Usually it's a No, sometimes its a Maybe/I'm not sure, and rarely it's a WOW YES! So here are some thoughts on what really marks a good idea in my mind:

1. It is simple: you can explain it quickly, succinctly, and on the first try
2. It doesn't require feedback: you don't need to go around asking everyone for their opinion. Most of them don't know any better than you do. So when the idea is good, it really will only require iterating as you execute
3. It is executable tomorrow: you can wake up in the morning and get cranking on it. There is no need to wait around thinking about how good it is. It's a clear idea and all you need to do is add execution
4. It is something you are intimate with: I always love hearing ideas from people with intimate knowledge of a market building ideas for that market (i.e. a former ad-sales executive building a company to provide tools for ad-sales teams)
5. It gets you excited: you get a warm fuzzy feeling that overwhelms you and makes you jump when you think about it
6. It is scalable: this is something that has growth potential with room for upside

The best part is that ideas are really only the first step and the relatively easy ingredient. To really bake the pie, don't forget to add execution.

• how the web has changed the rules for many markets.
• how to exploit niches, and that
• more than ever 'something for all is ideal for none' because now it is possible to find the ideal
• that you can make everything available - within reason, and
• how to help people find it.

Anderson's 9 rules are:

1. Target an opportunity that allows costs to be lowered through the process(e.g. Amazon on-line took out the costs of high street shop fronts and high costs of stocking)
2. Let customers do the work - on line the client can do the admin, and answer their own queries etc 
3. Think niche!
4. One product does NOT fit all
5. Nor does one price
6. 'And' not 'or' is the watchword - the Long Tail allows you to offer deeper, wider choices
7. Share information
8. Trust the market - measure and respond
9. Understand the power of free.

Points 1-6 have previously been covered or are self-explanatory. But points 7-9 sum up many of the changes that new developments in the use of the web - web 2.0 - have driven.

Share information: people use the web to search and find out, so where in the past companies tried to funnel potential customers to why they should buy their product and get to the sale as quickly as possible, now on the web the customer is likley to go where (s)he gets the best information and help in guiding their decision. So it is increasingly paying dividends to give more help, to be more objective.

Trust the market: welcome customer feedback both good and bad - do something about the bad and encourage your champions out there to veto anything negative; respond to suggestions, deal with grievances. All of these things will make you a better business, and you will be seen to be better. Doing things that users suggest shows that you are responsive - build it into your strategy. Stay in touch with your market - the beauty is that this used to be something you had to spend a lot of time and money to do, but now your market is proactively staying in touch with you. So don't ignore it.

The Power of free: A look around the web will show how much free 'stuff' is now available - most in the form of information or tasters. The more you can give away, paradoxically the more people will buy from you (as long as you do not give your whole product away!). You become the trusted source, the expert, reliable, lower risk etc

Look at how these elements apply to your business: are there opportunities you are missing? Are your competitors going to change your market place for you?

Traffic.

It seems like all we talk about now on the Web. Hey, so why fight it?

Apart from all the usual techniques that you’ve probably heard a hundred times before, here are my latest ‘secret’ discoveries for expanding your business footprint on Google:

[1] Use (free) Amazon discussion forums at the bottom of bestseller pages in your niche area. Discuss a book or current issue in your niche BUT on the bestselling individual books pages only. You can find this near the bottom of the page under the area called “Customer Discussions”. Google seems to love posts in these discussions. Make sure that your Web address and your favourite (Google) keyword search terms are in your post. You need a normal Amazon buyer’s account to participate of course. I have seen Google pick up new posts here in under 10 minutes.

[2] Make (free) comments in your niche areas on the MOST VIEWED articles on ezinearticles dot com. Again, most viewed articles in your niche only, add constructive keywords-related comments and you are given a link on your name (no backlink though) but this is a very Google friendly site (Alexa ranking of 319!)

[3] Most press release Web services charge lawyer-like money but www dot prlog dot org and www dot freepressreleases dot co dot uk are free and picked up by Google quickly. Look for my own press releases to see what I mean.

