Meet friends of friends, create an online community, share photos, journals and interests with a growing network of mutual friends – that was the concept behind myspace.com. In a similar attempt (UK based) and (US based) have recently introduced to the online world social networking sites specifically for sports players and fans.
Both sites are aimed at the sports nut, be it a player, fan, club, league or just someone trying to organise an event or social sporting network. For people from any sporting background, any level, any age. Both networks enable users to create user profiles, friend lists, set up email lists, and find other members who share common sporting interests or live in a similar location.
tiredandtested.com, developed by Chris Ward (of Friends Reunited), Mike Lee OBE and supported by Terry Venables (England assistant manager), allows the user to create a real social space from a virtual home. “Tired and Tested gives every sports fan, player or club the chance to live a little of the lifestyle of a sports pro,” says Venables.
• personalise player profiles, choose their favourite sports and clubs,
• create and run their own club, league or event website
• organise fixtures, results and tables
• write match reports in their online scrapbook,
• share photos, blogs and videos
• create their own teams kits and add them to their profile.
sportsmates.com enables users to start their own club, the club doesn´t even have to be a real existing club, it can be completely virtual and users can invite other users from anywhere and everywhere to join and play in the virtual club.
Unique to sportsmates.com is the introduction of a ranking system which enables users to earn points and a corresponding ranking for positive contributions (e.g.
on message boards, adding useful links, and having highly ranked contributions by other users). Likewise abuse of the system results in point deductions. This enables a self-policing community wherein members can quickly gauge another member’s credibility and reputation by looking at their ranking.
By recruiting friends, users can earn even more points, then when those friends recruit their friends, the initial user gets a kickback as well. However if those friends lose points due to abuse, so too does everyone in the hierachy. Hence encouraging members to only introduce friends that they know will make a positive contribution to the site.
Revenue generation for sportsmates.com is initially achieved through advertising, but they quickly hope to implement a model which that combine sponsorship, opportunities for the inclusion of brands, e-commerce, offline and online events and paid services.
As the online community continues to embrace and welcome the online social networking space, it opens up the gates for more and more niche communities to come to the party.
Like-minded individuals who share similar interests are going to create strong communities that are more likely to stand the test of time. Find a niche that brings people together (check out our previous post on ), one that evokes true passion amongst its users, and watch the advertising dollars roll in.
Low literacy levels in Africa are part-and-parcel of everyday life, and seriously reduce the effectiveness of health care literature.
In association with the South African Depression and Anxiety Group, Books of Hope has designed and produced interactive, multilingual that can be seen, read, heard and understood regardless of someone's reading ability.
Each Speaking Book consists of 16 pages of culturally appropriate illustrations supported by straightforward and easy to understand text in a variety of languages. Every page has a corresponding push button that triggers a sound track read by a well-known local personality.
So whatever a reader's level of literacy, the information will be clearly understood. Topics include HIV and AIDS, TB, Malaria, Suicide Prevention and Diabetes. Speaking Books are distributed to rural and disadvantaged communities worldwide.
This is a major breakthrough in presenting complex health issues in countries where low literacy levels are prevalent, giving everyone access to vital health care information. Of course the concept of a Speaking Book can be applied just as successfully to a wide range of needs, from educating children to providing instruction manuals for products or services.
No other substance screams WAKE UP as effortlessly as coffee.
Australian company has capitalised on the realisation that people want their coffee to be quick, convenient and satisfying. At Muzz Buzz, all consumers need to do is drive thru. After all, in-transit consumption is designed with one purpose – saving time.
Craig Muzeroll, founder of Muzz Buzz, identified a gap in the Australian market and decided he wanted to give Australians a reason for getting out of bed in the morning. That reason became Muzz Buzz, a growing franchise drive-thru coffee chain which offers quality coffee at a reasonable price and convenient (high traffic flow) locations.
Premium coffee beans and unique Muzz Buzz flavours tempt consumers' tastebuds and since inception the Muzz Buzz menu has expanded to include convenient-to-eat-while-driving food.
(Let’s just hope the government doesn’t ban drivers from eating and drinking while driving...
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The drive-thru coffee franchise is not an entirely novel concept – Starbucks opened its first drive-thru in Southern California in 1994, and small, drive-by coffee shacks exist in many parts of the world. But it's not hard to identify the potential of drive-thrus in a speed and coffee-crazed world. Franchise opportunities for Muzz Buzz are currently available in Australia and New Zealand, and for similar ventures elsewhere check out and .
A month after launching, music portal just announced that it has signed up over 250 bands from more than 30 countries. As described in our , Sellaband enables fans to invest in bands they believe in. More than 1,500 fans have signed up so far, buying over 2,500 stocks (or parts, as they're known on Sellaband).
Parts let bands and 'believers' share profits from cd sales and advertising revenues on www.sellaband.com.
One band, Nemesea, is close to USD 10,000 in budget, and has attracted fans from all over the world. The band is determined to reach the end goal of USD 50,000, which will let them record an album with professional help. On the production side, Sellaband has formed partnerships with renowned producers such as Chris Kimsey, Haydn Bendall, James Poyser and Tony Platt, who've worked with a host of music legends, ranging from Bob Marley and the Rolling Stones to Jill Scott and The Roots.
May bands and fans continue to unite! It's a fun investment for consumers and a great new way for bands to get their first album produced.
Published on: September 20, 2006
Mumbai rivals the pace of the fastest cities around the globe.
And just like everywhere else, junk food is an easy and popular meal option. To the rescue comes , which delivers healthy food to a customer's door. Calorie Care is India’s first calorie-counted meal delivery service, and their mission is to make it easy, convenient and fun for Mumbaikars to eat healthy food.
Calorie Care sets itself apart from other delivery restaurants by creating individual menus for each customer. Upon first contact, a Calorie Care nutritionist spends an hour with a client to understand his or her health needs and taste preferences. The nutritionist team then designs a personalised food plan that caters to these needs and preferences.
From their personal menus, customers can choose six daily meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner and three mid-meal snacks. Meals are delivered at three separate times during the day, so that everything is fresh. Ideal for anyone wanting to lose weight, for business people on the run, or for busy families who can't find the time to prepare healthy meals.
Calorie Care's service is currently only available in Mumbai, but the company does plan to expand to other Indian cities. Franchise opportunities are available.
In April, we reported on , a collaborative shopping network.
Since then, two big new players have entered the arena: Crowdstorm and ThisNext.
is a new way for consumers to find what to buy by measuring the buzz around products. Users recommend products, and the crowd defines the best products by recommending what they know and like.
Good products go to the top of the list, weak products disappear: the setup is very much like the popular news website . Buzz is measured by the amount of activity surrounding a product: how many times a product has been viewed, how many bloggers have written about it, and how many Crowdstorm users have commented about it.
Users can add other users as friends, either people they already know or those they've met on Crowdstorm and whose product recommendations they trust.
Future enhancements will let users post their own product images and videos, and top-rated members will also be invited to beta-test new products from big brands. UK-based Crowdstorm was founded by Phil Wilkinson, who also set up online price comparison sites ShopGenie and Kelkoo, and aims to be one of the internet's best sources of impartial product information.
Another social shopping network to have launched recently is .
Much hyped, LA-based ThisNext features a slick design and sends visitors down one of three paths: Discover, Recommend and Shopcast. The discover section lets users browse products recommended by others. Clicking on a item allows them to add it to their wishlist, recommend it, or find out where to buy the product.
Users can recommend products by creating themed lists (from 'Japanese Snacks' to 'Things I Cannot Do Without'), or simply by clicking on an easy to install 'Add to ThisNext' browser button.
