Half-way Reflection

    In this class, I have had to develop many behaviors to keep up with the requirements for this course. There were many times I had to step out of my comfort zone and talk to complete strangers or had to look at a common choice or action I did in a completely different way. I have learned to be optimistic, assertive, and confident in this class. I had to find my inner creativity and inner business woman, what a journey that has been!
     There have been a couple times I felt like giving up, one of them being the "Free Money" assignment. I felt so uncomfortable and awkward walking right up to people and trying to offer them money. It wasn't the best experience, but I pushed myself to do it. No matter what the outcome would be, I would learn from it. That is the mindset I have been having for this class, to just push through no matter how different the assignment felt. I knew that I would learn from it later. I defiantly feel like I have developed a tenacious attitude over the past months. I would have to thank all the times I had to interview random people on the street to that. I have talked and interviewed so many people and learned so much from what they had to say. Sometimes I'm completely motivated and inspired by what people tell me.
    Three tips for students on developing tenacity:
1) Be confident and assertive while you interview people, and when people say your ideas are off, don't be upset, take the criticism and learn from it to create a great product!
2) Stay focused, keep organized, and don't miss out on anything just because you are afraid of it. That is where the best experiences come from and where you learn the most.
3) Be outgoing, take risks, and do everything to your best ability. Go all out, and maybe you'll be surprised in the end.

Reading Reflection

1) What I found most surprising from the reading was when the author said that the common demographic traits like sex, income levels, and age are no longer sufficient to develop a market strategy. Honestly, what else do you need to know that is important that will sell a product?
2) One part of the reading that was confusing to me was how segmentations are evaluated if every person is different and wants something that no other person wants. People are alike by definition, but they all think differently. At least I believe that.
3) If I were able to ask two questions to the author they would be what kind of technical details are there in ruling out segmentations and how switching segmentations could be beneficial in a company when a customer is uncertain of the product.
4)I think the author was wrong when he said that segmentations are a waste of time because it is everything when someone is trying to buy something and fit in. A company cannot spend enough time on this important part in marketing because it is the only way a person will buy something.

Free Money

For this assignment, I will go to a supermarket, and I will approach the people coming in to do their shopping because they won't expect it. . To start the conversation, I will say, "Hello, would you you like this free dollar?" If they say yes, I will give them a dollar, thanking them. My plan for the conversation is to keep it simple and say that I wanted to be nice by giving people a dollar. Out of five attempts, I feel like I will be able to give all the dollars away, after all, it is free money.

    
Giving a person a dollar was WAY harder than I imagined it would be. I was not able to give a single person the dollar. I tried different tactics and said different things, but towards the end I got desperate. I would say, "Please take this dollar," and people continued to say no. My predictions could not have been more incorrect because I thought it would be easy to approach strangers and give them money. Maybe I should have started out asking them how they were and how there day was going instead of trying to get the dollar out of my hands as soon as I made eye contact with a person. I tried to be nice, but maybe I needed to be nicer and more easygoing. I even tried to convince people that they were missing out on the dollar that would win them the lottery. They still said no. I learned a lot from this experience, and it is to talk to a customer and get to know them before asking something of them, even if it is asking them to take a free dollar.

"Elevator Pitch No.2"

Since I wasn't able to complete the first elevator pitch assignment, this is my first elevator pitch. I read other comments on other people's elevator pitches, and a lot of people suggested to be enthusiastic and to use excited body language. I tried to follow these people's advice and be more relatable during my pitch. I wanted to set a mood so people can really relate to the need of my product. I think there is a lot of room for improvement, but I can't wait to hear what people have to say about my elevator pitch. 

