|
||||
Everyone has million dollar ideas, but people rarely act on them.
每個人都有發大財的方法,但是真正付諸行動的人卻很少。
For entrepreneurs, one good idea can provide an extraordinary amount of hope. Even though the chances of success are minimal, these ideas give people something to aspire to greater than a boring cubicle and a nagging boss. Not to mention, these ideas make some people obscenely loaded.
對企業家來說,一個好的想法能夠帶來很多發財的機會。雖然成功的機會渺茫,但這些想法讓人們充滿激情,比困在辦公室裡聽老板嘮叨強多了。更別提有些想法還讓一些人還發了大財了呢。
If you're waiting to act on one of these ideas until you think of something brilliant, don't. In fact, you might want to dumb yourself down a notch. With the Icanhascheezburger.com」s of the world getting acquired for $2MM, it doesn」t take something uniquely awesome to rake in the dough.
你千萬不要等到有了好想法再去行動。事實上,你可能想過陣子等等再說。世界上知名的『我可以有芝士漢堡』網站能營利200萬美元,並不是因為它有什麼獨門絕技。
Pet Rock 寵物石Ridiculously Rich Person Behind It: Gary Dahl
暴發戶:加裡·達爾(Gary Dahl)
Estimated Profit: $15M in just the first six months
估計收益:僅第一年上半年營利1500萬美元
The idea of selling a rock is about as ridiculous as it gets. But one man figured out how to sell them and make millions in just a few short months.
銷售石頭的想法實在是不怎麼高明。但是有人就在琢磨怎樣銷售這些石頭,並在短短的幾個月時間內賺了上百萬美元。
Dahl, a former advertising executive, sold his rocks for $3.95 on a bed of hay. Each sale earned him a profit of roughly $3.
達爾原來是一位廣告業務員,主要銷售的是稻草床上用的石頭,每個售價是3.95美元,利潤大概是3美元。
He sold the rocks as "hassle-free" pets, complete with a pet training manual and a card board box fashioned after a pet carrier. The rocks were an instant hit and turned into one of the greatest fads of all time.
他把這些石頭當作『沒有麻煩』的寵物來銷售,並附上寵物培訓手冊和紙箱做成的寵物盒。這些石頭投入市場後迅速走紅,成為歷史上最流行的代表。
Yellow Smiley Faces 黃色的笑臉Ridiculously Rich People Behind It: Bernard and Murray Spain
暴發戶:伯納德和穆雷(Bernard and Murray Spain)
Estimated Profit: $500MM
估計收益:5億美元
You order takeout and the deliveryman leaves you with white plastic bag. On the exterior is a goofy yellow smiley face grinning back at you, encouraging you to 『Have A Nice Day!』 You take your food and plop in front of the television to find the same stupid smiley rolling down the isles of a Wal-mart ad, bringing customers shopping cheer as they peruse the super store.
送外賣的小伙在給你送餐時外面都會套一個白色塑料袋。袋子的外面印了一個傻乎乎的黃色笑臉,咧嘴朝著你笑,旁邊還寫著祝你『天天好心情!』。你把食物從口袋裡拿出來,放在電視機前,這時你又在沃爾瑪海島廣告上發現了一個同樣傻乎乎的笑臉,它為了做成大店想用這種方法來招攬客戶。
Now imagine your father is the one who first drew this world-renown image. Imagine further how upset you would be if your father never trademarked his image, and only made a measly $45 from the icon. This is the story of Charlie Ball」s life.
現在,想象一下你的父親是第一個畫這個世界知名笑臉的人。再想象一下,如果你的父親從來沒有把這個笑臉注冊成商標,而只賺了區區45美元的設計費,你會怎麼想?這就是查理比爾(Charlie Ball)的真實故事。
Back in 1963 his father, Harvey, first drew the happy face for his PR company」s client, State Mutual Life Insurance. The only money the Ball」s ever made from the simple sketch was the two-figure dollar amount they made selling it to the client.
