Though I've never actually seen the mythical "bottom line," I've managed to contribute to it in a tangible way this year--or so I'm told. Apparently a project I worked on earlier this year (one I never blogged about) has been tweaked and put into production by the person who inherited it from me. It's actually making money. And now some of our international groups are interested in using it too.
Kick Ass!
It's been a while since I've been able to point at something specific and say "this makes money for us" as opposed to "I help us save money by doing..." To me there's a big difference there.
It's the little things sometimes...
Tim has written up the idea we discussed after dinner on Saturday: Pay to Send.
Granted, this is not a new idea. But the more we talked about it, the more I realized that it's really not rocket surgery. The trick is getting a few decent sized organizations (Hotmail, AOL, Yahoo, Earthlink) to start recognizing the service.
It may not work. The economics could be all off. But hell, it seems like it's worth a shot to me.
Now, how do we get started...?
Update: It's worth pointing out that I know this idea isn't perfect. Viruses that send e-mail via Outlook would end up costing you money. And spammers may resort to stealing credit cards.
Update #2: If you're the type that takes this stuff way too seriously, please stop.
Mark writes to tell us of his new policy:
I have a new life policy: "All other things being equal, avoid empowering lunatics."
Excellent policy, Mark.