It's Not All About the Stats

Americans love statistics, they love to see their results and understand logically and mathematically how they were achieved. It's why we wear heart rate monitors and love fantasty football leagues. I'm one of those people too, I use garminconnect.com to track every bike ride I take so I know my training zones, it's like each ride is a carefully mapped time trial. And I recently used mapmyride.com to compare my cycling rides with riders around the US and the elite riders in the Tour.

I guess that's why it was refreshing to see something new from the sporting industry. I really like the way Versus disrupts the stereotypical approach the US has towards sports - it's about passion, not the stats. It's aspirational and if I hadn't dropped cable like a bad habit I'd probably watch Versus a bit more.

How to Sell yourself

So check this out, Allison Weiss is looking for some funding for her new EP. She's using kickstart, an initiative where creative people can try to fund their artistic endeavors by creating customized products and provide them for the people who donate to their cause. She's breaking from convention and trying to become a successful musician without the help of big media conglomerates. According to Faris she's already raised $6G.

I think it's smart because she's branding herself and allowing her fans to get what they want most, a little piece of her. It helps that she's succint, funny, easy on the eyes and edits her short well. I like her approach because she's targeting her niche on the longtail by making herself available to the people who like her and her music most.

Alternative Uses

Alternative Uses isn't exactly the most design savvy website but the concept is a smart one. The premise is creating a community around devising ways to find alternative uses for existing products. Can you get by using your drill as an electric mixer or how about using coffee grounds instead of fertilizer, what about using olive oil to lubricate your bike chain; why not consult Alternative Uses and see what the community says? Much like Instructables it's a great way to propogate smart ideas. You can search by uses or by products and of course submit your own if you have a great idea.