So one of the greatest questions a marketer can ask is “How can I sell my product or service to another group of people? Can I tweak my offering somehow and create new value for a new (or existing) customer? Is there someone else who has a problem this could solve?” It demands the entrepreneur be flexible in order to allow his or her idea to take on new lives and create new revenue.
Here is an example of what I’m talking about. At ChopSaver, we have taken our same product and found a new way to sell it. ChopSaver is now being used for music program fundraisers. After one band was so successful raising money selling ChopSaver, we knew we could replicate the process for other bands. Sore, chapped lips? Problem solved with ChopSaver. Looking for a great, new band fundraising idea? Problem solved with ChopSaver. Same product, two marketing solutions. If you would like to learn more about it, you can check it out at www.chopsaver.com/fundraiser.
In other words, if you are too set in your ways or aren’t thinking creatively, you can leave a lot of money on the table. I am reminded of a situation I saw on TV a few years ago. Before the popular show Shark Tank came on, there was another show called American Inventor. People would come on the show and pitch their idea or product to a group of successful inventor/entrepreneurs with the hope that their product or idea would get funding or development assistance to get the on the market. I will always remember one gentleman who had a very simple idea for a large shovel. The handle was actually a large open tube so you could scoop up sand and easily slide the sand through the tube into sand bags during a flood. It was quicker than the traditional way and one person could do it. Everyone on the panel came up with other ways to use this very simple “technology” including a scoop for picking up toys and some other creative ideas. This man was so married to his first vision of the product he wouldn’t allow them to push it in other, perhaps even more lucrative, directions. His stubbornness lost him a chance to keep developing his product and it was a classic example of ego getting in the way of profit.