The Next Killer Apps?

In the September issue of Fast Company | 5 Technologies That Will Change the World Scott Kirsner unveils five reasons the tech industry is not doomed. This is good news for those of us who are in the technology business, because it proves that there is still room for innovation in an industry where new generations of processors no longer evolve so fast that last year's technology is obsolete.

Instead of thinking about tecnology as just computers, peripherals and software, the folks profiled in this article thought about needs in the marketplace and how technology could meet them. The results were new applicatons that forge new paths to end results that users formerly struggled to deliver.

Since this was in the print issue of FC, this had to go to press prior to last week's massive blackout. This just makes the example of the Mohegan Sun's distributed power generation model even more timely and compelling. (Think there's a way to get some gas to Phoenix while they're at it?)

I'll bet you could guess which of the five was my favorite, though. The Prada example, of course. It just blows me away that the tag on a shirt can trigger relevant merchandising in the dressing room!

Radio Frequency Point of Sale/Auto ID technology is a growing segment of the technology market that will grow in the coming years as more and more retailers recognize the power of using it for applications beyond price scanning and inventory control. This technology enables retailers to delight their customers like never before, while saving money. Sounds like a winner!

Beyond the Bundle

The McKinsey Quarterly: Solving the solutions problem highlights the difference between merely bundling IT products together and truly collaborating with customers to develop solutions that add value to customers' businesses. The latter strategy is the best for long-term profitability and growth for both the solution provider and its customers.

One of the most interesting points in the article is the observation that customers who approach their IT purchases from a product level would expect a discount for purchasing multiple items, while those who purchase a solution are buying into the value that the finished product will bring to their organizations and thus are evaluating the purchase on an ROI basis.

I sometimes call this part of the solution sales process creating oranges, because it raises the level of the conversation with the customer from an apples to apples, feeds and speeds conversation to a truly collaborative interaction. Engaging a customers at this level is necessary to create and finance solutions that succeed in adding value to the organization that is quantifiable in terms of cost savings, revenue enhancement, or other key metrics.

Companies that create this type of depth in their relationships with their customers will foster real loyalty by delivering value, versus habits that are easily swayed by a lower price.

What We Have Here is...

Yesterday's article Wired News: Worm Exploits Weak Link: PC Users is a very real reminder of the disparity in the needs and experience levels of the millions of people who use the Internet.

One of the main challenges a company like Microsoft faces in situations like the this attack is that, although corporate IT types are well aware of the need for patches and firewalls to prevent events like this from taking down their networks, the average consumer is not likely to share that knowledge.

From the teacher who thought she was actually avoiding a virus attack by refusing to install a legitimate patch pushed to her system, to the security experts who assume that everyone understands what a firewall is and that the company is routinely updating its operating systems, there is a counterpoint to the experience. Another user actually got a virus by opening a "safe" download, and some companies were scrambling to update software with patches yesterday, despite nearly a month's lead time on this information.

My favorite quote in the article was this one from the last page:

"'There is no way to characterize the numbers of PCs that have AutoUpdate in effect and it didn't work, had disarmed AutoUpdate or had somehow fouled up the entire thing with processes or behaviors that aren't predictable," said computer virus researcher George Smith. "

To me, the suggestion that the customers were solely to blame for this worm was incredibly condescending and the reference to the lack of predictabilty in customers' behavior was very arrogant. With this statement, this researcher appears to suggest that only the elite technocracy. with predictable behavior patterns should have access to the Web, since they can't seem to get with the program as the usability experts envisioned it. Downloading the patch is something that is routine to some, and highly foreign to others. Some users simply won't "get it" no matter what

Given the current marketing environment, what are some of the ways software manufacturers might communicate at the lowest cost with all key segments of users to deliver the best benefits statements to sell the product or service?

Still Standing

Fast Company's New Life in the Slow Lane in today's New York Times reads like an obituary for a publication I found unique starting with the very first issue, and the demise NYT predicts looks more like a reinvention to me.