[4] Having a personal blog might be good (I’m still deciding) but aggregating blogs (which all feature your landing page/s URLs and keywords) by automating their transmission across the web on hundreds of sites is much better. Go to www dot feedage dot com and www dot feedraider dot com (free registration to use).

[5] See my other post entitled “Video Marketing Through YouTube” or watch the video at the top of www dot trafficgeyser dot com.

[6] Set up press release and one-article news pages on your own site (must be numbered correctly to be indexed) and submit them to Google News (details at www dot google dot com/support/news_pub/bin/). Like Google Books, Google favors its own areas highly.

[7] If you have a book out, make sure it is submitted to Google Books - a service where they allow readers to look through a percentage of submitted books. If you only have an e-book, you will need an ISBN number but it is worth it. Caveat: Google Books is very slow to process submissions but the SE ranking for these pages is very high (go to books dot google dot com/partner/).

Do you have any Google gems to share?

Have a great day and I hope these help your business.

Terry Kyle
Author/Editor
400 Latest & Greatest Small Business Ideas From Around The World
www.Latest-Business-Ideas.com

We often get complacent in our jobs, it is human nature after all to get your feet under the table and get comfy.

If you want to be less of a passenger and climb into the spotlight here are 10 tips to put you on the right track.

1. Increase your visibility.  Make a concerted effort to visit others in your office.  Use the first coffee in the morning productively and take it on a tour of the office everyday.  By doing this you can see what others are working on, see where you can offer help and just simply have a chat about stuff.  It doesn't have to be the first coffee and you don't need an excuse to walk around.
2. Dress the part.  Getting noticed can be as simple as adjusting the way we dress.  This can have both a negative impact and a positive one.  Think for a minute about your office.  Who is the scruffiest?  Who is the smartest?  Does it have an impact on their role and how it is perceived?  Do you go to the scruffy person for creativity and the sharp one for marketing?  More on this here.
3. Give your reputation a kick.  Your name needs to be seen and heard.  Try to start putting your name to more stuff.  Does your company have a blog or a forum?  If so start posting regularly.  If your company is large enough to have an internal publication start offering stories for it.  Get in touch with marketing and offer some hot stories for external press releases.
4. Step up to the plate.  If an opportunity is offered and you have the ability to get the job done then raise your hand high.
5. Learn to learn.  The world is in information overload, if you don't know how to do something it is now as easy as opening up a new browser window on your computer and searching for the answer.  We should all be striving to learn something new every day no matter how small or big it is.  The opportunity is there.
6. Keep in tune with the world at large.  Know exactly what your company's competitors are doing. Are you reading the right blogs? Do some market research. What opportunities are out there? Is there a gap that could be filled? When an opinion is asked for you may be just the person to supply the answer.
7. Show respect of others.  If somebody is doing a good job tell them. Also mention this to people higher up the chain.  Being fair and showing you care is a great way to set an example.
8. Be a mentor. Don't be selfish with your own knowledge.  Sharing is a great way to be noticed. Sharing regularly with the same people may not have immediate benefits but in the long-term you will reap the rewards and so will they.
9. Find your niche.  What are you really good at?  Find out and make yourself the expert on the subject. Become the "go to" person in the office for that particular thing.
10. There is no try only do. Just like Yoda said in his syntax error filled Jedi speak, there is no 2nd best. It's no good moaning to your colleagues about not being noticed unless you are prepared to work hard at your job and be the absolute best you can be.

The problem this gives rise to for small as well as larger businesses is what Anderson calls 'The Paradise of Choice' - too much choice can be oppressive. And this puts even more importance on the filters that help you find what you want - better quality search engines and ever more sophisticated feedback and recommendation systems.

Small business may argue they cannot influence at this level and so it is not relevant to them. But if your feedback on E-bay is poor, you are likley to notice it quickly in your sales if you use that medium. And if you do not adequately exploit the search engines - which means understanding a little of how they work and understanding therefore what you can do to influence them in helping your potential customers to find you - then you could easily miss opportunities and be surpassed by businesses with a no better, or indeed a worse, offering.

