Posts Tagged ‘Google’
Barking At Shadows
I must confess, my youngest son is responsible for the title of this blog post. We were sitting at the dinner table this nite and we were talking about our neighbours dog, deaf but not blind…soon though. Our dog (Zeena pictured on the left) on the other hand, has bionic hearing, she can hear the paper being dropped at the front door from anywhere in the house. She races to the door barking madly, when I open the door, nothing…. all she sees is her shadow. I said, this is just like social networks, and my son said, ya…you’re barking at shadows like those followers are real people. He said something there that inspired me to write this random thought process.
Also, this constant running and barking caused me to reflect on conversations on Twitter & FaceBook lately, in regards to LIKES, FANS & FOLLOWERS. I will call these three things shadows, shadows are very misleading, hard to determine, to see where they come from even, but mostly, we are lead to believe they are something far bigger than they really are.
We tend to put far too much stock in the number of followers, fans and likes. We even attach a value to these indicators, wrongly I might add, but we do it to justify our time getting them. So we can have a case for our actions. Don’t get me wrong, they are important, in that they tell you one thing for certain, someone came knocking at your businesses door. Those numbers don’t tell you much more than that, ideally we would like to believe there’s more data to be had when someone decides to follow you, be a fan, or when the like button is pushed. I would like to believe there was actually a plan in place when this data collecting started, but I’m skeptical.
If you didn’t have a plan, a strategy, or a desire outcome well thought-out before you put your business online, then your numbers merely mean you had a visitor. You might call them potential buyers, but nothing has been bought just yet, not until you can turn that fan, that like, or that follower into something more tangible. There is a very real way to this in Social Networks, but I’m not the one who will teach you this day, another far brighter than I will do it. Stay tuned, and I will reveal him to you in tomorrows post.
So, these numbers you are so proud of are no different than the shadows my dog finds, your bragging and pumping yourself up because you have large numbers is a false sense of security, you are hanging your businesses future on the number of likes, fans and followers, don’t do this, you’re just barking at shadows.
Related articles
- Is This One Of Your Goals For 2012? (owengreaves.com)
- Social Media is not Going to Save Your Business (briansolis.com)
Is This One Of Your Goals For 2012?
It’s midnight, I’m thinking about the past year, wondering if I made a difference to any business owner in my community, my Twitter followers, my blog readers and….. It’s a fair question, you probably ask yourself the same question many times. In fact, you may spend too much time asking yourself that question. If you truly want to make a difference, Go and make a difference! Go, do that thing you are passionate about, you will touch someone’s life and you probably won’t even know it.
I attend many events in my community, most are surprised when I show up, but I need the interaction with smart people. You can only speak from a stage, from a microphone, a blog, or even a workshop for so long. Eventually, you’ll want to see eyeballs, hear real stories directly from the sources, maybe in their own surroundings. The words Social Media don’t really say enough about what it really means, we tend to forget the “Social” part, but it’s the best part, it’s the awesome sauce.
I have a few social engagements in my calendar for December, maybe we’ll run into each other, and I’ll bet there’s a great story to share. Make sure you step away from the keyboard, better yet, go master the deadlock on your front door and get out and see the people. The people are what makes the Social in Social Media, media is actually cold and unfeeling, why would you want to just do that?
Social Networks are environments, cultures, and places to learn, because that’s where the people are, and no matter how much you avoid it, the Future Of Business means people. You will never have success without them, and what they want from you is simple, they want access to you. They want to know you, even spend time with you, that’s where the real value is, and eventually, the Gold.
When you get around the people, and you are doing what you were meant to do, you are making a difference. So GO! Be a human business, one that connects with others, one that connects businesses, Go and be with the people, help them achieve their goals, and you will be blessed beyond your wildest dreams. Make that your goal for 2012, I hope you do because I can’t wait to hear your story when you do.
The Future Of Business – What Could The Hardcore Hockey Fan Tell You?
I know the question is odd when talking about the future of business, but I ask you to play along. Let’s see where I take you : )
If you were hired by your local hockey team (In my case, the Abbotsford Heat) to market the club in the digital realm, what might be there first question out of your mouth? No it’s not how much do I make. If the resources were in place, funding and say personnel, what would you ask?
Lets consider that all the questions are not dumb questions, no matter how obvious they might be, what would you ask?
I would most likely ask what the current cost is for customer acquisition, there is a cost with online marketing, so what is it?
Knowing that number would tell you at least two things, what they have been doing and, what they aren’t doing, that is provided you understand some simple marketing metrics and the overall understanding of what the strategy be.
You might even ask where the marketing dollars have been spent, like Google Ad Words and so on. Make a list. But there are two more important issues or questions I would be asking. Because frankly, I don’t care where the money is spent unless I know the answer to one primary question, and if I don’t get that answer, we are going to get it through some due diligence.
My first question is more about what the hardcore hockey fan wants, do the fans want free tickets to games, food or beer, or would they want dedicated, intimate free time with their favorite Player / Coach/ or even Executive?
