Can I ask you a question? Now be honest, ok – because it's just the two of us here. No one even knows your answer but you. So there's no reason to lie.
Do you enjoy your visits to Target?
I'll confess. I do. Every time. Sure, I go to help my daughter get a dress for a big event, or my son to buy the new Wii game. But I never skip walking thru the homeware section.
You know, the rugs, furniture, serving bowls and lamps. That area where you see some pretty nice designs – all at an affordable price.
Why am I talking about Target?
Well, I think the main reason is because it's a universal experience. Most of us have been there. Many of us have bought a lamp there.
You know where else I've purchased a lamp? Home Depot. They also have some pretty nifty designs. All at an affordable price.
You're catching the theme that I'm cheap, right?
And here's the thing. I'm not, really. But I never go to a lamp specialty store. It's too much hassle and it costs too much. Sure, the designs they have there are often by the original designers. But they're at price points that I don't value.
So I buy lamps from Target and Home Depot and they look pretty cool.
Why am I talking about buying lamps?
Mostly because we've all done it. And I bet there's something else we all have in common. I have never, and I seriously mean it, never stepped up to a nicely designed lamp for $65 and wondered why they made it, when the original designer created something like it (albeit a bit more nuanced) for $650.
Never.
But you know what I have done?
And if you develop products, maybe you've done it too.
I've witnessed a company enter a market with a product and thought – “well, there goes that idea.” I have literally closed off opportunities because someone else was there. Seriously.
Have you ever done that?
Thank God not everyone is like that. Thank God some people (like the designers for Target and Home Depot) get inspired by a new market entrant and then ask other questions.
- How can we create something similar that's easier to use?
- How can we create something similar that's easier to buy?
Less Expensive & Easier to Use
There's nothing wrong, and a lot right, with companies that don't focus on innovating new products as much as they focus on making those products more accessible.
You know I have to go there, right?
Consider the iPod – not the first product to use a hard drive for music storage in a portable device. Creative Labs created the Nomad almost a year before the iPod and I paid a lot of cash to own versions one and two.
But the iPod was easier to use and cheaper.
I wish more companies decided to go that route. After all, in the case of phones, it's not like we all didn't know that the OS on mobile devices sucked.
I complained forever about not being able to know who message #13 was from, until I got visual voice mail. And I was frustrated by having to write down phone numbers to call someone back, before Apple created iOS.
Managing multiple instances of WordPress
If you have multiple WordPress sites you manage, you've likely looked at ManageWP, InfiniteWP, or WP Remote. They all take slightly different approaches to solving that problem for people.
But today iThemes announced that they're stepping into the ring. Just months after they announced that they'd be getting into eCommerce with Exchange.
And you know what? I seriously doubt anyone will wonder why iThemes is going to create a simpler, easier, and potentially less expensive way to do what others have been doing already.
Because we all love ease of use and greater access.
So I not only welcome them, but am excited to check out Sync.
Keep Watching iThemes
Every time you focus on taking something complex & make it easier, you're bound to find a great solution that lots of people will love. That's why every one of us should keep an eye on what they're doing.