Looking at all of my new gadgets that my friends and I have acquired this year made me realize how wired and connected we are. We have achieved a level of connectivity with each other and with information that ten years ago we would only think it could happen in science fiction novels. Our laptops, our phones, our desktop computers… heck, even our refrigerators are plugged in and wired to the world wide web.

A new survey done in the United States by Deloitte and Touche shows the level of connectivity that we have and the results have been quite interesting. For example, 38 per cent of US consumers now watch TV shows online, while 36 per cent use their mobile phone as an entertainment device. Also, 45 per cent have made it a habit to make online content for others. This include music, videos, blogs and websites.

The survey confirms that new media is now a legitimate form and advertisers see a more universal strategy as the most effective means of reaching your target audience.

The figures cited have actually increased quite dramatically from the last survey and this is quite telling because it means the level of acceptability and absorption of these devices has also increased. Advertisers should take heed of this new development in making new ad strategies this year. We should also look at this as a sign that society is really becoming more and more connected whether we like it or not.

“I think for advertisers one of the conclusions is you don’t make decisions to advertise either on television or the Internet when you want to hit all the demographics, but rather you need to have a multiplatform strategy,” said Ken August, vice chairman and national sector leader for Deloitte & Touche’s media and entertainment practice, which commissioned the study. “It shouldn’t be an either or proposition.”

Among the study’s other findings:

– 54 percent of consumers said they socialize via social networking sites, chat rooms or message boards, and 45 percent said they maintain a profile on a social networking site.

– 85 percent of consumers still find TV advertising to have the most impact on their buying habits, but online ads are second best, with 65 percent of consumers saying they have the most impact, beating out magazines at 63 percent.

I’m in the process of trying to figure out a gameplan to start travelling again. However I’m in the middle of growing another new business. Over the years I’ve learned that constant blogging just isn’t a great option for me while I travel. I need to build a better more stable business that can handle a few weeks of just having blackberry access.

One of the things I’ve learned about travel and business is this: It’s Hard.

When I’m travelling I have absolutely no focus on work. I have the Look It’s Shiny mentality and I get nothing done. Last year after barely exiting Mexico with my head in tact I managed to find a way to lock myself into a small house and just work for a few months.

Sometimes this is what it takes. However I need travel in order to find peace sometimes. I think a great business that could work is a lead generation business for certain businesses like Real Estate and Mortgage companies. Now this is just an example and I wouldn’t touch that industry with a 27 foot pole but it could be worth a shot.

In your experience what has worked for you as far as mixing business with travel. What brings you success and a measure of happiness?

For a long time I’ve been hanging out in the sphere around blogging. Blogging and blogging news. Especially the echo chamber blog news coming from insiders, have always interested me, and today I’m happy because it looks a void got filled : Krug is back, with a [old] 901am style alike site, Telegraphik.

Sweet, another dose of insider blog news. I missed those!

Eatonweb, the oldest blog directory online, relaunched. EatonWeb is not your regular blog directory, but a blog directory that matters, weekly updating the strength and ranking of blogs.

Contrary to many directories, and top lists, EatonWeb uses an algorithm based on over 20 different factors to track the metrics, strength and momentum of a blog and not just the number of pageviews. Elements of the algo are PageRank, traffic, incoming links, estimated number of subscribers, Alexa Rank and some more secret numbers. Weekly the values are updated and in every category fastest climbers and sinkers are listed.

Submission to the directory is free. EatonWeb is a manually edited directory, not a website-additional-directory serving some shady SEO wannabes free link juice and monthly income based on submission fees.
Go add your blog to the oldest blog directory on the internet and show off your blog strength.

Go add your blog now now! It’s free!

After only some days, the list can be updated.

With the introduction of the excellent offline Google Reader [modus], we can delete FeedDemon from the list and save $25.
Although FeedDemon still has some more features than Google Reader, Google Reader performs well and fast.

Another addition to the list, comes in the form of the new version of Windows Live Writer.
Windows Live Writer is an all straightforward, out of the box editor for most blog platforms. Installation is easy and writing is even easier. It feels like writing in Word, with support options for your theme, just less bloated than MS Word. If you blog alot and hate to be stuck in your blogplatform editor, Windows Live Writer is what you need.

The Editor comes with many insertion and formatting possibilities and also supports tags properly, but not 100% correctly if you want to use site internal tags.
Live Writer can ping services when publishing entries, or publish entries at a specific time. Basically you’ll find everything you need and the feel is nicer than writing in the WP editor.
Screenshots after the jump

Read more…