Entries from June 2007 ↓

Sucks to be me.

I only really lost about 4 months worth of stuff. And the only thing that I really miss is my collection of 6000 songs. *sigh*.

At least it was under warranty.

It’s too bad this idea blog idea is taken too. Maybe I’ll just revert back to jeremydavid 1.0 and post pictures.

Coming up with a blog topic sure is hard work.

Here’s an idea for a FaceBook application: something that makes every other application go away.

I use FaceBook for one reason: to stay in contact with my friends. I don’t care about being super poked. I don’t care about sideshows, or fortune cookies. If I want to read RSS feeds I’ll use an RSS reader. If I want to check out del.icio.us, I’ll check out del.icio.us. FaceBook, for me, is a brilliant way to see pictures from parties and rolladex my friends.

Now don’t get me wrong. There are a lot of people out there that love all these new things that are popping up. But I’m not one of them. And I’m not alone.

So here is the first idea care of Jeremy David. Make something to keep FaceBook the way I (and a growing group of other people) like it. We’ll love you (and your brand) forever. Well, until we inevitably get sucked into all the hype and decide that these cool applications really aren’t all that bad.

Since I decided not to compete with my friend and do the whole business blogging thing, I spent yesterday trying to think of a new idea. I climbed to the top of a mountain and told myself I could not come down until I thought of my new blog. Ok, the word ‘mountain’ is a slight exaggeration (I wish exaggerous was a word). It’s more of a “Mount”. Mount Tolmie. Anyway, after a few hours of lying in the sun listening to Democracy Now I went home. Without a solid idea. I just couldn’t make up my mind. And I really wanted chocolate covered almonds.

Then it hit me. Well, not then… but the next day it did.

While I was being lectured on Entrepreneurial Marketing Strategy today (thirty-one minutes ago to be specific) I was doodling a bunch of business and blog ideas in my idea journal. I love coming up with ideas - I think it’s fun. A lot of fun.

Why don’t I make a blog where I talk about cool ideas? Unique ideas for businesses and blogs, and ideas to improve existing ones? It certainly solves my tendency to skip taking the next step and make the thing.

What do you think?

To Whom It May Concern:

My friend slash classmate Rian is blogging about Entrepreneurship too. Oh my god, I spelled Entrepreneurship without spell check. That’s brilliant.

Anyway. It’s his first wordpress blog and he is doing a great job. And knowing me I probably would have given up anyway. Ha ha just kidding. This time was the real deal. I guess that’s irony for you.

The good news is for all of you business blog niche lovers, this won’t be the end. Check out his blog, subscribe, and the BCom power will live on forever in your hearts, reflected in your pretty (or ugly) eyes, and transcribed in your RSS readers.

I used to love writing To Whom It May Concern letters. Maybe I will start it up again.

Sincerely,

Jeremy David

As a follow up to the Innovation Project, my group and I have been going around to all of the companies involved. We sincerely intend to provide more than ads on Frisbees, so we are learning as much as we can about our clients to help us promote them better. This process has been incredibly insightful.

The first place we visited was Adriana’s, a Mexican restaurant in Victoria. I fell in love with the place. The owners are amazing, the decor is beautiful, and the food is outstanding.

Adriana started the restaurant in 2003 and she and her partner are doing great. They have simple but effective strategy: love the customers, love the work, use the best ingredients, and make everything from scratch with home recipes.

One thing that really struck me was her determination. Her first business failed - probably because she wasn’t in it with all her heart. Her passion for Mexican food, excellent service, and the relationships she has with her customers has built her a dream job.

I love small businesses and I’m starting to wonder if there is an opportunity for me here in terms of providing value. I guess there’s only one way to find out - I’ll talk to more.

On the first day of my Entrepreneurship Module my class was split into 10 teams and given a task: start a company with $5.00 of capital and create as much economic and/or social value as you possible in 10 days. We were pretty successful, and ended up winning the competition by turning our $5.00 into $4645 in gross revenue. Each group member took home about $660, which is fantastic for 10 days.

Our Idea
We wanted to get people outside having fun with their friends, so we decided to sell advertising space on Frisbees which we would then distribute for free around Victoria. My group targeted locally owned businesses that could relate to this goal, and we actually turned down $400 from a night-club because it didn’t align as well as the other companies.

We had obstacles around the way – being led on by suppliers, companies canceling on us, etc. – but we learned a lot and came out ahead.

Selling Strategy
I think the greatest education I took away from the project was a revolution in my selling strategy. One of my group members is a terrific salesperson. She taught us that one on one communication is very effective, and to skip the Internet, make an appointment, and discuss the idea in person. It’s so easy to say no on the phone, or delete an email. If you want to land a sale, meet in person. People are drawn to outgoing personalities. In an email, a Frisbee covered in ads is a Frisbee covered in ads. In person, it’s a vehicle to create community and involve local businesses in an effort to get people outside with their friends and families.

Genuinely create value.
The only way to effectively sell a product is to showcase the benefits it will produce. In our project we needed to highlight that the companies involved would be recognized for their contributions and that thousands of people would be exposed to their brand. We also wanted to showcase the social impact we were creating by facilitating outdoor group activities.

