The Future Of Business – Change Is Coming, And Lots Of It.
For as long as I can remember, nothing ever stays the same, and yet we fight tooth and nail to keep things in their rightful place so we know where to find it. Most of us even call ourselves change agents, that really only applies to everyone else right? We don’t mind walking others through change as long as it doesn’t impact our own little worlds. The truth is, when it comes to our businesses, we had better embrace change.
You would have to be in complete denial or not have a pulse to see that it’s not business as usual, just look around you, people are behaving differently more today than any other time in history. Hell, younger generations own a phone but don’t know how to speak on it, they only communicate via some flavour of text messaging. What happened, my sister used to live on the phone when she was a teenager, now it’s a mobile device in hand and we’ll text all day long.
If there’s one thing you should be learning here at owengreaves.com, it’s change. The world of business is not what we are comfortable with, we have to move with it or be ignored, especially in the digital realm. One of the first things to consider here is this, the same problem will always confront you, and that is how to get attention. We have been struggling with that one problem for some time, back in the day we thought Radio, TV, and Newspaper were the best ways to get that done, not anymore.
Enter in the Internet and it’s soon to be 5 Billion eyeballs, the playing field has changed (there’s that word), now reaching the world is much cheaper, and anyone can talk to anyone at any given time. But here’s the bigger problem, even though we can spread the word faster and cheaper, how do we actually get the masses attention? Well, now you have to change the way you look at your business, you have to change the way you think, because you no longer have control over it. That’s right, the consumer of tomorrow will not tolerate being manipulated into a sale, in fact, if they sense it, they’re gone. Today you have to be transparent, you can’t lie, mislead or trick and get away with it, that’s a problem for most big businesses because they have considered consumers as not that smart to figure things out. Today you have to give away something before consumers actually notice you. I’m generalizing of course, but you get the point, because you ARE smart people.
You’re probably wondering why I’m even talking about this, well, for some reason business owners are struggling with the change that needs to take place. Big business has to give up control, they have to learn how to trust the people formerly known as consumers. You’ve read that here many times before, but what’s the problem? Big business doesn’t know what to do, still, even after 5 years of heavy Social Media integration.
Let’s be honest here, Social Media has passed the I’m a new fad phase, Social is changing, it’s a natural process now in many circles, except small to medium businesses. Most of the smaller operations still want to do things the old way, they don’t understand the changes happening around them. Why? For the most part they aren’t paying attention, and attention is everything! What happens when over 60% of commerce is done on a handheld devices, when everything goes mobile, what will small to medium sized business do then? Play catchup, it will be too late. They can’t hide behind a lack of knowledge, there’s so much of it out here, so there’s a deeper reason, there has to be.
The funny thing about business owners and entrepreneurs is, they only have one vision for that business, they tend to only see how they can sell their product or service based on what they know and were taught. That’s usually old industrial age process and thinking, it’s not right or wrong, we must think differently today to see a bigger picture. Smart, well intentioned people struggle the most. Looking beyond the transaction, think more on the lines of interaction, it’s relationship building, it’s building trust, and that takes an investment and time. Mostly, it takes change. You will have to give more of your business away, put it consumers hands before the transaction will take place.
We are about to enter a world so mobile and social, we’ll think it was invented 15 years from now, a quantum leap is about to take place in the next 3 – 5 years, and I hope to reach as many business owners as possible before it happens. Social is no longer a platform, it’s a feature. We won’t even think Social Media anymore, it will be a natural DNA of everything we do, it will be everything mobile.
So build for mobile and let social be the tide or current if you will, those who get attention will have built their businesses future on smartphones, and above all, give consumers access and a seamless way to buy.
Use Nine Inch Nails business model, CWF + RTB = $$$$ it’s the 90 /10 rule.
I’m a little long winded today I know, but I can’t help it, I run into far too many business owners fighting the change, change happens every second of our lives, don’t fight it, embrace it. Change is coming, and lots of it. Are you prepared, if not, I’m available to help.
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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.
The Future Of Business – What Could The Hardcore Hockey Fan Tell You?
I know the question is odd when talking about the future of business, but I ask you to play along. Let’s see where I take you : )
If you were hired by your local hockey team (In my case, the Abbotsford Heat) to market the club in the digital realm, what might be there first question out of your mouth? No it’s not how much do I make. If the resources were in place, funding and say personnel, what would you ask?
Lets consider that all the questions are not dumb questions, no matter how obvious they might be, what would you ask?
I would most likely ask what the current cost is for customer acquisition, there is a cost with online marketing, so what is it?
Knowing that number would tell you at least two things, what they have been doing and, what they aren’t doing, that is provided you understand some simple marketing metrics and the overall understanding of what the strategy be.
You might even ask where the marketing dollars have been spent, like Google Ad Words and so on. Make a list. But there are two more important issues or questions I would be asking. Because frankly, I don’t care where the money is spent unless I know the answer to one primary question, and if I don’t get that answer, we are going to get it through some due diligence.
