Updated: Some Pretty Cool Stuff
The internet has become a pretty cool playground! Whether you are creative, into business or chasing a new way to crack a project, there are some definitely head turning newbie’s out there.
Here are a few of my current favourites.
Note: I have taken them from the angle of how they help creative people and businesses because that is what interests me. Most of these do however have much further reaching applications.
Plan Big:
PlanBig has been around for a while now, however it’s just too damn supportive, unique and practically helpful not to include. This is the place for dreamers, idea people and mentors to hang!
What is it: PlanBig is a free portal for your ideas, large or small, commercial, creative or socially orientated. You put your idea up with a description and ask others for help, advice and/or to follow your journey.
What I love about this: People are genuinely supportive and you can great some great free advice along the way. You can also discover new ideas you may not have uncovered on your own!
What problem does it solve: It gives you a solution to testing audience response, gaining free assistance and advice, and connects you to other idea people (ending that sense of isolation commonly found) all in one!
Barkles:
An Australian start-up, Barkles is a place where you can pose a question and get other people’s opinions for just about any topic you can think of.
What is it: A platform for expressing anything you want from who is the best actor in a TV show through to posing questions about political correctness, business approach, branding and more.
What I love about this: I love a good scrap, so it takes that moment of wanting to be a little feisty off my Twitter or Facebook and into an arena where it will be appreciated! From a business perspective, you can also poll whether your ideas are lemons or lovable!
What problem does it solve: I can see potential for commercial businesses to test how audience respond to new features, campaigns and ideas. It can also be used to test if someone wants your business idea. It’s new, but it’s exciting!
If you have not heard about Pinterest, you may very well be living under a non-internet connected rock. Places like Mashable, Twitter and countless blogs are alight with how amazing this pin board for the internet is. Big things are expected from this fledgling concept!
What is it: A way of pinning visuals together in boards so you can collect ideas, share them with other people and generally organise your web experience in visual terms.
What I love about this: It is a hell of a lot easier to recall a visual (and sometimes attract people to something) using a visual format. It makes the usual internet bookmarking idea seem old and boring.
What problem does it solve: It let’s highly visual creative people and businesses share their offerings in a very simple, impactful and easy to share way.
Pin me here.
DoYouBuzz:
Screw having a paper CV, grab your piece of online real estate and put yourself out there! DoYouBuzz is a terribly needed move away from the droll, dated and ultimately unfriendly format of the posted or emailed paper resume.
What is it: An online resume editor and hosting platform that (in North America and Europe at least) gives you the ability to connect to recruiters, business places and projects with a few simple clicks.
What I love about this: You can customise, personalise and share your CV online. In Australia it has a huge amount of impact because you seem “cutting edge”, “tech savvy” and “in the know” too. It’s also much more intuitive and painless than the paper version!
What problem does it solve: It’s easy to use and takes the headache out of selling yourself and your skills and it has the potential (once it gets a little more popular here) to really drive recruitment and job opportunities in the way they really should be.
Get my Buzz here.
Weteachme:
We all know how to do something someone may be interested in and learning is a lifelong process, right? Well, that’s why Weteachme is so damn brilliant. It is another kind of collaborative consumption idea- this time where we help each other to learn new stuff!
What is it: A great little portal where you can upload what you can teach other people with confidence, or find a teacher who suits your learning needs. Whether that need is to uncover the ukulele or get wired with WordPress, Weteachme is happy to have you on board!
What I love about it: Helping people is awesome and it’s nice to plan learning on your own terms rather than sign up for infrequent courses, shell out thousands and so on.
What problem does it solve: It puts learning in the hands of people, plus it gives businesses and people the opportunity to share their skills in a very easy and very flexible format. I just hope more non-Victorians join me here soon!
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