Every once in a while, I have a really good idea that I then bring to life. More often than not, I learn it wasn’t such a good idea after all. After years of failures and successes, I learned that sometimes it’s much smarter to look at someone else’s good idea, learn from it and then implement something relevant for yourself. Of course, you can’t just steal someone’s idea but rather should customize and make it work for you.
So, here are five ideas that you could steal right now. In many of these cases, I am sure that my examples probably stole their idea (or should I just say...were inspired by) from somebody else but at least they executed exceptionally well. Because no matter how good the idea is that you either came up with or stole from somebody else, if you don’t execute it, you are going nowhere fast. Rest assured, the success of these ideas probably had a ton to do with the passion and hard work that these companies and individuals put into implementing their ideas.
Dell’s Twitter feed (#delloutlet)
I oftentimes talk about how smart it is for Dell to be selling discounted digital goods through their Twitter feed. They’re basically building their own sales channel, one that’s highly viral, requires no salaries, no overhead, no brick and mortar....nothing. So far they have generated over $2 million in direct sales.
What's the idea?
Start a Twitter feed and advertise special offers. Alternatively and actually more commonly, you could also start a tips feed where you post about relevant news, tips and tricks relevant to your industry.
Who should steal this idea?
In the case of the offers feed, anybody who’s got more than 100 SKUs and is in the business of selling direct to consumers.
Blendtec’s Will It Blend viral site
Blendtec makes high-end mixers and a couple of years ago they put up a video site where they demonstrated their products crushing a variety of popular consumer electronics items. iPods, digital cameras...nothing was safe and everything got blended without a glitch. The site did two things.
1. It showed how well their products worked.
2. It got forwarded by millions of people which raised massive awareness and sales for the brand.
What is the idea?
Demonstrate how well your product works, and give it an interesting/viral twist.
Who should steal this idea?
Anybody who's got a product that's easy to demonstrate and who can come up with some creative ways to demonstrating such.
Neil Patel's free advice
Neil Patel is a serial entrepreneur and very savvy online marketer. He's also still in his twenties which makes his success that much more impressive. Lat but not least, Neil is the guy who's blog, QuickSprout.com, is being linked to from TechCrunch's home page.. If you work in technology, that ought to be the single most valuable link that anybody could get. And Neil isn't paying for it. When Neil was first starting out, he simply emailed influential bloggers (TechCrunch, Guy Kawasaki, etc) and offered to help them optimize their blog for search engines for free. He gave them some basic advice that was easy to implement but ended up making a huge impact. Not that he directly asked for it (maybe he did), but Neil got the obvious link on TechCrunch.com as well as a number of business opportunities referred by TechCrunch.
What's the idea?
Give away free knowledge to influential people in your industry and ask for nothing in return. Good things will happen.
Who should steal this idea:
I can't think of anybody who shouldn't steal this idea. Just make sure you know what you're talking about.
Gary Vaynerchuk's wine videos
Gary Vaynerchuk is the owner of the WineLibrary.com e-commerce site, and does a daily video podcast where he (and various ever more popular) guests talk about wine. He talks about different wines, tastes them and asks other people about their opinions. It's an interesting show and he has quickly established himself as a world renown wine expert. Gary's business grew from $5 million in annual sales to $50 million, he signed a big book deal, started a consulting business and appears on national television on a near weekly basis - he's doing great.
What's the idea?
Starting a podcast or blog that relates to your business. Be really passionate about it and talk about topics (not just your products) that would interest people. Drinking wine while doing it helps.
Who should steal this idea?
Again, this is a pretty broad idea. Two requirements. Be smart. Be passionate. That's it.
Shoemoney’s free course
Jeremy Shoemaker is somewhat of an Internet Marketing celebrity. He's the guy who used to sell at retail, then dropped a couple of hundred pounds, started various online ventures and now is a wealthy, good looking and well-known man. While it all sounds a bit too good to be true, it's true and I have great respect for what he has done. Much like Gary, Jeremy has built up quite the following of people who're looking for his advice and opinion on all things Internet Marketing. That audience continues to grow, as Shoemoney is now offering a free "Internet Marketing" course that subscribers will receive via email. I've been subscribed for a couple of weeks and have been super impressed by the 10-20 page long pdf document that he sends out on a weekly basis. It's huge value for his subscribers, and no doubt will help him grow his audience by thousands of people.
What's the idea?
Offer a free email course, pertaining to your business. Capture people's email address and build a relationship over time.
Who should steal this idea?
Anybody or business that could benefit from a larger audience.
That's it for now. Any other ideas that you think are theft-worthy?