Since I rebranded MarcoPuccia.com to incorporate the name “Advancing !nnovation”, I’ve been thinking about ways to build a business model around this new brand. Here are some thoughts I jotted down:

Mission

Advancing !nnovation seeks to support and inspire high-impact leaders, business ideas, and innovative approaches to complex global challenges.

Target Audience

Individuals

• Entrepreneurs
• Intrapreneurs
• Thought Leaders
• Emerging Leaders

Institutions

• Startup Companies
• Nonprofits
• Social Enterprises
• Supportive Industries (Consultants, Advisors, Incubators, etc.)

Products and Services (The How)

The Blog – Sharing ideas that support an inspire new ideas, leaders, and organizations. Focus on personal and professional development. Added emphasis on being a “resource” — enhancing the legacy of posts.

E-books, Tools, Resources – A collection of tools and resources that emerging leaders can consult to help them make decisions, work through problems, etc.

Events – Sponsoring, supporting, and hosting local DC-area events that support the overall mission of “Advancing !nnovation”

Consulting Services -

• Free Consultations for Startups (For-Profit and Nonprofit)
• Cause Marketing // Corporate Social Responsibility
• Social Media // Brand Strategy

Your Ideas?

What do you think? Please share some ideas and critique what I have so far!

Also — any thoughts on how I can effectively blend or manage the Advancing !nnovation and MarcoPuccia.com brands? Should one be dominant? Should I keep them separate? Should I replace one with the other?

For the last couple of months, I have been on a journey to discover my niche in life and where that would take me. Over the course of the last year, I blogged about a topic that was really close to my heart and that I was really passionate about: the interrelationship between business and global development. The experience that came out of my “Business and Development” Blog was extremely enlightening and rewarding. However, I feel that my interets have expanded beyond just business and development to include the broader world of innovation and the advancing of new ideas that create social change. For that reason, I’m announcing the re-branding of MarcoPuccia.com from “Business and Development” to the broader “Advancing !nnovation” — a shift that will not only be reflected in name, but in content as well.

I hope that you will join me as I continue this journey, so that together we can discover and advance tomorrow’s new ideas and solutions to complex global challenges. This is something that I cannot wait to get started writing about, so let’s do this!

While I managed to make the transition within 24 hours, there were a couple of slip-ups including a massive twitter burst and an RSS e-mail that went out today. I want to sincerely apologize if this inconvenienced anybody, and tell you that I great appreciate your patience during this transition!

I’m still working on developing sections of the site, but right now want to pass along the link to the RSS (I’m not how well it is carrying over from old to new!). Anyways, if you get this message, please update your feed to: http://feeds.feedburner.com/MarcoPuccia

Thanks again for your patience!

After reviewing some feedback, site statistics, my personal blogging goals, and checking out what other bloggers are doing, I’ve finally pulled together some resolutions for 2010!

The New Video Podcast

I’ve already mentioned the new video podcast which I’ll be working on putting together! I’m really excited to explore this new medium for content delivery, and I think the distribution and simplicity of video will go a long ways in extending the audience of the site. My main goal with the podcast series is to help promote some of the awesome entrepreneurs in our field that are doing amazing things around the world!

I’ve already got some awesome content in the pipeline including an interview with WorldCupCSR blogger John Kim, James Bashara from Dvelo.org, and Melissa Richer from The Allyu Initiative!

No More “Daily Brief” // New “Week in Review”

Putting together the Daily Brief was more work than it was worth, and I think it took away from the overall voice of the blog. I still want to share some of the best links and blog posts from the sector that I come across, so I’ll be posting a “Week in Review” on Fridays featuring some of the top relevant content and news from around the inter-web!

More Focused Posts

Within the Daily Briefs I frequently added summaries and perspectives to the links that I provided, but I think that also got lost in the summarized format. For 2010, I’m going to make an effort to publish posts around 250-500 words about more focused topics.

Consistency

One of the struggles with the Daily Brief’s was that I’d spend all day scouring the web, my RSS feeds, and Twitter for the best content. Then I’d spend time adding my commentary to each. Then I’d have to put together a picture for the post that captured the overall message within. I’m not complaining — I loved the adventure of doing it! But it was definitely time consuming and far from efficient.

For 2010, I resolve to do my writing more in advance and publish on a consistent schedule from a stockpile of posts! I hope this will relieve some of the pressure off of me, and will prove much more reliable for readers!

Still Open for Suggestions

As always, I crave and welcome your feedback and suggestions! I try to work hard for my readers, and your input really helps a lot! If you have any ideas or suggestions for more 2010 Blogging Resolutions please shoot me an e-mail or leave a comment!

This blog has come a long way since I started it about year ago! I want to take a moment to solicit your feedback and input with respect to the site’s content and how I can improve it — delivering the most value to you!

Over the break I launched my very first podcast, and I hope to use that new medium to connect with more people and help promote some of the awesome work that other bloggers, entrepreneurs, and social innovators are doing around the world! If you have any ideas for people or organizations to interview, please let me know!

Also, I really want to work on refining the content of the site so that it can be a valuable resource for readers, so I have a few questions:

1. What is your favorite aspect about the site? What is your least favorite aspect?
2. Are the “Daily Brief’s” helpful? Or should I concentrate more on overviews/analyses of single events or topics?
3. What can I do to make the site more participatory (eg. comments)?
4. What type of content would be most valuable to you?
5. Is the theme of the site too broad? Too narrow? Should I concentrate more on business and investment, entrepreneurship, or social innovation at large?

You’re input and feedback would be VERY MUCH appreciated! I really want to know how I best serve my readers and create the most value possible!

Thank you for a great 2009, and let’s make 2010 even better together!

One of my favorite parts of this site is the image the accompanies each post. I love putting a little creative effort into designing an image that compliments each post that I publish. For months I’ve been trying to figure out how to get these images in the RSS feed for this blog (they are ‘custom fields’ in WordPress), and I’ve finally done it! I hope this makes your reading experience even better! Enjoy!

If you want to see a collection of some of the past images, take a look at this Facebook album I posted on the Fan Page!

-Marco

I’ll be “out of the office”, so to speak, for the next two weeks. I’m on my way right now to Washington, DC where I’ll be participating on a panel discussion on social enterprise and the role of business in global development. I’ll be in DC until next Wednesday, when I’ll head up to New York for The Feast Conference being hosted by All Day Buffet on October 1st. The following day I’ll be presenting International Transparency Solutions in The Feast Kitchen pitch competition!

As always, I’ll work hard to deliver some quality posts while I’m traveling!

If you are reading this blog, I’m guessing you fit into this crazy niche of work and interest. I want to invite all of my readers to connect with me on the social networking site LinkedIn.

Having a close-knit community is essential in the work that we do. We rely on each other for ideas, support, and expertise.

I look forward to chatting with you!

Marco Puccia: Business and Development provides articles written by Marco Puccia and guest bloggers about a range of issues involving the interlinkage between international development and business. This site provides its readers with full coverage of Marco’s own business initiatives as well as a look into business operations in the developing world (both in terms of FDI and the work of local entrepreneurs). 

Please feel free to use this site as a resource and an interactive community. Comment on posts, send me relevant articles and the names of books you recommend. This is as much your blog as it is mine!