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What Kind of Tech User Are You?

Are you a heavy tech user that paradoxically hates being so digitally connected? You’re not alone, according to The Mobile Difference, a new report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

According to this organization’s website, they are a “non-partisan, non-profit ‘fact tank’ that produces reports exploring the impact of the internet on families, communities, work and home, daily life, education, health care, and civic and political life” that was started in late 1999.

Their researchers surveyed a random & representative sample of 2,054 US residents in 2007. From that survey, they came up with ten categories of people grouped by their usage of technology.

One group of heavy technology users – the Ambivalent Networkers – don’t actually like their level of connectedness. And no, these people aren’t who you think they are. Ambivalent Networkers are mostly males in their late 20s, the post-college working-professional crowd. Not quite what you’d expect, huh? Or, perhaps, exactly what you would expect.

The ten groups identified by this report are:

Digital Collaborators – 8%: People using technology to collaborate with others and share their creativity with the world. This group has the greatest number of information gadgets of any group, the widest scope of online activities, and the most frequent internet habits.
Ambivalent Networkers – 7%: People using mobile devices heavily to connect with others and entertain themselves, but they don’t always like it when the cell phone rings. They rely on mobile devices to connect socially with others or to entertain themselves. Yet, they feel that this connectivity can be intrusive at times.
Media Movers – 7%: People using online access to seek out information, then happily pass them along to others via desktop and mobile access. They do not see information & communication technology as a key part of their personal productivity, but as a way to keep in touch with family and friends.
Roving Nodes – 9%: People using their mobile devices to connect with others and share information with them. They use social networking sites to mediate communication among their crowd, but are not much into blogging or maintaining their own web pages.
Mobile Newbies – 8%: People lacking robust access to the internet but like having their cell phones. They mostly use the plain old fashion voice capability of the mobile device, although occasionally they will fire off a text message to someone. The internet is very much on the periphery for this group of people.
Desktop Veterans – 13%: People dedicated to wireline access to digital information and enjoy how it opens up the pipeline to information for them. They use the internet actively for information gathering, staying in touch with others and enhancing their productivity. However, they are not heavily cell phone users.
Drifting Surfers – 14%: People who are light users and say they could do without modern gadgets and services. They will skip a day of using the internet without worry, and are likely to be emailing or checking news headlines when they do log on. Blogs and online video are not much of a concern for them.
Information Encumbered – 10%: People who feel overwhelmed by information and inadequate to troubleshoot modern information & communication technologies. Most often feeling information overload, they also need help in getting their devices and services to work. Old media such as the TV or landline telephone suit them fine.
The Tech Indifferent – 10%: People who are unenthusiastic about the internet and cell phone. They are infrequent online users and do the majority of phone calling on their home landlines. Not many in this group would care if they had to give up their cell phone or online connection.
Off the Network – 14%: People who neither use cell phones or the internet. This is a group of older, low-income Americans. While some have computers, they are not currently connected to the network (although some used to be).

Are you an Ambivalent Networker? Or a Drifting Surfer? Or a Desktop Veteran? Take this survey and find out.

Here are my results:

You are an Digital Collaborator

“If you are a Digital Collaborator, you use information technology to work with and share your creations with others. You are enthusiastic about how ICTs help you connect with others and confident in how to manage digital devices and information. For you, the digital commons can be a camp, a lab, or a theater group – places to gather with others to develop something new.”

That sounds about right. I like being connected and feel pretty confident that technology enables me to be more productive. With this blog, my writing blog, a Twitter account, a Flickr account, a Facebook account, a LinkedIn account, and a many more, I’m definitely sharing information.

What kind of tech user are you?

Biz Idea: Video Game Shops with Tournaments

This idea almost seems too obvious. It has already been done here and there, but I wonder why it isn’t done more regularly.

If you are thinking about opening up a video game store – either as a franchisee or independent shop – why not harness the enthusiasm of the community to help you sell more games? This idea hit me while reading about the Play N Trade video game franchise in Entrepreneur Magazine.

Franchises are one way for operationally-minded entrepreneurs to start a business without having to come up with a business model themselves. It suits such business owners extremely well. I’ve played with the idea myself, though you need a fair bit of capital for some franchises. Plus, I like coming up with business models myself.

This idea is somewhat related to the Board Game Cafe idea in that it uses tournaments to create a loyal customer base. The presentation would differ, however.

In this video game store, tournaments would be held in a marked-off section of the store. Other shoppers would be able to see the gamers in action easily – both giving the gamers an audience (great for those with big egos) and customers a chance to see how much fun a particular game is (enthusiastic gamers can be great game promoters). Skill levels would be needed so beginners aren’t demoralized by experts, of course.

