. This is what Ghosts of Abu Ghraib shows us: lost lives, lost honor and fascist brutality in the name of democracy and freedom.
Thu, February 22, 2007 at 11:05 AM in Startups 
Moneys 25 startups to watch.
LogoWorks in Lindon is on the list? Go figure. I gave'em a try... once.
From the story: This year's field is chockablock with "me too" companies, and the bar for startups has been set even higher, in terms of both what customers expect and the kind of return on their investments the angels and venture capitalists want to see.
This means that, for many, 2007 is going to be a make-or-break year. "There has been enough time now to determine if there is something there," says David Hornik, a partner with August Capital and an Internet startup specialist. "For a lot of companies, the answer will be no." (Hence the rise of F---edCompany 2.0 sites like TechCrunch's DeadPool and Valleywag's Deathwatch.)
Tue, February 20, 2007 at 12:30 PM in Angels & VCs 
As part of EntrepreneurshipWeek USA, FundingUniverse has teamed up with TechStars to host a LivePitch event in Boulder, CO. All Colorado-based angel investors, entrepreneurs and service providers are invited to attend. I'd suggest that Brock have all the pitching companies listen to the Colorado Startups Podcast of this last angel pitching event to get a feel for what they're in for. (I'd suggest that FU make that recommendation for all the Utah pitches too since it would alleviate much pain.)
I've got a little sympathy for the CEO of Moodseer who was mockingly labeled a 'gem' by one of the angels. Tough to have to present on stage and have that make the podcast but it's entirely accurate and illustrates exactly how investors look at a presentation. The best questions don't get asked of the company, they're asked of other investors.
Here's the info:
What: LivePitch & Networking Event in Boulder Colorado
Who: Entrepreneurs that are seeking capital, entrepreneur community, angel investors, & service providers
When: Friday March 2, 2007
Venue: Colorado University (Boulder), Wolf Law Building (Main Courtroom)
Time: 9 am - 10:30 am
Cost: FREE!
Sun, February 18, 2007 at 9:12 PM in Internet Companies Greg posted this link to Amazons Emetrics Summit PDF.
Take a look at the split AB testing and the tabs page. Pete might have more on this since he's often posted about Amazon's customer obsession. Interesting to see the take on simpler page design. Here's the take on tabs.
Sat, February 17, 2007 at 12:24 PM in Startups 
It seems that Funding Universe has made friends with Colorado Startups.
From Jeff Jordon: The event will be a variation on the Speedpitching luncheons we've held in Florida, Texas, California and Phoenix. It will be open to the public and anyone who has an business idea that wants to get feedback from a panel of real investors. There will also be some new crowd participation elements that will allow everyone in the room to "invest" in the ideas that they like the most.
Excellent. Now we just need to bring come of that Colorado Startup pollen over here. It's not that far after all.
Wed, February 14, 2007 at 1:00 PM in Business Blogging 
Take over the Fight Club Blog. To the tune from Oliver: "Blog. Blog for sale. It's going cheap. Only seven guineas."
I was going to close the account where I keep the Fight Club Blog since I've moved that discourse over here onto this blog for the most part. Of course my mind was muddled with thoughts of saving the $7 a month that that blog costs me to run.
When out of the blue.. an epiphany. Why not give that blog to the under-served wannabe blogger who can benefit from it. After all, it has a pagerank of 4, has 125 subscribers, 82 back links, and has been up and running for a year or more. And people say nice things about it like this myspace entry:
"I don't know why, but I got on a kick about Billy Barty. No one has dedicated a blog to him, but there is a Fight Club blog entry that features him. Apparently, Barty, post-humously, took on a kid named Ryan Coombs. http://www.fightclub.squarespace.com/the-blog/2006/4/1/fight-club-recap-0306.html"
See, everyone loves it. No need to shut it down. Recycle.
So, I offer my offspring to the world lest it wither and fade away.
If you'd like to take over the Fight Club Blog, email me at jeffbarson at gmail . I'll happily sign the adoption papers for a deserving parent. Besides getting the blog I'll promise to say nice things about you here as well as teach you everything you need to know if you're blogging challenged. You start paying the $7 a month. That's the deal.
Keep in mind that this is not first come, first serve. I'd prefer that the acquiring home have at least one of the following attributes:
