@AndrewJSellers

I recently discovered Dustin Curtis and started reading his twitter feed and blog. I was immediately hooked and trusted anything this guy said. Sometimes, I can tell right away if I should trust someone’s opinion or not. Dustin Curtis’s is certainly one I trust.

Dustin is a designer who is widely followed and is working to create an alternative blogging platform called Svbtle. Svbtle focuses more on the writing aspect of blogging and will have such benefits as copy editing, automatic fact checking, etc. Basically, it’ll be a content producing machine where you can watch your mind blowing ideas go from start to finish. 

Blogging isn’t about design, it’s about content. If good content is produced, there will be a following. That’s what Dustin is working on. That’s not to take away from the design features of Svbtle though. Check out his site at dcurt.is. It’s beautiful in my opinion - very clean.

Dustin says that:

We aren’t necessarily journalists (although some of us are), but we aim for journalism quality standards.

Let’s hope it’s released to the public soon because I certainly will be trying it out. Right now it’s by application only.

P.S. I’m sure there are ways this blog post could have been improved - perhaps with Svbtle, we’ll see those improvements…

Sometimes it’s not necessary to think of “the next big thing”. So many times I see people wasting their time thinking of new inventions that they will never take action on. 

Why? Because they don’t have the means to produce. For example, if you’ve never been involved in smart phone production then how are you going to come up with the next great phone?

So, let’s talk reinvention. Merriam-Webster defines it as:

to make as if for the first time something already invented

There are 2 companies out there that I have noticed that simply reinvented something that needed reinvented.

1. Warby Parker -  Have you ever gone to your optometrist and bought glasses on your insurance? It’s actually a pretty decent price but what happens when you get tired of those same glasses or they break, before you’re up to get a new pair at your discounted rate? Happens quite often actually.

Without your discounted insurance rate, glasses can cost upwards of $300. Ludicrous right? Well, Warby Parker is making a splash by offering prescription designer glasses for $99 any time. You can have 5 pairs shipped to you, select your favorite and then ship them back to complete your order (all shipping free). Or, if you don’t want to wait, they have a fantastic virtual try-on. Best of all, each pair they sell, they give another to someone in need.

I call this reinvention.

2. Simple Bank - I’ll try to crunch as many details as possible but I’ll miss a few on this innovative idea. Many banks charge you start-up fees, overdraft fees, and fees for anything in-between. Not Simple Bank. Many of the major banks have some of the worst websites for viewing your finances. Not Simple Bank. Simple has what looks like a stunning website for not only viewing but managing your finances. You can actually search your transactions. They also have a feature called “Safe-to-Spend which takes into account your upcoming payments and tells you what you actually have to spend. They also have the most accessible ATM’s in the country.

Simple Bank goes beyond the normal banking concept. They provide personal customer experience, no fees, aesthetically pleasing designs and a new approach to the banking industry.

So, when thinking of the next big thing, consider thinking of some service or product that could be improved and not some hard-to-reach idea.

As Seth Godin may say:

You need to think along the edges of the box, because that’s where things get done. That’s where the audience is, that’s where the means of production are available, and that’s where you can make an impact.

Sorry for the absence on my blog. A month and a half ago I was offered a position at Victoria’s Secret in Columbus to become an Internet Metrics Analyst. I accepted the offer and moved down to Columbus 1 month ago. It’s been a wild/fun month so far. Please note, all my opinons are mine and mine alone.

So, with that said, I’d like to list a few of things I think are worth noting:

1. The Domino Project (Seth Godin’s Publishing Company) have come out with several new books. The latest one (The Flinch) is free at Amazon right now. All the books they publish are great reads. I will start reading The Flinch shortly
2. I am currently reading The Four Agreements - so far so good. If you are interested in a different perspective on life, check this out.
3. I now have an iPhone - Amazing.
4. If you are looking for an Email Service Provider to send out bulk creative emails to lists then I suggest using MadMimi. Very easy to use. Expect a whole post dedicated to them in the near future. I’ll explain in more detail.
5. If you don’t have Dropbox, you should definitely give it a go. You can store documents in the very famous cloud. I use it to share music with friends and family.

That’s all for now! I’ll make sure I update this thing more often!

Created By Favo.rs

Lately, I’ve been wondering where all the innovation and drive has gone in America. The “Greatest Generation” (grew up during the Great Depression and fought in WWII) had no problem starting things. My “Pops” (Grandpa) came home after the war and started his own upholstery business (Laubacher Upholstery) which is still in business today and run by my Uncle. Without any money, he worked out of a garage with tools and a truck borrowed from friends. It was hard work but he had a dream and made it happen. One thing I’ve come to understand is that he didn’t let fear get in the way. He wasn’t afraid to fail and just started.

There are thousands of stories about people just like my “Pops” from “The Greatest Generation.” It seems like it is much harder to find stories like that nowadays. People seem to be so complacent with their “job security” and are afraid to lose that.

Fear plays a large role in starting something but the people that overcome that fear seem to have a very fulfilling life.

Is Generation Y the answer? Do they have the entrepreneurial spirit to bring that drive back to America? The things brewing up in the Silicon Valley are pretty amazing.

Time will tell…

Since Twitter was launched in 2006, there were thousands of companies that refused, and still refuse to join the social network. It’s deemed a “waste of time” and “doesn’t contribute to the bottom line.”

Of course, that may be the case for some companies but I would suggest there are only a few that wouldn’t reap the benefits of Twitter. After reading The Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuck, I was even more convinced by the power of Twitter. Although Twitter may be considered more of long-term investment, it certainly contributes to building relationships with the consumer which in return contributes to the bottom line of the company.

I recently read a blog post by a powerful twitter tool called the Buffer App. It’s a tool that allows you to time your tweets and you can then check on the results of those tweets (how many clicks on a url or how many retweets). Anyway, they posted a pretty cool post on the amazing power of twitter. 

Check it out! The Power of Twitter!