Jose Castillo
Jose Castillo had a very helpful agent on his recent trip through Atlanta customs who took some extra time to clear a few names off his record. Fingers crossed for his next trip. You can ask him if he has any other tattoos by emailing jose@thinkjose.com or at twitter.com/thinkjose.
Articles by Jose Castillo
Keeping up with new startups is almost impossible. While we sleep tonight, there are thousands of caffeine-infused individuals hammering away on keyboards creating the next great thing. With a polished slide deck, a few thousand loyal alpha users, and a code repository secret sauce, anyone can take his or her idea from stealth mode to global success overnight. And while some of the companies mentioned in this article will go on to success, others will fall by the wayside, burning through cash and users similar to a summer camp bonfire. The interesting threads to follow through these few successes and myriad failures are the trends that add value to the end user. And the current crop of products and services being launched offers a great list of features to keep our eyes on.
Editorial/Commentary -
Posted Dec 04, 2013
It used to be really hard to create good content. Twenty-five years ago if you wanted photos of your product it was a chore. As a kid I remember watching the process in my dad's advertising agency in Knoxville, TN. First you needed several thousands of dollars of professional camera equipment and lighting. Then you would gather all the products and shoot endless rolls of film, which you would then ship off to be developed and wait weeks for the actual shots. It was tedious at best and even then you would wind up editing things in a dark room. It would take me hours to resize clip art with a photostat machine that now takes seconds and requires a click and drag with my pointer. In 2013 if you are a major brand and you want a killer photo of your product, it takes one step: Search.
Column/Content Throwdown -
Posted Nov 21, 2013
Every year it's the same story. Millions of people leave their homes to visit our region and take in the gorgeous surroundings. But why is the Mountain South the place to visit? What makes this place so special compared to others? The same questions can be asked about content online. What makes one blog post stand out from the others? Why do some videos on YouTube gather hundreds of thousands of views while others barely crack 100? The answer to all of these questions lies in the eye of the viewer. And while we can't solve the riddle of why people prefer one thing over another, we can certainly tackle how to make our content more attractive. So here are three ways to make your online content more beautiful.
Column/Content Throwdown -
Posted Oct 17, 2013
The power of communication is evident throughout the history of humankind. Whether it's Biblical stories about the Tower of Babel, misinterpreted spies in courts of old, or even modern day marketing gaffs in foreign countries, the struggle to be understood continues to this day. In a recent Spiegel article, Franz Josef Och head of Google Translate, laid out his vision for what's next. Och wants to build a perfect translation machine that will instantly translate any text or audio fed into it. And current tools show that we may not be too far away from that dream becoming a reality.
Column/Content Throwdown -
Posted Sep 19, 2013
That little bump on your arm that looks like a mole. But what if it is something worse? You don't remember it being there last month. Maybe it's just a bug bite. Although it has been bothering you for a few days. So what do you do? Of course you approach this problem like any other rational human with a college degree and a smartphone. You ask the internet.
Column/Content Throwdown -
Posted Jul 18, 2013
The popularity of the hashtag (#) has just received another boost with the recent news that Facebook will now be rolling them out to their users. The official Facebook announcement states that hashtags will be clickable and allow users to see public posts around shared topics like #NBAFinals, #Oscars, and more. While most of us are familiar with those four simple lines and their rise to fame on Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, their background and meaning remains shrouded in internet lore. Who created the hashtag? Why is it called a pound sign, number sign, and a host of other names? And why do we use them, are they actually helpful?
Column/Content Throwdown -
Posted Jun 20, 2013
I quick scroll through the feed and the news of a nationwide internet outage is unfolding on social media. The nation's third largest telecom provider, CenturyLink, is experiencing outages from Las Vegas to Florida and across my region in Tennessee and North Carolina. On Twitter and Facebook the complaints are piling up about loss of internet and email, and downed websites. So what should a company do in the face of a massive problem? How do you use the myriad of tools online to effectively communicate with customers and resolve issues?
Column/Content Throwdown -
Posted May 16, 2013
The problem with identity creep is that it goes beyond individuals. While your business may not be pulled over by customs anytime soon, you may be surprised to find that people who search for your company are asking who you are, where you are, and what you've done. The confusion that follows can cost you contacts, leads, and sales.
