Assignment 21A

I read The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users, by Guy Kawasaki.

The general theme of the book is about doing more online than just existing like everyone else, but using the internet and your social media to cultivate a personal brand and extend business opportunities. People make many decisions when they’re online, from who to follow and which posts to like, and in order to be relevant to consumers, it takes work.

It really connected with what I’ve learned in ENT3003 because it’s not just about the product, but being able to sell yourself too. In this class, I’ve already learned so much how you have to be able to show a customer that you are the right person for them to buy from, or to invest in. I feel like the book really enforced the concept that you have to be personable in all areas, even over the internet.

An exercise I would design is thinking about what you’d want to see from a business owner or business on social media. I would ask students to think about the types of posts they would want/expect to see. They should also consider the language and format they would expect to see from businesses on social media and try to create some sample posts that might come from a businesses’ social media.

One of the biggest aha moments for me was when the book discussed how it’s not vital to have a presence on every single social media platform, as there are so many and having all of them can take up too much time. It is better to focus on the few that you have most reach for, or perhaps the bigger social media sites.

Assignment 20A

The first person I met with was a family friend that I’d been out of touch with for years, his name is Rahul. Rahul has worked in textile manufacturing for numerous years, both working with the materials directly and as a coordinator of supply. He is an industry supplier because he has worked with numerous companies who make products very similar to the bag I want to sell. I contacted Rahul by calling him from the number I’d had for him years ago, and I was lucky enough that he hadn’t changed it in the years we’ve been out of contact. I agreed to look over my elevator pitch video at lunch. I didn’t have to do anything in exchange for Rahul’s help since he was an old family friend, but I offered to lend him a hand in his office as a volunteer for a few days. Rahul will help me exploit opportunities because he has decades of experience with the materials I will be using and can provide valuable insight as to what I should use.

For my second person, I had to call around to various bag/luggage companies in an attempt to get someone to talk to me. Unfortunately, I was unable to secure a meeting with Liam, he was willing to look over my idea napkin and send me back feedback. Liam works as product director for a medium-sized luggage company and is an expert on my market. When Liam returned my idea napkin with feedback I offered to come and assist him, like I did for Rahul, however Liam didn’t need any help, but instead asked that send him more about my product because he wanted to see how it developed further, so I will be sending him more about my potential product in the coming weeks. Liam will help me exploit opportunities by being someone that I can discuss market concepts with, to make sure I’m headed in the right direction.

Finally, for my third person, I found Linda from my research into local companies who sell bags and luggage. She is actually one of the designers for their small luggage company, but also one of their salespeople. She is a domain expert for my industry because she directly understands what customers want out of a bag, as well as the challenges that would be faced in designing a bag. She agreed to meet with me very early one morning, before work. We met in her office at 7:00am one morning and discussed product details and feasibility. I also showed her my idea napkin, as she seemed very interested in my idea. As a return for her advice and guidance, I stayed until noon that day sorting and filing paperwork for her, to help her get caught up. Including Linda in my network will give me access to someone who knows the products extremely well, as well as the best ways to go about selling directly to customers.

This experience was slightly different in that I had to find people with specific roles within the industry, and getting them to agree to talk to me or see me was very difficult. I feel like I learned a lot about networking though because now I understand the work that goes into finding people like this. It will also change how I participate in future networking events because I am much less nervous and uncomfortable about the idea of networking, and also because I understand how much effort and work goes into networking on your own and will take full advantage of any networking situation I am presented.

Assignment 19A

1. My name is Joe Sanders and I am a fourth-year food and resource economics major here at UF. I think I am pretty good at interacting with people. I like to think I’m someone people are comfortable talking to and somebody who can talk to anyone about anything with ease. This helps me during interviews when I am trying to gather information about the needs and situations of those who might be interested in my product. With my experience in both customer service and as a supervisor, I know that not always are people aware of the true nature of their needs. One day I would really like to own and operate my own business, but that’s not something that absolutely has to happen. If this business were to take off and become something real, I could see myself spending the time to develop this into a full-blown business. I think the bag is something that could really benefit a lot of people and a business based on that would be interesting.
2. The unmet need I am looking to solve is the need for a bag that can double as both a small overnight bag and a large out-of-the-country bag. The bag I have come up with has zippers along the edges so that it can be unzipped and expanded. This allows the bag to be either small or large, depending on the needs of the consumer. The adaptability provides ease of storage and space if somebody buys items on a vacation and are coming home with more than they started.
3. Many people have small homes or apartments and don’t have the space to store two bags, or even just a large one. This will allow people with not much storage space to own just one bag for all their traveling needs. This bag would also be very helpful to people who travel a lot and bring back souvenirs. The bag would be small enough on the flight there that it could be carried on, and on the way home when it’s full of souvenirs (and been expanded) it could be checked. These potential customers all have a common need of being unable to have multiple bags for a trip, with different restrictions as to why.
4. In my interviews, I have found that people like the bag because it gives them an option for having just one bag and not needing to worry about trying to store two of them or finding the right bag to cater to each trip. Being a college student I know that many of us live in small living spaces, and personally, I don’t have a large bag because I have nowhere to keep it and because I am normally traveling for a weekend maximum. This bag would allow college students to use the same bag that they use to go home a visit parents, to take a trip abroad with their friends over spring break. The bag would also have removable wheels (think along the lines of Heely’s) so the bag could easily be moved and wheeled around when it is in the expanded (and most likely heavier) state.
5. What sets me apart from others is my ability to communicate and gather information. I was able to refine my understanding of the target market because the people I interviewed gave me good answers to the questions I was asking, but if I wasn’t able to ask the right questions I wouldn’t be getting helpful information.