The economics of the web also encourage small businesses to compete better by partnering. At one level, any appropriate small business can 'partner' with massive companies like E-bay and Amazon, and get some access to their massive 'footfall' of potential clients. They have both used the economics of the web and the long tail to extend their offering far beyond their usual range - by exploiting the long tail of traders and businesses who have access each to some customers they are building their own following, at the same time that they enable these traders to access either more customers or a wide supply of product without any need to stock or administer.

There are obvious gains in this environment for the small business; but also the average small business can be enabled through the web to partner on a smaller scale with similar small businesses where the synergy of two or more coming together provides a stronger offering than either individually.

The world Anderson describes is full of opportunities for the small business, but if it were easy to realise these, everyone would be successful. As usual it comes down to three elements: knowledge: learning and understanding what is possible; planning: creating a sensible operating plan and budgeting resources - time, money etc; and thirdly implementing that plan effectively.

5 Important Guidelines for Choosing a Business Name

Based on my experience as a copywriter and creative director in the advertising industry, here are some useful principles when brainstorming your new business’ name:

1. Convey the specific benefit to your prospect in the name.

Rather than taking the time to build up a new business based on a branded name (you need pretty deep marketing pockets for this type of ‘money pit marketing’) e.g. Sue Smith Accounting or John’s Auto Centre, instead build the specific benefit to your target market into the name itself.

In the case of the two above examples, Instant Cash Tax Refunds and 30-Minute Tune-ups would have a lot more immediate impact and generate business from Day 1. To be blunt, if a small business is to survive, it needs to be generating business quickly and very cheaply.

This is harder in some business types than others but all marketing should focus on solving a specific problem with a specific, measurable solution. Branding TV campaigns and full-page colour spreads are for Coca-Cola and McDonald’s (and don’t actually drive any business anyway).

2. Make your business name, your web address too.

We live in the internet age now and most service-based businesses will be attracting either a lot or most of their new customers and clients through search engine traffic and/or picking up (free) ads from Craigslist and Gumtree and (not free) Yellow pages (online).

Why not start building your web presence into the business from the beginning by actually having it there, working for you immediately e.g. InstantCashTaxRefunds.com (if you are locally-oriented, putting the area in too could be beneficial though try not to make it too long).

You should also make sure that your business website is properly set up with a location map, current deals/offers, testimonials, contact details and professional presentation (learn to use a digital camera if you don’t already know - how many ebay products have terrible photos?).

3. Test, test, test. But with the right audience.

Testing is vital and should be built into all aspects of your new business marketing. You should be testing Google Adwords variations, different classifieds, colours and - if relevant - the visual appearance of your retail environment.

But even before that, join relevant forums or local groups in your niche and ask them directly about your business name and slogan - not just which one/s they like but why they like it or don’t like certain options (ask them to pick from 5 maximum at a time) and engage in an ongoing dialogue about offering specific solutions to their needs. This marketing information is priceless.

Note carefully the actual words they use and feature these in your marketing - not marketing textbook jargon. Testing names on your family is worthless if they are not in your target market and they are probably too close to you anyway to offer unbiased assessments.

Testing is free.

Advertising is not.

Advertising a great small business with a lousy name and lousy ad copy is painful, expensive and, most importantly, unnecessary.

Removing your own assumptions about your prospects and testing can be tremendously enlightening and, strangely enough, people want to freely offer their thoughts on this subject.

4. Emotional not logical.

Virtually all advertising appeals to emotions and not rationality or logic.

Why?

Because emotion is far more powerful in influencing human behaviour than logic. Besides, what we buy based on emotion, we rationalise later. If possible, try to build an emotional ‘hook’ into your business name, or if not, your slogan.

Coming back to InstantCashTaxRefunds.com, clearly the appeal here is greed. 30-Minute Tune-ups appeals to impatience.

A flat, sterile, logic-appealing name and advertising will simply not cut through the ad clutter - at least not in the short term.

5. Should you make it poetic?

This is an area of huge debate among experienced marketers.

