Thursday, December 6, 2007 by Lincoln Murphy
 Brand Autopsy has an incredible series on what it is going to take to save Starbucks. While Starbucks is far from heading into the deadpool, its same store traffic has dropped for the first time in history. While the folks over at Brand Autopsy have some wonderful ideas, and I can see where Seni Thomas is going with his new media ideas, but I say it is even simpler than all of that. In fact, it is simpler than what Starbucks is doing with traditional advertising. Are you ready for this? They should make their wi-fi free. That is all.You see, when their store traffic was high, they didn't need, or even want, people hanging out, leeching off the free Internet, even if they might buy an extra cup of coffee. The customer turnover was the key to the model; pushing people through like cattle. They simply had plenty of foot traffic and many of their stores were packed. Those that really just wanted a place to hang out, drink coffee, and work on the web found the local coffee shops, and some national chains, more than accommodating. And, frankly, for people still going to Starbucks for business meetings, many find a signal from an adjacent apartment complex or other business or use a mobile data card and connect that way. Starbucks lost a large share of people, not because the people found a better coffee product, but because the thing that was once a luxury, a free Internet connection, was now at the core of their decision on where to go for coffee. So, the net effect of providing free wi-fi is that you instantly get back the folks that would prefer Starbucks but choose the local coffee shop that has the free wi-fi. This, by the way, will also cause the local coffee shops to have to step up to compete on different level, rather than just offering something Starbucks doesn’t. Additionally, by providing a web-interface to gain access to the free wi-fi system that displays terms of service and disclaimers, Starbucks can also advertise to a captive audience (similar to Panera). While I wouldn't suggest selling ads to third-parties (or worse using contextual advertising from Google) on the login-portal outright, as that might dilute the brand, they could certainly drive users to partner online services, such as their iTunes tie-in. As an additional value-add, and revenue driver, Starbucks could present coupons that the customer can send to their mobile device and show the cashier for discounts on non-standard items, such as takeaways like mugs, packaged coffee, etc. No need to discount drinks, they'll already buy those at full price, but this would drive revenues through ancillary items and push slow movers in a big way. Additionally, I would provide a pay service that offers a better QoS guarantee for people that still want that, but they would still get the advertising and coupons because it is a value-add, not just a nuisance.So, in my estimation, that 1% traffic drop could be made up, and revenues increased, by opening up their wi-fi and marketing their retail products through that channel. No need to spend any money advertising through traditional channels, no need to develop new innovative drinks, no need to glue cups to cars, etc. I don’t think this is the end-all, be-all of what they need to do, but it is certainly a start. I do like the Brand Autopsy suggestion of making the stores smell more like coffee, however. Image via.
Labels: business, coffee, ideas, marketing, retail, starbucks
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Thursday, October 18, 2007 by Lincoln Murphy
 You probably capture a lot of data in your web or SaaS app, but how often do you mine that data for Actionable Business Intelligence; information you can use to solve business problems, such as slumping revenue, high client turnover, etc? It might be time to stop everything else you’re doing and go write some queries. Below are some scenarios that I helped a start-up solve recently with information right at their fingertips.
If you have paying customers who aren’t using your system, find out why they aren’t actively using the system and fix it.
Ask them what you can do to make their experience better, what problems they are having, etc. If you do not, when their contract is up, or they get their next bill, there is a high probability they will no longer be paying customers. It is much easier and cheaper to keep these customers than it is to go find new ones.
If the majority of your system’s usage is from non-premium users, maybe you are giving away too much.
Contact those free users who are actively using the system and find out why they haven’t upgraded. If the answer is “I don’t need those premium features” then you are giving away too much. You can either reduce the feature set on the free version or introduce advertising within the free product.
The former might cause some problems with your users, but the reality is it has to be done. Tell them you are scaling back on the feature set in the free version but you would be happy to upgrade them to the premium version at a discount.The latter can be implemented without making existing users too upset and would be one of the reasons someone would upgrade to the premium version; to get rid of those pesky ads. Remember, however, that if your user base is small, ads might not make up for the lost premium revenue.If you have multiple people from the same company using your service, perhaps you could leverage that into a corporate account.
