Posts Tagged ‘Business’
It's Me Sharing Out Loud, Come Walk With Me
I’m going to let you read me thinking out loud today, here’s a few things on my mind right now, and I’m laying it in front of you to ponder. Here’s the thing(s).
An interesting trend is taking place and it’s a problem for insurance companies, it means a loss of revenue, and possibly a declining customer base. I suspect it’s a problem for more than just Insurance Companies. I’m not saying insurance companies are on the endangered species list, but there is a need for innovation in that industry, one that will allow them to adjust to this trend.
Let’s say you are a Futurist, say like me, and you get that call from your insurance agency. They start to ask the regular questions and you keep saying no I don’t work that way, I don’t have tons of equipment, and people don’t come to my office and so on. For example, your business might look this way in more detail.
You are a sole proprietor, you only do workshops & public speaking 90% of the time, if you do work with clients it’s at their offices, and your equipment might be a $750 Laptop, and Internet Connection and a smart phone. Oh, and did I mention, you are most of the time mobile, on the move. You never have clients come to your home office or desk, your workshops are held at another site like a hotel or local school, because you are not a typical bricks & mortar business. How does an insurance business get that extra business out of your home insurance when your considered home-based business functions like it doesn’t exist?
Everyday, more & more people are starting businesses with little or no overhead, not like the old home-based businesses we are used to starting. You know, the one’s where you have to carry inventory, have customers do pick-up at your home, or you have expensive equipment on your premises. Don’t get me wrong, many still do this but they are somewhat short sighted I think.
It’s almost like this type of business is a loop-hole in the home insurance industry, these types of businesses have been around forever, and I’m certain existing policies don’t cover all facets of this type of business. You’ve read it here before, you probably heard me say it, a connected audience, or a connected consumer can not be forced or controlled, mostly because they are on the move at all times. As the population grows more than 9 billion over the next 15 years, much of what we know today will have been re-written, like insurance policies, they need to adopt the social and mobile trend. The new businesses of tomorrow are mostly digital, require virtually no traditional functionality, and will never see a customer come to an office.
If you were to ask me if I had a FAX machine, I would answer back with, what’s a fax? Imagine when your kids, kids have kids, they will never know what a FAX machine was, a Computer in a Tower, or maybe even a Laptop for that matter. That leaves one thing, hand-held devices, or, technology that is embedded into our eye-care / contact lenses, or maybe the RFID chip finally gets it’s day and be put into our bodies. RFID is actually already here, you carry it with you everyday, so the chip no longer needs to be in us, we have social accepted carrying it around in our pockets. I know, I know, I’m going down a rabbit trail.
I’m not saying the demise of insurance companies is imminent, I’m suggesting they need to observe a trend that would seem to impact their livelihood. I would also suggest, not unlike Real Estate, you & I will be able to handle / do what these agents do for us today.
If insurance companies are still cold calling existing clients to develop new revenue, in the home-based businesses sector, I would suggest finding another method, because we can do that ourselves. The insurance company rules will change as the shape of business takes place, the rules though, are currently being broken and by-passed because of this trend in business.It’s no ones fault, it’s evolving, it’s changing it’s look, you might call it a Chameleon.
The future of business is a social and mobile business, the details still need to be worked out, but if your business isn’t paying attention, then you won’t get the attention. So I ask you, do you market to convert, or do you market to get attention? If it’s the latter, you have increased your chances of conversion ten fold, attention is the new currency, and you will use it to convert your product & services into cash.
The Future Of Business Is NOT Social Networks
One of the futurists I was following tweeted something that spurred me to write this little bitty, so bare with me. There is much confusion about Social Media / Networks, and saying that the future of business is Social Networks only adds to that confusion. For some unknown reason, there are far too many who seem to think that Social Media is the answer, the messiah, the silver bullet to all their business problems. STOP IT! This is far from the truth, and is sheer stupidity on the part of those who say it is.
I’ve talked about the next generation a few times now, GEN C, they are the under 20 somethings and they are starting to figure out what they want, and it’s not what business owners want. In fact, the generation that comes behind them will never know what a Tower or laptop is or was. imagine a generation that only knows wireless handheld devices, may never know what a Newspaper was, let alone a fax machine. They will all be things placed in a Smithsonian in some major cities if they can afford to have the show in town.
If you are paying attention to these social networks, and those who have built them, they are shifting and flowing, not because they work well, but because the people in those environments are looking for something. The future of business will be dependant on a couple of things, social networks are one of the tools to obtain those things, but not the end all. Being tagged will be paramount to being found in the future, your brand / product or service will live and die by being found. That being found will need to be everywhere, not just in social networks!
