Business Idea: Manvolution

My business idea will have the working title of Manvolution

This is an online health, wellness and personal coaching website for men who have had a recent health crisis and are looking to improve their overall health, well being and longevity.  The specific target audience is described as follows:

Demographics:

• Fathers, ages 35 - 60 (men and women are having children later, or second marriages with children)
• Household income of 65K plus
• Tech savvy
• In a relationship, or single and wants to be in one

Psychographics:

• Has had a recent health scare.  Diabetis diagnosis, minor heart attack, recently completed chemotherapy.  
• Wants to feel better mentally, physically and emotionally.  This is more important than how he looks.  These guys want to live and are motivated to do so.
• Has lost their Mojo and vitality.  Feel overwhelmed and burdened by work and family responsibilities.
• Knows that his lack of vitality is negatively impacting his family/relationships
• Stressed out.  Doesn't feel he has enough time to devote to health and fitness
• Wants to learn how to eat better
• Is motivated to get the health component of their life figured out
• Looking for inspiration and motivation
• Needs a fitness buddy

The unmet need:

Most men's fitness sites focus on looking good, with an emphasis on exercise as the path to health.  My business will focus on Feeling Better and being healthy, and remove the focus from the physical frame.  The focus will be on diet and lifestyle management.  Men will work in cohorts of 6 - 10 men, so their will be an online support system.  There will be a weekly coaching session from me via an online live forum.  Technology via tweets and emails will be used to send out daily inspirational messages, accountability reminders, and even wakeup calls for exercise commitments.  The program delivers an online fitness buddy who addresses all the pillars of health:  diet, exercise, emotional and relational.

The product:

This is a 12 week program.  The delivery method is online.  Members have their own private forum and a tribe atmosphere will be built.  Members will receive a fitness toolkit including a Nike fitness Fuel band to track activity.  Each week their will be a new video message from their coach with an educational message about health (diet, exercise, sleep, relationships, etc.).  Every four weeks their will be an online weigh in and online group forum meeting.  

The cost:  $1,200 for 12 weeks.  At the end of the 12 weeks graduates join the membership tribe where they can connect with local graduates in their market.  The goal is to create a movement - a 'manvolution' where men can reclaim their health and vitality, shed their addiction to the standard american diet, and live a vibrant and joyful life.

My Go-To Websites

There are a host of websites I use frequently.  I am a busy father of two, a full-time teacher and a part-time student.  Shopping is not retail therapy, and convenience is important to me.  When it comes to shopping, I want to be able to gather a copious amount of comparative data online and then and purchase quickly, with shipping.  Three sites that I use frequently for shopping are amazon.com, yelp.com and etsy.com

1.  Why Efffective?

Amazon is effective because their pricing is so much better than what many retailers can offer.  If you are willing to wait for your product delivery, or if you are a power customer, or if you batch your purchases, the shipping cost is negligible.

When it comes to date night or other entertainment choices, I always use yelp.  My fiance and I are foodies, and health nuts, and we both cook a lot, so we are particular where we go to eat and drink and like to try new places.  It's not so much about only going to places with good reviews as it is avoiding places with bad reviews.  Decision making made simple by the power of the open forum.

Etsy.com.  That right fellas, I'm man enough to shop on etsy (a site for hand made jewelry and crafts).  The prices are way better than what you'd get in a retail outlet (hello markup) because you are buying directly from the artist.  Also, you are getting a hand-crafted piece.  Yes, you are relying solely on photos to make your decision, but I've returned several items with no problem.  Like yelp and amazon, vendors want to maintain their positive reviews.  Go window shopping with your girl at the retail stores so you can find what style she likes, and then source a hand crafted piece from etsy :-)

2.  Good Design.

Amazon's search bar makes this the google for shopping, and they've been smart in adopting a similar interface to google in how customers look for what they want.  

Yelp also uses the search bar method.  This is becoming the norm for how customers obtain their web information, so the website needs to be geared up to deliver quality search results.  This requires some extensive program and keyword organization on the design side.

