The term “interactive” is thrown around like a football in the design and advertising world. Interactive forms of communication have been around forever, but our generation describes it as Flash websites, pretty much. I won’t make this a history lesson, and talk about people like Howard Gossage, but I will provide an example of a recently launched website that uses a unique approach to be interactive.

Red Universe is the beta version of an agency called Red Interactive’s website. It’s a simple two-dimensional environment that allows you to explore the website as a character. There are limited features and elements you can adjust about your character right now, but I’m sure those will be expanded in the future.

One of the cool features is the ability to chat with everyone else that’s viewing the website. Several companies have tried to create browser applications that allow you to do this, but being that I nor you can name them, they haven’t been adapted too well.

I spoke about being able to converse with those watching the same television show as you a while back; Red Universe is a nice step in that direction.

Fuel Industries created a game called Cowboys and Engines a couple years ago that allowed you to interact with others in a 3d environment, kind of like Second Life. I can’t get it to work in my browser now, nonetheless it wasn’t interactive in the sense of combining a typical website with atypical interaction.

It’ll be interesting to see where Red Universe goes over the next year and how many websites attempt to replicate what they’ve done. This is the beginning of a new form of interaction.

What do Coca-Cola, Google, Starbucks & Apple all have in common?

They are internationally known mega brands and billion dollar companies.

… and their brands were created on the cheap by the founders of the companies.

I remind myself of this whenever I sit down to come up with a name and branding for a new idea. It is definitely important to spend a good amount of time finding the right name and brand for your project as it will help you the creator bond with it and pitch it… but at the end of the day, how good your product is will determine it’s success and not the name you gave it.

Google is probably my favorite example of the good product trumping the terrible brand. You could actually say that Google’s brand is quite good as it is easy to remember and just about everyone in the world knows it. But if you took their brand to a top branding firm today you’d probably get “Childish colors and a beveled serif font! Blech!” Several million dollars later they’d give you a really slick looking logo and a 12 page report on how the average search user demographic responded in test markets to the new and improved logo.

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Hey Hosting Zoom, take note. Simple enough, is it not?

As I’m dealing with building a new house I’ve been reminded yet again about how important it is to protect your credit. Sooner or later in your life you’re going to need the banks money and a good credit score is your meal ticket. Don’t screw it up.

Basic education on credit: There are three credit bureaus that creditors report to: TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax. If you mess up, one of these three (if not all of them) is going to hear about it and it’ll get stuck in your file (for years).

If you don’t know your credit score, shame on you - but it’s ok because you’re about to find out. The three bureaus above charge for the ability to peek at your credit report - but there’s a free way to do it that many people don’t know about.

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Being that this is a business themed website, you’d expect this article to discuss leave-behinds, business cards, and other forms of marketing communication to leave an impression with someone. I was thinking on a much larger scale.

We Will Rock You by Queen was recorded 30 years ago. Charlotte’s Web was first published 55 years ago. The Wizard of Oz was released 68 years ago, originally written 107 years ago.

For the majority of our readers, all were created years and decades before they were born, and they’ve listened, read, and watched each of them several, dozens, or hundreds of times.

While some may consider those examples businesses or products, I see them as significant contributions to millions of people’s lives. Sure, there are greedy labels and studios at the helm of those creative works now, but they weren’t created with that intent.

You may not have the pipes of Freddy Mercury, or the emotion of Judy Garland, but you do have the opportunity to leave your mark in a unique way.

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Another interesting quote to get your brainwaves flowing:

Quality will always prevail over quantity.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” At some point you were asked what really is one of the most difficult questions to answer.

At an age where you’ve yet to experience one thousandth of what life has to throw at you, your response would have resembled your parents’; doctor, fireman, veterinarian, etc…

When’s the last time you asked yourself that question? Do you have any idea where’ll you’ll be and what you’ll be doing 20, 10, 5, even 1 year from now?

Don’t worry if you can’t answer that question. I myself, haven’t the slightest clue.

Your life most likely revolves around an industry or two, and you’re aware of the tasks you enjoy doing, and those you don’t. But can you really see exactly the who, what, and where of your life in a year’s time?

My parents have each worked in the same industry for at least 25 years and with one company for well over a decade. I couldn’t imagine doing practically the same tasks for 48,000 hours of my life.

Do you know where you’ll be and what you’ll be doing in a year or two?

Anyone can come up with a solution, whether you consider yourself creative or not. But a key without a lock is useless as is a lock without a key.

If ever there were a secret to business success and productivity, this would be it: state the problem you believe you’re trying to solve in the form of a question before you even consider looking for an answer/solution. It may take several, dozens, or hundreds of questions until you find the right one. At some point that question will replicate the sound of a light bulb being turned on.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, it’s much easier to find something if you know what you’re looking for.

Whether your problem is finding the type of business you’d like to start or creating a healthier diet plan, the solutions to those problems must begin with questions.

Remember that annoying person at the end of the conference table in your meetings? Mike or Mary would continuously ask questions, some “stupid”, some straight-forward, some brilliant. Looking back at that meeting, the huge trap they referred to as their mouth was responsible for pushing everyone in new directions and really made us think before suggesting “let’s make a website for it” or “let’s put one of those giant inflatable gorillas on the roof”.

If your question was “how can we get the attention of passerbys?” a giant inflatable gorilla on the roof could be the answer. But chances are the initial question was something to the effect of “why are sales so low?”. Continuously rephrasing that initial question will eventually lead to the heart of the problem and the solutions will present themselves on a buffet platter.

Our server’s been pissy for the past little while. So we scrambled to call our host to have them fix it.

My internet was down for about 10 minutes. So I called tech support to see why it was down.

We’ve been bred to expect perfection.

Demanding accessibility is one thing, having patience is another.

Boy, we’re pushy.