26 Year Old Mum Of Two Shares Joy Of Her Business 'Baby Ink' Named In 'SMART 100' Index

Online, May 30, 2012 (Newswire.com) - Baby Ink colour inkless technology has been named one of Australia's 100 most innovative products or services, in one of the largest and most audacious innovation awards of its kind in Australia - the Anthill Magazine 'SMART 100' Index.

Melinda Weaver from Black Rock, Victoria, was thrilled when notified her innovative solution had made it to Australia's Smart 100 list.

About the Product:

Our Colour Inkless Printing Kits capture little hand and foot prints in pink, blue and black colours with a simple wipe, press... no mess! They make the perfect keepsake or gift. Our kits are non - toxic, baby safe and are suitable from birth +
RRP is attractive to the consumer at $19.95.
We have a video and more information on our website at www.babyink.com.au

The purpose of this innovation is to...
Provide a baby-safe, non-toxic product that parents can easily use to capture precious memories of their children's hand and footprints in colour as memorable keepsakes.

It does this by...
Wiping the child's hand or foot with a dry inkless wipe, pressing on the special paper provided and allowing the print to appear with no mess or safety concerns in a pink, blue or dark grey/black colour.

This innovation improves on what came before because...
The basis of this product is founded on the principles of FBI fingerprinting technology in the United States. The inkless products used to capture detailed fingerprints have been applied to taking keepsake hand and footprints of children in a soft colour such as blue or pink rather than a dark grey/black colour for the FBI.

Its various benefits to the customer/end-user include...

The product is easy to use, mess-free, non-toxic and baby-safe. Parents can now capture their children's prints as memorable keepsakes knowing the product is safe and easy to use.

In the past, this problem was solved by...
Ink, paint and other potentially harmful and messy solutions. This exciting product has passed international safety standards and is a mess-free solution to creating special memories.

About the Smart 100

The SMART 100 Index was created by leading business media channel Anthill Magazine in 2008 to identify and rank Australia's 100 most innovative products, proving to be one of the largest surveys of its kind in Australia.

"In true Anthillian style, the SMART 100 is an ever-evolving, ever-improving experiment," said Anthill founder and Editor-In-Chief James Tuckerman.

"It identifies and ranks new Australian innovations by applying a combination of crowdsourcing, collaboration and common-sense. We employ the judgement of 'mavens' and readers.

"Unlike your average awards program, we don't lock a panel of expert adjudicators in a small room. Neither do we demand a thorough analysis of each applicant's P&L statement. We don't even request an historical snapshot of 'runs on the board' or commercial achievements.

"This is because innovation is future focussed. It is about identifying and solving problems in ways that will change the way we live, do business and think."

What is a 'maven'?

Academics have known about the existence of Mavens for many years, claiming they have a particular psychotype. However, it was Malcom Gladwell's book 'The Tipping Point' that really brought attention to this underutilised group in society.

Gladwell described Mavens as "those who are intense gatherers of information and impressions, and so are often the first to pick up on new or nascent trends". 'Maven' is a Yiddish word that means, literally, "one who understands".

According to Tuckerman, "The maven's unique talent is his or her ability to unearth and identify, from all the new products and services available in the marketplace, the innovations that are worth propagating. A maven also generally has the ability to communicate the potential of the innovation to the broader public and, therefore, plays an integral role in the mass take-up of any innovation.

"These people have the ability to identify innovations that will meet an important need for the population. The hypothesis is that Mavens will provide a more predictive measure of innovation than mass consumers or, indeed, experts in the field - because they have a unique ability to identify the importance and relevance of an innovation."

What is Anthill Magazine?

Anthill was initially launched as a print magazine, in September 2003, by its current editor-in-chief James Tuckerman, who at the age of 26 quit his day job, departing a promising career in corporate PR, to pursue his own entrepreneurial journey.

Since then, it has evolved into one of Australia's leading online communities for Australian business owners, ranked among the Top 50 Business & Finance websites in Australia by Nielsen Online Ratings. It is dedicated to innovation, entrepreneurship and the commercial development of Australian ideas.

For further information on the SMART 100, contact:
James Tuckerman on 0422 009 230

Photos available on request.