A catchy name is obviously easy to remember.

FedEx rhymes. Krusty Kremes has alliteration. Ikea has exotic flair.

But these are massive brands with massive budgets to drive home the customer benefits of what they offer. Personally I feel that a new small business name shouldn’t be too cute or clever - nightclubs, bars and coffee joints are exceptions - and focus on a gut-level, emotion-tugging, benefit-related name that pulls customers right from the start.

Here’s the acid test for your name idea:

When a customer hears the (proposed) name of your business, do they immediately go, “I want/need that service now”? Imagine you are in a book store and see a book’s title and immediately think, “Wow, I want that book” - before you’ve even opened it. That’s the kind of reaction you’re after in testing so don’t rush it and keep testing until you’re getting that kind of reaction.

Bonus Extra Principle:

When you do build in the specific benefit into your new business name and/or slogan after testing, make sure you can actually deliver on it. Remember that you want to be creating word-of-mouth endorsement marketing ‘disciples’ and not antagonists bad-mouthing your operation.

What are your thoughts about new business names?

New Home Business Ideas? How Cool Are These 3 New Ones:

by Terry Kyle
Author/Editor
400 Latest & Greatest Small Business Ideas From Around The World

In doing research for my books, I came across these three new home business ideas or at least small business ideas that can be run from home that I thought forum members would be interested in:

Incidentally, I have no affiliation whatsoever with these businesses but think they are great ideas to model - even in cities and countries far from the original small business:

1. Weight Loss ‘Buddy’:

TV shows like “The Biggest Loser” and bestselling books like Dr Phil’s “The Ultimate Weight Solution” illustrate how chronically overweight people struggle to overcome their destructive habits. A weight loss buddy – like a ‘dive buddy’ – mentors, guides, inspires and supports obese individuals one-on-one in their drive to reform their health. This is obviously a massive market sector given the Western world’s obesity ‘plague’ and plenty of free marketing ‘oomph’ could come from free classifieds sites like Craigslist, Gumtree and relevant forums. With a big number of clients mentored for 1-5 hours per week, this could be a dynamite small business. Obviously the ‘buddy’ should be fit themselves, possess decent people skills and have a good knowledge of health and diet. Positive word of mouth could drive a business like this for years. More info at weightlossbuddy dot com

2. Shared Property Buying:

Even despite the credit crunch (or when it fades out), the ridiculous prices of real estate in most major cities still exclude most first-time buyers (Hello London!). One company, Shared Spaces, has set up a web-based facility for strangers to co-invest in property together, thus sharing the mortgage burden while allowing all parties to get on to the ‘property ladder’. It’s apparently all legal, contracted and doing well - it seems especially suited to young urban buyers who could not otherwise buy property. More info is over at sharedspaces dot co dot uk.

3. A Jobs Website For Ex-Military Personnel

MilitaryExits dot com specialises in job placements and employment listings for ex-military personnel. It is precisely this kind of targeted micro-niche that a successful small business can profitably develop. Initially, it could be web/home-based and would - if handled and marketed properly - generate a lot of goodwill with media, the armed forces, patriotic employers and governments (government contracts perhaps?).

I am always eager to hear about and share new business ideas so if you know of any other cool new small business ideas, let’s share…

]]> http://newbusinessideas.wordpress.com/?p=3 Sun, 20 Jul 2008 22:24:57 +0000 newbusinessideas http://newbusinessideas.wordpress.com/?p=3 In our increasingly competitive marketplace, it seems to me that adding the ‘X-Factor’ or unique ‘star power’ to our businesses is pretty important if they are to grow.

But how?

From my own advertising agency background, I believe that it can be done in (at least) three ways:

1. ‘Branson Your Business’ - Richard Branson has a business persona that is extremely positive, fun, gregarious, generous and one that suggests he sees the world as a place of abundance where anything is possible (even space passenger flights!) rather than as a place of scarcity where there is hardly anything good and just many aggravations. He is completely extroverted and enthusiastic in approaching, talking to and connecting with everyone he meets. These attributes are a great model to follow.

