Archive for April 2010
Would you buy clothes this way?
Technology is getting very interesting these days, augemented reality, holograms and nanotechnology, these technologies are reshaping our future faster than we are willing to accept. I’m not convinced most men would buy in this fashion because, well, we’re shy. But I do believe that technology will make it easier for all to embrace, get ready because it’s here!
Here is a snap shot from a Cisco clip, take alook and enjoy:
Don't Just Be a Business – Be a Social Business
I came away from a business meeting today and I couldn’t stop shaking my head, it seems business owners just can’t see past the next project or payroll deadline. Yes payroll is important, but only looking two weeks out seems like a bad strategy to me, call me crazy. The other funny thing I find with business owners is, they love to be social, take you out lunch, buy coffee and go to business conferences. But why can’t they see there business as social, leveraging their current base of customers through social networks. It seems the “social” part is only something they do personally rather than letting their business be open and social.
Being a social business means you are listening to, interacting with, and letting the conversation be the sell for your business. I understand that scares the day lights out of business owners but, imagine what might happen if you let your client base communicate with you in a more intimate way. Being a social business means you are open and transparent, collaborating instead of dominating, making it easy for your customers to do business with you without the controlling red tape. Giving them simple and easy ways to make payment, providing packaging that’s attention getting and making sure the interface is appealing and easy to navigate. Sounds simple enough doesn’t it, then why isn’t it happening with more regularity?
If you ask a business owner if their customers are the most important part of their business, what do you think they would say? I bet they pat their backs raw with a glowing report on how they support and give their customers the best service. But if you gave the customer an opportunity to answer that question would it be the same glowing review? Allowing your customers to express themselves, and share their experiences in dealing with your brand (you) is a scary thing isn’t it, why? You don’t really believe that you are giving the best service and providing the best products, thats why. If you did you would let your customers speak for you, it’s called word of mouth, and that’s at the very center of what a social business is.
The more digital we get, the more it’s about the experience with a brand, then asking the very people that had that experience, what they thought and how they felt about dealing with you. This is where the trust begins to show itself, if your customers trust your brand and service, you get a good grade, but if not…..
The truth is, business owners have to make a paradigm shift, we are in a connected world and getting more connected each and every day. A connected and networked audience is dramatically different than the audience you used to be able to control. The control mechanism is breaking apart and business owners don’t know how to deal with that problem. You cannot control a connected audience, pure and simple. Why? People are re-grouping on the fly that’s why, they are fickle and always on the move. To keep them you have to do something special, create a magnetic brand that builds attraction and trust, then you can turn that attraction into a transaction.
Business owners think about this, the more in control we (you) are, the more out of touch we become with our customers. Don’t just be a business, be a social business and get connected with them.
So is your business just a business, or is it a social business? If you don’t know or would like to learn what that might look like for your business, attend my workshop April 30th. Send me an e-mail for details and to reserve a seat: owen@owengreaves.com
Make Your Content Free – The Money Will Follow
This has been the topic of discussion for a very long time, the argument of making people pay for content over giving it away. The landscape is changing rapidly, the world is and will not tolerate being forced to buy content whether it be music, files or the written word, you can’t enforce control when you need trust! It used to be that he who had control made the money, today, the good news is, that is changing, he who has less control makes more money. The bottom-line is the bottom-line, we will always try to monetize anything and everything. It seems we are very short-sighted though, we are still trying to make people do things they don’t want to do. Trying to control what people can access is not the way to go about building trust, in fact, it puts the guard up and raises questions as to motive.
One of the bigger challenges I see with making money online is, it’s not seamless enough yet, people still have to jump through far too many hoops. You would think with all the advancement in technology this would have been solved long ago. As mobile technology improves, the more and more we become mobile, the more transactions and advertising will be come seamless, it has to because we won’t tolerate what is cumbersome. Mobile advertising is where you should be developing your content, convert your free content into an app for iPad, iTunes or mobile phones and what have you. Advertising (At-vertising) is now Appvertising. The world will almost be 100% mobile in the next 5 – 7 years, focus your distribution through Appvertising. Feed your Blog content through an app, distribution is not the problem anymore, the Internet solved that for us years ago.
