Picture if you would, an entrepreneur with a great Internet business idea. Let’s call him “Ken”. Ken is an expert in his field and is a successful business person. With a solid background in engineering, Ken was instrumental in bringing his company to the pinnacle of success. His only downside is that his success gives him a slightly inflated view of his capabilities in his efforts to market his new online venture.
On the other side of the country, there is a young female we will call “Barbie,” who is as equally charismatic as Ken. She is bright, resourceful and is always looking to improve her business model. She too has a ton of experience and is very competitive. You see, Barbie has successfully launched her own retail chain, understands the fundamentals of marketing but has yet to embrace the Internet. Despite her offline success, she knows that she’ll need to effectively enter the online space to take her business to the next level. She’s been successful by way of good product lines, great customer service and a solid vision for her brand. Barbie has worked hard to get to where she is…
…And the ‘Big Things’ will take care of themselves.
I heard a quote from an NFL coach while watching a game the other night. Peyton Manning once again led his team from behind in the 4th quarter to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars. The announcers were talking about the success of the Colts and the coaching philosophy behind their success and their unbelievable (record-setting) winning streak. When I heard this quote, (“Worry about the small things and the big things will take care of themselves.”) this struck me as very true on the Internet.
Both fear and a new product line is what I’m thinking.
In mid 2009 I turned my attention to Goodbarry. Not sure how I found the site, but when I got there, the site was not only well designed (old site no longer available after Adobe’s purchase) but it was very intriguing. Goodbarry was the retail brand for the core system called Business Catalyst.
First, for over 10 years companies have tried to make a product that makes it ‘easy’ to create and build a website. Pretty much all of them have failed. Why?
Going to give some props over to Eric Testroete (and Bert Simmons and Haywan Chiu) for his ‘Papercraft Self Portrait’ that he built for a Halloween costume. They used a combination of the following programs to create a sick costume:
* 3ds Max 2009
* Mudbox 2010
* Photoshop CS3
* Pepakura