Those users may not even know the others in their office are using it. If you don’t feel you have enough users at that company for them to consider a corporate account, leverage the few users you do have to spread the word internally… give them an incentive to spread the word (free month for every new user, etc.). This will quickly get you to that magical number you’ve conjured up that would give you confidence to sell to corporate. Alternatively, you might find that you have a large, un-related user base in certain cities, and that might be a great place to go for an early-adopter round table (with free pizza!) to get their feedback and to get them to spread the word for you.If the usage of your system is very small or the majority of the users are not paying, perhaps you can use that data to justify reducing your overhead.
Do you need all that hardware at the co-lo if you are only getting 70 hits per day or do you really care if the freeloaders have to wait a second longer for processing to occur? This is difficult for tech-founders who might have a geek crush on their servers but could be enough to save a company with low revenues.Finally, whether you are mining data or not, make sure to constantly solicit feedback from your early-adopter customers. It reminds them, and you, who exactly you are building your web service for.Image via. Labels: actionable, application, business, data, ideas, intelligence, marketing, mining, SaaS, technology, web
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Wednesday, September 19, 2007 by Lincoln Murphy
 Obviously the main value proposition of social networks is to show everyone else who we know. It's not about keeping in touch or keeping a record of our contacts, it's about proving to everyone else how popular we are. If we don't have many connections or friends, we simply say that we don't really participate; "I'm not an active user". It's pointless.What we really need is a way to keep track of those people who are actually a part of our "social network" (can we get a new name, please), and a way to keep up with them and their changing profiles. Then Xobni Insight appears on the scene and seems to be heading in this direction. Read more about it if you are unfamiliar with the way it works here, here, and here.I was lucky enough to get an early invitation to the Xobni beta was immediately blown away at how it exposes the social network that you already have and updates the "network" as you organically add people. Its not about meeting people, it's about getting to know the people that you know better, and staying in touch. If Xobni can figure out a way to build a network around the exposure of this data, they will instantly create the most useful "social network" around, at least for business.Here is an example of how a Xobni-powered social network would have changed the dynamics of a recent Connection Request exchange on LinkedIn. A guy contacted me in an effort to make contact with one of my connections. I forwarded his info to my connection and never got a response. I tried again because I really wanted to hook them up (it was a potentially lucrative gig for my connection), to no avail. I eventually called and left a message telling my connection to contact this guy, but no dice. Oh well, time to move along.Why did this happen and how could it have been avoided with network intelligence powered by Xobni? First, if LinkedIn had Xobni metrics embedded for my connections, or if Xobni had its own web-based visibility into my network (as I choose to expose it), the guy trying to contact my connection would have noticed that I haven't communicated via email with my connection in a few months. In fact, given the ability to drill down, they could have seen that the last time we had an email conversation was over three months ago and that I had, in fact, emailed my connection two times in that time period with no responses to those messages. Perhaps my connection is just that, a "connection", and not a "relationship". Given that, perhaps this guy would have avoided contacting me.For someone doing prospecting who doesn't want to waste time, this type of network intelligence would be very beneficial (and valuable). I think it is safe to assume that only a handful of everyone's connections are their true friends or close colleagues. Of my connections, probably 10% are people I deal with even once a month. The rest are people I want to maintain a connection with "just in case", but rarely go to them for any thing of substance. I don't have any substantive metrics, but anecdotal evidence suggests that many (if not most) LinkedIn networks are like that. Most of the people I know really well are not on LinkedIn and, frankly, have no interest.A Xobni-powered social network would completely change the dynamics of social networking; in fact, it could turn the entire model on its head. Create a way to feed the Xobni engine with multiple email accounts, IM, Skype, mobile phone and SMS data (via on-device software), and you can create visibility into who is really connected and who did a glorified reciprocal link bit. As long as the Xobni powered network is opt-in with the ability to expose my data to only certain groups of people and the network effect data is anonymous, the possibilities are incredible. So far, I am very impressed with the Xobni Outlook plugin and can see some incredible things on the horizon for this company.Labels: ideas, marketing, networking, social, technology
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Tuesday, June 19, 2007 by Lincoln Murphy
What would it cost for Google to buy everyone in America a subscription to their local newspaper?
