Video: So now you’ve overthrown the tyranny of reporters. Now what?

Posted by Matt on December 21, 2009  | 

Thanks to the folks at IGNITE Corvallis 2 for taking video and posting my presentation from the event.

So I submit to you my mini-manifesto for why I think the best times for journalism are right now:

Get a good deal? Let’s share the details

Posted by Matt on December 16, 2009  | 

I’ve been following the past couple of posts by finance blog Get Rich Slowly about how to negotiate better deals with service providers and more. The latest post outlines, in detail, how guest author G.E. Miller worked with Comcast to cut his bill through a couple of simple techniques.

It’s worth a read to learn from the conversation as well as the takeaway points Miller draws out. But Miller also cuts-and-pastes the complete chat conversation that he had with the customer service rep. What a cool idea.

Companies (ISPs, airlines, insurance, employers) have the upper hand in the marketplace because they limit information. For years, we’ve had to resort to hearsay and rumor about what other customers pay for goods and services in order to have enough information to negotiate anything.

Every time I get on an airplane, I wonder how different my ticket price was compared to others on the flight and why. When I call to order service from my cable company, I just want to know the best price so I can make an informed decision.

So what if everyone who negotiates with companies posted a transcript online for everyone to learn from? What if we post the price we pay for airline tickets and cable service, too? My guess is that this would at least shine light into the pricing structures for services and might head toward a flat rate structure. Simple is better.

Thoughts?

Using twitter for journalism panel

Posted by Matt on October 15, 2009  | 

I’m really pleased to be part of an interesting panel discussion happening this afternoon on using Twitter for journalism. The discussion was put together by University of Oregon Assistant Professor Tiffany Derville Gallicano (@derville) and Instructor Suzi Steffen (@SuziSteffen) and features a great range of folks.

Snail mail fail

Posted by Matt on June 29, 2009  | 

Here’s yet another another example of why monopolies are no good for customers.

My wife and I recently moved and prepared to change our address with the Post Office, a routine practice of getting a form, filling it out, and dropping it in the slot. Or so we thought.

Yeah, right.

I went online and discovered that an electronic change of address costs $1, charged to one’s credit card for verification. I find that dubious at best, since the old method sent a card to your house as verification; neither quick nor secure. The $2 fee isn’t a huge cost, but the previous process was free and it rankled me to have to pay for it now.

I work near the post office, so instead I strolled over one day to put ink to paper as I have for years.

These days, change of address forms in the lobby have all been replaced with flyers directing people online. I asked an employee about the old forms and he told me it was all done electronically now. “What about people without a computer?” I asked. He looked at me like I just slapped his mother.

Back at the computer, I found a loophole that allows customers to print the change of address and take it to the post office at no charge.

I went back to the post office to deliver my printed forms and, when I commented that the post office seemed to be passing the cost of printing on to customers, a different employee said they had plenty of the old forms, but were, “instructed to hide them behind the counter like pornography.”

Crazy.

On the last day in our apartment, I ran into the mail carrier and asked him why we were still getting mail there, not getting mail at our new address and had never received a confirmation of the change. This change was all news to him and — surprise — handed me one of the old forms to fill out. Apparently, my home-printed forms had hit the circular file.

So I begrudgingly paid the dollar (actually two — one each for Kristi and I — because previous efforts to change our address as a “family” ended up with us getting junk mail addressed to my parents. More fail.) and waited for mail at the new address.

Ultimately, we lodged a complaint with the postal service for poor performance and for taking our money for nothing.

The post office in Salem called mere days after the complaint was filed to say they were contacting the corvallis office and that we should hear from them in a day or two. Almost a month later, Kristi gets a call.

It gets worse.

Apparently, the caller had a checklist of questions to answer and just wanted yes or no answers. When Kristi was trying to explain what had happened, he asked her “Do you think you can be quiet long enough for me to complete a sentence?”

Seriously.

Now we’re apparently going to get a form to fill out and return in order to be refunded our $2.

This whole thing has cost us and the post office time and money, not to mention the bad taste from having to deal with and be insulted by the bureaucracy of this antiquated and insulated monopoly.

So, to companies considering making a switch to an online process:

• Don’t lie about it.
• If you’re a monopoly, you still need to make arrangements for people who don’t want to do it your way. Deal with it.
• If you’re in a serious deficit, you can’t stand to be alienating customers.
• A customer service note: when you’re trying to make amends, don’t be an asshole.

Lessons from Leatherman

Posted by Matt on April 17, 2008  | 

I had a chance to hear Tim Leatherman, inventor of the multi-tool today (yes there is a guy named Leatherman). He was featured at Speakerlunch a monthly pep-talk for entrepreneurs put on by a local guy in Corvallis.

I came away with a couple of entrepreneurial lessons to consider that I wanted to share:

• 
• Leatherman had his moment of insight on a European vacation. His Scout knife wasn’t hacking it for repairs on his $300 Fiat 600, so he jotted down a quick note, “Put a pair of pliers on a pocketknife.” Lesson: Carry a notepad everywhere to capture ideas. Even on vacation.
• Once he’d created a working prototype (after three years of cardboard, wood and metal models) he took the thing to knife and tool makers. Knife makers wasn’t interested because the thing wasn’t a knife. Tool makers called it a gadget. No thanks. Lesson: Sometimes the industry best positioned to capitalize on a good idea can’t tell one when they see it.
• That prototype looks a lot different from the first PST (Personal Survival Tool). It’s got two pair of pliers mounted to the top and a bunch of other stuff. He also was asking $40 wholesale, which meant retailers would have to sell it for $80. Buyers for mail order house Early Winters took him under their wing and suggested paring down the expensive multiple pliers and scissors. Final price: $24 wholesale. Leatherman was selling a million in 10 years. Lesson: Sometimes paring your idea down to the basics is what people want. Bells and whistles just get in the way and boost the price to unmanageable levels.
• Once Leatherman got his business rolling, he farmed out some of the knife blade tempering to Portland neighbor knifemaker Gerber (who was the first to turn him down years before). Gerber execs realized exactly how many blades they were subcontracting and learned just how big of a business the multi-tool market had become. They engineered their own tool and became Leatherman’s first prime competitor. Lesson: Be careful who you partner with. Even if you’re the only game in town, it’s a temporary condition.

By the way, Leatherman carries two of his tools at all times: the Charge and the Squirt on his keychain. Are you surprised that the inventor of the American version of the Swiss Army knife wouldn’t be prepared?