Posts Tagged ‘prototype’
Websites are gooder enuff…
There's a project I'm ready to start (FunnySaysWhat?). This may be the most enthusiastic I've been about a project (that I'm actually ready to start on). I figured that once I got started, I want to be able to stay focused. Thus, I wanted to ensure I got some things in place for some current projects. Mainly, I needed to have some web-presence for AnthemVirtual and Up In Your Biz! - as well as for my parent company, Applied Prosperity, LC. Well, it's done. Yes, it could be done better. But it's not. Yay! --DC
Project: AnthemVirtual.com – 14 Days to Launch
I set out to launch Anthem Virtual™ in just 14 days. The good news, I'm "kinda" on schedule. The bad news, only "kinda". The other good news, I think I discovered a surefire path to getting projects completed. Here it is: Step 1. Get a general outline of what needs to be completed, and by when. Step 2: Fall behind in that schedule. Step 3: Get completely pissed off that you're behind; so angry, in fact, that you re-commit with total focus; thus, getting yourself back on track. ++++++++++++ Okay, that said... here's how I started this project: I started by sketching out a simple, general outline of for the projects Main Objective. Main Objective: Reach Break-Even in 90 Days or less. To do this, I used the outline in Guy Kawasaki's book, The Art of the Start. I focused solely on the section I call The First Five. He calls it: Part 1, Causation > Chapter 1, The Art of Starting, The Five Most Important Things an Entrepreneur Must Accomplish. My title is much shorter. I took notes on a fresh sheet of Google Docs. I made a 2-column table and placed summary details into the right hand column and left the left-column blank (I know, I know... Guy told me (in his book) not to do this anal kind of list-making, structure focused stuff. Well, to emphasize moving ideas from mind-to-market on the cheap, I had checked the book out of the library and needed to have a physical reference. When the idea earns sufficient excess, I promise to buy a copy of the book, and hopefully Guy will sign it for me). Anyhow, back on topic: So having the main points of The First Five really helped the planning process. As you can tell, I can get long-winded (long-fingered?) as well as go off on tangents (no, really. I'm serious). The First Five outline was completed on January 18, 2010; which put my goal of a 14 day official launch date on February 01. The next thing I did was I drew out a calendar for the first 30 days of my 90-day project. As this is my first project, I required it of myself to keep this calendar in front of me daily. Since paper gets buried, and an online calendar often gets glossed over (if it gets glossed at all), I took a dry-erase marker and drew out my calendar on our sliding-glass door. I included the start date, the two-week launch date, our First 30 day Milestone Objective, and the shorter-term tasks that needed to be completed. Our proto-type "product" was really a website; something we could share with our prospective clients, strategic vendors, and prospective Virtual Agents (those who will be contracted as laborers). Having a website that appealed to all three audiences could have put me in Hey Dave, Why Don't You Over Complicate This mode. However, realizing this ahead of time (thank you, past experience) I made it a point to make it as simple as possible. Keeping this simple remains an issue, but for now the focus needs to be on getting a product out [...]
What’s the dealio?
So, yes... I went from content 3 to 5 days/week to like, 1 new post a week. Not that you've been complaining (why not?). Here's why: I've been busy. Yes, that lame excuse that all of us seem to have at one time or another. Really, I just wanted you to know that it really IS me writing these posts and not some hired hand (Ha! Wouldn't that be great?). "Busy doing what?" I'm glad you asked. As the tagline of this blog'azine is "The Business of Being Yourself", I've been busy being myself. Note that the tagline USED to be: "Moving Ideas from Mind to Market on the Cheap." Well, I've been busy doing that, too. But wait, there's more. And I'm gonna tell you about it (Aren't you the lucky one?). One of the reasons I started this site is to embrace the ME that can't sit still (EADD: Entrepreneurial Attention Deficit Discombobulation). I love ideas. I love people bringing ideas together. I love bringing people and ideas together. I get bored with ideas once I see them taking hold and feel compelled to move on to the next new, shiny concept. Well, if this blog'azine counts as the first of the ideas I'm rolling out, it's time (in my little world) to start out on the next idea - which, conveniently enough, gets to act as an extension of the first idea; by my reporting on the implementation of the second idea. Lucky for my wife and family, and for those I owe money to, the second idea has been created with the idea of profitability in mind. In fact, I've got ideas coming down the line that will rely on this second idea in many ways. I'm hoping that YOU, with whatever it is you're working on, might also benefit from the new idea: I'm using Guy Kawasaki's book, The Art of the Start, as an outline for getting the concept launched in only 14 days; and for reaching that "Break Even" point in 90-days. You'll be able to follow along and see how I do, good and bad, and apply that to your own project or business.(Buy the book from this link: Any proceeds paid to me from Amazon to me will be sent to Doctors Without Borders to support the people of Haiti- Doctors Without Borders has a FOUR STAR RATING at www.charitynavigator.org) In addition, the type of project we're launching may be able to help you in other ways: There are many tasks that need to get done in a business project. Many of these tasks can act as a distraction from what actually puts dollars into the business account. Our concept can help minimize these distractions so YOU can remain productive (cheap plug alert - cheap plug alert). So, "What's The Big Idea," you ask? "Why have you deprived me of spectacular reading content for a week or two?" you inquire. The concept is called AnthemVirtual. We're using concepts learned starting back in 2008, when I created an online event called The Virtual Business Summit 2008. The event was a BOMB. No, not THE BOMB, but "A" BOMB. The speakers were fantastic, actually. I had a wonderful line-up. It's just [...]
Say 'Hello' To My Little Friend
I'm reading quite a few suggestions lately that are essentially saying the same thing: When you're getting started with an idea, get a prototype created and in the hands of others as quickly as possible. Don't wait for research to be completed. Don't wait for it to look like it should. Just get something out there that kinda-sorta resembles your idea. Why? For one thing, waiting until your concept is perfected promotes apathy and gives fear or second-guessing yourself a chance to move in (tho I've never personally experienced this... nope. Not me). But the main reason is this: We live in a time where we can offer up the idea of future value, ask for help now, and get quality feedback fast. AND, we can do all of this for FREE! (I still look up at airplanes and think it's amazing that they can fly, but what I just described is truly AMAZING). This means that you can create the basis for an idea, and the "market" will actually complete that idea for you. In addition, the market identifies itself to you: your new line of snow-cone flavors may not appeal to fifth-graders in North Carolina like you thought they would, but bikers in Arizona can't get enough of them. Here's the perspective of Marketing Ninja, Guy Kawasaki: The expected outcome of the "get going" principle is a first release of a product or service. Remember: It won't be perfect. But don't revise your product to get prospective customers to love it. Instead, revise it because customers already love it. Let me put it in religious terms: Some people believe that if they change, God will love them. Others believe that since God loves them, they should change. The latter is the prototype to keep in mind for how to get going and keep going for startups. (The Art of The Start) In addition, releasing your prototypes and telling people all about it (the product, your thoughts and feelings, your process of innovation, etc.) allows individuals to relate to you and to feel like they're a part of you and your creativity. Seth Godin points out the importance of this in his book, Tribes: Tribes grow when people recruit other people. That's how ideas spread as well. The tribe doesn't do it for you, of course. They do it for each other. Leadership is the art of giving people a platform for spreading ideas that work. Get that product or service out there and in the hands and hearts of others. Put up a blog-site and tell people about it. Ask questions of people on Twitter. If you have specific questions, ask them in the comments section, below. You can always email me directly at Dave@MyCrowEnterprise.com. Get out there and be all the Self-Enterpriser you can be! --Dave Charbonneau, Self-Enterpriser P.S. Veterans: Thank You.
