Future
Quote Of The Day By Gerd Leonhard
Have you ever come across someone who articulates your thoughts better than you do? I am flabbergasted by Gerd Leonhard, it’s like he is reading my mind, and then puts it in words I could never have thought of, or deliver it in such a powerful way, it is a special treat to follow his work. I hope you pay attention, we share the same message differently.
He spoke recently at ictQATAR’s Connected Speakers Series, and the greatest description, the best quote I have heard to date to describe The Future of Business & Media. Please read it slowly and ponder the depth of his words.
“The future of business and media is all about interconnected business models that generate mutual benefits for everyone. The era of ‘egosystems’ such as walled, controlled, centralized and RoI-obsessed businesses, is rapidly closing. Now it’s all about creating powerful ecosystems that are built on openness, standards, transparency, trust and decentralization. Think Google versus AT&T, or Twitter versus FoxNews.”
Much change is coming, it’s impossible to prepare for all that is coming, but you can at least be aware and then make changes to lessen the blow. What Gerd is talking about here is a complete reversal of what we believe business is and should remain. As I have said many times, this paradigm shift is not about technology, it’s not about skill set, it’s about how we think. How we look at business as it really is in a digital world.
Please share your thoughts.
A Word On The Future & Paying Attention
I often throw facts and figures at you when I talk about the Future of Business and other aspects of business, but I want you to give this message some thought. The future of business is not that complicated if you are indeed paying attention. In fact, you don’t have to look very far to see whats happening, try your own backyard.
People are creatures of habit, you can tell what’s going on by paying attention to the behavioural patterns of those around you. Better yet, if you really want to find out what’s going to happen, ask the under 20 generation what they want, how they plan to get it, and how they would do it. Do this next step and tell me what you see:
– Drive through your community and ask yourself one question. What’s missing?
This rule has been around since the birth of man, find a need, fill a need.
So look around and figure out what need is not being met in your community, then build a plan to fill that need.
Your action items are:
1.) Take Inventory – find a need not being met in your community.
2.) Take Action – build a plan to fill that need.
Simple advice for you to ponder. The future of business is in your hands, how complex and how big you want that business to be is up to you.
Any thoughts, please do share them.
The Future Of Business – Your Content, Your Voice
Imagine you’ve been blogging for the last 3 years, maybe longer, it seems like no one wants to know what you happen to be sharing, maybe 35 people a day stop by and take a quick glance, and then POOF! they’re gone. Your bounce rate is over 80% and time spent by visitors is less than 2 minutes, you’re discouraged, you think you’re waisting your time, in fact you’re thinking of quiting.
That scenario is more common than you might think, and that’s by today’s standards of blogging, it may even be a business going through the same challenges. If you are just blogging to share whatever is going on in your life or information you find interesting, don’t fret, in fact you can get excited. Businesses that try blogging, creating content, and using social media networks, tend to have very little patience for activities that don’t generate revenue quickly. Blogging, or sharing may look much different than today, it will have to be delivered to all mobile device formats.
There is much more to blogging and creating content than just throwing whatever is on your mind out there, hoping it will go viral. If you are mostly interested in making money through blogging, then you need a plan, more importantly a why, a direction, where are you going and what does it look like when it’s finished. Oh, and of course a product or service to sell, but that’s another blog post. Sorry to burst your bubble, but do the plan first, and know the why.
So many people think the Internet is “THE” success vehicle without thinking through what that means, the Internet is merely a door that leads to other doors. The Internet is the game changer for sure, but it is mostly a way to distribute products & services, your content, your voice. The future of business is still the same process of solving problems for consumers, the difference is, they no longer will tolerate being forced into buying upfront. Gerd Leonhard coined this phrase, “Proudly Found Elsewhere”. The masses will keep looking until they find it for free, so keep that cool little phrase in mind when planning.
The Blog, the website, is your doorway, is your sharing doorway blocked with a Toll Booth that may be in the wrong place? The younger generations and those yet to be birthed, want access first, they want to try it, touch it, smell it, and yes experience your product or service before making that financial commitment. Sounds backwards doesn’t it, but that’s how they think, and they will boycott faster than you can blink if you try to force them to buy.
One of the first action items before blogging or doing business online, is to know what you are about, what is the core of your business. Knowing what the core is makes it easier to understand which direction to go in, and help you seek out those who are looking for your information, product or service. You will also want to step back and look at a bigger picture, a view of what is yet to come, to get some of understanding who is coming and how they think.
Your content, your voice, does have an audience, it takes time and patience to reach them, and to find them. Depending on your brand, time will be the key commodity,time is what you will invest in the most. Everything you do, all the hours spent into developing, creating, and or building, knows why you are investing. The Future of Business – Your Content, Your Voice matters, eventually there will be an audience looking for you. I say this because the number of Internet users are still in small numbers, eventually, over the next 5 years we will see another 3 – 4 billion people become users of the Internet. Imagine a marketplace consisting of 7 Billion people someday, getting heard will be difficult, so stick with it. Because if you quit now, you will miss out on golden opportunities that have yet come, yet to be discovered, imagine what can be, plan for it, and see the future of your business in terms of, your content, and your voice.
Far Too Many Thoughts From Owen
It is expected that by the year 2015, 50% of the worlds population will be over 50 years of age, the world population will reach almost 8 Billion. These numbers indicat more than population growth, they also reveal a great many challenges. I will be 75 in the year 2025, should I live that long, but most likely I will. In 2050 I will be 100 years old, I will have seen more radical exponential change than my Mother & Father.
The burden put upon those generations that have yet to be born is staggering in terms of what they will have to deal with, the medical system, the expected water shortage, the energy crisis, and so on. Nanotechnology will overcome some of these shortcomings but much of what I share has yet to be figured out. Having said that, I would like you to consider a few things about the increasing population and the burden it puts on we the people of the world.