My idea for Google, in their quest to take over the world, is to prop up the suffering newspaper industry, thereby preserving a rich source of content and other data and providing a medium to extend their contextual advertising platform. They would also increase subscription numbers (obviously) so the number of eyeballs on the ads in the paper would be higher, thus driving up the ad prices.I haven't figured out the economics behind this, but its Google, so I'm sure the cash is there.- LincolnLabels: ideas
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Monday, April 23, 2007 by Lincoln Murphy
Dallas CEO Magazine claims that the entrepreneur and start-up scene in big D is on fire. While that is not up for debate, what is would be the claimed "helpers" of this improved scene: University incubators!Right. For only $200 a month (give, mostly, or take a bunch), and 3% of your company, you can have your own office in a rundown building with an Internet connection and telephone. Or for nothing you can stay home (or go to Starbucks) and not have to put up with university politics, promised "assistance" that just doesn't materialize, and keep everything you build, since you did it all yourself anyway.What Dallas needs is a shared work space like they have in San Francisco or New York. While I am sure there are shared work spaces in other cities, there are two specific examples that I want to cite, and those are the cities in which they are located.The Shared Work Spaces I have referenced in my research are:By the way, I do not agree with everything they do, but I think they have some interesting points that could work in a Dallas Shared Work Space. They also have stuff that would never fly here.Now, I am very familiar with Office Business Centers, or "Executive Suites" as they are commonly known. These are fine for people that just need an office to go to to complete paperwork or get away from the family. They are certainly not conducive to the kind of networking and brainstorming a new start-up so desperately needs. In fact, the times I've been to an Executive Suite, I felt like I needed to walk around on tippy toes so I didn't bother anyone.So I've been sitting on the idea of a Shared Workspace in Dallas for the past couple of months, spurred on by Darren Herman's post at the beginning of this month. Last night, I found out I missed DallasDemoCamp2 and went to the wiki to sign up for DallasBarCamp4 in August so I can make sure I am in the loop. While there, I discovered that in fact, I am not the only one who would like a Shared Work Space in Dallas. In fact, it turns out there are some very energetic people looking for a solution right now. This needs to be explored further.I will begin to contribute to the cause at the DallasCoworking wiki, but I wanted to post my own background on this topic, along with my vision here, first. I believe the space should be a loft space, very open with high ceilings. There should be private offices for use when privacy is required, such as for sales calls or confidential meetings. The majority of the space should be designed to be open, with areas for people to sit in small teams, and areas for people to work together at a white board. There should be at least one conference room for sales meetings or board meetings.The logistics of managing private office and conference room requests will not be simple, but could be established via bylaws, agreements from coworkers, and a human being who is in charge of everything (like a landlord/administrative assistant). As for technology infrastructure, I believe there should be a huge, fat pipe to the Internet and a wireless network to connect to it internally. That is it. This is Web 2.0 after all, right? But what are the qualifications for acceptance into the Shared Work Space? I think there needs to be something, but this cannot be a fraternity of the elite, only letting in those that they know. Rather, there are plenty of places like that; this should be for anyone who wants in. Perhaps the only qualifications would be some interviews by randomly selected coworkers to test personality. Since this is a shared workspace, we must be able to get along; more than that, we must thrive in each other's company. If you are not into that game, don't play. Simple as that. The only other thing that might be applied to "screen" applicants would be the industry they are in; it would make sense to not have multiple companies competing in the same industry sharing office space. That could get messy and kill everyone's buzz. In fact, by having companies from all different verticals, and consultants in different areas, a fantastic synergy or network effect would take place.Finally, I don't believe the company that controls the space should get any equity from the companies that "office" there. Now, if that means it is a for-profit venture, then so be it. I would rather pay a for-profit entity, knowing that they are making money off of me, and knowing it might be a bit more than if they weren't, than to give up equity in my venture so I can pay to use their space. That said, if it is a for-profit venture, the charge still cannot be on-par with dedicated office space. It is a fine-line to walk, and I am sure there is much more to it than meets the eye. I believe it is worthwhile to explore it further, at least.- LincolnLabels: coworking, entrepreneurship, ideas
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Sunday, April 22, 2007 by Lincoln Murphy
Disclaimer: Everything contained within this post is speculation on my part, I have no information about the internal workings of Mapsco.People outside of Texas and Colorado are most likely not familiar with Mapsco (history here). Mapsco produces physical map books, where the entire metro area is broken down over a series of pages and each page is broken down into a grid. You look up a street in the index, and it tells you what grid cell, which is a letter, the address block (2500 - 2700 for example) belongs to. For example, the Mapsco number for the address 11811 Preston Rd. Dallas, TX 75230 (their Dallas retail store) would be 15X; Page 15, Cell X.
