Innovation News

NKU grad students’ tech-based business brings small-town history to 21st century

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November 6, 2012

Northern Kentucky University grad students Sean Thomas and Steve Oldfield took a classroom idea into the real world with a tech-spin on telling small-town history. Thomas and Oldfield created a way for small historical organizations to share their unique pasts with a wider audience though multimedia, self-guided walking tours. They've created Instant Access Tours, and their mobile walking tours are now in two small river cities. Instant Access Tours works with existing historical content to create interactive apps that users can access through their smart phones. Users not on-site can take virtual tours through their home computers. "Our goal is to revive old or ineffective walking tours and bring them into the modern age, with the hopes that they will educate and inspire learners for generations to come," the Instant Access website proclaims. Thomas and Oldfield created Instant Access Tours after coming up with the idea as a capstone project for NKU's Master of Arts in Public History program. Thomas, a former videographer and editor for the Army, is a self-described "history nut." The idea for the tours came after Thomas had done with work on the Fort Thomas Military and Community Museum. "I realized that these small museums really have a hard time marketing themselves," he says. "Then they lose visitors and they lose money. I thought 'how could I help museums keep there doors open?' He and Oldfield, a broadcast journalist, decided on a project that would help small towns use technology to present great historical moments in a cost-effective way. The pair began by working in New Richmond to update its Underground Railroad Freedom Trail tour for their capstone project. Their first business client was the Walking Tour for the Battle of Augusta. They hope soon to collaborate on tours in Covington. By Feoshia H. Davis Follow Feoshia on Twitter

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Cincinnati entrepreneur buys market research firm AcuPOLL

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Entrepreneurship

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November 6, 2012

Cincinnati entrepreneur, consultant and former P&G brand manager Jeff Goldstein spent most of his career helping businesses sell great products faster. Now, as the new owner of AcuPOLL Precision Research, he's expanding his reach through this market research firm with an entrepreneurial edge. "Instead of helping one or two clients at a time, we'll be working with 40 or 50 clients at a time," Goldstein says. "(AcuPOLL) is more consultative than other market research firms, and more willing to contribute ideas, stick their necks out really, to the market research process." Goldstein was a Procter & Gamble brand manager in the '80s and '90s before leaving for consulting. He then launched +Repelle, a hair color stain protectant for skin that sold in Walgreens, CVS and other stores. He continues to sell that brand through Sally Beauty Supply and via salon distributors, and was president of Ingenuity Advisors marketing and innovation consultancy when he formed RVG Acquisitions, Inc. a financial holdings firm, to acquire AcuPOLL. Goldstein purchased the company through the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 7a loan program from Huntington Bank, a local SBA partner agency. Without the program, it would have been very difficult to purchase the business, which is successful but didn't have the collateral a traditional bank loan expects. "A lot of people aren't aware of the SBA loans, but it was a great option for the situation I found myself in," he says. "That's a problem for a lot of (service) businesses that are not asset intensive." Goldstein sees AcuPOLL as a natural expansion of his career and experience. He recently purchased the company, based in Newtown, and founded in 1991 by another former P&G brand manager to discover, accelerate and improve innovation results. "The more I learned about the company, the more I realized it's really a mix of research and consulting," Goldstein says. "It's not a surprise because it was formed by P&Gers looking for better and faster ways to innovate." AcuPOLL was founded on a system designed to lessen the percentage of new product innovation failures. The company, which has about two dozen employees, has tested more than 40,000 new products and ideas. The market research firm works with businesses across the globe, from startups to Fortune 100 companies. AcuPoll works in a wide range of industries, including consumer package and durable goods, quick-service restaurants, financial services and telecommunications. By Feoshia H. Davis Follow Feoshia on Twitter

Cormier Creative crafts logos for budding businesses

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Architecture + Design

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November 6, 2012

Some people work four 10-hour days for perks like saving on gas and three-day weekends. Others, like Sara Cormier, cram in a second job on the side. Until last April, Cormier was juggling a design gig with Cincinnati Magazine and healthy freelance traffic. When her daughter, Carmen, entered preschool, she decided it was time for a change. “I was kind of going crazy,” she says, noting that she doesn’t regret those hyper-scheduled days: “At least for me, I couldn’t quit my job without having built [my business] up. I wasn’t financially in a place to do that.” Cormier, who graduated from the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning in 2002, launched Cormier Creative in April, and specializes in helping small businesses with branding, logos and promotions. Her services can help young companies, or those without a budget for an in-house designer, she says. “I’ve always really liked working with a business that’s just getting off the ground and starting from scratch," she says. "Once they invest in that initially, then they’re really excited about how their stuff looks." She encourages businesses not to wait to start branding themselves. “You need a logo right off the bat. It doesn’t take long to get one, and I think the sooner, the better.” Because she’s worked with so many newly launched businesses, Cormier has curated a few tips for proprietors, too. Along with advising that any business that is doing business needs a logo immediately, she advises businesspeople to find a designer they trust and then relinquish control. “You’re not hiring a professional designer to recreate your sketch so much as to help you with the entire identity.” Cormier offers custom design services for all sizes of businesses as well as custom stationary – she calls herself “a paper snob” – that’s popular among local brides. Her design aesthetic favors clean lines and clever graphics. "I love all my brides, they’re really really fun," Cormier says. "We try to come up with something really custom." By Robin Donovan

