It’s going to get more honest and hopefully more useful and interesting.  I stay jam-packed in terms of my schedule, but I’ve made it a goal to get out at least one meaningful post a week for our community of fans.

What is Eclyptix doing in the new year?  What are Sam and I doing in the new year?  To put it simply, our goals are lofty, but achievable.  We’re dedicated to growing Eclyptix to the next level, hiring 2-4 more staff members this year, getting at least 3 more retainers with clients we enjoy working with and expanding our mobile/smartphone experience and services.  Additionally, we’re excited about launching our re-designed website and identity in March.  We’ve worked extensively on re-branding ourselves across all of our collateral and are excited about showcasing our new identity and our updated portfolio!  Despite all of this, we’re staying lean and true – continuing our profitability and shunning investors or borrowed money.

In addition to Eclyptix’s growth we are launching our global digital directory at http:///www.digitaldirectory.co in the next week (an announcement will be made upon launch).  We’re incredibly excited about this intuitive, clean and editor-moderated global platform for tech jobs, job seekers, internships, investors, recruiters, freelancers/consultants, vendors, events, projects and gigs.  We love forward to launching new cities, partnering with credible editors and growing this business.  If you’re interested in becoming a city editor, please reach out to info@eclyptix.com.

We’re also partnering with entrepreneur and genuine amazing person Andy Koehn to build a revolutionary iPhone app that helps you discover, share and rate the best sushi, pizza and burgers wherever you’re at.  It’s called Suzabu and it’s coming soon!

We’ve currently got an exciting client roster – a start-up, web-based project management system for lawyers, a robust property social network for a client in London, England, a beverage social network we’ve invested in called ThinkingDrinker.com based in Dublin, Ireland, a newly re-designed WhereToGetEngaged.com (2009 Best of the Best by InStore Magazine) in March, an online consultant directory that is driven by resource publication, user interactive and game dynamics entitled GorillaDiamond.com, a revolutionary social site entitled MyLivePlace.com (details under wraps) and an ongoing relationship with Wise Brother Media.  Additionally, we have several large projects on the verge of commencing and are geared up for successful launches and awards in 2011.  We recently launched http://www.babyprofinder.com and http://www.urbanbonfire.com.

Moving on to Sam and I personally – Sam is currently doing classes in the evenings to become a volunteer LAPD in addition to his role as Managing Partner of Eclyptix.  This means our clients will need to pay their bills or else!  :) But seriously, Sam’s excited about giving back and I’m excited for his contribution to the local LA community (and his ability to protect me, lol).

What’s going on with me?  I recently finished consulting for an ad agency in Tampa, Florida over four months and learned a great deal more from the advertising world.  This, coupled with an extended consulting engagement for a software firm years back and running Eclyptix for ten years alongwith starting up side ventures and helping my clients has really shaped my experience, paradigm and vision for the future.

In my spare time, I am also writing a book entitled “Millennial Entrepreneur”.  More to come on this in the future (I’ll probably branch out a separate blog on my newly registered millennialentrepreneur.com).  I am also going to be writing and blogging more on globalization and offshoring and its effect on economies and, as ridiculous as it may sound to you, world peace.

Those of you that know me know that I also love to travel – I’ve been to 48 states and 11 countries in Europe (primarily the extent of my travels, though I’ve hit the mandatory Caribbean countries and Canada and Mexico) and I’ve recently booked tickets to live in Belgrade, Serbia for four months from March until July.  I will be rotating between Belgrade and Los Angeles, but will be working directly with many of our staff based in our office in Belgrade and I’m excited about working with them as well as further exploring Europe and perhaps Russia and/or Africa.  I have much confidence about the Eastern European Bloc and look forward to learning more culturally and economically about each country and what opportunities exist for my clients and I.

I think that’s a fairly lengthy update for now, I definitely have more to say given the silence over previous months.  I want to talk about what’s happened over the last year and get into more detail on plans for this year alongwith where I will be spending my team and where my team is allocating their resources.  After I feel you and I have caught up, we can move on to more interesting and topical discussions that have been on my heart and head recently.

Join us at Facebook.com/eclyptix and me personally at Facebook.com/berthume or LinkedIn.com/in/RobbyBerthume!  Until next time…. be well!

(PRWEB) August 1, 2009 — Epsilon Concepts, a Los Angeles web development company specializing in custom social networks, has unveiled the Los Angeles Digital Directory at http://www.ladigitaldirectory.com. The LA Digital Directory is a tech and entertainment oriented directory of jobs, job seekers, gigs, projects, vendors/agencies, freelancers/consultants, internships, recruiters/employment agencies, and events. For a limited time, The LA Digital Directory is also giving away one Kindle for every 500 premium listings and for every 1,000 free listings.

The LA Digital Directory focuses on providing screened local high quality listings moderated by professional editors from technology and entertainment. There is no clutter, no spam to sort through on the LA Digital Directory. The directory focuses on bringing the best people and businesses together from Los Angeles and Southern California. Additionally, you can subscribe to RSS feeds for each category via your blog reader so you automatically receive new listings as they are added. The directory is very easy to use and easy to search. Future planning improvements involve integrating social media with the directory and a mobile version. Premium listings with rush inclusion, social media distribution, premium labeling, and premium placement are only $50 per month while standard listings are free, allowing anyone to take advantage of this directory as a phone book of sorts for LA’s burgeoning tech and established entertainment communities. By providing a current directory of all things digital and entertainment in LA, the directory aims to organize the tech, entertainment and social media scenes in Los Angeles.

