IdeaExchange winner Tom McIntire: Give your business legs
Two months ago, Lara and I set out to create a new promotional postcard for Biznik. We tried a couple different approaches, but none really grabbed us. Then we hooked up with graphic designer Corbet Curfman, after he won the drawing to accompany Lara and I to the Seattle Business Monthly top 25 entrepreneurs awards night. We ended up hanging out with Corbet quite a bit that evening, and shortly afterward we hired him to take a stab at the project. We were thrilled with his design (see below). However, Corbet, Lara and I couldn’t agree on a catchy headline for the card.
During this time, I was reading Groundswell, a book about how social technology is transforming the future of business. Yes, business owner, you really should read it, too. One of the stories the authors (a pair of Forrester researchers) tell is about how salesforce.com created an IdeaExchange to engage their customers. In a nutshell, they built a Digg-like system that allowed their customers to submit and vote on ideas for improving their product. I read that and thought, hey, that’s a great idea, I’m going to do that.
A weekend later, the Biznik IdeaExchange was born. I used the open-source Pligg platform, which anyone can freely download, customize, and install. (The one drawback to installing a separate system such as this is that current Biznik members have to create a new, separate account to use it - something you’ve complained about loudly in the IdeaExchange. I hear you, and I agree - but we don’t currently have the programming staff at the moment to make it happen - insert we’re hiring here.)
In my email announcing the IdeaExchange, I shared my (lame) headline idea for the postcard, and asked members to propose better ones. And you did. Side note: we emailed invitations to only paying members of Biznik - first to Supporting members, then to Active members (although any members can join the IdeaExchange, we decided to specifically invite only paid members). In total, about 1,000 members received an invitation to participate in the IdeaExchange.
So far, 137 members have joined the IdeaExchange, who have submitted 72 ideas, made 143 comments and cast 289 votes. There are some great ideas in there. It’s clear to me that the IdeaExchange is going to become the preferred place for members to share their ideas with the community, and the place where the community can tell us which ones they really care about.
So. About that postcard. Did the IdeaExchange succeed in tapping the wisdom of the crowd to solve our creative dilemma?
Yes. There were a lot of, um, shall we say “cute” ideas like “Toad-ally awesome social networking” and “The best online networking by a tad, poll shows.” But only one of the ideas received enough votes to make it onto the home page: “Give your business legs.” That has a nice ring, doesn’t it?
It’s no surprise to me that Tom McIntire is the brains behind this idea. His Biznik “what I do best” profile reads: “Helping people figure out what they want to say with a site or video and making it happen.” Tom used to work at Adobe as a content manager and community builder. I had coffee with him a couple weeks ago (before I knew that he was the originator of this idea) and learned more about his mad skills.
“My experience ranges from content management to Web analytics to online community management to communications to writing to directing to video production and post-production,” he says. “I wear a lot of hats by choice and tend to focus on doing what needs doing. In addition to the day-to-day stuff, previous employers have sought out my advice on everything from creative direction to strategic planning.”
Thank you, Tom, for sharing your idea with us. And thank you to the entire community for voting it to the top. Everyone involved benefits in this kind of exchange, and that’s the way business should be.
Forward looking statement: I’ll be blogging soon about some of the other great ideas that are bubbling to the top in the Biznik IdeaExchange. So if you haven’t created an account there yet, do it now … and see if your idea has legs.