1963年,查理比爾的父親哈維為他的公關公司客戶國家互惠人壽保險首次設計了一張笑臉。這張售給客戶的簡單草圖雖然只為他賺了幾十美元,但這是比爾的唯一一筆設計收入。
So who did make all that money off the brilliantly simple symbol? Two brothers, Bernard and Murray Spain, stumbled upon the unrealized potential of the smiley. Wanting to start a novelty store, Bernard and Murray bought the legal rights to the mark along with the now infamous tag-line,『Have a nice day.』 The brothers began slapping the image on everything possible. The yellow smiley swept the nation and soon, the world. The fad peaked in 1971 and diminished after a year and a half, but that was enough time to do a lot of damage—50 million in sales worth of damage.
那麼誰因為這個簡單的標志而成了百萬富翁呢?伯納德和穆雷西班牙(Bernard and Murray Spain)這對兄弟,是他們不經意間發現了這張笑臉的未來市場潛力。當時兄弟倆想開一家奇特商品商店,於是購買了這個笑臉的商標合法權,包括那句用濫了的口號『天天有個好心情』。兄弟倆人開始把商標用在所有商品上,很快,黃色的笑臉風靡全國,接著受到了全世界的追捧。這股風潮在1971年達到頂峰,1年半後銷售量下滑,損失的銷售額達5000萬美元,但是之前賺的錢能足以抵消這些損失。
The Spain」s opened the first Dollar Express in the 「80s where they continued to sell the smiley. In 2000, they sold their chain to Dollar Tree for $500 million.
80年代,穆雷一家開了第一家一元店(Dollar Express),繼續銷售他們印著笑臉的商品。2000年,他們將連鎖店以5億美元的價格賣給了美元樹(Dollar Express)。
And what of Harvey Ball? He became a yellow smiley-based philanthropist. What else would you do if you let a gazillionaire-dollar idea slip through your fingers?
那麼哈維比爾的情況怎麼樣呢?他成了黃色笑臉的慈善家。你要是讓賺大錢的機會從指尖溜走,那麼你只能認了。
iFart App iFart放屁應用程序Ridiculously Rich Person Behind It: Joel Comm
暴發戶:喬·康(Joel Comm)
Estimated Profit: $400K
估計收益:40萬美元
Here's a half-assed, half-a-million dollar idea for you. Somewhere, in Joel Comm」s sordid mind, out squeaked the iFart, the whoopee cushion for the iPhone. What」s even crazier? He thought people would pay for the app. iFart retails for $.99. And, the absolutely insane part about this all? Joel Comm was right.
這個想法對你來說有點不靠譜。在喬·康(Joel Comm)骯髒的腦袋裡,突然想為iPhone手機設計一個放屁墊應用程序。更瘋狂的是,他認為人們會購買這個應用程序。iFart放屁應用程序的零售價是99美分。絕對讓人發瘋的是,喬·康(Joel Comm)竟然賺了大錢。
Hate on it all you want, Joel Comm gets the last laugh. His application has been buzzed about all over the media and pranksters everywhere love the 26 flatulent noises it encompasses, including 『Record-A-Fart,』 『Fart-a-Friend,』 and 『Sneak Attack.』 The app was downloaded 113,885 during its first two weeks on the market. To quote Jimmy Kimmel, 『If everyone in America gives as much as they spent on the iFart App, Haiti will be saved.』 When I asked Joel how much his app made to date, he told me there were more than 600,000 downloads, netting him and his company InfoMedia somewhere in the ballpark of $400K.
你怎麼討厭這個程序都行,但喬·康(Joel Comm)是笑到最後的人。該程序引起了媒體的爭相報道,各個地方愛搞惡作劇的人愛死了它附帶的那26個脹氣的聲音,比如『屁聲錄音』,『給朋友放個屁』和『偷襲放屁』。該程序投放到市場的頭兩周內下載次數達到了11萬3885次。用喬·康(Joel Comm)的話講,『如果每個美國人都來玩iFart放屁應用程序,那麼海地就有救了。』我問喬到目前為止他的應用程序賺了多少錢,他告訴我程序的下載次數超過了60萬次,這讓他和他的公司信息媒體(InfoMedia)淨賺大概40萬美元。
Wacky Wall Walker 荒誕的爬牆玩具Ridiculously Rich Person Behind It: Ken Hakuta
暴發戶:肯哈谷達(Ken Hakuta)
Estimated Profit: $80MM
估計收益:8千萬美元
Ken Hakuta should give his mom an extra big hug and kiss for giving him his million dollar idea. She sent him the nation」s first known Wacky Wall Walker as a gift from China. Fascinated by the gewy toy that appears to walk down the walls it」s thrown against, Hakuta bought the rights for $100,000 and began marketing it in the D.C. area.
