Informational products have always been an interesting beast, there is certainly value in information as Google has completely solidified, but what is it worth and who should actually buy it? That is a tough question to answer, but it is a question that so many so eager to fulfill.

Why they suck

We all need information. That much is fact, but the question is not “do we need it” but rather “who is best to give us this information?”. Often times we buy from people we have heard of, not people who are actually the authorities in any given field. This is the same reason that Tiger Woods is paid millions to represent Buick, when we all know that Tiger Woods is not the best mechanic on the face of the earth (among other things). While this is not always the case, it seems that far too frequently the people who are least qualified to be creating and promoting an information product are the leaders in the pack.

Who makes money

Importantly, the often is not the person who ends up buying the product to fulfill a need they think is currently unmet. Many of these products prey demographics who shouldn’t be shelling out the $50, $500 or $5,000 to “get started” when they could instead be paying off Credit Cards, Loans and other things that are absolutely eating them alive. So many times it seems that informational products pitch “How To’s” based on theory, models that no longer work or BOTH. So who really makes money off of these products? It’s often times JUST the information product producer who leaves little value on the table that can be quantified by customer.

Apologies

Here is where I directly apologize to you and the community as a whole. Not because I have created an information product and charged for it (I haven’t), not because I have made money from informational products (I have..), but mainly because I have subjected my audience to the same flavor of bullshit that has been floating around in the performance marketing industry for the past6 months more than ever. I am sorry for sharing information products that made me money because now I feel like I have done a disservice to you.

From here on out, I promise to more heavily screen the people and offers that I connect you to and make sure that the value is easily quantifiable for YOU before wasting your time talking about it. I hope that you can forgive me for buying into the hype a little bit, I just wanted to set things straight.

You may or may not have heard that Twitter is rolling out their own official “Tweet” button for content sites, among others, to use for their audience to publish their content into the Twitter stream. A move like this from Twitter is important because it directly effects the many companies that publish Retweet type buttons to blogs etc in order to track and aggregate trending articles across a variety of niches. TweetMeme, arguably the largest of these aggregators isn’t being completely left out in the cold though since Twitter has paid to use some of TweetMeme’s backend code to facilitate this new feature.

Brand or Platform?

The most interesting part of this new product to me however, is figuring out whether or not this product is more about platform or brand control. The investors in Twitter have been saying for over a year that Twitter application developers need to “stop filling holes”. By that they are referring to the innovation coming out of many developer hot beds to fix the obvious gaps within the Twitter ecosystem. While you might think Twitter would appreciate all this innovation from its development community that made Twitter so popular to start with, but in fact Twitter has been gradually tearing apart the development community in order to deliver an end to end experience that consumers love.

This is in part motivated by control influences, but I feel that this is a big play by Twitter to control their brand across the web. If you have been noticing or not, Twitter has been implementing a refreshed sense of design across every product within their portfolio to deliver a clean and simple experience regardless of what platform you are using. This new button is no different in that the design, delivery and aggregration is now all under the control of Twitter itself instead of a 3rd party.

What are your thoughts? Do you think Twitter is being fair with gradually consuming each outlet of their data to control the user experience, or should 3rd parties be encouraged to compete against Twitter itself to add features and usability?

Today on TWiT Live, Digg founder and overall Angel investor Kevin Rose talked about a number of interesting things. One of those key things however was a sneak preview of long awaited and anticipated fourth version of Digg.com; which frankly is quite cool but the real question is how will the audience react? Only a few short years ago, this type of revision would have blown the doors off of the competition, but now it feels like more of a catch up release rather than a serious innovation cycle. Don’t get me wrong, the updated Digg is incredibly clean and just feels polished. The love for Apple, and admiration for their design ability by Kevin Rose  is far from hidden in this release; but much like the release of iOS4 this release of Digg feels stunning yet underwhelming at the same time.

