The Future Of Business Online Workshop
COME EXPLORE THE FUTURE OF BUSINESS ONLINE!
The Open & Free Business Model means looking at the world of business as it will be, not as it is.
How you can give away content and generate revenue, join me as I walk you through the basic principles of an Open & Free Business Model for your business. I’ll Show you what it might look like for you and your business.
We will look at three main topics:
TRENDS
We’ll look at trends and what’s happening around the world, and how these trends will impact your business online & off. Today there are 2.0 Billion people on the Internet, in the next 3 – 5 years that number will be 5 Billion. How will you get their attention?
THE OPEN & FREE BUSINESS MODEL
This is not a skill set, it’s a paradigm shift and this shift is painful, I’ll layout why and what this model might look like for your business, I’ll also show examples of how businesses are using this model.
BREAKOUT SESSION
By the time we get to this section, you’ll already have some new creative ideas, and ways to increase revenue. We’ll work through how you can build & implement your ideas with your staff.
When the workshop is over you will have a much better view of what’s coming, a framework to help you adapt, plus you will have a simple step by step approach for implementing new revenue streams.
This workshop has been reworked, it’s new & improved, it’s 4 hours (Noon to 4PM) of compelling information that will give you a whole new perspective on your business.
Workshop Friday Noon – 4PM / Oct 29th, 2010 – Price $99
Location Yet To Be Determined.
Book now and reserve your seat!
For more details and to book your seat, just send an e-mail to: workshop@owengreaves.com
I look forward to working with you,
Owen Greaves
The Equation Of Excellence
Ranked as the “greatest business book of all time” in a 2002 poll by Britain’s Bloomsbury Publishing, this best-selling business book has long been a must-have for the boardroom, business school, and bedside table. In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best-Run Companies (with Robert H. Waterman, Jr.), 1982
The book was primarily about three things, Listen to your customers. Take care of your people, and don’t let your values slip or slacken.
Tom Peters has searched the world over for businesses in Search of Excellence, he latest book The Little BIG Things: 163 Ways to Pursue EXCELLENCE, 2010 continues the family of books on Excellence.
So why do I mention these books? Just this past week I had a brief online conversation after I posted a question on Twitter & FaceBook. It was a simple question meant to make you think about what Excellence looks like to you, and how do we measure it. So I’ll pose the question to you:
Is your Pursuit Quantity or Quality? – Or should it be Excellence?
Now the question seemed confusing but, two interesting comments / statements came back to me. One was a question that confirmed the confusion, having said that, it was an interesting thought.
How does pursuing quality differ from pursuing excellence?
My response even surprised me, and it got me to thinking:
Quality & Excellence are not the same thing. Quality is part of an equation that determines Excellence.
Another friend of mine kept it simple, but was it really?
My pursuit is to simply do my best at all times.
I possed another question.
There is the problem, how is your best measured, how do you know it’s your best?
The conversation continued for some time and again kept it simple:
Well, it’s measured in that moment of ‘doing’. I consciously know if I’m doing my best at any given time. Sometimes, we’re tired, and sometimes we’re completely energized – our best varies on where we are. I think we all know when we’re doing our best – like an internal barometer.
Still not happy with the answer, I drilled deeper not letting my friend off the hook:
Based on that statement, you only seem to know when you’re doing best by how you feel. Emotions are not always the best way to measure where one is at.
You must have some indicators that you monitor that keep you on track, that keep you focused, that ensure some sense of quality. Pursuing Excellence is a complicated set of habits that equal Excellence, but only you can set the standard of those habits, you are setting the bar for you business. If you don’t, someone else will judge you or your business on bad information / Excellence.
Two things struck me, there probably should be more than two, but….one, everyone seems to have a different view on how Excellence is measured. And two, I have come to the conclusion that there is this equation that takes you to a value called Excellence. This equation is something each business owner must look long and hard at, it doesn’t even have to be a business, anything in life that you measure and wish to have some level of Excellence. You or the business owner, has to set the bar, and those who experience you, your brand, and or your business will decide if it was Excellence. So there is alot to consider in the equation.
