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 – Real Estate Has A Problem
I wrote a blog post in October 2009 called, Are Real Estate Agents Obsolete? I ruffled feathers, I’m probably going to do the same in this post : ) My point at the time was, times are changing and they (in general) are not! I consult many agents on the topic of how their business is perfect for Social Media Networks, they are a service oriented business, a relationship business, perfect! So what’s the problem?
The tools aren’t the problem, the Internet isn’t the problem, people are not the problem, so what is it? It’s the way Real Estate Agents think. I’m generalizing so don’t get your listings in a knot.
I’m not trying to embarrass any one individual here, I’m speaking in general terms, don’t you realize what you have on your hands? The Internet is only 15 or 16 years old, what you did before the Internet came along worked great, offline, but those tactics don’t translate to digital very well do they?
Today, you can do open houses LIVE with a digital camera connected to the Internet, what a great way to find out if a home shows well. There are very few people willing to buy a home without actually going on site, so what are you worried about? The Internet has one real strong purpose for Real Estate Agents, and for the most part, they don’t know what that is.
Look, much of what Real Estate Agents do is now hyper-sensitive here online, why? People don’t want to be bombarded with sales pitches, and they don’t have to either. The “service” agents provide is just that, a service, you are not a classified ad. So why do you act like one?
Think about that for a moment, Social Media Networks are not more places to do outbound marketing or yelling. Well, you could use them that way, but you’ll fail miserably. There I said it. Social Networks are opposite to Radio, TV, and Newspapers (outbound), they are inbound. You need to be drawing attention through building relationships, being helpful, not constantly selling your stuff.
Imagine having a Rolodex the size of the Internet, you do! Who would need one that big right? Well, everybody knows someone, and that someone might be moving to your area, but you would never know if you don’t build relationships first. Go figure, Twitter as a Rolodex. This is the new CRM (Customer Relations Management), build relationships, build a huge network online, just like you would offline except you’re not selling. You are, building friendships first, then data mining, and through these relationships you will find business otherwise not found. Notice the order of things.
Be social, be mobile, and be the kind of person I and all of us would want to do business with, we want to know you, we want to know if you can help us when the time comes, but we will never know if you only cram your listings down our throats. This constant yelling and broadcasting is the disconnect with those you would consider clients in social networks, that way of thinking shows me that you only care about sales. I bet that statement makes you mad if you an agent, if so, then do something about it. Perception is everything, and once it starts, BAM! you are now stereo-typed.
A good friend Ron Karr wrote an interesting book on sales, I recommend it, it’s called, “Lead, Sell, or get out of the way” By Ron Karr, he can teach you a few traditional things, but most of all, he talks about how you think. Here’s my review. And that’s what I’m talking about here, the old methods got you to where you are today, and some of those methods may still work for now, but most likely won’t on Social Networks.
Scott Stratten coined the phrase in his book UN-Marketing, ” Stop Marketing. Start Engaging.”, these words should be your new mantra, they speak to the heart of every selling profession. My review of his book.
So build your Rolodex here online through building relationships first, where else can you save so much time & money, and reach so many in so little amount of time. Amazing isn’t it, most people don’t care what you know until they know you care. Gary Vaynerchuk is about to release a new book called, “ The Thank You Economy“, people want to know you care, and saying thank you goes along way to fulfilling that need.
The Future of Business in terms of Real Estate Agents, it will be entirely up to them. The business as a whole needs to pay attention, learn how to be social and mobile, both are critical to they’re success. More importantly, they need to unlearn a great deal of what they think they know about sales, specifically online.
I think in the next 5 – 10 years, Real Estate Agents will become fewer, because the current red tape and gate keepers will eventually be removed. It could happen sooner, you can by-pass agents already, but thats not the real issue. The mechanism of control is, and it will be harder to control the consumers of the future, so something has to give. For many agents, they don’t have the luxury of time, they must make sales to put food on the table. It’s that kind of pressure that makes you make mistakes, in social networks, the tolerance level for selling all the time, posting your listings, is much lower.
So, relationship first, don’t sell, provide information of value, teach me something, and tell me what you can do for me when I need someone just like you. Be an educator, be someone who cares about people, all people, because they are potential clients. Get to know me before you ever try to sell me something, that’s the mode of operation in social networks. And that takes time, but imagine the huge Rolodex you will have because you cared.
Forgive me if you are one of the very few actually paying attention to what’s going on, I am however talking to those who are not. I know brokers and real estate systems try teach you, but they too are stuck in old methods, it’s time to look around, the world is changing and it’s going to whether you do or not.
There is so much more that can be said, I am scratching the surface on this topic, I would love to here your thoughts.
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.
Owen Before & After
OK, I am posting here for you to point and laugh and even leave sarcastic comments, my before & after pictures of my feable attempt to participate in growing facial hair over the month of November.
Owen on November 30th:
And here I am on Dec 1st, clean shaven, with a much happier wife I might add.
So what do you think, which one do you like best, the hairy faced Owen, or the clean shaven, kinder more gentler looking Owen?
If you are wondering why the Before & After photo’s look like they are backwards, they’re not : )
Please Vote:
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