Back in the day, I worked on developing an affiliate version of the Intota.com website. Intota is a simple website with a remarkable depth of expertise on a heady taxonomy of topics (looking for someone with a triple PhD in Bioremediation - they’ve got it).

Not everyone is looking for a way to use anaerobic bacteria to remove a hazardous spill, but there are a lot of people looking for (and willing to pay a nominal fee for) a whole host of everyday problems from autos to computers and more.

Create a one stop shop for people to communicate with an actual expert, not just search through a massive online repository of tech bulletins.

Would your mom pay $9 to talk to someone for 10 minutes who can more patiently help her fix her computer than you? Would you pay it to find out if that noise your car is making is worth taking to the dealer and maybe save you the minimum one hour charge for troubleshooting?

I have developed a pretty full taxonomy of all of the topics that I think you could recruit an ‘everyday expert’ for.

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Wi-Fi locators are cheap (in the $20 range). What sort of application could be piggy-backed off of the ability to locate a wi-fi network with a device that fits in your pocket, or sits on the dashboard of your car, the handlebars of a bike, or the instrument cluster of a boat?

What if the technology were modified slightly to simply ping a certain IP address, or interfaced with a GPS, or bluetooth to your cell phone?

An obvious idea would be an application which created a continually updating hotspot map. But what else? The ability to cheaply detect and even crudely communicate through an ever growing web of wi-fi lends itself to hundreds of next big thing applications…

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While waiting in the drive thru line at Wendy’s mentally selecting my daily dollar menu buffet, my car radio was hijacked by the iTrip in the car behind me who had apparently chosen the same station as I did for my iTrip. Bye bye Gorrilaz, hello J-Tizzle. Damn.

But it did give me a marketing idea for you guys. When it comes to Radio Advertising, production is cheap, distribution is expensive - at least if you play by the rules.

The play by play:

1) Create a few different 30 second radio ads for your business. Cheezy and low production quality is just fine. Make sure they drill the website address or phone number repeatedly. All three ads can be for the same business/website - but make them of 3 distinct styles so they don’t sound like just one 90 second ad.

2)Put them on your iPod. On Loop.

3) Get a low power FM transmitter like this one or like these. From what I have read, anything under 1watt in power does not require an FCC license. The range should be about 400 feet on an unused frequency, but probably can walk over the signal of a popular radio station inside of about 200 feet. (for those who throw caution to the legal wind, stronger transmitters can be purchased or built cheaply/easily, just an FYI, not that I would condone it).

4) Tune your transmitter to a popular station. Drive around. Try not to giggle.

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What would you do if you had to make some money right now?  Sustainable or one time income, it doesn’t matter, but let’s suppose you were short on your mortgage payment and it was due in a week.  What would you do to make say $250 in the next 24 hours?

Keep it in the frame of what is legal (ie:  We all know you could sell cases of beer to high school students for $60 a pop and make $250 in an hour, but that crosses a whole bunch of lines that we don’t need to debate).

Be creative, but don’t bother with the “Sell my _____”  or  “Ask my _____ for money” - the exercise is to brainstorm some ideas for what you could do to earn that money.

Discuss…

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I don’t know if this is a business that will ultimately pay for your home on Palm Island, but it is a pretty easy spare time venture that should make you a few dollars, and help you feel good about helping the environment.

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When I first read a review of this book on JohnChow.com the title gave me pause - I figured the book would be one of two things:

1) A quick way for some snake oil huckster to put some cash in his pockets by appealing to the get rich quick crowd looking for a way to escape the fact that they lack even a minimal aptitude for a 9-5 job.

2) A book with an overly simplified title designed to grab your attention but full of legitimate ways to improve your life by monetizing and prioritizing your daily tasks with the goal of maintaining your economic quality of life while improving your real quality of life by expanding your free time.

Well…

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Got the skills when it comes to Photoshop/Fireworks?    Make some spending money in your spare time fixing and enhancing photos for those less technically inclined.

A lot of the online photo services offer red eye retouch, cropping, and automatic level adjustments free of charge, but there is still a niche for those looking to add a few hundred dollars to their weekly revenue for a couple hours work.

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Unpublished Ideas In Gross: 13

Unpublished Ideas with Elevator Pitch: 3

Unpublished Ideas with Napkin: 1

I just launched the blog, so things are still pretty informal, but as we roll along, I should be able to get more formal and have a more consistent stream of Napkins. My goal is to have them on average once every week to two. 26 to 32 relatively fresh ideas a year is a tall order.

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It is July 4th.  Spent the morning by a friend’s pool with Stephanie and Ava, had a good lunch.  Primed for a lazy afternoon.  They are both napping, seemed like a great idea.  Checked on Ava, she is drooling in her crib.  Turned on the fan in my bedroom and slid under the covers next to Steph to catch up on some shut eye.

I kept my eyes closed for about 86 seconds then I had an idea that sprang from an issue we had with our 6 month old at the pool.  Back to the laptop.  Steph is rolling her eyes at me again.

ADD.  Like I said, no hope in treating it - can only try to harness it.

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For anyone who cant lift a pair of full kegs at arms length ala World’s Strongest Man, carrying a 6 month old in a carrier for more than 50 feet can be brutal at best. The solution has to be safe, comfortable, and something that is easy enough to don that it doesn’t become impractical for quick trips into the store.

I have 3 fantastic ideas. Paypal and they are yours.

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