If you have never seen the iPad 2 you would immediately wonder what the big deal is over the new iPad, until you take a look at the display. The Retina display plays a large role in enhancing one’s experience using the new iPad. It has a million more pixels than an HDTV, so you can expect freakishly clear and vibrant photos (I was really impressed with the display and tried to capture it with my camera, but that didn’t work out so well…). The 5 megapixel iSight camera is quite impressive compared to some of the Android tablets that I have tested.

Now I know people will go on and on about the display, but the iPad is more than just a pretty face. It has not only raised the bar with the display, but uses their new A5X dual core processing chip. I’m sure you are wondering with the improved resolution, ability to operate more programs and graphics what is this going to do to my battery life, but you have nothing to fear. Although I did not get 10 hours of battery life, nine is nothing to sneeze at either. I know there are debates about the iPad2 having a better battery life, but I wouldn’t let that detail deter me from checking out the new iPad.

I’m always on the go and being the huge multi-tasker that I am, I get a lot of work done on the road. My tablet experience was even more enjoyable by being able to take advantage of Verizon’s fast and reliable network. Having tested the new iPad and Android tablets I wouldn’t mind having another glass of Apple.

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Four years ago I jumped into the blogging arena to share marketing information with individuals seeking to elevate their business. Although I have enjoyed sharing this information with you, I am taking a hiatus from blogging here in order to further develop a new project I started back in July called StarChiLife.

I have always been the go-to person for fun events, places to go, websites, anything technology related and beauty products, so I finally took my family and friends advice and started this site back in July. In addition to these topics, I will also share some rants and raves about business and life. This site will definitely simplify my life (I was failing miserably at maintaining two blogs) while sharing the wealth with others.

If you have a product or website that falls within the topics that I cover, please feel free to contact me here (I am in the process of redesigning this site). In the meantime, please be sure to enjoy my favorite list of websites and apps that I have found to be extremely beneficial this year and I believe that you will too:

Business

Zoho—What can I say about this site? You can singlehandedly run your entire business through this site via their business project apps and integrates with Google Apps.

SugarSync—Great place to automatically back up your files. This site enables you to access and sync files across multiple computers and your phone.

ZumoCast—This app will enable you to access your PC files on your phone (looks just like your desktop).

Evernote—This is a fantastic site to that saves all of your ideas, favorite webpages (be sure to download the Google Chrome Clipper extension), and images (love, love, love the feature that enables you search for text in your pictures). You have the ability to access your notes from your phone.

Skitch for Evernote—Write on your phone, computer or tablet screen using your finger or cursor like a pen.

Tungle— This site enables you to easily share your schedule with others. This definitely comes in handy when you are trying to schedule a call with others outside of your time zone.

Advanced Task Killer—Manage your apps without sacrificing your battery life.

Gdocs—Great app for those who use Google Docs over Microsoft Word.

Mint—Connects to your bank and credit cards to help you keep track of what you are spending.

Prey—Install this on your computer. In the event that your laptop ever gets stolen you can track your laptop down using GPS.

Travel

Tripit—If you are a bargain hunter like me, then you are sure to book various parts of your trip on a variety of sites. Wouldn’t it be nice to have everything in one location? Tripit to the rescue! This site turns all of your trip information into a master travel itinerary that you can access from your phone (you can even add maps or book a restaurant reservation from the itinerary).

Contact Management

Gist—Another great site for keeping track of your contacts.

Bump You can set your phone up to share specific information and if someone else has an Android or iPhone. Open up this app and ‘bump’ phones and then you both will have each other’s info.

Blogging

Visibli—You are able to brand the content that you share on social networking sites. This site can provide you in-depth analysis on what your followers are interested in so you can share more of that category (i.e. business, fashion, etc.), optimal times to tweet, etc.

Buffer—Check out the benefits of Buffer here.

Hootsuite—I enjoy being able to schedule messages, view my analytics and monitor more than one profile across various social networks.

Dlvr.it—If you are looking for a great site to automatically publish your blog post, then look no further. Dlvr.it is also an awesome way to share stories in your Google reader without overwhelming people due to the ability to customize the frequency and timing of posts.

Foursquare—Check into various places and you will oftentimes receive special discounts based on how often you frequent a location.

Social Networking Sites

I’m sure we all know about Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+, but here are some new sites to consider adding to your list. I can hear the groans, but trust me these sites are worth your time.

