Human Business
When We Crash, Are You A Taker Or A Giver?
This morning started early, 4:30AM, nothing unusual or earth shattering happens here at this time of day, not until 8AM when school starts to create traffic. Today however, something did happen, and I was lucky to be here, you see….a young high school boy crashed into the neighbours car, flew over the hood and took a nasty tumble.
The young man was able to make his way to my door, I never knew it happened, he was bleeding pretty good from his head, just over the left eye. He had a helmet on so he seemed OK, but lots of scrapes and cuts, he’ll bruise up before long, but definitely shook up. He tried not to cry, but would break into a fit and then pull himself together, he was scared mostly.
His bike actually survived, handle bars need some work, probably should give the bike a good going over to make sure all is healthy. I sat him down on the stairs, got him a glass of water and then I got the nice warm clothes to wipe the blood and such. He was worried about being late for school, I said, you already are so don’t sweat it. He eventually calmed down, until Dad arrived, he got worked up again…I’m thinking he is the drama queen in the house : )
Dad arrived, I put the bike around back so they could pick it up later, off to the hospital to get the young mans head checked. You are probably wondering why I’m sharing this, I think I have a point.
Do you try to help people when they come knocking, when they call you up and say hey can I pick your brain? I have to say I do, often, and many times, for nothing in return. You see, doing the right thing is hard, it’s never convenient, and it always takes effort on your part. We talk about community, we talk about followers and fans, but do we serve them without attaching some kind of reward to serving them? Yes we have to make money at some point, but where is your paywall, is it up front, or is it a number of levels deeper and can’t be seen on first glance. Mine is both, some things have a price up front, but most don’t, I practice the 90 / 10 rule. I give away 90% and charge for 10%.
Now, some people / businesses say they want help but are reluctant to pay for the help. Some always try to take what they can from you for free, and some have integrity, and always try to pay before receiving anything, even advice. There will always be takers, and there many givers, if you look hard enough, they are the ones that volunteer and show up to causes they are passionate about.
I think we all have a responsibility to help each other regardless of reward, I have found that giving away more than I charge for has many rewards, not only financially, but personally. Which one are you, are you a taker or a giver, and which one brings the greatest rewards?
When someone is crashing, or struggling, and failing, where do you stand? I have a passion for the business community, but I care even more about people, without them, you have nothing but loneliness, and absolutely no business. I challenge you to help people and business without expecting something in return, you will grow from it,and you will be or become a human business. Be strategic about where you put your paywalls, and serve…simple isn’t it? Not really, because we are all wired to be in control, and to make sure we get paid first, I’m suggesting anew model, an Open & Free Business Model.
So which are you, a taker or a Giver?
The Future Of Business – If I Were A Carpenter
If I were a carpenter, what would I build? I think of carpenter’s a builder’s, in fact, I think of entrepreneur’s the same way. Business owner’s used to be builder’s, but something happened, they were lulled into management mode. Carpenter’s are also builder’s from the industrial age, the art of carpentry is a dieing art, well at least the way we think of it. But that’s the point, how we think.
I have said many times, over and over again, it’s the tag on this blog, Mindset trumps skillset everytime. How we think about building, how we think about our business, how we think about everything really, it’s all changing and we are not. I was sharing with Chris Brogan on Kitchen Table Talks last week about how the this area has yet to embrace a new way of doing business. The new way? Becoming a social business, a human business. What are we so afraid of?
If I were a carpenter, I would build a business that opens your mind, that shares this new concept, this new open & free business model….wait….I have built it, but is it done? There’s another problem, we think in terms of being finished, social businesses, human businesses are never done. Do you think your relationships with people and businesses are ever finished, no. So why do we think, just because we are building a business, it will be finished someday? If you think you are finished, you will be. Think about that for a moment, let it settle for a moment.
You see, my business, I hope it is never done, I hope it draws you in, I hope it causes you to question the status quo….always. My prayer is that you will want to learn new ways of adopting the new way of doing business, if you don’t, someone else will, and your business will be finished.
There are some incredible people out here on the Internet sharing, (far too many too mention here) all the time, teaching you to see business differently, you want to but….you seem to fall back to what you’ve always done. It happens everytime you get into management mode, new ways are too hard to implement and maintain in your head, so you do what you’ve always done. Push back as hard as you try, time gets you everytime.
