What trait is found in the best online companies?
The best online companies solve offline problems, not online ones.
Yesterday I spent the afternoon in downtown LA–specifically in the diamond district… I’ve learned a lot since getting engaged. No one told me the engagement ring was only part one of two. Who invented wedding bands? And for what purpose? I’m postulating that jewelers invented them long ago to suck more money out of a man’s pocket… But I digress.
Anyways, Laura (fiance) and I had some time to kill in between sizing rings. So we decided to wander around in search of a lunch spot. For about ten minutes we ventured down foreign streets crowded with McDonalds, Tacqueria’s, KFC’s and Carls Jr’s. We decided to pass on those options and continue our search.
Side note: for anyone that’s been to downtown LA, it’s not a place you want to wander around in.
Anyways, we ended up in an alley that Tony Soprano himself wouldn’t dare explore. At this time, I suddenly remembered, “Yelp.” So in the discreetest manner possible, I pulled out my iPhone and brought up Yelp. We quickly found a popular lunch spot 0.2 miles from us. It had over 120 reviews, with virtually all of them resulting in 5 stars.
The place was called, “Lost Souls Cafe.” It boasted a trendy, veganish style. The walls hung with abstract, radical art. The food was amazing; the atmosphere was relaxing. Even though we’re both meatatarians, we loved it.
Yelp not only resulted in an enjoyable day, but also potentially got us off the evening news.
So often I forget about all the incredible problem-solving web products available. Why? The primary reason revolves around the fact that non-critical applications soak up mind space, oftentimes resulting in the “crowding out” of useful ones. When I’m away from my laptop, I usually forget about useful web products. It’s easy to forget with all the clutter on the web. Additionally, when I discover a nifty website/app on my laptop, I associate it as being useful when I’m on my laptop.
I’ve found that the most promising social media products are ones that support your life, not ones that attempt to be life.
Again, the best online products are ones that solve offline problems, not online ones.
Let’s look at ones that solve online problems (listed below is the companies name and the problems it proposes to solve):
- tweetreplies.com – Have your @replies send directly to your email in real time, the emails are sent out every 10 minutes.
- twtpoll.com – Create simple survey/poll in a snap. Nifty!
- twtvite.com – Send quick invite for your event.
- Tweetvisor.com – Twitter dashboard for real-time updates about favorite topics, news and tweets.
- WatchThatPage – is a new service that fulfills one specific aim, namely letting users remain fully posted on updates as regards their favorite websites and online destinations.
- Floc: Let’s you connect with online friends
- Delicious: Let’s you organize online websites
- Alltop: Let’s locate online websites by category
- Plus 1000′s more (check out KillerStartups)
Ones that solve offline problems:
- Meetup.com: Provides information for specific interest groups by area (Fred Wilson spotted a winner in this one)
- Craigslist: Provides a marketplace to sell your offline items
- Ebay: Online auction site to sell your offline items
- Yelp: Online reviews for what’s great in your area (restaurants, dentists, bars, etc.)
- Wikipedia: Online encyclopedia that houses offline information
- Google (and most of their products): Information-focused tools that help you uncover the world
- 37 Signals: Online platform that assists you in solving offline problems
How do you tell if a company is solving an offline problem?
Ask yourself, “where did this problem stem from? Offline or online?”
You’ll know if a company is solving an offline product by the times of need. If you’re outside and you spot a problem (i.e. old books that have been stacked in your garage forever, you’re lost, you can’t find a good bar, you need more insight on a textbook’s explanation of a concept, etc). Those are all offline problems, and there are web apps that solve them.
It’s easy to say everything solves an offline problem. I can picture someone arguing: “Twithaurity allows me to rank other tweets, which saves me time because I don’t have to build it myself.”
But why do you want to rank “tweets,” and where did this stem from?
- Twitter.
Is twitter offline or online?
- Online.
Which then, means you’re solving an “online” problem.
Bottom line:
In the end, a company’s long-term sustainability is contingent upon it’s real-life applicability.
That said, can anyone point me in the direction of a website that gives away free diamond wedding bands? It will definitely help my offline problem…
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