It is getting close to that time where parents and kids alike will bum-rush the Targets and Walmarts of the world to load up on pens, folders, and markers. In the last few years, more and more laptops, printers, palm pilots, and digital cameras have made there way into the back-to-school shopping cart. And there is good reason this year, as one teacher, located here in GA, is using wikis, blogs, and podcasts to teach her students. On her blog, you will see the very innovative way she is using these technologies in the classroom. A quick browse onto her school’s wiki and you see some pretty sophistical podcasts from her students on key political issues. These kids are doing things that a Strong majority of the adult population is not even aware of. I imagine that this is also a pretty viable market for those who want to consult on emerging technologies in the education marketplace, the door seems wide open.
July 31, 2006
Getting schooled 2.0 style
July 28, 2006
Too Trendy to be a Trendsetter?
With all of these advances in technology, being “in” is becoming a precarious position, because with a quick shift in the ideology tide and all of of a sudden you are ”out”. Paying attention to trends and the trendsetters is no doubt a value- added activity for understanding your customers providing that the trendsetter is a) your customer b) a person who is influenced by person A. The problem comes in when your audience is a group of Gap-wearing american boys and your brand, your vision, your company, your product is driven solely on what a focus group of 17 year old Korean gamers think.
It is a fine art to interject a bit of “trend” into your brand while maintain your true identity and your credibility with your customers. I don’t expect Coke to operate like Google, even though they are both corporate behemoths in the own right. I don’t expect to find a Versace dress at TJ Maxx. (Okay I would be excited about finding one, but if I saw a whole rack full I would start to wonder).
With the all of the information that companies have at theirfingertips, it still amazes me how so many companies still drop the ball. Understanding your customer is one of the key mandates for lasting sucess. Today, I ran across 2 unrelated stories that talks about being to trendy in two very distinct ways. The first link is about how Urban Outfitters and Anthrolpolgie stores alienates their trendy shoppers by being a little too trendy and the second link, which I found to be quite hilarious, talks about the over trendification of web 2.0. Can we say Clinger? If you read the article you will understand what I mean.
July 26, 2006
Yahoo! Answers as Grassroots Marketing
Yahoo! Answers is Yahoo’s response to the flurry of sites dedicated to peer-to-peer question and advice content. Other sites like Google Answers, and Just Answers actually cost money, while Yahoo’s is free.
While some of the content is of the bubblegum/7th grade variety, there are a lot more questions that deals with topics as simple as boiling water to as complex as phylogenetic cloning.
So what is the big deal? Well, since Yahoo! Answers, let anyone respond to the questions, there is an opportunity for you to promote yourself and your business by responding to relevant questions. This is a free way to get a little grassroots attention. Simply answer a question relevant to your business and in your signature line include a link to your website. Not only will the original poster see your answer, but so will everyone else. And an added bonus is the fact that Yahoo! Answers archives the responses, so if someone didn’t want to ask a question, but instead wanted to look up all the answers to similar questions, your response would still be listed, along with your tag-line.
This is grassroots, I know, but in the beginning, you gotta do what you gotta do. In response to me answering 1 question, I received over 42 hits to my site, within in 3 days. My website is not even finished yet.
A little inspiration for those going in circles
Some of us at this very moment are uninspired and unmotivated to do anything. Maybe we are comfortable at our jobs? Maybe we are intimidated of change? Maybe we are fearful that we will fail? Whatever the reason, there are a lot of us we are not really living to our full potential. I’am not going to bore you with trite cliches, but I am going to point you to 13 people who are currently racing around 1 city block in New York City, for the next 2 months. Here’s the hitch these 13 men once complete would have ran the world’s longest race- a total of 3,100 miles. 3,100 miles is about the distance between Los Angeles and New York City. These 13 men are mostly blue collar workers who work ordinary jobs as factory workers and teachers. And for 2 months, they put their jobs and daily lives on hold to enter a race that most of us could not even fathom of doing. The question, that I am sure many of you are asking yourselves, is “why”? Well, it certainly is not for the fame- there is not an ESPN camera in sight. It is not for the money – the winning prize is a t-shirt and a plastic trophy. So the question remains, why? Well as one runner stated, it cause the race gives you a feeling ” … the feeling that you are living for real”. So the question really should be, what are you doing today to feel alive? If you have an idea in your head go after it. A script in your pen, write it out.If you want to leave your job and open a dog bakery shop in Lima, Nebraska, pack youur bags. So today if you have the time, taking a sec to thing about you can get that feeling of really living.
July 25, 2006
Hello world!
I have given in and gotten motivated to join the blogging movement. While i was planning to dump my day to day complaints and observations on the real life of a twenty something diva, I thought the world would probably appreciate something of a little more relevance. So- I came up with the idea of Clingie- a weblog dedicated to those who want to change the business world and carve out their own niche.
A very fast revolution is occurring. Thanks to emerging technology and some cultural changes soon there may not be little people. No more little guys vs. the big guys. Everyone will be able to make an impact. This blog is a collection of ideas, trends, tools, products, and profiles about small businesses, start-ups, technology, going green, marketing, and everything else.
