Twitter Me This

About a week ago I decided to dig further into Twitter, so I set up an account and started posting my tweets. You can find me at www.twitter.com/mistervann. My impressions after the first week? Why am I doing this? I've posted a total of 8 times and have shared the mundane such as: 1) that I was having breakfast with the girls; 2) that I am really beginning to like the Black Ghosts; and 3) that I was going to Panera for a bagel because I had a craving for it. I also tweeted about my disatisfaction with XM Radio's customer service. Sadly, I was not contacted by XM so it appears they are not following posts about themselves on Twitter. Perhaps that explains the lousy customer service!

I enjoy coming across some of Guy Kawasaki's thoughts that he posts. Of course, if he really thinks its important, he probably posts it on his blog which I do read everytime he writes. Other than that, I just don't see the point of this. Apparently, I'm not the only one not feeling the whole Twitter thing. The Daily Beast has a post on how Twitter has "jumped the shark" this past week. Venture Beat had a post last week about how Twitter receives half the press coverage of Facebook, but has only a fraction of the traffic. VB indicates all the press might be generated by journalists who are using Twitter to pump their own writing. Perhaps with the hope that if they talk about it enough, people will do it and validate their foresight.

I'll probably continuing on Twitter for a little bit longer, but my initial reaction to this is that Twitter will go the way of friendship bracelets, the pet rock, parachute pants and AOL. What are your thoughts about Twitter's value and long-term usage?

Small Business Credit Crunch

Is your small business having a hard time securing credit in this market? Tim Berry, founder of Palo Alto Software want's to know. Tim, a frequent contributor to the has been blogging for quite some time on this issue and has set up a survey. Fill out the survey and let Tim know what you are experiencing.

If you have any stories about how you are managing through the credit crunch or the recession/depression, let us know, we would love to profile your story in an upcoming White Paper.

Bad Business Ideas - Recession Edition

It is a commonly held belief that the best time to start a business is when economic conditions are at their worst. If you can survive in a recession/depression, the thinking goes, then it should be real easy to thrive when times are good. BNET has a quick post with links on the topic from Business Week, USA Today and Industry Standard. I’m inclined to believe that this is the best time to start a business and am actively looking at opportunities myself. Down times allow you to be creative and generally allow you to think a little unconventionally about an opportunity or how you bring your product/service to market.

With that being said, there are just some ideas and business oppotunities that get developed that are just bad, regardless of the economic climate. In recent days, I’ve come across two that leave me scratching my head about the decision making process that some companies go through when launching a new initiative.

The first was Starbucks recent decision to launch a value breakfast meals. On the surface, it makes sense in these times of near empty wallets to provide the illusion of value. Unfortunately, Starbucks has failed on delivering a value proposition with this move because its: 1) unoriginal; and 2) unappealing. How appealing does a tall (re: small) latte and a reduced fat piece of coffee cake or a tall coffee and a "breakfast sandwich" for $3.95 sound to you? They missed a golden chance to roll out a new product line of either healthy foods or really decadent baked goods - hello doughnut & coffee! Secondly, there is no messaging attached to the roll out so this looks like another half baked attempt to respond to negative perception of Starbucks and value. Instead of attacking the issue head on, this move reinforces the perception that Starbucks is overpriced. A plea to Starbucks management - look at how McDonald's reinvented themselves before you do anymore damage to your brand.

The other head scratching business idea that surfaced recently was Microsoft's decision to open retail stores. Details on the specifics of the stores are not available yet, but Microsoft did hire a 25 year Wal-Mart veteran to lead this initiative. Talk about playing right into the Apple television commercial stereotypes! Its hard to tear apart the concept without knowing the specifics, but with the exception of Apple, when has a manufacturer been truly successful with a direct retail model? Secondly, from a perception standpoint, we are talking about Microsoft products and a Wal-Mart retail mind a the helm - does anything about that combination say "positive customer experience"?

I'm sure I'll be touching on these two concepts later on as more information becomes available and they roll out. In the meantime, if you know of any bad business ideas that have recently surfaced, let me know.