The effectiveness of a press release.
We sent out a press-release and managed to get some local coverage. While we did not land any sales with our feature, we were able to use it as leverage and legitimize our campaign.

Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.
Another important lessons we learned was that a sale is not a sale until the cheque is in hand. When talking to companies we mentioned that we were working with specific clients before we actually had received their payment. Some of the companies we mentioned backed out. In the future, I will certainly be more careful before mentioning clients before they are confirmed. I probably should have received permission to do so in the first place.

Tap into the wisdom of the business community.
When we were going from business to business we got in contact with many companies interested in our idea. Business owners are a fantastic resource and it is beneficial to meet people and learn from them. Informational interviews are very rewarding and had we spoke to companies beforehand we might have made a few changes to our product.

Stay positive and follow through to the end.
Having a positive outlook and not giving up was the difference between our product being successful and failing. We actively changed our attitude, and we rewarded for our enthusiasm perseverance.

This Innovation project was a fantastic experience. It was rewarding to be able to apply my education to a real life enterprise that I was involved in. Another great benefit was to see what other groups learned and how they succeed in their projects. Even if a group is not successful fiscally, its members can learn just as much as one that bring in a lot of money.

Think you’ve invented the next iPod? Has someone else? Here’s how can you measure the potential success of an idea. Answer these fifteen important questions:

1. Is the idea evolutionary or revolutionary?
   An evolutionary idea presents a serious improvement over existing products. A revolutionary idea changes the game and knocks all current players out of the water. If your service/product is going to succeed, it should fit into one of these categories.
2. Are you creating value?
   You need to.
3. Do people need it?
   Would someone actually buy it? If you have a prototype, how do people respond? Are they willing to part ways with their hard earned cash in exchange for what you are offering?
4. How big are your margins?
   Ideally, you want your margins to exceed 30%. Mediocre margins are between 15 and 30.
5. Can you prevent imitation?
   Patents? Supplier relationships? If anyone can go out and imitate you, there’s a serious problem.
6. Is your product long-term or short-term?
   Make sure you have an accurate assessment of the long-term or short-term viability of your offerings. You can do well with a fad, if it is expectedly so.
7. Are there any substitutes in the marketplace?
   What separates you from the rest?
8. What are the trends in the market?
   You want to be in either a high growth and emerging market, or one that is predictably stable. Low price pressures from commodity markets are very undesirable.
9. Would people buy your product more than once?
   Desirable purchase patterns are frequent and predictable. Think contact lenses.
10. Do you have enough resources?
    You do not want to find yourself in a position where you run out of money. Even the best product can’t make it to market if there’s no cash or financing.
11. What are your sales volumes?
    They better be strong, and run numbers seeing what will happen if you only make half of your estimate.
12. How reliant are you on your suppliers?
    Be careful not to find yourself in a position where your suppliers are in total control.
13. How efficient are you?
    Is waste and inefficiency minimized?
14. Do you have a well-rounded team?
    Industry experience and a wide variety of skill sets are necessary. So are proven results.
15. How passionate are you?
    If you have any reason to hold back, you are going to. Don’t go for it unless you’re all for it.

I was going through my BCom notes the other day and realized there is a good amount of blogworthy stuff in my pile of stuff. I could have been BCom blogging throughout my entire degree, but I didn’t come up with the idea until now. Too bad.

But knowing me, I wouldn’t have done it anyway. That’s my problem. I come up with ideas and rarely follow through – because I soon come up with a bigger and better one.

I’m what Darren Rowse calls a “serial starter of new blogs.”

Jumping from One Random Thing to Another - this type of blogger is a serial starter of new blogs. They have an entrepreneurial spirit but find it difficult to stick at things and see them through to their potential. They’re easily distracted by the next ‘big thing’ and as a result don’t tend to fulfill their potential in the current things that they do.

My first blog was called “To Whom It May Concern.” I wrote random letters to random people and sometimes got a response. It was fun, but I was doing it for the wrong reasons.

Next I came up with my “Choose My Adventure” blog… Which is cool, and the only blog I have managed to stick with. But there was a time when I gave up, and I’m not going to let that happen again.

And I started another blog: un/popular web culture. It was about web culture and only lasted a few weeks.

Then I started a blog about writing. The only problem was that a lot of people gave me sass about the idea… and all of my “lessons” came from a book. So I gave up. Again.

The common thread for all of my failed blogs was that I was writing for me: I didn’t care what I was writing about. I wanted to be blog-famous. And that’s why I failed. No one wants to feed some kid’s ego.

I have learned an incredible amount about life and blogging in these last 10 months. The words “be” and “genuine” come to mind. I do not think I would be the same person I am today if I had not had all these experiences. And now I have a new rule when it comes to posting: replace the word “publish” with “create value?”, and only press if true.

This newest (and hopefully final) incarnation of jeremydavid.com is going to deliver value to you by presenting what I learn, what I explore, what I discover, and what I create through formal education and life’s experiences. A broad topic, yes, but one I know very well.

So without further ado, I’m going to write my first, errr second, post.