Pinterest—A pinboard that allows you to easily share images that you find online. You can spend hours on this site. I know from experience…

LiveOn—This is the ultimate scrapbook. Find out why here.

Phone/Video Calls

Skype—You can make free voice and video calls to other Skype users. In addition, you can make and receive cheap land and mobile calls from non-Skype users.

Google Voice—You get a free number that can ring to multiple places and enables you to access your voicemail and text via email. It also enables you to have your voicemails transcribed to you via email (in the event that you don’t or are unable to listen to the message).

Screenr–If you want to make a free screencast video without all the hassle, then Screenr is the site for you. I like it better than Jing because you don’t have to download anything or go through the hassle of resizing what you want your screen to capture. It’s incredibly easy to share your videos on social networking sites, but keep in mind that there currently isn’t an ability to make your videos private.

Music/Video

Spotify—A music lover’s paradise. Enough said.

Shazam—Not sure what song is playing and want to know? Hold the phone close to the speakers and the app will tell you. This can also be used if you want to share your music with friends.

CamScanner—Enables you to scan documents or pictures and save them as an image or document.

Instagram—This app has not made it to the Android yet, but it is extremely popular. It is a camera app that will make the photos you take look very professional. The only app that the Droid has that comes close to this at the moment is FXCamera.

Misc

Keyring Reward Cards—Access all of your loyalty card information from one place.

What are some of your favorite websites and apps? Don’t keep them to yourself. Share the wealth!

***I realized after I posted that I forgot one of my most favorite websites: Echosign-This site allows you to digitally sign contracts via email. An absolute MUST have for anyone in business.***

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. 16GB

I have a serious case of tablet envy and it seems as if the universe is taunting me because I don’t have one. I love tablets because they are small enough to fit in my purse and they would allow me to be productive anywhere. Needless to say, I want one!  Especially, since I had the pleasure of testing the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 16GB using the Verizon Wireless 4G network.

The first thing that impressed me was the appearance of the Galaxy Tab. It is sleek and compact. It weighs in at 1.25lbs, with a 10.1 inch HD touchscreen that’s sure to impress you. Upon using the Samsung Galaxy Tab, you are immediately greeted with a high pixel resolution that enables images to appear incredibly vibrant. The front and rear facing cameras produce high quality pictures that enable you to view your content from a variety of angles (wide in addition to vertical).

Because the Samsung Galaxy is an Android tablet, it supports Google mobile services. And, it also has an NVIDIA Tegra2 dual core processor. It amazes me how something so small could make me feel like I was working on a laptop. In order to really get to work, I didn’t have to put away my tablet and bring out my laptop. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 allows me to perform with ease the same functions (such as reading and editing documents) that I would on my laptop (especially when you use the keyboard dock). Having access to a variety of apps on the Android marketplace definitely helps increase your ability to be productive (my favorite app is Zumocast).

Samsung Galaxy Tab with Case

Although there are numerous reasons why I like this tablet, two things I wish I could change are the lack of connectivity and the $529.99 price tag. This tablet is pretty sweet so you can imagine my surprise when I went looking for a USB, SD or HDM
ports and didn’t find one. It’s much easier to access content off of a flash drive rather than relying on email or an app. Plus, if I’m going to pay this price I expect it to have the exact same capabilities as a laptop which means that I need a variety of ways to access my content. Don’t let the aforementioned discourage you because this is a great tablet. I truly hope Santa leaves me one underneath the tree.

The Value Innovation Approach has numerous steps that must be adhered to in order to successfully execute this method.  I will explain these steps in detail by using the real life scenario of the Metra train system.  Metra is experiencing a decline in train riders due to commuters using other forms of transportation to get to Chicago.  I have outlined the following steps Metra must go through in order to obtain the goal of increasing the number of their riders.

Step 1:  Select two high ranking Market segments

This step is imperative in the Value Innovation Approach because you must know whom you are pitching your product or service to in order to experience success.  You can accomplish this by focusing on the substitutes within an industry.  For example, in Metra’s situation two high-ranking market segments (excluding the train system) would be buses or cars.  Once segments have been chosen, conduct a focus group of thirty people for each segment (ex 30 bus commuters and 30 car commuters).