Customer Interviews No.3

For my final set of interviews, I decided to follow the advice of someone who commented on my last blog post, and interview students at the Science library on campus. I wrote the card describing my business idea and had people read them after I asked my questions so they could see the bigger picture. I intend on asking the same questions I have been using for my last interviews since they were straightforward and I felt like I have gotten great results. The following are the questions I will ask are:
1) How do you like the libraries at your college?
2) Do you find yourself doing most of your work on your laptop?
3) Are the power outlets easily accessible at the library you study at?
4) Do you wish there were more outlets or that they were easy to move around?
Customer Interviews:

These set of interviews were really great because I got a lot of great feedback and awesome responses from my questions. One of the girls I interviewed said it was important to make something big enough so that people wouldn't steal the pods from the libraries. Although this is a great point, I wanted to make something small so it will be easy to carry around. Maybe a sensor that will activate when it is leaving a certain area should be in the pod so that they will not be stollen. I was surprised by the wonderful comments and excitement about my business idea. If anything were to change as an outcome of these interviews, it would be that I would need to build something that is not so small and make it work all the time since some outlets won't work all the time in the libraries. This idea could really work and hopefully scientists and engineers discover a way to build the correct technology to create the pod. 

Idea Napkin No. 1

     First of all, I am a college student, and I have always been creative. I like talking with people and seeing what they have to say. Above all, however, I am a very organized person that likes to make lists and keep things as simple as possible, so when making my product expand in the world, I would be efficient and responsible. I can also use my outgoing personality to market my product. My aspirations, when it comes to my business concept, are simple. I'd like to create something that is as much a necessity as a phone charger. I would like this charging pod to really change the way people will do their work. They could possibly take the pod outside and enjoy a day in the sun while taking care of their work. If I were to start this business, it would play a huge role in my life, as it will be an effective way supply something that is in such high demand in Universities. It would take up a lot of my time as well because I will keep having to come up with something to expand my business.
      The product I am offering to costumers is a chargeable pod with outlets on it that will serve as a portable way to charge electronics. Customers will no longer have to worry about where the closest power outlet is. They will be able to purchase one of the pods or they can use pods that a library at a University has purchased for their customers. They will be reliable and important to a student's success in college.
       My customers will be college students or University libraries. Something that the University libraries will have in common is that they will have a lot of students trying to use the outlets at once, and not all of them will get to them. Therefore, there will be less people in the libraries. Keeping these pods in libraries will cause less student complaints and keep the libraries always full. College students all have the same thing in common as well, they are constantly depending on electronics and outlets so they can get their school work done.
        This product is valuable to student customers because they will be able to charge their electronics anywhere even when there aren't any outlets around. They will be able to complete work for a whole day in the middle of a park where there are no outlets and not have to worry about anything. This product is valuable to libraries as well because they will get less complaints about the lack of outlets and more people in the libraries. Perhaps the school will get better overall grades because of the amount of students studying in libraries.
        What sets me apart from everyone else that is trying to sell this product is that I am a college student that is often in the library where there aren't many plugs and is forced to go back to the dorms to work. I can relate to these students and I can push the product into the market cause I have experienced it. I am organized and creative so I will continue to come up with new methods and ideas to make my product be successful.

These elements fit relatively well together I believe because they will be able to make my product successful. As the product creator and seller, I will be able to relate to the customers and sell it to them more efficiently because I am like the customers. My business idea may be a little weak because it will take very intelligent engineers to develop the pods that can harness the electricity to be able to charge a laptop, but I have faith.
     

Interviewing Customers No. 2

Fine tune your Opportunity: Last week, I came up with the simple idea to add more power outlets and power chords to the library at the University of Florida. After careful consideration, I decided I wanted to create a portable power outlet for students. If they need one, they could simply pick it up from a charging station and carry anywhere in the library with them. All they would need to do is put back when they left the library. They could be orange and blue to look cool and better for the University of Florida. I think it would be really helpful because kids wouldn't have to move around and sit in a place where they wouldn't normally study just because there was a power outlet there. They could sit anywhere they wanted and could still get their work done.

Fine tune the who: I didn't change the people I talked to. I knew since I was asking questions about their time at the library and what they disliked about it, I needed to ask college students.

Tweaking your interview questions: I didn't change my questions all too much, I just added one more, "Do you wish there were more outlets or that they were easier to move around?"

What I learned about my opportunity was that it was very basic and I almost wanted to change it, but then when I asked my new question, I got a lot of positive feed back from. Portable chargers would be ideal in the libraries.

Three tips I would give to students taking this class in the future semesters are to not be afraid to talk to people because they are really easygoing and nice. I would say to be respectful of people's responses and to make sure your body language is positive. Finally, have a plan and make sure you execute it when you are interviewing the customers.

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