2. Stardom by association - if your business has one or more well known clients, promote that fact. Some catering company vans that I often see around my neighbourhood here have the slogan under their company name, “Supplier to Virgin Atlantic”. The fact is that if your business is associated with ‘big name players’, it implies that you or your business is a heavyweight, has credibility and should be taken seriously. The point is not to merely have one or more ‘name’ clients but to actually feature that association in your business marketing materials e.g. through their logos on your brochures or website. When I used to hire personnel in advertising, I was always far more influenced by who a candidate had worked for rather than one who told me that they were “hard working” or other tired descriptions (which were probably true).

3. Creating a buzz around your business - a business that is up to date, hungry to try new ideas and a sense that there is ‘always something happening’ is quite contagious. Staff should be switched ON, know their stuff backwards and not be time-wasting gossipers. I believe that this sense of ‘something happenin’ here’ is often based on the tempo of the buying experience, the faster and more efficient it feels (depending on the business), the greater the buzz or ‘vibe’ in a business - this is particularly true in many retail businesses. Places where staff are busy, active and seem like they don’t have enough time to do all that needs doing (within reason) are usually much more enticing than those with a snoozing guy behind the counter reading ‘The Sun.’ In short, a business should have the identity of an expert ‘do-er’ not a lazy ‘snoozer’.

I do of course appreciate that these ideas are much easier to apply in some businesses than others.

More thoughts on this over at my site at http://www.latest-business-ideas.com

Best regards
Terry Kyle
Author/Editor
"400 Latest & Greatest Small Business Ideas From Around The World"

Here is his Hybrid car idea:

Check past the break for more of my favorites!

Save the grizzlies!!

Business Cliche?

It's like a mullet?

You can check his entire channel and all 40 of his videos here. I'm addicted to watching them now!

If you are one of the people who made the move from working for someone to starting your own business, what prompted you to make the change? 

The current state of the economy has created a buzz among those who are dissatisfied with their current position, or are unemployed, to look for ways to create their own opportunities.

In a time where starting a business has never been easier because of sites like Elance.com and Guru.com, one can get someone to research everything that they need to know to launch their business idea.

One friend took the opportunity to launch a business that helps companies track their projects in a fun and effective way. I wish that I had had this product when I implemented our ERP system.  It would have helped me to identify any problems with deliverables long before I found out! Check them out - Capability Alignment Professionals, Inc.  http://companyalign.com/. 

Another friend, already in the commercial real-estate business is now moving into the foreclosure market, which I'm sure many are as well.

Many of my friends and colleagues have started to look outside of their corporate windows to find a blue ocean opportunity and no longer rely on the large fortune 500's to find success. Others around the nation are doing the same ( Going green boosts economy, new businesses, Oconee man says )

The point being, you don't have to sit by quietly wishing that you could break free from the corporate grind.  That business idea that has been lurking in the back of your mind may be ready to get its wings. 

Down in the Long Tail the niche opportunities exist, and every so often a success emerges - take Heather Gorringe's WigglyWigglers.co.uk for instance. And here is where the Tipping Point concept comes in. From a remote rural worm-farming business operating in obscurity to an internationally known and sought out niche market provider of renown. This very rarely happens by accident. And in this case it has been achieved in part through Heather's use of the social media to find her niche interest groups and to focus them on her business. The combination of the right message at the right time and in the right context is generally, as Gladwell points out, what makes the difference between the 'virus' that fails and that which becomes an epidemic.

Indeed, her ambition has gone beyond developing the niche: Her blog: Around the World in 80 Megabytes is subtitled: 'One woman's journey around the World - with the aim to shake up farming using Web 2.0 and Social Media' - WOW!

The point being that as far as her business is concerned, she has successfully used social media and Web 2.0 (a catch-all description of the new capabilities of the web and its applications)  to create an interest group, and to allow that interest group to further include and introduce others. They have found WigglyWigglers not simply because there is a web presence, but by a wide range of different routes. These might include the more obvious search engines and Google Adwords and similar targeted advertising tools, but also referrals from all sorts of specialist interest groups where there is relevance and where the proactive nature of WigglyWigglers has found an interest  - and ultimately converted that interest to becoming either a customer or referrer. And here it is happening in another context, since I have just become a referrer too!

