Open Innovation | How-to Guides for running your business from Business.com

With Open Innovation, small business is not so small anymore. The 'New Web' can be a great equalizer, enabling the smallest of companies to utilize the wisdom and creativity of consumers and experts worldwide ... efficiently, and affordably.

There are three basic methods of 'outside in' innovation:

     1. Crowdsourcing: Think of it as fishing in the open sea for ideas

     2. Crowdcasting (also called narrowcasting): Think of it as fishing in a stocked pond for ideas

     3.   Innovaton Box (like a suggestion box): Creative consumers, on their own, get a fish (hatch an idea), and offer it to you to innovate and improve your business, products or services.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Post and manage an Idea/Innovation Challenge online

Companies and organizations are asking for 'Outside-In' help via Challenges right now, tapping creative consumers and experts across the globe for the best branding slogans, viral marketing campaigns, product designs and other visionary assistance. These 'Challenges' typically offer a cash reward to the best innovation. Obviously the larger the reward, the more incentive. Participants in these challenges are also looking to build creative and professional reputations. And by posting a Challenge, you're able to choose from a number of innovations, as opposed to hiring one 'local expert' to do the task.

I recommend: Up front, I work for a new startup, Fellowforce.com, an Open Innovation/Problem Solving Platform designed to make this transformational method of business innovation fast, easy and affordable to implement.

Read Wikinomics to get a comprehensive picture of Open Innovation and the fast changing nature of 21st century business competitiveness.

The competition I'm aware of includes IdeaCrossing, Innocentive, and IdeaWicket. There's also a creative new 'game' site for idea creation called Spigot.

I think you'll find that Fellowforce.com is the most intuitive and comprehensive Open Innovation platform for small business, for any business. Post an innovation challenge via the Self Serve platform for just $295 (first time special $65), or the Premium Challenge platform, which offers extra features like the ability to Narrowcast, for $650 and up.

Have your own Innovation Box

Many brick-and-mortar businesses have Suggestion Boxes in the store, inviting customers to let you know about their experience, good or bad. Open-comment blogs on a company website and 'contact us' e-mail forms are a good way to solicit feedback from customers. The next step is to truly invite consumers to 'Innovate You', with their brilliant creative ideas, and reward them with cash ... and open praise. Being truly 'Open' is the way of the future, and it happens to be here right now.

I recommend: Fellowforce has an Innovation Box that allows creative consumers from across the globe to submit ideas, improvements and innovations. Fellowforce acts as the intermediary, using our legal and content management system to pitch these ideas to appropriate companies.

Soon (mid August 2007), we will be launching a revolutionary new feature, an Innovation Box button that any business website can download ... at no cost ... inviting customers to "Innovate Us". In addition to the innovative ideas that will come your way, having such a revolutionary and 'customer centric' feature and willingness will no doubt be a boost to the way you connect to and communicate with consumers.

Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

Take time to read other company Innovation Challenges. You'll get a good feel for what's out there, how others are doing it, and how you might better promote your challenge.
Read, read, read about Open Innovation, Crowdsourcing, and mass collaboration. Besides Wikinomics, use search engines like Google, Ask and others (Technorati) to find blog and other media articles on the topic
Remember that this is a new, growing revolution. As the word gets out, more and more experts and creative consumers will join places like Fellowforce.com to pitch to the challenges. So your pool of ideas will get larger. And vice versa, it will take more and more businesses offering innovation challenges to attract a larger pool of idea people.

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