Business
City Hall Are You Paying Attention?
With the Global population rising to 9 Billion over the next 10 -15 years, some municipalities are still going to shrink, and many will increase beyond it’s ability to provide services. What will City Hall do with it’s collapsing tax basins. A disclaimer, I don’t for a minute claim to understand what it’s like to sit on a City Council. I wouldn’t want the job truth be told, so I’m not saying what they do is easy, anyone can point fingers and complain. We the people have really set City Hall up to fail, but that’s not my point. I am however, praying City hall is paying attention to a trend in our aging population, and business community.
Third world countries will have the most population growth over western countries, but we will eventually reach 9 Billion in the coming decade or so. The current challenge is not with the growth as much as it is with those wondering off to pasture, the baby boomers. The first of the baby boomers will turn 65 this year, but the real challenge is, the tail end of the baby boomers are turning 50 in 2014, and this generation is the largest portion of our population. That means the average age will be 40, the generations to come are unable to replace the boomers in the workforce, we will have to rely on immigration to fill the that gap. That is another topic for another time.
Imagine, today 50% of the population is over the age of 30, it won’t be long before 50% of the population is over 50. This trend will continue because we no linger birth children at the rate we used to, we could birth them fast enough to catchup and solve the problem of an aging world. The numbers alone don’t really show you the problem, it’s not the numbers as much as it is how the generations yet to come think. They won’t value what we value today. If you were to poll the under 20 generation today, they will tell you that ownership is not that important to them. The idea of owning a home, or a car for that matter, is not on the radar screen for most of them. They don’t value ownership the same way people do over the age of 40. What does that mean, less money filling the tax bucket in many municipalities. Is City Hall even looking at that problem?
The under 20 generation and the one’s to follow, will most likely buy into the co-op housing, or shoebox appartments long before owning a house on land. Why, They value lifestyle over workstyle. They are not willing to give up what many of us did to have the lifestyle we have, we traded our time for dollars, we worked to live. The younger generations don’t value work the same way, most people over the age of 40 have their identity wrapped up in what they do for work. Their work validates them, it is who they are, not what they do. Gen C and beyond do not have that conditioning to deal with, creating a different thought process on ownership of home and country.
City Hall also has to deal with another shift, 60% of all commerce is going online, that to may help shrink the tax basin. How? A local bricks & mortar business decides to sell it’s products and services online exclusively. Let’s say they have success. Before you know it, they have shutdown that bricks & mortar location, they discover they don’t even need an office, they’ve put everything out on the cloud, and then run their business by smartphone. How will that impact real estate, (read my thoughts on agents becoming obsolete here) let alone the tax revenues cities rely on. As you can see these shifts in thinking by the generations to come will rewite the rule book in every municipality. Is City Hall paying attention?
While all this is happening, we will have other issues to deal with, water shortages, possible food shortages and so on. We will enter into a society not unlike the one in the movie “The Book Of ELI”, in that movie, we kill (people) for things we throw away today. One man’s garbage is another mans treasure.
I don’t know how our City Hall’s will be able to change the way they think, but I hope they do, our communities depend on it. Protectionism and control are the current model of running a city, I fear that will be the undoing, because my kids kids won’t tolerate it.
This problem of an aging population belongs to all of us, we will have to work hard to maintain the economies and lifestyles we enjoy today here in the western front. What other challenges do you see?
Why Is Social Media So Hard To Understand?
I’ve been struggling with this question for some time now, I could go in so many directions on this question but, I’ll just share some random thoughts. Why is it that we default to our old conditioning when we don’t understand something? It’s a natural human behavior to either lash out or try to fit what we know to make things work. The square block into the round hole kind of thinking. Some businesses treat Social Media like any other advertising channel, they continue to practice what they have always done, they advertise, they yell, and then try to force you to listen, and then force you to buy. A HUGE mistake if you are asking me. The future of business is not business as usual friends, we are in the midst of a paradigm shift we can’t control with old practices.
To make matters even worse, the mobile movement is going to reshape not only how we communicate, but the landscape of commerce in the digital world. But that’s another topic for another time. The RESET button is being pushed, business is trying to prevent that reset. Why? They don’t understand what it means, and worse yet, they realize they can’t control it.
In order for the business of the future to survive, they will have to figure out how to give up some control to consumers. Provide access before revenue, actually listen to their customers, build a different relationship, and hire the right people who have a better understanding of this space called Social Media. This list is long and confusing, it requires a willingness to admit your business doesn’t get it. Humility will take you along way if you are willing to risk embarrassment.
In my community, we have people being hired to market on social networks, some of these people either don’t understand what to do, or they are being told to do things in a traditional manner because that’s what they know and understand. Business owners need to get out of the way, but how can they, they are wired to be in control. Taking risks in business these days only seems to happen in the start-up phase, why is that, probably because they believe the community needs what they are offering and will do whatever it takes to make it (risk). Once established, they lose they ability to risk again because they go into a management mode over what got them there in the first place.
