My ambition is to change this site a bit, and make it more aligned with what is going on in MAIK.
So, please stay tuned as I bend time and space to create more wake hours in the week.

- and if you want the latest and greatest regarding MAIK, head to our Facebook page or our company website.

Sounds simple enough? Well, it is (not exactly rocket science)…but it requires that you have a well defined goal which isn’t always that easy. It’s important to set the right goals as well, though, so be visionary but try to be realistic at the same time!
First you have to overcome some of the typical obstacles for setting your goal:

    a) thinking “how will I/this fit in with what I/we do now?”
    b) believing that the road to your goal is too difficult to follow
    c) lack of self confidence: “other people are better than me” *

* NOTE: True, there are people that are better than you, but that doesn’t mean there’s no room for you. And it especially doesn’t mean that you don’t have anything interesting to offer.

OK – got your goal set up? Great.

Now to a very important part: try to visualize your goal.
So for example if your goal is to code and release a Top10 featured iPhone app, you should be able to close your eyes and visualize your app on that Top10 list, see the star ratings and the number of positive reviews, read the “1$ for a limited time only” price tag, see the “top downloaded app” badge etc. etc. And most importantly: try to actually feel what it feels like to have accomplished exactly that.
I know it sounds a bit like something taken out of a self therapy handbook…and it probably is. But I know it works. It makes you more goal oriented.

The final step is easy: look at your options and evaluate against what will get you just at tiny bit closer to your goal – and make the right choice!

Good luck :)

Keep your fingers crossed! :)

A good example is something that has existed in web sales for a very long time: sites giving away free shipping if your purchases reaches a certain amount. I for one, find myself filling the basket until I reach the free shipping limit, and to me this proves, that it’s possible to work with incentives that motivate certain purchase behavior.
I’m sure this could be exploited in many new ways especially if combined with some of the social media services.

But I think there’s another part of ‘design for behavior change’ that could be equally exiting. It could be a great mission for product design companies to make products that have built in incentives towards the purchase (e.g. the purchase contributes to global causes, or to local community causes like a new playground) and at the same time motivates the customers to a certain new behavior through the design of the products (e.g. doing something great with your kid, getting more exercise, reduce waste or conserve energy). Of course the product should also fill a need and meet a market, but that goes without saying.

Maybe this could be a path to success for some?

For those of you reading this at work (or other places where playing a video with the sound on is not a very good idea), I’ve extracted the eight tips:

1. You gotta be yourself
2. Get active on at least the top three major social networking sites: Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn
3. You gotta provide awesome, awesome content
4. Be smart with your time
5. Be consistent
6. Promote others
7. Connect face-to-face with individuals
8. Thank others as much as possible

This is great stuff for those of you who are just beginning to use social media strategically.
Anyways, here’s the video – enjoy :)

Heads were twisted and turned, and through this creative process we came up with something fantastic!
Voilá: MAIK was born!
[pronounced "make"...I'm sure you caught that...]

Now, you would think that the domain www.maik.com is taken — which is exactly what it is. So our corporate domain will be: www.bymaik.com which is also great (six letters…it’s hard to find them smaller than that these days).

We will soon put some content on the website.

Many many thanks goes to Mathias Ambus who created our graphic identity! We owe you!

Year of the tablets
Once again, Apple will raise the bar for consumer electronics by introducing a functional tablet computer, and once again everybody else will try to catch up.

Android attack
Nokia and SonyEricsson will bite the dust, accept defeat and put Android on most of their phones.

Netbook craze no more
Due to the evolution of processors, the ‘netbook’ term will fade away as most low-end laptops are lightweight, have a long battery life and a processor capable of handling what most full-fledged laptops of last year could.

eReader niche
eReaders will remain a niche product as more and more people want hybrid gadgets that do more than one thing.

Electronic Bicycle Gadgets (EBG)
2010 will bring the introduction of consumer level electronic bicycle equipment; GPS location services and electronic locks will be the first practical implementations.

Free GPS maps
Pushed by Google and Nokia, the largest GPS players will feel forced to give away their map updates for free and will have to quickly find new revenue streams.

Clash of the Titans
Now that Google has launched its own phone, has its own OS (mobile + desktop), has its own browser etc. etc. they are well positioned to gain market shares from Apple, who in turn will respond by accelerating development of Google replica services. The old enemy – Microsoft – will not be the focus of attention (until they start having success with their products during 2011).

Power (control) to the people
We’ll see the introduction of connected power monitors for private households; once households can track their day-to-day power consumption and compare with neighbors and friends it will accelerate the awareness of cutting power consumption an largely contribute to reduced CO2 emission.

Sunny LED bulbs
Finally, LED bulbs that emit natural looking light will come at price points that makes it a worthwhile purchase.

And – completely off-topic – here’s a bonus non-tech prediction for you…

Bicycle revolution
A new, revolutionary product will be introduced on the market and will greatly improve everyday life for male bicyclist all over the world, making a bicycle ride more safe and more enjoyable. ;)

If you’re the type, like me, who likes numbers and plans (*), here are some tips from the top of my head…

Guide to creating good business cases:

• do proper market research
• find realistic market numbers
• be specific about your assumptions
• build a proper model that can be reused for future products
• build various business cases based on the model

Now, insert your business case numbers into your overall business plan:

• be specific about your different cost elements
• create a profit & loss (P&L) model
• build a cash flow model in order to track your financial situation
• create a sales model with input from your business cases

…go sell!


:)

*) and even if you’re not, you should seriously consider reading into these things if you’re a start-up company – feel free to ask me questions using the comments feature!