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Netblazers Part 1 - TwoMobile: Too Cool

Our articles have always been dedicated to providing useful reviews, stories, resources, guides and checklists that you can easily apply to your business to capitalize on Internet commerce.

In this issue we begin profiling NetBlazers, businesses that are trailblazing the Internet. Some of these businesses are clever adaptations of "brick and mortar" ideas - businesses whose ideas are tried, tested and true. Others are true innovators - those who challenge how we think about business just by being enormously successful. Whether they are at one end of this spectrum or the other, or somewhere in between, these are the businesses that will shape e-commerce in the months and years ahead. We'll explore the births, growths, successes and mistakes of these evolving businesses. From this, we'll share the insights that can help your business become the next generation of NetBlazers.

It's seven in the evening. And, if you look at their desk, you probably wouldn't see anything so very unexpected. A half-eaten submarine sandwich lies over some hastily scribbled notes. An electronic personal organizer and .zip discs are buried under some spreadsheet reports across from an uneven pile of CDs. Only the cellular telephone seems to have breathing space. But, this isn't the untidy clutter that you and I may create as we make our way through our day-to-day decisions. This is the think-centre and the operational centre of TwoMobile.com:

Investigative Mobile Reviewers

TwoMobile.com was founded in August, 1999 because Brad Mills, a self-motivated and seasoned web entrepreneur at 18 years of age, and Fabrizio Pilato, a freelance graphic design and network professional, aged 20, "couldn't find a single useful site on mobile computing technology". Brad and Fab hooked up with the NRG Factory, a group of well-funded visionaries that provides direction, advice and resources to promising and innovative Internet businesses, in exchange for a share of earnings. So far, the two see this as a great deal. TwoMobile.com get the means to build their business while keeping decision-making authority in all creative aspects of their business and gain the real life guidance that should help ensure their business succeeds.

Since August, Brad and Fab have begun a series of cross-the-world adventures to do what they do best: which happily, is exactly what they like to do. For them, that means "gearing-up with cutting-edge technology and testing it the way it's supposed to be used - on the road". They have their sights on being the "cool" version of Consumers Reports. And, when you're chatting with these two entrepreneurs, reclining on the comfy sofas located in a common area used by several fledgling Internet businesses, you can't help but think that their enthusiasm and sincerity will help them to achieve their goals: "We're making every effort to make this the most honest, informative, fun and efficient site that we can offer". They continue, "We were sick of reviews that were really more like advertisements. They didn't give us any indication about what the product was actually like to use and most didn't even give us any proof that the tester even held one in their hands".

Taking a look at TwoMobile.com's web site gives you a sense of how savvy this business will be. A slick design, carefully laid out and updated daily reveals that Brad and Fab have begun to masterfully combine their design and marketing skills. Carefully combining intuition and business planning, they have decided that in the technology-heavy and fast-paced world of the Internet, success means building relationships with web site visitors. Establishing and maintaining these relationships requires building trust. And, for Brad and Fab, building trust should be done in an effective, creative and fun way. That means creating identifiable, unique, exciting personalities that will lead to face, name and product recognition.

Over the next months, chances are TwoMobile.com will review several hundred "gotta have gadgets" like no other reviewers. They'll also likely make exciting discoveries, build a host of loyal fans and make a few silly blunders. Will they succeed? One thing is certain, if the Gods of the Internet are looking at their monitors, they're probably pondering, "who ever thought these two guys would use words like branding, business plan and forecast. Sweet".

If you're thinking about starting a new Internet business, or if you've become bogged down in some of the day-to-day activities of running your business, you might miss some of the important lessons that our brief encounter with TwoMobile.com taught us:

- Listen to all good ideas. Get excited about each one. Then use a disciplined business model to evaluate the priorities and feasibility of each.

- Surround yourself with other professionals who are passionate and excited by their own projects so that you can share in their victories and learn from their mistakes.

- Draw on the life expertise of professionals who've done similar work.

- Small work groups consisting of like-minded professionals can sustain themselves without petty politics.

- If you're sincere and passionate about your work, success is in doing that work.

(NetBlazer Series of Articles Part #1 - Part #2 is here)

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