Perhaps Heather will also hit the Tipping Point on her global campaign - we shall see - but she has certainly succeeded so far as her commercial programme is concerned. And her real passion about her campaign will only help in driving more interest in her business, which of course shares common ideals and a common passion for the ecosystems whether locally or globally.

Meanwhilehow does the Long Tail provide opportunities for your business, and, if you choose to develop there, how will you get to the Tipping Point?

The big question is why?

I personally see a Blackberry as a more advanced version of a pager.  They feel more like a way of the company communicating to/at you rather than a tool to help you do your job better and more efficiently.

We've had so many reports of people not even able to get a full nights sleep because an email or a message will come through and they can't resist reading it and responding to it.

So how do companies make a Blackberry more attractive to its employees?  How could it be more of a useful tool?

As an employee how would you feel if instead of a Blackberry you were offered a learning device which would not only send you corporate communications but also offer you a complete multimedia training solution?  Maybe a tool that could help you perform research for that important meeting you are on your way to?  A tool that is constantly connected to the company and the world at large but also has the ability to disconnect from work out of hours and offer social entertainment?

When the iPhone was first launched in late 2007 it was just a small object of desire, a phone with entertainment and web browsing as standard.  The problem was it had limited business use.  That has changed with version 2 though and Apple are now tackling Blackberry head-on with full support for Microsoft Exchange and push emails.

Blackberries would appear to be optimised for email first, iPhone for web.  In this information hungry world surely a phone that is optimised for the internet has far greater potential as a business tool?

Now that Apple have included 3rd party application support it has opened up a whole new world of possibility for the iPhone and its users.  Apps like Salesforce Mobile, a tool for organising and referencing prospect information and data or Lion Clock, an app that lets you keep track of project billing on the go.

As a company you also have the benefit with the iPhone of rolling out training to each and every handset no matter of the end users location.  Whether it's a video message from the CEO or a Flash-based training exercise the iPhone can handle it no problem and report back to base when the results from the training are in.

This morning over on Jay Cross's Informal Learning blog there is a video he filmed yesterday at the Future of Media Summit '08 featuring Robert Scoble talking about where he feels learning will be in the immediate future.  For me the interesting point he made around his baby boy growing up in the world that is always connected seemed completely logical.  The ability to research absolutely anything right now is going to be vital going forwards, not just for businesses but also for individuals and life in general.  You can watch the whole video below.

So how would you feel if your company was to give you an iPhone instead of Blackberry?  Would it inspire you, motivate you or still weigh you down?

In the same way the connecting of this supply and demand has also been based on a democratised process - Google search for instance does not purely work on categories and hierarchies but recognises 'the wisdom of crowds' and responds to what has worked for others.

Google, other search engines, I-Tunes recommendations, cost comparison sites, social networks can all work as filters to help drive a specific demand down the long tail to find its best-matched supply. So for the small business, it is about understanding where the customers might be, where their interests might lie and trying to proactively help them to find the business (which has aligned itself to be as close as possible to their ideal).

The idea that the clients find you in practice cannot be relied upon. The web makes it possible theoretically. But just like any other market place, if your stall is set up where the most likley customers do not go, you have still got to find a way of letting them know you are there.

So although in many ways things have changed, the fundamentals of marketing are not very altered.