The Vision(ary)

If you own an Android based phone, or have been using the Internet since before 2007, then there is a high likelihood that you have heard about Kevin Rose somewhere. Kevin received much of his press attention after bolstering Digg out of the gate with democratizing news for a tech and web based audience. The idea was simple, elegant for the time and solved an inevitable pain in the marketplace of reading the really good off-beat news that just wouldn’t be on the home page of CNN or similar news sources. Kevin quickly became entrenched with other successful ventures such as Revision3 (which just celebrated its 5th birthday a few days ago) through popular shows such as Diggnation and others. He also played his cards with Angel Investing to help get new and exciting start-ups into a (hopefully) stable development cycle and keep pushing innovation forward for the tech industry as a whole. Now, however, Kevin has picked up the reins once again as the CEO of Digg to really focus on the value proposition, positioning and ways to keep his once game changing service relevant for the world of Facebook and Twitter.

The Positioning Statement

How do people share things today? That is probably one of the first questions that Kevin asked himself as he took a look at why users chose to come to Digg and share stories, view new content and explore categories that interested them. He recognized why there is an addicting quality to the Facebook Newsfeed, realized the entrenchment that Facebook has and that there are areas of improvement as to how people consume content, not just statuses. Facebook uses an algorithim to decide how many people ultimately see your posted content based on projected engagement levels, as opposed to allowing all content to be pushed to people who essentially “opt-in” to see what you have to say.

Twitter on the other hand is able to avoid this lack of visibility seen inside of the Facebook ecosystem because users who you follow have all of their content pushed into your feed. However, the issue with this model, according to Rose is that “You may be interested in the articles of Tony Hawk.. but not that he just dropped his kids off at school”. The idea of authority figures within interest categories is being sought out, but Digg v4 hopes to solve the clutter of Twitter yet still have more promised visibility to your follows than Facebook.

Taming the Social Graph

In 2007 at the Facebook F8 conference, Mark Zuckerberg would not stop talking about the “Social Graph” which is now unfortunately one of the most overused buzz words today. However, the idea of a network effect through the people you know and who follow you may never have the same value proposition as what Kevin is proposing with the new Digg v4. The idea that quality content has the opportunity to surface within interest categories gives it a much needed enhancement for the ability to spread. This means you are going to see not only higher targeted content, but more of it; and both of these factors lead to a better internet experience.

So while Digg is going to have to work in order to please their current audience as well as be inviting to new “average” users (read: not hordes of geeky males), I think that the upcoming version of Digg fills a very real need within the marketplace. Additionally I think they are doing it in a way that truly comes with differentiators that matter to users when comparing the service to Twitter and Facebook (as well as Buzz or Wave if you actually use those services). The fact that services now have to clearly state their mission and work extremely efficiently to deliver value, is a strong indicator of the competitive times. Gone are the days of the “do everything” start-up approach that had worked so well for many, including Kevin Rose. Instead we are seeing a shift to niche level services and aggregation tools that allow each component of the web to be the best it can possibly be, and in the end, the consumer wins.

While some lucky bastards people have been getting their iPhone 4 early thanks to a FedEx slip-up, the rest of the United States will be getting their new iPhones tomorrow (myself included). But what is most interesting about this new iPhone launch is that is going to finally popularize a high quality camera in consumer devices. Yes, other phones have had high-end camera components.. and yes, Flip HD cams have been an affordable option for many to start producing 720p video clips for YouTube. However, one of the single best selling hand held cameras continues to be the Apple iPhone.

So, you understand why I mentioned Steve Jobs in the title (CEO & Co-Founder of Apple); but what the hell does Gary Vaynerchuk have to do with a hardware release? Gary’s first book “Crush It!”, a #2 NYT best-seller, talks about the paradigm shift we are seeing in our culture thanks to technology. The new and vastly affordable technology that allows us to connect is also changing the way we consume. Where do you watch your news clips now? Likely online if you are reading this blog, and having a quality 720p camera in your pocket and on a device that can directly upload to YouTube is MASSIVE for the Internet as a platform. As Steve Jobs said when the Apple TV was introduced in 2007 (along the same timeline as the original iPhone) was that YouTube is great, but the consumer source devices were the biggest hold up in the platform for a great user experience.

Paradigm Shifts

As with nearly everything technology based, it feels like the rate of innovation is accelerating at a break neck speed. This has never been more true however than it is currently in the smart phone innovation cycle. We are getting faster chips, better screens and vastly better cameras. Google is outpacing everyone in the past 5-7 months though, ever since the introduction of Android 2.0 with the Motorla Droid. This new combination of feature rich, and capable handsets has helped throw fuel on the competitive fire and pushed every partner in the value chain produce better products at lower price. This is a huge win for consumers and software platform developers, nothing proves this more than the over 220,000 Apps for the iPhone App store at the time of this writing.

