How to tap into this “online marketplace of wisdom”

Meet the amazings

Meet the amazingsThe Paralympics showed the Superhumans to the world, now meet the Amazings…

I wanted to share this with you for two reasons…

1) This is a very ‘current’ example of entrepreneurial wizardry. The team behind this have identified a relatively untapped resource and have found a way of bringing it to the market. They’ve done this in a way which benefits all parties.

2) It’s a fantastic resource!

So what is it?

It’s called ‘The Amazings’ and you can see their website here.

The Amazings is a brand new collective (for want of a better term) that’s been set up to connect over 50’s with specific skill sets with people who could benefit from learning them. It’s billed as the “online marketplace of wisdom” which, copywriters take note, is a nice turn of phrase.

The skills on offer cover virtually anything you can think of, from woodworking and bakery to bike maintenance and photography. You can even, if you so choose, learn how to forage for food growing in local parks. Costs of classes or ‘events’ range from £0 – £40 a session. Bear in mind it’s literally just launched and no doubt this range will increase as more people sign up.

So what’s so great about it from a business opportunity perspective?

For one thing it’s an idea which will rally people – young and old. It’s especially good timing in the wake of all the goodwill brought about by the Olympics and Paralympics. A lot of people want to keep that feel good atmosphere going.

In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if they haven’t had to spend a penny on advertising to promote this so far. It’s a unique concept that really advertises itself. Newspapers and magazines will want to cover it because it’s quirky, innovative and most importantly it makes sense.

Modern advertisers spend trillions bombarding us with messages extolling the virtues of youth. What about the virtues of age and experience?

There’s a huge and varied skill set out there and it’s common sense that this knowledge should be passed on to younger generations wanting to better themselves. And why not make it an opportunity for both parties to profit?

Now you might be thinking “great idea – but isn’t this the kind of thing that needs a huge team behind it and lots of money to set up and run?” Well, putting my business hat on, I’ve been digging around (and this is very much to their credit) the set up is actually really quite straightforward.

It’s a relatively simple website that would not have cost a great deal to set up. The payments are taken through a company called ‘Eventbrite’ who are an events organising site. I’ve used them before and their platform is extremely simple to use and it doesn’t cost a penny to set up with them (though obviously they take a small percentage of any sales). Presumably the people behind ‘The Amazing’ take a commission on sales as well.

So this is another example of someone identifying a want/need (people are after new skills – both for fun and to give themselves the edge in an increasingly difficult job market) and bringing it to the masses. That’s the really clever part – bringing it the market online.

It’s already featured in the Times, on the BBC and in Timeout and several local papers and I’m sure it’ll pick up speed. It deserves to do well.

I’ve mainly drawn your attention to this because I think it’s another great example of entrepreneurship. However it’s also a potential business opportuntity. If you’re over 50, have a skill to offer and would like to make a side income from teaching in your spare time this might be worth looking at. I should note that it’s currently only operating in London but no doubt it will soon expand to other areas.

As a completely irrelevant side note do look at some of the photos that have been used on the site. Some of the backdrops that have been used in the user pictures are really quite jaw dropping (in a good way… I think!) You can see what I’m talking about here.

I can’t decide whether the backdrops make them look friendly and light-hearted or like or psychedelic montage of serial killers.

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2 responses to “How to tap into this “online marketplace of wisdom””

  1. Love this idea. As you say so simple – and very timely for a number of social and economical reasons. Shame it’s only in London so far.

    Interesting to see which skills are most popular like the breadmaking “en Francais” and the bike maintenance skills which I would definitely be interested in if I live closer.

    • Thanks Alan! I agree, it’ll be very interesting to see what the hot topics turn out to be – a great indicator of what the market is hungry for. I suspect bike maintenance will be a popular round these neck of woods, these been a real ‘bike boom’ over the past couple of years which is showing no sign of slowing down.

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