To found on the Internet will be one of the many challenges to deal with in the next 2 – 3 years. As with everything, the cream will rise to the top, the have’s over the have nots will continue as it does in the bricks & mortar business world. The big difference will be the tools or mediums you use, and how you use them that will matter, and should be well thought out. In the bricks & mortar we just yelled, and the loudest business got the attention, not so in the future, and social networks will play a minor role. Attention is the new currency, data is the new oil, and the combination of those two will present a whole new way of doing business in the near future. The problem is, the data is not fully understood, the technology we need is still not ready, it’s not ready because we don’t know what problem needs solving yet. Much of what we are relying on in social networks, hasn’t happened yet.
The future of business will be social, and it will most definitely be mobile, but it won’t be social networks that are the future. The real future of business is because we are connected, on the move, regrouping on the fly, unable to be controlled by anything or anyone, including social networks. A connected world cannot be controlled, it might be seduced, but only temporarily, and that is what big business and corporations are afraid of, they can’t control you & I.
Consider this, there will be another 3 Billion users of the Internet in the next 2 – 3 year, 5 at the most, are you in a position to get they’re attention online? Do you have a strategy or a plan to capture .01 % of that potential revenue? I can’t wait to see what new ways of increasing the new currency of attention, I’m ready, I’m more than ready, I’m down right excited. But if you’re still trying to figure out how to use social media networks, how to use a blog or a website, you better hire someone tomorrow to help you see whats coming. They can at least help you see the tidal wave and show you how to ride that wave rather than get wiped out by it.
That’s what we do here, we show you the future, and then help you create ideas to adopt what we show you. We are in the beginning of an upsetting industrial shift, a paradigm shift, and it’s very painful for some. Also keep in mind, much of what I am talking about is not about skill set, it’s more about how you think, to look at the world of business as it really is or will be.
Ever Wonder How Many People Use The Internet? – Nov 2012
Have you ever wondered how many people actually use the Internet? I think about it regularly, more so because I’m interested in how it impacts our online society, how it impacts commerce, and how it impacts your life, day-in and day-out. Even more interesting is how those users use the Internet, what are they looking for, what are they using the Internet for?
I don’t plan on answering all my questions in this post, but I thought I would share some numbers with you. Doing some quick research I found some interesting trends. As of June 2010, there are almost 2 Billion people using the Internet world wide, and interestingly enough, North America where I live, is a small player in all this usage. Here are a couple graphics that reflect what I”m talking about.
These two graph’s are taken from http://www.internetworldstats.com/, reflects total world users:
What these graph’s don’t show you, is how many more people have yet to use the Internet. O3BNetworks is working on bringing the other 3 Billion people online. Oh, the other 3 Billion are expected to arrive in the next 2 -3 years! Fifty Percent of O3BNetworks funding comes from Google. To give you an idea of what that might look like area wise:
So the burning question should be, what does this mean to me and my business, and secondly, how can I tap into this tidal wave of traffic? The world isn’t even half here and I’m having trouble making things work now! As you can see things are going to get a whole lot noisier here online, filtering, aggregating and context are the three words that come to mind. That’s the work of the near future, it’s already under way.
This might give you an idea of what I do all day long, I study this stuff and keep an eye on trends, just so I can help you prepare for whats coming to the world of business in the future.
Feel free to leave comments and or questions.
The Vancouver Social Media Professionals Nov MeetUp
I thought I would post a little something on this event, I’ll be speaking and sharing on the Future of Business Online, The Open & Free Business Model. This event requires you contact the event organizer to attend, as of this writing there are only 4 spots left, so if your even a little bit curious, contact Glenn Hilton right now! He is on Twitter as well: @glennhilton
These fine professionals gather on the 1st Tuesday of every month where they bring in a speaker and then (my favorite part) a long Q & A session. They also do a neat thing called a Lightening Round, this is where you can pitch new things you’re learning, questions and challenges you might be facing, you could present new tools or technologies that make your job more efficient. You need to be a part of this group if you’re serious about your business, a fine group of people.
Groups that meet regularly should be helping each member improve, help increase business, learn, and support one another. How many times have you joined a group only to find out it was a bitching session and nothing of real value came out of it. Well, I can tell you this group is NOT one of those groups. In my opinion, these professionals like to solve problems, help one another, lift one another up, and just for fun, they love to eat!
The Vancouver Social Media Group is meeting at the Water Street Cafe in Gastown (Vancouver), so that speaks for itself don’t you think, a classy group already me thinks. They ask you to come prepared to order something, so get ready for a fun evening. The MeetUp will start at 7PM and run till 9PM, unless I go long : )
Again, there are only 4 spots left, if you wish to be with true professionals, then contact Glenn Hilton before you do anything else. Who is Glenn? Glenn owns ImageX Media, an award winning Drupal web design, development & consulting firm. Glenn oversees HR, creative direction and Social media Marketing.
Visit they’re website at: http://imagexmedia.com
See you there!
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