Appealing to the blogging crowd, ThisNext's standout feature is shopcasting: bloggers can create small banners for their website. These so-called shopcast badges either display their own recommendations or those of the ThisNext community, broadcasting the products they love or must have.
The combination of consuming, curating and creating buzz is hot, as witnessed by the arrival of not only Stylehive, Crowdstorm and ThisNext, but also others like , and . Most are very US-centric. Time to launch local versions and find out who will lead the pack!
Designed in California and manufactured in India, 's G-Wiz electric cars are a hit in London, where the company has sold over 600 units, making London the electric car capital of the world. GoinGreen, which was founded in 2004 and has received numerous new business awards, did so purely by word of mouth – without dealers, showrooms, advertising, or sales staff. The company cuts costs by selling directly to consumers through its online store.
No need for showrooms, either. Interested consumers can make an appointment to test-drive a vehicle at one of four locations in and around London.
Potential emission-free drivers have a choice of two models, aptly named AC and DC.
The standard DC model has a maximum range of 40 miles, can go up to 40 mph and is priced at GBP 5,956. Its slightly faster (45 mph) sibling features optional extras like leather seats, remote central locking, and batteries that are upgradeable to hi-performance lithium-ion. AC is available in a variety of colours, including leopard and tiger prints, and is priced from GBP 6,807.
Unlike most electric vehicles, the G-Wiz can seat four.
Besides saving on gas, G-Wiz drivers in London are also exempt from paying the city's congestion charge of GBP 8 per day and don’t have to pay road tax, either. Some neighbourhoods also offer free parking for electric vehicles.
Limited range and speed are hardly an issue in the city, where most trips are short and traffic doesn't usually allow for speeds over 15 mph. (To see the G-Wiz in action, check out .)
Green to the core, GoinGreen not only lobbies for a switch to emission free transport, but also off-sets CO2 produced in the manufacturing, delivery and first two year's driving of every car they sell.
Offsets are bought from , which uses the money to fund CO2 reduction projects.
GoinGreen is the first retailer to sell a large number of this model, which is known as in its native India. Reva is said to be the cheapest commercially produced electric car in the world, and suggested niche markets include small island nations (expensive to get fuel to), and postal delivery services, whose vehicles stop and start frequently and don't need to drive at high speeds.
Interested in selling a racier battery-powered ride? Check out , which is building electric roadsters that will be available for purchase in early 2007, with an anticipated delivery date of fall 2007. A Tesla Roadster can do zero to 60 mph in about 4 seconds, has a top speed of over 130 mph and a range of 250 miles.
Plenty of opportunities for emission free entrepreneurs!
Dutch , which launched earlier this week, lets late or lazy gift givers send presents by text message. How it works: the giver goes to the company's website, enters the recipient's phone number and a message, pays by credit card, and a message containing a unique gift code is immediately sent to the recipient.
While gift vouchers by email have been around at least as long as Amazon.com has, there's a fun immediacy to receiving a gift by text message -- a greater element of surprise, compounded by the gift voucher being instantly redeemable online. Cadeaucode's gift selection is limited to ten items, currently ranging from a Madonna Live cd/dvd to the infamous 'shave all over' Philips Bodygroom, and the assortment is regularly updated.
According to the company's founders, the limited selection is there for a reason: Cadeaucode doubles as a buzz marketing tool. Gifts are provided to Cadeaucode at no cost by brands hoping to gain a bit of inexpensive exposure. From that point of view, it would definitely make sense for the website to offer more information about the products than it currently does.
None of the gifts show a price tag, and although the gift voucher only comes in one value (EUR 25,25), some products have a higher retail value. Which adds to the appeal for consumers – it's a present and a potential bargain, sweetly wrapped in a short message. ;-)
(We reported on a similar initiative last year – Buy Me A Beer, a British hospitality spin-off that lets consumers turn 'I owe you a drink' into an sms that's redeemable at participating pubs.