I believe these elements all work well together because it allows me to understand who exactly might be interested in my product. It also works well because with a relatively simple concept for a product, understanding the need exactly is extremely important. My position as a college student helps me find other college students to interview and with that, I am able to specifically identify what might make somebody interested in the bag, as well as what would turn them away.

I really didn’t receive much feedback on my first idea napkin, but I was suggested that wheels on the bag would make it much easier to move around. I really liked this idea because the bag is all about being easy for the consumer and helping them by being adaptable for every situation, so wheels really would help those times when the bag is just too heavy. Since I had no other feedback I decided to take the idea of wheels further with removable wheels, that way the wheels won’t be in the way while they aren’t needed. I know wheels can be clunky so being able to remove them allows the bag to be small and lightweight when it's just being used for the small size.

Assignment 17A

https://youtu.be/G8FQpjxZiYA

The feedback I received made it clear that people liked how I understood the specific demand for this product. I believed that I had a good idea of how people felt about it, and getting the confirmation was nice. It was also helpful to know where people thought I was most passionate, so I could to and be more passionate all over.

I tried to be more enthusiastic and positive throughout the whole presentation because I got feedback about how I seemed more passionate in specific areas. I believed this helped the presentation overall because I was generally more enthused to be talking about it. I also tried to focus in on specific factor I know about my potential client base and the market segment as a whole.

Assignment 18A

The ‘customer avatar’ that I envision for my adaptable-size bag product is a college student. They are not someone with much extra money so the idea of having one bag for all their needs would be ideal. This person would be young and most likely 18-25. They have a close relationship with their parents and friends and would have to be living close enough to them that visits are common but not too lengthy, from 2-4 days. They drive an old car, 10-15 years old, most likely in a more muted color like gray or brown. It's clear that they have no extra money, and it is reflected in every bit of their life and appearance. Their clothes aren’t ragged but it's clear not many of them are new at all.

The customer avatar is similar in that we are both college students with little money. I think this is no coincidence at all because since I am a college student and spend a lot of time with college students,  I am very aware of the needs that my bag might fill for college students. Even though I do not usually have this same need, it is clear to me that it exists to those around me.

Assignment 15A

In my interviews, I spoke to two more college students and a businesswoman. First I asked questions about their alternatives and how these potential customers might make their selections. The style seemed to be a relatively unimportant factor overall, mostly due to the bag simply serving as a travel function, and not really going to be carried during times when appearance is important. All of the people I interviewed said that price was an important factor, but the most crucial factor as the function of the bag, and its ability to adapt to multiple situations and needs. It seems that to them a bag is a bag, so it doesn’t need to be anything fancy. Their purchasing is evenly split between finding novelty ideas online because they were looking for a specific item, or they would just wander across it in a store, only to realize that they need it. It seemed physical location would be better for those who didn’t already know they wanted the item, and online was easier for those to find the item when they already knew they wanted it. When discussing the ‘rightness’ of a purchase like this, my interviewees all said that they evaluate based on how well the product worked for their needs when traveling. If the bag they’ve purchased turns out to work exactly as they needed it to or better, they consider their purchase a good one. They feel like a purchase is bad if they end up not being able to use it for the intended purpose, or if it doesn’t last as long as they had hoped.

This segment chooses alternatives based on how functional they believe it will be, while still keeping the price in mind. Customers in my segment seem to be willing to purchase once they are made aware of the product and how it could fulfill their needs. Finally, they decide if they’ve made a good decision based on their actual experiences using the products, and how well they suited the needs the item was purchased to fulfill.