 Obviously this code is map book specific, both by listing a page and the fact that there is no metro area designation. Some simple modifications, such as grid number vs. page and the addition of a metro prefix, such as DFW, would allow the code to transition from paper to web and back, without adding much heft. It is pretty cool really; shorthand for a physical address would be very, very welcome in today's terse world of IM, texting, etc.For those in the Dallas / Fort Worth area, until a couple of years ago, Mapsco was almost ubiquitous, at least for businesses that did any amount of local travel. In fact, real estate ads in the newspaper would often list the Mapsco number of the house so you wouldn't have to look it up, just turn to the page in the booklet and be on your way. How great.Then the Internet changed everything. As web map systems started becoming better and better, adding semi-accurate driving directions, the need for Mapsco suddenly disappeared. It seems the company decided that the only way it could remain relevant was to move away from consumer-oriented mapping and focus on detailed business and government mapping. This was always a large portion of their business, but it seems, at least if you look at their website, that their focus is definitely in those other areas. They have not stopped making retail map books, but I believe they made a strategic decision to focus on business and government. A quick glance at the vendor list from the gigantic Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting in San Francisco last week does not indicate that Mapsco had a presence.How has this potential shift worked out for them? I don't know. They are still around. I'm not sure if they had plans to move into other states before then decided to hold off when they shifted focus, or even if they did shift focus. This is all from an outside perspective. As a consumer in the DFW area, Mapsco used to be synonymous with mapping, and it simply is not anymore.So what if you go to the Mapsco site and want to see an interactive map? You are sent to a third part mapping site called Multimap http://www.multimap.com/. I cannot see a direct connection between the two companies (though there may be one), but Multimap does not seem to offer the Mapsco number in their mapping system. I'm guessing someone at Mapsco said "you know, we should at least provide some type of interactive mapping system on our site." Perhaps this was done a few years ago before mashing up with Google, Yahoo! Or Microsoft (GYM) Maps was easy (or possible). At least if Mapsco hooked up with GYM, they might have made a buck or two off of contextual advertising!But wait, after some digging around on their site, you will find that they do have an online version of their maps; only its not free, and 12 months of "internet mapping" is included with their "VIP" packages. The cheapest is $50 per year, which probably isn't bad for what you get; a package that includes a map book and 50 inquiries with a Data Service Specialist. Also, they do use their Mapsco number in their Store Locations list, and even have a link to a static image of the map grid. Now that is what I'm talking about.So why am I picking on Mapsco? What did they do to me? Honestly, it is just something I've been obsessed with for a while and thought I would share. A bit of therapy, really. Mapsco may have a thriving business doing what they do. If not, perhaps they might want to listen to my words if as nothing else, a tech-savvy consumer living in their top market.First of all, let me get one thing clear. I do not believe Mapsco should ditch the map books. There will always be a market for paper maps; and there's are very easy to use. Even when mobile web devices are ubiquitous, there will still be people who want real maps, and the Mapsco numbering system is fantastic. If you need to use a real map, Mapsco is the way to go.However, I believe they could seriously augment their brand (which still has great value in the DFW area, at least) by offering an online mapping system. You tell me what your Mapsco code is, perhaps in a Craigslist ad or via IM. I throw that in a browser toolbar extension or desktop widget, snag the map, print and I'm out the door. You could do that with addresses now, but it is not always that simple or quick.How many times have you entered a very detailed, very correct address into GYM maps only to get a puzzled look from your browser? Entering a 6 or 7 digit code to get a map is much better than typing in a whole address. In my experience too, GYM maps are slow. This is with a fast system on a fast