全球油價在短短一年內飇漲，6月中最新價格為每桶（約159公升）139.94美元，分析師估計，7月中的暑假旺季將可能高達每桶150美元。對於每天必須開車通勤的上班族而言，又是一個沉重的負擔。

根據美國《財星》雜誌（FORTUNE）的報導，美國通勤族每天上班平均開30英里（約48公里），如果以現在北加州1加侖（約3.78公升）4.67美元來計算，每個月上百美元的開支絕對跑不掉。

這個時候，如果可以在家工作，可幸福得多了。

韋博（Frank Weber）是總部在矽谷的昇陽科技（Sun Micro Systems）工程師，每週有兩到三天的時間會在家工作。由於油價高漲，他決定放棄公司的辦公室，在家上班，公司會補助通訊費用。

同樣在矽谷的思科（Cisco）工程師Jeffrey Chang，每週大約有一到兩天在家工作。他家離辦公室不算太遠，但是來回路程也得花上20多英里（超過32公里）。在家工作時，他使用視訊會議（Video Conference），也用即時通訊（Instant Message）和同事聯絡，在家或是在辦公室工作沒什麼不同。有時進公司，可能只是因為中午和同事約好吃飯。不過他表示，最近因為油價的關係，比較常在家工作。

26 very important words.

Cover Sheet

a) Mission
b) Long Term Vision
c) Short Term Vision
d) Description of Services
e) Marketing Plan – who are your customers and why do they want your product/service
f) Marketing Strategy & Execution
g) Competitive Landscape
h) Market Research
i) Go-to-Market Execution Plan
j) Management Team & Personnel
k) Financials for 3-5 Years
l) Executive Summary – do this last but put it first

The earlier you are in your business, the more important are your vision and strategy. As you mature, your execution strategy will become more important than anything else.

Some investors will also look for other documents including: capitalization tables, detailed financial projections, breakeven analysis, balance sheet, marketing materials, inventory list, resumes, etc.

Whether or not you decide to bootstrap or get funding, thinking about these items ahead and during the startup will help put you on the right track.

- Bryan Daigle
President & Founder of ideatango.com - the #1 site for inventors & invention ideas For more good info & advice, check out the official IdeaTango Blog

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Marketing Pond also offers an abundance of useful tips and marketing strategies that can be used to promote other online endeavors. The admin. has over 10 years of experience in internet marketing which she graciously shares with all of the pond members.

All of the programs in M.P. are free to join, with the exception of one which costs $9.95 per month. Now..you are probably wondering if you 'have' to join all of the programs. The answer is no. You can join as many or as few as you choose. It is advantageous, however, to join all of them. The reason being that as you promote your page, referrals will sign up, then as they work their way down the list of programs, if you have joined them already, the referrals will be yours. If you haven't joined them, the referrals will belong to the person above you. You earn cash and points from your referrals, so it is best to sign up for as many programs as possible, if not all of them. Remember, they're all free except for one.

In my next entry, I'll give you a behind the scenes look at some of the programs in the list. As we say at the pond, stop jumping around like a frog without a pond. You can sink, or you can learn to swim. Tina says "By all means, swim!" Be sure to check out the Marketing Pond site, so you'll be ready!

I recently traveled to asia and found that they have hundreds of products that we don't have here in the US. The thing that I found the most interesting was the number of soft drink choices available.  I was amazed that you could get so many types of juices, teas, and sodas and the avaiability of them through vending machines found everywhere was awesome.   

Is this industry difficult to get into here in the states?  Does anyone have any knowledge about the barriers to entry?

I thought that i would let you know where the business currently stands. We started the business last November as you know with very limited capital and we are now approaching 1000 Entrepreneur members. The network is growing and our members have started to talk to each other and share their ideas as well discussing their joys and despairs. 

We have decided that during the "Credit Crunch" period that of course business is tough and we have two choices. Stay as we are and keep moving along very slowly or take on more sales staff to increase our revenues. We have decide to take on more staff and as from Monday we will start 4 more sales staff.

The new staff will increase morale, increase the buzz in the office and more importantly provide us with surplus cash so that we can move the business forward. It is a big decision and we are very much looking forward to a favorable outcome.

Of course we could fail and many business are in very similar situations where they are having to make important business decision that may well determine the future direction that their business takes.

Million Impossible is our main website www.millionimpossible.com and we hope that we will acquire 1,000,000 members within the next 12 months and become the UK's leading Business Network for honest Entrepreneurs who have to courage to talk about their challenges.