Etsy...once again - search bar solutions :-)

3.  What makes me come back?

Price.  Convenience.  Selection.  I prefer to be a planned purchaser, and the internet allows me to do that.  When I purchase via retail, I tend to make more impulse decisions that I regret later. 

4.  What could be improved.  

My only complain here would be with yelp.  The self-reported structure requires weeding through some drama-queen posts that are questionable in their objectivity.  Also, if you are business, yelp typically screens out your top two and bottom two recent posts, to average out your scores. Sometimes they screen out even more posts, but the algorithm behind why your positive posts get screened out is unclear.  Yelp wants volume, because that's where the objectivity comes in.  But there is still a lot of room for abuse by customers and retailers alike on yelp.  

Website Design Review. The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly!

I liked the lecture on the components of a well 'C.R.A.P.H.T.E.D" website.  For me a big component is navigation and ease of use.  Many sites have slick photos and graphics, but are horrible to navigate and some even make it hard to contact the company to spend your money!

I reviewed the following websites, and cover them in greater detail further down this post.

The Good:
www.ford.com
www.toyota.com

The Bad and The Ugly:
www.gforceracecars.com
www.rishsoil.com/raising-chickens.jsp

Let's get the stinkers out of the way first:

The Ugly:   www.gforceracecars.com

This site has a lot wrong with it, and many mis-steps in the category of "ease of use".  These are summarized as follows:

1. The main page requires eeeeextensive scrolling to reach the bottom of the page, with no 'return to top' button once you finally reach the bottom.  The main page is a running scroll of articles, with no clear hierarchy or organization to their placement.
2. The reversed type (white type on black background) is hard to read, and many of the color combos in the site have poor contrast, such as magenta against black, and other dark on dark color combinations.
3. Poor photogaphy.  The apparel section has photos of shirts that look like they just came out of the wash - unfolded.   The photo resolution is also poor.  

The Bad:  www.rishsoil.com/raising-chickens.jsp

This site actually has a lot of good information...but again it is incredibly difficult to read.  So again we see errors in 'ease of use', and also in 'typography'.

1. With 'ease of use', the navigation back to the main page when one clicks on an article is hard to find. 
2. Also, the articles need to be organized into a hierarchy of topics, such as 'raising animals', and 'stuff about dirt', to make it easier to for the reader to find what they are after.  
3. Lastly, the font (typography) is all in one size, running down the page as straight text, to the point I feel like I'm reading code rather than a blog post.  There needs to headers to break up the articles, and there needs to be 'back to the top' and other navigation tools for the reader to exit these text sinkholes. 

The Good:  www.ford.com

1. The all important search bar on the main page, which works very well (I tested it).  Also, the main menu headings (ford social, find a dealer, espanol, etc.) carry through regardless of where you are in the site.  The main page does not require scrolling to get to the top or bottom of it.  The footer on the main page also includes the site map.  The site has excellent organization via menu categories.
2. The color, contrast, layout and image quality of the site are all top notch.  The text (black on white background) is easy to read.  There is also a quick link to the same site in spanish.  Each page is visually appealing, with a consistent layout (header, pictures, text, footer).
3. The build and price feature is a wonderful use of the internet, allowing people to customize their car as they wish, see what it would look like, and what it would cost.  

In summary, the site is easy to navigate, visually appealing, and it features the co's products (cars) in a very appealing way and makes it very easy for the customer to purchase.  A+ Ford!

More Good:  www.toyota.com

In fairness, these auto websites have big bucks to spend on their sites, but I've seen plenty of small businesses get their sites correct, and there is also no shortage of big businesses with complicated and hard to navigate sites.  Toyota is another car company that got it right.

1. Like Ford, again we see excellent graphics, a robust search bar on the main page, and a consistent layout of header, graphics, text and footer with site map.  Toyotoa does a better job with their visuals in the sense they have more lifestyle shots, with moms getting into SUV's with their grade schoolers, and dad at the lake fishing with his family.  
2. I would give Toyota lower scores on their menu organization, as they opted for a storyboard based menu format, which results in the entire menu options not being visible on the main page.  Much like a google search, the user must click down a level (with red buttons that are not clear what they are).
3. Other than this menu nuance, the two car sites are virtually identical in their menu categories and organization.  A- for Toyota.  