Is or has how we value Excellence changed because of technology, systems and more efficient ways of obtaining the almighty level of Excellence? Is Excellence easier to obtain because of technology, or ways of automating simple tasks?
Will the future of Excellence morph, will the definition of the word be changed because of how we measure Excellence? In my small understanding, Excellence would be a series of habits or action items done exceptionally well, how many habits makeup this equation, or do we go by how we feel? (not recommended)
The question is yours now, what does the equation of Excellence look like in your opinion?
What's Happening To Local Newspapers?
This has been on my mind for some time now, and I know I’m not the first blogger to share his or her thoughts on this medium. Having spent 15 years in Media via Radio & Television mostly, I’ve considered Newspaper a distant cousin rather than the opposition in my years of selling advertising. The Media mix for marketing has always been these big three, Radio, Television & Newspaper, but something happened along the way and they seem to have missed it.
If you’ve noticed, the paper has been getting smaller, or shorter. The paper is getting fatter with inserts and more grocery coupons than one person can count. The content is smothered by ads, there are more ads in the paper than actual content for us to consume. What used to take two cups of coffee to read, takes less than minute. There is always the big headline trying to get your attention, it is almost always a headline like – Another Hit-And-Run! After all, blood and guts is what sells papers right?
So what’s happening to local Newspapers? It’s as if they are in a different world, a world of their own, and we’re not invited to participate in that world. We don’t have a say in what goes into the paper, in fact, we have virtually no hope of being heard by our local Newspapers. I just don’t understand that way of thinking. The old saying comes to mind, “don’t bite the hand that feeds you”, and I know business owners are tired of being bitten.
Radio used to be theatre of the mind, a real connecting point for communities, a huge service during the war, they used to get involved with communities without charging you to be in your community. Radio reached more people than any other medium, it was the 1st medium on the scene really, and it almost didn’t see the light of day. Why? It was free! The music industry alone tried to stop it, but then they figured out how to monetize Radio, there was an acceptable business model. That business model was the 1st real Open & Free Business Model.
Television captivated us by the sheer magic of how they were able to make it happen, TV used to be live not pre-recorded, those were golden times for TV. They too figured out the Open & Free Business Model, just as Radio did, Newspaper’s like the other two lost their first love, being truly connected and got involved in their communities. They provided a service, and for the most part it was free until money became the primary focus. Money is and always will be the 1st love of almost every business on the planet, that’s why so many businesses fail, they focus on the wrong things because of money, and most still do today. But that’s changing.
I will give Newspapers some credit, they are adopting the Internet, they have to, that’s where the people are. Just because papers are moving to the Internet, doesn’t mean they will survive, it merely means they are making a shift to a digital format. One of our local papers has started using Twitter, they have 13 followers as of this writing, they have a ways to go to get attention of the Twitter crowd. In fairness, there is more than one local paper, one with 1006 followers, the rest with less 1,000 followers. The problem isn’t following & circulation, the problem is….the way they think, the paradigm shift is too difficult for many, they look at the problem with old industrial age thinking, and then try to solve this shift problem internally. No, they don’t need to hire a Social Media Guru, they need someone to come in with a fresh pair of eyes, someone who sees the future of business and what it’s really doing. Business, not the Newspaper Business.
If 60% of commerce is going to be done online in the next 2 -3 years, why are newspapers so slow to adopt this movement? They should have begun the move, from denial to foresight, but sadly they are resisting, eventually they will subcumb to this global movement. The times are a changing baby!
The control they are trying to hang onto is a greased pig. Consider the life span of one simple Newspaper Ad, about a day & a half. Radio would have you run campaigns that require multiple ads in an hour or a day for consecutive days. Television does the same thing, you must run 10 ads a day to reach as many consumers in a day. Ka-Ching! If it takes 30 days to develop a habit, imagine how many days it takes to keep a brand top of mind, the numbers get staggering.