Column/Content Throwdown -
Posted Apr 18, 2013
Spring is in the air. And in my neck of the woods here in Northeast, Tenn., that means the air is filled with the sights, sounds, and smells of 150,000 race fans. The smell of a thousand grills filled with every food you can imagine is truly mouth-watering. And if you have never attended a NASCAR race you are missing out on one of the most amazing entertainment events in the world. For two weekends a year the area surrounding Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn., turns into one massive tailgate party, campout, and racing event. Fans come from all 50 states, countries from around the world, and every walk of life to attend the world's fastest half mile track. It is mind blowing to watch that many people together in one place for a single event. But what can 150,000 race fans teach us about connecting with people during a live event?
Column/Content Throwdown -
Posted Mar 21, 2013
She was at least six inches taller than me but I was in love. Or what passes for love as a 14 year old boy in middle school. Lori was tall, blonde, and a super-smart basketball player with the sweetest southern accent you have ever heard. The eighth grade dance was almost here and I had to work up the nerve to ask her to go with me. My hands were sweaty, my heart rattled like a subwoofer in my chest, and my already cracking voice was hitting Mariah Carey high notes with ease. Was this love? If so, it was the scariest thing I had ever experienced in my life.
Column/Content Throwdown -
Posted Feb 21, 2013
My father was a true handyman. From the moment I could hold a hammer I was drafted into service for projects and repairs around the house. Construction and deconstruction are ripe opportunities for fathers to pass along words of wisdom to their sons, and my dad excelled at it. He was always passing along gems like, "A short pencil is better than a long memory," "Take care of your tools and they'll take care of you," and similar solid life lessons. And while I learned many things while hammering nails and digging ditches, the one pearl that has followed me throughout life is, "Measure twice, cut once."
Column/Content Throwdown -
Posted Jan 17, 2013
In 2006 I wrote a blog post on thinkjose.com about a small appliance company in Utah doing something dangerous and in turn creating a viral success selling $400 blenders that could turn a rake into sawdust. Several months later I wrote a feature article for Streaming Media entitled "Giant Web 2.0 Lies" highlighting BlendTec and their runaway video success. BlendTec continues to use the Will It Blend? videos to test their devices' power by blending phones, gaming consoles, cars, and even food over the last six years. With over 120 YouTube videos the company has racked up almost half a million subscribers and over 212 million views on their YouTube.com/Blendtec channel.
Column/Content Throwdown -
Posted Nov 08, 2012
Take some flashy Korean Pop dance moves, throw in a horse barn, bus, and elevator, and mix them all up with some banging beats, and the tasty result will be the Gangnam Style music video. With almost 430 million views in the span of two months, Korean Pop star PSY has destroyed most YouTube records. Park Jae-sang, better known by his stage name PSY, has gone from a successful South Korean artist to a worldwide superstar since July. Whether you have seen the plethora of remixes on the web, watched various TV personalities do their own sad renditions, or heard your friends contemplating dressing up as PSY for Halloween, it's safe to say you have probably seen the video. If not take a few minutes and watch it now .
Column/Content Throwdown -
Posted Oct 11, 2012
Everyone wants to know the recipe for creating viral content. And while some claim to have cracked the viral code, the vast majority of online information falls flat. While we continue to watch some videos, photos, and stories skyrocket to internet fame, the secret blend of herbs and spices remains elusive to the general population. While I doubt that there will ever be a line by line recipe for success on the internet, I do believe we can look at some key ingredients from previous successes and give content a better chance to survive and flourish online. In this ongoing series over the next few weeks we are going to take a look at several tasty surprises from 2012 and see what we can grab to add to our pantry.
Column/Content Throwdown -
Posted Sep 13, 2012
The world is full of blandness. We are guilty of constantly manufacturing for the lowest common denominator. Our culture rewards content that has been homogenized, pasteurized, and scrubbed of anything unique. We have copied what our competition is doing until we are blue in the face. The sea of sameness is prevalent across the board; marketing, communications, sales, and our entire organizations are striving for mediocrity. Fresh ideas are stifled by the layers of corporate bureaucracy and rarely see the light of day. So what do we do?
Column/Content Throwdown -
Posted Jul 12, 2012
It's a crisp, chilly evening in October. The sun has just set over the mountains in the distance and long, blue shadows are filling the park beside the white gazebo. A few warm street lamps dot the park in Jonesborough, TN, annual home of the International Storytelling Festival. As the last warm colors disappear into the distance, a lone figure steps onto the stage of the gazebo and begins to spin a yarn. I pull the blanket around me a little tighter. From the railroad tracks to the creek, the audience falls silent as the storyteller kicks off the ghost story portion of the festival.
