Seven Answers

So, we took Fernando's great idea and turned it around a bit. First, we decided to focus it in the US. Then, we decided that one of our core competencies would be mico-lending rather than promotion or marketing for micro-borrowers. Here are our answers to the seven core questions that we will use to form our first straw man:

1. Who is our target audience (hint: Don't try to be all things to all people)
New Orleans Detroit USA recession-specific - Experience qualifies - Laid-off people getting back on their feet.
Investor community in target cities and in DC area.

2. What is the competitive landscape? (hint: Sites that do it well)

Kiva -
Local investment clubs -
Government investment programs -
http://www.spot.us/ - people make micro donations to support the story ($10 a point).

3. How do we differentiate ourselves? (hint: Secret sauce) -
Focusing in the USA
combined investor pool
Mentor - level - Mentor-level people get a "glow factor" return.
Public micro-loan level
Make stronger relationships between lenders and borrowers and mentor, inspect, advise.
Wikinomics - approach to larger group of mentors.

4. How do we create our site? (hint: Staff and schedule)
Paid staff and volunteer force to build organization.
Put together beginning social network
Phase 1 - 2 - 3. Start with simple but effective site and build up as interest grows.

5. How do we get our content? (hint: Pre-built, manual, automatic, updated)
Investors - advice
Static advice and resources and links
User-generated
Reporting from businesses started
Pull in business stories for our niches

6. How do we market our site? (hint: Spread the word)
Audience to the small niche business stories.
Press coverage
Email marketing - Build lists of site visitors
Social Networking - large group of investors post on S/N email friends, get press,
Other volunteers who have marketing expertise.

7. How do we sustain the site? (hint: Show me the $$$)
Non-profit
Go after donors.
Look for a return. Hopefully look for a 10% annual return on all investments.
Membesrhip fee for entrepreneurs.

Washingtonian poses question to WaPo

Washingtonian blog, Capital Comment, recently asked "Can this geek save the Post?" This is an interesting--but brief--look into the person who has been given the challenge of turning the paper and its site around.

Speaking of online community building...

The Prince of Petworth has done an incredible job of building a community. Although his community is very focused and pretty small (the Petworth neighborhood in DC), his work is still impressive. His blog discusses real estate, gentrification, new businesses, and other things that go on in the neighborhood. His posts generate a lot of comments and user interaction and he has become something of a neighborhood superstar. Check it out...

One Paragraph Pitch

When moving to a new city, shouldn't it be easier for young professionals to find the quality services that they expect without suffering through a trial and error period? This online space will aggregate businesses, such as tailors, dry cleaners, and barber shops, in various US cities, giving each establishment its own entry that will be developed by users. Each entry will give all of the essential information (location, hours of operation, fees, etc.). Additionally, the establishment entries will mimic an easy-to-read encyclopedia entry. This feature will differentiate this site from other sites that provide similar information. Other sites maintain lengthy lists of user-comments that are difficult to parse through for desired information. We hope to use targeted advertising (generated by user information) and possible grants for funding. And, while the project would need to be monitored, the staff numbers and interference will be limited.

Building Communites Online

Whenever I think of building communities online, I always think back to President Obama's campaign and to the work that he has done with Organizing for America (OFA) to shape his policies.

This past month, as President Obama and Congress prepare to confront the issue of health care reform, OFA asked Americans to organize in groups to share why health care is important, and to develop action plans for the National Health Care Day of Service, held this past Saturday. OFA uses targeted emails, Youtube, blogs, and modified meetup tools to get people actively engaged in government. They used similar tactics leading up to the economic stimulus bill.

While other sites and online projects, like Facebook and Twitter are great tools for bringing people together online. OFA has taken this a step farther and gotten people to take action offline.

Though, the '08 campaign and the hot topic issues that President Obama is tackling are important enough to many people that maybe they would organize without OFA's prompting. My inclination is that they wouldn't--not in the same numbers and not towards the same goals.

But, still, everybody is trying to use online tools to organize people. Many causes are not as pressing as the '08 campaign or a failing economy, but people still try to organize around the Denver Broncos, food, and the environment. It's all worth a shot.

The keys, I think, to organizing online are compelling content, and simple processes. You've got to grab people, and you've got to make it easy for them to act.

But, my concern is that the Internet is becoming saturated with pockets of organizing, which will diminish the space for causes that are actually worthy of large-scale organizing.

Multimedia Project

Problem:

• Young professionals often move to new cities and often have trouble finding quality services. For instance, dry cleaners, barber shops, tailors, etc. are businesses that are more quality driven than, say, a grocery store or a convenience store. Furthermore, the stakes are higher. People are generally more careful about choosing a tailor or barber shop than choosing a grocery store. So, when moving to a new city, shouldn't it be easier for young professionals to find the quality services that they expect without suffering through a trial and error period?
  

Solution:

• Absolutely. It should, and can be easier. This online space would be similar in function to Wikipedia in that information is developed by open source methods to place value in the collective customer experience. Currently, people find these services by asking around. This site, will aggregate customer experiences and rank the quality of various services in the major metropolitan areas of the country.
  

Target Audience:

• The target audience--young professionals--is defined as employed recent college graduates who have moved to a new city to work and begin to establish a career and life. This definition works under the presumption that older adults have already settled into one city or another and would not be searching for a new barber shop or beauty salon. Furthermore, it considers the newness of starting a life in a new city for the first time and attempts to ease some of the worries that often occur.
  

Tools:

• Google maps
• Disqus comment capabilities
  

Funding:

• Advertising
• Would possibly search for funding from the Wikimedia Foundation
  

Deconstructing Politico 44

Politico 44 is one of Politico's micro sites that incorporates several innovative features. The site keeps a Twitter-like record of the President's daily schedule, publishes short pieces of the latest news, and reserves a large space (The Whiteboard) for the biggest stories of the moment.

But, when I think the purpose behind 44, I find it useful to consider the target audience. It is from this point, that everything else about the site (design, functionality, features, etc.) flows. After watching the site for a few days, it seems to me that the project was produced with fellow journalists and political junkies in mind (if there's really a difference).

But, seriously, who else would have the time or interest to read so much about the President, his cabinet, and family everyday?

Nevertheless, assuming this is correct, Politico 44 does a great job of making information easy to digest and accessible. It shows you, with its design elements, what's important. Also, the schedule feed on the right rail provides visitors with small details that could be useful for journalists. It also combines text, videos, and photo galleries.

To do all of this, though, necessitates a variety of requirements. Here are some that I see:

• Insider Information--There is certain information (like the President's schedule) on the site that no one else seems to have (or cares to publish).
  
• Early Risers--the writers and reporters for Politico 44 have got to be ahead of the curve in gathering information.
  
• Strict Constraints--one major idea behind the site is to offer quick, meaningful information. So, the fields for text, pics, and videos are pretty small. They pack a lot of information onto one page.
  
• Great writers--They have to have great writers who can deliver complex information in simple ways, using as few words as possible. I get the sense that their writers are tech savvy enough to load their own content as well, which would streamline the process from writing to publishing.
  
• Simple Technology--the back-end system for the site must be as intuitive as the final product. A complicated system would slow down publication.