The easier you make it for your audience to come in, the greater return on your investment. Attention is the new currency, and in that currency there is an underlying trust osmosis component. The equation of tomorrow is:
EXPOSURE -> DISCOVERY -> COMMUNITY -> REVENUE
We are moving from selling products & services, to selling our attention, Google is doing it all the time.
The power of the future is in sharing, sharing music, sharing content, and sharing means doing it freely, not being forced to pay for that sharing. The problem is we are in the midst of a copyright gridlock (coined by Gerd Leonhard), there is much to be figured out here. Making the money happens around all that sharing, your primary content is distributed freely, this paradigm shift of Free & Open will change behaviour. The revenue change will come after the behaviour, habit & culture changes first.
Being connected scares companies and business owners, because we are going through a fundamental shift, from Closed to Open. The fear of loss is far greater than the desire for gain in this shift. It means not controlling how the money is made, the open & free marketplace means you & I are in control, we get to decide, big business doesn’t want that. So think of ideas that will allow you to maximize the Open & Free Business Model, that will allow you to attract the right kind of attention.
We have to change our beliefs in how the world really is. Today only 25.6% of the world is here online, what will the world look like in the next 3 – 5 years when that number is over 60%? What would 5 Billion people online change in your online presence and brand? Think about that for just a moment, should you be doing things differently?
We have a Global Trust Crisis, Copyright Gridlock where the value of money needs to be re-determined, and there is so much to unlearn, but that’s what makes all this fun, the future is perfect because we haven’t screwed it up yet!
Give your audience access first before paying, Collaborate instead of Dominate, Coordinate & Cultivate instead of Command & Control, Control is Dead. We are becoming a broadband culture, we click to get before we ever pay. Access first, pay later.
I would love to hear your thoughts, my goal is to make you think, nothing more nothing less.
What do you think?
The 2010 Walk for Kids Help Phone in Fraser Valley
The 2010 Walk for Kids Help Phone in Fraser Valley is taking place at Mill Lake Park in Abbotsford, I will be the Emcee for this event this year.
Walk Distance: 5 km
Registration Start Time:10:00 am
Walk Start Time: 11:00 am
The 2010 Walk for Kids Help Phone in the Fraser Valley is taking place at Mill Lake Park #1 North in Abbotsford. Parking lot is accessible from Mill Lake Road. The 5 km walk is twice around the park, through the trails, over the boardwalk & across the lake. It’s a gorgeous walk & fabulous place to take the family to support the Walk for Kids Help Phone on May 2, 2010! Bring the kids, the dog, your bikes, scooters and wagons and enjoy some beautiful Fraser Valley scenery while helping to support a fantastic cause to help kids in our community and across Canada!
More details on the Fraser Valley Community Walk
Mini Workshop – Book Your Seat Now – Seats Still Available.
Social Media = The Open & Free Business Model – Workshop
Book your seat NOW – 1st Come 1st Serve – ONLY 20 10 Seats available!
How to give your content away and generate revenue!
This mini workshop is being held in Abbotsford, B.C., and will touch on three primary areas:
TRENDS
We’ll look at trends and what’s happening around the world, and how these trends will impact your business online & off. Today there are 1.7 Billion people on the Internet, in the next 3 – 5 years that number will be 5 Billion. How will you get their attention?
THE OPEN & FREE BUSINESS MODEL
This is not a skill set, it’s a paradigm shift and this shift is painful, I’ll layout why and what this model might look like for your business, I’ll also show examples of how businesses are using this model. We’ll talk about Content, Social Media Strategies and tools.
BREAKOUT SESSION
By the time we get to this section, you’ll already have some new creative ideas, and ways to increase revenue. We’ll work through how you can build & implement your ideas with your staff.
When the workshop is over you will have a much better view of what’s coming, a framework to help you adapt, plus you will have a simple step by step approach for implementing new revenue streams.
The workshop will be held on April 30th, Noon – 4PM and it’s just $100. There are only 10 seats available and are on a 1st come 1st serve basis.
To reserve your seat please reply ASAP by e-mail at owen@owengreaves.com for all the details, DO IT NOW!
The world is coming, and I look forward to helping you get ready.
Owen Greaves Consulting