My first question is more about what the hardcore hockey fan wants, do the fans want free tickets to games, food or beer, or would they want dedicated, intimate free time with their favorite Player / Coach/ or even Executive?
It’s an Access over Ownership question, if we don’t know the answer, we better find out, and fast, because everything else that follows will be based on that data. I’m certain the average fan will pay the ticket price, but how much would they pay to have one-on-one time with their favorite hockey player? Maybe over a nice meal, I mean dedicated time, an intimate time to just be. What would you pay for that? A better question to ask yourself would be, would we be willing to give that access away for FREE?
You see, it’s easy to sell tickets, it’s even easier to sell club merchandise, but give the hardcore hockey fan access, and you have something really exciting.
The digital strategy will be built around what the hardcore fan really wants, and I’m willing to bet access is the secret sauce to your marketing efforts. The future of business as I have researched it, over the next 3 – 5 years will be Access over Ownership. Fill that need, and your hockey club will have a whole new set of marketing tactics to play with, a new view of the community, and a great way to Connect With Fans. Add that with a Reason To Buy, and you have a thing called revenue. (CWF + RTB = $$$$)
There are many, many more questions to ask, and this is a very low level, very loose post, but I’m flying at 50,000 feet and blue skying it.
If you knew access was the key, what other great ideas come to mind? Share them here in the comments, it would be great fun.
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The Future Of Business – Do You Build Community Or Tear It Down?
I have been struggling with this question mostly because of what I have been witnessing in my area where I live. I know a great many people who love building community, they like to build things that make the world a better place. I also see and know those who do the opposite.
I think we should all ask ourselves this question, maybe everyday. When I get up in the morning, the first thing I do is say, Thank You Jesus. Why, I woke up, I got another day, I get to be useful to those around me. I love helping people, which why I do what I do, workshops, public speaking, think-tank sessions, I love asking questions, I love the creative process. Helping others is a cornerstone to building community, building others up, speaking positively about people, helping solve problems, it’s a fun way to live don’t you think? Even helping your competitors, yep, there I said it. Helping those who are in competition with you or your business is a great way to add more value to not only what you do, but to who you are.
Recently, I have noticed a few so called businesses bashing and calling people down in public, is that really what’s in their hearts? There is a person, with a website called The Valley Voice located in Chilliwack, BC, they fancy themselves kind of a news source or a Newspaper. I have yet to see them say anything positive about anyone, in fact, all they do is speak poorly of others in their community, and in other communities close by. It doesn’t matter who they are, yes even I have been attacked by them, and they have no idea who I am! So they would fall under the category of Tearing Down A Community. If you don’t provide them with the answer they like, with the information they want, they immediately start bashing you in public, and here online. Tell this wasn’t in the business plan from the get go, because I can’t imagine anyone wanting to talk to them or work with them if this is the model they have chosen. It would appear that they are about drawing attention to themselves by being extreme in controversy. I get the feeling they wake up every day wondering what dirt they can dig up for the purposes of drawing attention to themselves. It disappointing, it’s rude, and its extremely unprofessional in my humble opinion.
Then I see others in the community’s around me doing awesome things, helping people, raising funds for charities, actually doing something that makes living worthwhile. Imagine that?
So I’m curious, do you build community, or do you tear it apart? Are you a builder or a destroyer?
I know I sound naive but, I would rather be on the builder side, I would rather The Valley Voice just kept their mouth shut. But I can’t control that, they would scream the freedom of speech defense, so my world has an Asshole to deal with. At some point this person and his team will be avoided by it’s community for fear of being aligned with a person or organization that tears down it’s community, and the people in it. The Internet has made it possible for us to say what we want and not have to pay a price, we can hide, but that’s changing, we are going back to small town rules, where word of mouth is gold. Your legacy will be determined by others, what you do and what you say will create that legacy, and those around you will determine your worth in light of it.
The Future Of Business will be built by those who value people, who want a better world to live in, want better ways to accomplish this thing called life. My hat is off to you, especially if that’s you.
So I beg you, be a builder, lift those up around you even if you disagree with them, maybe you don’t even like them, speak in positive terms anyway.You will be happier for it. If you are going to criticize, at the very least offer a solution or another option.
Related articles
- Community Only Means Something If You Keep It Warm (chrisbrogan.com)
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Real Estate Agents, Politicians & Social Media GURUS
First a disclaimer, I am in no way claiming I have cornered the market on Social Media Networks, I happen to use them for my business. I’m also generalizing, you can find many that don’t suffer from the problems I rant about below. The three sectors, niches or whatever you want to call them, all three have something in common. They don’t know how to listen, nor do they know what their constituents want. All three claim to know that building relationships is paramount. All three claim to understand how to use Social Media Networks, but have been failing miserably. So what’s wrong?
Let’s start with a short story. I attended a MeetUp some 30 minutes down the freeway from me, I got there a little late, but as I walked in, I was introduced and then promptly put on the spot. I was asked, what top tip would I give a person or business in using Social Media. I had to stop and think for a nanosecond, and blurted out two things, one was to listen, and the other was to pay attention to the bigger picture. Now I can hear most of you Social Media Experts cringing, but I don’t mean what you think I mean.