Five Examples of Successful Social Media Strategies in Business

Social media has become the new cost of entry for businesses.  Ten years ago it was all about having a website - even if you were a brick and mortar business.  Now, its not enough to have a website, you have to have a close, ongoing relationship with your customer, and social media is the new venue for these customer relationship management (CRM) efforts.  Listed below are five examples of businesses that I think are doing it well:

1.  Starbucks - Blog:  www.mystarbucksidea.com  

Starbucks employs its blog as a global brainstorming platform. Customers submit ideas for new drinks, food items, packages, even store designs. The company blogs about the ideas (about 100,000 so far!) and readers build on the ideas through comments and ratings.

2.  Zappos - Facebook:  www.facebook.com/zappos

Zappos uses Facebook as its culture cultivator: using discussion posts, wall updates, a Fan of the Week contest, and other tactics to whip their fans into a frenzy.  

3.  HuHot Mongolian Grill - Pinterest:  https://www.huhot.com/Recipe_Contest

HuHot is the fastest-growing Mongolian grill concept in the United States. HuHot launched a Pin It to Win It contest during the month of June, 2012. The participants had to create a HuHot recipe and pin it on one of their own pinboards in order to enter the contest.

4.  Apple - YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/user/Apple

Apple's YouTube channel is straightforward: repurpose its television commercial content, archive special announcements by founder Steve Jobs, and republish longer product-related videos from its website. 

5.  SaraChristensen.com - Twitter:  https://twitter.com/saracxoxo 

This San Diego-based online weight loss and women's holistic health website uses twitter to keep it's followers motivated and informed.  The result:  building a tribe of dedicated followers who get good content...for free!

Using Social Media to Communicate with Business

I’ve had many challenging experiences related to communicating with a business.  I’ll share two where social media was involved.

The first experience was positive and it was with a sailboat yacht company in San Diego.  I had booked the sailboat to celebrate my girlfriend’s fortieth birthday, and I was going to invite about 30 people to join us.  All plans were set for this surprise party, but as the date drew near, my girlfriend became ill and I was forced to cancel the sail.  There was a ‘ no refund’ policy on the deposit, which was substantial.  I had confirmed that the company was able to fill the timeslot with another client, but they still wanted to keep my deposit.  After several fruitless discussion with the company, I elected to utilize the power of the internet to make my case.  I signed up as a yelp reviewer and posted my dissatisfaction with the company.  I also let the company know that I had posted the comment, and I would take it down as soon as they returned my deposit. 

My deposit was returned the very next day after posting on Yelp.  With this instance, the power of social media’s ‘open forum’, in this case – Yelp.com - enhanced my leverage.

My second experience was with ratemyprofessor.com.  In this instance, the tables were turned and now I was ‘the business’, and I had to respond to a customer (student) comment.   In reviewing student comments and ratings of me as a new instructor, I found some consistent feedback that my organization of material in the classroom could be better.  I felt like this was a great use of social media because I was hearing directly from my customers about something I could improve, and I did!

Conversely, I also found one comment from a student that seemed inappropriate and misguided  - they were rating me for a class I didn’t even teach, although I had a suspicion of who the student was (they had stopped attending after the drop date and ended up with an F).  Here I had to put myself in the shoes of the ‘business’, and defend my service by posting a counter to the student’s rating. 

What I learned was that this ‘open forum’ of customer review sites definitely puts the power in the hands of the consumer.  Most often, this is a good thing, but because anyone can post, we can end up with consumers that abuse the system and the businesses they interact with.  Imagine how frustrating it would be for a small business to be cyber bullied by a disgruntled customer who didn’t get what they want.  These review sites can force small businesses to spend a large amount of time defending themselves.  That said, over time and with a large enough sample of reviews, review sites such as yelp.com and traveladvisor.com are keeping businesses honest and raising the bar on service.  