肯哈谷達(Ken Hakuta)應該額外給他的媽媽一個熱烈的擁抱和親吻,因為是她讓自己的兒子成了百萬富翁。當年她從中國帶給肯哈一個禮物,這個荒誕的爬牆玩具在美國是第一次看到。肯哈完全被這個古怪的玩具迷住了,把它扔到牆上竟然還能沿著牆爬下來。谷達花了10萬美元買下了玩具的專利,隨後開始在華盛頓地區推銷。
Sales crawled along until a reporter for The Washington Post stumbled upon his product and wrote about it. The buzz from the article began one of the greatest marketing fads of all time. Within just a few months, more than 240 million were sold, netting Ken about $80 million.
剛開始玩具的銷售情況並不太好,直到一位華盛頓郵報的記者偶然發現他的產品並寫了一篇文章,銷售情況纔開始好轉。文章的報道讓爬牆玩具成了最時尚的單品。僅僅在幾個月時間內,他就賣出了2.3億個玩具,這讓肯哈德淨資產達到了8萬美元。
Icanhascheezburger.com 『我可以有芝士漢堡』網站Ridiculously Wealthy People Behind It: Eric Nakagawa (aka Cheezburger) and Kari Unebasami (aka Tofu burger)
暴發戶:埃裡克中川(Eric Nakagawa),別名:芝士漢堡。卡裡(Kari Unebasami),別名:豆腐漢堡
Estimated Profit: $2MM
估計收益:2千萬美元
The concept of creating ridiculous captions for absurd animal photos began with a photo of one very fat cat and ended with Eric and Kari becoming millionaires. Their original goal? To share the chubby tubby image pictured here (which jolted the pair into an alleged 73 minute laughing fit) with as many people who cared to see. The domain name came from the caption they wrote for the feline, 『I can has cheezburger?』 A series of follow up photos about the fat cat obtaining a cheezburger followed, and soon fans began submitting their own creations.
創意是要在一些看起來傻乎乎的動物圖片上加上一些可笑的標題,於是選用了一張肥貓圖片。但這個想法最後讓埃裡克和卡裡成了百萬富翁。他們最初的目的是把這張又短又粗的蠢貓圖片(這張圖片讓哥倆足足被嘲笑了很長一段時間)放在網上與人分享,這樣更多喜歡這張圖片的人都能看到。網站的域名來自他們給這張動物圖片寫的標題,『我可以有芝士漢堡嗎?』接著,他們在網站上放了更多的要芝士漢堡的肥貓圖片,很快粉絲們把他們自己設計的作品也放到了網站上。
The site now receives more than 35MM hits per month and 8,000 daily submissions. In 2007, Tofu burger and Cheezburger sold the site for $2MM to now CEO, Ben Huh. Ben has created six sister sites, landed a book deal that was a New York Times Best Seller, and the company makes an estimated half a million from book sales alone.
目前網站每月的點擊率是3500萬次,每天的訂閱人數是8000人。在2007年,豆腐漢堡和芝士漢堡將該網站以200萬美元的價格出售給了現在的CEO本·哈爾(Ben Huh)。本又制作了6個姊妹網站,並將網站內容做成了一本書,結果在紐約時報的暢銷書榜單上榮登榜首,只是書的銷售收入,公司就賺了大約有50萬美元。
Slinky Slinky(機靈鬼)Ridiculously Rich Person Behind It: Richard James
暴發戶:理查德·詹姆斯(Richard James)
Estimated Profit: $250MM
估計收益:2.5億美元
Naval engineer Richard James」 flash of brilliance was spawned by clumsiness. He dropped a tension spring he was working with and watched it slink away across the floor. And thus the Slinky was born.
