Imagine being an HR representative. You are in charge of hiring and with unemployment rising, you’re flooded with applications. This past March, a high school janitorial position received a total of 700 applications. So how do you stand out from the crowd?
Typically, advertising is known for eye-catching, creative applicants. For instance, a newly minted BA bought a wallet, put his resume on business cards and gave it to the ad agency secretary to “return” to the creative director. The creative director was confused for a moment when he opened the wallet and found a resume. While the creative director might only consider a few — if any — portolios that come across their desk, the intern was hired immediately. He stood out.
The resume below captures that same creative spirit. This is Sean McNally’s (an artist and animator) resume:
Consumers experience something similar to your HR rep: they see hundreds of brands every day. Even those that struggle to stand out are “just typical” ads. So how do you stand out?
It’s about creating something that is fun and meaningful, then building a branded experience around it. Consider Volkswagen’s Fun Theory. The project makes banal activities fun. For instance, they attached a sound recorder to make throwing out a piece of trash fun. Or, they make a staircase a piano so it’s fun to use.
How can your brand make your product or service stand out by injecting a bit of fun? Is it the sound of lightening every time you spray your produce (Genuirdis), or syncing your music with your running (Nike)… or is it illustrating your creativity and wit (RPG resume)? Brands that cut loose and have a little fun stand to generate buzz and engage their consumers in a meaningful way.
99Designs uses the crowdsourcing business model to connect business owners with designers. Here is how it works: the business owner creates a design brief outlining their specifications and sets a budget for the project, then designers develop mock-ups and the designer is selected by the business owner.
The process parallels what happens in the real world. A company announces a call to entry (to maybe 8-10 agencies), then after the first round of mock-ups, the company creates a shortlist (of about 2-3 companies). Based on the final entries, the company awards the best agency with the project. Essentially, 99Designs has replicated the real-world process in the digital space. In doing so they have created an efficient and effective business model.
Business ideas are born in many different ways. Some entrepreneurs deliberately think of problems to solve while others are “struck by lightening” so to speak. To get you thinking (consciously and / or subconsciously) about creating business ideas for the web, consider those processes that happen in the real-world. For instance, Wikipedia is just the digital answer to an encyclopedia. Or, eBay is just an online auction house and Amazon is your local Barnes & Noble. All of these ideas already exist, it’s just re-applying them to the digital space.
So what real-world services have not been already championed online? Consider buying groceries. What if you could order your groceries like you could a pizza — just using the web. It would be the Amazon of groceries. Have a central warehouse where all of the food is stored, then keep an online database of your stock that is then reflected on the website (so customers are not ordering something that is not there), then charge a small fee for delivery. It’s quite simple, really. However, there is not a clear leader in the market for online grocery buying. Opportunity? Maybe. You’d need to do some market research before you implement, but it could work.
For some, brilliant business ideas come naturally while others take time to develop. There are strategies for creating and developing business ideas — particularly since the explosion of the web. Just like 99Designs, consider those services that are widespread in the real world then see how you can apply them to the digital space.
I do not like jumping out of planes. I do not gardening. I do not want know karake. If you were to throw me out of a plane, make me pull weeds or even attempt to make me put on the white karake pajamas, I’d be very unhappy. If I smiled when I was doing any of these things, well, it would be quite obvious that it was forced.
Just as it would be clearly fake for me to enjoy planting a rose bush, the same is true for the Microsoft customer service staff “enjoying” this painful dancing routine:
This is the distinction between Google and Microsoft. Google actually has fun in their own geeky way while Microsoft painstakingly tries to be “gettin’ giggy wit it.” Consumers can see through the painful attempts to be “cool.” If there is anything that we could learn from this Microsoft video, it’s about authenticity.
If you are not a company that breaks out into dance, don’t break out into dance. Simple as that. While it can be beneficial for companies to think outside the box (Southwest Airlines rapping flight attendant), Microsoft store employees dancing is incredibly painful to watch because it is so forced. So before you ask your employees to break into dance or take a shot at rapping, are you a company that dances or raps?
If you could imagine the best computer, what would it be? Or, what would the best car look like? While we need to strike a balance between what is possible and impossible (at this time), we need to understand that dreaming big gets us further to the “impossible.” Consider this video of the future computer:
The computer looks like an innovation from the Beyond Year 2000 show on the Discover Channel. You might put it up there with the floating car and the augmented reality goggles. However, we need to go to such creative heights if we are ever to get even halfway there. The more we stretch, the further we can go.
Think Star Trek: the first mobile phone, personal computer, memory disc and Blue Tooth headset were once impossible dreams on the sci-fi show. Now they are everyday realities. Instead of thinking what was possible, the creators of Star Trek just imagined — no holds barred.
How would your product or service be different if there were no limits? In other words, what is the most perfect version of your product? Once you have this in mind, start to think about how to make it possible. While you might not reach your vision immediately, set yourself on a path that gets you there.
With every new product, Google first opens it to a small group of developers to work out the kinks. Then the product is handed off to a small group of influencers who generate buzz and the final step is a broad audience release. This model worked with such online staples as Gmail and Docs. Mainly because both web services could work cross platform — you could send and receive e-mails to and from your Gmail account to other services and Docs could work with Microsoft Office.