Imagine if you, just for a moment, what if being a carpenter was just invented today, what would you build? You build something that no longer works, or would you invent something new?
I challenge you, ask yourself the question based as if being a carpenter was invented today. If you were a carpenter, what would you build? A traditional business? probably, but I would suggest a different model. I would build a very open and free business model, a social business, a human business. What say you?
Related articles
- Future Scratches (chrisbrogan.com)
- Owen Greaves On Kitchen Table Talks With Chris Brogan (owengreaves.com)
- Do you have a people strategy? (sethgodin.typepad.com)
What’s New & Exciting For 2012?
This year, 2012, is a year where we all have great anticipation of special things to happen, hoping life treats us better than it did the year before. I’m no different than you, I’m struggling with much the same issues you are, just differently.
This morning I was asking myself a simple but yet complicated question, I’m going to be 55 this year, and I’m looking ahead at the next 20 years. Should I have them. What do I want to do with what may be the last 20 years I get to live? I mean what meaningful work do I want to pursue and deliver, or execute, better yet ship. How was I going to help you for the next 20 years, should you let me.
You already know how much I love to help people, you already know that I’m passionate about the business community, you should also know that I am concerned for mankind when it comes to technology. But those things don’t mean much, especially when the metal meets the meat.
One of my passions is to bring light to business start-ups in my area, I’m also looking outside of my community area. I haven’t done a good job of this just yet. Public speaking and workshops are cool and fun, but they don’t generate revenue for my clients the way good old fashion PR & Marketing do.
What I mean by that is this, I can show you what’s coming, I can tell you what you might do about it, but no one knows about you, not in the way the Future Of Business will require. You’ve read it, you’ve heard me say it, there are 2.1 Billion people on the Internet and there are another 3 Billion plus coming. How will you be found, how will you be heard, and most importantly, how will you generate revenue?
With that in mind, I’m going to be doing something extra around my workshops and public speaking, and my webhosting business, I’m going to help promote your business, or business idea for you. It’s simple really, I’m going to be doing Podcast interviews of businesses doing something interesting, something great, these interviews will be done via Skype and then released on my Blog with links to your business.
I’m looking for business start-ups to interview, if you know of one, maybe it’s yours, send an email to interview@owengreaves.com and lets talk about your business. I want to know some basic information, like what you are doing, how you are doing it, how long has your business been doing business, what’s your vision for your business, how is your business making the world a better place, and most importantly….what’s your businesses story?
Every business wants and needs exposure, qualified exposure, and it is my desire to help you by interviewing you and publishing those interviews all over the Internet.
If you know of an interesting start-up, or you are starting a business of your own, let me know, and let’s talk about a possible interview. So what’s new & exciting? I would love to hear from you.
Good luck in 2012, and thanks for being a part of what I do here at Owengreaves.com
Many Blessings,
Owen Greaves
Related articles
- The Future Of Business – Means Multiple Revenue Streams (owengreaves.com)
- The Future Of Business – Change Is Coming, And Lots Of It. (owengreaves.com)
- The Future Of Business – Fight Off The Mainstream Media & Big Business (owengreaves.com)
- The Future Of Business – Be Useful (owengreaves.com)
- The Future Of Business – Are You A Multipotentialite? (owengreaves.com)
The Future Of Business – History Is Repeating Itself
When I was a little boy at the age of 5, I lived on the Queen Charlotte Islands. We moved from Vancouver, British Columbia to the Northern Tundra, it was a sad day for my Mother & I, oh ya, my brother too. It was at best an adventure, it wasn’t a lifestyle improvement. I can remember riding with my Dad in his truck from Queen Charlotte City to Masset on many occasions, what was weird about it was, you couldn’t make that drive without hitting a deer with the truck. You couldn’t own enough freezers to store all the meat, so Dad would have to report most of these incidents to the game warden. This happened everyday! The interesting thing about it was, everyone in town knew it had happened. Queen Charlotte City is not a big town, so news traveled fast.
I told you that story to tell you this one. The greatest impact living in an isolated part of the world was not how bad it was, but how these small communities all over the island pulled together. I mean it was beautiful country, there was so much natural in everything that happened, but the real treat, the healthiest thing for our community, was how business conducted.