Would you approve of being injected with Nanobots, these nanobots may cure you of diabetes, maybe certain types of Cancer and various other serious illnesses. The Pros & Con’s we don’t really know yet, but for the sake of this writing let’s say the Pro’s are, you get healed…permanently. Maybe one of the Pros might be that you are now able to be tracked through these blood cell sized nanobots. Or, these Nanobots connect you directly to the Internet, maybe they are the new Blue-Tooth Technology and you can be monitored remotely. We will become wireless devices, Ray Kurzweil believes it, we’ll be able to download our mind file too!
One of the Con’s, you can never hide, will will always be found. You could be turned off and be refused medical care, the ability to travel or for that matter buy groceries. You might not be able to drive, or to be real extreme, walk down the street because you are viewed as untrustworthy or guilty of some misdemeanor. I’m only touching one nerve ending right? Nanotechnology might bring these situations into our day-to-day lives, giving them life so to speak. I’m sure the list on both side’s could be long, and the case for each one be just as strong as the next.
Technology is one of the many problems we face in an area that is growing exponentially. The medical system we have in Canada is also not sustainable, in fact, I’m not convinced there is a medical system in the world as of this writing that is. Much needs to change, but it is and will be very slow, and it is mostly painful because we must address the fact that the world is growing older, and quickly. The workforce around the globe is shrinking, families are smaller, only 1.5 children per household, what used to be 3.4 per household. If 50% of the worlds population is over 30 years of age today, in another 5 years or so, the worlds population will be over 50.
The only way to fill the shortfall in the workforce, is through immigration, or do we try to advance Nanotechnology to the point of growing the perfect specimen called a human (android, no not the phone). Technology has it’s strong points, but I’m not convinced technology is serving as much good as we hope it will, it is not a silver bullet to life in any way shape or form. (weird sentence eh?)
I ask myself alot of questions and then try to find answer, the problem is, much of what I share has yet to be done or figured out. Well actually that’s an untruth, I just don’t have access to the real good data, the information that will let me tell you when and how. Well, that’s enough ranting for now, I’ll try to post something useful you can actually apply in your business next time.
Feel free to tell me I’m full of whatever you think I’m full of, better yet, leave your comments here for me to respond to if you have the guts : )
Until next time.
It's Me Sharing Out Loud, Come Walk With Me
I’m going to let you read me thinking out loud today, here’s a few things on my mind right now, and I’m laying it in front of you to ponder. Here’s the thing(s).
An interesting trend is taking place and it’s a problem for insurance companies, it means a loss of revenue, and possibly a declining customer base. I suspect it’s a problem for more than just Insurance Companies. I’m not saying insurance companies are on the endangered species list, but there is a need for innovation in that industry, one that will allow them to adjust to this trend.
Let’s say you are a Futurist, say like me, and you get that call from your insurance agency. They start to ask the regular questions and you keep saying no I don’t work that way, I don’t have tons of equipment, and people don’t come to my office and so on. For example, your business might look this way in more detail.
You are a sole proprietor, you only do workshops & public speaking 90% of the time, if you do work with clients it’s at their offices, and your equipment might be a $750 Laptop, and Internet Connection and a smart phone. Oh, and did I mention, you are most of the time mobile, on the move. You never have clients come to your home office or desk, your workshops are held at another site like a hotel or local school, because you are not a typical bricks & mortar business. How does an insurance business get that extra business out of your home insurance when your considered home-based business functions like it doesn’t exist?
Everyday, more & more people are starting businesses with little or no overhead, not like the old home-based businesses we are used to starting. You know, the one’s where you have to carry inventory, have customers do pick-up at your home, or you have expensive equipment on your premises. Don’t get me wrong, many still do this but they are somewhat short sighted I think.
It’s almost like this type of business is a loop-hole in the home insurance industry, these types of businesses have been around forever, and I’m certain existing policies don’t cover all facets of this type of business. You’ve read it here before, you probably heard me say it, a connected audience, or a connected consumer can not be forced or controlled, mostly because they are on the move at all times. As the population grows more than 9 billion over the next 15 years, much of what we know today will have been re-written, like insurance policies, they need to adopt the social and mobile trend. The new businesses of tomorrow are mostly digital, require virtually no traditional functionality, and will never see a customer come to an office.
If you were to ask me if I had a FAX machine, I would answer back with, what’s a fax? Imagine when your kids, kids have kids, they will never know what a FAX machine was, a Computer in a Tower, or maybe even a Laptop for that matter. That leaves one thing, hand-held devices, or, technology that is embedded into our eye-care / contact lenses, or maybe the RFID chip finally gets it’s day and be put into our bodies. RFID is actually already here, you carry it with you everyday, so the chip no longer needs to be in us, we have social accepted carrying it around in our pockets. I know, I know, I’m going down a rabbit trail.
I’m not saying the demise of insurance companies is imminent, I’m suggesting they need to observe a trend that would seem to impact their livelihood. I would also suggest, not unlike Real Estate, you & I will be able to handle / do what these agents do for us today.
If insurance companies are still cold calling existing clients to develop new revenue, in the home-based businesses sector, I would suggest finding another method, because we can do that ourselves. The insurance company rules will change as the shape of business takes place, the rules though, are currently being broken and by-passed because of this trend in business.It’s no ones fault, it’s evolving, it’s changing it’s look, you might call it a Chameleon.
The future of business is a social and mobile business, the details still need to be worked out, but if your business isn’t paying attention, then you won’t get the attention. So I ask you, do you market to convert, or do you market to get attention? If it’s the latter, you have increased your chances of conversion ten fold, attention is the new currency, and you will use it to convert your product & services into cash.