Anthony S. Policastro

Current

Publisher at Outer Banks Publishing Group (Sole Proprietorship)

Past

Business Analyst, Writer, Editor, Ghost Writer at for Myself
Senior Business Analyst at Lulu.com
Beta Tester at Sony Ericsson

Project Manager at Ericsson

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Education

Pennsylvania State University

Recommended

18 people have recommended Anthony S.

Connections

190 connections

Industry

Publishing

Websites

Anthony S. Policastro’s Summary

Business Analyst with strong communication skills, technical acumen, and trend analysis mindset. Excellent problem solver.

Strong ability to solve problems and spot emerging trends and predict future trends to retain existing customers and attract new ones.

The business analyst is a hot commodity right now due to business reliance on technology, according to Jim McAssey, a principal at The W Group.

"The global delivery capabilities of technology today make the challenges of successfully bridging the gap [between business and IT] even harder," he says, according to a report in CIO magazine.

A good business analyst is able to create a solution to a particular problem and act as a bridge to the technologists who can make it happen - one of my strong abilities.

While business intelligence enables companies to measure customer behaviors, it is essentially a record of the past.

A more urgent and cutting-edge approach is to use predictive analytics. Traditional analytics tools tell you which customers bought the most in such and such region during a specific time. And traditional tools will NOT tell you why these people bought and what they are likely to buy next.

My approach is to merge and analyze data from all sources and “predict” future customer behavior.

Predictive analytics helps companies get at the “why,” creating a more actionable strategy to drive a deeper, more relevant relationship with each customer. Predictive analytics enables a business to look forward, and make educated decisions that anticipate the future needs of customers.

The “why” in customer behavior enables me to spot existing and emerging trends to formulate a successful business strategy.

In addition, I have been writing all my life first as a journalist, editor, and professional photographer and then as a freelance writer and now author with my work published in The New York Times, Oceans, Diversion, and American and Popular Photographer magazines.

Anthony S. Policastro’s Specialties:

BUSINESS ANALYSIS
PREDICTIVE ANALYSIS
WEB ANALYTICS using Omniture and Google Analytics
DATA MINING for business intelligence
Strong PRESENTATION skills
BUSINESS AND CREATIVE WRITING
PUBLIC RELATIONS
TECHNICAL WRITING, EDITING

Anthony S. Policastro’s Experience

Publisher
Outer Banks Publishing Group (Sole Proprietorship)

(Sole Proprietorship; Publishing industry)

August 2009 — Present (4 months)

Outer Banks Publishing Group is one of the first publishing houses of its kind to use the latest digital printing technologies, social networking, virtual marketing, and the Internet to publish, promote, and sell your book. Authors welcome.
Business Analyst, Writer, Editor, Ghost Writer

for Myself

(Writing and Editing industry)

January 1991 — August 2009 (18 years 8 months)

Freelancer - copy writing, editing, website and blog content, ghost writing.

Anthony S. Policastro has been writing all his life first as a journalist, editor, and professional photographer and then as a freelance writer with his work published in The New York Times, Oceans, Diversion, and American and Popular Photographer magazines. He was also the editor-in-chief of Carolina Style magazine, a regional lifestyle publication similar to Southern Living magazine with national distribution.
Senior Business Analyst

Lulu.com

(Privately Held; Publishing industry)

2008 — January 2009 (1 year )

In charge of providing business intelligence to upper management regarding web analytics using Omniture and providing analysis of the company's data for operational and strategic planning.
Beta Tester

Sony Ericsson

(Publishing industry)

1998 — 2009 (11 years )
Project Manager

Ericsson

(Public Company; ERIC B; Telecommunications industry)

1997 — 2002 (5 years )

In this position I provided detailed support plans for new products in the development stage. I provided plans for repair, customer service, and end of life support for various products including satellite phones, PDAs, communicators, and remote monitoring devices similar to OnStar.

Anthony S. Policastro’s Education

Pennsylvania State University

BAs , American Studies and Creative Writing , 1971 — 1973

Activities and Societies:

News Editor and columnist at the Daily Collegian
News DJ at the campus radio station
Tennis team