Registration could be free to encourage participants. Perhaps it could even include a discount on the game itself too. Small prizes could be offered as an incentive, such as a plaque on the wall or coupons. If there is a significant monetary prize, a registration fee could be imposed. Partnerships and sponsorships with game manufacturers could also be made, since this helps them as much as it helps the shop.

The goal is to draw crowds into the store with the hope that onlookers would be motivated to make some purchases. At the very least, those that register will definitely purchase the game so they can practice it at home.

A challenge would be convincing parents to allow their kids to participate in such seemingly time-wasting, homework-deterring, mind-numbing tournaments though. How do you change their minds? Hmmm…

If a game manufacturer will agree to sponsor the event, maybe a large monetary prize would change their minds. (“Look honey, little Bobby made $10,000 for us today!”)
Tournaments could be offered to parents as well, perhaps on gaming systems such as the Nintendo Wii (NTDOY.PK). (“Honey, I totally kicked butt on the Wii Fit today!”)
These tournaments could take place during the summer and offer meals and a safe place for kids to hang out all day.
The shop could participate in local community service activities to give back to their community and create goodwill.

Admittedly, this idea works better as a marketing tactic for an existing video game shop than a whole new one. But as a marketing tactic, if it can draw in more customers, perhaps it is worth trying. What do you think?

Photo by: nickstone333

Biz Idea: Tupperware Parties for Dog Products

This idea makes me totally want a dog. Well, I plan on getting a dog already. With this idea, I want one even more now.

How about a business that helps dog product vendors set up Tupperware party-esque gatherings?

The Tupperware party concept was the brainchild of Brownie Wise, a customer who held Tupperware parties on her own just because she loved the product so much. She was later hired by Tupperware after they discovered she was outselling their local retail distributors.

This wise marketing tactic (pun intended), known as a party plan, hinges on intimate social interactions and a relaxed atmosphere to inform participants of a product’s value. The event is hosted by a commissioned salesperson. Participants are given a nominal token gift to attend, though many come along just for the fun of it. Through such an environment, most attendees end up making a purchase, either because they have been won over by the product’s value, or because of the subtle social pressure to do what everyone else is doing.

With that in mind, I thought: what other kinds of products could be sold in such an environment? There already are party plans for kitchen utensils, home decor items, jewelry, skincare, cosmetics, lingerie, and sex toys. What else would make sense?

Ah, dog products!

Dog owners love to socialize. You can see this at dog parks. Dog owners love to have their dogs socialize with other dogs. And dog owners are willing to spend money buying fun and useful new products for their beloved canines. Selling dog products via a party plan seems like an obvious idea, doesn’t it?

Although this idea could be extended to other pets, such as cats, birds, hamsters, fish, ferrets, etc, the camaraderie just isn’t the same. Owners of such pets don’t regularly get together, though it is certainly a possibility. Dogs and dog products, in my opinion, have the most potential for a party plan.

Dog product parties could be held at dog parks or the sales representative’s house. Various dog treats could be laid out like appetizers. Water bowls too. Pooper scoopers would need to be easily accessible, and perhaps some paper towels too. Colorful catalogs of the dog products could be offered along with free treats in “doggie bags.”

For the dog owners, their dogs would have a chance to taste-test various products before buying them. That alone is worth the trek to a dog product party. How many times have you purchased a seemingly tasty dog treat, only to find Fido spitting it out in disgust?

As a business that helps dog product vendors set up such parties, it would need a detailed How-To guide and package of reference materials to get a client set up. The business would recruit sales representatives in various target markets, help prepare the necessary materials (catalog, order forms, invitations, doggie bags, pooper scoopers, etc), track the number of participants & sales to offer success metrics, offer tips and best practices, etc.

By outsourcing these marketing efforts, a small dog products vendor wouldn’t need to hire a full marketing & sales staff. It could be a cost-effective way to earn potentially massive sales, especially for boutique vendors like Three Dog Bakery or Polkadog Bakery. (If you guys want to do this, drop me a line!)

Large pet shop retailers like PetSmart and Petco, however, probably already have the marketing muscle to pull this off alone. But the market could support quite a few dog product parties right now, especially since they are tied to geographic social networks.

If this party planning business took off, it could begin offering such services to other products too. I’m sure you can think of a bunch right now. Off the top of my head: environmental products, spices, snacks, wine, toys, wedding favors, scrapbooking materials, school supplies… What do you think?