The LA Digital Directory is also heavily marketed online and at LA-specific tech, entertainment and social media events by the partners and their team. By adding a free or premium listing, individuals and businesses can thereby have their listing pushed through social media channels like Facebook & Twitter, included in search engine results and promoted through LATimes.com, direct mail, event sponsorships, Google & Facebook PPC, etc… Epsilon Concepts will also be looking to partner with key Los Angeles tech events and organizations to promote the LA Digital Directory. CEO Robby Berthume adds: “Advertising on LA Digital Directory allows you to reach the right people and companies in LA’s tech and entertainment worlds, which are rapidly blending in many ways. We attend the events, partner with promoters and do the networking so you don’t have to do the legwork. With LA’s unemployment issues and businesses carefully monitoring expenses, the directory allows individuals and vendors to make the best decisions with high quality local listings. With no middlemen and no clutter, this allows them to fill that job, find that recruiter, place that project or find that internship quickly and easily.

Yes, 2008 is over and another odd year has arrived.  In other more exciting news, we’ve just completed our first year of blogging @ Things Worth Talking About.  Despite a lot of hectic schedules and tight projects, we managed to publish 153 posts over the last 12 months.  Averaging 3 posts per week, bushmanbill, myself and several guest bloggers wrote the bulk of the posts.  We also improved the design of our blog, have added some valuable auxiliary content, and have integrated other social media tools into our mix.  Yes, yes, I know, I might break my arm giving myself a pat on the back. What can I say, blogging is sometimes a tough habit to stick with. Luckily, we’ve developed the habit of blogging and have kept the vision (for the most part) when it comes to growing our megaphone in the digital world.

It is also true that wisdom is gained from experience and growth occurs from mistakes.  We’ve made mistakes this past year, but I’ve been very happy with the level of productivity and support I’ve received from my team.  This spans outside of our blogging efforts into other facets of our service offering.  Our team has really grown this year, out of diversity and also out of tremendous success.  With each hill that we climb, we become more confident in ourselves, in each other, and in the value of our mission.  In a low-trust world, we focus on the relevant, the valuable, and the lasting to achieve results for ourselves and our clients, each goal at a time.

We want to continue to publish interesting and relevant content via this blog and aim to stay focused around our core competencies and passions, namely social media, social & environmental causes, new media, new marketing, outsourcing, and globalization. We also may reduce the quantity of posts, as we focus in on producing and publishing only the most remarkable, relevant and focused content as possible.  If you’re interesting in contributing or have a recommendation or request, please do contact us.  We’ll be doing more social site reviews in the coming year, as well as talking about the happening events and vendors that are adding value in this space.

In 2009 we also aim to solidify our events section, keeping tabs on relevant events around the areas just outlined above, worldwide.  Furthermore, our upcoming Digital Directory will be a clean, usable, and valuable directory of digital professionals.  Listings will be granted upon editor approval on a first come, first save basis.  Basic listings are free and premium listings are only $25 per month.  We will only be selecting and recommending a limited amount of vendors and freelancers, aiming not for the biggest digital directory, but the best.

The new year is here and we will only be selecting a very limited number of clients this year, probably less than 5 or 6.  We’re working on some exciting projects and want to really enhance our quality, output, and credibility in this new year.  The economy may be rough waters, but we believe if we’re good enough, we’ll always be worth the investment for our clients and that this economic landscape is the perfect time to expand, hire more people, and fuel our growth and success in this field.  We’re fast coming up on a decade in business, so it’s imperative we continue to make solid headway in the new year.

Additionally, in late ’09 I’ll be formally announcing the release date of a revolutionary new global business-to-business platform.  I’ve been working on the foundation to this concept for the last five years and we’re hard at work on a global social directory that will connect buyers and sellers across the world, promoting world peace, global collaboration, and strengthening individual country’s economies as well as the global economy.  Our site will be just as valuable to the buyer as to the seller, with a feature set chock full of revolutionary features weaving social networking, search, and a directory.  Outsourcing is a multi-billion dollar industry with a bad rep and we intend on opening up global collaboration in a powerful, easy, and intuitive manner. The three things that stand in the way of outsourcing are risk (or perceived risk), ignorance, and communication (or lack thereof) and we believe our platform can and will address each in a remarkable way.

Until next time, HAPPY #*%! NEW YEAR TO YOU, TOO!

We’re also working diligently on the alpha launch of an innovative and usable social networking website for one of our clients.  More details and a review/case study coming soon! We also have a kick-ass custom-built e-commerce website with countless customizations and innovative features launching soon. Our team is hard at work to launch both projects.  Again, more details and a review/case study coming soon.

In addition to our operational work, we’ve also been busy networking and attending industry events, interviewing for opening positions, and have been quite busy with some great client relationships.  In the coming days we’re launching a European and Asian division and website of Epsilon Concepts, we’ll be tripling our ad budget, and we’ll be looking to beef up our team more and more in the new year, despite the slowing economy.

We’re also planning a revolutionary website concept in outsourcing/offshoring that combines many facets in a unique and compelling way.  Everything is in stealth-mode now, but it’s been something I’ve been working on the details for, for about 4 years now.  We really think it will change the way businesses do business, across the globe.  More details coming soon.

Additionally, I recently posted a review of You2Gov.com here on the blog and a press release was generated out of it that was distributed though many media sources.  Check out the press release on Forbes here.

I was also mentioned by Fast Company blogger Francisco Dao of The Killer Pitch in his blog post on The Smart Show entitled “The Next Generation Of Entrepeneurs”.  Thanks for the mention, Francisco!

Finney and Sam were in attendance at last week’s Digital Drinks event here in LA at The Roosevelt and enjoyed the pool atmosphere and the great company!  Thanks to everyone who said hi!

Until next update, have a good weekend!

-Robby