broadband connection. I often find myself going back to the "classic" maps rather than the new dynamic maps (at least on Yahoo!) so I can see the full map. I often go to Yahoo! from Google when it simply won't load all of the map pieces. Mapsco wouldn't have to even be dynamically generated. Just give me the grid cell image I'm interested in. Fast, easy, and I'm on my way. In an ironic twist, I believe by improving their brand's standing and putting them back in the "map business" in consumers' minds, this will probably drive up sales of their map books.Does this solve the problem of door-to-door directions? No. But it will sure get you in the vicinity quick. Take that and the street address and you are good to go. If you want directions, Mapsco could mashup with Google. They need to stick to what they do best and that is the grid and numbering system. Everything else out there someone else is doing and they can just leverage those other systems.Is it too late for Mapsco, though? Not at all. While, as I said earlier, Mapsco is not where most people's minds go when the term maps is mentioned these days, people still know about the brand and remember it with great affection. I've mentioned this to many people who fondly remember using Mapsco. Unfortunately "Are they still around?" is generally the follow-up to that memory. I'll add this. Not only do I think they still have great brand recognition, this would also be the best time to do this. From a technology standpoint, this would be relatively easy to implement. First, it seems a company called MapLogic, who licenses GIS data from ESRI, has a product called MapLogic LayoutManager that lets you create real-world map books, complete with street index and everything. It seems some modifications to that system would allow Mapsco to overlay their grid onto any location ESRI has data for (basically everywhere in the world) and put it into book form. This same data could also be leveraged for their web site. According to their site, Mapsco collects their own map data, which means they will have a difficult time scaling their operations (unless they have super-deep pockets).From a business standpoint their brand is still very well known, at least in the areas where they gained traction over the last 50+ years, and they could leverage that swimmingly. I believe a lot of people in Dallas would really like to see Mapsco come back with a killer service, and would really support them. I know I would.By the way, Mapsco... if you are reading this, I can help you make this happen! I also have lots of other ideas I didn't list here that I can see coming from this system.- LincolnLabels: ideas, marketing
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Wednesday, March 28, 2007 by Lincoln Murphy
I just posted a new idea to Cambrian House... Regional Domain Name Sublet. It is a way for an owner of a domain name to "share" the domain, without giving up total control of it, potentially making some money off of it, and helping others around the world that might benefit from the domain name.There are a lot of technical and legal issues with it, but that is why it is just an idea...- LincolnLabels: entrepreneurship, ideas
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Monday, March 5, 2007 by Lincoln Murphy
Here is my $.025 worth of ideas posted at Cambrian House:I decided to post these to Cambrian House because I figured if they do get picked up and taken to market, at least I would get a little something out of it rather than just posting it on my site for the world to take. Sure, the world could take it from Cambrian House, too... but there are at least a couple of people there who might be motivated to work on thisBut what is very interesting is the title of my post; Ideas Are a Dime-a-Dozen. That couldn't be more true. Everyone has at least one good idea in their life, but few act on them. Even when they have a good idea and act on them, often the result is failure. Why? Its not the idea, but the execution that matters. And execution is much, much more difficult than you might imagine.- LincolnLabels: entrepreneurship, ideas
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I help companies bring their Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Web applications to market by leveraging the Morph Application Platform and Morph AppSpaces, the first Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) for Ruby on Rails.
I am located in Dallas, Texas. Contact me via email.
- matt brezina | October 1, 2007 2:23 PM
- Lincoln Murphy | April 24, 2007 7:52 PM
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