Social Media has the ability to keep your business moving forward if you are willing to risk again. Let me give you a very low level, low risk, and simple example.
When a company wants to change something, it could be anything, what do they do? They go into the board room and try to find a solution to the problem, they look inward rather than outward. They try to solve their problem with the same thinking that got them to where they are, with a problem. Why not go out onto one of the Social Networks like Twitter or FaceBook and ask the world for a solution to your problem. You will be very surprised at the response you will get from the people formerly known as consumers. These are smart people, why not hire them for free and have them help you solve your challenge. Talk about building trust, an opportunity to actually have a relationship with those who buy your products and services. Your transparency and willingness to listen changes the relationship at a level yet to be calculated.
You as the business owner or leader, have an opportunity to take this even farther, what if you were to recognize the person or person’s responsible for solving your problem in a very public way? I’ll let you ponder that one.
We all are becoming very public, more and more we are putting our lives out there for all to see and learn. There is a risk in that act alone, consider long and hard what you put on the Internet, it’s now your legacy once it’s out there.
Building relationships is not new or changing, it like 60% of commerce has merely gone via the digital realm, that changes the rules, ummmm….what rules? Maybe the rules are the problem, maybe that is what the business world struggles with most, I think it still goes back to one thing and one thing only, Control.
When it’s all said and done, Social Media is not that complicated really. It’s forcing businesses to be human rather than machines that run by unchangeable rules. Start giving your business away to customers, let them help you and more importantly, treat them with the respect they deserve. Why? Because that’s what a Social Business does, it values those the same way you value people in your personal life. Stop trying to complicate Social Media by thinking too much. I could go long and deep on this topic but I’ll let you do comment and add value to the subject.
3 Things 2011 Will Bring
Now that the Christmas & New Years Break are behind us, we all have to get back to work at some point this week, except for the financially free folks who can do what they want. I thought I would give you a snapshot of three things that will come to fruition this year. They are very easy to predict but I can tell you this, many people don’t understand why or how it will impact their future in business. It’s not what happens, it’s how you see the future of business before it happens.
Let me get into it. Firstly, you need to understand 60% of commerce is and has been shifting to the Internet, online commerce is already huge, but it’s morphing. This will happen over the next couple years.
1.) Affiliate Programs – This year we will see a shift to where everyone will be part of affiliate marketing, it will be based on your following, how much influence you have, and of course credibility. These are just a few of the indicators that will be looked at for you to be a part of company “A’s” Affiliate program, they want to know that you have influence, a big following of consumers that will buy. Look for these programs to grow up away from the typical Internet Marketer, but do your research if a company approaches you.
This shift to the Affiliate Model, it may get a better name, will be part of the 60% of commerce I mentioned above. Consider how much and what you purchase online, you are now being looked at as a business partner rather than a consumer in 2011.
If you are a business, you may want to start your own Affiliate Program, you will also want to take advantage of Apps for the mobile market, why, read item #2.
2.) Everything goes Mobile & Social – the landscape I talked about in #1 means most of this commerce will be done through smart phones. The big three as of this writing are Apples iPhone, Microsoft’s Windows 7 Phone, and of course Google’s Android Phone. Each of these three have App Stores, not too mention the hardware makers have their own App Stores, like Samsung, Nokia and so on. This is a huge untapped marketplace, why, not everyone has a smart-phone, but they will.
Even if you are just a Blogger, get your content into one of the App Store Channels, give your content away for FREE, or charge a dollar for it, this is a new place of business for the majority. This is the year Mobile changes how we communicate and how we purchase many products and services, start making your move now, if you don’t….you will become a statistic.
Almost all of this commerce I speak of will come through Social & Mobile means, it’s the way of the new world. We are connected now, which means we are social & on the fly.
3.) Strategic Alliances – This description of doing business is not new, but it will be paramount to survival in business. Most of us will partner with someone or a some business, it’s a resource and reach thing. The have nots will not be able to fly on their own, they will need help more than the haves. The truth is, we will ALL partner up at some point to succeed in business, going it alone will be an exception rather than the rule. Prepare to have others on your team, prepare to share your wealth as well, having smart people on your team is worth the investment.
What do strategic alliances look like, Wal-Mart & McDonald’s is a good example of the term. They share revenues to leverage the number of consumers each has to offer, refer to #1, your following, your FaceBook Credit Points, your Twitter Influence will matter, these numbers will be attractive to companies. You don’t have to be as big as Wal-Mart or McDonalds. It might be just two people with large followings that get together to do business as strategic alliances, why, because it makes good sense and good business. Get ready to partner in 2011.
The Merry Christmas Economy!
Here we are yet once again, Christmas time. Why is it that we are all shocked by the fact it’s upon us and we just aren’t ready for it? If you’re one of those people, and you are a business owner, I ask you, how do you stay in business? I’m mean really, you are the one who is supposed to have the house in order, making sure all is on schedule, and then you say you’re not ready for Christmas?