Cincinnati salon owner helps peers get new clients through HairSalonDiscount.com

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Entrepreneurship

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November 6, 2012

Cincinnati area salon owner Gary Benz took a chance and offered an idea that's grown his own business — New Client Invitation — to his fellow Greater Cincinnati hair care experts. "I've been invited to try exercise clubs and exclusive country clubs by way of new client invitation," Benz says of the idea behind HairSalonDiscount.com. "If it works for them, it should work for me." Benz, who, with his wife owns Benzie Salon in Montgomery, has tripled sales since starting the salon in 2004. He attributes part of that success to his New Client Invitation marketing program, expanded online at HairSalonDiscount.com. The targeted programs attract new potential clients with half-off pricing on services. It's similar to popular major daily deal websites, but the salon services are 50 percent off at most, instead of the up to 70 percent at some major daily deal sites. It's a price point Benz says is both attractive to a potential buyer and to the business owner. Benz works to market the site to certain groups, like new homeowners and people who've moved into target neighborhoods that the salons typically service, which include Norwood, Oakley and Hyde Park. Benz, who has a background in SEO and web development, also promotes the site through organic and paid online search results, he says. The deals work like Groupon or Living Social — users go online and purchase a service deal. The deals are marketed as New Client Invitations and Benz says the goal is to attract five new potential clients each week for participating salons. That's in contrast to the major daily deals sites that market to mass buyers, with deeper discounts. Those sites can bring businesses hundreds of new customers, but often they aren't the repeat clientele that salons seek, Benz says. "We sold 350 deals (with another site), and a lot of people had no intention of ever coming back again," Benz says. "There are a lot of mass emails through those sites, and the next time another salon has a deal, they're going to hit up another salon." The site has about 20 salons on its roster so far. While the bulk are from Cincinnati, it has already attracted salons from Georgia, Northern Kentucky and Dayton. He hopes to soon add some Chicago area salons, with an ultimate goal to include salons from every state. "As long as I stay true to my brand, and to quality, I think it's a feasible business plan," he says. By Feoshia H. Davis Follow Feoshia on Twitter

Lisnr app connects artists, fans with exclusive extras

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Arts + Culture

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November 6, 2012

The initial concept for Lisnr came from Rodney Williams, but it came alive through a team of five co-founders on the Cincinnati StartUpBus en route to South by Southwest last March. “When I got on the bus, Lisnr didn’t have a name, but within two hours, we had a presentation, and within another two hours, we had more things, and by the time we got to Austin, we had a working product,” Williams says. Lisnr creates interactivity with songs and albums by packaging exclusive content created by musicians with music files. For example, say that an artist announces her next album will be Lisnr-enabled. This means you can buy a music file from any source and listen to it anywhere. With the Lisnr app running in the background, you receive exclusive content via automatic notifications based on the Lisnr-enabled tracks. This content, which can be anything from a tour of the artist’s house to a peek at the song’s inspiration, comes from the artist. Backstage video, unreleased tracks, lyrics or artist interviews are other possible extras. As you listen, the Lisnr app downloads content and saves it to your device. “An average fan will unlock many pieces of content throughout the day,” explains Williams, Lisnr’s CEO. His co-founders – Chris Ostoich, business; Chris Ridenour, tech; Nikki Pfahler, design; and Josh Glick, mobile – form Lisnr’s team, and Williams says two new hires are on the way. Since (and during) SXSW, Lisnr garnered support from the music industry; Williams has strategic advisors from cable station MTV, publishing and management firm Primary Wave Music and the Grammy-nominated artist Nas. For these bigwigs, Lisnr represents an unprecedented connection between artists and fans. The app also tracks listener behavior, such as where, when and how often a song is listened to. According to Williams, Lisnr plans a full-scale launch in mid-2013. The company is currently supported by Cintrifuse, a non-profit startup incubator based in Cincinnati, and seed-stage investor CincyTech. By Robin Donovan

