karmaback

Formalizing an online persona.

If you are an entrepreneur or a high-tech professional, and you do not have a Blog, I ask you, why?
If you don’t have a Linked-In persona, I ask you, why?
If you don’t know your place in this online world, I ask you, why?
If the answer is you don’t believe in it, I can’t help you.
If the answer is, not enough time, I can’t help you.
If the answer is, why…I have this to say.
No matter who you are or what you are trying to do, people are going to Google you.  When they do, they will either find what YOU have written about you, what someone else wrote, or worse, nothing.
I’d never to hire a VP or Director who has “nothing” about them online.  Linkedin is a must.  References on Linkedin a big plus.  And a Blog even better (as long as its related to what you do).
So, that’s my advice.  Do it.  Update it.  Participate, don’t just watch.
My blog title and name was updated just today after hearing from colleagues it was a bit out of date.
Yep, they Googled me!
At least they didn’t find… nothing.

How to recognize a BAD/Small Business Idea & MVP

Knowing a bad idea is sometimes easy… check out this hellarious site: stupidbusinessideas.com.  What do these have in common? Simple: it is obvious that people are not willing to pay for it (or the market is VERY small).  But how can an engineer-type thinker discover if his idea (which isn’t so obvious) is a Bad (small) business idea?

I will outline 2 methods, which would ideally both be used.

The First Method P.O.D.C.
PODC is a qualitative tool that helps a person analyze if the 4 key components of a Business Idea make sense
P = People
O = Opportunity
D = Deal
C = Context
If you see green lights all down the PODC list, you are good to go to the next method (or take your chances if you wish).   Here is what Green Lights should look like.
P.  The people running the business and inventing the product(s) are experts in the relevant fields and have experience having done it before.
O. The opportunity (the problem you are solving/need you are satisfying) is large enough that a small market share is all that is needed for a viable business.  E.g. a 1% market penetration would lead to a $5MM+ business.
D. The deal proposed is not too small or too big and has milestones and success markers along the way before further investment is needed.  E.G> a small amount of $ investment $ is all that is needed to get to the first milestone.
C. The context (the world view) is fresh and new, not old and boring.. and the business does NOT rely on some obscure law or quick trend.  Competition may or may not be there, but this solution seems unique and could be a long-lasting business.

Did your PODC come out green?  Now the real test: will people pay?
To test this, Engineer-thinkers need to deploy a Minimum Viable Product (MVP).  This is VERY hard for Engineer-type thinkers, who want to solve the whole thing & get it working first.  WRONG.  You need to TEST to see if people will pay first.  
Some guidance may be found here: http://venturehacks.com/articles/minimum-viable-product  and http://venturehacks.com/articles/minimum-viable-product-examples and of course http://www.startuplessonslearned.com/

Here is my quick instruction manual to make an MVP.
1.) Find someone creative who will build you a 3-page website for cheap.  ($1000)
2.) Build page 1 that gives the pitch for the new product/service.  1-button: Order Now.
3.) Build page 2 that shows the price & looks like a shopping cart.  1-button: Proceed with Order
4.) One page 3, say: “Sorry, we are currently back-ordered.  You will be emailed when new inventory is available.  Thanks for your business.”
5.) Build some ads for your business idea on Google Adwords: http://adwords.google.com/
6.) MEASURE how much it costs to bring ppl to your site… how many are interested in Order Now… and how many “Proceed with Order” after seeing the price.
7.) Adjust parts 3-6… and see if you can make MONEY with the business.

If you can sell for more than 4x the cost (where cost is product cost + shipping + marketing cost)  you are in good shape.

If not, start over with PODC and see what was wrong.

Best of luck!

Now, get some good ideas!

How to know you have a BIG IDEA!

Many of my engineering friends have ideas… most are small… some CAN be big….  How do you know when an idea could be BIG?  Having judged Moot Corp 3 years in a row, won it 5 years ago, and after reading hundreds of business plans, I believe I have a formula that can help any engineer-type thinker answer that question:

1.) Is there a burning need?  (e.g. are people hungry to solve the problem, or spending a lot of money trying to solve it or avoid it)????
2.) Is there a big Market? (e.g. are there a lot of people who WOULD be hungry if hey knew they could eat (buy) something to solve it?)
3.) Are people WILLING to pay to solve it?  (this one requires a test… see MVP)

If your idea is big, I encourage you to go for it… nothing is worth losing than opportunity!