理查德·詹姆斯(Richard James)出身於海軍工程師,他的這個靈光一現的發明源於他的笨拙。他工作時,一個張力彈簧掉在了地上,他就看著彈簧在地板上滑動。就這樣機靈鬼玩具誕生了。
In 1945, James debuted the toy at a Gimbals in Philadelphia. He was so nervous about the presentation that he convinced a friend to come and stage the first Slinky sale. His nerves were completely unwarranted because the first 400 sold out within 90 minutes. A quarter of a billion in sales later, the $1 toy and its creator lived very comfortably ever after. Well, sort of.
1945年,詹姆斯首次在費城玩具城參加玩具推銷會。他在向觀眾展示玩具的時候非常緊張,於是請他的一個朋友到臺上來幫他推銷。在短短的90分鍾中,玩具首批就售出了400個,這完全出乎他的預料。在隨後的銷售中,第一季度的銷售額達到了10億美元,雖然每個玩具的價格只有1美元,但這讓發明者從此過上了舒適的生活。
There were some rough patches in there-- like when Richard had a mid-life crisis, left his wife, Betty, and joined a cult. But Betty chugged along with the company, saved it from debts ensued by her crazy husband, and sold the product to Poof Toys in 1998. But, it」s safe to say she made out alright.
但他也有處境艱難的時候。理查德遇到了中年危機,他撇下妻子貝蒂加入了一個邪教組織。但是他的妻子繼續艱難地經營著公司,她那瘋狂的丈夫留下了很多債務,在她的經營下公司總算起死回生。貝蒂在1998年把公司賣給了噗玩具(Poof Toys),可以說她賣了個好價錢
Snuggie 麻袋片Ridiculously Rich Person Behind It: Scott Boilen, President of Allstar Products
暴發戶:全明星產品公司(Allstar Products)總裁斯科特鮑倫
Estimated Profit: $200MM
估計收益:2億美元
It」s as simple as putting on a bathrobe backwards and an idea so ridiculous it isn」t patentable. But the Snuggie, which sold 20 million items in its first year, is no laughing matter. How did the silly two for $19.95 blanket with sleeves shove aside its Slanket and Freedom Blanket predecessors? Some think the 『cult of Snuggie』 came to be through an abundance of advertising. $10 million worth of infomercials in a down economy will do the trick.
這件服裝的設計超級簡單,就像前後顛倒穿反了的浴袍,這種東西穿上會非常可笑,不可能獲得專利。但是這種麻袋片在第一年上市後就售出了2000萬件,這可不是說著玩的。兩塊破毯子一共價值19.95美元,沿著邊縫了兩個袖子,這種產品是如何超過它的前輩自由毛毯(Freedom Blanket)的呢?有些人認為這種對麻袋片的狂熱追棒是鋪天蓋地的廣告效應。那麼,在經濟低迷時期,1000萬美元的商業廣告能達到這個效果也非常不錯。
But humor is the selling strategy that made the Snuggie a star. Bottom line: if a product is ridiculous, it should be sold in the funniest way possible. The ads, which featured a Snuggie-clad family roasting marshmallows together and cheering at sports games, quickly became media sensations. Jay Leno, Whoopie Goldberg and Ellen DeGeneres all featured the product on their shows. The buzz has led to Snuggie pub crawls, YouTube Snuggie mockery clips and a lot of gag gifts. I received a text from a friend just before Christmas, 『Tell me what you want, otherwise you」re getting a leopard print Snuggie.』
但是,銷售戰略中的幽默是讓麻袋片風靡的關鍵。電視廣告屏幕下方寫著:如果一個產品看起來很可笑,那麼就應該選擇一種最有趣的方式來銷售它。廣告內容包括全家披著麻袋片烤棉花糖或者全家一起為喜歡的體育比賽加油,這些廣告很快走紅。傑?雷諾(Jay Leno)、烏比·戈德堡(Whoopi Goldberg)和艾倫·德傑尼勒斯(Ellen Degeneres)分別在他們的節目上為這個麻袋片做了專題節目。鋪天蓋地的媒體報道讓夜店族披上了麻袋片,YouTube網站上隨處可見該產品的搞笑視頻短片,還有很多惡作劇禮品。我剛好在聖誕節前收到了一位朋友的短消息,『告訴我你想要什麼禮物,要不你收到的將是一個印有豹紋的麻袋片。』
And of course there」s its cutesy name that makes it sound more like a stuffed animal than quasi-apparel. Whatever the magic marketing recipe is, creator Scott Boilen is rolling in a few hundred million. By our math, it」s about $200MM to be exact (20,000,000 Snuggies sold x $19.95/2 items = a Truckload).
