Before enlightenment:
Chop wood. Carry water.
After enlightenment:
Chop wood. Carry water.
Via Amy Campion.
Category: web 2.0
Shop Front
Would you know what this shop is selling?
I wouldn’t.
Sometimes our shop front, work car, uniform, office, church or website is where the decision is made on whether or not our service is for them.
The good news is, just like a shop window we can:
- change it if we’ve got it wrong (all of us at some point)
- use for promotional purposes (Ebay)
- rotate the message (fashion outlets)
- keep it clean, defined and single minded (Google)
If our business is in the digital world we have the advantage of a low cost change over.
Start up lesson – make sure people know what you offer the instant they arrive.
Sticky yet slippery
The two most important things we need on our web interface are direct opposites.
We need to be sticky & slippery – simultaneously.
Sticky – we need to keep our audience interested engaged and curious. We’ve got about one second to convince them of this when they arrive.
Slippery – we only grow when our audience feels confident enough to ‘pass it on’ and it’s easy to do.
What makes something do both of the above is different for every on line proposition and the principals change everyday.
[We found this out quickly with our facebook app for Rentoid.com which was blogged about here. It kind of sucks – it’s too boring, so it’s not slippery. We got it wrong and we’ll fix it quick. If we don’t we’ll miss out on the holiday season web surfing period!]
For all web sites and apps our challenge is not to let the technology to lead us to do something, just because we can. We should lead the technology to do something only because it makes us more ‘sticky or slippery’.
University on wheels
What could we learn in 150 hours?
A language? Maybe get a diploma or study a course?
If we drive 15,000 kilometers a year that’s 150 hours of potential learning time, so why not use it? Turn your car into a university on wheels!You can do it with CD’s or by linking your ipod to the radio and listening to your favourite podcasts.
A well chosen radio station can be a boon of up to date business & social information. Some great stations include:
NPR – in the USA
News Radio – in Australia
BBC world – in the UK and Europe.
All of which have podcasts you can download from the net on your favourite topic!
Could it spread – Conclusion
You may remember the ‘rentoid rapper’ had some fun auctioning his breakdance mat on ebay. Did it spread?
It spread enough to get a bone fide $187.50 for a piece of cardboard with a bit of texta on it. Just through providing a bit of theatre – fun & money was invented.
The best result was the Q & A’s on the listing which all translate into the personality of rentoid.com You can check it all out by clicking here.
Start ups out there….Do something crazy!
Warning
Just before watching some crazy people risk their lives on Fuel TV this warning flashed on the screen:
WARNING
The action sports you enjoy watching on Fuel TV may look like fun but can be kinda dangerous. We recommend that while practice makes perfect you think twice before trying to perform any death defying feats…Blah Blah Blah don’t blame us if you bite it.
Love it. It’s real and they’re speaking same language as their audience.
What language does your start up speak?
Bootstrapping lyrics
We need to look and listen for inspiration all day in startup land. We might just see or hear something that gives us a new idea, new perspective or simply helps us stay motivated. I had one such experience while listening to some Talking Heads when their song ‘Life During Wartime’ came on. Which is fron way back in the 1970’s…
I think they’re great entrepreneur / webpreneur lyrics (let alone a funky song). So I attached them below. Hope you get something out of them.
LIFE DURING WARTIME
Heard of a van that is loaded with weapons
packed up and ready to go
Heard of some gravesites, out by the highway
a place where nobody knows
The sound of gunfire, off in the distance
I’m getting used to it now
Lived in a brownstone, lived in the ghetto
I’ve lived all over this town This ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco
this ain’t no fooling around
No time for dancing, or lovey dovey
I ain’t got time for that nowTransmit the message, to the receiver
hope for an answer some day
I got three passports, couple of visas
don’t even know my real name
High on a hillside, trucks are loading
everything’s ready to roll
I sleep in the daytime, I work in the nightime
I might not ever get home
This ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco
this ain’t no fooling around
This ain’t no mudd club, or C. B. G. B.
I ain’t got time for that now
Heard about Houston? Heard about Detroit?
Heard about Pittsburgh, PA?
You oughta know not to stand by the window
somebody might see you up there
I got some groceries, some peanut butter
to last a couple of days
But I ain’t got no speakers
ain’t got no headphones
ain’t got no records to play
Why stay in college? Why go to night school?
Gonna be different this time?
Can’t write a letter, can’t send a postcard
I can’t write nothing at all
This ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco
this ain’t no fooling around
I’d love you hold you, I’d like to kiss you
I ain’t got no time for that now
Trouble in transit, got through the roadblock
we blended in with the crowd
We got computers, we’re tapping phone lines
I know that ain’t allowed
We dress like students, we dress like housewives
or in a suit and a tie
I changed my hairstyle so many times now
don’t know what I look like!
You make me shiver, I feel so tender
we make a pretty good team
Don’t get exhausted, I’ll do some driving
you ought to get you some sleep
Get you instructions, follow directions
then you should change your address
Maybe tomorrow, maybe the next day
whatever you think is best
Burned all my notebooks, what good are notebooks?
They won’t help me survive
My chest is aching, burns like a furnace
the burning keeps me alive