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Thanks Phil, Ankesh

Phil: Thanks for the links to the "old" Sowpub Thread. I have to take a look at those interviews regarding local search and PPC.

I like what you said in your post though.

"You just Never know what type of Products and Services some People might be willing to pay for"

Too many people, (myself included...sometimes) will not even make an offer or run a test on some of their ideas because they have the attitude/belief which says "Nobody would buy this"..."Trust Me I know because IIIII wouldn't buy this".

So they don't even try!

The potential cause could be "Intelligent Arrogance", "Ego" or just plain fear of making a mistake.

Those causes stop a lot of people from trying something or putting an offer out there because it's "TOO Silly"..."Nobody would ever buy this ".
Thus a sale could NEVER be made, and a business Never started.

But wait..

Then comes the HighSchool Drop Out that "others" consider "less intelligent" but he Tries Anything.

He has no hangups about "Looking Silly" or appearing stupid, because all his Academic life, this was what people may have said anyways.

He let's The Customer tell him whether his idea is valid or not, he does not Stop himself prematurely.

Oh well...His loss, their win.

Ankesh: Thanks for the example of the postal service over in India.
And fr.ee Cellphones by google?

What will they think of next.

It makes me wonder, after All of the examples from Phil, Yourself and Dien.

Almost any Expense item

Phone, Webhosting, Webpage, Car?, house? etc. etc. could be Sponsored or Subsidized by advertising of some kind.

For example:

There was a story on Oprah that I had recorded on VHS, of a couple that had their own Fairy Tale Wedding where they paid for nothing.

Everything was tactfully sponsored by businesses.

Everything from napkins, to catering was sponsored. With little discreet Tags or advertisements from the company that provided the service.

Now THAT is innovative.

Also noticed when I worked in the Hotels many ages ago, that famous celebrities or "The rich ie. Presidents of Banks" barely paid for anything.

The businesses were so happy just to be associated with them. The stars got TOP services for fr.ee.

Haircuts...Fr.ee

Meal bill...Comped

Limo Service...On the house

Tailor ... special pricing..."Just let me take your picture and put it up"

Hmmm...

I'm straying a little from the original google April Fools thread...

but it's certainly worth thinking about isn't it :->

Who wouldn't want fr.ee stuff LOL

Originally Posted by Ankesh

Thanks Duane.

A service like Gmail paper doesn't make sense because of the economics.

It would be very hard to get more than 10 cents per imprint of an ad. And it costs way way more than 10 cents to print a paper and then deliver it.

But there is a service started in India. Where you email your letter and send the postage + a small fee along. The co. then prints your email, adds postage to it and then mails it.

And the Indian postal service also offers this other thing: people can pay half price (I think its half price but not 100% sure) to send a postcard if its ok with them to show ads on the flip side of the postcards...

So ads are getting more and more intrusive. But I don't the economics are there to make posting completely free yet.

And rumour has it - that Google is working on making cell phone networks free - by sending ads to cell phones (I read that before April 1st - so am pretty sure it wasn't a spoof).

Google wants us to have free cell phones

http://itvibe.com/news/4128/

Originally Posted by bobmcalister

ads on cell phones...

thinking that could be a good thing ...wonder why it isnst done yet ?

[Ankesh]

Hi Duane,

Just read in the awsome springwise newsletter - there is a Japanese co. that allows students to make copies for free. They show ads on the flip side...

A good idea - especially for people staying near a University...

1. Buy a copy machine (on installments if you can't afford or maybe even leasing it.)

2. Approach a few restaurants, laundromats and other businesses that would want to reach students.

3. Allow free printing - but only on paper that have ads behind them.

4. Don't allow flyer printing (because when they are stuck on walls - no one will see the ads). Or bulk printing of 30-40 pages by the same person. Maybe having a limit like only first 10 print outs free would be a good idea. People can always print out more than 10 copies too - but they have to pay for it.

Hi Ankesh,

Thanks for pointing me towards the article. "Tadacopy" nice name of the company.

Funny enough we have a university just up the street.

For my university there are some other players to take into consideration.

Photocopying was a prime source of revenue for the Student Governments (I was on the Student Council "Academic Commissioner...Ohh the memories)

So "Free copies" service would have to be positioned as a revenue source for the Student Government.

To Gain the acceptance of the Student Council, ...it may or may not be wise to partner with the Various Business Admin/Entrepreneurial Groups.

When approaching the student groups, remember that they receive funding from the Student Council every year. There concerns may be that your profit making idea may reduce their FREE government funding in the following years budget. So they might NOT go forward with the profit making.

You would be surprised, on what NONSENSE these clubs would spend their money on to maintain the same level of funding for the previous year.

Just something to be aware of.

Another possible threat to the idea could come from another player. There is already an independent "copy" house for the staff and students to use. I believe it is privately owned. Free copies could cut into their profits. So your service would need to be positioned to them as an additional revenue source.

As you can see there are many players in the game that would need to be taken into consideration so you could position the offer to each and make it a true win/win/win/win for all the players in the game.

• Student Council/Government of the specific campus
• Private Copy Shop or Shops
• Business Admin/Entrepreneurial Students
• Government/Body of the University of the spe

Lots of layers and lots of players, so as with any endeavour market research is key.

Thanks again for the "heads up" on Springwise Ankesh, I hadn't read my copy in a while.

Duane

Originally Posted by Ankesh

Hi Duane,

Just read in the awsome springwise newsletter - there is a Japanese co. that allows students to make copies for free. They show ads on the flip side...

A good idea - especially for people staying near a University...

1. Buy a copy machine (on installments if you can't afford or maybe even leasing it.)

2. Approach a few restaurants, laundromats and other businesses that would want to reach students.

3. Allow free printing - but only on paper that have ads behind them.

4. Don't allow flyer printing (because when they are stuck on walls - no one will see the ads). Or bulk printing of 30-40 pages by the same person. Maybe having a limit like only first 10 print outs free would be a good idea. People can always print out more than 10 copies too - but they have to pay for it.