The consumer is now a creator, the developer is now an artist and every industry that has been stagnant for centuries (read: news, media etc) is being turned upside down. The people in control of those industries hate it because they are afraid of change, afraid of new models, and afraid of letting consumers have the collective power they have always been on the brink of realizing. However, if these organizations do not realize that ‘resistance is futile’ i.e. RIAA & MPAA, and that consumers are ultimately in control but that we are a) willing to pay for great content & great services; as well as b) if these content & service providers don’t give the market what they want, the market simply navigates around the obstacles to consume how they want.

If these content and service organizations realized that on the flip-side of locking down their content and sticking to their old business models; that in fact going for affordable, mass consumption not only relates to higher revenues, more profit and better business than they might actually wake up to the shift that is already in full swing.

How do you see these new devices changing the way you create, consume or manipulate content? I for one, am very excited at the potential of these devices and can’t wait to get my paws on the new iPhone bright and early tomorrow!

An interesting side effect of the overall down position for the global market is that so many people are afraid to take risks, and therefore go with “sure things” that are pretty assured to bring in at least some level of return. The only problem with this is that when you go for sure things in content, business, products etc you often times only create a mediocre product as a result of trying to appeal to everyone.

Polarization is a GOOD thing.

Does your product/service really turn some people off? Great start. The best products and/or services in the world completely turn one subset of their potential audience off, but make another subset fall in love with the product. By doing this, you create loyal customers who covet your product and ultimately end up championing your product/service to others that would similarly find it of interest. A perfect example of this is the “Chelada” product that combines Bud Light (or Bud) with Clamato, I personally find this product absolutely HORRID. However, that being said a few people in our group that tried this product simply couldn’t get enough of it and made another trip back to the store in order to stock up for the weekend.

What if we had all found the Chelada as just “ok”? We certainly would not have taken the effort to go back and buy mass quantities of the product, and you can bet your house that they will be telling everyone they see about how amazing they find the drink. And while neither I, nor someone else in our group had any interest at all in ever drinking the product again the company will have a net positive gain through the devotion that the passionate customers bring to the table.

So the question is, how are you going to make your product polarize customers into loving or hating your product to ensure that those who DO use your product/service will be passionate about it, share it with others and become a lifetime customer?

If there is one thing Apple has been phenomenal at over the at last 3 to 4 years it has been anticipating the needs of the average consumer before they really understand that the need exists. Much like Starbucks did with a premium coffee experience, Apple has been able to take a market that was in a race to the bottom and instead of purely going for the lowest price of entry they decided to change the way we use technology through out our daily lives.

This is more significant than it first appears because what Apple is really doing here is catering to the human emotional needs of computing, and not purely the functional need and for technology that completely changes everything. By having such a strong push and obsession around content, experience and quality they are simultaneously hitting consumers from directions they didn’t even know existed. These emotional pulls not only help Apple sell impressive units at even more impressive margins, but they have raised the bar for consumer expectations to mind boggling heights. Have you seen the wireless data consumption of AT&T? 4932% growth over 12 quarters! That is INSANE for a company that was the largest wireless carrier during part of that time (however is currently eclipsed by Verzion due to VW’s aggressive acquisitions).

The same kind of massive shift in the way consumer interact with their devices, and additionally what they have come to expect from them was seen in the portable music player category which seemed to have the secret sauce for an ecosystem that generated a better, and more reliable experience than what users had at their disposal before. iPod + iTunes has certainly proved to be a winning combination that is still paying off to this day, granted through a much more expanded form than what was originally conceptualized I am sure.

So what’s next?

Steve Jobs has described the iPad as possibly being the “most important thing [he] has ever worked on”. Bold words coming from a man who has had a fair hand in turning the music industry upside down, but what makes this device so important to the Apple lineup and how will it shift the way we expect our devices to perform for us?