Misfit quilt sparks an Etsy hit

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Arts + Culture

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October 30, 2012

Sarah DeMoss’ Etsy startup story is almost too simple. She created a quilt for her living room, but found that it didn’t quite fit her décor once it was sewn. Because so much work had gone into the piece, she couldn’t bear the thought of not using it, and decided to post it on Etsy. DeMoss Designs was born. The first quilt sold quickly, so DeMoss began creating new quilts and other items on request. Each time an item was requested, she’d add it to her store, figuring that what one customer wanted might please another, too. Two years later, DeMoss still sells lots of quilts, but you can also find flag banners (photographers love them for birthday photo shoots with kids), pacifier clips, headbands, coasters and onesies for infants. Quilts remain at the heart of the business, however. “Every time I make a quilt, it’s my favorite,” DeMoss says. “I have stacks of unfinished quilts. It seems like every time I list one, I sell it. DeMoss watches changes to the Etsy site closely, tracking forum conversations to keep up with changes that might influence when and where her products show up in site searches. The site frequently changes the way products are emphasized, she says. “Right now I’m selling a lot of quilts and pacifiers clips; six months ago I was selling a lot of baby lovies and headbands. I don’t know why it happens the way it happens. I think a lot of it has to do with Etsy and how they emphasize items … A lot of it has to do with search engine optimization and just keeping yourself relevant.” She also reports a fair amount of direct traffic, or site searches for her shop name as her wares become more well-known. And even her husband has jumped into the Etsy shop recently, pairing with her to sell woodworking items. By Robin Donovan

UC part of education collaboration with Iraqi universities

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Diversity

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October 30, 2012

A group of University of Cincinnati faculty and students will go to Iraq in November as part of a collaboration between U.S. and Iraq university to strengthen educational and economic opportunities in the Middle East county. Starting Nov. 2, representative from UC's College of Education, Criminal Justice and Human Services (CECH) and the UC Career Development Center (CDC) will go to Salahaddin University-Hawler in Erbil, Iraq. It's the latest in a series of trips between the two universities, which are in the third year of a U.S. State Department-sponsored linkages program geared toward undergraduate Iraqi students. Originally scheduled to end this year, the collaboration was given a six-month extension, says Laura Dell, academic director of distance learning for the UC School of Education. "I'm going to be teaching a two-week long seminar on education research. We'll also be observing teaching in classrooms and providing peer feedback," Dell says. The universities will also plan a joint spring conference. UC faculty will lead career development workshops, providing feedback on research courses, discussing literature and exploring future opportunities for post-doctoral students. Theresa Aberle, adjunct instructor and program coordinator for the UC Career Development Center, will help lead a conference on creating career centers. "I'll be there with four Iraqi universities and four U.S. universities. We'll be sharing information on how to set up career centers, how to do presentations and marketing, and all the different pieces of what a takes to get a career center working," Aberle says. As Iraq is transitioning into a more democratic government form, privates businesses are moving in and looking for a workforce. It's a cultural shift for the country that encompasses many important topics, including career development. "They've never had to have a career center before; it's a whole new venture for them," Aberle says. UC is among only five U.S. institutions picked to partner with five Iraqi universities. The partnership fits in with UC's 2019 strategic plan to expand international partnerships and overseas research collaborations. "It's part of the mission to help wherever we can," Dells says. Salahaddin University-Hawler is in the Kurdish region of Iraq, where many natives speak English as a second language, Dell says. That's made it much easier for each side to communicate and work together. Located in the Northern part of Iraq, it's also not as subject to ongoing violence. This is Dell's second trip there. "What we see of Iraq on the news is violence, and upheaval. It's been really nice to see the other side of the Middle East. People are excited to talk to Americans and very nice," she says. By Feoshia H. Davis Follow Feoshia on Twitter.

