Idea Napkin No. 1

1. Me
My name is Sarah Gies. I am from Rye, New York and currently a third year student studying Finance at the University of Florida. I hope to one day enter the financial services industry with a role in wealth management--preferably at a small, private firm. I have developed strong leadership skills through the various leadership positions I have held throughout my life. I also have strong interpersonal skills and am very organized and analytical when it comes to problem solving. I think that these skills will equip me well in terms of translating the wavering financial markets to helping people with their own personal assets. As for this class' venture, I think that it could play a role of helping me with my sales skills.

2. What am I offering to customers?
My service, which I've unofficially named iCleanup, will essentially "clean-up" the customer's online presence. These days, many people do not get hired because of inappropriate content on their social media profiles. iCleanup would manage the customer's various social media platforms, deleting and clearing out anything that could potentially ward off employers (or anyone that could inflict consequence due to online content). Another service we'd provide is perfecting the customer's Google search. With the usage of SEO's (search engine optimization), we could reorganize what shows up on the "top" or "first" page of Google when the customer's name is searched. That way the customer's LinkedIn, portfolio, blog, etc., would show up first rather than a Facebook page or an old MySpace account.

3. Who am I offering it to?
My target market would mainly be college students and post-grads who are seeking jobs and internships. This is generally the age-frame where people are applying for careers and it is also the age-frame where we would find the most incriminating content online (i.e. drinking photos, sharing inappropriate or offensive memes and posts, etc.). Through my interviews, I also found that students applying to college would also benefit from this service as colleges are now searching social media platforms before accepting new students. Another segment to target would be those who already have an established career, but would like a set of eyes on their name online. We would provide a service to them that notifies them when new content including their name appears on Google, and promptly hide anything that would harm their reputation.

4. Why do they care?
What you say online is much more dangerous than what you say to someone in person. Pictures are worth a thousand words. Every day you could hear a new story about someone getting fired or not getting the job because of an offensive Tweet from 2 years ago that they forgot about. Online presence is so important these days. I think everyone would benefit from this service.

5. What are my core competencies?
There are a couple companies out there that will help you look good on Google. But no companies have offered a service to clean out your social media platforms for you. There are many self-help guides on how to do this yourself, but some people don't have the time or patience to search through their social media from the START. This is the main thing that sets iCleanup apart from the competitors... we do everything, not just one service.

Overall, I think that my five aspects on this "napkin" fit together quite well. If there is an aspect that needs work, it is the part of customer retention. Once the online presence is cleaned up, I need a way to keep customers using the service. I thought of a subscription, that would allow people to pay monthly/yearly for constant online monitoring. This way, if anyone posts anything inappropriate/embarrassing/incriminating, we would remove it or notify the customer before anyone of importance could see it. I'm still figuring out how that part would work!