A Better Mousetrap
How many times have you encountered the phrase “a better mousetrap”? You
may have used it yourself, or been told to go and build one. As entrepreneurs
we’re always looking for that next golden product, the next big thing;
basically a better mousetrap.
Quite a few years ago, a very smart man realized that in many ways we
have already invented most things that we’re capable of inventing, but that
doesn’t mean to say these inventions are perfect, far from it in fact, her
realized that there were and are fortunes to be made not in developing new
never before seen products but in taking an existing product or concept and
perfecting it.
I am of course referring to Steve Jobs (may he rest in peace) and the
iPhone. Mobile phones and indeed smartphones had existed for years before the
iPhone stormed the world in 2007. In its first iteration, it was far from
perfect when compared to some of the other smartphones on the market at the
time. But what Steve Jobs achieved was perfect packaging, perfect marketing. He
looked at the most popular features on smartphones at the time and took those
features and tweaked them, made them easier to use for the masses, packaged it
all up in an easy to use interface and premium hardware (and materials) and
created a product that everyone wanted.
When we talk about smartphones now, you can truly say that Apple created
a better mousetrap conceptually, but it wasn’t and isn’t perfect, it still has
issues even today over ten years later. But it still has the marketing and
luxury feel that keep us going back for the new versions time and time again.
As entrepreneurs we tend to do the same, we tend to stick to what we
know, our comfort zones. We may try and push the envelope, but we’ll often stay
within an industry we know, or a product set we’re comfortable with. That’s all
well and good and will get you half way to the success you seek, but look at it
this way, in all these things the potential markets are split 50/50 (sometimes
more if there are more players in the market) and playing only to your
strengths will only ever get you that particular potential percentage market
share.
Do you want 100% of potential Pepsi market? Or would you like 75% of the
whole cola Samsung have achieved something similar with their Galaxy range but
while in some markets those products sell better, they are certainly now as
well marketed as their Apple rivals.
In our world as online marketeers we’re always looking at for the next
big hit, we often forget that if we’ve been running for a while, we could have
a vast back catalogue of past products, that might have a new lease of life if
given “the better mousetrap” treatment. Could your latest product be a lynchpin
to drive interest to your back-catalogue? Do you have old products that still
have a lot of worth and life left in them and actually just need a fresh coat
of paint to make them useful and pertinent in the marketplace once more?
It’s not always about having the newest product or pushing the
boundaries and doing something that no one has done before, sometimes the way
to get noticed is to simply perfect an existing product that hadn’t quite
reached its stride yet.? After you’ve read this: stop, look at what you are
doing now, and seriously look at how (by making some small changes, taking a
few steps out of your comfort zone), you could get some of those customers you
had previously been denied by only looking at half the equation.
If you’re a business that just sells bolts, you’ll only ever get half
the market, start selling nuts too and see what happens.
To Your Online Success
Steven Morton
Founder-Marketing Mastermind Tips
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