The debut of Heath Row's blog last week is just another example of how Fast Company is keeping up with the Post New Economy Economy. The fact that an excerpt in Fast Company could be an integral part of the launch and word of mouth promotion of Seth Godin's latest book Purple Cow isn't too shabby, either.

I picked up the first issue of Fast Company in the St. Louis Airport in 1995 and read it cover to cover before sharing it with tons of people. I still share items from its content today. Yes, competitors like The Industry Standard and Business 2.0 that jumped on the dot com bandwagon after it fell by the wayside. (The NYT also lumps Red Herring into that category, but, in reality, RH preceeded Fast Company, and was more focused on the IPO aspect of the dot com craziness, it's name comes from the name for a pre-IPO prospectus draft.)

Anyway, Fast Company is still standing, albeit much lighter. There is still a demand for the kind of thinking it inspires, but much of the silliness is gone. Instead of a bunch of 20 somethings out to spend millions on hockey stick projections that would never materialize, I would suspect that Fast Company readers today are the survivors. Maybe they were the ones who knew all along that there had to be some value created at the end of the wild ride.

In the Online version of this article, of the several covers are pictured, my favorite, the one that said "Screw Work Quit" was not included. Maybe that's because, despite early reports of its demise, Fast Company intends to evolve to meet the needs of the next wave of remarkable businesses.

Hope so.

Whatever happened to...

Seth Godin's blog today mentioned a brand new site, Eliyon CorporateAlumni, which can help you track down former co-workers and associates by searching company names for past employees.

I tried it out and found some of the same inconsistencies mentioned, and found it curious that the former president of the company where I am currently employed had the incorrect first name listed. I think it would be very interesting to be able to search by person instead of by company.

I'm also curious to find out more about how the listings are created. For instance, some of the titles appear to be made up, (perpetual honor student?) so I'm wondering how much of the content is derived from the survey questionaires. Didn't fill out a survey yet, but also didn't find myself listed. This may be because I have been with my current employer for nearly eight years, and many of the moves listed appear to be more recent.

Found a few names from the past, though. Check it out, it's pretty cool in a big brotherish kind of way.

p.s. Seth also mentioned a brand new blog from Heath Row at Fast Company as his source for the tip. I checked it out and it is quite interesting, as would be expected, given the source.

I especially liked his lunchtime blog, Judged by Title, since he quotes another of my favorite Web writers Mark Hurst on what's really important in creating stellar Web usability.

Add These to Your Calls to Learn Solutions, Build Trust

From the July 30 edition of the Zig Ziglar newsletter comes this gem: The Open-Ended Question - Zig Ziglar.

As if these questions weren't valuable enough, you can sign up for JustSell.com's newsletter or access sales tools on the siteto get even more valuable guides that can help you make every dial or contact count. I especially like the countdown feature at the top of the page.

Whatever your business, the future will demand collaboration with single source solution providers as trusted partners. What are you talking about with your customers? How would your best customer describe your relationship with him or her? What would compel that customer to switch suppliers? Hint: If it's price alone, you really need this info!

Happy Selling and Marketing!

You'll Know it When You See It

ActiveState - ActiveState Field Guide to Spam should be helpful to those who may not be as jaded by the onslaught of Unsolicited Commercial EMail (UCE) as I. In class, students range from those who are relatively new and want to know if it's ok to unsubscribe to those who are skilled in evading and/or taming the out of control beast.

With nearly 20 e-mail addresses, some of which have been live since 1992, I get more than my fair share of UCE (I once trapped 14,000 in a three week span, but that was a couple of months and several fewer addresses ago.) Of course, that is the flip side to promotion for the small or large business person. Make yourself available and you will get unwanted e-mail.

