The Billion Dollar Marketing Campaign

H&R Block has said that Americans left $1b on the table last year in potential tax returns. That's a nice little slush fund for someone in Washington!

So, this year, H&R Block has used that statistic as the cornerstone of their marketing campaign for tax season. And this campaign was huge.  They used every type of medium available - TV, radio, social media, billboards and even vehicle wraps.

The campaign used the slogan "get your billion back America" and used a recurring character wearing a bowtie.  The man in the advertisement portrays a trustworthy accountant who is very believable.

It would be great to know their return on this campaign.

Gigable Promises Win-Win-Win

Gigable is a new crowd-funding platform for bands/artists to fill the room at their next gig.  The band/artist posts a gig and then fans pledge for a ticket (and other rewards) until the goal is met. If and when the goal is met, money is exchanged and the gig is put on the books.

Venues have a lot to gain from this model as they will no longer have to 'hope' the band brings enough people.

Fans will love it, because they get some cool rewards with their show tickets and the band will be playing to a full house.

Bands should love it, since they will be able to go into new markets with confidence.

This could be the start of something great.

Figuring Out Obamacare (aka Affordable Care Act)

Here's a great resource to understanding the new healthcare law.  Doyle Rowe, LTD. has been consulting with groups large and small for 25 years on acquiring the best health care plans.

They are experts on the new Affordable Care Act and can guide you through the process to find the best plan that fits your budget and health care needs.

How To Create A Swag Bomb

Tim Ferris and Marc Ecko have a secret to share.  And that's how to go from niche to mega-mainstream.  

In the latest post on Tim's blog, Marc Ecko writes on how to properly create a swag bomb.  What is a swag bomb? It's a must-have for innovators and creators everywhere.  This nugget can blow your brand wide open.


Image credit: dribbble.com

Any Room Left For More E-Commerce?

Amazon may be the 900lb. gorilla, but as we know, there's always room for better curating and boutique shops.

This great article on Pandodaily highlights that fact that Amazon can't do it all when it comes to e-commerce. I certainly believe that which is why I'm invested in MileFork.com.

Grow Your Own Mushrooms And Pivot Your Startup Strategy

This is a great story about two UC Berkley grads who launching a mushroom business - and then pivoted their strategy very early on by listening to customers.

Alejandro Velez and Nikhil Arora were two months from graduating when one of their professors told them a very random fact that you can grow mushrooms from used coffee grounds.  That little fact caught their interest and they started a business selling mushrooms.

While at farmers markets, they did an experiment to see if selling DIY kits for growing mushrooms change the customer engagement. Short answer - it did. And by a huge margin.  Adults and kids were fascinated by the kit and spent much more time engaged with their products.

Here's the video where they tell the story.

Source: Startup Lessons Learned

Experience The Zen Of Gardening From Your iPad

Unity Studios has released a new app that lets a person grow flowers and leaves and provide a daily dose of creative zen.

With this app you can:

• Design your own flower and leaves
• Unlock challenges
• Take screenshots of your flowers and share them on Facebook and Twitter
• Do all this in many languages

Let's Grow is available in the iTunes store.  Here is the link: https://itunes.apple.com/app/lets-grow!/id588671980

Source: PRnewswire