Archive for March 2012
The Future Of Business – Pay Attention
The future of business is really quite simple, pay attention. I’ve been writing and talking about this secret sauce for a few years now, and it seems that most businesses are missing the point. We will spend thousands, no, millions on traditional advertising, because there is a perception that it works. It some cases it still does, but the world has gone into a state of flux, it’s not paying attention to traditional ways of advertising like it used to. Today, you have to pay attention, but not in a the way you think.
For years, OK the last 300 years it seems, we could merely hang a shingle, yell from a soap box, run an ad on Radio or Newspaper, and get the kind of attention we wanted. That’s true, but something has changed hasn’t it? We are no longer within ear shot of those types of ads anymore, we’ve been driven indoors by technology, we don’t get out much like we used to.
Social Networks have become the new place to hangout, it’s where everyone is spending their time, their money, and it’s where they share almost everything their lives. The new advertising model is sharing, and we don’t have to pay for it! So how does one get found, get the attention one needs to generate revenue, or a living. It’s simple, you have to pay attention. You have to pay attention to what is being shared, what is being said.
There’s only one way to do this, grow bigger ears! Learn how to listen, pay attention and look for the buying signals. It’s what we do in traditional sales, why are you looking for something different? The process is the same, it’s the tools that have changed. Because the tools have changed, the world is suddenly confused, and isn’t sure what to do.
Money is being left on the table because most have yet to learn the new tools, haven’t taken the time to use them, and or taken the time to harness the power of growing bigger ears. Many business owners still haven’t bought into the power of listening in Social Networks, there is a huge misunderstanding of what’s happening in these networks. But if you pay attention long enough, and are looking for the right signals (keywords), you can add thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars to your bottom line. So far, it hasn’t happened, at least not in my area, the world is still waiting for something, waiting for something to happen so business owners don’y have to do anything. They are looking for the next radio & Television, the next newspaper, well…..it’s not coming, you will have to do something to find the fore mention dollars that are waiting for you.
THE LESSON
I shared an example of what I meant a couple blog post’s ago, the example is me, with 20 thousand in hand, no one was paying attention to me as I shared on social networks. I shared what I was looking for, I am doing improvements to my home, bought a new fridge, and I’m still not done…but no one, not one business was listening, so they missed out on making that money. In fact, 5 other people in my circle of friends are doing the same thing, imagine, 100k at your finger tips and you missed it, you weren’t paying attention.
This is the new way of finding customers, you must be paying attention by growing bigger ears, by listening. This is where the people are, online, waiting, searching, and buying products and services, every hour of the day. Business owners, the future of business is…..pay attention.
Related articles
- Is Your Business Community Listening? (owengreaves.com)
- Brands Built Without Advertising (owengreaves.com)
Apple iPad or Galaxy Tablet?
OK, I’m going to confess to you right up front, I do not own a tablet of any kind, I do not own any Apple products, I do own a Samsung Galaxy S smart phone and a number of PC’s….NO Mac’s.
So why am I writing about this? Truthfully, I’m at a cross-roads if you will, I am going to buy a Tablet this year, and I don’t know which one to purchase. Here’s the dilemma, I’m a control freak. I prefer open systems over closed systems, I prefer Linux over Windows, but I use both, I have to. The Open & Closed system thing is how I’m wired, it’s not right or wrong, it’s just my preference that’s all. I prefer more open systems over closed systems, Apple & Windows are closed, which you would think, would be enough to help me make my decision. But, I’m a curious lot : )
Having said all that, I thought I would simply ask you, which one do you prefer & why. What is the deal maker for you, what made you decide to purchase the one you did, was it peer pressure or did you do your research and make your OWN decision?
So which one would you buy today if you were buying for the first time?
iPAD or Galaxy Tablet?
Is Your Business Community Listening?
Is your business community listening? I ask the question in all seriousness, I’ve discovered the business community in my area is very much asleep on social networks. It’s not only sad, but alarming at the same time. The problem is more about marketing, or how they acquire customers, after all, everyone wants more customers right?
It doesn’t matter what market sector you belong to, most still use social networks no different than they use newspaper, radio & television, they sell till their blue in the face. Yelling their heads off and hoping you will pay attention, you will be convinced to come to their businesses and buy what they were yelling about.
I’m going to share a very small case study with you, and I am the case study. You see, I have made it known on social networks, primarily Twitter, that I am shopping for a new fridge, hardwood flooring, and that I am painting two rooms called the Kitchen & Family room. I’ve been sharing that home upgrade project to all who follow me, and of course the many in the town and area where I live. Something interesting happened, nothing!
I’m surprised for a few reasons, for one, I have one of the largest followings in my area. Two, I hold workshops and teach business owners and entrepreneurs how the future of business has changed, and will continue to change. I even teach them how to listen in social networks. Three, I do a considerable amount of public speaking, to Chamber of Commerce groups and the like, on the very topic, and the future of business. Four, I was certain business owners in my area were actually listening and paying attention. I was wrong.
I even went so far as to Tweet this:
I was, I am that customer, I’m doing household improvements, I’ve been sharing, I truly believed that a business in my area would have been listening, paying attention, and would have connected with me, but nothing. I am not only disappointed, but actually surprised. The fact that no one contacted me to do business, this had me wondering, how many others like me on Twitter (put your favorite social network here)had money to spend but businesses aren’t around to get it. Why do local businesses ignore this apparently untapped market?
I’m even more surprised when I see these social networks getting so much air play on TV, Radio and to a lessor extent newspaper. It’s like saying you don’t know Jesus, but everyone has heard about him. Yes, he is still ignored by the masses too : )
So how is it that a city of 150,000 have missed this opportunity, they are leaving money on the NET (table), they are not listening here on social networks. I am just one of many that I know who are doing home improvements, we’re blogging, Tweeting about our projects, and yet not one business has contacted us.
