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I think I’ve forgotten how to write a full blog post. Therefore, more snippets:
What American Idol and Ellen Degeneres have to do with your ittybiz
I’m writing this at 10:30 at night, the night American Idol anounced that Ellen Degeneres would replace Paula Abdul on the judging panel.
Twitter is afire. Something along the lines of “that’s so fucking stupid.” Give or take.
Once upon a time, Pace and Kyeli and I created an audio product called The Usual Error in Marketing. (Someday I will get off my ass and sell it to you. Today is not that day.) The basic premise? You have to stop assuming people are just like you. Cause they ain’t.
Maybe I am a 23-year-old Latino woman. Maybe I am a teenage girl. Maybe I am a 31-year-old black man. In any case, the *I* here is already watching American Idol.
They want NEW people to watch American Idol. People who currently think American Idol is the lamest of the lame.
This demographic could also be described as… people who love Ellen.
I love working with Havi on projects. Why? Because I get Havi’s people! If you think to yourself, “Why would Naomi hook up with the Havinator? They’re so different!“, well, congratulations. You fail at business.
What can you bring to your offering that brings a whole ‘nother kind of person in the door?
What my new fave blog has to do with your ittybiz
The world is not suffering from a lack of freebie/giveaway/contest blogs. The thing about existing freebie/giveaway/contest blogs is that they are generally insufferably dry.
The Bright Side Project is not insufferably dry. It’s fucking delightful. It is almost enough to make me get rid of my Etsy bias. (OK, maybe not totally enough. But almost enough.)
There is more room in your market than you think there is. Bring YOU to your market. Not your product or your service or your blog. YOU. You are cool and there is room for you.
What the new it-girl nail polish can teach you about your ittybiz
Do you sense a theme? There is totally a theme.
I cannot even explain to you in words how much joy is brought to my life by the existence of Butter London nail polish. Yes, it comes in a pretty package. Yes, it is missing the Big Three Bad Chemicals That Will Kill You And Then Make You Dead Too. Yes, I already have a propensity for expensive nail polish.
But then we get to the names and stick a fork in me, I’m done.
New people won’t know about my obsession with names. (Read about the great Tiger Woods/Snuggle In paint incident of 2007 to get up to speed.) But names are really, really important and also really, really… important. Sometimes, naming your shit is the most important marketing decision you ever make.
Nail polish called Crumpet. Frilly Knickers. West End Wonderland. Yummy Mummy.
I’m dying here, people.
Names do not name. Names convey. What do your names convey? Go away. Fix them. Come back when you have something as good as Tea with the Queen.
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Comments
09.12.09
hmm... while I believe you have a valid point... I'm still somewhat confused by this move.
What does Elle's brand have to do with music? She dances... but I'm not sure that she's an authority on what makes a great voice. Therefore, to have her as a judge is an odd choice.
There is definitely something to be said about bringing in a new market... however, whenever you try to do this, you need to be conscious to not alienate your base.
I think it remains to be seen how this would pan out. It'll depend on how well Ellen does as a judge. The truth of the matter is that American Idol is now as much about music as it is about prime time entertainment. So, perhaps if Ellen start dancing on top of the judge table would actually add a new kind of energy to the show...
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