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Belgian is a new mobile operator that was established with the sole aim of giving away 100% of its profits. Ello is a mobile virtual network operator – it uses an existing network. Instead of offering bargain-basement cellphone plans, the company offers its customers the chance to contribute directly to a cause with every call they make, and every text message they send.
Customers can currently pick one of six projects, from protecting the jungles of Sumatra to providing to street children in South America. Another six projects will be added over the next few months, all of which have been selected by an independent panel of . Ello understands the need for charitable organizations to be completely transparent, and will share full profit and loss statements with its customers.
To minimize costs, the company is entirely web-based, and works with a small administrative staff. Profit margins are forecast at 24-33% for the first three years, and are targeted to climb to 41% after 2009.
Meanwhile, just launched in the Netherlands, is also forging a link between social causes and mobile telecom.
Albeit with a very different approach. Tommy's customers are required to structurally donate time or money to a recognized cause. Which means their customer base is 5 million Dutch citizens.
Like Ello, Tommy Telcom is a virtual mobile provider, operating on 's network. Unlike Ello, Tommy offers cheap cell phone plans. For EUR 5 per month, members can call other members at no charge, and non-members at EUR 0,15 per minute.
Here, the goal isn't to give away profits, but to offer socially engaged consumers a reward for sponsoring causes and an extra incentive to keep donating. And of course the scheme will also encourage members to ask their friends and family to sign up too, so that all involved can call more people for free.
Whether you make it easy or rewarding for your customers to be good, turning existing consumer behaviour into a way of contributing to a better world is innovation we applaud.
Launched a few weeks ago, is a review website for gay and lesbian travellers. The company was founded by the owners of two successful gay guesthouses in Massachusetts, who were frustrated by the lack of relevant information when planning their own holidays. While and other online travel review communities feature a wealth of user-generated information about hotels and holiday destinations, no such website exists specifically for a non-straight audience.
Pink Choice aims to feature the most reliable, honest and trusted reviews exclusively for gay and lesbian travellers seeking first-hand information about gay-friendly accommodation worldwide. Besides encouraging members to post reviews and rate hotels, Pink Choice will also hand out annual Pink Choice awards, that will be presented to hotels, guesthouses and inns that have provided the very best in gay and lesbian accommodation.
Based on conservative estimates, the American gay and lesbian community alone represents a USD 65 billion travel market (source: ).
Which makes Pink Choice seem like a very smart move. The website currently only features a few dozen destinations, and the number of reviews is very limited. Time for users to start generating content!
Opening next month in Nagoya, the store will sell robots and robot accessories. The store is part of a complex that also houses Nagoya's new Robot Museum, and its star product will be a 35 centimeter tall humanoid that goes by the name of Nuvo. Nuvo responds to voice commands, can be operated by remote controls and cellphones, and not only walks, but dances, too.
Though heralded as the world's first specialist robot shop, that's probably stretching the truth a little. Speciality shops already exist in various cities in Japan and across the world (to name two: in Paris and in New York). But these are geared to robot hobbyists and mainly sell kits and technical manuals.
To non-hobbyists, RMD's high-tech look and ready-made products will no doubt more closely match their automaton fantasies.
RMD was developed by , an agency based in Osaka that handles 'Media Publishing, Sales Marketing, Research Development, Education Entertainment Concerning the Future of Robots'. One of Gyrowalk's previous initiatives is the in Osaka, described as a futuristic space where everyone communicates with robots.
Every robot in the cafe is for sale, and the high-tech gizmos are balanced by organic food and drinks. (Robo Cafe opened in October 2005.)
Since robo-enthusiasts are hardly limited to Japan, Springwise believes every country could do with a robot department store.
Or at least a robo-café. Time to grab your jetpacks and head over for a closer look.
Here's something that captures the zeitgeist in a novel yet simple way: Canadian are t-shirts that list the owner's top 5 for *anything*, from five worst movies or five most admired musicians, to five best products ever, or five things he or she will never eat.