Lots of Chatter About the Kindle Lately

Have you noticed? There’s been a lot of chatter about the Amazon Kindle (AMZN) on Techmeme lately. I love seeing buzz like this.

It’s not just early adopters and technologists enthusing about the Kindle either. Oprah Winfrey’s endorsement has also spurred demand.

Some of the more notable articles:

Analyst: Apple turns its back on e-book market: A Gartner analyst sees Amazon’s new Kindle e-book app on Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone as evidence of Apple’s lack of interest in the e-book market. Steve Jobs apparently doesn’t think people read anymore. I strongly disagree with that; reading habits have evolved perhaps, but not gone away.
Kindle is not the best iPhone e-reader: Two other e-book reader iPhone apps are compared against the Kindle app, eReader and Stanza, as well as individual e-books sold as stand-alone apps. I don’t see this as hurtful criticism against the Kindle app, as much as it is validation of e-book demand by iPhone users.
Salacious content driving the adoption of ebooks?: Of the top e-book genres being sold, all are tagged “erotica” or “dark fantasy,” apparently because these readers are embarrassed to purchase such books and their flamboyant covers. Sex sells, right?
Atiz turns books digital without help from Google: Los Angeles-based Atiz is a new company that scans and creates digital copies of books (basically, e-books), similar to Google Books and Project Gutenberg. More ways to digitize books means more content for the Kindle.
How Amazon’s Kindle brought technology to book: Just as iPhone’s software, UI, and iTunes integration made the iPhone a success, the Kindle’s software, UI, and Kindle Store integration will make the Kindle a success. I totally agree; the Kindle itself isn’t enough, it has to be the complete packaged solution.

How to Be a Good Founder

When Paul Graham writes, I read. When he published How to Be an Angel Investor, I bookmarked. I also took note of the following paragraph on how to be a good founder:

What makes a good founder? If there were a word that meant the opposite of hapless, that would be the one. Bad founders seem hapless. They may be smart, or not, but somehow events overwhelm them and they get discouraged and give up. Good founders make things happen the way they want. Which is not to say they force things to happen in a predefined way. Good founders have a healthy respect for reality. But they are relentlessly resourceful. That’s the closest I can get to the opposite of hapless. You want to fund people who are relentlessly resourceful.

Relentlessly resourceful. That is a great description.

If you are a company founder, are you relentlessly resourceful? Even in a sour economy? Even with few resources? Even in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds? If so, then you are a good founder.

Amazon to Sell E-books on the iPhone Too

I love it when smart deals are made. Yesterday, Amazon (AMZN) announced plans to offer e-books for sale on the Apple (AAPL) iPhone and iPod Touch. The e-books will be accessible via a free Amazon iPhone application which hasn’t been released yet.

You might see this move as making the iPhone a direct competitor of the Kindle, but they wisely don’t see that as the case:

[Amazon Kindle VP Ian Freed] said he is “not at all concerned” that making e-books available on other devices will cannibalize sales of the $359 Kindle. Instead, it will increase sales of digital books and the Kindle, he says.

That’s smart. As a customer, I want the convenience of reading my e-book anywhere I want. Maybe it’s on my Kindle, which I can take on the plane or train comfortably. Maybe it’s on my laptop, while I wait for a program to compile. Or maybe it’s on my iPhone, while I’m on line buying groceries.

Amazon has plans to release e-book reader apps for other devices too. My guess is: BlackBerry (RIMM) and Google Android (GOOG).

In my opinion, Amazon’s success in the e-book market doesn’t hinge on Kindle sales. It ultimately hinges e-book sales. Arguably, this is similar to to the iPod + iTunes + MP3 strategy. In Amazon’s case, it’s Kindle + Kindle Store + e-books. The Kindle alone is a fine device, but coupled with everything else and it’s a business viable strategy.

Smart move, Amazon!

The Employee, Self-Employed, Business Owner and Investor

Who do you want to be? An employee, self-employed, a business owner or an investor?

Each is a significantly different way of viewing oneself. It is possible to be in more than one role too. Robert Kiyosaki describes these roles in Cashflow Quadrant: Rich Dad’s Guide to Financial Freedom as:

Employee

A person who earns money by holding a job and working for someone else or a company.

The majority of a population has an employee mindset. They wake up, work hard, get a paycheck, and go to sleep. There’s nothing wrong with that; it’s a very honorable lifestyle. Unfortunately, it often leaves them financially insecure or, if they’re smart about saving up and investing appropriately, financially secure. While this role used to carry little risk, nowadays, layoffs have removed the guarantees this role used to afford.

