Jason,
This is a good example for making a point: what would it matter if it were
"chock
full of bad legal and time wasting advice.?" what matters is what your
customers say, about the problem you propose to solve? Do you propose to sell
your products to Inventors Digest? Are the editors, writers, and printers there
the ones who will be buying your product? If not, forget about them. Keep to
the circle that matters, customers, suppliers and the people directly involved
with logistics... then you will not waste time or have to endure time wasting
advice.
John
Does anyone read Inventors Digest?
I'm wondering if this is a worthwhile read or if it will be just chock
full of bad legal and time wasting advice.
Thanks
Saturday, September 2, 2006
Anyone read Inventors Digest?
Thursday, August 31, 2006
New Product Idea
Re: New Product Idea
Jason,
I think it requires a large up-front commitment to revolutionize how people view
their cell phones... is this you? Money is NEVER the problem in business.
John
Just read this... does anyone know if phones are designed
specifically for each network or if they are enterchangeble via sim
card?
I also have a older nokia (not so much feature creap) and I like it
because its simple with out the dang flip cover.
John - do you think that this would require a large upfront cost for
design? I remember reading in your book something about have a basic
design and then allowing the manufacturer to work out the finer
details - since they would be the pros.
Jason
--- In spiers@yahoogroups.com, "John Spiers"
>
> Folks,
>
> Unhappy with my cell phone, my wife brought home a non-flip phone,
but it has the same
> problems... it does too much.
>
> First it is barely workable for me (I had my 12 year old program
it). The screen is unreadable,
> but pretty with 216 million colors... in bright sunshine I cannot
even see the color, let alone the
> print. Just when my eyes focus on the tiny screen, the light turns
off to save battery. I can do text
> messaging, IM, and all sorts of other wonderful things, features I
will never use. I could go on,
> but I'll get to the point.
>
> I went into the Cingular store with the current phone and the last
phone I was happy with ... a
> model from say 5 years ago. It showed date and time, sent and
received phone calls. And an
> alarm clock. It was readable in any light, since it was black and
white screen... and the battery
> lasted a long time.
>
> So, I asked the gal to move the sim card from the new phone to the
old, and she said, sorry, the
> old phones didn't have sim cards, it could not be done. So I ran
down my complaints, and asked
> her what she had that would work for me, and she said what I had
was the best they could offer.
>
> She also went on to say, she gets FOUR PEOPLE A DAY with my exact
same complaint... her
> uncle is an engineer at Nokia and she is thinking about tipping him
off.
>
> Well, does anyone have any aspiration to the phone biz? Seems to
me if so, there is a product
> here... an extremely simple cel phone, yes digital, with a sim
card, but plain vanilla phone with
> NONE of the time wasting features that entice 12 year olds. Dont
worry about nokia, they will
> never make such a phone.
>
> My daughter inherited a record collection and asked for a record
player for Christmas. Best Buy
> had one with a built in radio, etc. $80... which I expect is very
profitable. Real simple, updated
> cheap technology... made by a no-name company. narrow demand, but
profitable.
>
> Who is going to make a simple, useful cel phone? One that you can
just move the sim card into
> and then throw away the one Cingular made you buy? I'll be your
first customer.
>
> John
Above the Fireplace?
Folks,
I am not sure where I could put this...
http://tinyurl.com/efsnr
but I was just about to buy a 42 inch panasonic flat screen now thet the price
has come
down... but I guess I'll have to wait for this instead...
John
Update: Rags and Rugs
Update rag trade & carpets
as the things go, one step back two steps forward.
First the rags, second the carpets.
rags... i am so glad i have a rule not offers to buy or sell on this list. My
tailor took a tour
through the USA and I could have done him a favor by recommending y’all to him.
Well, he and I go way back, or at least he and his aunt and I. He worked the
jewelry side of
the business and took over the tailoring side as well when his aunt retired.
Of course he took first class care of me...
He took care of my artist/partner on rugs and rags, He did first rate on her
linen clothes, and
then completely screwed up a leather jacket sample..
He displeased my wife with her suit. Yikes!
Just think if i had recommended him to the list and ten of you had suits made,
and now I’d
have five complaints. Whew. Dodged a bullet. Remember, no good deed goes
unpunished
Now, we we either train him to get to first class on all matters tailoring,
consistently, or we
find another tailor. More on that as we proceed.
Next carpets.
The artist shows samples of the Indian design hand knotted wool carpets to a
tiny Indian
show in Tacoma, Washington, and did very well. Enough to cover the minimum
order, so we
are putting that together.
1/2 of her business each year comes from an all Indian show in Santa Fe. This
year was a
disaster. None of the east coast wealthy nor the foreigners came to Santa Fe,
and it rained
the entire time. The general understanding is the airport security procedures
after the false
claims of terror plots has killed any interest in travel among this set.
She is usually busy to 3 o'clock, but by nine am she was alone in her booth
reading the paper,
with countless other Indian artists doing the same.
Later the Indian artists began to commiserate among themselves, and they were
intrigued at
seeing her designs on carpets. To make a long story short, she lined up many
Indian artists
to extend their designs into carpets. Since each of these artists has his own
following,
who buy up the works of the artists, she has a network of reps spontaneously
formed, and all
based on unique designs.
This struck me as an interesting development, because the one area I have been
stumped in
applying the principles I learned what the area of selling art. Is this the
answer, moving out
of the primordial bog? I’ll keep you informed as to how this proceeds.
John
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Web marketing
Re: Web marketing
I happen to frequent digg alot... they seem to be pretty popular and
are growing. Good for random readings on technology and strange
stories.
One thing I have noticed though is when sites like this become more
broadly focused they tend to lose some of their vitality. The first
passionate adoptors tend to move on because of the influx of
anonymous posters with no real attachment to the community.
Althought the web is always in flux - money made/money lost, the
medium can't be ignored. There is a lot a value that come from its
use.
I find that the most valuable sites and services are those that vocus
narrowly on a tiny niche.
Jason
--- In spiers@yahoogroups.com, "John Spiers"
>
> Folks,
>
> This is five pages long, but I highly recommend it, since it gets
to marketing...
>
> http://tinyurl.com/5m3o6
>
> Being a skeptic on internet claims has proven useful over the
years, but most of this article is
> quite sound on real change. I might add, that since i gave Google
my book to give away
> access for all, the sales of the book have doubled, plus, for some
reason, they pay me for
> clicks on ads from my book page at Google. It is only a few bucks,
but it is mystifying.
>
> John
>
Monday, August 28, 2006
Shocking Fashion?
Folks,
Elton john described "Electic boots, a mohair suit..." that he saw in a
magazeeeeen...
and now comes the Italians with a suit to match the boots...
http://tinyurl.com/mwuz5
John
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