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Internet Marketing's Secret Triptych
Can't tell you how long these three ideas have been sitting in front of me. I've written recent posts about how everyone needs a store and why e-commerce is stronger with crowdfunding than alone.

After a barely articulate interview with our local paper, the Raleigh News and Observer, where I succeed at saying what Internet marketing isn't I wanted to think HARD about what it is.

Turns out I've been close for a while. Combining these three ideas into the Internet Marketing Triptych creates the missing view. Any online marketing team who combines cause, crowds and cash will rule their business vertical.

From the official site: "Vourno.com provides journalists (Vournos) with the tools to raise capital for the creation and production of quality, newsworthy content and gives the public (Pubs) the ability to directly fund, share, watch and rate those stories."

Successfully funded projects are produced and premiered on the Vourno online network.

Here's how it works:

1. Video journalists (“vournos”) propose a video story they want to create (“Video is where everybody’s going,” Verdirame said).

2. Members of the public (“pubs”) browse the stories they want to fund and help publish it by donating. They can also pitch their own stories they want to see published for a vourno to pick up.

3. Vournos gather enough funds from pubs to pay for their salary, equipment, travel expenses and any extra team members they may need (editor, videographer, etc.)

4. The vourno gets a certain amount of time to complete the story and publish it on Vourno’s website for all to watch and share for a week before selling it elsewhere.

5. More popular, original and in-depth reporting will get more play on the website, and more sharing means more revenue through advertising — which eventually will be shared by vournos and pubs.

(Source: Zach C. Cohen - Idealab)

Find out more: https://www.vourno.com/

How it works:

https://www.vourno.com/vournos-how-it-works

https://www.vourno.com/pubs-how-it-works

We also pride ourselves in offering lots of "extras" that are exclusive to this club. We work with many local manufacturers and also have a window treatment specialist, heating/cooling and plumbing specialist, and window and door reps on site so that you can get specific recommendations from the experts.

Interesting is the notion of crowdfunding as a new marketing channel

It's great to see a crowdfunding (crowdsource funding) site for Education! Have a look and see if your education or training activities might benefit from such funding or at least the exposure to this community online.

Interesting idea!

The Genius of the Pebble Watch Kickstarter Campaign
No one told the Pebble watch team they couldn't mashup distribution, pricing, marketing, sales and funding all in one brilliantly executed campaign. The team didn't have the "curse of knowledge". They didn't know how the game is normally played and that is really good.

Their lack of knowledge meant the Pebble watch team turned to Kickstarter to solve problems no one ever thought to solve via a "crowdfunding" platform. My ScentTrail Marketing post notes how getting distributors to come to you is brilliant.

Combine solving distribution with Pebble's amazing "create your own customized Pebble", an idea that puts the celebrity endorsement game on its head bedcause they fought to give Pebble $1200 each, and you get sheer marketing genius.

There is so much genius to go around here every Internet marketing team should study how Pebble solved traditional problems any startup faces with a single stroke of genius and OPP (Other People's Platforms).

I bet you lunch; your team will be using OPP in a similar way inside of two years.

Everyone is wondering if Apple will be releasing a watch.  They should  be checking out Pebble.  This pebble will be making ripples in the tech pond.  Great strategy!