T-lists t-shirts are sweatshop-free and can be shipped globally. The company has set itself the goal of becoming part of the vernacular.
So what about that zeitgeist?
List- and profile-mania is proliferating rapidly, thanks to social websites like MySpace, Facebook, lastfm and Bebo, which are connecting likeminded individuals from around the world. (Not to mention the thousands of dating sites for those who want to be more than friends.) Refreshingly enough, this new listmania is not about keeping track of mass market hits, but about individuals: their likes, dislikes, preferences, interests and so on.
Taking this trend and translating it to the 'real world', as t-lists has done, is pretty clever, and may well be the start of many new offline products and services that help individuals literally wear their profiles on their sleeves. All to facilitate conversations, express oneself, or quickly identify other 'tribe members'.
Now, t-lists being a young company, Springwise is sure they wouldn't mind sealing some international distribution deals.
Especially if those deals would help them get a better grip on local lists, in languages other than English. Oh, and if you're feeling really entrepreneurial: there's no end to business opportunities when it comes to connecting outspoken individuals who actually like being part of a group as long as its members are just like him or her. For this week, t-lists have definitely made Springwise's top 5!
The just opened its doors in a hip neighbourhood in London's East End. Besides the usual meeting spaces for guests, the Hoxton also offers private offices for non-guests. Perfect for getting work done between meetings in London.
Each office features a desk, free wireless internet, a phone and a private bathroom. The offices are open from 10 am to 4 pm on weekdays and are currently on offer for just GBP 19 per day. Offering work space to non-guests is a smart sideline for hotels, who should be able to incorporate them with existing (underutilized) business centres without too much trouble.
Flexible being spaces for mobile warriors are fast becoming a global trend. For more examples, see our previous coverage of in Canada, in London, in South Africa and in Australia.
Back to the Hoxton, which incorporates plenty of other innovative elements.
Taking the easyJet approach to rates, rooms are cheapest far in advance, including elusive attention grabbers of one pound a night. Like most inexpensive airline tickets, reservations at Hoxton Hotel are non-refundable (unless made at GBP 119 or over). This deviates from the hotel standard of 24-hour cancellations, but enables very sharp prices by London standards -- nightly rates average at GBP 79 per room.
The hotel was created by Sinclair Beecham, who co-founded . The Hoxton is Beecham's first foray into the hotel world, to which he wants to bring a superior, well-designed experience at affordable prices. Frills include free wireless internet throughout the hotel, Frette linens, duck-down duvets and affordable phone calls.
As quoted in the Observer, Beecham's inspiration stems from his own underwhelming experiences: "I paid GBP 2.50 for a Mars bar in a hotel the other day. I mean, what do they think I am?
In business you've got to treat your customers with respect, not like dumb bastards. That's why I wanted to open a hotel, because I find it so frustrating." Amen to that.
creates skincare products for men. The company launched two years ago, no doubt riding the much hyped wave of metrosexuality. Now, after listening carefully to feedback from its customers, the young company is launching an entirely new range of products.
Amenity claims to be pioneering "clinical grooming", a skincare segment that will provide men with solution-focused, physician-developed products.
While doctor-developed products have been hot in the women's market for a while, science-based formulas for men are new. The line of six products will target men's specific skin problems (razor burn, irritation and ingrown hairs) and was developed for men's thicker, oilier skin.
Containing plenty of natural ingredients like willow bark extract and shea butter, Amenity products are all alcohol-, oil-, fragrance and cruelty-free. The packaging is smart, too -- dispensers release a metered dosage, are shatter-proof, and locking closures make them safe for gym-bags.
Amenity's Clinical Grooming line -- gel face cleanser, shave cream, after shave face moisturizer, anti-breakout gel, 'the balm' and foot spray -- will available online and through specialized retailers in October.
Time to snap up international distribution rights?
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