Step 2:  Mapping preferences via the Value Curve

Organizations must map out all of the preferences as to why consumers use one substitute over that organization’s product or service by the Value Curve.  The value curve maps out consumers preferences, in this instance, Metra must learn why commuters choose the particular method of transportation that they use to get to Chicago.  The following is an example of how the Value Curve would look for buses and trains (my apologies about the poor quality regarding the below picture):

Substitute Methods of Transportation to Chicago

Step 3:  Create a value curve

Look closely at how high consumers rank the preferences.  The map indicates how important a particular preference is in consumers’ decision to use substitute product(s) or service.  The substitute chart example above demonstrates the importance of a particular preference in deciding to use a bus or car as their means for transportation.

One can observe from the above chart that certain preferences such as price, punctuality, and convenience (multiple train times) rank high in the minds of commuters.  However, preferences such as route connections, hygiene, comfort, and parking rank low.  Therefore, Metra needs to focus on the preferences commuters desire the most.  They want to pay a low price to arrive to Chicago on time and have the option of multiple train times to do so.  As a result, Metra can reduce the number of parking lots, and pack in more people on the trains sense people do not care as much about comfort.  Once commonalities among preferences have been recognized, organizations must then create a new Value Curve.  The new Value Curve will look like the following:

Methods of Transportation

Metra’s goal is to enhance those preferences that are most desired by consumers (ex. price, travel time, etc) and reduce unnecessary spending.

Conclusion

The VIA is best to implement when a company is “hurting” which is most often in a mature market.  However, companies must believe that they can shape industries and their market strategies are not predetermined based on their competition.  Organizations have everything to gain in implementing the VIA and everything to loose if they choose to not to implement this technique.

How can you grab the attention of your audience?

It’s getting increasingly more difficult for companies to stand out from the crowd. In order for a company to experience continued success, they must find a way to create new market space.  One way a company can accomplish this feat is via the Value Innovation Approach (VIA). Today’s post will cover what the VIA method entails while the next post will cover how to execute the VIA.

What is the Value Innovation Approach?

The VIA is a method that allows organizations to create new market space by focusing on the desire of consumers that are not offered by other organizations.  Organizations conduct a focus group of 30 people for two different market segments and then combine the preferences of the market segments.  Preferences that rank high are used to create or enhance existing features of a product or service, while low ranking preferences will be used to reduce or eliminate features.  By focusing on preferences that consumers desire and eliminating or reducing preferences that are not imperative to consumers allows organizations to experience revenue increases while simultaneously creating market space.

Organizations interested in applying the VIA must do so in a mature market.  Meaning the market looks like the example below:

• Companies – Increase in companies that are in the market
• Features- Companies are creating more features in attempts to differentiate themselves while their costs are increasing in attempts to keep up with their competitors
• Advertising- Organizations must advertise in order to perpetuate brand recognition
• Pricing freedom-Prices in the industry is stagnant.

The VIA technique allows organizations to differentiate themselves from the industry by inventing or enhancing innovative methods to please consumers.

Assumptions of the Value Innovation Approach

The VIA operates under the following three assumptions:

• Do not focus on competitors
• Do not be constrained by existing assets and capabilities
• Focus on the commonalities

Do not focus on competitors

In order to create new market space you cannot think like your competition.  You must believe that they can shape the industry instead of adhering to the traditional standards of having the industry determine your market strategy.  Often times other organizations will rely on traditional marketing methods to sell their products or services.  Organizations will choose their target market, which simultaneously determines their competition.  The organization and competitors will then attempt to differentiate their product by adding more features while the price for the product or service drops.  Therefore, organizations’ prices are decreasing while costs are increasing.  When companies are operating under these conditions they are caught in a vicious cycle and only by implementing the VIA can remove organizations from this losing situation.

Do not be constrained by existing assets and capabilities                                                                                                                    

Many organizations base their strategies on what equipment, service, etc. they have available to them.  This drastically limits organizations’ abilities to be creative because they are confining the organization into a box that they will never get out of unless they are allowed to freely express their ideas.  Therefore, organizations must pretend that they are just beginning their business.  This enhances the opportunity of coming up with original ideas which otherwise might not have been presented.

Focus on commonalities

It is easier to focus on what consumers want instead of what they do not.  By focusing on commonalities, organizations save money by eliminating non-essential preferences while simultaneously pleasing consumers by elevating the performance or creating new desired preferences.

Once you feel comfortable accepting the concept and assumptions, then you are ready to execute your VIA. Be sure to check back for our next post in how to implement the VIA. What is your approach to creating new market space?