Is The Inbox No Longer Sacred?
Recently I wrote about privacy & security, I find it interesting that email is still considered open season. I can stop you from posting on my wall, and very little else. Consider how much time one can use to filter or manage the ongoing spam, email your friends think you should read, and then there’s the deluge of offers from Internet Marketers.
One not talked about often, is emails from those called acquaintances, or someone you met a wine & cheese that just can’t wait to get home to send you that all important ask, and they want you to work for free. I’m all for doing free, but that free is a calculated risk I take, not one I impose on others. Is the inbox no longer sacred? Having a conversation, or meeting someone at a social doesn’t mean you can make a request to work for free, to fill your inbox with offers, and to refer them and the their work to others.
The inbox violation is part of the etiquette of relationships, carving out time to get to know people at a deeper more rooted level. I’ll meet with almost anyone who asks, to be clear, if you’re asking me to work, don’t be surprised if I tell you jump through a hoop or two.
Be respectful of the Inbox, your business depends on it.
Open & Free Business Model – Identifying Revenue Streams
One of my favorite sessions in my workshops is helping entrepreneurs and business owners identify revenue streams, online and off. There’s a lot of work that goes into this before you can actually execute, there are some things you should think about before nailing down your top three profit center’s. This is a very high level approach, but you’ll get the idea.
– Pick the highest margin, low-investment streams (low hanging fruit)
This one speaks for itself, you should almost always spend your time here, your highest margin product’s and services, you’ll be happy because the cash-flow will be there.
– Advertise your chosen stream to your captive audience.
Knowing where your customers are, which social network do they most frequent, and why do they use that chosen social network more than others.
– Collect money, deliver goods, and keep customers happy.
Taken right off this blog tag line, Create. Differentiate. Deliver. Get paid for what you’ve made or done, make sure you deliver on time or earlier, and do everything you can to look after those who buy from you. And if they’re true fans, do something extra special.
Some ideas on revenue streams:
1.) Donation Drives
2.) Advertising products & services for other people
3.) Selling products & services based on your unique content.
4.) Selling products & services almost completely unrelated to your unique content.
Write down your ideas under each heading, pick your top three ideas and flush them out further.
It’s also important to know your break even point on each product & service you decide to sell.
Security & Privacy
There is a difference. With all that is changing in the world, countries considered super powers, all that they can do, one thing is certain, we can’t have both.
The fact that the NSA records 100% of all phone calls from 6 countries, and is looking to expand their reach, raises questions about privacy. Which means, we can only hope for security, one could argue that Security and Privacy are the same thing. We may be able to do some things privately, offline only, online, there is a good chance we will never have privacy again.
Security, that depends on who leaks information, leaking it in-house puts us in the out house.
The more we share, the more we give of our lives online, we risk everything, it’s like digging up evidence for a court case, we’re all making it easy to be found. Having said that, without the freedom of the Internet, and the willingness to tell stories, show who we are, I’m certain we would prefer security. Security makes us feel safe, privacy typically means we are trying to keep something unknown, the ebb and flow of human nature.
Which would you prefer, Security or Privacy?
The Future Of Business – Who’s In Charge?
For years I’ve shared with you about where business is going, and how it is changing, I’ve tried to plant idea’s into your noggin, with the hopes of giving you some insight, or….foresight of what’s to come, and what to do about it. Everything is changing so fast it’s hard to keep up, and yet, so many are doing what they’ve always done, and many don’t understand why business is still changing. We want things static, we want things in their place, we love our comfort zone, I think that’s how the theory of Pavlov’s dog came to be. With that in mind, a short story.
There was a man who owned a dog, the dog always sat on the porch, and it howled constantly. The neighbor complained about the constant howling and barking, the owner said, the dog howls because it’s laying on a nail. The neighbor says, “why doesn’t get off the nail, go lay down somewhere else?”. The dog owner says,”I guess it doesn’t hurt enough”.
Today the business owners are the dogs sitting on nails, they want to get off the nail, but they are afraid because they know they aren’t really in charge. They believe if they get of the nail (change) they’ll lose business, worse yet, they’ll have to close the business. This belief isn’t really true, but it’s a real emotion. So who’s in charge?
The answer to the question of, who’s in charge is simple, it should be obvious. It’s your customers.
The future of business, and the future of your business will always have the same boss, those who come to your business, visit your site, and buy your product or service. You, were never in charge, you merely ran the business, and provided what customers wanted. When you change the way you think, stop worrying about how to use Social Media, and looking for short cuts, you can get to the heart of the matter. The questions you should be asking, if you don’t know is, not how to use Social Media, but why your customers are using it, and which one’s are they using. At the very least, start there, the rest will come out of the data you’ve collected, if the rest is still not coming, you’re still asking the wrong questions, and maybe in the wrong place.
If you want your business to survive in the future, ask yourself who’s really in charge.
In The Cross Hairs – The Middleman
Never before has the been a time in business where a threat so strong has immobilized business owners and their management teams. Ignorance has never been a place to hide behind, not paying attention doesn’t work either. The reason nothing is happening, CEO’s are protecting their bonuses, middle managers are fighting to keep what they believe is entitled to them. This movement, this new second industrial age has been known and talked about for many years, here, and in the board rooms. But very little movement to accept or adopt keeps fear as the motivator to do nothing, to do what has always been done.
Some 25 years ago, the Internet was born, it opened the door to a brave new world, a world that brought even more confusion on top of what we already have, the pile got bigger. The pile (fear) is bigger, it’s enormous, because we chose to be spectators, we were convinced we didn’t know what to do, so we did nothing. I’m speaking to the masses in big business, those who adopted, who chose to act on what they could see, they are down the road, enjoying the fruits of their labors.
The Internet, for all intents and purposes, has removed the need for the middleman, the Internet put customer and product together without the need to be sold by that so-called person in the middle. Our BS protectors work better than ever in this new industrial age, this new or second industrial age. If we are going to act like the Industrial age of the last 150 years, we might as well name this new revolution the 2nd Industrial Age, it might ease the pain of big business. But make no mistake, the middleman is in the cross hairs, there is very little need for them, unless they can reinvent themselves to take part in a new role.
If you’re that person, the middle man / woman, find a way to get of the way, stay out of the cross hairs. If you choose to do nothing, your world will come crashing down around you. It doesn’t have to, because you have the same opportunity to go build something great, you have the tools, the brain power, and you need very few resources, what are you waiting for, now go!