Remember when you could order items from the Hudson Bay, Eaton’s and Sears catalogue? It was fun, it was easy, it was drop shipped to your door, except if you lived on the Queen Charlotte Islands. Oh you could make your orders through each of these company catalogues, if you didn’t, Christmas didn’t happen! Worse yet, you couldn’t get new clothes, well not unless you went down to the trading post and picked up something someone else owned at one time.
Business was much more difficult back then, or at least getting what you needed to survive, let alone having any luxury items. The most memorable thing for me living there, was when you would make your orders, wait at a minimum of one week for the ship to come in, that’s right, a freighter would come filled with belongings, food, clothes, all kinds of things, even equipment. The whole town would gather down on the main dock and wait, BBQ’s were out, music was playing, everyone in town gathered like a family reunion. Imagine waiting a week to get your food, maybe two weeks because of bad weather. I can remember some tense times when word got out the ship was delayed. But it was a great memory, a happy memory, the towns people helped each other, we all knew each other, and we made sure our neighbour was looked after.
Today, 50 some years later, we appear to be heading right back to a time such as then, without the ship of course. Social Media has brought us back to a place where we have to care for one another, connect with each other, build a relationship with each other. We had to build trust then, and we have to build it again today. Back in a time when big business did not have the same control as it had between now and then, we the people have control once again. We are gathering together to meet, to help each other, to collaborate, and make sure our neighbour is looked after. History is repeating itself, mostly in how we used to do business. Today we hold Tweet Up’s, big social events, and speaking events, all for the purpose of coming together as a community, or communities. We are going back to ordering from catalogues that are now web applications, Apps, Smart phones, websites like Amazon, and it gets drop shipped by the big ship UPS or FEDX, or whomever you prefer. These companies we order from are now asking us what we want, how we want it, and how fast can we get it to you. We are going back to small town rules, where you can’t hide, you can’t lie, and you can’t get away with shinanagan’s and stay in business.
The Future Of Business is all about people, it’s taking us back to a time like the depression, back to a time when we did all that we could for one another. History is repeating itself, are you part of making the world a better place, are you part of this history taking place? I challenge you, be the change, you be the voice, you be the reason the world is a better place, you help make history repeat itself.
Related articles
- The Future Of Business – Change Is Coming, And Lots Of It. (owengreaves.com)
- The Future Of Business – Social Is A Feature Not A Platform (owengreaves.com)
- The Future Of Business – The Future Of Shopping With PayPal (owengreaves.com)
Is This One Of Your Goals For 2012?
It’s midnight, I’m thinking about the past year, wondering if I made a difference to any business owner in my community, my Twitter followers, my blog readers and….. It’s a fair question, you probably ask yourself the same question many times. In fact, you may spend too much time asking yourself that question. If you truly want to make a difference, Go and make a difference! Go, do that thing you are passionate about, you will touch someone’s life and you probably won’t even know it.
I attend many events in my community, most are surprised when I show up, but I need the interaction with smart people. You can only speak from a stage, from a microphone, a blog, or even a workshop for so long. Eventually, you’ll want to see eyeballs, hear real stories directly from the sources, maybe in their own surroundings. The words Social Media don’t really say enough about what it really means, we tend to forget the “Social” part, but it’s the best part, it’s the awesome sauce.
I have a few social engagements in my calendar for December, maybe we’ll run into each other, and I’ll bet there’s a great story to share. Make sure you step away from the keyboard, better yet, go master the deadlock on your front door and get out and see the people. The people are what makes the Social in Social Media, media is actually cold and unfeeling, why would you want to just do that?
Social Networks are environments, cultures, and places to learn, because that’s where the people are, and no matter how much you avoid it, the Future Of Business means people. You will never have success without them, and what they want from you is simple, they want access to you. They want to know you, even spend time with you, that’s where the real value is, and eventually, the Gold.
When you get around the people, and you are doing what you were meant to do, you are making a difference. So GO! Be a human business, one that connects with others, one that connects businesses, Go and be with the people, help them achieve their goals, and you will be blessed beyond your wildest dreams. Make that your goal for 2012, I hope you do because I can’t wait to hear your story when you do.