We feel that so many business networks talk only about success at Million Impossible we want our members to feel that they can talk to someone else about their challenges so that everyone can benefit not only from our collective successes but also our collective mistakes. We now have members in the USA, England, Scotland, India, Australia, Singapore amongst others.

Join us now and help us build the Strongest Entrepreneur network in the world.. Membership is free and you can register now at www.millionimpossible.com.

You Don't have to have a badge on your sleeve to have honour!

Regards Bradley Chapman

Chris Anderson in 'The Long Tail' talks about 'aggregators' for the long tail - one example he gives for physical products is e-bay. E-bay has created a focal point where people might go to search for any item, and for a lot of small niche new businesses this has been the ideal way to get started, with low investment and access to a very large number of potential shoppers - essentially aggregating a wide variety of demands - and an enormous variety of suppliers. This is on a grand scale what the department stores and catalogue sellers did for previous generations.

But the internet also provides many other tools which enable suppliers to find markets and markets to find suppliers - including blogging groups and forums (or fora if you prefer). Utilising all these tools has enabled many small and otherwise obscure businesses to raise their profile. One that has been so successful that it has been taken up in an advertising campaign by Google is WigglyWigglers.co.uk - a rural worm farm business which now has business all over the world. This would have been inconceivable before the web and its various tools and options had developed.

For a small business wishing to find a wider market for a niche product, this is a great example of what can be achieved. In some cases such as on e-bay, consumers interested in what you have to offer will find you by searching the site. But beyond this, you need to be proactive to enable your likely clients to find you. So WigglyWigglers undertakes a range of activities to help their interest groups find them. And so, I guess the answer to the question above is: with difficulty unless you help the potential clients find you.

Anderson identifies the complete change to the traditional concept that you focus on your top lines and prune your range - as a large supplier - and the corrollary for small business, that you can now target the very small niche which, pre the world wide web would never have generated enough business to enable survival.

The new dynamic has overthrown the Pareto principle that 80% of sales will come from the top 20% of products (or of suppliers in a market etc) - he points out that 25% of Amazon book sales now come from products that are not sold by Borders Books - even though they stock 100,000 titles!

With the web, the product can be held centrally - or a small supplier can stock for a national or international demand - so phsically the logistics of supplying minority lines to the market are no longer impossible. What it shows is that there is demand there, and when the constraints are removed and all the small pockets of demand which were previously neglected are brought together, there is enough demand to feed a business.

So what possibilities is the web opening up for your market? What new niches are appearing that no one ever believed could exist?

I've just returned from spending 3 weeks in Peru, a country where you can bet if an opportunity arises somebody will come along and claim it for their own.

Making money is very difficult for the people of Peru.  In fact just simply earning a living is hard enough with the average wage being 200 Nuevo Soles per month (around £40 or $75).
This chap however earns that in ten minutes.  How?  He offers a service which ships tourists between reed islands on Lake Titicaca.  It's optional for the tourists to get on his boat as they could just get back on the tour ship but who in their right mind would want to miss out on such a once in a lifetime trip?  He charges just 10 soles (£2), for the privilege and he can fit 20 people on his boat.  One months wage in ten minutes.

Then there are the early bird tourists who want to catch the first bus up to Machu Picchu at 5:30am.  These people have left their hotels too early to get breakfast so a couple of enterprising ladies walk up and down the queue selling breads, pastries and hot drinks.  It's a captive market again, the success rate is about 1 in 10 and the queue is about 400 people long.  Pretty good going for a business before 6am!

Finally there are the sales people who hang around the water tower where both the Puno to Cuzco train and the return journey stop to cross and to get water.  These people who normally work in the fields know the exact time of day these trains pass through and make sure they are ready to sell their local produce and gifts to their captive audience aboard the train.

These kind of opportunities happen for a reason - without them these people could not survive.

Opportunities don't tend to present themselves to us in the same manner, at least that is to say we often have a choice to either follow them up or let them pass us by.  Sometimes we simply let things slip because they are too much hassle to follow up.

What if the next opportunity you see has the potential to earn you a months salary in 10 minutes?  Would you let it pass you by then?