Crowdstorming: The Karmaback Value Proposition

Okay engineer-type thinkers, it is time for a pop quiz.  We are crowdstorming today... that is as a crowd, brainstorming.  So, what is the value proposition of a tool like Karmaback, and how much should we charge?  Post your replies here.  Below are the "features" of Karmaback and the "benefits" as I see them...  now the question is, what is the concise value proposition, and what is it worth?

Karmaback for Members (people who sign up and participate... e.g. everybody and anybody)
Features:
* Get to earn points for liking & sharing cool products & stuff.
* Get to spend points on prizes, discounts, and specials.
Benefits:
* Prizes, discounts, and specials, and stuff.
* Get to share feedback with Partner companies about products & stuff.
* Get to be 'heard' and their opinion counts and matters.

Karmaback for Partners (companies who choose to work with Karmaback)
Features:
* Get to put the like-it-flow on their websites.
* Get Karmaback members to post to their Facebook pages from the like-it-flow.
* Get to run Sweepstakes, Discounts, and Specials via Karmaback.com
* Get to post Sweepstakes/etc. in Facebook & Twitter.
* Can make Viral posts on Facebook & Twitter (that reward Members for "re-sharing" the posts).
Benefits:
* Get the word out about the products people like.
* Get feedback from users.
* Convert "visitors" into "fans"
* Convert "fans" into "evangelists"
* Convert "members" into "buyers"

Where games meet reality.

Anyone who knows me, knows I love games.  I'm a gamer.  I like games on PC, XBOX, PS3, Wii, iPhone, Facebook, and life.  Life games are the most fun, of course... if you have the right attitude.  Why not lie down in a crowded place?  Why not buck social norms and convention?  Why not try every possible adventure sport known to man (I'll be snow-boarding next week).  In fact, intersecting games with life is just about my favorite thing to do.

Karmaback walks this intersection of games and reality with aplomb and head on.  Who said we can't reward people for clicking on links?  Why can't we give people prizes for saying they like something?  And coming soon: why not collect points, earn ranks, get levels and achievements... all in the game of life, the game of marketing, and for products and stuff you love?

The 4-hour work week...

Imagine a world where you work 1 hour per day, but still make $10,000 per month+. Now consider what would you do with the time? Me? I'd write, hike, teach, and spend more time with the family. So, how can we do this? Sounds nice right?

The answer may be found in this book: th 4 hour work week. I've just finished reading this book, and am prepping to be a judge at Moot Corp 2010, and I find myself thinking: will any
students have a business plan like this? Why not? Less work, solid income, the new rich... Reason: they would lose the business plan competition, even as they win at life. With no hockeystick and no pot of gold at the end: living this way would seem blasphemous to the entreprenurial community... At moot Corp, you would be squished for your lack of scalability, lack of investor attractiveness, and lack of vision.

I for one want to try it. Lifes too short to live in retirement. Live now, work less, and make a business plan investors scoff at, but could deliver a new rich lifestyle.

Here we go!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Measuring Marketing: An Engineering Challenge.

Engagement is quite the word.  It means getting in touch, getting together, and the promise of a union.  To Marketers, this means getting attention.  In 2010, Marketers find Engagement to be their #1 priority.  But what will they do with this engagement?  How can we measure its effect.  Show me the money!

Engineers and Scientists have striven for hundreds of years to go about measuring things.  Measurement and observation are the keys to enlightenment.  Modeling comes next, followed by theory, and then sometimes law.  So why then do Marketers have so many theories, and so few models?  Where are the measurements?  The answer is troubling and disheartening.  Marketing, alas, is no science, yet science shall be its salvation.

My journey into Marketing through my new company Karmaback and beyond, is leading to answers we engineer-type business folks have sought for decades.  The struggle between marketing science and art WILL come to a head in our lifetimes, and maybe Karmaback will bring it there.

The $600 Billion question: does engagement lead to marriage?
E.g. can marketing lead to sales?