Sprout Insight hones in on multi-ethnic consumers

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Diversity

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October 30, 2012

“People always say, ‘Be careful working with your best friend,’ but we’ve never had those negative experiences. Our relationship and the way we know each other has been such a strength,” says Lisa Mills, a psychologist, and co-founder of research consultancy Sprout Insight, of her 22-year friendship with co-founder Kathy Burklow. Mills and Burklow became friends as graduate students in psychology, working together first at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. In 2006, frustrated by the disconnect between scientific advancement and community engagement, they left Children’s to launch Harmony Garden, a nonprofit community research center focused on improving the health of Cincinnati girls. Building on the idea of helping community members be heard and understood, the duo pivoted last February, launching Sprout Insight, a market research and insight consultancy. These days, the leverage decades of clinical and research experience while work closely with companies, hospitals, nonprofits and branding firms that target African American, Latino and Asian shoppers. “Unless [companies] get better at collecting information about racial and ethnic minorities, they’re going to continue to miss opportunities in their industries,” Mills says. “There are a lot of consumer insight and market research companies, but very few are looking at consulting with businesses and corporations about gathering insights from racially and ethnically diverse populations.” Accordingly, the women help organizations identify what types of data they need and how to gather it, both quantitatively through customized surveys and qualitatively, often through focus groups that allow the pair to gain deeper insight into consumers. In practice, that might look like tweaking an existing survey to avoid leading questions or to gather more specific data. It could also mean setting up focus groups at a church or recreation center (rather than the typical observation room) to allow meaningful feedback and insight to flow. “Taking [people] out of their community, you may get answers, but they may not be relevant answers,” Mills says. And so Mills and Burklow keep bringing new voices to the conversation between companies and consumers, hoping for the same goal sparked their friendship decades ago. “Kathy and I are really about the bridging of the gaps,” Mills explains. “For our society to work together, everybody needs to be knowledgeable on some level so that they can sit at the table, and communicate.” By Robin Donovan

Technology pushes digital advances closer to daily life tasks

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Innovation News

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October 30, 2012

“Digital media is rapidly transforming,” says Jason Dailey, director of Bing evangelism for Microsoft. Dailey spoke at Cincinnati's Digital Non Conference last week about emerging digital technology. As the director of Bing evangelism, Dailey and his team build relationships with advertisers and agencies. They also drive traffic to adCenter and Bing, and partner with Yahoo! for the Search Alliance. Advertising, marketing and PR have changed rapidly over the years thanks to technology. The first paid advertisement appeared in a newspaper in 1836; today, ads are everywhere, from TV and radio to the Internet. But who is driving change—technology or consumers? Dailey says that the need to complete daily tasks quickly and efficiently is what drives the changes in digital technology. The idea of what a computer is has changed drastically since its invention, and soon, everything will have a computer in it. Although they won’t be on the market for a decade or so, computers, smartphones and tablets will eventually have the ability to communicate seamlessly with each other. Refrigerators will also have computers in them and be able to provide recipes based on the ingredients inside. Microsoft also has the vision for facial recognition in digital devices. Today, Xbox Kinect is the closest thing on the market to facial recognition, but it requires you to stand within a certain distance of the console to play a game. One day in the near future, this won’t be needed. Currently, there are about nine billion devices connected to the Internet, but that number will soon grow as digital technology changes and grows. By Caitlin Koenig Follow Caitlin on Twitter Caitlin is an Associate Editor for Barefoot Proximity

Canopi fashions new web channel for style bloggers

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Architecture + Design

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October 30, 2012

There literally are millions of blogs with hundreds of thousands created dailcy. As any avid blogger already knows, not all blogs are created equal. Some are as professional, well-written and relevant as any glossy magazine. Others are, well, not. Social media channels like Youtube, Facebook and Twitter can help somewhat cull the best content, but it's still not a great way to find good content about specific topics. A small group of Cincinnati entrepreneurs are working to do their part to make the fashion blogging space more manageable and efficient for bloggers, readers and brands. The Canopi startup is aimed at the fashion blogging community and billed as an "An All Access Pass to Top Blog Content." It's working to amass the best content, help readers and bloggers connect, and better match bloggers and brands. Erin Flynn, a blogger who lives in Columbia Tusculum, started Canopi in July 2011. Formerly known as Righting Style, Canopi is just launching the site in Beta, and seeking blogger content. The site will have a system that divides content by specific topics, and allows bloggers to use the platform to grow their influence. Readers can vote up their favorite content, and brands can tap into a system that sets pay rates for bloggers based on influence and content. Flynn, who has a background in marketing, started Canopi in response to problems she saw as a style blogger. She's the author of Reality Chic, devoted to real-world style tips for young women transitioning to work from college. "I graduated from college in 2009, and the economy crashed. I decided I wanted to do something for myself. I was passionate about fashion, and started a fashion blog. I was addicted," she says. But she saw problems. It was hard to cut through the blog noise to reach readers, and difficult for brands to quickly identify great bloggers to partner with. "I was finding brands were spending 25 hours per campaign looking for bloggers," she says. Canopi is in its early stages, but will soon be contacting brands. The company is also seeking angel investors, and Flynn's husband is leaving a job at Procter & Gamble to work full-time for the company. "We're open to all opportunities," Flynn says. By Feoshia H. Davis Follow Feoshia on Twitter.