Archive for the ‘ideas’ Category

Since everything else is showing up in digital format, where all the world’s high school and college yearbooks?    This could be a business opportunity as a few sites mention they do it, just not well and for one high school.   Classmates.com, where are you on this?   Reunion.com?   I am sure this is on the way, yet worth mentioning for idea #24.

Is overnight success possible in this day and age?   Silently organizing the crowds and leveraging their connections and interest groups facilitates what I want to call:  The Silent Success.   These companies that did not run traditional mass-advertising to become successful, they leveraged the crowds that started to appear around their products and enabled them to move the message forward.   This is one way that marketing has changed in the last 5 years and will continue to change moving forward.

Ning  - build your own community for any reason

KickApps – customizable communities

EBay – sell anything, created more millionaires than any other site

YouTube – fastest growing site ever, video is viral

Hulu – reinventing TV

Blogger – the first major blogging tool

WordPress – the next generation of blog tools

Photobucket – photos are social, people want to see them

CraigsList – sell anything, this low tech site remains a top destination

Adobe – invented the tools for web development

Apple – reinventing creativity and the marriage between hardware and software

About – what to know anything, about.com usually will come up in your search

LiveScribe – record your life

Scribd – share your PowerPoints

iPhone – a new platform for smart phones, 51% of smart phone traffic

Blackberry – the official office phone

Flickr – the most popular photo application

Flipcam – 20% of camcorder market, easy to use, capture anything

Facebook – addicting and can keep up with all your friends

LinkedIn – the #1 business network site

MySpace – the first social network, still a leader

Amazon – in 2009, the only retailer with positive news

Google – reinvented search and now many other technologies with their labs

Wikipedia – reinvented the encyclopedia

Twitter – micro-blogging, so you are connected all the time

iTunes – the #1 way to download music

What do all these have to do with each other?   They all move the current value proposition slightly, not reinventing anything from their predecessors.   Innovation is often a few degrees from where we are, not 180 and definitely not reinventing.    My company CareerTours is about 45 degrees from the current market, so it needs time to move towards the market.   The innovation is there, the acceptance of it is not.   The Starfish, Spider, Spoke reinvented the brochure website and how to grow traffic online.  The viral, buzz, word-of-mouth and all the other new unexplainable ways of marketing were leveraged by these new internet giants.  From here, it is our job to figure out the equation for each of the companies we are involved with, we must do this along with the dramatic changes in the marketplace and the psychology of the market.

From consumer products to branding, here is a list to consider when comparing your ideas coolness or innovativeness. 

LiveScribe – a pen that records your conversations.

Wii – interactive gaming.

X Box – where the Wii leaves off.

Flipcam – owns 20% of the camcorder market.

iPhone – owns 51% of the smart phone traffic.

Wikipedia – eliminated Encyclopedia’s overnight. 

Hulu – online television, get ready to cancel your cable.

Slingbox – if you don’t cancel your TV, sling it to your phone or laptop anywhere in the world.

DirecTV – 1,000+ channels, if you still have to have TV.  

FlyBaboo – a great experience, service, brand, design and focus for a European airline.

Fast Co. – magazine coolness, innovation reporter.

BuzzMouth!  Web 2.0 Consultancy.   The future is here.  

Team OBAMA – raised $750 million and changed the way to run a campaign.

Made to Stick – the best marketed book, the next Tipping Point.

Booq Bag – bags made for laptops, not books.

Xplane – a company to explain things visually.

Adobe –  the cool design company from Photoshop to movies.

Apple MBA – cool laptop for the traveling CEO. 

Thunderbird MBA – a global MBA for global leaders.

Hot Yoga – benefits are unlimited – skin, health, fitness, flexibility, relationships. 

Netflix – the new Blockbuster, soon to be replaced by even more innovation.

Google – search for anything, the place to start on the web. 

Facebook – keep in touch with old friends in one place.

LinkedIn – the business network.

Digg – news from the people.

Twitter – micro-bloggers, connect and follow anyone.

ESPN – reinvented sports coverage and TV.

Current Media – reinventing TV again with short segments and independent reporting.

Live Nation – a new way to promote concerts and musicians.

There are many apps of innovation appearing each day.  The barrier to creativity has lowered and the ability to impact the many is now available to everyone.   The platform approach of Facebook, LinkedIN, MySpace, Google, iPhone, iTunes, Podcast, Scribed, etc. has broken the barriers to entry to nearly ZERO.

To do list on steroids.   Create a simple yet effective list that focuses on results.   Create due dates, count downs, completion percentages and multi-task management system.   Focus on the goal of the result and keep everyone involved informed.   A simple app like this can manage complex projects to grocery list.

When will I be able to carry only my phone (iPhone)?   I know the technology is there to transfer funds digitally with bluetooth and even other secure connections.   I see a digital wallet enabling consumers to pay at vending machines to retailers with their phone.  Take the scanable apps and the new way common things are getting done.  I also see apps that manage every other aspect of your life.   The iPhone and Blackberry platforms are pushing some innovation.    I see smart utilities that buy and sell stocks, check physical mail, clean house, order food, and just about anything you can think of.   Innovation is everywhere  and the phone is going to be an invaluable tool for the future of just living.

I am sure this is a product, I just don’t know about it.

I have a wall mounted flat screen TV that every once in a while, I think it would be cool to turn into a Fireplace, Aquarium, Surf, Coy Pond, Rotating Mountain Scenes, Snow falling and other scenes that create a scene or experience.  One DVD that have all these in chapters and repeatable.   Tell me about it…

Decorate the yard, house, car and office with cheer.   This is more for a handy guy than myself.   Yet, think about the potential of such a service.   With a country obsessed with holidays, doing these things right is important.   Franchise the service would work even better.    I even heard of a service that would Flamingo someone’s yard, meaning they would stick hundreds of plastic Pink Flamingo’s in your worst enemies yard or as a prank.    Lots to potentially cheer about here for a hard worker who only wants to work during the holidays.

H.264 video at its best.   Only Hulu Networks can compare.   Upload your video for free – compress it and then get a stream to load to your site.