Take Fiverr

FRESH IDEA: I recently participated in a team-building event for my agency.  One of the tasks each team needed to accomplish was a “skit” of sorts — it seemed everyone opted to create a video instead.  In any case…One of the teams had a mariachi band perform a song just for them, and captured it on video.  How they were able to do this was intriguing. No, they didn’t comb Mexican restaurants.  No, no one had amigos they contacted.  And no, they didn’t go into New York City looking for random talent.  Instead, they used the internet and a service called Fiverr.

Fiverr describes their site as “the world’s largest marketplace for small services starting at $5.”  These small services include categories such as Online Marketing (“I will write your Facebook marketing plan for $5”; “I will tweet your product to over 6,000 followers for $5,” for example) to Lifestyle (“I will give you my 10 tips for weight loss for $5”; “I will help you with your math homework for $5”).  And so, so many more.  My examples are only scratching the surface.  You could easily spend a whole lotta time, just for fun, browsing the offers.  You can become a seller, too, if you want to offer your services.  Apparently, the site isn’t new and it’s not small: It started in 2009.  It’s in the top 150 sites in the US.  And it’s in over 200 countries.  Wow!

Now besides giving you a fun site to look at, what’s interesting about Fiverr is that it’s part of a trend: Micro-Entrepreneurship.  Basically, as the economy has softened, self-motivated folks look to create their own income sources (hello, freelancers and start-ups and consultants).  And are using technology to make it all happen.  Fast Company had an article about this very topic this past spring.  They wrapped it into a rise in creativity, too: “What defines this new economy is that it’s built on the empowerment of individuals and the technology that enables this. It’s allowing individuals to create their own jobs. It’s a celebration of life and time, and a shift in perspective of money.” (Here’s where you can find this article, fyi: http://www.fastcoexist.com/1679903/the-rise-of-the-micro-entrepreneurship-economy).  Interestingly, according to a survey of Fiverr service providers, 42% are offering skills they also use in their daily jobs; and only 14% count on the income as their primary source.  So Fiverr seems to be a means of making money while offering up what you like to do in your spare time.

So kudos to my co-workers who supported the economy and micro-entrepreneurs!   How about you?  What would you offer for $5?!  Me, I’m giving the nuggets out for free here, so do put money in my tip jar, ‘k?!  TASTY TREND:  Social Local; More About the Economy; Small Business Business

Flippin’ Shiny & New

CRUNCHY NUGGETS:  I love a good “shiny object” when it comes to new and emerging media.  And such is the case when I just read about how Levi’s is using Flipboard in support of their new Go Forth campaign — with a mini digital catalog/ad inside of a Flipboard ad.  Now, I have Flipboard on my iPhone.  I downloaded at the prompting of a Content Marketing seminar speaker.  But to fully explain it to you, I had to go outside of my own usage and into the crunchy nugget digging.  Here are the basics:

It’s an app, it’s a magazine, it’s a content aggregator — Flipboard is a mobile app that brings you a personalized magazine to your device.  It pulls in content from your choice of topics — everything from news to tech to design to your own Facebook feed.  The user experience is cool as you literally flip through pages of your information, much like flipping through a printed piece.

Yes, but who’s using it, please — 20 million users!  And that’s up from 5 million in December last year.  Flipboard just celebrated their second year anniversary and honored it by publishing an infographic about themselves (I love a good infographic).  You can find it here — it gives more crunchy stats about usage habits: http://inside.flipboard.com/2012/08/28/flipboard-at-two-20-million-users-one-new-user-per-second/

So then how can a brand use this platform — Oh you are just so full of questions, aren’t you?!  There are Flipboard feeds of publications such as Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Details, Elle, Esquire, ESPN, Marie Claire, Glamour, and Fast Company.  I actually pulled this list from among the pubs Levi’s is using for their campaign. Ad prices range from $25,000 to $1 million, depending on the size and design of the campaign.  And there is no Flipboard ad sales force.  Rather, media types need to work with publications currently on Flipboard to secure placement.  Levi’s, by the way, uses the platform to not just create awareness for this new line and the campaign.  Rather, it’s also a commerce platform.

So…on your to-do list:  download Flipboard to your iPad or smartphone today.  Play around with it.  Customize it.  And then leave me your comments.  OK?  Thanks so much!  TASTY TREND: Socially Acceptable; Make It Your Own