Idea of the Day: How to make TEDx Boston even bett...

The first TEDx Boston event has come and gone, and is certainly worthy of review. If you were there then I’d love to hear your comments. If not, here’s an overview of what the day looked like: From 2-7pm the Fidelity Center for Applied Technology hosted some of Boston’s best and brightest. The highlights included: Smart city and smart transportation planning taking place at the MIT media lab. Reverse mentorship...

Idea of the Day: Do something cool with lanyards...

I’ve been to a many trade shows and events where I am given a lanyard with my name badge. While I appreciate the free gift, these always end up in the trash. I mean really, what use does a lanyard have once the conference is over? Here’s an idea: use Zip-its for lanyards! Zip-Its are basically just long zippers that, well, zip together to form purses, pouches, messenger bags, etc. Check out my earlier post...

Idea of the Day: Collapsible Cooler...

Every year we pack up the van and head to my in-laws near Newport, RI for a beach weekend. There are six of us in my family and we inevitably pack too much, so I always find myself stuffing things over the back seat, under the middle seat, etc. The cooler is the one thing that consistently annoys me in this endeavor, because it takes up so much space even though we actually only need it to go to and from the beach. I...

Idea of the Day: Convertible shoe boxes...

I like new shoes, and my wife really likes new shoes. We recently renovated a walk-in closet to give her more space. As part of the redesign we included lots of shoe racks, so that has been on my brain lately. What if shoe boxes were convertible? Most of them are pretty sturdy, so how about investing a bit of thought into a way that they could be open-faced and stackable. “Buy new shoes, free shoe-rack included.”...

Idea of the Day: cold activated labels for Fla-Vor...

By now you’ve probably seen the Coors Light commercials touting their “Cold-Activated” labels which turn blue when your beer is cold: Sorry to say, but this seems to me like one of the dumbest things ever (if you say that some of my ideas are equally as dumb I won’t necessarily disagree). Seriously though, you need to be over 21 to drink in most states. By that age haven’t you figured out...

Idea of the Day: 4 Steps to reinvigorate Boston’...

If I were ‘in charge’ of reinvigorating Boston’s economy, here’s how I would start: 1. Map out two sectors: traditional and emerging industries. This would basically leave us with a horizontal industry profile: 2. Add the emerging Global Mega-trends that will shape our future. These will include some fairly obvious themes like carbon capture, an aging population and the changing regulatory market, as well as...

Idea of the Day: CUSTOMERSCARE.ORG...

A while ago Seth Godin wrote a blog titled “They Don’t Care, They Don’t Have To” in which he rails about poor customer service and lack of corporate accountability. I’d like them (ie: businesses) to have to care. So I think I’ll start a website called CUSTOMERSCARE.ORG (as of right now that url is available, which should tell you something). This will be an ultra simple to use website...

Idea of the Day: Dead stuff on a stick...

If I owned a beef jerky company I’d call my brand “Dead stuff on a stick.” This will never happen, because: A. I’m a vegetarian. B. I don’t tend to be that provocative , and I’m generally opposed to indulging in controversy simply for the sake of attention getting (despite what some blog experts say). Overall, I just don’t think that’s a healthy approach, and most importantly...

Idea of the Day: Senior transportation...

Our society has a senior transportation problem, and with the advancing ’silver market’ (the new term for the baby boomers) that challenge is looming larger. There’s increasing squabble about re-testing seniors for driving licenses, but nobody really wants to take responsibility for that (should it be up to the State DMV, families, doctors…?). It’s a quality of life thing. Senior’s...

11 Fantastic Mentorship Resources for Boston Entre...

Boston is perfect for entrepreneurs. If you want to start a business here you’ll find access to capital, an educated workforce and mentorship to rival anywhere else in the world. Speaking of mentorship, there are so many great resources here that I think a pointer to some of them would be helpful. Each of these serves an important part of the regional business ecosystem. If you need to figure ‘it’...

Idea of the Day: Microbrew marketing...

My new buddy Matt is the Supreme Chancellor of Beer. Seriously. It even says it on his business card and he has a website to prove it. Matt is a taste maker, educating folks about the fine points of better beers through dinner parties and continuing education classes. As we were talking about the microbrew challenge (the industry as a whole continues to expand, holding 4% of total beer sales currently and aiming for...

Idea of the Day: Rate, refer, reward....

I love this: if I log in to Yelp and give a 4.5 star rating, I receive a coupon offering 10% off on both entrees when I bring someone with me for my next visit. That’s a great way to simultaneously reinforce customer loyalty and get new referrals. There’s only one problem: it doesn’t actually exist. But it should. And it’s today’s Idea of the Day. If you login to a review site and give something...

Idea of the Day: Give away your extra customers...

“Too much of a good thing…” My neighbor is a great guy, a genuine people pleaser with a mile wide smile. An auto mechanic by trade, he started his own business a few years ago. Not surprisingly perhaps, it’s thriving even in our current recession. But he has a problem. He has too many customers. His company employees 3 full-time mechanics for 2 garage bays, so they can’t grow much more. In...

Idea of the Day: Marketing tv...