The future of the big three has been at risk for some time now. Individuals are now the competitor, so pay attention. I challenge Newspapers to make one change, this one simple change: listen to what your readers want, let them decide, don’t get in the way and question it, just do it. Just once don’t let money think for you, Don’t tell readers how wrong they are, don’t treat us like we don’t have a clue what we are doing, just do it! You’re already loosing money and more importantly, readers, so why not try it, trust the people formerly known as your readers (consumers). If you don’t, they’ll find local news a different way, like here: The Fraser Valley Daily
There is so much more to say on this topic, would love to hear your thoughts. Someday we will see the end of the Newspaper Editor, why, because he/she will be redundant.
What do you think, do you think your local Newspaper is failing you & your community?
Mentionmap, An Interesting Twitter Tool – Check it Out!
I stumbled across this nifty tool, it maps your Twitter Account. Each user is connected to the people and hashtags they mentioned the most in recent tweets. You can click a node to explore it’s neighborhood. I have posted mine here for the purpose of a visual aid.
You can visit the site to see your mentionmap, created by asterisq at: http://apps.asterisq.com/mentionmap/
My Stay In Winnipeg, Manitoba
I just returned from 12 days on the road with my Mother, yes, my Mother. I love my Mother, she’s 71 and is the most fun to be with on a road trip, we travelled from British Columbia to Manitoba. The drive was a marathon, 26 hours, which we did in two days coming back to my home in British Columbia. I learned things about my Mother no child should ever want to know, but I won’t share that with you here. I’ll be sharing about this trip in a series of blog posts, I hope they make you think.
On my journey, I learned a great deal about people and what I do, I was shocked to find out how we as a people in a country of this size don’t really care or want to participate in building a future. We want the future, we know there is a future, and we hope it makes our lives easier, but will we be able to do less and get more.
The hotel (Canad Inn) I was living in for the past week in Winnipeg was a nice location and a big facility, nice big rooms (FREE WI-FI), huge Flat Screen HDTVs, Restaurant, Room Service, a Hot Tub & Swimming, Meeting Rooms, Banquet Facilities, it had it all, even a Mini – Casino that was open from 9AM – 2AM! You didn’t have to leave the place, even grocery shopping was next door. In the restaurant, you only had to sit a short while and you could tell who the regulars were, everyone knew them by name it seemed. A small network of people in this hotel world we were all living in, no one, and I mean no one talked about the future or technology or anything of real interest to me. They were all talking about they’re lives, what they were going through, who they were working for and who they were hanging out with these days. I suddenly felt all alone, what I was there for was not needed, nor did anyone care what I was doing in Winnipeg. Even my waitress wasn’t excited to see me, she was going to give birth soon so you can tell what she was talking about with me. But for the most part, they just wanted to get to the Casino….why? Money of course, so they could escape the world they are in.
My epiphany, there are so many who are merely doing or living a work-style instead of a life-style, they talked about they’re life, but felt like they couldn’t participate in it, it was something happening to them, they were all working so hard, working for weekends & holidays. The future was something that was going to happen to them, and they hope things get easier, easier to slow the world down and easier to control the life they have. That’s a broken way of living to me, if you are working for weekends & holidays, your shit is broken….so why don’t we stop and do something about it?
I would be having coffee or breakfast and someone would always, as if on Que, where are you from and what brings you to Winnipeg? I would share two things, I’m from British Columbia and I drove my Mother here. Then…the big question, what do you do for a living….I always respond sarcastically with, ” as little as possible “. They keep pressing and I try to explain how I try to help businesses and individuals adopt the future of technology and build business models to increase revenues. A blank stare and a, ” oh that sounds like fun “. No, it’s hard work, but it’s work I fit into my life, it does not define or consume my life.
Working to live is a hopeless way to carry on, but that’s changing, I see future generations wanting the lifestyle without the work, that sounds wrong too! Rewards and work go hand in hand don’t they? Can you have the rewards and not have to work for them? Maybe that’s why we buy lottery tickets, go to Casino’s and Bingo Halls, we want to get that big pile of cash so we can life a different life than we are living now. In fact, we bank our future’s on winning that money rather than participating in building the future each one of us wants.
I beg of you Winnipeg, and all of Canada, lift your head up, look forward, look to the future, observe what is happening around you, and start building the future you want to live in. Let’s help one another find a better way to go from a Work-style to a Life-style.
Is it me or am I all alone here?