This site and its related resources will help you identify UCE or spam in the wild, and also provide a way to help others know what to delete without opening when you report the latest tricks to the collection of examples. Since blocking addresses for each individual address is an exercise in futility, at least if you know what to delete without a second thought, and have a good intrusion detection software to combat unwanted scripts including pop-ups and spyware, you can breeze through the deleting and get on with your life.

I use Symantec for individual home network protection, and, of course, there is a Symantec product that can cover your needs, even if you're looking for enterprise protection. Symantec's Webinar on fighting spam is free. Invest the time to check it out and I'll bet you get it back exponentially in time saved when you learn how to control the deluge without missing mail you want.

What's next, sue Grandma?

An article in today's New York Times, If You Pitch It, They Will Eat, brings to light yet another example of political correctness gone too far. Nutritionists, many of whom undoubtedly subsist on tofu and other less than appetizing food choices, are now berating McDonald's, Kraft and others for making American kids fat. PI lawyers have jumped on the bandwagon, of course, eyeing the deep pockets of American institutions such as McDonald's and Kraft as targets for lawsuits contending that making snacks and meals that appeal to kids deserves punishment.

The latest piece of ludicrous information is that some of these anti-junk food zealots want to ban all food advertising aimed at children, pointing to a correlation between an increase in advertising and an increase in the weight of American kids. Never mind that at the same time other influences might have been at play, the rise in video game and computer use, for example, among kids. These nutritionsists think that kids and parents choose to eat what they want where they want because of the evil influence of advertising.

These folks think that just because companies make money they are wrong. Guess what? People want to eat food that tastes good, not just healthy food. Forget the fact that there has been no specific link made to any health problems from this specific food, these folks want to ban it. Not only that, they want to ban it from schools. Let me get this straight. We can't fund our schools well enough, private companies are willing to subsidize lunch programs and provide foods kids actually eat and this is a bad thing because it sends a "poor dietary message" and commercializes the schools.

Coca-Cola also makes bottled water products in addition to cola. Anyone who has been near a fast food restaurant knows that the fries are a mere shadow of their former greasy, delicious selves thanks to canola oil and the like. Yet, these lawyers want to accuse the schools of a breach of duty, as though parents have no role in the choices their children make, and, based on the degree of severity in his message, you would think that students are tied down and force-fed french fries and soda.

This is just wrong. Lawyers have to learn that not everything is someone else's fault. Parents buy the food, kids like it, and, most important, there is no proven link that consuming it causes damage to kids. Yet, you would think by the outcry that schools were handing out handguns rather than pizza.

Some of us remember a time when we would take bologna and Wonder Bread sandwiches to school in a brown bag, perhaps along with a homemade cookie or two made from Grandma's recipe with plenty of butter and sugar. Was that really so much better than the p.c. version of today's fast food? Maybe Grandma better make sure her liability coverage is adequate, the Georgetown lawyers might target her next.

Give me a break! (After all, don't I deserve one today?)

No Brainer

The secret is out. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has reported in its story Google 'key word' ads undercut eBay a situation I have known to be true for a year and have written about several times.

Using AdWords to drive customers to off-eBay shopping pages is an easy and effective way to make online sales happen. Combined with Search Engine Optimization, the ads work even harder, because if you can come in at the top of the search result and show up as an AdWord, most people will click on your search result, which is free since AdWords are pay per click. Your ad provides additional reinforcement of your brand and credibility.

Also, AdWords are now syndicated through Google's new AdSense program, a new twist on the AdWords model that places content-specific AdWords on content pages outside Google, and pays the Web site owners for the clicks generated. Some content sites are already reporting four figure monthly checks from AdSense ads.

If you've read some of my posts on the eBay message boards, or my July 18 column in myEZSale, you're familiar with the pitfalls of driving traffic to eBay using Google AdWords. Keywords by eBay may be a viable alternative for those who don't want to, or don't know how to set up their own commerce sites. Watch for more info on my results testing the two against each other in a future issue of MyEZSale.