Social Media Platforms: A Comparison of Personal Vs. Business Sites

There are so many SM platforms available.  Baby Boomers often describe this time as the age of the self absorbed.  I think of it as a shift in the way consumers are communicating.  We are in a new age of 'open forum' communication, where the consumer has the power to voice their opinion in a very public way to a very large audience.  The result of this open forum environment is it keeps businesses on their toes to stay close to their customers and be more responsive than ever before.

Almost all of these sites are ultimately designed to serve end users, but businesses benefit more from some sites versus others.  Let's consider some popular sites and compare which ones are best for business versus personal use.

BUSINESS USE:

Facebook.
Certainly the 100 pound gorilla of social media platforms.  Although it is primarily consumed for personal use, I'm listing it as one of the better sites for businesses to capitalize on.  My reason for listing facebook as a business SM opportunity is primarily due to the uber-targeted advertising options facebook offers.  Want to reach an 18 - 22 year old African American Male who attends business courses at Mira Costa College?  Facebook can deliver them to you.  Starbucks uses facebook to mine for new product ideas through their fan page.

Twitter.
Peel back the onion of all the tweets and followers of such, and much of the tweet traffic is business generated.  Celebrities (a business) were some of the first to capitalize on the power of twitter, and they still dominate this platform.  But now almost any business worth it's salt has a twitter page and sends out regular tweets.  One reason is the SEO (search engine optimization) uplift that comes from having followers that follow you and interact with your website routinely.  Skull Candy is a company that has used the power of twitter to promote special events

Pinterest.
A rapidly growing online scrabook site.  Originally a source for home improvement DIY projects and kitchen recipes, Pinterest has exploded in use lately.  The vast majority of users are female, with money and time to spend on this site.  This site is of particular interest if your business is highly visual (example:  photographer, jewelry designer, fine woodworking).  If you are a commercial artist, you likely have a pinterest account in addition to an etsy account.   Making your pictures available to all (much like stock photography), allows people to link directly to your website if they click on your image.

Yelp.  Even if a business doesn't want to be on yelp, they really don't have a choice.  Even the small restaurant owner has to be vigiliant about their yelp reviews.  Of interest is some new businesses that are migrating onto yelp, such as financial planners.  If people want reviews and referrals before spending money with your business, yelp is where they go.

PERSONAL USE:

Instagram.  Since this platform is primarily a phone app tool, I see it as used primarily for personal use.  Take a cell phone picture (using Instagram), edit it with the Instagram tools, and post it on your Instagram account.

Pandora.  Is it a social media site?  Perhaps.  There are some options for business accounts, but this is primarily an end-user tool.

Groupon.  Groupon is still struggling to be profitable as a business model, but customers are reaping some delicious discounts.  Businesses have to think long and hard if they want to partner up with Groupon, as they are inevitably deeply discounting their product/service when they do so. If you are a spa that normally sells a one hour massage for $100 and you want to use Groupon to drum up business, you typically have to discount that product around 50% for Groupon to promote your offer.  Of that new discounted price of $50 to the consumer, Groupon is going to take half, which means your net as a business when you offer deals with Groupon can be as low as 25% of your normal retail price.  You see local businesses using Groupon to blow through excess inventory, or drive sales during non-peak business periods, or when they are trying to stimulate trial.  Groupon is a short-term sales promotion strategy that I personally think is damaigng to a company's brand image.

LinkedIn.
Businesses use this site to find employees and be a voice in their industry, but the majority of the activity comes from end-users looking to build their professional network and referral base.

There are so many others to talk about:  youtube is now infected with businesses, google plus is vying for facebook business, blogs are an additional arena, and others SM tools seem to be popping up daily.  It's an exciting time for digital media!

Template Selection

I've used wordpress before for blog posts, but not blogger.com, so I'm looking forward to learning more about this platform.  Regarding my template choice - I went with simple because I like to keep it simple! That's all for now.  Nate.