當然,不管是什麼樣的銷售秘籍,發明人斯科特鮑倫賺大了。我們算了算,他大概賺了2億美元(售出200萬個麻袋片X19.95美元每2件=1卡車的錢)
Million-Dollar Home Page 百萬美元主頁Ridiculously Rich Person Behind The Idea: Alex Tew
暴發戶:亞歷克斯·圖(Alex Tew)
Estimated Profit: $1MM
估計收益:100萬美元
This story has been beat to a pulp, but it」s so ridiculous it」s worth noting. A 21-year-old British kid created a home page and sold 1MM pixels each for $1. Furthermore, he had a sob story to warm the public」s heart: trying to pay his way through undergrad. Advertisers ate up the charity case boy who shamelessly proclaims on his site: 『I am a pixel hustler and proud!』 The site sold-out its pixels in a little over one year.
這個網站曾經被批評的體無完膚,但是很搞笑所以值得提一下。21歲的英國男孩制作了一個網站,以1美元的價格銷售1毫米的像素。還有,他的故事很令人感動,足以溫暖公眾的心:他要用掙來的錢支付讀大學本科的學費。男孩在他的網站上無恥地稱:『我是賣像素的惡棍,但我很驕傲!』,這引得廣告商紛至沓來。網站在一年多的時間裡售出了所有像素。
Beanie Babies 豆豆娃Ridiculously Rich Person Behind It: H Ty Warner
暴發戶:H Ty華納
Estimated Profit: $3-6 Billion
估計收益:30-60億美元
Fill a sack with beans, give it furry ears, and name it something cute like Patti the Platypus or Splash the Whale. The result? A toy empire bigger than Hasbro and Mattel combined—Beanie Babies. While many initially scoffed at Ty」s under-stuffed animals and referred to them as 「roadkill,」 the haters were quickly hushed when 30,000 were sold at the first toy show in Atlanta.
用豆子裝滿袋子,再給袋子裝兩只毛茸茸的耳朵,然後給它起個可愛的名字,比如:帕蒂鴨嘴獸或飛濺的鯨魚。結果怎麼樣呢?這個玩具帝國豆豆寶寶比孩之寶(Hasbro)和美泰玩具(Mattel )的規模加起來還要大。開始有很多人都嘲笑Ty的玩具癟癟的沒有內容,戲稱他們是『馬路殺手』,但在亞特蘭大的首次玩具展銷會上售出3萬個玩具後,這些人很快就閉嘴了。
The way Ty Warner built his empire is remarkable. He never advertised his products or sold them in major chain stores, like Toys-R-Us. This made the toys harder to obtain and thus more desirable. In addition, Ty would retire certain models after the initial stock-run had sold out, making the few that existed prized possessions.
華納靠這種方式建立起自己的玩具王國非常令人敬佩。他從來沒有為自己的玩具打過廣告,或者在像玩具反斗城(Toys『R』Us)這樣大的連鎖店裡銷售。這樣,人們越不容易買到,反而越想得到。另外,Ty在最初的庫存售完後,有些型號的玩具就不再生產了,只留幾個作為珍貴的收藏。
Call it a scam, but Ty」s line of collectibles created the most insane fad frenzy of all time, and he now sits on billions.
你可以把這種設計叫做詭計,但Ty收集了所有時期最瘋狂的時尚玩具。他現在坐擁數十億美元資產。