Why do this? Well think of it like a brute-force brainstorming method. Very low SNR but hopefully a few of these will inspire someone to come up with a realistic/sane/good idea. Share only the ideas you won't mind if someone picks up and implements.
First Brainstorm Session: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=602478
The basic idea is this: - You have a site where you sell something online (ecommerce) - Someone wants to buy what you sell (product/service) - Before buying it, you offer something (discount, points, prize, etc) in exchange for doing customer service for what you are selling. This should be measurable somehow (number of calls attended / duration of calls / attended customer feedback) - If this person agrees, you ask for his phonenumber and availability for taking customer help calls (days/time) - When someone else comes to your site looking for help about what you sell, he can enter his phonenumber on a simple form and click on 'receive call' - Then (if available) the person who bought your stuff gets a phone call. When he answers, a recording asks him if he'd like to take a customer help call. If he agrees, the person seeking help gets called and the calls are connected. - After the call, the person who got help, gets redirected to a short customer satisfaction survey (1 to 3 questions) to rate the help he got
Calls would be logged and recorded. There would be call and satisfaction statistics, etc.
You could charge for each call or on a per minute/hour base, so that you could profit from the assistance or at least pay for the discounts you are giving to the people who are helping you out.
What I like best about this, is that customers would be getting assistance from other customers. This is especially useful when you buy a product from an online retailer. Usually if you call customer service, the person who takes your call will know nothing about the product you bought, because doesn't own it, and he's never used it.
Then you could have private and public information. You could share your private card via invitation or a special code, you could also share your card via sms, facebook and a phone app (iphone, bb, palm pre, etc).
You'd also be able to choose a print design and order some prints (possible partnership with Moo?).
I have a few more features in mind, like click-to-call and other stuff, but I guess you get the idea.
Customized/Personalized print magazines. Customize what topics you want, more text or more photos, what categories (Internet, Photography, New Gadgets, Politics, Economics and even subcategories). Then monthly or when ever you get a magazine that's custom tailored just for you. Price also adjustable (more you pay, less ads, or vice versa)
Business side: the content will be automatically arranged and placed, then printed, and shipped.
I like print magazines, but I wonder about the economics of dead trees. However a good online personalized aggregation service would be worth the price of a magazine subscription to me.
its not quite the same, but its in the same vein, and it does produce a nice product.