Near 100% reliability

While many would argue that devices with offerings such as Android provide a ‘superior’ experience because of their limitless functions and features that can be added at any point (Flash anyone?). However, while competition is fantastic and I strongly believe that every market segment needs bold innovation to push the boundaries in order to understand what works, for mass adoption to take place the devices need to provide a stable foundation that users can depend on to carry out their tasks. If this element is missing, all of the emotional bonuses that come along with the Apple ecosystem are quickly discounted.

Masked price point

This one is kind of tricky with Apple, especially for those who are not drinking the Kool aid because there is most certainly an upfront premium that has been put on Apple products and the accompanying culture, buying habits etc that come with living in an Apple/Mac world. What IS interesting however is how Apple has clearly hinted at the iPad as a “sign of things to come” (Jonathan Ive) and while at first this devices seems like an over-sized iPod Touch; it is really going after the entry computing market. Think about the type of accessories and ways that a user can interact with this device, consider its price point and then think about what kind of computing experience you can get elsewhere for the same dollar.

For $500-900 can you get an industry best (IPS) display? Multitouch? 10 hour batter life? What about a seamless experience between the content you truly care about and the ability to quickly access information that you need? The Google Chrome OS will be a very interesting challenger to this type of experience game changer but until they are both out in their second generation, it is anybodies guess.

Dead simple usability

One thing I always found interesting as I went through High School and I am not finishing up College throughout the “iPod Generation” is the big draw that people had through word of mouth marketing, and the perceived ease of use. One of the people that I really look up to is Gary Vaynerchuk due to his ability to capture the essence of what is driving the market and understand that the key fundamentals haven’t really changed, only the delivery. People were buying iPods for two very simple reasons.

1. They were extremely good at doing what they were built to do

2. Everybody else had them, so everyone already KNEW how to use it

When you combing those two factors you have a potent recipe for buying decisions to stem directly from word of mouth marketing, where even better yet prospective buyers were able to hold a “sample” product in their hands and experience the ecosystem before buying. The trial-ability for the Apple brand, ecosystem and value proposition was phenomenal.

Developer community

This is a huge competitive advantage that Apple has with their ecosystem right now, and ironically is something they were openly against at first and ever since opening up their doors they have been slammed ever harder for not being more open (regardless of the fact that being at least semi closed is what makes the user experience so amazing). What Apple really gets at this point though is that by taking an agency approach to 3rd party software development with a 30% cut from all App sales they are directly profiting off of the innovation, marketing and value that their community is coming up with.

This last part is what I really want to drive home as to why I am bullish on these entire product line and ecosystem: Apple is no longer in the passenger seat when it comes to understanding the pulse of the consumer and even being a few steps ahead. It took them a few hard punches in the early rounds of computing to polish what they have wanted to perfect all along; content and the user experience. With the introduction of the iPad and the realization that Apple is now a “mobile company”, the firm is very much firing on all cylinders regardless of what type of traction this first generation iPad produces.

Apple is notorious for discrete and sexy packaging that has drawn in buyers and changed our perception of the actual products inside. Apple does arguably make a quality product, but even if you disagree based on use of their devices your first impression is nearly almost always met with a “wow.. that looks cool”. It has even brought about videos of their product that are centered solely on the unboxing experience, which has since bled into other products but none garnish the number of views that Apple products do.

The sad part about the video above? It’s not even the fact that the guy opening the box is so taken back by the packaging, but the fact that this unboxing of a mouse has nearly 30k views! So what is the added value for Apple by putting more time and effort into a nifty package for this mouse? Think of all the people who sought out this video and then made a purchase (drives sales), talked about the mouse and it’s packaging (this blog post, discussions with friends) and even more importantly the customers perception of quality before ever actually using the device.

The consumer perception is everything when it comes to turning prospective customers into buyers and often times makes the difference between a products mediocre success and becoming an absolute start in the firms line up. So next time when you are putting together a physical product to add to your line, or creating a web service you need to remember that the presentation of the device is what does the selling. The quality of the product just continues your success… if no one ever buys it to start with it is hard for them to understand the quality.

This same principle is obviously applied to web development, if your website looks like crap but is rock solid; people are going to remember how it looked and be turned off without even realizing it. Having a clean web services that delivers on only a few key fundamentals is how you win the mind of consumers before they even consciously realize it. (Read more about the reptilian brain to find out about buying behaviors here and expect a follow up post this week)