Will You Conform Or Follow Your Dream?
I have been going through an interesting phase in my life lately, one where you feel the pressure to conform to what others think you should do, or they disapprove of what you do. I’ll state upfront, I’m not a conformist, that also tells you things most of the time, don’t go the way I would have them. If conforming will make those haters, or the opposition happy, the question that begs to be asked in my head is, why? What is it their afraid of, or disapprove of? It’s usually motivated by some deep need to control the world around them. I’m generalizing of course, but my experience tells me the motive is typically control, which normally comes from a lack in their life somewhere, something not understood, which leads to the fear of loss on some level.
These people typically, are those closest to you, the ones you thought you could trust, the ones you thought would support you, the ones you thought you could count on if things got tough. I’ll state here for clarity, I WAS WRONG! It turns out, everything is about them, and has very little to do with you. You….are merely a stimulant that triggers the fear of loss, that fear of KAOS, that fear of losing control.
I’m not complaining, I’m hurting, but not complaining. The world around us is not interested in building character, or change, it’s only interested comfort, getting more stuff. Most are only interested in being comfortable, but I’m convinced that state doesn’t do anything to make the world a better place. In my opinion, it is no different than doing nothing, and the price of doing nothing is much higher than failure.
Stepping out, not complying, has it’s price. It’s entirely possible you will have to find a new community of friends to be with, people that are more like-minded with your view of the world, and in my case business. It sounds harsh doesn’t it. This is the time where you find out how committed you are to what you are doing, do you believe it is important that you must do what you do. Only you can answer the question, will you conform or follow your dream?
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March 4th, 2001 – 12 Years Ago Today I Survived…
I just wanted to drop a note to all who consider visiting this blog, those who have signed up for my email updates, I wish to convey a heart felt thank you. Today I am celebrating 12 years since suffering a heart attack, yep, Match 4th, 2001 I suffered a broken heart, and I still get to tell the story.
It was 6 years ago Feb 1st I chose to become self-employed, it was a difficult decision, but it was the right one in my humble opinion. My wife might tell you something different : )
I’m dedicating this day to my family, and to you the reader, to you the visitor, it is you I can’t wait to share with, speak to, and most of all, help you. I am grateful that you allow me to speak to you in the direct manner that I do, I do this because I have to, I care about you and your business more than my own.
I hope and pray you will continue to travel on this journey I’m on, it is an honour and privilege to have you with me, thank you from the deepest part of my heart.
Remember, Agenda’s Are Flawed
Remember, agenda’s are flawed, it’s true, there has yet to be an agenda that didn’t have a negative impact on any group or organization. For every special interest group, the chosen ones, power brokers, no matter what you call them, that’s are where the flaws live. Very rarely does the interests or good of others come to mind by those with an agenda, even if they believe their agenda favors everyone.
Agenda’s typically come from a person, or person’s, who want a specific thing to happen, or a desired outcome, they truly believe this is the way to achieve it. Agenda’s tend to be self serving, they come from a sense of power to drive the wants and needs of an individual.
The flaws are human in nature, they are power hungry, and normally short sighted, unless the agenda is determined through a process that sees it is good for everyone. Every group and organization wrestles with this demon, there is no permanent cure.
Tactics and strategy are the clothes of the agenda, we hide behind them, as we do in our personal life and our work life. Everyone has an agenda, we dress it up to prevent the truth from being revealed. Agenda’s are what makes us human, it’s what makes our business human.
If we claim to question the status quo, but never the motives of an agenda, what good is in the agenda, we set ourselves up to fail. But failing is good right, yet another set of clothes to hide the truth. We justify everything, even our agenda’s, so remember, agenda’s are flawed.
The Future Of Business – The Secret To Customer Acquisition
It used to be, the only way to win at acquiring customers was to buy as much advertising as you could afford. The more you spent, the higher the results. That is and was the traditional advertising model that worked for a bricks & mortar business. Today the game has changed, yes traditional ways still work, not because it’s effective, because it’s what older generations prefer it, and they still have the money.
It’s easy to reach a traditional buyer, just run enough ads on traditional advertising vehicles, and you’ll get their attention. Today the customer with money is getting younger by the minute, and we need to market to them differently. We have to make offers that make us extremely uncomfortable. It used to be, if you wanted to get the greatest reach, you ran radio & television ads, newspaper has never had the same reach. You could run 30 second ads on radio for $30 a piece, but to get the frequency for it to be effective, you had to run more than 3 spots a day. The minimum would be 10 spots a day, because the life span of a radio ad is much like a Tweet on Twitter, about 20 minutes. So to have a successful customer acquisition campaign you had to spend significant amounts of money. The same held true for television, but at a much higher cost, not to run the ads, but to make the ad. Customer acquisition campaigns can also be considered branding campaigns, but they are different.
Today we have the Internet, we can reach more people via the NET than we could with radio & television together, for FREE! I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know, I am wondering why there is still such resistance to it. The resistance has the power to kill your business, and you the business owner must guard against it, not succumb to it.
The challenge with having such great reach on the Internet isn’t the cost, it’s being found, and being heard. Hence, we have a new kind of advertising vehicle like Google, Yahoo & Bing. These powerful search networks have really just adopted the traditional way of advertising for the Internet. If you want to be found, land on the first page, you now have a sufficient budget to have that desired result.
Today you can purchase qualified traffic, which, if you speak to them the right way, will become newly acquired customers. The same challenge you had with traditional mediums, holds true with digital ad networks, you need to dedicate resources to get the desired results you’re looking for.
The secret to customer acquisition today, is by leveraging and Open & Free Business Model, where free is the driving force. Like the resistance, free has the same problem, for reasons unknown to me, entrepreneurs and business owners can’t seem to wrap their brains around free. We understand loss leader concepts, but not free, I suspect the fear of giving something away and not getting paid is far greater than we would like to believe.
Companies that have figured out how to use free, have also figured out how to generate revenue because of it. Companies like Google, Spotify, Skype, Vimeo, Twitter, Evernote, Grooveshark and many more. These companies have proven free works, and they have mastered acquiring customers, they have mastered list building to the 9th degree. It does work, but we seem to have more reasons not to use the model. Whatever the excuse is, it’ll work.
You want to get more customers, give them something they want….for free, and then figure out how to monetize your new customers. The old business models are in the genre of win-lose, the open and free business model is about win-win, where everyone benefits. Mater giving products and services for free, and you will have an entirely new market to sell to. The concept makes sense, it just sounds and feels foreign.
FREE is not the enemy, free is your best friend, learn to embrace free, figure out where free fits in your business, because free is the secret to customer acquisition.
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The Future Of Business – Deliver.
It seems rather obvious doesn’t it, at some point you have to deliver, you have to deliver something. You don’t start a business or any kind of venture without eventually delivering a product or service. Without delivering you don’t really have a business do you. Why would you go through the process of creating something if you didn’t want someone to see it or know about it. Sure you could create something for you and you alone, but you’re still delivering, you’re delivering to yourself.
If you’ve created something awesome, and you have a plan to differentiate your creation, you must deliver it to someone. How will you ever sleep at night if you don’t?
The only way to change the world, to make a difference, to influence others, is to deliver. Delivering can be as simple as showing up, but you will deliver something when you do.
This equation can be applied to anything, the only way to get good at it, is to do it. Read it, learn it, live it.
Create. Differentiate. Deliver.