Ya I know I’m ranting a bit, it sounds silly doesn’t it, but yet many of us do just that, some credibility is lost when you admit you aren’t ready for Christmas. It’s the same date every year, it happens only once per year, you know what it means, and you know what you are supposed to do, so what’s the problem.
Now I’m generalizing here but, we tend to spend our time & money on what we believe is important to us, not being ready for Christmas speaks volumes about how you value the world, how you value the people around you, and especially your immediate family.
Those in Social Media circles claim they love their followers and so on, we are all very nice to each other here, we lift one another up, we help for free alot, and we say things we don’t really believe. That’s the truth really, but we want to move forward and move ahead, and in the Future of Business you won’t be able to do that without people helping one another. We are moving into a Merry Christmas Economy!
In a Merry Christmas Economy we help one another, we don’t expect anything back, we just want to be a part of something larger than ourselves. We will share openly, we will click on Like buttons and Re-Tweet icons to show how much we value others and their businesses. We value relationships, we value the world differently, and we all have the same basic needs (in general), this new economy is open to anyone, it’s to good to be true, it’s awesome! You will need to make your brand / product or service like-able if it isn’t already, that’s how your business will be judged.
Gary Vaynerchuk has written about the Thank You Economy, is he talking about the same thing, he wants you to care, to care about those around you, and mean it. He not only wants you to say it, he wants you to actually do something about it. But will you, why all of a sudden now, why in this Social Media ERA is that so important?
It’s gut check time now, look deep into who you are, why you’re in business, why you in Social Networks, are you practicing, are you participating in business for others or yourself? If you are honest, others are secondary, but they shouldn’t be, they pay your bills, they provide the roof over your head. They will determine if your business is liked! But yet, we make it difficult for customers to deal with us, we make them jump through hoops to get our help, we make them work to hard to do business with us, why is that?
The Future of Business will be very different, being social is the osmosis of being connected, being connected means the world will decide what is good and what is bad, not slick marketing. This connectedness means we are on the move at all times, we are mobile in such a way your business will have trouble tracking and understanding the consumer, unless your values match with there’s.
The Merry Christmas Economy has an underlying problem, it has to solve the problem of an entitlement mentality. In The Future of Business, we must provide access over pay-walls, and find seamless ways of qualifying the consumer. When we get past the entitlement thinking, we will get to the heart of the matter, where people matter, make doing business with our brand, product or service virtually painless, only then will we have insight into the future of business. Dealing with your business has to be like breathing, no thinking, no obstructions, no walls, wide open hospitality, an experience they won’t forget, something they do through osmosis. Just like in the movie A Field Of Dreams, they will come and they won’t even know why. Is that your kind of business, one that participates in the Field of dreams, if you build it, they will come. It could be like that, but it will boil down to how you value others in a Merry Christmas Economy?
One Of My Goals For 2011
One of my goals for 2011 is to give you the opportunity to tell me what you want to learn here, specifically on The Future of Business / The Open & Free Business Model. So, for the purposes of my work, I want to provide content that you actually want to read and learn from, I will do my very best to research and post what I find. Keep in mind I am also a business, so if some research has a cost attached, I will end up charging for that research in some fashion. It could be a white paper, a webinar or workshop, but know I will recover the cost at some point.
My primary focus is The Future of Business / The Open & Free Business Model, although they appear separate, they are also one and the same. What questions do you have, what is it that confuses you about it, what are you struggling with in your business, maybe this model can provide a solution? Maybe you don’t know, that’s OK, I am also available for hire to work with your business.
You will find I try to practice what I preach, I’m open and transparent as much as I can be, I also give you the opportunity to embarrass me, but I know you won’t. One of the practices in The Future of Business, is being open and available, transparent and above all, care about your constituency, your followers, your readers and customers. I have great trust in you the reader / consumer, I believe in helping those who ask, and even those who don’t.
For the purposes of disclosure, I spend a great deal of time studying the work of many people, I read 200 – 300 articles a day and I still can’t keep up. Here is a short list, just to name a few, and I want you study them to:
1.) Gerd Leonhard – http://www.mediafuturist.com
2.) Glen Hiemstra – http://www.futurist.com
3.) Chris Brogan – http://www.chrisbrogan.com
4.) Olivier Blanchard – http://thebrandbuilder.wordpress.com
5.) Trey Pennington – http://www.treypennington.com
6.) Scott Stratten – http://www.un-marketing.com
7.) Louis Gray – http://www.louisgray.com
8.) Jeff Jarvis – http://www.buzzmachine.com
9.) Chris Anderson – http://www.thelongtail.com (Of Wired Magazine)
10.) Ross Dawson – http://rossdawson.com
So, Owengreaves.com has opened it’s doors for your input on what content or information you would like to aquire here, on the topic of: The Future of Business – The Open & Free Business Model
Feel free to send me an email with your request if you do not wish to leave a comment – E-Mail Me!