The listening part, and the paying attention part are not separate, they are tied together. If you are a business, and you are just starting to dip your toe into the Social Media Networks, there are a few things you should do before you even attempt to listen or pay attention. But I was put on the spot, but I did clarify what I mean’t to ensure there was no confusion.
One of the first things I did, was write down some objectives, outcomes, before I even setup any kind of listening system. I wanted to know up front what I wanted from this exercise, before I began the listening, I also wanted to collect data from a higher level. I wanted a 50,000 foot view of what I was looking at, I wanted to see patterns and trends. But I’m getting sidetracked.
Now let’s get back to the real reason I’m writing this rant.
After the MeetUp was over, a small group of us went out to a local eatery for some chit chat and finger food. A funny thing happened while eating, I was noticing some tweets from all three of these sectors or groups, and I couldn’t believe my eyes. And these tweets were being done by people I know, people I have talked to on the topic, and thought they had a grip on things from my perspective. Afterall, this is all from my perspective, which means you can disagree, and it’s also subject to change without notice : )
REAL ESTATE AGENTS
If you talk to any Real Estate Agent, they will tell you they understand or have been coached by someone who claimed to understand, ya you know who you are. If these agents even remotely listened in anyway shape or form, they would know that posting every frigging listing on Twitter, FaceBook or what have you, is not what the consumer, the person(s) looking, or wanting to buy expects from them. I mean really, is that what you Agents think, really? A blast of 6 to 9 Tweets or Updates, all listings, tell me I’m completely off base here, I triple dog dare ya. I work with enough agents to tell you, some get it right, but very few do. If spamming 3 to 6 listings is building a relationship, then you clearly don’t know how to do it. But wait, if you ask a Real Estate Agent what’s the best part of what they do, it’s the relationships they build, it’s the most important part of being successful in the business. Is it possible? Are Real Estate Agents that out of touch? It would appear that they haven’t learned or figured out how to take relationship building into the digital realm.
POLITICIANS
Here is another group of people that seems to miss the listening part, maybe it’s the asking part. We have an election happening in my province and or community, it’s always a tenuous time. I was meeting with someone who is handling Social Media for a person running for city council here. They wanted to know what I thought, so I told them. Most people don’t follow politics that closely, if they did, voter turnouts would be at all time high’s and the world would be a happy place right? The truth is, politicians are no longer trusted, just like bank managers and the like, why? All they want is your vote, they don’t really want to know what you want, they don’t really want know your problem, they have their own agenda already.
I did say this, if you want to get votes, connect with your constituents, keep things simple, in such a manner in which they can understand what you are saying and asking. In simple terms, answer the damn question(s). I also said, asking broad global questions only tells your constituents you think they’re stupid. There is always a small percentage of people who enjoy or even understand the global questions, but most don’t. The average person wants to know what you are going to do for them. Don’t ask me broad questions like, What’s your vision of (enter name of city here) 2, 5, 10 years from now? I don’t know where my next pay cheque or meal is coming from, and you’re asking me about the vision of a city? Is that what your constituents said they wanted? I want to know what your vision is, not mine, you tell me and I’ll decide if it makes any sense. Then I’ll vote accordingly.
Anyway, it would be to a politicians advantage to keep things simple and bite sized, so the average person can chew on it and actually provide a proper response. If politicians are listening, or asking, then why does it appear they all ask the same type of questions? Because it works, probably not, it’s because people can’t and won’t answer broad global questions. So the politician gets elected with a false sense of security, and can’t figure out why the people at large aren’t happy…it’s because they didn’t listen and pay attention in the first place.
SOCIAL MEDIA GURUS
You know who you are, you need to stop pretending you understand the larger picture of what all these Social Media Networks means to the business world at large. No one does! There are some common practices now, but just now. Social Networks have only been around a short while on the Internet, there is too much to know, and too much to understand for anyone person to claim they are an Expert or GURU. And I’m certain most don’t fully understand ROI, and the global effect on human behaviour in these circles. I can only count on one hand how many people I trust to tell me about what’s going on, how is it that the plethora of Consultants, GURUS and Social Media Experts have miraculously figured it out for all of us? I think not.
CLOSING COMMENTS
As you can see I’m barely scratching the surface here, the truth is, these three sectors are only three, and it’s not all there fault. But it’s mostly the snake oil salesman called a Social Media GURU / Expert, all in the name of making a buck. Or worse yet, to expand an already out of control ego. It is and always will be a Buyer Beware world, find people you know and trust, then ask them who to seek out for sound information and direction.
Good luck, and please do leave your comments, I love hearing from you whether you agree or not.
Related articles
- The Future Of Business – Social Is A Feature Not A Platform (owengreaves.com)
- Community Only Means Something If You Keep It Warm (chrisbrogan.com)
- The Future Of Business – Fight Off The Mainstream Media & Big Business (owengreaves.com)