Google engineers asked: why should Google Wave be any different? Collaboration and single party platform. Google Wave is powered by collaboration and does not work with other platforms. The product is only as interesting as the amount of people you have to share it with. So those with only a handful of invitations you might be able to chat with a few of buddies — not with everyone you might want to Wave with.
Google failed to see the problem with their traditional product release model with Google Wave. Those top sets of influencers were not able to effectively use Google Wave because it requires others to have Wave. While it is essential to have developers work out the kinks to make a functional product, Google might have been better off of skipping the influencer step and opening it to the greater audience.
One of the most criticized features about Google Wave is, who do I Wave with? In this case, Google could have skipped over their tried and true product release model to make the product accessible for everyone. This way those early adopters can completely immerse themselves in the product — not be forced to wait until everyone else is allowed into the community.
Recently, I bought two Majesty Palms from IKEA. Since I did not have a base for the plant, I watered it very little — as to avoid water draining onto the hardwood floors. After about a week, a couple plant bases were given to me and I was able to adequately water the Majesty Palms. What looked like a little drying turned into something much more. The plants that once looked vibrant with life were now shriveling up and dying.
To avoid the death of my new Majesty Palms, I searched online how to save them. Thoroughly water once a week and cut-off anything that is dying. This helps the plant focus on providing nutrients to the healthy portions of the plant. So that morning I removed nearly half of each plant. The next day, I repeated. Now, only a quarter of the plant that I purchased was still standing. I’m happy to say, now two weeks later, the plant is flourishing.
As we consider new ways to maximize our dollars, take example from the Majesty Palm and severe dying assets. By doing so, you can focus your efforts on those portions of your company that have potential to grow new shoots.
In one of my first posts, I talked about the JumpSnap — a ropeless jump rope. Essentially, you wiggle your wrists and electronic device in your hands cheers you on. It’s always hilarious to see people trying to enjoy such ridiculous products in the infomercials. The Shake Weight is such a product:
The JumpSnap tries to create a problem (tripping over jumprope) to solve (a ropeless jumprope), whereas the Shake Weight tries to solve a problem (lifting weights) but taking the wrong approach (making a suggestive product). Yes, some people do not like going to lift weights at the gym. However, create a product that makes you look like an idiot is no way to solve it. Shake Weight users have to tightly grasp a weight that throbs in their hand… is that something you want to pass on to your equally lazy friend? As a joke, maybe.
Though the Shake Weight might actually work, it is embarrassing to use. Consequently, people do not want to spread the message about the product — killing any potential for positive buzz.
Take a look at how your product makes your users feel. If they’re conflicted — “wow it works, but I feel stupid doing it” — you probably shot yourself in the foot. With video networking sites such as YouTube, if you look stupid, then it is stupid. Therefore, not only does your product have to solve a problem, it needs to make the people using it feel good, not embarrassed.
Before you read, watch this video of Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney:
Wayne Rooney typifies the key characteristics of successful entrepreneurs:
Be a decisive person – You need to be able to make decisions based on your entrepreneurial vision. Make quick decisions – Just as Wayne Rooney makes split-second moves to avoid the oncoming tires, entrepreneurs need to think on their feet. Navigate through obstacles — Whether it’s financing, customer acquisitions or finding time to take a break, entrepreneurs have to navigate through seemingly countless obstacles. It’s essential to have that vision to guide you.
Coca Cola and Pepsi are the go-to sodas for the majority of people; it’s one or the other. That idea really upsets John Nese, the proprietor of Galcos Soda. He features hundreds of varieties of soda in his store. Everything from Romanian Rose to Q. Cumber soda. Though he might be a little nuts, he typifies an entrepreneur that owns a niche. No where in the country could you find a selection similar to that in Galcos Soda.
Though there is not a mainstream demand for such an array of soda, John has develop a unique product in the market. He illustrates how to own your niche by:
Knowing your market — Who knows the only soda in the dictionary? John does and it’s Moxie.
Offering a unique product — Galcos Soda is the only store to sell Romanian Rose soda.
Staying passionate — John is constantly looking for the next, fantastic “micro-soda.” It is a life-long pursuit.
The Galcos Soda market will not explode into a national chain. There simply is not the demand to support it. However, for those few soda enthusiasts like John, Galcos Soda is an indispensable necessity — a mecca of sorts. How can you create a mecca or an indispensable product?
Crowdsourcing has enabled the web to grow to the enormous size it is today. Beyond Wikipedia — one of the most cited examples of crowdsoucing — websites such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Tumblr, LinkedIn, etc. also can lend their success to crowdsourcing. The latter websites are mere frameworks that would be completely useless without user-generated content.
The video below illustrates how crowdsourcing can make fantastic video. However, it’s not just anyone that could create such a video. Whereas Wikipedia empowers everyone to be an expert, the video below suggests an alternative to crowdsourcing — called select-sourcing. Select-sourcing calls on a team of experts to create something the masses could not. While 5% of everyone could deliver a usable, genuinely brilliant idea, the rate of return is considerably greater with a team of experts.
As we experiment more and more with crowdsourcing, this low rate of return from the greater audience will become more apparent. Simply asking everyone to create brilliant ideas is nearly impossible to accomplish. But if you select-source, you’re more likely to create a fantastic pool of ideas.
