iContact : Why Didn't I Think of That? ®

iContact

iContact

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For sometime now, we’ve had a special project in the works. We wanted to give our listeners and readers a chance to hear a new Why Didn’t I Think of That?® feature every day, even if they’re away from the radio. And that’s exactly what we’ve done. Today marks the beginning phases of a plan [...]


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Hall of Fame Spotlight: Spray Paint

Nobody thought about putting paint in an aerosol can until Ed Seymour. In 1949, Seymour was looking for a novel way to demonstrate a new aluminum paint. His wife suggested putting it in an aerosol can, like ones recently introduced for insecticides. To his surprise, the sprayer — not the paint — became the star of his demonstration.


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Hall of Fame Spotlight: Dole Pineapple

While in Hawaii in the 1800′s, James Dole discovered a fruit most people had never seen or heard of before: The pineapple. He began importing the fruit to the mainland and introduced the country to this exotic, sweet treat. The pineapple became a national favorite, and the Dole Food Company became the largest supplier of fruits and vegetables in the world.


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TOMS Shoes

He started his first business in college. He sold his second business to Clear Channel. He came within four minutes of winning CBS’s the Amazing Race. He’s led an interesting life, but what Blake Mycoskie is best known for is starting TOMS Shoes, the company that has donated well over a million shoes to needy men, women, and children.


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Hall of Fame Spotlight: Gatorade

Today it’s as synonymous with sports as cheerleaders or sweatbands. But not too long ago, Gatorade was just a nameless concoction, cooked up to revitalize the University of Florida’s football team: the Gators. The Gators were losing. A lot. One reason for that was the hot Florida weather dehydrating the players. The “Gator-Aid” not only saved the team, but it has been hydrating and refreshing some of the world’s greatest athletes ever since.

Today’s Hall of Fame Spotlight: The Story of Gatorade.

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What they do:
Created a service to manage email marketing.

Inspiration:
In 2002, Ryan Allis and Aaron Houghton were students at the University of North Carolina. Allis specialized in web-marketing consulting, while Houghton did web design and software development. Aaron had just created a software tool for managing email-marketing lists. Ryan tried it and thought it had a lot of potential in his world of web marketing. They decided to combine their talents and make something totally new. The result was iContact.

About the business:
iContact is an online service that helps businesses manage their email marketing. Within one year, iContact turned a profit, drumming up 300,000 dollars in revenue. Recent annual revenue reached over $26 million dollars. They keep the good karma going by donating much of their time, money, and services to numerous causes, charities and nonprofits.

Axioms:

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