Self-Employed

A person who earns money working for him/herself.

Some people decide to strike out on their own, to start their own business. They become self-employed entrepreneurs. Maybe they work alone as a freelance designer, business consultant, or financial accountant. Maybe they hire some employees and operate a cafe, a furniture store, or an ecommerce business. Whatever the case, they are now their own boss. Their lifestyle is characterized by lots of hard work and specialization in their chosen field. For their effort, the financial benefits can be greater than that of an employee; financial comfort is a more realistic goal. The risks are higher too. Self-employed entrepreneurs often leverage most or all of their personal savings to launch their business. If it fails, they risk bankruptcy.

Business Owner

A person who owns a business that generates money.

Few others decide to become business owners. This is more than just being a self-employed entrepreneur. The business owner entrepreneur has less control than the self-employed entrepreneur, because it involves sharing & delegating responsibilities & ownership with others. In some cases, business owners don’t even work on a day-to-day basis and have a manager run the operation. Although they don’t have to work very hard anymore, business owners need to be intelligent about how they structure their business. Fortunately, this extra free time allows them to strengthen their business acumen, which is where they apply their knowledge, as opposed to specializing in their chosen field. The financial rewards are high – financial comfort and financial wealth are in their grasp. The risks can be high too, though intelligent business owners learn how to shelter themselves appropriately. It is not easy to become a business owner. You have to work smart, not hard, to get here.

Investor

A person who earns money from their various investments – in other words, money that generates more money.

Even fewer others become full-time investors, such as angel investors and venture capitalists. The investor role, however, isn’t just about doing it full-time. Anyone can be an investor. It is not just about buying stocks. If you have money in a mutual fund or 401k plan, you are already an investor. This role is characterized by being able to assess a company’s or industry’s projected perceived performance. The financial rewards vary greatly; very few can make a living just being an investor. Those who do oftentimes got here because they were self-employed, owned a business, or were an employee of a young company that offered significant equity and later became wildly successful (which is extremely rare).

Personally, I’m shooting for the business owner role. I’m currently in the self-employed role in order to get my business off the ground. But that’s a temporary place to be, not a mindset I have.

Kiyosaki argues that being a business owner and investor is the way to financial security, comfort, and wealth. I totally agree.

It is not about working hard, it is about working smart. If you can structure your business intelligently such that it can operate without needing you everyday (by hiring and delegating appropriately), you will have extra time to think strategically and carry your business further. Or even have extra time for your family.

And that’s who I want to be. What about you?

Financial Security, Comfort and Wealth

Which do you want? Financial security, financial comfort, or financial wealth?

Everyone says, “I want to make lots of money.” But what does that really mean?

The distinction between different levels of financial status is important because it helps to conceptualize what you really need. Money is a means to an end. You don’t want a lot of money, per se. You want what it can afford you. So what does that mean? Let me explain.

There are actually four levels of financial status:

Financial Insecurity: This is where most people operate. It means living paycheck-to-paycheck. If you were to lose your job tomorrow, you would be in serious trouble. Obviously, it is not a good place to be. Getting out of it requires a lot of discipline and a bit of luck.
Financial Security: Some people operate here. This means having enough of a financial cushion that if you lost your job tomorrow, you would be okay for up to six months. In other words, your savings account should be able to cover up to six months worth of living expenses (rent, food, insurance, etc). This should be enough time for the average person to find employment elsewhere.
Financial Comfort: Few people are at this level. This means having enough money that you don’t mind losing your job because you have enough saved up for years. You can afford the occasional item of luxury and comfort. While you still have a budget, you aren’t scrambling to make ends meet. You don’t have a lot of anxiety about money. In short, you are comfortable about your financial situation.
Financial Wealth: Very few people are at this level. This means having enough money to afford the luxuries all the time. You can afford to be a philanthropist who donates hundreds of thousands of dollars. You can afford to pursue your hobbies and interests at will. Your life is one of leisure. Ironically, many of those who become financially wealthy overnight don’t know how to hold on to their money and lose it just as quickly.

Me, I am aiming for financial comfort. I don’t need financial wealth – though, sure, if I achieved it, I sure ain’t gonna cry.

To reach financial comfort, I know I must live my life a certain way. For one, I can’t be an employee all my life. Owning a business is one great way to get there and that’s the path I’ve chosen. It also means practicing financial discipline, like keeping a budget, saving money, being smart about investments, taking calculated risks, learning how to be financially savvy, etc.

It is possible to achieve financial security and financial comfort. Very possible. Anyone can do it, even you.

So which financial level do you want?