It’s an Access over Ownership question, if we don’t know the answer, we better find out, and fast, because everything else that follows will be based on that data. I’m certain the average fan will pay the ticket price, but how much would they pay to have one-on-one time with their favorite hockey player? Maybe over a nice meal, I mean dedicated time, an intimate time to just be. What would you pay for that? A better question to ask yourself would be, would we be willing to give that access away for FREE?
You see, it’s easy to sell tickets, it’s even easier to sell club merchandise, but give the hardcore hockey fan access, and you have something really exciting.
The digital strategy will be built around what the hardcore fan really wants, and I’m willing to bet access is the secret sauce to your marketing efforts. The future of business as I have researched it, over the next 3 – 5 years will be Access over Ownership. Fill that need, and your hockey club will have a whole new set of marketing tactics to play with, a new view of the community, and a great way to Connect With Fans. Add that with a Reason To Buy, and you have a thing called revenue. (CWF + RTB = $$$$)
There are many, many more questions to ask, and this is a very low level, very loose post, but I’m flying at 50,000 feet and blue skying it.
If you knew access was the key, what other great ideas come to mind? Share them here in the comments, it would be great fun.
Related articles
- The Future Of Business – Social Is A Feature Not A Platform (owengreaves.com)
- The Future Of Business – Fight Off The Mainstream Media & Big Business (owengreaves.com)
The Future Of Business – Social Is A Feature Not A Platform
There is a technology cycle working in the background while the rest of the world is distracted with and by Social Media. I have shared with you in the past that Social Media is not the future of business, at best it will be a feature, not a platform. If you study technology at a deep level you’re probably unaware of the tide changing or shifting might be a better word. Something much bigger than Social Media is brewing and you should pay attention, because the tidal wave of change will knock you over and sweep you out of it’s way.
The social component is merely the doorway to engagement, but we are headed for a much deeper kind of engagement. It might surprise you when I say that Microsoft Windows is dying, Google may loose it’s stranglehold on search in the next few years.
Windows is suffering, it has gone from 96% to less than 50% market share, and soon will be 30%, this means the Desktop era has passed us by. The reason, SmartPhones. These devices have all but made us forget about Windows Operating Systems for the most part, don’t be surprised to learn that Windows 8 (Due out in 2012) might be the last big push for a Desktop Platform by Microsoft.
Index search has peaked, Google, like Microsoft, have many other ways to be a player in the new technology cycle, but not doing what they are doing today. Not with Index Search, and not with the desktop, the mobile marketplace is doing both of these things better and seamlessly, they’re not separate things you have to do anymore.
The big craze today and in the next few years will reshape the Internet, Apps, HTML 5 and Tablets, they have already set the pace for a new frontier. But if we must talk social, let me share this, if you are an investor or a developer, and a business owner, consider building on top of FaceBook, no one can catch up with them, no one. The same can be said of Apple’s iPad, and Apple’s financial structure, no one can catchup with them, they are the current leader with FaceBook. FaceBook IS the new Windows!
Social Media is not the future of business, it’s a side show, Roger McNamee is quoted as saying about Social Media, “This is not the mania you are looking for”.
The future of business is mobile and social, FaceBook is the new windows, HTML 5 allows all of us to participate, Apps and Tablets are the tools we will use to move products and services. Most of what we manually do today will be fully automated, like search, it’s just a matter of time. The real issue, how does your business leverage this new technology cycle, I think the first step is to open your mind to new better ways of being in business, the world has yet to arrive in the digital realm, are you ready?
Being Social alone is not enough to participate in the Future Of Business.
Related articles
- The Future Of Business Workshop – In Abbotsford (openandfreebusinessmodel.com)
- The Future Of Business – Fight Off The Mainstream Media & Big Business (owengreaves.com)
- Roger McNamee On HTML5 And The Future of The Web (adpulp.com)
- Three biggest myths of social media (sherrilynnestarkie.com)
- Microsoft outlines plans to deliver Windows 8 versions of its embedded products (zdnet.com)
The Future Of Business – Could You Imagine A World Without Bosses?
The University of Phoenix has a video series on YouTube called The Phoenix Lecture Series, some very interesting points of view on multiple topics for you to consider, much of it is about change, taking you out of your comfort zone. Here is a short chat that caught my attention, it makes you think about what we have and what the future of people will demand.
Does this talk make you feel uncomfortable, sick to your stomach, or does it get you excited?
Enjoy but truly think about what the speaker is suggesting.
What say you?
Related articles
- The Future Of Business Workshop – In Abbotsford (openandfreebusinessmodel.com)
- Building a job vs. building a business (sethgodin.typepad.com)
- The Future Of Business – It’s Between Your Ears (owengreaves.com)
- The Future Of Business – Means Multiple Revenue Streams (owengreaves.com)
- The Future Of Business – Be Useful (owengreaves.com)
