Posts Tagged ‘Business’
How Do I Get Your Attention?
Attention is a funny thing, kids are masters of getting as much as they need, but how do businesses master that same art without becoming annoying? Sometimes annoying works well for advertising campaigns, but do they win friends and influence people? Do they get your attention, or just your anger?
Some people, like me, can’t walk into a room quietly, we naturally draw attention to ourselves, probably because we are insecure or some other mental issue. I don’t know why it is, but it is. I love people, and I love helping them when I can, but that doesn’t get attention the way I would like it to. It might have something to do with my opening : )
I’m going to use me as the scape goat in this post, as an example of what some of us are dealing with. I hope it stirs some emothions in you and makes you think.
People and business are not the same, they have two different personalities and yet some of the same needs. When a person fills the role of business owner, they look at the world completely differently than when they are at home. OK maybe, but usually. The business owner, if they are doing well, tend to have healthy happy relationships with staff, and the staff reflect that out to those who are dealing with them. In a perfect world that’s probably very true, but not always the norm.
Every business has the same need, they want your attention, and those who figure out what gets your attention tend to survive longer. I’m generalizing, but you get the idea. So how does a business of one get your attention the same way a business / Brand or many people do? It still comes down to need doesn’t it. There has to be a need for me to look your way, and more importantly, a compelling need for me to find out more about what you are offering. Not all businesses need my services, they do, but don’t realize they do, why? Urgency. I may show you a tidal wave, but it’s not going to get here till 2014, I’ll wait and see mentality sets in, and well, you know what happens. So how do I get your attention?
I’m not a kid any longer, so I can’t get your attention the way kids do, and I can only cry wolf so many times before you take my work seriously, so what will it take? Why do most small business have a tougher time over bigger businesses? Probably because big businesses have more resources and can buy attention at a level small businesses or individuals can’t. It’s not a level playing field by those terms is it?
If it’s that hard now, what will it be like when another 3 – 4 billion people come online? If you haven’t noticed, we are moving away from the Bricks & Mortar style of consuming, we are buying more and more through our smart phones than ever before. That is going to increase, and it’s not going away as if it was a fad like Bell Bottom Blue Jeans.
My tag line should be, I SEE DEAD BUSINESSES! Why? Because most small businesses know the tidal wave is coming, if they don’t, they aren’t listening. It’s as if they are looking the other way, hoping it won’t actually happen. Fear is an immobilizing thing most of the time, but that doesn’t mean what I’m sharing isn’t real or going to happen.
You should be doing three things in your business right now, no matter what size it is, become social, become very mobile, and be prepared to serve a portion of the 4 billion people yet to come. So I ask you, how do I get your attention? The better question might be, forget about me, how do you get the the attention of 4 billion yet to come? Attention is the currency of our future, learn how to get it.
The Future of Business – Visa & Mastercard Will Not Be Cards
Somethings just seem more and more obvious, I ask this question all the time, can you imagine a day when we will no longer use money? I mean coins & paper money. It’s coming and much sooner than you think, it’s all because of Chip Technology or whatever name you decide to give it. We….all of us, are being traced by our cell phones, by our Debt Cards, or Credit Cards, whether we like it or not, so why do we even need them?
The truth is, the smart phone is all we will ever need until technology and humans merge. Visa & MasterCard have already started changing they’re model to be accessed by smart phones for all purchases or payment methods. Smart phones will be the wireless Visa & MasterCard debit machine, it already is in some parts of the world. Imagine not carrying 15 plastic cards around in your wallet, no debt cards, no credit cards, no nothing cards! But also imagine if it became law that you had to have a smart phone in order to live, buy food, buy clothes, then what?
Some day we will merge with technology, but until then, we will still have to deal with these clunky systems to pay for our purchases, not too mention making deposits to our bank accounts. This shift is expected to begin in 2011, yep, it’s coming and coming fast….what’s interesting though, my bank hasn’t even released their debt card with a chip in it yet….that’s how fast this is happening, they may not have too!
Just think, Visa & MasterCard will no longer be plastic cards, they will be an application in your smart phone. That to me is progress I would like to see.
What do you think?
The Annual Tourism Abbotsford Christmas Breakfast
I took in the Annual Tourism Abbotsford Christmas Breakfast Wednesday Dec 8th at the TRADEX, it’s located at the Abbotsford International Airport. I have to admit I was extremely surprised at how this event was presented, I walked in expecting the typical bare bones type of breakfast, but my hat goes off to the organizers for what I thought was a posh event. It was top drawer. I had the privilege of sitting with some very special people in our community, I am providing a few pics for you, they were taken by Rick Rake (known as THE UNGURU) and now the new media called TNN (Twitter News Network), he is everywhere. You can find Rick on Twitter by the handle: @rickrake
As I mentioned, I was fortunate enough to sit with these two beautiful roses, Wendy Schultz (General Manager) & Michelle Lalonde (Marketing Director) of Seven Oaks Mall . Seven Oaks Mall Twitter handle is: @shopsevenoaks
Also seated at my table was Rick & Kathleen Rake of Click Media Works, Gary Dickinson Owner of Abbotsford DUTY FREE, Ronald A. Kelly of Baker Newby.
A number of dignitaries were on hand and I was caught hobnobbing:
Here I am with Deb Lowell (Public Relations Director for The Salvation Army) & Mayor of Abbotsford George Peary : )
One of the key people who make Tourism Abbotsford run smoothly is Yvonne Hayden, she is the Visitor Services Manager, and the Head Tweeter on Twitter. Gotta love The Twitter. I’m flanked by Jodie Jacobsen & Yvonne in this picture:
This next picture was unexpected but what fun it was to meet Dan Stefanson, he happens to be the Executive Director of Tourism Abbotsford, and next to him is the honorable JohnVan Dongen, MLA for Abbotsford South. Thanks to TNN (Rick Rake) for this great photo.
A good time was had by all and frankly I was very impressed with this event and highly recommend attending next year, well done!
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 – 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.