The creative process out to be simpler. Sometimes, the right answer is just coming out and saying something. But naming is tricky. A product or a brand name wants to be unique, which tends toward the unfamiliar, while being memorable, which tends toward the familiar. You also want something short and easy to say, better Read More …
Inventions have intentions, and so can things. Or at least they can so succinctly personify an idea, they seem alive. Those are the ideas that catch on, that stick the most. They’re pared to such a level of simplicity, of elegance, they seem to embody one thought. Of course, we might disagree on what that Read More …
This CAN’T be original … it’s more of a realization sinking in. I constantly criticize strategies I see as pointless … and yet my own strategies are often pointless, too. Aha, I realize: You need to figure out how to give yourself advice. OK, let’s try that painful exercise. The Mucha rules: (1) Do some market research! Know your Read More …
When I was beach bum in California, and lived with the ducks along the Venice canals, I’d hear this buzzing sound at night. It was coming from a nearby house. It sounded like whirring sci-fi equipment, like Dr. Frankstein was turning dead body parts into a movie, stuffed with Igor’s poorly chosen brain. Or like some Read More …
It’s one thing to be a detective, doing the actual sleuthing that can get you killed. Or a scientist doing the actual research. It’s another to be a professional theorist. The ultimate specialist. He doesn’t gather any clues. No, when all your theories seem to go nowhere, you seek him out, and he comes with another, Read More …
Lots of people have businesses on the side, and some places cater to these part-time/ small-time entrepreneurs with office sharing setups that may even involve support staff, like secretaries. But why couldn’t regular businesses cash in, too, leasing out their space, complete with computers and other equipment, on weekends and at night — when the regular employees are off? Read More …
I’m inching forward with a spinoff from Steal My Ideas, Please. Rather than just give away ideas, through posts or emailed answers, I’m moving into developing some with friends and even total strangers. If you’re an illustrator, software designer, writer or JUST LOADED AND LOOKING FOR PLACES TO INVEST, check out www.wackydadandfriends.com. I hope to Read More …
We’ve all sent complaints about products into the black hole of customer relations, never to return. But just suppose, whenever we did, our complaints were automatically added to a poll. Say I emailed, “My defroster failed!” The next person would see my comment, too, and be asked, “Did you also experience this?” No, she’s complains, “There’s this weird clunking Read More …
I’d like to sell some puzzle books I’m creating, say at the local airport. But I can’t afford a regular cart. So how about a mini-one? Basically, it would be a portable store, wirelessly ready to accept credit cards, print receipts, store change (that’s in my pockets). Design it all up, and you’ve got yourself Read More …
You know it’s coming … if it hasn’t already somewhere. Every week for years, I see some new and BIGGER drugstore replacing some landmark corner store. The costume shop is gone. The little pork-sandwich eatery. The elementary school, too. In their place some Walgreens, Rite-Aid, CVS. Why so big? Do we need to sell groceries Read More …
The world as you see will be radically changed by the Flat-Screen Revolution. J.K. Rowling had it right: People will move in paintings and newspaper pictures. But take it further: Imagine how decals with moving images would make race cars even more of a visual riot. Billboards will move. Bumper stickers. (Once wrote a sci-fi Read More …
Here’s a win-win for charities and advertisers. It’s a site where companies get good publicity in exchange for matching contributions to charities. Plus it’s a way for philanthropic, benevolent souls to get more bang for their buck. Basically, works like this: Charities and companies with existing matching-contribution programs sign up, agreeing to link to the Read More …
Find a need and fill it is the old inventing adage. In an era of the sky’s the limit, maybe it should be find a fantasy and fulfill it. Skip the obvious sex and love stuff. Instead, really imagine the limits of what’s possible. Ask: If you could have any one super power, what would it Read More …
ABC has remade faces and totally renovated homes. So how about remaking lives? Possibilities: Extreme Makeover: Mind Edition, where people get help from life coaches, psychologists, clergy, family and friends. Get Dr. Phil to host this puppy, perhaps. Or Oprah. Extreme Makeover: Love Life Edition. This time, instead of focusing on outer beauty, it would be about Read More …
Let’s hope that ads eventually make all Internet sites free. But now you’ll find publications like magazines that charge dollars for reading current articles, or for accessing archives. How about some ecoonomy of scale? Charge way less, so you get more customers, producing as much revenue if not more. Here’s a way for Paypal, or someone other online paying Read More …