I am now able to get back to posting after the better part of three weeks on the road. I was at Digital ID World in Denver, ISPCon in Santa Clara and ISP Exchange in Las Vegas with a few meetings in between.

There are three things that jumped out to me from being to speak to numerous service providers and just hang out and check in on where their businesses are at. They are as follows:

- email is an even bigger opportunity than I imagined BUT it is so misunderstood by the channel that the opportunity may not manifest itself;
- there is a huge opportunity, again even bigger than I imagined, with respect to publishing tools and managing digital photography, which bodes well for blogware (so if you are not selling it you should); and
- there is a huge need for service providers to control a start page if they want to take advantage of all the opportunities that will exist around distributing media (music, video, etc.).

I think I will write about those items over the next few days, but in reverse order. Portal first.

I will also note that generally service providers are doing well. Their businesses are growing and they are making money. There is also a growing acceptance of the value of a "small" business. By that I mean one that is not going to take over the world or do an IPO or look for venture funding, but will provide a nice (often VERY nice) living for a group of people doing what they love to do. One that can service a small community or vertical space. One that focuses on selling more things to existing customers rather than desperately trying to find more customers. One that competes on service not price. This is, based upon my recent experience, what most service providers are. Good deal.

More soon.