One of my favorite things about broadband and the Internet is the ability to do things differently – not just faster. So I enjoyed an article last weekend in the Minneapolis Star Tribune on a local startup that’s using social media wisely – for market research and marketing…

But the three co-founders of Inspiration Medical already have financing. They’re using the crowdsourcing techniques to conduct the R&D and marketing work they need to bring their product to the market. And it’s a tough market: bleeders, people who, for a variety of reasons, have trouble stopping a cut from bleeding.

The company plans to launch its AllaQuix nonprescription pad that quickly stops nuisance bleeding for those on blood thinners. They are using social media to introduce their product to potential customers, and get feedback before they spend hundred of thousands on marketing.

Social media becomes a tool to help everyone’s aha idea become a reality.