And, I am happy to report that our webcasts are sold out for 2008. We launched the program in mid-June, and will complete six webcasts through December. You can get a feel for some of our events by visiting www.mspmentor.net/events.

In 2009, we'll be booking webcasts at a frequency of one time per month. So if you want to be involved, please contact me directly at amy [at] ninelivesmediainc.com. We'll be announcing a few new programs for 2009 as well, so keep watching for major news from us.

You can't sit behind your keyboard and LCD screen interacting with your readers. At some point, you have to go meet them. You need to read their body language as you ask why they visit -- and return -- to your sites. And you need to ask them where your work needs improvement.

Frankly, we were overwhelmed by upbeat feedback about our three media sites -- MSPmentor, The VAR Guy and Works With U -- during recent trips to CompTIA Breakaway and LinuxWorld Expo. (And yes, we also received some healthy constructive criticism.)

Launched in January, MSPmentor and The VAR Guy are now ranked among the top 3 percent and 1 percent of all blogs on the Web, respectively, according to Technorati.com. We've built readership not only through search engine optimization (SEO), but also through word of mouth at conferences. We'll continue that effort later this week, when I visit Ingram Micro's Seismic conference in Chicago.

We also use conferences for new business development. During the recent LinuxWorld Expo in San Francisco, we held closed-door meetings with several open source gurus. Their thoughts helped us write the next chapter for our Works With U business plan. Launched in May, Works With U is the independent guide to Ubuntu Linux.

Thanks to our offline meetings, we have big online plans for the site.

Not sure where you should take your online business next? Close your web browser and get out on the road. It's great out here.

First and foremost, Nine Lives Media Inc. is a fast-moving, highly energetic company that isn't constrained by old media rules. We build highly targeted online destinations that go narrow and deep. We build and host events. We publish research. We shape new media markets, and we disrupt established markets.

Skeptical? Check out our track record. Our first three media brands are:

• MSPmentor, the ultimate guide to managed services
• The VAR Guy, what's next in the IT channel
• Works With U, the independent guide to Ubuntu Linux

MSPmentor: Launched in January 2008, MSPmentor is now ranked within the top 3 percent of all blog destinations, according to Technorati. Our loyal and growing audience flocks to our online event series -- MSPmentor Live: CEO Exchange. And we believe the MSPmentor 100, our annual ranking of managed service providers, is now the most widely read research report in this industry.

The VAR Guy: Meanwhile, The VAR Guy (also launched in January) is now ranked among the top 1 percent of all blogs on the Web, according to Technorati. Most major media outlets -- from CNet to Wired -- regularly link to The VAR Guy's unique perspectives. And The VAR Guy's Guides to sales, marketing and technology in the IT channel have been downloaded by several thousand readers.

Works With U: It's a little early for us to discuss milestones involving Works With U, our latest media launch. It focuses on the rapidly expanding world of Ubuntu Linux users. We expect the site, which went live in early May, to become our highest-traffic destination within a few months. We'll share more details this fall.

Looking Ahead

We're proud of our online destinations, but we're not resting on our laurels. As co-founders of Nine Lives Media Inc., Amy Katz and I continue to reinvest in our current sites, and we'll announce some additional directions later this year.

At the same time, we've successfully established several other business services, including:

• Custom Media: Several of our clients now depend on us for research, case studies and other custom-developed content.
• Event Moderation: We now host and moderate executive forums, summits and CIO roundtables for a range of clients, including a leading security software provider, a top business intelligence provider, MSP platform developers, networking companies and SaaS (software as a service) giants.
• Custom Blog and Web 2.0 Content Development: We advise a range of clients on their Web 2.0 initiatives, ensuring that they effectively promote their messaging across corporate blogs and third-party destinations.

We've got a few more surprises in store for late 2008. In the meantime, reach out to us if you have any questions about the past, present and future of Nine Lives Media Inc.

You can reach us here:

• Amy Katz, CEO (sales and business development), amy [at] ninelivesmediainc.com
• Joe Panettieri, Executive VP and editorial director (all content questions), joe [at] ninelivesmediainc.com

I'm tempted to hype our upcoming events (find details here). But since this is our business blog, I'll focus on how we ramped up to host online events, and why we focus on long-term "business assets" rather than short-term "dollars and cents." Frankly, we believe long-term vision can drive long-term and short-term revenue. Here's why.

In the Beginning

When most journalists give up a steady paycheck to go out on their own, they try to line up freelance work to build a solid revenue stream. In stark contrast, I wanted to build my own business assets. Fortunately, my business partner (Nive Lives Media Inc. Co-founder and CEO Amy Katz) had the same vision.

Let me explain: Sure, I could make a good living writing and editing for other media companies. But that would mean chasing freelance opportunities all the time. And the only real "asset" I'd have is my reputation as a solid writer, reporter and high-tech event producer.

Another Direction

Amy and I had something vastly different in mind for Nine Lives Media Inc. First, we'd strive to build branded assets (our first three are MSPmentor, The VAR Guy and Works With U). We'd deliver great content through those assets to attract a loyal reader community. (Notice, I said reader community rather than social network. There's a big difference.) Ultimately, those assets would provide a bridge between readers and sponsors.

It all sounds so simple. But I'm leaving out a lot of the secret sauce. You need far more than great content. You need audience development strategies, marketing, sales and business development, financial management, and a work ethic that means each day you're driven to nurture your assets.

