Idea

IDEA – Business Week iPad App + Print

by dldamore

Was just reading a post on Tech Crunch about the new Business Week iPad app. One of the complaints was that the content of the app is updated once per week, just like a real magazine.

IDEA

Post all the writings of their talent in the app as it is completed. Then, based on the user data and feedback from the users of the iPad app, adjust what stories are featured in the magazine. This could be done with the top five articles that readers have rated highest. This could be highlighted in a page that explains what the stories are and where readers can find them in the magazine. Magazine readers may find this curation by the crowd to be of considerable value.

Notes

The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times have a similar feature in what published articles were most emailed, read or shared. Example links are below.

WSJ

NYT

Signed by Author Ebooks?

by dldamore

Questions (for thought)

  1. What prevents ebooks from having special editions?
  2. Could there be a market for signed and limited editions for ebooks?

Answers

  1. Lack of imagination
  2. Yes. There is a market in there somewhere. Size is unknown and as far as I am aware no one is presently serving this market. Ebooks are a relatively new content distribution channel and have probably not hit the mainstream market yet.

Notes:

Possible example of 1 of 1000. Suggest using the limited edition total as being between 1 and 10% of expected sales. There would be some sort of price premium for the limited edition, but there could be other perks in addition to the satisfaction of having it.

Behind the cover in the ebook would be a special limited edition page that would have the edition number, EG: 147 of 1,ooo,  and a signature of the author.

Barcode Payment System

by dldamore

The other day I read a blog post from the 37signals blog, Signal vs. Noise, about apps they are using. One that really caught my fancy was Cardstar, hadn’t heard of it before and it really solves a consumer problem.Itt eliminates those cards you have on your key ring and in your wallet. Those small cards are a pain.

The app creates a digital replica of the barcode that is found on the card the store gave you. When you need the card to get a discount, you open the app and have it display the appropriate barcode. You get the discount and don’t need to hassle with the cards.

Let’s take this one step further. A barcode that is used for mobile payments. Could see PayPal creating this type of functionality. Lower fees for the retailer on transactions would be a big selling point on getting this implemented. Credit card firms may also do this to make payments faster and more secure.

Security might be handled by using two 4 digit PINs. One as a user ID and the other as a security feature. The user ID would allow for more that one person to use the linked credit card or payment system. Purchases could be tracked by user and made into charts and graphs weekly, monthly or yearly.

Could see a secondary user being a child in some situations. Their PIN would have spending limits and it would be easy for them to see their spending balance as well.

*This is just a rough idea that came to mind during or after reading the paper this morning.

*Many people have their mobile phone with them at all times.

What is 2011?

by dldamore

2011

“The Year of Solving Other Peoples Problems”

Tagline: “What’s Your Problem?”

*This came about after thinking about how camera apps could create a viable business model. This coming year should be about solving problems other people have. People may call it service. Most of the time it is a service, there are a few times where it is an idea that is implemented and that scales and creates massive value for the user. The creator gets a healthy reward for creating so much value for the customer.

Example: Supplier creates a product that crates $1M in sales for their customer with a net profit of $250,000 (25% net margin). Regular net margin is 10%. This product is creating $150,000 in extra net profit. Perhaps a third of that will go back to the creator of the solution that created a million dollars of business and created the opportunity to grow net profits $250,000. If the supplier takes a third of the excess, that would be $250,000 NPM – $100,000  SPM (Standard Profit Margin) = $150,000/3 = $50,000. There is an incentive to create excessive value and profit for their customer. Think of the 1/3rd as being a performance bonus.

*Still to be figured out.

Q: What if the buyer is OK with a 10% SPM and uses the savings to drive market share and be more competitive versus their competitors?

A: These things will have to be negotiated and put in writing.