Column/Content Throwdown -
Posted May 10, 2012
The smell of burnt rubber and champagne fills the air. A flash of fireworks invades my eyes and my ears are still ringing from the roar of engines now silenced. With confetti raining down around us, a hundred lenses all turn in unison to capture one man standing on a car. I lean over to one of the cameramen firing away with his massive lense -- which probably cost more than my car. "I bet you I'll beat you online!" I say with a smile. He smiles back as he eyes my iPhone. "You might be faster, but my quality will blow yours away," he responded. Turns out we were both right.
Column/Content Throwdown -
Posted Apr 12, 2012
Unless you have been on a 3 month leave of absence searching for inner peace at a temple in Tibet, you have probably been overwhelmed with information fabout Apple's latest press event. The announcement of the new iPad, new Apple TV, and a handful of software upgrades were not huge surprises. Thanks to our 24/7 tech news sleuths and a constant flow of tweets, photos, and videos, even monks halfway around the world knew we would see a new iPad with refreshed processor, stunning Retina display and a better camera. But the most interesting thing about this recent news is not either of the devices, but the ramifications that these latest post-PC gadgets bring.
Column/Content Throwdown -
Posted Mar 08, 2012
The recent Facebook IPO filing for $5 billion is not the largest or the most sensational public offering, but it is the most interesting in the last few years for several reasons. With 845 million members and over half of those visiting daily, Facebook.com is one of the most popular portals for sharing and consuming content. While we won't get in to the details of whether or not you should invest in Facebook (that's better left to the money managers and magic eight balls) this filing has revealed massive amounts of information and clues about this global technology giant. How will this transition effect the company, its users and most importantly the content creators? Is this the beginning of an incredible technology platform or the beginning of the end for another social network? In this episode of Content Throwdown we will put the risks and rewards of Facebook to the test.
Column/Content Throwdown -
Posted Feb 09, 2012
The problem with our increasingly connected society is that there are more channels and opportunities than ever to share our story, but the pitfalls have also become more dangerous. Jumping into the modern social scene with your company's message can feel like swimming with sharks while wearing a SPAM scuba suit. So let's look at a real world example and see what we can learn about where and how to best share our content.
Column/Content Throwdown -
Posted Jan 10, 2012
With the holiday season upon us we are all exchanging communications and content within our professional settings, as well as with friends and neighbors. Sifting through the cards, emails and tweets, I am reminded how important the tone of our messages can be. The Facebook message from a friend or the corporate email blast can be an opportunity to build a relationship even further or pile frustration on to the all ready hectic season. So sit back with your favorite seasonal beverage and lets hash out this edition of "Content Throwdown: Personal Voice vs. Professional Voice!"
Column/Content Throwdown -
Posted Dec 22, 2011
According to Pew Research Center, "50% of adult cell phone owners have apps on their phone." In other words, we have gone app crazy! What was once reserved for the early adopters, gaming companies, or social networks has now become the must-have tool for any business. You have a website, Facebook page, Foursquare deal, and now the time has come to decide... app or no app? In this episode of Content Throwdown! we will explore the pros and cons of building an app. So grab your marketing plan, put on your wrestling gear, and let's hit the mat!
Column/Content Throwdown -
Posted Nov 23, 2011
We are the content creators. The digital warriors who wrangle the fire-breathing dragons of text, photos ,and videos. We have honed our weapons into skilled machines that can upload a news release onto the web in the blink of an eye. Our workflow can edit, upload ,and embed while we casually sip on our lattes. We have reached the pinnacle of taking an idea from the strongholds of our minds and disseminating it to the masses, all with the click of our mouse. Or have we? In the battle for speed of delivery there may be a new contender on the horizon. In this edition of Content Throwdown! we will put the iPhone 4S Siri Assistant up against the bastion of electronic content input devices: the keyboard and mouse!
Column/Content Throwdown -
Posted Oct 20, 2011
There are plenty of "rules" for online content these days. "You must post your story to Twitter at 10 a.m. on Monday for maximum effectiveness," says the blog post. "If your YouTube video is longer than 2 minutes no one will watch it," shouts the latest marketing book. "If your content isn't formatted specifically for each different mobile device, your audience will show up on your doorstep with pitchforks and torches," screams the over-paid consultant. And while some of these statements do contain grains of truth, I think Thomas Edison had a better take on rules. He said, "Hell, there are no rules here--we're trying to accomplish something."
Column/Content Throwdown -
Posted Sep 16, 2011