Posts Tagged ‘Business’
The Future Of Business – Deliver.
It seems rather obvious doesn’t it, at some point you have to deliver, you have to deliver something. You don’t start a business or any kind of venture without eventually delivering a product or service. Without delivering you don’t really have a business do you. Why would you go through the process of creating something if you didn’t want someone to see it or know about it. Sure you could create something for you and you alone, but you’re still delivering, you’re delivering to yourself.
If you’ve created something awesome, and you have a plan to differentiate your creation, you must deliver it to someone. How will you ever sleep at night if you don’t?
The only way to change the world, to make a difference, to influence others, is to deliver. Delivering can be as simple as showing up, but you will deliver something when you do.
This equation can be applied to anything, the only way to get good at it, is to do it. Read it, learn it, live it.
Create. Differentiate. Deliver.
The Future Of Business – Differentiate.
Being creative can be fun, it can also be exhausting, it all depends on how you’re wired, what’s you favorite part of being in the creative zone? For me, it’s trying to find the right message, or to make my product or service different. How do I relate my product or service so that it isn’t like anyone else’s, I want it to be different. Hence, Differentiate.
It’s one thing to create something awesome, it’s another to differentiate it from anyone else selling the same product or service. I believe this is the secret sauce of any product or service you try to sell. How do you differentiate it from all the others that look, smell, and feel just like your product or service. This is also why there are marketing firms in the world, it’s the one area most struggle with, it’s not that easy for most business owners.
The biggest difference between you and everyone else, is you! You are the scarcity, there is only one of you, no one can steal that or duplicate it. Someone can steal your identity in terms of identification, but they can duplicate your personality, you are the genuine you. This genuine you creates another problem, you don’t know how, and you don’t want to promote yourself, it’s uncomfortable, and that’s why you need someone from the outside looking in to handle it on your behave.
I hate pumping my own tires, you know, promoting myself, telling the world how awesome I am, how incredible my product or service is. There are those who love it, but most don’t. Having said that, we need to find a way to fight through uncomfortable feeling, because it’s holding us back from success, no matter what the venture might be. It’s a stronghold in your life, it’s bad self-talk and it needs to be stopped in it’s tracks. I’m not suggesting you be arrogant and egotistical because it doesn’t work. And you most definitely do not want to call yourself an expert or guru.
Surround yourself with creative people who know your work, like your work, even love your work, even if they are spread all over the world. Skype is a beautiful thing. Put those creative people to work on marketing you and your product and services, if you don’t know any, you will find some with a little work. If you have built a following online or in your community, someone in that following is creative and loves your work. Build your team and change the world, differentiate yourself from everyone doing the same thing you are, be the best you can be and let the chips fall where they may.
The same rule applies here as it does with creating something, don’t analyze, just do it, do your due diligence and deliver when ready. Build your team, then get to it. Remember, novelty always sells, but it has a short life span, because novelty tends to wear out fast, sell what differentiates you, that has a longer life, especially if your product or service has a level of need.
The Future Of Business – Is To Create!
The greatest of creations ever made, were you and I, we’re amazing! We can do things no other creature or animal on earth can do, we can stop before we respond, we can decide how we want to respond to stimuli. We have so many abilities, one of them is the ability to create, we can create incredible solutions to world problems, we can see things through our ability of foresight, the list is endless.
This blog’s tag-line is: Create. Differentiate. Deliver.
These three words sum up what the business of the future will need focus on.
All of us have ideas, we’re spiritual creative beings, we strive to conquer, we survive, we overcome, we’re passionate, we love, and we have a desire to help one another. Mostly, we like to create, we like to build and conquer. The problem many struggle with, fear, and what to create. A good place to start is, what drives you, what energizes you, what you’re true passion is, listen for the voice within. Many search external clues, the true passion is in you, create that. Seth Godin calls it “ART”, the art each one of us carries within but is scared to let out. Mostly because of fear.
It doesn’t matter what you create, what matters is that you do something, let the art in you be heard, seen and found, you will change your world. So create, make something, solve a problem, eventually you will find a way to monetize your creation. Let the world do the marketing for you, you just let the world know where to find your creation.
The fear of failure is a powerful force, the cost of doing nothing is far greater than failing, so create and fail as often as you can. That failing will teach you more than you will ever learn doing nothing. Don’t analyze, just do! Create!
3 Authors I Encourage You To Read Everyday
I’ve shared with you in the past about ten people that get my attention everyday, but there are three authors that reach the very core of what I believe, I have to put them on your radar screen. I’ll assume you like to read, if you’re online, you have no choice. It’s been said, leaders are readers, but readers are not necessarily leaders.