Crowdstorming: The Karmaback Value Proposition

Okay engineer-type thinkers, it is time for a pop quiz.  We are crowdstorming today… that is as a crowd, brainstorming.  So, what is the value proposition of a tool like Karmaback, and how much should we charge?  Post your replies here.  Below are the “features” of Karmaback and the “benefits” as I see them…  now the question is, what is the concise value proposition, and what is it worth?

Karmaback for Members (people who sign up and participate… e.g. everybody and anybody)
Features:
* Get to earn points for liking & sharing cool products & stuff.
* Get to spend points on prizes, discounts, and specials.
Benefits:
* Prizes, discounts, and specials, and stuff.
* Get to share feedback with Partner companies about products & stuff.
* Get to be ‘heard’ and their opinion counts and matters.

Karmaback for Partners (companies who choose to work with Karmaback)
Features:
* Get to put the like-it-flow on their websites.
* Get Karmaback members to post to their Facebook pages from the like-it-flow.
* Get to run Sweepstakes, Discounts, and Specials via Karmaback.com
* Get to post Sweepstakes/etc. in Facebook & Twitter.
* Can make Viral posts on Facebook & Twitter (that reward Members for “re-sharing” the posts).
Benefits:
* Get the word out about the products people like.
* Get feedback from users.
* Convert “visitors” into “fans”
* Convert “fans” into “evangelists”
* Convert “members” into “buyers”

Where games meet reality.

Anyone who knows me, knows I love games.  I’m a gamer.  I like games on PC, XBOX, PS3, Wii, iPhone, Facebook, and life.  Life games are the most fun, of course… if you have the right attitude.  Why not lie down in a crowded place?  Why not buck social norms and convention?  Why not try every possible adventure sport known to man (I’ll be snow-boarding next week).  In fact, intersecting games with life is just about my favorite thing to do.

Karmaback walks this intersection of games and reality with aplomb and head on.  Who said we can’t reward people for clicking on links?  Why can’t we give people prizes for saying they like something?  And coming soon: why not collect points, earn ranks, get levels and achievements… all in the game of life, the game of marketing, and for products and stuff you love?

Measuring Marketing: An Engineering Challenge.

Engagement is quite the word.  It means getting in touch, getting together, and the promise of a union.  To Marketers, this means getting attention.  In 2010, Marketers find Engagement to be their #1 priority.  But what will they do with this engagement?  How can we measure its effect.  Show me the money!

Engineers and Scientists have striven for hundreds of years to go about measuring things.  Measurement and observation are the keys to enlightenment.  Modeling comes next, followed by theory, and then sometimes law.  So why then do Marketers have so many theories, and so few models?  Where are the measurements?  The answer is troubling and disheartening.  Marketing, alas, is no science, yet science shall be its salvation.

My journey into Marketing through my new company Karmaback and beyond, is leading to answers we engineer-type business folks have sought for decades.  The struggle between marketing science and art WILL come to a head in our lifetimes, and maybe Karmaback will bring it there.

The $600 Billion question: does engagement lead to marriage?
E.g. can marketing lead to sales?

Karmback Evolves: Facebook Fan-share-tool

Karmaback has evolved. The company is growing and finding more and more opportunities to deliver huge value to our partners while keeping it ‘real’ and fun for our members. The latest tool in our arsenal is called the Fan-share-tool (currently supporting Facebook and soon Twitter). This tool allows our partners to post interesting stories, images, videos and more to their fan-page, while enabling several unique features on the post: a “Reshare, Get Rewards” button which gives their readers Karmaback points for resharing the post with their friends, and complete analytics on every level of share from top to bottom… letting us measure the Viral Coefficient (how many levels of sharing) occurs for any given post.
So, why the new feature? What happened to our Minimum Viable Product (MVP)?
Actually, our MVP was a huge success. We learned most importantly, that people were not willing to pay a lot for “just feedback” on their website. We learned that our customers were really interested in getting beyond their fans to new customers. So, we defined a new MVP, and set about building that. Meanwhile, we’ve opened up our “feedback” tool for anyone to put on their website, completely ‘free’. Check it out here: http://karmaback.com/partner-sign-up/

A Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is one which is the smallest thing you can build that someone would be willing to pay (or show willingness to pay). I’ve blogged about this before, but I’ve been following this practice now for almost a year, and find the term to be useful in so many situations. What is surprising to me was how important the feedback we have gotten back was! The real question is though, what do you do when the feedback says… people aren’t willing to pay for your MVP? Answer, construct a new MVP, build that (and only the minimum of that) and sell it! The whole point is getting feedback from real customers ASAP.
To that light, we’ve built out our new tool and are announcing its general availability today. The message:
Get beyond your fans to your fans friends and beyond. The Fan-share-tool from Karmaback rewards sharing of your fan posts. Say something cool AND reward people for sharing it, and see how far your viral coefficient can extend!
For details contact me at:

Understanding Motivation

What motivates people? Specifically, what motivates a person to donate, buy, or participate? According to Business Week, 40%+ of rebates are never submitted. Shoppers pass by dozens of products they CAN afford to buy one they can’t. People gladly share videos of Susan Boyle on Facebook, while refusing to “re-tweet” a cute video of a friends child. A friend of mine offered me $5,000 if I could find him a job… and it demotivated me. So what is behind these strange behaviors? What does this mean for business?

Engineers may wonder, why care about motivation. Simple answer, if you can’t motivate people to ‘action’.. you’ll never sell a thing!

So, how do we motivate?
One answer may lie in games. Games provide some of the purest forms of motivation I’ve ever seen. “Get to the next level”, “Get better virtual gear”, “See the next video”, “Save the virtual world”, or “Win”. So, how can you make your customers feel like ‘they won’ when they have bought your product…without making it feel like a scam? Karmaback is trying to solve this.

Another answer may lie in Youtube. Why are the ‘funny’ and ‘ridiculous’ so much more popular than the average? I believe it is because of ‘shock value’. If something has ‘shock value’ then it is noteworthy… noteworthy to your friends = notoriety with your friends. I.e. if you are the one who found the noteworthy video, and you share it with your friends, you get ‘cred.’.. or levels in friend-world. How can you make your product “noteworthy” and help your customers get ‘cred. in friend-world? Karmaback is trying to solve this.

Finally, my last idea comes from buying behaviour itself. When someone recommends something that I need, I’m 90% more likely to try that brand/product. E.g. when NEED matches a FRIEND/family recommendation… I get REALLY motivated. Karmaback tries to encourage this every day!

What ideas or thoughts do you have on motivation? Understanding this psychology is the key to marketing!

photo by: ERCheck

Do Incentives Work on Social Networks??? MIT Students Prove: YES!

There is fascinating new evidence that incentives work for social networking VIRAL growth… even better than DARPA expected.

This article outlines the details of the MIT Students “incentive program” for social networking to help them find 5 red weather balloons spread across the nation. Their program rewarded $2000 for “first to find the balloon” but also “$1000 for a friend who referred them” and “$500 to the friend of the friend who referred that friend” and so on!!! BRILLIANT!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/dec/07/darpa-challenge

And this is part of what Karmaback does… we reward people for sharing good deals, specials, and cool products with their friends! Its the whole point of Karmaback! If you haven’t checked out Karmaback yet, now is the time… you could be missing out BIG!

Read more about the MIT team here: http://balloon.media.mit.edu/

Free Stuff vs. Prizes.

This post is more of a question than a deep thought. What % of people, do you think, are motivated by free stuff (like swag)? What % of people, do you think, are motivated by chances to win “bigger” prizes? Which is better, swag or prizes?

This and many other questions, I hope to answer with my new company: Karmaback. http://www.karmaback.com

One of the most exciting things that we do at Karmaback is measure EVERYTHING. The statistics of motivation have intrigued me for years… ever since we handed out massive K heatsinks (the Killer Bling) at Blizzcon in 2007. I recently wrote a magazine article about this experience… basically, giving away the big K heatsinks on chains as necklaces WORKED extremely well.

So, what do you think will work? Swag or ‘bigger prizes’… and what % of people will be hooked?

Stay tuned to Karmaback and find out.

By the way, some great prizes can be had right now on Karmaback:
http://karmaback.com/spend

Good luck!