Imagine, if one person (me) has 20k to spend on paint, hardwood flooring, and appliances and you had been listening on Twitter, your business could of had that business. But what if there are a 100 people like me with that kind of money to drop on goods and services. And as I mentioned, I’m not alone, there is potentially 100k up for grabs with the few friends I know in the same position.
There’s much to be said about marketing and advertising on social networks, but more needs to be done about teaching business owners how to listen and find customers like me.
That’s it, a short case study of me, a 20k bill waiting to be collected, and no one was paying attention. Imagine that. Many of the big name social media marketers preach to listen, to grow bigger ears, and yet, like common sense, there appears to be a huge shortage. When are you going to catch up, the tidal wave is coming, don’t be looking the other way, because your business will lose people like me.
So how would you fix this listening problem in your business community?
One might consider this a business opportunity, educating business owners. Oh and by the way, it’s too late, I spent the money already.
Is your business community listening?
The Future Of Business – Hardwood Floors
The Future Of Business – Hardwood Floors. An odd title but there’s a story behind it, and a story always makes it interesting. My wife & I put our home up for sale last year in May, we thought it was a good time to down-size, after all, we were only using a third of our 3,000 Square Foot home. The exercise proved to be educational, you see the market went flat right at the time we listed, we had 6 showings and no offers. The house showed well, according to the 6 different agents that showed the home. We thought for sure it would sell in a heart beat, we live in a very desirable area of town, we even made an offer on another home, that’s how sure we were about it. But nothing happened.
At the same time this was happening, we made a trip to Alberta with my Father-In-Law, it was a great trip. Also the last trip we would ever take with him again. When we arrived back home, he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. It wasn’t long before Dad had to come live with us, as he was unable to look after himself. Then another interesting thing happened, we were contacted to have a young man from Brazil come live with us, suddenly our house was full again….with kids!
As it would turn out, my wife’s Father passed away Nov 3rd, 2011, and it was then we decided not to pursue selling the house, we were going to stay put. And this is where the journey and the story of the hardwood floors takes shape.
Since we weren’t going to sell, we decided to upgrade the home, make our last home so to speak. The first project would be the Kitchen and Nook area, and the family room. We thought it would be great to paint and lay new flooring down, this should be fun we thought. The painting went well, we got it done in a just a few days, it looks great. The next part of the project is the flooring, what should we do with it was the question once the painting was all but done.
At this point, we really had no clue what we were getting into…I’m not kidding, it seemed simple enough. Next thing we knew, we were talking hardwood flooring, what a great idea, it will look awesome and we will be increasing the value of the home at the same time. We got excited and started shopping for hardwood flooring. I thought it would be easy to pick out something, but it’s not, I found myself fussing back and forth on different kinds of finishes. Finally we picked one, and had a flooring company come to our home and measure things up, so they could quote on the job. We also contact two other companies to quote on doing the floors, I sure wasn’t going to do it, I am not a handy man…I hire them : )
As it turns out, most companies that install hardwood flooring all charge about the same to install it, $3 per sq. ft. – the product we chose was just under $7 per sq. ft., but for the sake of numbers we’ll keep them round. To install the floor, $3 per sq. ft., and the product was $7 per sq. ft., doing simple math, that’s $10.00 per sq. ft. right? It turns out we need to cover 400 sq. ft. in total…$4,000 plus taxes. I thought, awesome, that’s way under what I thought it was going to cost. But then the sales guy(s) said, your probably looking at around $6,000 for the job to be completed. I’m thinking their calculator is broken, how did they jump two grand with no explanation. Then it came, well you see, you have a sub-floor that has to be taken out because the nails won’t hold in that big chunk particle board. OK, that made sense, but 2k to lift that out? Hell I’ll do it to save the money. As it turns out, the family room has carpet, and the kitchen and nook area have linoleum on a sub-floor…they aren’t even, or level. You can see where this is going. We have yet to have the floor installed because we are waiting for two other quotes, and I am learning about the sub-floor quickly : )
BUYING HARDWOOD FLOORING IN THE FUTURE
Now this adventure has me thinking about my work as a futurist and how will we go through this process say in the next 10 to 15 years. Could you imagine this whole process being automated through something as simple as a home automation system that turns on the heat & lights when you walk in the door. Everything in your home will have a chip of some sort in it, that communicates with software to make the examining, measuring and purchasing as simple as saying yes to the question, do you want to replace the flooring in your home? It would know exactly what the right color should be, and what kind of surface, and what kind wood…it will just know by the colors and type of home you have.
The long process I’m going through today would all be done by computers, and robotics! The robots will rip out the old flooring, then put the new flooring in….done! It would all be done in an afternoon, maybe even just a couple hours, and that’s only because it’s physical, not a screen saver you change at the click of a mouse, but that’s coming too.
UNTIL THEN
Much of what we do today will be change by technology, robotics, and nanotechnology, we will wonder how we ever got along with out it. We think that today with computers, we couldn’t go back to a day when computers were just an idea if we wanted to. Our businesses would come to a screeching halt, economies would collapse (they’re going to anyway) and what would we do for entertainment and social interaction?
So until technology can do these things, we will continue to rely on our own knowledge and muscle power, we will still have to figure things out. I might be 80 years old when I witness the turn of robotics replacing my flooring and installing it, but it will be interesting. Just imagine.
Will you run one of those businesses of the future that replace floor coverings, and installs them through technology? Would you let software and robotics do what you can do, will you let it replace your flooring?
Related articles
- The Future Of Business – We’re Close, Shopping Forever Changed (owengreaves.com)
- The Future Of Business – Change Is Coming, And Lots Of It. (owengreaves.com)