I was recently asked who my favorite author is, I couldn’t answer with just one. I have many, but three tend to be at the top of the list.
 |
Gerd Leonhard – imagine, you have been beating a drum, singing your song, sharing your message, and then one day wake up wondering, am I the only one saying this stuff? Only to discover, someone else is saying what you’re saying, and in a much more entertaining way, that would describe Gerd. I immediately followed him and his work, and have done so for 4 or 5 years now, I learn something from Gerd everyday. Gerd is a machine, you can find his work everywhere. |
 |
Tom Peters – he’s been around awhile, most of us have probably read or heard of his book called, “In Search Of Excellence”. If you haven’t, when you finish reading this, go read his work immediately. Tom has joined the dark side lately, he to has become more of a futurist, with incredible great insight, and powerful stories to share, he is worth every minute you spend reading his books and blog. |
 |
Seth Godin – No one shares the demise of the Industrial Age story better. With 12 books published, and frankly, he has been sharing the same message throughout all of them in some form or another. To me, Seth is more of an encourager than anything else, he is prompting all of us to do that which we were meant to do, to make the art within each one of us. I am now in the third reading of his latest effort, “The Icarus Deception”, I can’t seem to put it down for more than ten minutes at a time. His blog will fill you up, and then your head will explode with epiphany after epiphany. |
These gentlemen have helped shape and affirm what I believe to be true in the world of business, more importantly, they are real people, with real issues, no different than you and I. The big difference, they Create. Differentiate. Deliver. all the time, they have a message for you, and I think we should pay attention.
All three of these authors, along with many others, have taught me in one way or another, to shape, to encourage, and they inspired The Open & Free Business Model, which I teach and preach here on this blog, and to anyone who is even a little bit curious about the 90 / 10 rule, it is the future of business.
The Internet is a huge world, and yet it can feel like a small town, because we are all connected. This connection, or connecting, is the new economy, it is what makes the world go round. It is the connectedness where you will be found, where you will find your place eventually, because someone also believes what you believe, and they will connect with you to become a true fan.
I challenge you to read anyone of these three authors everyday, if you do, your world will change, and it will never stop changing, especially if you put into practice the lessons learned from these brilliant minds.
If you want to get my best tips and foresight, subscribe to my future of business updates in the right side bar.
The Definition Of The Open & Free Business Model
The Definition Of The Open & Free Business Model, it’s simple and yet complicated. It’s an idea, it’s a concept that should scare you, it will scare you, you will resist it, it will stretch you, and mostly I hope, it changes how you think about business. Everyone wants to earn a living, everyone. We do argue and debate as to which is the best way to make that living, most of us play it safe, we trade our time for dollars. What if you discover that system is not rewarding, it is from a pay cheque perspective, but it’s not enough is it, you want something more, but you struggle to define it.
The Open & Free Business Model is not just for business owners, it’s for you, the UN-entrepreneur, the one who has yet to take the risk of doing something that scares you. Putting yourself out on the limb, taking a chance, to put your passion out for the world to see and use.
The Open & Free Business Model is about freedom, freeing your mind from a transaction, the kind of transaction we have been taught for 100+ years. This model is about changing the way you do business, it takes you out of your comfort zone, it puts you on the other side. The side of the consumer, where you now have to trust those people formerly known as consumers, you have to give them something you have been unwilling to give in the past. You now have to provide a service or product first before payment is ever considered (but usually not), do you have the strength to explore this model? Come on the open & free journey, and we’ll find out.
The Open & Free Business Model is about transparency, about trust, about risk, and about change. It’s about the 90 / 10 rule, not the 80 / 20 rule. Giving away your product or service 90% of the time, while only charging 10% of the time. Handing over your product or service without payment, trusting those you served will tell others about your generosity, about how you do business. There is risk in this model, you may be taken advantage of, you may never get paid! Why would you do such a thing? This model is about your fears, facing the fear of loss.
If you take everything literally, then yes you will lose, but this model is calculated, it loves the unknown, it loves to be a servant. The risk is calculated, we don’t just give it away without a good reason, without a higher, stronger purpose.
This model is about creating something far larger than yourself. This model is about a journey. It’s about the expression of ones self. It’s about valuing people. It’s about truly being alive. Trusting that which you created is useful and helpful to those looking for your art. It’s not about the lime light, being famous, or 15 minutes of fame. It’s about those who have become your true fan. Those who are like-minded with your passion and vision.
The mechanics of this model is where the learning and stretching will come from, it won’t make the risk feel safer.
Free IS a business model, open & free is a better model, it allows us all to explore the fear we feel, but more importantly, it gives the strength to conquer that fear. Because that fear isn’t real, we just think it is.
The problem with trying anything that makes us feel unsafe, especially in business, we almost always want proof we won’t fail. If you look hard enough, and read this blog, you will find proof, and you will learn to embrace the model once you understand it. Don’t let the FREE part scare you off, it’s mostly a word, it IS an action we leverage and prosper from, not suffer. This model is different than anything you have learned in school, it’s not about what you think you already know about business, it’s about changing that which you know. It’s about changing your business for the better, far more rewarding than any amount of money can buy.
To learn more, hear more, just put your name & email address in the box to the right, and subscribe to The Future Of Business Updates. I’ll help you overcome the fear, and teach you the in’s and out’s of The Open & Free Business Model.
Related articles
- The Future Of Business – Create. Differentiate. Deliver. (owengreaves.com)
- The Future Of Business – Build Small Loyal Communities (owengreaves.com)
- The Future Of Business – Two Camps (owengreaves.com)
- The Future Of Business – Everyone Will Be An Afilliate Of Something Pt. 2 (owengreaves.com)
- Happy New Year – 2013 Is Your Open & Free Year! (owengreaves.com)
