Creativity Works

Speaking of new marketing techniques (see the post below), The Washington Post reports on Alex Tew's million dollar idea, the Million Dollar Homepage. Alex's idea, charging per pixel for ads on his Web site, has garnered him over a $1,000,000, and generated lots of copycats.

According to the Washington Post, "More than 1,000 copycat homepages have cropped up hoping to duplicate his success -- from the Zero Dollar Homepage, which gives pixel blocks away and tries to make money from banner ads, to "The Most Expensive Pixels on the Internet" that sells space for $1,000 per pixel. Twists and oddities also abound: The Million Pixel Gallery tries to sell art and advertising from galleries and museums, the Cover Up Osama Bin Laden site sells pixel blocks to obliterate Osama's face from the screen, and the Million Booby Homepage, well, appears to still be in the training-bra stage of development."

What these copycats are missing, however, is the spontaneity and originality of Alex's idea. I see this all the time with my clients, who wait for someone else to push the envelope and then blandly try to follow in their footsteps.

As Alex says, "The lesson is that consumers are willing to go to good ideas, things that are unique, things that are novel. Rather than copy each other, spend time thinking up new things. . . . Creativity works."