And you need a great business partner who builds and runs the company, while you're locked away brainstorming about the next day's content.

So Far, So Good

Less than six months after launching Nine Lives Media Inc., our three media assets are attracting -- and retaining -- strong audiences. Now, we're introducing those audiences to our MSPmentor Live: CEO Exchange webcasts.

Again, it all sounds so simple. It sort of reminds me of the sports world: Great athletes (Gretzky, Jordan, Ali) always make their jobs look easy. But hang out in the gym with us, and you'll see how hard we're working to build our assets.

We'll be weighing that question heavily over the next few weeks, as we review our plan for the second half of 2008 and begin looking at 2009.

When Amy Katz and I launched the company, every day was filled with new innovations: New beta web sites, new beta functionality, new sales strategies, new outsourcing relationships. But as our sites moved from beta to production, we've started spending more and more time "maintaining" and investing in current operations and business processes.

While Amy runs our business -- driving sales, managing finances, and building new relationships -- I'm busy applying polish to our sites, developing new content and building audience. We're swamped (in a good way).

So, how do we continue to innovate, even as we run existing operations?

The most basic answer is something I call "five hours of innovation." Each week, I'm determined to spend at least five hours experimenting with new Web 2.0 capabilities. And going forward, I think I'm going to formally block off my Friday afternoons for this. That may sound like wishful thinking, but it's always good to have written personal goals.

At the same, I use every phone call, online and face-to-face engagement to learn from our readers, our sponsors and the broader IT industry. Many high-tech companies (Autotask, Dell, Cisco, Nimsoft... and dozens more) are experimenting with Web 2.0 media and online communities, and are willing to share their learnings.

Yes, managing a new business is keeping Amy and me incredibly busy. Someday, hopefully in the distant future, we may be too busy to innovate. When that day comes, I intend to retire.

Now, for our challenge: When Amy Katz and I launched Nine Lives Media Inc., we made a conscious decision to build media assets -- including databases and online brands like MSPmentor, The VAR Guy and Works With U.

During the first few months of 2008, we said "yes" to some freelance engagements that, in turn, helped us to fund our first three media sites. But now -- as we plan for the second half of 2008 -- we're starting to politely say "no thank you" to some third-party projects that aren't core to our business.

To our pleasant surprise, our own media brands have quickly gained traction. And like newborn kids, they're demanding far more time and focus than we ever expected.

What a wonderful problem to have.

New RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/workswithu

New Site: http://www.workswithu.com

Now that you've got the "official" company line, let me share some less formal thoughts about Works With U, and driving our business forward. When we launched Nine Lives Media Inc., Amy Katz and I had a clear goal:

Go narrow and deep: The world is filled with broad IT media sites. They serve an important purpose. Be we wanted to "serve the under served" by going very narrow and very deep into highly targeted markets. Plus, we wanted to disrupt established markets, or generate community in emerging markets. Our first three media sites -- The VAR Guy, MSPmentor and Works With U -- fulfill those goals.

The VAR Guy and MSPmentor both launched in January 2008. And frankly, they're doing well. Meanwhile, we've been kicking around the Works With U concept for about a year. But we kept getting distracted by our day jobs and deadlines tied to our existing sites.

But Works With U was a project we knew we had to pursue. Ubuntu is more than a technology and a business tool. It's a social tool that delivers freedom of choice, opportunity and open collaboration. And, it may even bridge the digital divide in some communities.

We have high hopes for Works With U, and the broader Ubuntu Linux movement. For more on how -- and why -- we launched the site, see my May 1 blog entry on Works With U. And send us feedback.

Initially, we didn't expect the site launch to be too difficult. After all, our launches of MSPmentor and The VAR Guy went relatively smoothly in January because we had clear goals and a good site development partner. We quickly mastered new widgets and ad management systems for both of those sites, which now rank among the fastest-growing blogs in the IT industry. In fact, MSPmentor and The VAR Guy are already ranked within the top three percent of all blogs worldwide, according to Technorati.com.

Still, getting Works With U our the door presented us with some new challenges.

For starters, we have to maintain our focus on our day jobs (running MSPmentor and The VAR Guy) even as we push forward with Works With U in the evening.

So, we have less time and more platforms to manage. Boy, I almost sound like a CIO in that last sentence.

While I continue to build out our content and audience development, Amy Katz has been running our business -- the finances, the partnerships -- and she's even been mastering some back-end code. I actually made the mistake of calling Amy a geek today (I think we're still on speaking terms, though).

Looking ahead, our site development partners seem to be on track with the new site launch. And they're adding a few new wrinkles to the effort, including next-generation video, podcast and slideshow capabilities.

We've got high hopes for the launch. Keep checking www.workswithu.com. We look forward to your feedback as we get set to write the next chapter in our business development.

In case you didn't know, Ubuntu is the fastest-growing Linux distribution in the world. Our All About Ubuntu beta site has received more than 70,000 page views during our tests. Readers seem to be enjoying it. But All About Ubuntu is only a beta media site.

We've got bigger plans... bigger ambitions. In fact, we're nearly ready to show you a vastly improved site. It will feature a new name, a new URL, and plenty of content for established and aspiring Ubuntu users

Coming soon: Works With U (www.workswithu.com).

Stay tuned.