Good ads (and sometimes even bad ones, like McDonald’s recent Fillet-o-Fish campaign) invariably entertain, engage and/or horrify us. At the best of times they represent art and in the worst cases they leave us scratching our heads, or just plain disgusted. Those things are all captivating! With the advent of some really cool viral, buzz and new media advertising, things are getting even more interesting. I think it’s...

Idea of the Day: How to sell more salad...

I took these pictures at the mall a couple of days ago. One shows people in line at Master Wok and Cajun Café, while the other shows a lonely salad maker (albeit with a great hat) behind his stand. These food service locations are all in a row. If you look closely you’ll see a woman in a white shirt handing out samples in front of Master Wok, while a man in a red shirt is doing the same for Cajun Café. Salad Creations...

Idea of the Day: how to reduce the use of plastic ...

Check out this headline from a recent Whole Foods press release: Whole Foods took a leadership position by eliminating plastic bags from their stores, and obviously the bet paid off: their customers are happy about the decision and the environment is cleaner as a result. So why haven’t more companies replicated this stance? Here’s one way that it could happen: Starbucks (and/or Dunkin’ Donuts, Peete’s...

Idea of the Day: Let your customers win something...

Do you know why Happy Meals have been so tremendously successful? Is it for the food quality? (err…) How about the portion size? Nope, I don’t think it’s either of those. The appeal used to be about the package (remember when the container was shaped like a treasure box?), but even more importantly, it’s about the prize. There is a simple principle at work here: people love winning. Even when the prize isn’t...

Flightless birds: is your company one of them?...

Why do flightless birds exist? Or more appropriately asked, perhaps, how do they continue to exist? In many cases, they don’t. From the infamous Dodo to many species of lesser-known earth-bound fowl, the record is clear about one thing: the evolutionary benefits of staying grounded diminished as human beings (and other predators) established dominance. For the most part, flightless birds now owe their existence to...

Idea of the Day: Piezoelectric roads...

During the July 4th weekend I had ample opportunity to spend time with my family and poll them on things they think would be cool. I was mining for Ideas of the Day, and it paid off. In fact, I hit pay dirt on a whole series of energy efficiency ideas that I’ll introduce shortly. One short riff came from something I had heard of last year; a dance floor at a Rotterdam night club that harnesses human power and turns...

Idea of the Day: How to make LinkedIn even better...

I loved LinkedIn. In my role of Connector for Boston World Partnerships I find it particularly useful, since I am so frequently creating meaningful connections for colleagues and acquaintances. Still, there’s always room for improvement. Currently, LinkedIn has two great features that aren’t, umm, linked in very well. Here’s feature #1, their job search capability: And here’s feature #2, which...

Don’t charge for eBooks...

I like eBooks (formerly referred to as White Papers and sometimes Case Studies…the lines are beginning to blur). The funny thing is that I rarely read them. Instead, I skim. When I visit your website, find immediate access to your ebook and get highly relevant and informative results just by opening it, you have sold me: I now consider you to be an expert. I don’t really need to read the ebook because I recognize...

Idea of the Day: how to alleviate lines at the air...

Imagine this: you are waiting in line at the airport ticket counter, watching time tick away as you get closer and closer to missing your flight. Meanwhile, a counter agent has spent twenty minutes re-booking someone else who’s flight was canceled earlier, lining them up to make a connection tomorrow. Have you ever experienced this (from either side of the line)? Do you see the problem? One person was certain to miss...

Idea of the Day: Better ATM’s...

Automatic teller machines have come a long way. The new ones I use at Bank of America scan checks and cash automatically, with no envelope required, and let me confirm the amount of my deposit before it is processed. Cool. Efficient. I love it. But there’s still something missing. My ATM card is getting old, and the magnetic strip is wearing down. Every now and then this causes problems at a point of sale location,...

Idea of the Day: ice scooters...

My kids all have Razor scooters. Last spring, sick of the cold and snow, one of them wanted to go out and ride around on hers. I had to remind her that the sidewalks were still icy. Which leads to this idea: How about ice scooters? Heck, we’ve had ice skates forever now, and nothing else has come along in quite some time to take advantage of winter’s natural playing surface. While we’re at it, why not...

Inbound Marketing Primer Part 2: Tools You Can Use...

(Note, this is Inbound Marketing Primer Part 2 of 2. Click here for part 1). Here are some tools you should be implementing in order to increase traffic, extend views and visit time, and convert site visits into leads: 1. “Follow me” widgets: your website should include easily identifiable links to your open communities such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. 2. “Share This” gadgets that allow you to tell others...

Inbound Marketing Primer part 1: Tips for Building...

One of my clients is working with an Inbound Marketing company called HubSpot. Coincidentally, I participated in sections of their Inbound Marketing University program a couple of weeks ago. While this hardly makes me a social media ‘expert’, I have already discovered some useful things that you might want to know about for your website. As I offer these tips I must acknowledge that I haven’t implemented all of...

Idea of the Day: Paint in-a-box...

Paint should come in boxes with spouts. Here’s a simple illustration of why this is a good idea. Note the clean can before use, and the mess that comes with regular usage. The wine industry realized about a dozen years ago (and for different reasons) that boxes could be a boon. With the rise in home decorating shows over the past decade and the do-it-yourself revolution, I’d figure that some smart marketer for Benjamin...